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Editor's Choice: Scroll below for our monthly blend of mainstream and alternative June 2026 news and views. See our News Reports section for coverage of earlier dates, months and years.

Editor's Note: Scroll below for Part 1 of our monthly blend of mainstream and alternative June 2026 news and views, with clips beginning at June 1 and extending through June 9 in reverse chronological order. See our home page for more recent coverage during this unusually heavy news period.

Excerpts below are from the authors' words except for subheads and occasional "Editor's notes" such as this. Nearly all excerpts are drawn from news sources for which the Justice Integrity Project pays a subscription. Readers here are encouraged also to subscribe to these outlets also to receive their full coverage and to support their work. 

 

June 15

Top Headlines

 

Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).he spectacle is estimated to cost more than $60 million, according to Mark Shapiro, who is the president of U.F.C.’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings. (Mr. Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO weeks ahead of this event at the White House that he has been promoting for months).

The Iran 'Peace' Deal Analyzed

More On Epstein Files, Trump Team Coverup

Epstein survivor Theresa Helm speaks at a Sept. 3 rally on Capitol Hill. (C-SPAN)

Epstein survivor Theresa Helm speaks at a Sept. 3 rally on Capitol Hill. (C-SPAN)

  • The Contrarian, Opinion: Confirming Blanche Might Finish Off Republicans’ Careers, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 15, 2026. How voting to promote the Epstein cover-up architect could play out.Senate Republicans who vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general should take heed: They will be haunted for the rest of their careers (some of which may very well end with the midterms) by the courageous survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s monstrous crimes.

News Roundups 

US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian, France on June 15, 2026. (Pool photo by Ludovic Marin of Reuters).US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian, France on June 15, 2026. (Pool photo by Ludovic Marin of Reuters). 

More On Threats To American Rights, Laws, Values, Democracy

Global News 

G7 Summit 2026

More On Iran-Lebanon War

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Immigration, Rights, Justice

U.S. Foreign Policy, National Security, Alliances, Military

  • The Steady State Analysis: Is Putin Winning Without Firing a Shot? Steven A. Cash, June 15, 2026. The Kremlin never needed Americans to love Russia. It only needed them to distrust democracy, despise institutions, and turn against one another
  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 14, 2026 [], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 15, 2026. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved “[t]hat six companies of expert riflemen, be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four serjeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates…[and that] each company, as soon as completed, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.”

More On U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance 

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The Real Real America, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 15, 2026. Although last night’s UFC extravaganza on the White House lawn seemed in danger early on of losing the biggest, most important fight on the card—the fight against the weather—the good Lord in his mysterious judgment apparently decided we wouldn’t get off so easy.
  • New York Times, Health Risks of Alcohol Accelerate After One Drink a Day, Study Finds, Roni Caryn Rabin, Updated June 10, 2026. The alcohol industry has criticized the research, which found that even light drinking increases the risk of premature death.
  • Salon.com, Three months into Kansas’ anti-trans law, confusion and fear persists, Tatyana Tandanpolie, June 14, 2026. Since its enactment, the driver's license law has left trans Kansans unsure of how to navigate everyday life. Senate Bill 244 was sweeping in its scope. As soon as it was published in the state register, it invalidated nearly 2,000 driver’s licenses as well as adding bathroom restrictions that opened transgender Kansans up to legal penalties. If you cannot use the restroom at work, you cannot be employed. If you cannot use the restroom at school, you cannot go to school. 

U.S. Markets, High Tech, Media

More On Trump's Birthday Bash

  • Everyone is entitled to my own opinion, Commentary: Welcome to Cage Match Idiocracy, Jeff Tiedrich, right, jeff tiedrichJune 15, 2026. Remember the 2006 movie "Idiocracy?" Its premise was ‘What if everyone in America was a f------moron — and what if the biggest f-----moron of all was the president?’

 

Top Headlines

 

Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).

New York Times, For His 80th Birthday, Trump Brought a Cage Match to the White House Lawn, Shawn McCreesh, Updated June 15, 2026. President Trump sat ringside beside his wife, Melania Trump, for an event that used the trappings of the White House for a U.F.C. brawl. 

President Trump’s 80th birthday Ultimate Fighting Championship stunt on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday night was a mass-media spectacle unlike any in the history of the presidency.

Mr. Trump sat ringside beside his wife, Melania Trump, as fighters whaled on one another inches away inside an eight-sided cage wrapped in cryptocurrency advertisements. All five of his children and nearly all his grandchildren sat around him.

Thousands more were there on the lawn beneath a 600-ton steel-arch contraption called the Claw. The White House loomed dramatically over a fighting pit packed with billionaires, cabinet members and Republican lawmakers.

It was all such an astonishing sight for so many reasons: The use of the trappings of the White House for violent cage fighting. The corporate sponsorships. The eruptions of casual cruelty. At one point, a fighter took the mic and made a nasty joke about Michelle Obama while standing in front of the house she once lived in with her husband, daughters and mother.

Even for a president with a lifelong penchant for P.T. Barnum-esque gambits, this one was in a league of its own.

Much of the White House was given over to this production. Fighters were filmed walking out through various rooms inside the residence and warming up, barefoot, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building across the way.

The crowd included the tech and media billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and David Ellison. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, was there, as was Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. The secretaries of state, Treasury, defense, commerce and homeland security were there. So was the vice president, the F.B.I. director and Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, who is due back from maternity leave soon. Kid Rock showed up, and so did Roger Clemens and Robert Kraft. James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks, walked up to the president to pay his respects.

Klieg lights crawled across the Old Executive Office Building and the great mature magnolia and willow oak trees of the White House grounds. At times it was eerily still and silent inside the Claw as fighters circled one another, waiting to pounce. But once a guy took his shot and really started clobbering, the Claw would come alive.

In the first round, a fighter named Diego Lopes conquered, climbed up to straddle the stretch of cage right in the front of the president’s face and punched his fist in the air. Mr. Trump stared up at him, smiling.Editors’ PicksIs There Such a Thing as Timeless Jeans?Our Best Father’s Day RecipesWant to Rent Out Your House? Here’s How to Get Started.

Joe Rogan popped into the ring a moment later for a little post-match analysis: “You caught him in a beautiful left hook.”

Every so often the enormous screens hanging in each of the Claw’s four corners would play a video. In one clip, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Mr. Trump talked about American military might as footage of explosions and gunfire lit up the arena. All the while, storm clouds swirled cinematically over the White House. 

In some sense, Mr. Trump’s 80th birthday brawl on the lawn was the apogee of a series of moves he has been making for half his life.

A seminal moment came in the late 1980s when he successfully wooed the boxer Mike Tyson to fight in Atlantic City. Mr. Tyson was then the heavyweight champion of the world. His bouts drew the biggest celebrities of the day to Mr. Trump’s properties. Sinatra. Beatty and Nicholson. Sean and Madonna. Money, ego, gore, vanity, hype and the flash of the camera all mixed together, ringside, and a fundamental chapter of the Trumpian playbook was written.

Mr. Trump learned in those years and the years to follow from two of the most famous fight promoters of all time, Don King (“Only in America!”) and Vince McMahon (his wife is our current secretary of education). WrestleMania came to Trump Plaza, and Mr. Trump made many kayfabe cameos. (Is it any wonder Hulk Hogan was given a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention?)

Mr. Trump eventually found a new Don King in Dana White, the chief executive of U.F.C. Together, the two are doing what Mr. Trump has pretty much always done. The stage is bigger than ever, the context more surreal, but the stunt itself and the instincts behind it are familiar. Money, ego, gore, vanity, hype and the flash of the camera, all mixing on the South Lawn of the White House. Mr. Trump at 80 has whipped up a spectacle the same way he learned to at 40. Americans elected a fight promoter as president, twice, and a fight promoter is what they got.

One thing that has changed over the years is the nature of the fighting itself. U.F.C. is a different kind of smash-em-up derby from the boxing matches Mr. Trump presided over in the 1980s. Next to it, professional wrestling is the New York City Ballet. The Octagon is a place of brutal entertainment, a raw pageant of pain. It’s cockfighting with men as birds.

Between bouts, women in skimpy Wonder Woman get-ups sauntered around the edge of the ring. At one point, a triumphant fighter named Josh Hokit — the one who made the remark about Mrs. Obama — approached the edge of the ring, leaned forward and draped a chain over Mr. Trump’s neck.

ufc motorcycles djtOn and on it went. More men beat each other up. A video of Conor McGregor talking smack blared on the lawn. Pyrotechnics shot out from the appendages of the claw. Jet planes flew low overhead.

There were several fights over the course of the evening. In one of them, a man from Philly with bleach-blond hair was down on his back, trying to fend off a fighter named Bo Nickal. A gust of wind blew in and lifted up the president’s hair. He reached up to pat it back down around the sides of his head. Mr. Nickal was really pummeling the man from Philly now.

The round ended. Mr. Nickal climbed up and out of the ring, bent low and shook hands with the president and first lady. Mr. Rogan returned to the ring to narrate. “Bo,” he said, “I know how patriotic you are.” Bo thanked the president for hosting.

“It takes such a special person,” he said, “to be able to have the balls to do something like this.”  

 

US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian, France on June 15, 2026. (Pool photo by Ludovic Marin of Reuters).

The Hartmann Report, News and Opinion: What Desperate Regimes Do Before They Fall, Thom Hartmann, right,  thom hartmann newJune 15, 2026. History leaves behind a pattern: attack the courts, discredit elections, intimidate opponents, rewrite the rules, and cling to power at any cost. The question is whether America recognizes it in time…

Donald Trump is already telling us he’s going to try to steal the 2026 election, and the fact that he’s saying it now, months in advance, is the whole tell.

hartmann report newBack in February he stood up and declared that “Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” floated taking over the vote in fifteen states his party doesn’t control, and returned to the lie he’s been pushing for a decade, that mail-in ballots are crawling with fraud.

