Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Homeland Security Money Financed Pro-Trump Television Ads — White House calls the spots public-service ads, but critics argue using taxpayer money for campaign-like messaging may violate federal law — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration used federal funds from the Department …
RELATED:
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Scoop: Trump's hand-picked, taxpayer-funded ads about to ramp up … - “This is just the beginning,” an administration official told Axios. … - The ads are being produced inside the White House. — Trump liked videos the White House digital team — which regularly churns out aggressive …
Discussion:
Vox, Washington Post, The Contrarian, MS NOW, CNN, The Independent, Associated Press and Time
Politico:
Sen. Eric Schmitt pins down Jack Smith — as a Caitlin Clark fan — Sen. Eric Schmitt thought he caught Jack Smith in a lie. Instead, he outed him as a fan of former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark. In a quest to frame former special counsel Jack Smith as a liar during his testimony …
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Melissa Quinn / CBS News:
Jack Smith defends handling of Trump probes at heated Senate hearing
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, NBC News, Associated Press, The Washington Sun, Roll Call, RedState, The Hill, Mediaite, National Politics, New Republic and Breitbart
Molly Parks / Washington Examiner:
Grassley says Smith subpoenaed nearly 5,000 checks from Trump donors as part of Arctic Frost
Grassley says Smith subpoenaed nearly 5,000 checks from Trump donors as part of Arctic Frost
Discussion:
United States Senate Committee …, twitchy.com, The Daily Wire, RedState and The Federalist
Politico:
Republicans wanted Jack Smith to give them a smoking gun. They got a gaffe instead.
Republicans wanted Jack Smith to give them a smoking gun. They got a gaffe instead.
Discussion:
The Parnas Perspective, The Wrap, New Republic, The Hill, Mediaite, The Independent and Roll Call
Kaelan Deese / Washington Examiner:
Jack Smith dodges questions about spying on Republican lawmakers
Jack Smith dodges questions about spying on Republican lawmakers
Discussion:
The Hill, The Federalist, New York Post, American Greatness and Mediaite
NBC News:
Senate GOP to press Jack Smith on Trump Jan. 6 probe as DOJ targets investigators
Senate GOP to press Jack Smith on Trump Jan. 6 probe as DOJ targets investigators
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, abc7NY, Deseret News, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Newsweek, Scripps News, Blaze Media, National Politics and Mediaite
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
A Republican midterm defeat will not be an earthquake — Democrats are likely to make gains in Congress but divided government is unlikely to derail Trump's agenda — America is at a point in its political cycle where phrases like “groundswell” and “wheels coming off” engulf us in historic waves.
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Will McDuffie / MS NOW:
A Kansas Democrat's red-state pitch: A two-term limit and no Trump trials
Discussion:
New York Times, Breitbart and Reuters
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Hegseth to cut 20 percent of admirals, generals in major Pentagon overhaul — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to announce a 20 percent cut to slots slated for admirals and generals at the Pentagon as part of his push to overhaul the outlook of the department, a Pentagon official confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.
Discussion:
New Republic and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Tara Copp / Washington Post:
Hegseth to cut more generals, admirals in bid to remake military's top ranks — The defense secretary is expected to announce that the number of top officers will be reduced by as much as 20 percent, officials said. — SummaryLoading... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected …
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court allows Trump's ‘third country’ deportation policy — This is the second time the court has rejected lower court rulings that immigrants must be able to object before being sent to countries to which they have no previous connection. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday …
Discussion:
CBS News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Gateway Pundit and Reuters
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Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:
Supreme Court Allows Rapid Third-Country Deportations, for Now
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Guardian
Politico:
Navarro warns Canada against election interference — White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned Canadians not to interfere in U.S. elections, a rhetorical escalation in the ongoing trade war between the two countries. — At an economic event hosted by a communications and policy firm …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Joe Deaux / Bloomberg:
Navarro Tells Canadian Lobbyists to ‘Get the Hell Out’ of US
Discussion:
New York Times and Mediaite
Chrystia Freeland / The Atlantic:
The Art of Dealing With Trump
The Art of Dealing With Trump
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Global News, Breitbart and Deseret News
Politico:
Trump says tech execs signed ‘morally binding’ accord to help police AI — Tech executives signed a “morally binding” constitution on artificial intelligence during a White House lunch Tuesday, President Donald Trump told reporters following the event. The president also floated forming …
Discussion:
The Hill, Forbes, Washington Examiner and CBS News, more at Techmeme »
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Collin Binkley / Associated Press:
Trump announces a new $15B Iowa steel plant and claims it will be the nation's biggest — It comes as Trump is trying to energize voters ahead of difficult midterm races including in Iowa, where governor and Senate seats have become competitive. — President Donald Trump on Monday announced …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNBC, Iowa Starting Line, The Post Millennial, One America News Network, NewsMax.com, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT, The Hill, The Independent, American Greatness, Breitbart, Associated Press, Deseret News, Radio Iowa, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, MPR News, National Politics, New Republic, Newsweek, New York Post, USA Today, Bloomberg, Reuters, American Iron …, Daily Mail and Fox News
