Top Items:
MS NOW:
Trump aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House without security clearance for a year — The close aide to the president, known to filter much of the information reaching the commander-in-chief, ultimately relented in recent months after pressure from White House staff.
RELATED:
Alayna Treene / CNN:
Key Trump legislative advisor to depart with potentially bruising midterm looming — President Donald Trump's director of legislative affairs is expected to depart the White House in the coming weeks, a Trump administration official told CNN. — James Braid has served …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Politico, Daily Mail, The Independent, The Daily Caller and NewsMax.com
NOTUS:
Trump Considers a Press Secretary Shakeup: Picking a Man — After four female press secretaries during his two terms, President Donald Trump has told close advisers he would prefer a man to fill Karoline Leavitt's position, NOTUS has learned. — The pick would be meant to stave off comparisons …
Discussion:
Washingtonian, Fox News and The Hill
Kimberly Leonard / Politico:
Florida Dems scramble to regroup after Nixon upset — MIAMI — Progressive Angie Nixon's stunning upset in Florida's Senate race has many Democrats in the state spiraling. — The Jacksonville lawmaker's primary victory on Tuesday night over retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman jolted a state few thought would hold any surprises.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Hill, MS NOW, The Bulwark, NewsMax.com, twitchy.com, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, New York Post, Fox News, National Review, The Contrarian, TheGrio, Palm Beach Post, CBS News, Democracy Docket, Associated Press, Capital B News, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, HotAir, Political Wire, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Jewish Insider and New York Times
RELATED:
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Democrats are moving past the resistance. They want a new kind of fighter.
Discussion:
Politico, NBC News, Townhall, Washington Examiner and Fox News
David Frum / The Atlantic:
The ‘Resistance’ Is Over — The insurgent left cares more about its own factional agenda …
Jesse Johnson / The Japan Times:
North Korea fires off barrage of missiles hours after Trump says he plans to meet Kim — Pyongyang fired off a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, Seoul said, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Asia Times, The Korea Herald, American Greatness, France 24, NK News and Washington Times
RELATED:
Daniel Tudor / Financial Times:
North Korea dismisses Donald Trump's overture
Discussion:
Reuters, ABC News, Forbes, The Korea Herald, Bloomberg, Associated Press, RedState, The Korea Times, The Japan Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner and KQTV-TV
Phelim Kine / Politico:
Trump's snub of South Korea sends region scrambling
Trump's snub of South Korea sends region scrambling
Discussion:
New York Times, Council on Foreign Relations, Politico, BBC, The Korea Times and CBS News
CNN:
FBI raids former Rep. Eric Swalwell's home, seizes devices in probe tied to sexual assault claims — Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and then raided his home in Washington, DC, the next day as part …
Discussion:
The Independent
RELATED:
Shawn Cohen / Daily Mail:
FBI agents confront Eric Swalwell at San Francisco Airport and seize his electronics as part of sexual misconduct investigation — FBI agents confronted Eric Swalwell with a search warrant when he landed at San Francisco Airport Saturday and seized the former congressman's electronic devices including …
Discussion:
New York Post, CBS News, Fox News, RedState, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit and emptywheel
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
'It's Bonkers': Jennifer Hegseth's Hands-On Role in Her Husband's Pentagon — After an 18-year career at Fox News, she is now her husband's most influential adviser and de facto producer, shaping the job like no Pentagon spouse has before. — There has never been a Pentagon spouse quite like Jennifer Hegseth.
Discussion:
The Independent
Financial Times:
US long-term bonds slide as Bessent intervention fails to soothe investors — Yield on 30-year Treasuries rises despite move to ‘at least double’ purchases of securities — US long-term government bonds were hit with a fresh wave of selling on Thursday as Treasury secretary Scott Bessent's intervention …
RELATED:
Ishaan Tharoor / New Yorker:
After Six Months of War, Trump Is Still Losing to Iran — The conflict marks a “precipitous collapse of American power and American prestige.” — Spare a thought for the sailors of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. As the United States' campaign against Iran drags on, their deployment aboard …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
New Drone Unit to Be Phased Out as Hegseth's Army Pick Makes His Mark — Gen. Christopher LaNeve takes aim at a cutting-edge drone unit, one of several moves he has made since taking over the Army — WASHINGTON—The Army took a major step to prepare for wars of the future in January …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and NewsMax.com, more at Techmeme »
Hugo Lowell / Wired:
Elon Musk Is Expected to Point His Money Machine at Texas Politics — Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk is expected to spend up to $200 million in the midterms. It could be a big boost for GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who's struggled to raise cash. — Elon Musk is expected to spend big …
Douglas Gillison / Reuters:
More than 150 Polymarket wallets may have traded on military secrets, research finds — More than 150 wallets on Polymarket International may have traded on inside U.S. military information, attracting copycat bets and raising concerns that the market could broadcast signals exploitable …
David French / New York Times:
JD Vance Thinks You Are Not Christian Enough — JD Vance doesn't think our nation is Christian enough to be truly free. Your faithlessness has broken the social compact, and now it is time for the government to seize greater control. — If I had to distill many of our most important economic …
Roby Brock / Talk Business & Politics:
Poll: Tight race for US Senate between Cotton, Shoffner — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Hallie Shoffner holds a slim lead over incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, but the race is within the statewide survey's margin of error of 4.7%. — The new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College Poll …
Discussion:
Good Politics/Bad Politics
Sarah Davis / NewsNation:
Air Force major detained again for Capitol protest after Trump criticism — The U.S. service member who was arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol last month after he advocated for President Trump's impeachment was detained again, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening.