They aren’t. Americans have voted by mail for more than a century and a half, and the Brennan Center has shown over and over that you’re likelier to be struck by lightning than to commit mail-ballot fraud.

The fraud claim was never an argument: it’s an excuse for voter suppression, its own form of election fraud. When you convince tens of millions of people that the only way your side can possibly lose is if the other side cheats, you’ve prepared them to swallow whatever you “have to do to protect the vote,” and to reject the result as illegitimate if you lose anyway. That’s the groundwork, and they’re laying it right now in the open.

The measures themselves are extraordinary. This spring Trump signed an executive order trying to seize federal control over how states run their elections, and when the courts blocked most of it, his administration found a back door through, of all places, the Post Office.

The Postal Service has proposed a rule that would let it refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in any state that won’t first hand over its complete list of mail voters to the federal government, a rule the NAACP says is built to disenfranchise voters and that twenty-three Democratic-led states are now suing to stop.

Steve Bannon went on his podcast and promised that “we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November,” and when reporters asked the White House to rule it out, the press secretary wouldn’t. More than forty-eight million Americans voted by mail in 2024.

These men want the power to decide whose ballot gets carried to the mailbox and who feels safe enough to show up in person.

If you’re wondering why they’re working this hard to keep you from voting, the answer slipped out of Todd Blanche’s mouth this spring.

Standing on a stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Dallas, the man who’d been Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer and who now runs the Justice Department as acting Attorney General told the crowd that :

“[E]verybody’s afraid that the next administration, if we don’t win, we’re going to all be investigated and indicted.”

He meant it as a rallying cry. What he actually delivered was a confession: you don’t spend your evenings bracing for an indictment unless some quiet part of you already knows what you’ve done.

A reckoning is coming for the people breaking the law for this president, and they can feel it.

And now the White House is even discussing completely blowing up the Constitution and the right of habeas corpus, which dates back to the year 1215 when the British elite forced King John to sign the Magna Carta on the plain at Runnymede. As the New York Times reported this morning:

“Suspending habeas corpus was one of two radical ideas Mr. Miller had been pushing that alarmed Mr. Scharf. The other was invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to enforce the law on American streets as protests grew against deportation sweeps.”

Todd Blanche, in particular, has every reason to be worried: he knows who Trump really is, and what he’s capable of.

He’s the lawyer who defended Trump in the New York hush-money trial that ended in thirty-four felony convictions, and in the federal cases over January 6th and the classified documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago.

He’s also the guy who’s now hiding three million Epstein documents, and cut the cushy, puppy-filled deal with Ghislaine Maxwell for keeping her mouth shut.

Now he presides over a Justice Department that he and Trump have remade into a personal instrument of vengeance, complete with a Hitler-like 60-foot banner of Trump’s leering face on its façade, and the president has just nominated him to hold the office permanently.

So when Blanche says out loud that he’s afraid, he isn’t being paranoid. He’s being a good lawyer, reading the room, and the room he’s reading is called “history.” 

Hopium Chronicles, Advocacy and Opinion: Trump Plays UFC Tough To Mask His Capitulation To Iran, Weakening Of America, Declining Health, And Sagging Political Fortunesi, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookJune 15, 2026. Yes, there is a new Iran “deal,” but of course nothing is written and once again the White House is disputing Iranian reports of what Trump agreed to. Some notes on the “deal.”

How Much Money Did Trump Promise Iran?  This is the big one. Iran wants hundreds of billions to rebuild their country after Trump’s attacks. They can get it by tolling the Straight of Hormuz or Trump pays. Trump claims there will be no tolls and there was no commitment for a $300b reconstruction fund (yes that the American people be on the hook for). I don’t believe him.

Israel And Bibi Are Not On Board - In the past when Israel broke Trump’s “cease fire” Iran would respond with attacks against its adversaries in the region. Will that cycle begin anew?

When Will We Get The Real Bill? - How much will Trump’s failed war actually cost the US? It’s critical we fight for true costing of the huge inflation we’ve seen, the repairing of our bases in the region, the rebuilding of our military, whatever Trump promised to buy off Iran, and reduced American global deterrence (due to our weakened state, failure in the region, delusional leadership). We’ve come out of the war in a far weaker global position and that weakness may end up proving very, very costly to America.

Here is a rough estimate Claude ran for me this morning of the true cost of Trump’s failed war - $1 trillion……

No authorization from Congress. No debate. Trump just spent at least $1 trillion, illegally, without authorization, and did enormous harm to our global standing and the global economic and political order, which could bring staggering additional costs - financial and national security - in the coming years. Pure Mad King, autocratic, un-American destructive actions that are causing our Founders to turn violently in their graves.

Note these estimates do not include whatever monies he promised to Iran. Perhaps that is why Trump is rushing to the G7 - to demand our global allies to foot the bill for his failed war…..

Congress Is Not Happy With The War, And May Be Done Giving Him A Blank Check - Here’s Punchbowl this am:

While praising Trump for stopping a war he started, Hill Republicans will be monitoring the nuclear talks intently. They want Congress to have a say in any final agreement, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune told us last week.

“Under our law, any nuclear deal with Iran will be sent to Congress for review and a vote,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a key Trump ally. “I look forward to reviewing the final product and I believe it is imperative that the architect of the deal, Vice President Vance and his negotiating partners, be part of the process in presenting the final deal to Congress.”

I’ve updated our Trumpian deficit tracker with new war data. The cost of our increased deficits under Trump are staggeringIt’s going to be critical for Democrats to build a politics around the costs of Trump’s many manifest failures and how those who he has worked tirelessly to benefit - the oligarchs - need to pay for it all. Not us, the American people who’ve soaring inflation and gutted health care. Them. They need to pay.

Things like making Trump and his family personally liable for any pay outs to Iran for his unauthorized war I think becomes fair game now. He’s leaving us a ridiculous bill. We should not agree to pay it. He and his enabling and corrupt buddies need to do so.

Other news we’re tracking:

In a deeply ominous development 100 FBI agents raided an Ohio voter registration group

The NYT comes out hard against Todd Blanche for Attorney General - Todd Blanche Is Unfit For Office - and Jen Rubin warns “Senate Republicans who vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general should take heed: They will be haunted for the rest of their careers (some of which may very well end with the midterms) by the courageous survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s monstrous crimes”

A GOP front group called “Progressive Champions PAC” has started attacking Cait Conley in NY-17 Democratic primary

The Trump regime restricted global deployment of new Anthropic AI models in “latest in a series of adverse Trump administration actions targeting the company” that the regime doesn’t like

elon musk djt oval officePaul Krugman works his magic in a new essay, "Elon Musk, Human Ponzi Scheme."

Things to call Congress about this week:

  • Finish the job on the Ukraine Support Act, get it passed through the Senate and to the President’s desk
  • No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……
  • hell no to Todd Blanche as Attorney General, and yes to very tough questioning of the new DNI nominee, Jay Clayton
  • Hell hell no to the new OMB regs that will destroy government-funded science in America. Join the new Stand Up For Science campaign to Stop Vought. Save Science today.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: We Can Reject Trump’s Orgy of Decline, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 15, 2026. And in many ways, we are.

bulwark logo big shipDonald Trump, still vibrating from the joys of his UFCstravaganza at the White House last night, is feeling himself this morning, and has apparently decided to make the Fourth of July America 250 Party even Trumpier than before: “On July 4th, at the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, we are going to host the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all,” he wrote on Truth Social this morning. The event would feature “more than 300 Members of our strong and talented Military Bands, Orchestras, and Ceremonial Units” who will “perform Patriotic Melodies and American Classics, and my Playlist (We will have none of those people that put you to sleep and constantly complain!)”. And, of course, “I will deliver keynote remarks that you will not want to miss.”

Hey, man, glad you’re having fun. Happy Monday. 

The Iran 'Peace' Deal Analyzed

jonathan v last jvl triad logoThe Triad via The Bulwark, Opinion: Trump's Iran "Deal" Is a Giant Bag of Dog Sh💩, Jonathan V. Last, above, June 15, 2026.  It's not a deal. It's a memo of understanding in advance of a surrender of the American-led world order.

1. Alway Right.

bulwark logo big shipOn Friday I explained to my best friend, and later to Catherine Rampell, that I believed we would get a “deal” with Iran this weekend. I said that it was likely to be announced shortly before the White House cage fight, with a signing to take place later this week. In Switzerland.

I’m going to explain my thought process. And then, we’re going to talk about what this “deal” is, what it isn’t, and what it means for the future.

Once Iran demonstrated the ability to control the Strait of Hormuz in the face of American force, the end state of this war was determined. At some point, America would give Iran a bunch of concessions in exchange for Iran allowing transit of the strait. Those concessions were always going to be some version of the following:

  • An end to U.S.-led sanctions against Iran.
  • Cash payments of some sort to Iran.
  • An “agreement” which, whatever it said, did not practically bind Iran on future pursuit of nuclear materials.
  • Iranian de facto management of the strait, irrespective of international law.

That was always going to be the eventual deal. The only question was the timing. How much pain would Trump be willing to absorb before he surrendered?

Now look at the situation from Trump’s perspective.

If that was always going to be the deal, then what could Trump get out of it? What sweetener could be added to make him bite the bullet?

The sweetener was never going to be substantive—the contours of Trump’s surrender were immutable. His sweetener would have to be cosmetic. The Iranians would have to give him something to get him to “yes.”

They realized that they could afford to give him optics.

Trump thinks of everything in terms of television. Why was announcing a “deal” on Sunday, June 14 more attractive than doing it on Wednesday, June 3?