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Axios:
“Brace for losing everything”: Farm crisis fears grip GOP in Iowa
Discussion:
MS NOW and Mother Jones
Tim Balk / New York Times:
In Nine Key Senate Races, Five Republicans Won't Commit to Campaigning With Trump
In Nine Key Senate Races, Five Republicans Won't Commit to Campaigning With Trump
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Post and Newsweek
Paul Krugman:
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent — One iron law of current politics is that nobody who associates themselves with Donald Trump emerges with a shred of credibility. For some, that's not a big loss — it's not as if anyone respected Pete Hegseth even before he decided that the key …
Discussion:
DeLong's Grasping …, NewsMax.com, Fox News and Townhall
Jay Willis / Slate:
It Was the Essential Home of Supreme Court News. Now It's a Joke. What Happened? — Earlier this month, SCOTUSblog hosted its annual Supreme Court “summit” in Washington. For nearly a quarter century, SCOTUSblog has been the go-to outlet for information about the court and its docket …
Jim VandeHei / Axios:
Sen. Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible Vance VP in 2028 — First-term Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) — who was a tough-on-crime state attorney general, and now is vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee — has grown close to Vice President Vance and is seen as a top prospect to become a potential 2028 running mate.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, MeidasTouch, New York Magazine, HuffPost, MS NOW, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner and Mediaite
Julianne McShane / MS NOW:
Kristi Noem files for divorce from Bryon Noem — Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband of over three decades, Bryon Noem, six months after a tabloid published photos that appeared to show him wearing women's clothing and fake breasts and reported …
Discussion:
Dakota News Now and The Hill
RELATED:
The Washington Sun:
Trump Is Preparing to Auto-Enroll Every Child in a Trump Account — The Trump administration is preparing to automatically enroll every American child in a Trump Account before the midterm elections, aiming to increase the impact of a program that has struggled with low take-up, according to four sources familiar with discussions.
RELATED:
Simon Shuster / The Atlantic:
Trump's Latest Appeal to Russia Could Outrage Even His Allies — Trump's envoy wants to trade Russian political prisoners for U.S. sanctions relief, creating a path to business deals before the war in Ukraine ends. — A few months ago, Donald Trump's envoy to Eastern Europe came …
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Bloomberg and The White House
Lauren Green / Washington Examiner:
Huckabee Sanders slammed for ad featuring white man on welfare — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders's (R-AR) new campaign advertisement has been the subject of backlash on the Right after she released a new ad portraying an unemployed white man as a welfare recipient.
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The Forces of Trumpism Are in Disarray — This is what it looks like when a movement begins to come apart. — 1. Things Fall Apart — The last 72 hours have seen a remarkable series of fractures within the Republican party. Taken together they are signs that Donald Trump, his movement …
Jenna Monnin / The Washington Sun:
Lone Republican Senator Derails a Bill to Prevent Demolition of the Kennedy Center — Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prohibited the destruction of any national memorial honoring a U.S. president — a measure meant to protect the Kennedy Center from a full demolition — without congressional approval.
Discussion:
The Guardian, USA Today, Washington Post, Merkley, Townhall, Deseret News, Washington Examiner and New Republic
David Gilbert / Wired:
A Pentagon Influencer Called Liberal Women a ‘Pestilence’ Who Will End Western Civilization — Kurt Schlichter was part of a task force rooting out so-called woke ideologies at the military's war colleges. He has called to bar childless adults from voting.
Discussion:
The Hill
Joe Perticone / The Bulwark:
An Evangelical Kingmaker Is Lost in the Age of Trump — Eat Pray Love Vote Stand — One of the major subplots in American politics over the past half-decade is evangelical Christians—the political constituency without which Trump would have never been elected president—becoming the dog that caught the car.
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
New AI-powered government website uses Gemini, Grok, Trump official Gebbia says … The Trump administration's new chatbot aimed at helping Americans navigate official government websites is powered by artificial intelligence from Google's Gemini and Elon Musk's Grok, U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia said Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Hill, GovExec.com, Fox News, Variety, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, The Washington Sun, Gizmodo, Slate, Bloomberg, Newsweek, The Independent, Axios, Mediaite, Straight Arrow, The Gateway Pundit, Google, New Republic and CBS News, more at Techmeme »
Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press:
Appeals court weighs fate of judge's contempt probe over Trump administration deportation flights — A federal judge must end his “unlawful, unnecessary and futile” contempt investigation into whether the Trump administration ignored an order blocking the deportation of planeloads …
Discussion:
Politico, The Washington Sun, Talking Points Memo, Courthouse News Service, Newsweek and Talking Feds Substack
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Fox News is running its midterms migrant caravan playbook again — President Donald Trump's extreme unpopularity has the Republican Party seemingly on course for a midterm elections drubbing — which means it's once again time for Fox News to try to scare its viewers to the polls with frantic coverage of a …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, PJ Media, Breitbart, Townhall, NewsMax.com, The Maine Wire, Fox News, HotAir, Daily Kos, Yahoo News and The Post Millennial