Discussion:
CNN, Military.com, Political.org and The Parnas Perspective
NPR:
Experts raise alarms over Census Bureau report Trump is touting on noncitizen voting — A highly unusual Census Bureau report that President Trump is using to reup dubious claims of widespread illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens has ties to a Trump-aligned think tank, NPR has learned.
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Democracy Docket, Israpundit, Mike Schneider, Washington Post and RedState
Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
August 2026 National Poll: Democrats Lead Congressional Ballot by Eight Points; Rubio Outperforms Vance on 2028 Ballot Tests — Home Polls August 2026 National Poll: Democrats Lead Congressional Ballot by Eight Points; Rubio Outperforms Vance on 2028 Ballot Tests
Discussion:
NewsNation and NewsMax.com
Scott Clement / Washington Post:
A fake poll tested media and poll trackers. Here's who passed and failed. — Median Strategies, a fake polling firm, claimed it was a “social experiment.” The fraudulent poll received some attention but was shunned by mainstream poll aggregators and exposed by a reporter.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, FiftyPlusOne, The Hill, Truthout, Blaze Media, Samizdata, Telegraph and Journal Sentinel
Olivia George / Washington Post:
Democrats' view of Trump's first term improves in retrospect, poll finds — Recent ratings of the state of American democracy in 2020 rose by eight points compared with surveys of Democrats that year. — Democrats have a rosier view of the state of American democracy during President Donald Trump's …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and MS NOW
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Vance raises $5 million at big Hamptons event — Vice President Vance hosted a Wednesday evening fundraiser in Southampton, N.Y., for young Republican donors that raised more than $5 million, Axios has learned. … - Attendees included Donald Trump Jr., Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan and GRV Strategies founder Garrett Ventry.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and NewsMax.com
CBS News:
ICE, Iran quietly worked together on deporting Iranians to Iran, emails show — Add CBS News on Google — Los Angeles — U.S. immigration officials worked with Iran to deport Iranians in late 2025 and early 2026, newly released emails show, revealing a working relationship between the U.S …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Reason
Steve Vladeck / One First:
Bonus 244: Minnesota v. Abbott — Governor Abbott is refusing to comply with a demand to extradite an ICE officer under criminal indictment in Minnesota. He has no legal leg to stand on, but may instead be trying to run out the clock. — ∙ Paid — Interstate extradition is supposed to be boring.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Townhall, Daily Kos, HotAir and Newsweek
Aram Roston / The Guardian:
Crypto bank part-owned by Trump family offers depositors way to ‘gain favor’ with White House, experts say — Democrats have called World Liberty Trust Company a stark example of corruption but officials claim there is no insider dealing — Two fundamentals underpin the business model …
Discussion:
BusinessDay
Politico:
Trump's pick to lead the FDA faces uphill Senate battle — Heidi Overton's years of loyalty to Donald Trump helped her become his pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, one of the government's most powerful regulatory agencies. But that devotion could ruin her chances at Senate confirmation.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Washington Examiner, UPI, New York Times, NOTUS, The Hill, Roll Call, CBS News, KQTV-TV and CNN
Maxine Joselow / New York Times:
How Trump Is Trying to Crush California's Environmental Policies — At least a half-dozen federal agencies have taken action against the state that has long led the nation in environmental protections. — An oil platform seen from Sands Beach next to Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve in Santa Barbara …
Washington Post:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott takes aim at Muslim washing stations in airports — Legal experts dispute Abbott's claims that the ritual washing stations are discriminatory, with some saying his attack fits a pattern of anti-Muslim actions and rhetoric. — Summary
Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:
State Dept. Declares U.S. Citizen in China Wrongfully Detained — U Min Zin, a scholar who studied Myanmar, is one of two U.S. citizens the department has designated as wrongfully detained in China. — The State Department on Thursday designated an American scholar arrested in China …
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News, Reuters, Political.org and The Independent


