Top Items:
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
After Trump gave North Korea what it wants, a key senator accuses him of ‘appeasement’ — Throughout Donald Trump's first term, the president went to bizarre lengths to cozy up to North Korea, a longtime enemy of the United States, while alienating South Korea, a longtime U.S. ally.
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, The Daily Wire, Adam Kinzinger, NewsMax.com and Semafor
RELATED:
Lucy Campbell / The Guardian:
Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures when asked about scaling back US drills with South Korea - live — Trump also claims he's ‘actually making it much safer’ for South Korea by scaling back joint military drills just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Sun and The Independent
Sam Blewett / Politico:
Burnham exchanged messages with impersonator of top Trump aide — The U.K. leader believed he was communicating with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. — LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham engaged with messages from somebody impersonating one of Donald Trump's closest advisers, four officials have told POLITICO.
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Straight Arrow, New York Times, The Spectator, BBC, Associated Press, Forbes, NewsMax.com, NOTUS, The Sun, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, CBS News, Breitbart, KQTV-TV, Metro.co.uk and The Gateway Pundit
Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
Trump's move to gut South Korea alliance is ‘inane, haphazard decision’, lawmakers say
Trump's move to gut South Korea alliance is ‘inane, haphazard decision’, lawmakers say
Discussion:
Wonkette
Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
Trump defends his move to cut back U.S.-South Korea military exercises
Trump defends his move to cut back U.S.-South Korea military exercises
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Reuters, One America News Network, The Independent, ABC News, TheJournal.ie, France 24, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, RedState, Al Jazeera, Stars & Stripes and Axios
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
South Korea hoping for talks after Trump reduces joint military exercises
South Korea hoping for talks after Trump reduces joint military exercises
Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
Trump's Overture to Kim Jong-un Strains Alliance With South Korea
Trump's Overture to Kim Jong-un Strains Alliance With South Korea
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNN, Foreign Policy, Forbes, NBC News, Slate, Rolling Stone, GZERO, Jack Reed, The Spectator, Breitbart, Metro.co.uk, The Hill, Blue Virginia, New Republic, France 24, Straight Arrow and KQTV-TV
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
From Natalie, With LOVE ... With the growing attention being given to Trump handler/confidante Natalie Harp, I looked up this November 2024 Times article which captures some of the relationship ... Given that Natalie Harp is not only a conventionally attractive women but also Trump's type …
RELATED:
Owen Scott / The Independent:
Trump roasted over ‘flying palace’ trips with aide: ‘He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie’ — Democratic senator Jon Ossoff claimed that the president is ‘treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns’ — Donald Trump would rather build the White House ballroom …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, RedState, Breitbart, Wonkette, twitchy.com and Newsweek
Malcolm Ferguson / New Republic:
White House Takes the Bait as Ossoff Targets Trump Aide Natalie Harp
White House Takes the Bait as Ossoff Targets Trump Aide Natalie Harp
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Forbes, twitchy.com, CNN, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Newsweek and HuffPost
Julia Curlee / The Atlantic:
The Wrong Kind of American — The Trump White House needed me—until the fact that I am trans became public. — At the cia, they'd started an office pool on when I'd be fired. — President Trump would be sworn in for his second term at noon; the smart money had me gone by 12:15.
Discussion:
Advocate
RELATED:
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Dems plan Oman war powers push after Trump threatens bombing … - “At this point we may just need to file war powers resolutions for the 192 other countries,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told Axios. — The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Discussion:
The Guardian, New Republic, NewsMax.com, TheJournal.ie, Washington Examiner, The Independent, New York Post, The Hill and Washington Times
RELATED:
Eric Mack / Fox News:
Trump confirms IRGC backchannel, but calls for Iran's ‘white flag of surrender’
Discussion:
Washington Times, One America News Network, Truthout, Deseret News, Breitbart, BBC, MS NOW, Al Jazeera, Blaze Media, HotAir, RedState, Metro.co.uk, CBS News, The Times of Israel and Axios
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
‘Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:’ Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion Lawsuit — ChatGPT prompts show how an expert witness report was created in a $61 million lawsuit over an explosion that killed three people. — An expert witness testifying …
Discussion:
Blaze Media
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility … Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process. — A 404 Media investigation was able to reveal Amazon's book buying operation …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Forbes, TechCrunch and The Post Millennial, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Supreme Court asked to hear case on Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in schools — The case could set up a landmark clash over the separation of church and state. — Summary — Civil liberties groups on Monday asked the Supreme Court to hear their challenge of a Texas law requiring …
RELATED:
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Supreme Court asked to review Texas's Ten Commandments requirement for schools
Supreme Court asked to review Texas's Ten Commandments requirement for schools
Discussion:
Associated Press and Common Dreams
Jason Lange / Reuters:
Trump approval falls to 33%, lowest of his presidency, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds — President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the U.S. war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Bloomberg:
DOJ Plans to Deploy 1,000 Monitors to Watch Midterm Elections — The Justice Department plans to send 1,000 monitors to watch voting during the midterm elections in November, a historic figure for a Republican administration, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said.