Because he had a captive audience on June 14 assembled to sell his story about a glorious blood sport in celebration of America/his birthday.² For Trump, the TV version of this story was a good one:

  • He breaks the news of his “deal” shortly before the cage fighting begins.
  • The event becomes a victory rally.
  • The story of the “deal” is then intertwined with Trump’s celebration.
  • The upcoming Freedom250 festivities are then used as a clear point of demarcation from which Trump turns the page on Iran, leaves the war behind, and moves on to the midterm elections with a clean slate.

I promise you that in his lizard brain, Trump envisioned the “deal”/cage fight playing out like Apollo Creed’s entrance in Rocky IV: a huge, celebratory American spectacle.

And no. I don’t think Trump remembers what happened after Apollo came prancing to the ring in his Uncle Sam hat.

So that’s why I thought there was a good chance Trump would get a “deal” yesterday. The terms were never in doubt. The Iranians would get everything they wanted. But Trump had to get something to impel him to make the deal; packaging the announcement with his long-planned UFC event was a freebie for Iran.

2. What Is the Deal?

The next key was understanding that any “deal” Trump announced would not actually be a deal. It would be a memorandum of understanding, which punted all important questions into the future. This MoU would serve dual functions.

  • For Trump, it allows him to claim the war is over and get out of the theater.
  • For Iran, it allows them greater control over the next phase of negotiations, which will determine how those conditions up top 👆 are put into practice.

From Trump’s perspective, he needs two things:

  • To get out of the war and make Iran someone else’s problem.
  • To insulate himself politically from the effects of his surrender.

What this means practically is that Trump needs to be able to claim that:

  • The strait is open and there are no “tolls.”
  • He, Donald Trump, did not give Iran cash.
  • Iran will “never” pursue nuclear weapons again.

These are the specifics that will be negotiated in the next phase and I can tell you right now how each of them will go.

Tolls. Iran will pledge not to charge “tolls” on shipping through the strait. However, they will create a new body to administer the sea lane in the name of safety. Probably they will present this as a partnership with Oman. This new administrative body will, of course, need to charge some nominal fees to ships transiting the strait.

You know, to cover safety and management costs. Maybe to fund environmental protections. But make no mistake, these fees will not be “tolls.” 🙄 

America’s tacit acceptance of this new management structure will mean the destruction of the regime of international laws which governed the strait prior to America and Israel attacking Iran.

Cash. Trump has long criticized Barack Obama for releasing $1.7 billion in frozen Iranian funds as part of the JPOCA. In order to satisfy his base, Trump needs a way to claim that he, Donald Trump, did not provide any cash to Iran. But the Iranians are going to demand hard currency as part of America’s surrender. So Trump will want the surrender payments to come from other Middle Eastern countries. Like UAE.³ And if America has to find a way to give aid to Gulf States in the name of repairing critical infrastructure damaged during the war? Well, dollars are fungible. You work it out.

Nukes. The MoU will probably stipulate that the nuclear portion of the negotiations will be worked out . . . at some point in the future. And maybe it will. Or maybe it won’t.

Why would it not get worked out? Because once Trump leaves this war, he ain’t never getting back in. The Iranians had a lot of leverage on Saturday. Now that this “deal” has been executed and Trump has declared victory, their leverage increases. Because for Trump to continue to sell the deal as a victory and not a surrender, he can’t take any actions that would suggest that the Iranians aren’t cooperating.

Whatever happens, the broad contours of the nuclear deal will be something like:

  • Both sides agree to work it out in the medium-term future.
  • At some point, Iran super-duper double promises not to seek nuclear weapons.
  • This promise will be tied to a consequence which is impractical to enforce.
  • Iran will wait to continue nuclear progress for a couple years while they spend efforts restocking their drone and air-defense capabilities.

So long as Iran doesn’t test a nuclear weapon before 2029, Trump will be happy. And the Iranians now know that as long as they control the strait, they are basically free to continue progress on their nuclear program so long as they don’t rub Trump’s nose in it. He just needs plausible deniability.

We should be explicit and clear-eyed about what this all means: America lost the war.

America began this war as either a partner or client of Israel. We began with war aims that were unclear, but which variously included regime change, unconditional surrender, the destruction of Iran’s missile capabilities, and a permanent end to Iranian nuclear ambitions.

We will exit the war with none of those goals achieved, and in order to end the war, America had to submit to a host of Iranian conditions. We lost and there is no reasonable way to hide this fact.

3. Truth and Consequences

Here is a rundown of (some of) the consequences of Trump’s defeat.

Iran is now a mid-major power. Before the war, Iran was a pariah state ruled by an aging mullah while fending off massive internal unrest. Post-war, Iran has made a successful transition of power; will have forced the world to stop sanctioning it; will have defeated a regime of international laws and annexed control of one of the world’s most important waterways.

No longer a pariah, Iran is now in the position to force its regional neighbors to make peace with it and learn how to live with the Islamic Republic.

China’s right hand. Have you ever wondered why the Chinese courted the Iranian regime? The ChiComs have no ideological kinship with the theocrats in Tehran. But the Chinese are dependent on the flow of oil east from the Gulf and they understood that Iran might one day control that flow. So they created a working relationship.

Now that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, China also controls the Straight of Hormuz. Which strengthens China’s hand in dealing with wary neighbors such as South Korea, Japan, and even Australia. Not to mention Taiwan.

China’s pre-existing relationship with Iran is now an extremely valuable source of power undergirding the Chinese ambition to dominate its near-abroad.

End of the unipolar American order. There are lots of ways America influenced the world order it created following World War II. The biggest was by guaranteeing freedom of navigation. We built a bunch of institutions that benefited basically everyone (but mostly us) and took over from the British as the enforcers of freedom of navigation.

The Strait of Hormuz was governed by international laws enforced by American hard power up until 100 days ago.

Now the strait belongs to Iran. International law has been replaced. We have acceded to this change. We have proven that America no longer has the strength, will, or wisdom to enforce free navigation.

From this, everything will change.

The unipolar world will be replaced by multipolarity. If America does not control everything, then different powers will control different areas. Iran will dominate the strait. The Chinese will dominate the South China Sea. Every set of interests will have to make separate arrangements with each regional power. The Europeans will have to deal with Iran and China—and America—separately. So will the Gulf states. So will the Asian countries. And India.

First, this new order will be inherently unstable. Too many moving parts dependent on too many brittle, authoritarian regimes, with too many overlapping claimed spheres of influence.

Second, America’s relative position weakens. The fact that countries also have to placate the Iranians and the Chinese means, by definition, that our relative importance declines. Meaning that we have less leverage. Meaning that our ability to protect our interests diminishes.

America will have to content itself with bullying South America and the Caribbean nations—and seeing if we can bully the Europeans into ceding Greenland.

Fortunately, that arrangement dovetails nicely with Trump’s ambition for America. He never cared about preserving the American order. He wants to use America to further his own interests—and he can do that more aggressively if international law breaks down and he is liberated to throw America’s weight around in our hemisphere.

Cuba is next and I would not be surprised if we return to stalking Greenland.

Benjamin Netanyahu smile TwitterThe Israeli–American crackup. Over the last two years the government of Israel systematically destroyed its standing in the world. In America, the Netanyahu regime aggressively pursued policies designed to make Israel disliked by both Democrats and Republicans. The last redoubt of support for Israel in the United States came from Trump’s MAGA establishment.

It’s unclear what Israel will make of Trump’s “deal.” Netanyahu, right, tried to stop it from happening—but it’s not clear that Bibi had an endgame for his war. Did he think Trump would absorb political damage for him? That Trump would stick with him forever?⁴

If Netanyahu can’t sell Trump’s surrender to the Israeli public, then he will have two options.

  • Go along with Trump’s surrender and Iran’s new power—and have his career ended.
  • Break with Trump and try to go it alone against Iran.

The first option risks prison for Netanyahu. The second would cause a rupture between Israel and Trump.

If Netanyahu breaks with Trump, it will mean that there is no world in which the next U.S. president continues America’s historic relationship with Israel.

Trump might get away with it. Gas prices will go down. Slowly. And they won’t go back to their pre-war lows.⁵ But directionally, gas will cost less than it did at its peak.

Maybe American voters will look at $3.75 gas and say, “Well things are getting better, I guess” and give Trump credit. Not enough credit to save the House, but enough to hold the Senate.

Americans won’t care about all that “end of the American order” stuff. By November they’ll still understand that inflation is high and they’ll see that interest rates are up—but they’ll barely remember that Trump started a war with Iran. Let alone that he lost it.

We often talk about how Trump is both arsonist and firefighter. The Iran war is the best example to date. Trump’s decision to go to war destroyed billions and billions of dollars. Value destruction on a scale we haven’t seen in a long time. Dollars in lost shipping, decreased oil production, destroyed infrastructure. And America will have gotten nothing in return.

Let’s say this clearly: America would be in better shape today if Trump had simply taken $50B in cash and set it on fire.

But, having caused this value destruction, Trump will now claim to have fixed everything. And when our shitty reality gets 10 percent better, some significant percentage of voters will look at Trump and say, Things are finally on the right track!

If Trump gets away with it—if the House is close and Republicans hold the Senate—then what will that say about America?

I’d like to hear your views in the comments. 

New York Times, News Analysis: Trump Winds Down the War He Started With Goals Unmet, Erica L. Green and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, June 15, 2026. While the president says the agreement with Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz and provide economic relief, the country’s nuclear program is still a subject for negotiation.

Almost immediately after striking a deal with Iran, President Trump appeared eager to take a victory lap.

