Top Items:
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, Rolling Stone, The Independent, ABC News, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, The Sun, TheJournal.ie, Stars & Stripes and Axios
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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:
The Hill, Straight Arrow, New York Times, NOTUS, BBC, Forbes, Associated Press, CBS News, Breitbart, The Sun, NewsMax.com, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg, KQTV-TV and The Gateway Pundit
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
After Trump gave North Korea what it wants, a key senator accuses him of ‘appeasement’
After Trump gave North Korea what it wants, a key senator accuses him of ‘appeasement’
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, New York Times, Jack Reed, The Daily Wire, Adam Kinzinger, Euronews, NOTUS, NewsMax.com and Semafor
Washington Post:
60 days after signing Iran deal, Trump stuck in quagmire as peace talks stall — President Donald Trump's interim deal with Iran in June set aside two months for negotiations, but the window has now closed and broader talks are at a standstill. — Summary
Discussion:
The Times of Israel and CBS News
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Wall Street Journal:
Iran's Secret Plan to Escalate the War — Intercepted communications and other intelligence suggest a strategic shift by hard-line leaders to raise the costs for the U.S. and its regional allies — After President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran in mid-June …
Discussion:
HotAir, Israpundit, NewsMax.com, The Times of Israel, Semafor and SpyTalk
Eric Mack / Fox News:
Trump confirms IRGC backchannel, but calls for Iran's ‘white flag of surrender’
Discussion:
Truthout, Deseret News, Breitbart, CBS News, Al Jazeera, RedState, BBC, MS NOW, Blaze Media, Metro.co.uk and Axios
Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Trump says U.S. would handle Oman ‘very easily’ if it interferes in talks on Strait of Hormuz
Trump says U.S. would handle Oman ‘very easily’ if it interferes in talks on Strait of Hormuz
Discussion:
Axios, New York Times, Townhall, Forbes, Washington Post, Bloomberg and TMZ.com
Gaya Gupta / The Guardian:
US gas prices reach highest ever recorded for August amid stalled talks with Iran
US gas prices reach highest ever recorded for August amid stalled talks with Iran
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and KQTV-TV
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, The Post Millennial and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »
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.
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, CNN, NOTUS, Washington Examiner and SCOTUSblog
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Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court turns away Trump's latest bid to block E. Jean Carroll award
Discussion:
Associated Press, Above the Law, The Guardian, The Parnas Perspective, New York Times, The Independent, New Republic, CNBC and Deadline
Ann E. Marimow / New York Times:
Supreme Court Again Rejects Trump's Appeal of $5 Million E. Jean Carroll Payment
Supreme Court Again Rejects Trump's Appeal of $5 Million E. Jean Carroll Payment
Discussion:
New York Post, Deseret News, NBC News, Associated Press, Washington Times, Politico, Newsweek, CBS News, Bloomberg, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, ABC News and Forbes
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 …
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 …
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
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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, The Independent, NPR and Althouse
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
Sammy Westfall / Washington Post:
Trump blames vandals for dead grass on lawn where he held Fourth of July event — Similarly damaged grass was seen at the White House Ellipse and South Lawn after the UFC Freedom 250 events this summer. — President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday to accuse vandals of damaging …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
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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.
JusttheNews.com:
FBI had evidence Swalwell got illegal donations from suspected Chinese spy, bombshell memos show — The newly declassified investigation files also show that the FBI had initially tried to recruit the infamous Fang Fang as a source that could share information on Chinese influence operations …
Discussion:
HotAir, New York Post, Legal Insurrection, RealClearPolitics, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, twitchy.com and The Post Millennial
RELATED:
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 …
Discussion:
Common Dreams
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, Newsweek, Wonkette, twitchy.com, The Gateway Pundit and HuffPost
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
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 Independent, The Daily Beast, 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:
Washington Examiner, Axios and The Hill
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 …
Mike Zapler / Axios:
The Democratic establishment's ideas deficit — The centrist Democratic group Third Way recently declared “war” on democratic socialists to head off what they fear could be a far-left hijacking of the party ahead of 2028. — But establishment Democrats have made clear what they're …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, American Greatness, Washington Post and No More Mister Nice Blog
Gary Fineout / Politico:
Trump votes by mail again in his home state of Florida — PLANT CITY, Florida — President Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida's Republican primary, according to local voting records, even as he continues to rail against mail-in voting with wide-ranging allegations of fraud.
Discussion:
Palm Beach Post and Florida Politics
Dave Levinthal / NOTUS:
House Ethics Chair Violates the STOCK Act — House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest, whose committee enforces compliance of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, violated the insider trading and transparency law, a NOTUS review of congressional financial records indicates.
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Is the DSA a Republican Psy-Op? — If I told you the DSA was secretly run by Roger Stone to hurt Democrats it would make more sense than . . . this. — 1. Sides — Over the weekend Hakeem Jeffries was asked if he endorsed the agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America. He said no.
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire and Washington Times
Courtenay Brown / Axios:
Why prescription drug prices are plunging — America is experiencing its biggest prescription drug price deflation in generations. … - Prices haven't risen in any month this year, an unusually persistent stretch of flat or falling drug prices. — The downward trend comes as costs …
Discussion:
New York Post, Townhall, The White House, RedState, STAT and The Gateway Pundit