RELATED:
Adam Bonica / On Data and Democracy:
With Fear and Favor — Institutions don't have courage. They have incentives. — Institutions don't have courage. They have incentive structures. When incentives line up just right, it is not uncommon for an institution to make a collective decision that almost no one inside it would have made alone.
Discussion:
The Nation
Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
“Suckers and losers” as policy — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🚢 Subscribe to PN 🚢 — The Navy Times reported last week, based on interviews with family members, that multiple sailors have recently tried to jump overboard …
Discussion:
Salon
RELATED:
Brett Meiselas / MeidasTouch:
Fox Host Trashes U.S. Sailors as ‘Weak’ for Speaking Out About Dire Conditions
Fox Host Trashes U.S. Sailors as ‘Weak’ for Speaking Out About Dire Conditions
Discussion:
Yahoo Entertainment, NPR, The Independent and Althouse
Amy Furr / Breitbart:
WATCH: WNBA Security Accused of Forcing Mom, Daughter to Cover XX-XY Shirts amid Transgender Debate — A mother and daughter said they were forced to cover up their XX-XY Athletics t-shirts on Sunday during a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) game at Atlanta's Gateway Center Arena …
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Post, Blaze Media, Louder With Crowder, Legal Insurrection, The Post Millennial and RedState
Nicholas Kerr / ABC News:
Trump contradicts Vance, says nukes, not oil prices, No. 1 priority in Iran — Vance laid out a different order of priorities than Trump's stated mission. — President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y.
Discussion:
MS NOW
Annabella Rosciglione / The Daily Beast:
White House Reporters Find New Way to Bow to Trump — 'IT'S HAPPENING' — The president already has an invitation to the 2027 White House Correspondents' Dinner. — Even after President Donald Trump secretly put White House reporters in grave danger, the White House Correspondents' Association …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:
Trump Consults AI George Washington on Ballroom Design — Since Donald Trump flattened the East Wing last October, his justification for building a White House ballroom has evolved considerably. Originally, the president suggested he needed a place to throw killer parties.
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Daily Beast, The Independent, Washington Post and Salon
Rebecca Santana / Associated Press:
Trump administration pauses contentious border construction in Texas' Big Bend National Park — The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building …
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Washington Times, Houston Public Media, The Texas Tribune, NewsMax.com and KQTV-TV
Kate Santaliz / Axios:
House Ethics investigating Rep. Jimmy Gomez over sexual misconduct allegations — The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it is investigating Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) over allegations of sexual misconduct. … - The committee provided no further details about the allegations.
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, NPR, NOTUS, Fox News, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The Hill, CBS News, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall and KQTV-TV
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
New evidence suggests White House took steps to punish Colorado over Tina Peters case — Exactly one year ago this week, Donald Trump threatened to impose “harsh measures” on the state of Colorado unless it agreed to release election denier Tina Peters from prison several years before her sentence runs its course.
Discussion:
Democracy Docket and The Colorado Sun
Jordan Rubin / MS NOW:
Supreme Court denies Trump's rehearing petition, cementing Carroll's $5 million win — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's long-shot request to reconsider taking up his appeal in one of the two civil cases he lost to E. Jean Carroll.
Anna Bower / Lawfare:
What's So Special about a Special Grand Jury? — A primer on how special grand juries work, what federal law actually permits them to do, and why this one might backfire. — annabower.bsky.social — Meet The Authors — The Justice Department has empaneled a special grand jury in Washington …
Asawin Suebsaeng / Zeteo:
SCOOP: Trump's Iran War Has Burned Through Well Over 90% of Key Long-Range Missiles — Sources tell Zeteo the percentage of critical long-range missiles that the Trump administration has depleted in its failing war is in ‘at least the high nineties.’ — However terribly you think the Iran war …
Josephine Walker / Axios:
Trump's Iran strategy opens Pacific security gap … It also has raised questions about how the U.S. can sustain a formidable presence in both regions. … - While a full-scale invasion is unlikely, China could use the void to ratchet up its presence in the Pacific, he says.
Discussion:
Daily Mail