He trumpeted that the agreement would open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world’s energy supplies whose stalled ship traffic has rattled the global economy. He told The New York Times that his efforts had saved Israel from nuclear extinction and made the Middle East safer. It all gave him a key win as he traveled to France for the Group of 7 summit, where he will meet with European leaders who have criticized his approach to the war.

Despite Mr. Trump’s grandiose claims, the agreement has not yet achieved the core goals he laid out three months ago for launching U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Back then, Mr. Trump said the United States intended to “annihilate” Iran’s military capabilities, abolish its nuclear ambitions, topple its theocratic leadership and liberate its people, whom he encouraged to take over their government when the fighting had stopped. Just one week after the strikes started, he said Iran’s only path to a deal was an “unconditional surrender.”

Mr. Trump publicly declared victory on Sunday mainly based on solving a problem of his own making, in miscalculating Iran’s ability to choke off the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump asserted on Truth Social that he had authorized the toll-free opening of the crucial waterway, which would essentially restore the prewar status quo, and celebrated that the global energy markets would rebound.

“Ships of the World, start your engines,” he wrote. “Let the oil flow!”

Lance's substack, Opinion: Don'’t Let Him Declare Victory!I  Lance F Rosen, June 15, 2026. lance rosenThere is a death toll, and it is still growing. The damage is in the trillions.

The economic dislocation and disruption of energy supplies will cause massive inflation, shortages, and world hunger, even after The Strait is opened for however long.

Trump’s oil company donors and the Kushner-Witkoff tandem are making a killing in every sense of the expression.

Trump’s decision to launch war was illegal, unconstitutional, and he has ordered war crimes to be committed.

We need to make him own the damage which he and Netanyahu caused. Cancel Trump’s victory lap and instead turn it into his own failed narcissist’s version of a “walk of shame.” It is perfectly appropriate to humilate narcissists, in fact sometimes therapeutic.

Don’t think this farcical excuse for a negotiation ends the conflict, because it doesn’t. Trump wanted Iran to sign today as a Birthday present to himself and probably offered Iran inducements to make it happen, even though the deal barely even exists. It is merely the first day of a very shaky cease-fire announced prematurely for PR reasons, for market rigging reasons, and polling uptick reasons. Trump has now declared that his “excursion” ended on forty different occasions in last three months. Iran’s decision to sign is their way of giving Trump and Bibi rope to hang themselves with, a tactical retreat of sorts.

Israel will continue to wage war against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon (as well as their bloody ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank) then find a pretext or manufacture an incident to expand new conflicts from there. Sooner or later Iran other proxies will retaliate, deal or no deal. Then we are off to the races again, and the actions of all parties involved will become increasingly belligerent. Hezbollah and Israel both announced that that they do not agree to any part of a deal which includes a cease fire in Lebanon.

So, the sabotage will likely come from the Israeli side first because the Netanyahu cabinet needs permanent war in order to justify staying put, and continue governing through emergency wartime powers.

Iran’s leaders know this. Their decision to sign was made with the knowledge that their two enemies are divided and at each other’s throats because Netanyahu has gotten off the leash.

The danger I wrote about yesterday is still operating. Israel is the proverbial “breakaway ally,” and Netanyahu is a bloodthirsty nuclear-armed maniac, bent upon a murderous expansionist war drive to bring “Eretz (Greater) Israel” into existence. This is not about Iranian Uranium enrichment, or revenge for October 7, it is the “keep Bibi out of prison” and “mass deport the Arabs” special military operation.

It is also vital to not forget that Trump in his demented pathological state is so unstable that he will likely launch yet another strategic crisis somewhere, at any time.

He will be desperate to milk this agreement for all it’s worth, and for as long as possible, that is until Bibi blows it up. He will try to recapture lost ground in every area of policy which has caused suffering and hardship, which has led to his 39% job approval rating. He will claim “super-genius” GOAT dealmaker status while screaming to the heavens, “Look Ma, top o’ the world, The Strait Is open,” like a psychotic knock-off Jimmy Cagney character from the film “White Heat.”

He will use it to hype the markets overseas and then here, which btw is the reason he announced the Sunday deal signing on Saturday, to buy time for the market swell before the opening bell on the world’s trading floors first thing Monday.

He cares infinitely more about the stock markets than the loss of life, or the damage to economic and food security he’s caused. You already know this because he says so at every opportunity, actually brags about feeling that way, in the same spirit as Kristi Noem bragging about shooting her puppy. The markets are Trump’s personal BSD Index, the leading measure of his own Alpha-maleness in the eyes of the world, even more important in his mind than crowd size.

So, thinking this whole Israeli caused mess is in the rear view mirror, they’ll quickly pivot to their operational planning to build his vote-theft machine for the mid-terms, which is now the top priority going forward.

Much has been made about Trump’s recent F-Bomb personal attacks on Netanyahu for trying to sabotage the agreement with his missile launches against Beirut. A lot of this is bad method acting right out of a Hollywood-style Mafia B-Movie screenplay. I wouldn’t be shocked if Trump shipped Bibi a dead Gefilte fish wrapped in a Knicks jersey to really deliver his message.

We should be clear however that even if his anger is real, Trump has no leverage, it is an empty powerplay, a media stunt, because Israel is not listening to him and knows there is zero chance of Trump cutting them off or turning against them in an election year. Bibi holds all the cards. He organized this war, and his political survival depends on expanding it, not ending it.

You have to start with what you know about the character and track record of these men. They are both brutal, violent, and duplicitous individuals who are deserving of no trust or benefit of the doubt. The Iranians are also brutal and repressive, but at least they have a recent history of negotiating real agreements and complying with them for the most part.

Neither Trump’s or Netanyahu's best friends or closest associates trust them to not stab them in the back. They are both facing their respective dooms in each of their coming elections, and have a mutual interest in making sure they either never happen, are postponed, are influenced by some kind of new horrific “October Surprise,” or flat-out rigged.

Netanyahu has Trump over the barrel because he needs to sell himself in the US as a peacemaker in order to win his voters back. His problem is that we, his opposition, have the receipts.

  • For his lies.
  • For his betrayals.
  • For his financial crimes.
  • For his fakery.
  • For his history of rape.
  • For his recent medical/cognitive collapse.
  • For being Epstein’s “wingman.”

Remember, every accusation is a confession. Every statement of intent is self-incrimination. He is building a case everyday for his own removal from office and future conviction.

Our message has to be;

He’s a loser, a failure, a fabricator and pathological liar, in the process of incriminating himself and humiliating the US globally in an array of spectacular new ways every single day. Don’t argue with or try to refute pathological liars or their cheering section of brainwashed fanatics, that is how they masturbate, and we shouldn’t help them with that.

The worst conclusion we could draw is that “a stopped clock is right twice a day.” He did nothing right and solved nothing.

He is like the corrupt Fire Chief who starts arson fires in residential areas so the Mafia can build a new Casino there. But the same guy is always first on the scene to put the fire out and claims to have saved everyone in the building. He creates emergencies in order to take credit for rescuing his own victims, in the course of profiting from his crimes.

Tell people to not breathe a sigh of relief, or somehow think “at least he finally did something good.” He is incapable of doing anything good even by accident.

This is not a peace deal. It is merely a lull in the fighting. It is a “Potemkin Peace Plan” announced with virtually no details hammered out, as you’ll read in the below linked “Guardian” article. 

I’m not afraid to go out on a limb in saying so. Neither should any of us. 

New York Times, Opinion: A Garish Spectacle of American Decline, Michelle Goldberg, michelle goldberg thumbright, June 15, 2026. Only the hackiest screenwriter imaginable would script America’s decline this way.

Think of it: On the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding, America’s increasingly senescent president turned the White House lawn into a tacky, bloody gladiatorial arena while capitulating to Iran. Mike Judge came close to imagining some elements of our debasement in his 2006 satire “Idiocracy,” which depicts a United States led by a professional wrestler whose middle name is Mountain Dew. But if “Idiocracy” captured something of the vibe of Donald Trump’s reign, it was both too early and too lighthearted to nail the sordid specifics, which on Sunday included the fighter Josh Hokit, standing in an octagonal cage wrapped in crypto ads, calling the former first lady Michelle Obama a man.

It is, to be sure, a good thing that the war in Iran appears to be over. Once Trump had dragged America into a quagmire, there was no prospect of ending the debacle on beneficial terms. Contrary to the caterwauling of Iran hawks, the deal Trump reached isn’t the problem — it’s simply a tacit acknowledgment of a defeat that was already baked in. Still, it marks a moment of American ignominy.

“The fact that the strongest, the mightiest military power in the world, in cooperation with the mightiest intelligence agency in the world — Israel’s — were not able to achieve any of their strategic objectives against a third-rate regional power is quite stunning,” said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.

Details of the “memorandum of understanding” between the United States and Iran are still emerging; the White House has said the text will be released in a day or two. But it appears that its main accomplishment will be to open the Strait of Hormuz, which of course was open before the war. There’s been no nuclear agreement. Reports suggest Iran has not had to give up its ballistic missile program or its support for proxies like Hezbollah. The beleaguered Iranian people have not, perhaps needless to say, been freed from their awful rulers.

Though Vice President JD Vance has said Iran could have access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund, it’s not clear what that will look like, or whether Iran might use its control of the Strait to collect some sort of toll. But by demonstrating its power to withstand American bombing while putting a chokehold on the global economy, it’s achieved a level of deterrence it previously lacked. “Iran is not likely to take seriously that the U.S. would return to war, certainly before the U.S. midterms,” wrote Daniel Shapiro, Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel, on social media. “So that means we will be conducting diplomacy without a credible threat of force.”Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.

