Faced with Blanche dilemma, Trump chooses revenge  —  President Donald Trump has a choice: allow changes to a controversial court settlement and secure the confirmation of his former personal lawyer as attorney general, or thumb his nose at a pair of his few remaining Republican critics in Congress.

‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump's Unprecedented Fundraising Operation  —  Meredith O'Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out president's desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects  —  WASHINGTON—Almost every night in the White House …

Trump announces a deal for Hamas to disarm in Gaza, but many hurdles and uncertainty remain  —  President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory.

How the Pro-Trump Media Ecosystem Is Splintering Ahead of the Midterms  —  Once united in support of President Trump, right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections.  —  Benny Johnson, a right-wing podcaster …

Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations  —  In a review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet from within or while interacting with a third-party evaluation environment …

New York sues Kalshi, says prediction market is running ‘illegal gambling operation’ … New York state sued prediction market platform Kalshi on Friday, alleging that the company is running an “illegal gambling operation.”  —  In a case filed in a Manhattan state court …

Trump's noncitizen voter data remains a mystery.  But the claims raise midterm fears  —  Two weeks after Trump officials said they had found more than 250,000 non-U.S. citizens on voter rolls in just four states, election officials are still struggling to understand where the numbers came from …

Democrats' novel red-state strategy: From the Politics Desk  —  Plus, another shake-up in the Wisconsin governor's race. … Democrats pursue a new Senate strategy in rural states: Dropping out  —  By Sahil Kapur  —  Facing slim prospects in rural red states, Democrats are embarking …

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference  —  State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil  —  A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation …

Senator's daughter files new restraining order against GOP Rep. Max Miller  —  Emily Moreno had previously accused her ex-husband, an Ohio congressman, of domestic abuse, including throwing hot water on her and holding a gun to her head.  He denies the allegations.  —  Summary

The next abortion battle is over Kansas's highest court  —  Voters will decide whether to replace a nearly 70-year-old appointment system with direct elections that could reshape the state Supreme Court for decades.  —  GREAT BEND, Kan. — A national fight over state supreme courts is flaring up in Kansas …

Rebuilding Democracy Requires Rebalancing Power  —  What does a power-shifting agenda look like?  —  Thoughtful policy experts on a range of issues are currently preparing plans to rebuild the federal government in the event that a pro-democracy president is elected in 2028.  That planning is essential.

Fox News Poll: GOP divisions shape Texas Senate race  —  President Donald Trump won the Lone Star state by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, but a new Fox News Poll of Texas registered voters suggests this year's Senate race is far less settled.  Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton …

Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service  —  The decision to suspend tours indefinitely came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump's dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center.  —  The John F. Kennedy Center …

Pentagon weighs eliminating civilian tenure at military academies and reviewing all curriculum, draft memo says  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Washington — The Defense Department is considering its most sweeping remake of military higher education, according to an unreleased draft memorandum obtained …

Cheap gas won't save Trump, now at a new all-time approval low  —  This post is free to read, but if you want to support my independent data-driven political journalism and get premium posts like these sent to your inbox 2x a week, become a paying subscriber to Strength In Numbers today.

The Bond Market Doesn't Like Bullshit  —  Why Kevin Warsh just bombed  —  The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve meets every eight weeks to set interest rates — specifically the federal funds rate, the overnight rate at which banks lend each other money.

Chevron and Exxon earnings soar as Trump threatens price interventions  —  Rise in profits comes amid increasing political scrutiny ahead of US midterm elections  —  ExxonMobil and Chevron reported second-quarter earnings worth a combined $26.5bn, as they cashed in on surging crude and petrol prices caused by Donald Trump's Iran war.

'It's beyond embarrassing': Ken Martin and the DNC have a 2028 problem, donors warn  —  Major Democratic donors are getting really anxious about 2028.  —  The Democratic National Committee has a massive cash deficit heading into November, and Chair Ken Martin is facing a growing onslaught …

Trump-Themed Passport Rollout Goes National  —  An additional 250,000 “Patriot Passports” will soon be available at more than two dozen passport agencies across the country.  — Copy  —  The State Department plans to make a new batch of U.S. passports with President Donald Trump's image …

One Big Beautiful Bill cut healthcare funds.  Now, Republicans have to sell the costs  —  Republicans campaigning in swing districts are running ads about healthcare after facing criticism of the cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.  Many of these ads target voters over 35 years old …

Divided Democrats face a moment of truth in Michigan  —  Democratic socialists look like they're about to rack up a stunning new victory: Their candidate in Michigan's Senate Democratic primary has the momentum heading into Tuesday's primary. … The Michigan primary brings the ideological clash to its biggest stage yet.

Tech Companies Are Rejecting Trump's Proposed ‘Woke’ AI Ban  —  The Trump administration is in the middle of finding out that it's very hard — maybe even impossible — to regulate perceived “wokeness” in artificial intelligence.  —  The government's main procurement agency is a year …

Democrats Mobilize Over Fears Trump Will Deploy Troops to Polls  —  President Donald Trump hasn't ruled out deploying troops or federal agents to polling places in November.  Democrats are preparing for how to respond in case that happens.  —  Democratic lawmakers, wary of various potential disruptions …

Seth Cotlar on historical roots of the new Red Scare  —  “If you look at the 1956 GOP platform, it reads like a center-left policy platform in a contemporary context.”  —  ∙ Paid  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  To hear President Trump tell it, all Democrats are evil communists.

UK approval for China's mega embassy in London was lawful, court rules  —  Britain's approval for China to build a vast embassy in London was lawful, the High Court ruled on Friday, rejecting a legal challenge brought by a group of local residents.  —  China's plans to build an embassy …

White House eyes reopening oil refineries amid high gasoline prices  —  The Trump administration is looking to reopen closed oil refineries, including an embattled one in the Virgin Islands, amid high gasoline prices spurred by the Iran war.  —  A White House official confirmed to The Hill …

Sen. Mark Kelly warns far-left policies that 'don't make sense' could cost Democrats seats  —  Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said Thursday during an interview on “Next Question with Katie Couric” that far-left calls to abolish police, eliminate prisons and the border and defund the Pentagon …

South Korea Evacuates Border Residents After US Drone Mix-Up  —  South Korea ordered residents near the heavily-armed border with North Korea to evacuate after the military mistook a US drone participating in a joint exercise as an unidentified aircraft and prepared to shoot it down.

Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton is coming to the Supreme Court  —  The president said he wants to petition the justices in the 2016 election-related case.  —  President Donald Trump wants to add another one of his personal cases to the Supreme Court's docket: his bid to revive a lawsuit …

‘Extremely scary findings’ show climate crisis is supercharging Europe's wildfire weather  —  Latest study says global heating has made hot, dry and windy conditions in Spain at least 20 times more likely  —  The extreme heat and drought stoking huge wildfires in Spain and France were made far …