Trump Brought Venezuelan Gold to the U.S., but Refiners Won't Touch It  —  After the oil, President Trump went for Venezuela's gold.  The White House brokered deals potentially worth billions.  I went to Venezuela's mines to see for myself how it was playing out.  —  Anatoly Kurmanaev

Trump to Unveil Planned $15 Billion Iowa Steel Project  —  The announcement comes as Trump is looking for wins ahead of a tough midterm election for Republicans  —  WASHINGTON—President Trump will announce a Minnesota company's plan to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa …

Andrew Bailey, a Deputy Director at the F.B.I., Leaves His Job  —  Mr. Bailey, who was part of a three-person leadership team atop the bureau, lasted barely a year.  —  Andrew Bailey, who has served as deputy director of the F.B.I. as part of an unusual leadership arrangement …

The Moves That Backfired on Trump and Drove Interest Rates and Inflation Higher  —  The president's advisers said fiscal restraint and deregulation would bring down prices and borrowing costs.  Then came tariffs, war and an investment boom.  —  In the early days of President Trump's second term …

‘I want public executions’: Texas GOP candidate's extreme posts extend beyond racism  —  Race & ethnicity Oil & gas DOGE Social media  —  Bo French, the Republican nominee for one of Texas' most powerful statewide offices, is facing bipartisan criticism over a racist post about the crowd at a University of Texas football game.

Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says  —  President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China's leader, said David Perdue, the ambassador to China.  The White House later said the U.S. had no plans for such a sale.  —  阅读.体中文.閱讀.體中文.

The Trump-Loving Texas Republican Sounding the Alarm on Data Centers  —  “I think Abbott may lose,” Sid Miller tells Rolling Stone of the governor who has raked in millions from AI interests  —  ADD US AS A GOOGLE PREFERRED SOURCE  —  By sheer numbers, Texas' stock of existing and planned data centers is bigger than China's.

Iran, prices, ICE, and Epstein are the biggest stories of 2026  —  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.

Possible Next House Intel Chair Aims to Probe ‘Nakedly Corrupt Dealings’  —  In a letter to a defense-industry group, Rep. Jim Himes signaled to the private sector a desire to investigate alleged coercion by the Trump administration  —  WASHINGTON—The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee …

Trump's Joes exit the front row  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner  —  Good Monday morning.  We're awaiting Trump's scheduled announcement at 2 p.m. and wondering whether the briefing room is next in line for a White House makeover.  Get in touch.  —  In today's Playbook ...

Affordability Is a Winning Message for Democrats.  But There's an Even Better One.  —  After years of fumbling around for an effective campaign message, Democrats seem to have finally found one in affordability.  The idea couldn't be simpler: Life's essential goods have become intolerably expensive …

DOGE vs. Civic Tech  —  DOGE wielded extraordinary power during the first months of the Trump administration.  It was more important than any Cabinet official.  The fact it has been completely memory-holed by this administration says much about its purpose and impact, and the politics of non-accountability under Trump.

The Free and Unfree Press  —  Axel Springer, the German media company whose corporate constitution includes support for Israel and “the principles of a free market economy” as its founding values, gives an award each year that can be thought of as the Press Ruiner Award.

Did Anthropic's A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own?  —  An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company's A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.  —  When Anthropic, the artificial intelligence giant …

The Untold Origins of Trump's Plan to Sharply Restrict Mail-In Voting  —  Earlier this month, the Supreme Court blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump restricting voting by mail in ways that could have thrown the upcoming midterms into chaos.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to OK transgender inmate policy  —  The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to lift a judge's block on its policy restricting transgender inmates' access to hormone treatments and gender-affirming surgeries.

Parsing the UN Fact-Finding Mission's Report on U.S. Strikes in Iran  —  The UN Fact-Finding Commission concludes that the United States has committed war crimes.  It could have said more to make a convincing case.  —  Meet The Authors  —  The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission …

Gone in 90 seconds: an ‘invisibilized’ ICE is arresting more people than ever  —  After public backlash, the Trump administration changed its tactics from ‘siege’ to ‘soft feet’.  Now, ICE is everywhere  —  Those who lived through it describe the ICE raids as a “siege” or an “occupation”.

253. Introducing “The Court We Need”  —  Welcome back to “One First,” a newsletter that aims to make the U.S. Supreme Court more accessible to lawyers and non-lawyers alike.  I'm grateful to all of you for your continued support, and I hope that you'll consider sharing some of what we're doing with your networks.

Spain is becoming NATO's next dictatorship.  Trump must act now  —  A dangerous autocracy is emerging on Europe's southwestern flank, hidden behind a thin veneer of constitutional legitimacy.  Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his ruling socialist party (PSOE) have systematically hollowed …

Feed the lizard  —  The New York Times dropped a story on Wednesday about former House member Mary Peltola, one of Democrats' top recruits in a critical Senate race, about her behavior toward staff.  —  The people who work for congressional Democrats are, by definition, Democrats …

Wes Streeting: Britain and Europe must get out of ‘defensive crouch’  —  LIVERPOOL, England — Britain and Europe need to get out of their “defensive crouch,” Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said Monday, as he argued that U.S. pressure on European allies will ultimately result in a stronger Europe.

Republicans fuming at Hegseth as war costs build  —  The News  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is running into a wall of congressional GOP resistance as he tries to secure $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon next year.  —  Lawmakers' growing reluctance to fulfill Hegseth's eye-popping budget …

Pope Leo urges concessions for peace as Ukraine war drags on  —  Pope Leo said on Monday that negotiators seeking to end conflict in Europe must be willing to sacrifice some positions to achieve peace, as efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine continue to fail.

Paul emerges as a roadblock to homeland security efforts  —  When it comes to homeland security, Republicans, Democrats, lobbyists and even the Trump administration agree on one thing: Kentucky Republican Rand Paul is impossible to get around.  —  The cantankerous chair of the Senate Homeland Security …