It probably wasn’t a coincidence that the memorandum of understanding was finalized while Ultimate Fighting Championship cage matches were fought at the White House. In addition to marking the nation’s quarter of a millennium, the U.F.C. extravaganza was meant to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday. Both Iran and some Democrats suspected he wanted to get the Iran deal done in time for the occasion. And Trump might have hoped that the event — which at one point had a Marine Corps honor guard onstage with ring girls in sparkly red hot pants and a human-size Monster Energy Drink can — would help lure back some of the young men disillusioned by both his war and his mishandling of the economy.

Maybe it will work. Joe Rogan, the podcast host who has been increasingly critical of Trump in recent months, agreed to serve as an announcer. The Wall Street Journal reported on one excited fan who drove seven hours in the hope of seeing Trump’s pageant and said, “It’s like the Colosseum in real life.” To America’s founders, the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire was a cautionary tale. To parts of MAGA, it’s apparently aspirational.

But to everyone else, the confluence of America’s failure in Iran and Trump’s Temu colosseum should paint a clear picture of decadence, rot and weakness trying to conceal itself behind macho kitsch. This is an administration capable of immense, epic destruction, but unable to create much besides spectacle.

The conservative writer Marc Thiessen tried to depict Trump’s lurid festival as a sign of his demotic spirit, opening the White House to the sort of people who go to motocross rallies and monster truck shows. “If you’re offended by that, you may be an elitist snob,” he wrote. Put aside, for a moment, the fact that Thiessen once clucked that Barack Obama was failing to maintain “presidential dignity.” By this standard — that U.F.C. brawls, which John McCain once called “human cockfighting,” belong in the White House because lots of Americans like them — there can be no standards. Like Ultimate Fighting, porn is extremely popular, but I somehow doubt Thiessen would defend a Democratic president who invited a bunch of OnlyFans creators to the Oval Office while he was losing a war.It’s tempting to mention bread and circuses here, except there’s no bread. On the contrary, Trump and his allies monetized Sunday’s program. In March, Trump obtained shares in the U.F.C.’s parent company. And to watch the show, members of the public needed a subscription to Paramount+, controlled by the Trump ally David Ellison, who bought CBS and then made it friendlier to the administration. Rather than a gift to his restive base, the event was another example of the administration selling America for parts.

In the lead-up to the fight, the U.F.C.’s Derrick Lewis — who’d later be knocked out by Hokit — told The Journal he felt that he was participating in something historic. “This is one of the events they’ll be talking about 100 years from now,” he said. He could be right, but not in the way he thinks.

Someday, someone might write — or, more likely, film — an American version of Edward Gibbon’s “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Its maker will want to include a scene of the 92-foot steel claw towering over the White House while somewhere inside the building, people scrambled to figure out how to sell a foreign policy disaster as a great victory.

Council on Foreign Relations, Trump’s Iran Deal: What We Know, What's Contested, and What Remains Unresolved, Phil McCausland and Mariel Ferragamo, June 15, 2026. The United States and Iran have reached a long-awaited agreement, but whether it resolves their major differences—including Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel’s war with Iranian proxies—remains to be seen.

The United States and Iran reached an agreement on June 14 to settle a three-and-a-half month-long conflict that has closed the Strait of Hormuz, sent shockwaves through global oil markets, and affected global growth projections. Neither country has shared the exact terms of the deal, but Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who served as a mediator between Washington and Tehran, said on Sunday that an agreement will be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.

The initial pact—a memorandum of understanding (MOU)—will start with reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply, unnamed Pakistani officials told the Associated Press. Both sides will then reportedly begin sixty days of negotiations about sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program.

The administration has indicated that the memo will be released after a public signing ceremony in Geneva that will be attended by Vice President JD Vance, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner—President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The United States and Iran have made conflicting statements about the deal’s terms, but it appears that the agreement is focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending military attacks.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, announced that “a permanent and immediate end to the war has been declared on all fronts.” He added that Iran would begin fulfilling the commitments made in the deal following Friday’s signing. Trump celebrated the agreement by posting, “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”

Markets saw a boost in reaction to the deal’s announcement, and the price of oil dropped by $4 per barrel, even before the strait was officially reopened. But many experts noted that any expectation that this agreement could lead to a lasting peace could be premature.

“We have been here before only to discover the parties cannot bridge the remaining gaps,” said Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). “Negotiations on the outstanding issues, especially on Iran’s nuclear program, will be long and difficult.”

While the specific terms of the deal haven’t been made public, below are six topline items that have been central to U.S.-Iran talks since the start of the war.Strait of Hormuz

The strait remained closed after the countries announced their MOU this weekend, but Trump told the New York Times that the waterway would be “permanently toll-free” once it reopens after the Friday signing in Geneva. The agreement reportedly sketches out a plan for the United States to remove its naval blockade of the strait, while Iran would agree to reopen the waterway for commercial shipping. A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026.A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, on June 8, 2026. Reuters

“How the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is managed will be something to watch closely. While Iran may agree to not charge ‘tolls,’ service fees and other mechanisms have been floated,” said Elisa Ewers, a senior fellow for Middle East studies at CFR. “Getting as close as possible to status quo ante will be important for global commerce, for allies to avoid setting dangerous precedents for other waterways, and for regional partners, who will need to live with the arrangements,” she added.

Trump claimed in a social media post that ships—“many loaded up with Oil”—are already beginning to move through the strait, which was “totally safe, secure, and pristine.” Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr published a fourteen-point copy of what it said was the MOU, which has not been verified, and said that the reopening would be subject to “Iranian arrangements,” without specifying further.

The Iranian blockade, which has been mostly in effect since the war’s outbreak in late February, has severely limited global energy supply, sending oil prices into disarray and diminishing some countries’ power supply. The price of oil dropped to its lowest point in weeks on Friday after Trump’s announcement that a deal was close, and dropped again after the weekend agreement. But experts indicated that it would still likely take several months for the flow of oil to return to normal after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. Scouring the waterbed for mines alone will likely take weeks. Iran’s nuclear program

The Iranian nuclear program has been one of the most contentious issues. Its facilities were the target of major U.S.-Israeli strikes in 2025 and the Trump administration cited it as an initial reason for pursuing the current war. Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, despite its history of noncompliance with the UN nuclear watchdog and its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade.

Since Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, on-again, off-again negotiations between Washington and Tehran on a new nuclear agreement have been unsuccessful. The United States wants to ensure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, which includes Iran giving up its enriched uranium and putting a moratorium on its program. The Islamic Republic has resisted these demands.

Nevertheless, the draft MOU includes pledges from both countries to further negotiate the enrichment program’s suspension and stockpile removal. Iran would, however, commit to never pursuing a nuclear weapon—a commitment it made and crossed before. Vance said in a CNBC interview that the deal has Iran’s commitment to “never develop or procure a nuclear weapon.” Trump claimed last week that Iran has already affirmed this. Iran, meanwhile, has not made a definitive commitment publicly, instead releasing a statement on Sunday saying that “final negotiations will be postponed until after the implementation of the other party’s commitments under the memorandum.”

The deal on the table, according to multiple news reports, does include Iran’s commitment to halt enrichment and dismantle its nuclear sites, but the length of the pause could be a point of disagreement. The United States is reportedly pushing for twenty years, while Iran reportedly won’t go above ten—and the final terms will have to be negotiated during the sixty-day pause. “The details matter here,” Ewers said, in terms of what the inspection and verification regime will be, what dismantlement entails in the context of facilities that were targeted in the June 2025 bombings, and several other provisions.

Iranian state news agency IRNA said that Iran would negotiate on the nuclear issue “solely within the framework of the Islamic Republic’s fundamental principles,” and wouldn’t be willing to give up enrichment—which will make a verification system critical.

“By building many small workshops containing advanced centrifuges, Tehran can challenge the prying foreigners to find them all,” Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow for Middle East studies at CFR, wrote last month. “If any escape detection, the regime has a safer path to bomb production.”Iranian proxies

The web of militant groups across the Middle East that are supported by Iran have contributed to the escalation of several conflicts in recent years, including the Israel-Hamas war that broke out after the October 7, 2023, attacks and the Iran war. The Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been the primary nonstate actors involved: the Houthis launched missiles at Israel on March 28, and Israel and Hezbollah were locked in conflict for several weeks in connection to Israel’s initial strikes on Iran in February.

The draft U.S.-Iran deal would stipulate that hostilities from all sides would cease, and this would include on the Israel-Hezbollah front. Iran would also agree to not fund terrorist groups—a reference to Iran’s proxies—a U.S. official told the BBC. Iran has not yet made any statements about whether they would agree to this. In the past, it has both opposed negotiation about its proxy network and supported stopping Israeli hostilities in Lebanon—which Cook said is part of Iran’s “effort to save Hezbollah and keep Lebanon from normalizing ties with Israel.”

Israel’s military, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), announced an evacuation notice for civilians in southern Lebanon on June 12, citing “Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement.” Israel is not part of the draft MOU between the United States and Iran, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he and Trump had spoken on the matter last week and were in “complete agreement.”

Hezbollah released a statement on Monday that they welcomed a deal that halted fighting on all fronts, though the militant group asserted that it has a right to “defend” Lebanon until Israel makes a complete withdrawal.Military limits

The limits that the United States would like to place on Iran’s missile program are, perhaps, among the most difficult sticking points to negotiate. Iran has cast changes to its missile program as an intractable red line, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posting on his Telegram channel after talks in February that the country’s program was “never negotiable,” calling it a “defense issue.”

Iran’s counterproposal, as reported by Iranian state media, focuses exclusively on nuclear issues, sanctions relief, and economic compensation—making no mention of its ballistic missile program. But Israel has continued to push hard from the outside to force the issue, and the United States has maintained that any deal should address Iran’s missile capabilities to ensure regional security.

Few details have surfaced about Iran’s missile program in reports of the deal. Some analysts and experts believe that this U.S. and Israeli demand has quietly diminished as negotiations have proceeded, even as U.S. intelligence sources estimate that Iran retains 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile and roughly 70 percent of its mobile missile launchers. There are further concerns that Iran is using the current ceasefire to steadily rebuild its military base faster than expected.

Iran has also indicated that it would like to limit U.S. power in the region as part of a deal by requiring U.S. forces to withdraw from Iran’s periphery. Trump has said he “can’t imagine” accepting that demand.Compensation and sanctions

Iran entered the war negotiations with financial grievances due to U.S. and Israeli attacks in recent months. The Islamic Republic has called for reparations, and Iranian officials have claimed $270 billion in direct and indirect war damage since February 28. While the United States has rejected the reparations framing, there is an expectation that an agreement could include financial incentives for Iran, possibly in the form of unfrozen assets and sanctions relief.

The sequencing of a potential release of funds and sanctions relief could be an issue. Iran has reportedly asserted that it should be able to immediately access about $24 billion that the United States and its allies have frozen, while officials in Washington have argued that assets should remain frozen until Tehran meets certain standards and there is a final, verifiably implemented deal.

In May, top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly called for half of that fund to be released at the signing of the MOU, with the other half released within sixty days. Neither side has publicly shown flexibility on the timeline for sanctions relief and releasing assets. Vice President Vance told CNBC that, “We say to the Iranians, you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy, you’re welcome to be re-invited into the world economy, but only if you honor the commitments that you make in this agreement.”

Iran’s economic needs are great, especially if it would like to address economic concerns that led to widespread protests earlier this year and stabilize a wartime economy running at nearly 70 percent of annual inflation.Israel’s war in Lebanon

The conflict in Lebanon has functioned as both a pressure point for Iran and a persistent complication for U.S. diplomacy with the Islamic Republic. Iran has explicitly linked Israel’s war on its neighbor to any potential ceasefire between Tehran and Washington. The Islamic Republic even briefly suspended negotiations earlier this month in response to Israeli operations in Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported more than 3,400 killed in Lebanon since fighting escalated in early March; the toll continues to rise, and includes both civilians and combatants.

While Iran has said that ending the war in Lebanon is an “inseparable part” of the agreement to end the Iran war, Israel has framed its Lebanon campaign as a separate and ongoing objective—one it has pursued with or without U.S. support. Netanyahu said in March that Israel was focused on “dismantling Hezbollah” as part of its wider campaign against Iran, saying the IDF had “fundamentally changed” the situation and that any Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon would be contingent on Hezbollah’s disarmament.

“Including Lebanon in this understanding between Iran and the United States, as Iran has demanded, is not ideal even if it was inevitable,” CFR’s Ewers said. “For the Israel government, halting its fight against Hezbollah is a tall order, especially with upcoming elections and while Washington negotiates with Tehran on the thorny issues. For the Lebanese government, which is fractured itself, it underscores that [Lebanon] could not deliver fully on disarmament commitments while Hezbollah continues to shoot at Israel,” she added.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect on April 16, but both sides repeatedly accused each other of violations; the agreement has been extended twice since. Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut have continued, prompting a heated confrontation between Trump and Netanyahu that underscored how much the Lebanon front is complicating the broader Iran deal. Even as news of the MOU broke, Israel struck the Beirut area on June 14, killing three people—a move Trump criticized for threatening the agreement.

Israel, however, was not involved in the negotiation and Israeli officials appear to be unhappy with the deal. Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israeli forces would not withdraw from the area it holds in Lebanon and would hit Iran “with full force” should Tehran act aggressively. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir added on his Telegram channel that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us... we are not party to this agreement. It does not safeguard our security.”

Nonetheless, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif’s announcement of the deal mentioned its terms cover immediate, permanent stop to military operations, specifically calling out Lebanon.

“Hopefully, the negotiation track between Israel and Lebanon continues apace, and Hezbollah abides by whatever restraints Tehran places on it in the context of the next sixty-plus days of negotiations,” Ewers added. “Still, it will take real time and political commitment—including from Washington—to continue to keep the Lebanon-Israel process progressing.” 

More On Epstein Files, Trump Team Coverup 

Epstein survivor Theresa Helm speaks at a Sept. 3 rally on Capitol Hill. (C-SPAN)

Epstein survivor Theresa Helm speaks at a Sept. 3 rally on Capitol Hill. (C-SPAN)

The Contrarian, Opinion: Confirming Blanche Might Finish Off Republicans’ Careers, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 15, 2026. How voting to promote the Epstein cover-up architect could play out.Senate Republicans who vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general should take heed: They will be haunted for the rest of their careers (some of which may very well end with the midterms) by the courageous survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s monstrous crimes.

CNN reported that last week 19 Epstein victims “responded to The New York Times’s reporting that Blanche and other senior officials participated in Situation Room meetings to discuss how to respond to growing pressure for more transparency as the issue became a public relations crisis for the administration.” The survivors’ statement read in part:

We are deeply disturbed to learn that so many senior members of the administration gathered in the Situation Room to discuss the release of the Epstein files as a reputational problem, rather than an opportunity to pursue investigative leads and try to figure out what actually happened.

The reporting, they said, only confirmed their “worst fears about the administration prioritizing political expediency over justice for survivors and truth for the American people.” And they blasted Blanche, who “has consistently minimized legitimate concerns about how the files have been handled, including problematic redactions and the exposure of survivors’ personal information.” They concluded that he “failed to deliver transparency, and he has gravely failed survivors.” (Their jab that promoting him to AG would “failing upward, plain and simple” aptly describes the Trump DEI program for elevating unqualified, ethically deficient white males to top posts.)

Even before Blanche’s nomination, Republicans were under siege for their handling of the Epstein files. But Trump’s nomination of Blanche amounts to a gratuitous slam at Epstein victims, puts the issue back in the news, and forces Republicans (many past the primary season) to decide: Save their own careers or promote Blanche?

The perpetually concerned but never courageous Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is infamous for Trump-friendly votes when it matters (e.g., acquitting Donald Trump in the first impeachment trial; confirming obvious opponents of Roe v. Wade for the Supreme Court; sending the big, ugly bill to the floor when she could have stopped it in its tracks). She has been at her most spineless in rubber-stamping unfit, unqualified, and morally decrepit Cabinet members such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Pam Bondi for attorney general. Would Collins now double down and confirm yet another Trump stooge over the objections of Epstein survivors?

Surely, even she understands that a vote to confirm Epstein victims’ nemesis could be a career-ender. If “character” is what Republicans want to talk about in Maine, Democrats may be more than willing to engage. (Indeed, Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner wasted no time last week making an issue of Republicans’ support for the “Epstein class.”)

Collins’ biggest problem may be finding enough colleagues willing to take the heat for voting to confirm Blanche so she can duck (i.e. vote no without imperiling Blanche and incurring Trump’s and MAGA’s wrath). Consider Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), the governor- appointed replacement for now-Vice President JD Vance. It would be wholly foolhardy for him to ignore the Epstein abuse victims’ pleas.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) already has put out ads against Husted pointing to Husted’s receipt of six-figure donations from the infamous Ohio billionaire and Republican donor Les Wexner, who hired Epstein as a financial adviser and was named in an FBI email as “co-conspirator” in Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes. (Husted has tried to muddy the waters by fishing around for names in the files who wound up giving to Brown, but, as fact checkers have noted, “[n]one of the donors the Husted campaign identified has been charged with a crime related to Epstein, nor has any been identified as a co-conspirator.”)

Blanche puts Husted on the hot seat: Should he support the Epstein cover-up architect for attorney general when no reasonable voter would believe Blanche is anything but a Trump stooge willing to perpetuate the heinous coverup? Husted could well conclude a “yes” vote for Blanche would doom his already-shaky campaign.

Likewise in Alaska, Blanche’s confirmation fight could very well aggravate Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan’s own problems with the Epstein cover-up. Sullivan last September joined other Republicans (including Husted and Collins) in blocking a vote (on defense authorization) aimed at forcing release of the files.

As a local Alaska journalist at the time noted, Sullivan blithely declared in a constituent letter, “I trust [!?!] the Department of Justice to carefully consider the release of relevant materials, while simultaneously ensuring that Epstein’s victims remain protected and that legal protocols are upheld.” As absurd as his faith in the Department of Justice was back then, a vote now for the man who thwarted the law and obstructed the release of the files would cement Sullivan’s image that he is Trump rubber stamp who would throw victims under the bus to keep his job.

Finally, even though Texas Sen. John Cornyn will not be on the ballot, Blanche’s confirmation fight is already roiling the race of the man who defeated him, MAGA extremist and scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. (Cornyn should consider if he wants one of his last important votes in the Senate to be a tip of the hat to Blanche and a kick in the teeth of Epstein’s victims.)

Houston’s Chron. reported on the ongoing fallout from Paxton’s sweetheart plea deal with Adam Hoffman, who was tried for first-degree sexual abuse of a child. (Seriously, what is it with Republicans cutting deals with accused pedophiles?) Democratic nominee James Talarico emailed the paper: “Adam Hoffman—an admitted child molester—just became a registered sex offender in Nebraska but still doesn’t have to register in Texas because Ken Paxton gave him an Epstein-style sweetheart deal.” Talarico continued: “Hoffmann was supposedto serve 25 years to life, but today he walks free after the most corrupt politician in America put the well-being of pedophiles over the safety of Texas children.”

Yikes. Talarico’s argument (“Does America really need someone who authored his own ‘Epstein-style sweetheart deals‘ roaming the halls of Congress”) may hit home even in deep-red Texas. No wonder Republicans would rather talk about veganism and transgender kids; perhaps supporting pedophiles’ victims is a better way to measure masculine virtue.

In short, by insisting on nominating Blanche — already under fire for masterminding the coverup, botching the files’ redaction, and conducting a nefarious interview with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell — Trump has again handed Democrats a club to pommel Republicans who cannot resist Trump’s outrageous demands.

If cowardly Senate Republicans vote to install Blanche to run DOJ, many voters may well conclude it is time to throw Republican senators out en masse. At some point, all Americans must decide whether to stand with the Epstein and his enablers or with his victims.

News Roundups

 

 

mtn meidas touch network

Meidas Touch Network, News and Comment, Trump Tries to Sell His Iran Humiliation, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 15, 2026. Top stories we’re tracking:

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry laid out what they believe the MOU actually requires and it is dramatically more than anything the Trump administration has admitted publicly

• Israel is openly defying the Lebanon clause of the deal, with Ben Gvir and Smotrich threatening to continue military operations regardless

• The Strait of Hormuz remains essentially shut down, despite Trump’s claims it’s “already partially opened”

• A federal judge issued a scathing rebuke of the Trump administration’s effort to erase slavery and civil rights history from national parks

• The AFL-CIO wrapped a successful convention with a defiant message to DOGE and the Trump administration

• Trump’s $14 million no-bid Reflecting Pool renovation is now covered in green algae, and MAGA is blaming sabotage

• Trump announced a July 4th rally at the Lincoln Memorial, replacing the traditional nonpartisan celebration with a Trump campaign event

Fact vs. Fiction Regarding the Iran “Deal”Let me walk you through this carefully as there is a lot of noise and spin and it’s worth cutting through all of it.

What Trump has right now is a Memorandum of Understanding. That’s not a treaty, not a final deal, and not a completed agreement of any kind. An MOU is, by definition, a statement of intent to negotiate. Concepts of a plan, one might say. The actual deal still has to be written, and the 60-day technical talks that would produce it haven’t even started.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the framework last night, calling it “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” but then noted that “pre-implementation discussions” this week would “lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony.”

Pre-implementation discussions to lay the foundation for technical talks before a signing ceremony for a document that precedes the actual deal.

Compare that to what Trump keeps trashing. The Obama-era JCPOA was an 18-page agreement with detailed annexes, 159 pages total, with specific, verifiable commitments on uranium enrichment limits, centrifuge counts, inspections, and enforcement mechanisms.

What Trump has is concepts of a deal, with the text not yet released to the public, to Congress, or even to reporters. Trump said this morning it would be out “pretty soon.” He then walked that back in France, telling reporters it would come out “sometime after Friday,” which is the signing ceremony itself.

He may not even attend. When asked, he told reporters: “JD is coming in for it. I’ll probably be gone by then.”

So we’re being asked to accept a deal we can’t read, signed by a president who may skip his own ceremony, for an agreement the other side is describing in completely different terms.

What Iran Says the Deal Actually Requires

Iran held a major foreign ministry press briefing today, and it is worth going through what spokesman Esmail Baghaei said, because it is substantially more than anything the Trump administration has publicly stated.

On sanctions: the American side is obligated to lift all of them — secondary, primary, UN Security Council sanctions, and relevant IAEA board resolutions — from the moment the MOU is signed on Friday. Iran says it must be able to sell oil and petrochemicals without any obstacle starting that day.

On the Strait of Hormuz: Baghaei drew a careful distinction, saying Iran never sought to impose “tolls.” He then immediately clarified that fees will be designed and collected for navigation services, environmental protection, ship insurance, and any other services Iran and Oman decide to provide in waters they now claim authority over.

So no “tolls,” just mandatory fees for every service Iran decides to offer. Fars news reported the draft MOU gives Iran and Oman formal authority over navigation management in the Gulf.

JD Vance sidestepped confirming a long-term, toll-free reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by stating that those details would be determined in upcoming technical negotiations. That’s a huge difference from what Trump has been saying.

On Iran’s nuclear material: Baghaei warned the U.S. directly in response to Trump’s Wall Street Journal comment about wanting to “go in and get it.” He reminded Trump’s team that they tried entering once, they saw the result, and if they are wise, they will not repeat it.

Meanwhile, Trump told the WSJ he’d deal with “nuclear dust later on, when we’re ready to go in and do it” and called the nuclear material “harmless.” After all of this, now Iran’s nuclear material is “harmless?!”

And Vance said this morning that we’ve “fundamentally changed our relationship with Iran” and “feel that we’re at the place now” where Iran won’t have a nuclear weapon.

Those three characterizations, from the president, his vice president, and Iran’s foreign ministry, describe three completely different realities.

On trust, Baghaei was blunt. Iran has no trust in Israel, no trust in America, and views the U.S. decision-making system as heavily influenced by what he called extremist and warmongering factions. Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s military headquarters declared the Iranian nation “was able to impose their will on coward enemies.” That is how Iran’s military is publicly framing this deal, as a victory imposed on the United States.

Vance’s big new talking point this morning was that the real win here is that we’re “friends with Iran now.” I am not making that up. That is what he said. We started a war, bombed Iran for three months, and the takeaway is that now we have a great relationship. I frankly have secondhand embarrassment just watching them try to spin this thing.

US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian, France on June 15, 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

The Strait Isn’t Reopened, At Least Yet…Trump posted this morning that “ships are starting to move, many loaded up with oil out of the Strait of Hormuz.” He called the waterway “totally safe, secure and pristine.”

The actual data tells a different story. Energy analyst Josh Young posted a MarineTraffic map of the Strait this morning with a simple observation showing the Strait looks mostly the same as yesterday, last week, and last month. Bloomberg’s vessel tracking data, updated every 30 minutes via AIS transponders, shows commercial cargo vessel crossings through Hormuz were running at 100-160 per day through 2025 and into early 2026. Around March of this year, they fell off a cliff, dropping to near zero, where they have remained ever since.

Correspondent Michael McDonough noted the tracker would show immediately if ships started moving with transponders on. So far, they aren’t.

Israel Says It Doesn’t Apply to Them

Here’s another central problem: Israel is openly rejecting the Lebanon clause of this deal.

Iran’s Baghaei today confirmed that Lebanon “appears three times in the MOU” and that ending the war in Lebanon is “an inseparable part of the ceasefire agreement.” Pakistani PM Sharif cited the deal’s inclusion of Lebanon when announcing it. Israel’s Defense Minister Katz confirmed that Netanyahu communicated to Trump directly that the IDF will not withdraw from Lebanon, and that he personally reiterated that position to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday.National Security Minister Ben Gvir posted a lengthy statement declaring the agreement does not bind Israel. He made his operational demands explicit: continue destroying houses in southern Lebanon, continue pushing residents out, continue eliminating Hezbollah.

Finance Minister Smotrich said Israel “will continue to act with every tool at its disposal to bring down this murderous regime in Iran.” Israeli policy, per Katz, is to maintain an indefinite military presence in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, described as “the consequence” of October 7.

Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake captured the central contradiction that Iran and Pakistan say the deal includes Lebanon, Israel says it doesn’t apply to them, and the fighting is continuing.

So, one side of the deal says it explicitly covers Lebanon. The other party to the conflict says the deal doesn’t bind them at all. And the Trump regime has said nothing publicly to resolve that contradiction.

The Green Reflecting Pool and July 4th

While all of this was unfolding, Trump was posting up a storm on Air Force One during his flight to France. Among his posts: a self-repost of a Breitbart headline reading “Thank You, President Trump: Reflecting Pool in D.C. Wows After Trump Renovations.”

The Reflecting Pool is currently covered in green algae. The $14 million no-bid contract to renovate it apparently did not prioritize the most basic requirement of maintaining a pool, circulating the water and filtering out algae. Anyone with a basic understanding of science could have told you that painting the bottom blue while failing to address filtration and circulation problems in a pool fed by the Potomac basin would accelerate the algae problem, not solve it. The humid conditions and low water levels this time of year make it worse.

Workers attempt to clean algae out of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has been painted blue at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee

The right-wing response has been cringeworthy. Conservative media personality Grant Stinchfield declared it sabotage by the left, calling it vandalism by people who “can’t stand Trump, American greatness and his quest to make DC beautiful again.” The post has 3.2 million views. The cause of the algae is stagnant water with poor filtration. Science. But sure, sabotage.

Trump also announced a July 4th rally at the Lincoln Memorial will now just be a Trump rally, with the algae-filled Reflecting Pool as a backdrop, more than 300 military band members, what he called “the largest fireworks show in history,” and himself as the keynote.

The traditional July 4th celebration at the Capitol has been moved to July 3 to accommodate it. The national holiday has been converted into a Trump campaign event. If you’re someone who just wants to enjoy the Fourth of July regardless of party, regardless of politics, too bad. Everything gets Trumpified.

Courts Push Back on Historical Erasure

A federal judge in Massachusetts delivered a significant ruling Friday, striking down the Trump administration’s effort to remove historical markers from national parks under the March 2025 “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order. The order directed the Interior Department to remove any content deemed to “inappropriately disparage” Americans, which in practice meant park rangers were ordered to discard educational materials about slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, harm to Indigenous people, and climate change.

Among the items targeted for removal: an 1863 image of Peter Gordon, an enslaved man whose scarred back became one of the most powerful documented records of slavery’s brutality, displayed at Fort Pulaski National Park in Georgia. An exhibit about the role of enslaved people at George Washington’s home. Indigenous history displays at Golden Gate National Park. A climate change marker at Fort Sumter, site of the first shots of the Civil War.

Judge Angel Kelley’s ruling stated the government’s stewardship of these park sites “carries a responsibility to present history in full rather than in favored fragments.” Democracy Forward’s Skye Perryman, who helped bring the challenge, called it “a whitewashing and in some instances a rewriting” of American history. The Trump administration will appeal. The Interior Department’s response to the ruling included a statement celebrating UFC event on the South Lawn.

The AFL-CIO Is Fighting Back

One more thing: The AFL-CIO just wrapped its convention in Minnesota, and the message coming out of it was exactly what this moment calls for. AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler made clear that America’s unions have never been more united and are ready to fight for a future that works for all working people. AFGE President Everett Kelley delivered what may be the line of the convention, speaking directly to DOGE and the federal workforce purges: “In the midst of what they thought would destroy us, it built us.”The attacks on workers, on federal employees, on organized labor, they were supposed to demoralize and divide. Instead they’ve produced exactly the opposite.  

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump Discussed Suspending Constitutional Rights, Epstein Consumes White House, UFC Fight Faces Major Blowback, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 15, 2026. Republicans, Democrats, and independents are all reacting to Trump’s White House UFC event, which ended with a vile remark about Michelle Obama that drew attention after Trump appeared to smile in response.

As Americans continue to struggle with rising costs, many are asking whether this spectacle was really the country’s priority. At the same time, Trump remains consumed by the Epstein files and reportedly lashes out behind the scenes whenever the subject is raised. This morning, we also learned the administration came dangerously close to suspending core constitutional protections during its immigration crackdown. The Iran deal continues to move forward, and much more.

One major thing happened last night. After the White House attacked my exclusive reporting showing that pilots were nearly blinded while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport because of the massive lights from the UFC cage, flights were temporarily halted during the light show at the event. That decision effectively confirmed my reporting.

The reporting was solid, and despite the attacks, the facts held up. This is what journalism looks like when it is not driven by access or approval from those in power. If you are able, please consider subscribing, upgrading your subscription, or gifting a subscription to someone else. This Substack remains the one place where I am fully independent and accountable only to you. Your support makes this work possible.Subscribed

Here’s the news:

 

President Trump turned 80 on Sunday and celebrated with a $60 million Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House (New York Times image by Kenny Holston). President Trump turned 80 on Sunday and celebrated with a $60 million Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House (New York Times image by Kenny Holston). 

After the White House attacked my exclusive reporting confirming that pilots were nearly blinded flying into the Ronald Reagan airport due to the massive white light emitting from the UFC cage, last night, the airport shutdown flights during the light show at the UFC octagon, confirming my reporting.

President Trump is reportedly furious whenever the Epstein files are raised, viewing them as a political vulnerability that refuses to go away. White House officials are increasingly concerned that new disclosures, detailed accounts of internal discussions, or additional records could keep the story in the headlines for months. Democrats are already promising Epstein hearings, subpoenas, and aggressive oversight if they regain control of the House, ensuring the issue remains a major political battleground. What began as a debate over the Epstein files has evolved into a broader fight over transparency, accountability, and what the administration may be trying to keep from public view. For Trump and his allies, the fear is that the controversy could continue to overshadow other priorities and dominate the political conversation.

As President Trump celebrated his 80th birthday with a massive UFC event on the White House lawn featuring celebrity guests, military flyovers, and thousands of spectators, many Americans remain focused on a much simpler issue: lowering costs. The spectacle unfolded as families continue to grapple with high prices for housing, groceries, and other essentials, highlighting a disconnect between Washington’s political theater and the economic concerns dominating many households. Critics across the political spectrum questioned the use of White House grounds for such an event, while supporters viewed it as a patriotic celebration. The contrast between an elaborate UFC showcase and voters’ everyday financial struggles is likely to fuel ongoing debate about the administration’s priorities.

Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike blasted the White House UFC event after fighter Josh Hokit used his post-fight interview to falsely claim that former First Lady Michelle Obama is a man. The remark came during President Trump’s heavily promoted UFC event on the White House lawn, drawing widespread criticism and threatening to overshadow the spectacle itself. Trump appeared to react with a slight smile from ringside, according to CNN, though his exact response afterward remains unclear. The incident added to broader criticism of the unprecedented decision to host a UFC fight at the White House. I am not going to show you the moment, because I don’t believe such vile and false remarks deserve the airtime they received. During the fight, images captured by Reuters showed the President’s hand disclored again.

A remarkable new story from the New York Times has confirmed that the Trump administration came dangerously close to suspending a core constitutional protection, as senior White House officials seriously debated whether President Trump could suspend habeas corpus rights for undocumented immigrants to accelerate deportations. Secret internal memos show advisers warned that such a move would likely be unconstitutional, since habeas corpus, the right to challenge detention before a judge, has only been suspended in the most extreme moments of U.S. history, such as war and rebellion. Stephen Miller pushed the idea aggressively, while Trump reportedly showed interest and directed officials to study the option. Ultimately, the proposal was shelved after intense internal resistance, but only after becoming a serious policy discussion.

Internal documents reveal a broader struggle inside the White House over how far presidential power could be expanded. Some senior officials feared Miller’s efforts to bypass courts and legal constraints risked triggering major constitutional crises and damaging the administration’s broader agenda. White House lawyers repeatedly warned that courts would almost certainly strike down attempts to suspend habeas corpus and that the resulting legal battles could become a political disaster. Even officials who strongly supported Trump’s immigration agenda privately described some of the proposals as “insane.”

The same internal fight extended to discussions about invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops domestically during immigration-related protests. Vice President JD Vance and Miller pushed for using the law after unrest in Minnesota, arguing it would send a strong message to protesters and immigration activists. Other senior aides, including White House counsel and political advisers, argued the circumstances did not come close to meeting the historical threshold for such an extraordinary step and warned of severe political and legal consequences. The administration ultimately backed away, but the report suggests both the Insurrection Act and habeas corpus debates remain examples of how close officials came to testing the outer limits of presidential authority.

Iran deal: Markets are soaring after the Trump administration announced a tentative deal with Iran, sending oil prices sharply lower and triggering a rally on Wall Street. While investors celebrated the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening, many Americans are asking a more basic question: when will they actually see lower prices at the gas pump, grocery store, and elsewhere?

Analysts caution that shipping disruptions could take months to fully unwind, meaning relief may not be immediate. After years of inflation and economic uncertainty, voters remain focused on affordability above all else.

The tentative Iran agreement is being hailed as a major diplomatic breakthrough that could end months of conflict and reopen one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Yet key issues remain unresolved, including the future of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile and the details of its nuclear program. Israel is already signaling concerns, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking talks with Trump about the agreement. The coming weeks will determine whether the deal produces lasting stability or simply pauses a broader regional crisis.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said the full text of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) will only be released after it is formally signed, indicating key details remain undisclosed. He stressed that signing the MOU does not mean Iran trusts the United States, underscoring the deep mistrust that has characterized the negotiations from the start. Iran says the MOU is merely a framework agreement and that negotiations on a final deal will take place over the next 60 days.

Global leaders are cautiously welcoming the agreement, but many remain skeptical about how quickly conditions will normalize. Shipping groups warn that commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz may take months to recover even if the political agreement holds. Britain, China, Russia, and regional mediators have all described the peace as fragile and dependent on future negotiations. Americans may welcome falling oil prices, but they are likely to judge the agreement by whether it delivers tangible economic benefits at home.

Benjamin Netanyahu smile TwitterPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, told President Trump that Israel will not withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and does not consider itself bound by the Lebanon-related provisions of the U.S.-Iran agreement. That would suggest Israel intends to maintain freedom of action against Hezbollah regardless of commitments made between Washington and Tehran. The stance could complicate efforts to make the broader agreement stick, since Iran has repeatedly linked regional de-escalation—including in Lebanon—to any lasting arrangement with the United States.

The first ship to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S.–Iran peace deal announcement was the Maltese-flagged LNG tanker Disha. The vessel traveled using Iran’s traffic separation scheme, a key shipping route through the strategically vital waterway. Its transit is being viewed as an early sign that commercial shipping may begin resuming after months of disruption. However, analysts caution that a full return to normal shipping traffic could still take weeks or months.

Other news:

Congress is growing increasingly alarmed after a new report projected that Social Security's trust fund could become insolvent by 2032, triggering automatic benefit cuts of roughly 22% if lawmakers fail to act. Republicans are deeply divided over how to respond, with some conservatives calling for a bipartisan effort to reform the program while others warn that any talk of "reform" will be seen by voters as a push to cut benefits. Several proposals are being discussed, including raising the retirement age, increasing payroll taxes, means-testing benefits, and creating private investment accounts, but many lawmakers view the issue as politically toxic ahead of the midterms. Despite broad agreement that the program's finances need attention, both parties appear reluctant to take ownership of a solution, raising fears that Congress may wait until a crisis is imminent before acting.

The Kennedy Center tarp remains up today. It appears as though the plan is to keep it up for as long as Trump is in office:

 

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

President Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on French wine and champagne unless France eliminates its digital services tax on major technology companies. The tax, introduced in 2019, applies to revenue earned in France by firms such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google parent Alphabet. Ahead of a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit, Trump said he had urged Macron not to charge American companies and warned that tariffs would follow if the tax remained in place. Trump argued that France could avoid the dispute entirely by repealing the levy, saying, “All he has to do is get rid of the sales tax.”

A bizarre controversy erupted before the White House UFC event when screenshots appeared to show Eric Trump asking UFC commentator Daniel Cormier whether any fights would be “rigged.” Cormier initially shared the screenshots publicly before later deleting the post, while Eric Trump insisted the messages were “AI-generated” and completely fabricated. Cormier subsequently appeared to agree the screenshots were fake, posting, “Are people this dumb?” as the claims spread online. We still do not have the full story this morning.

Over the past several weeks, my inbox has been flooded with hateful messages. Some of them have even escalated further, to threats to myself and my family. A lot of you have asked how I protect myself. I have and will always continue to work with a company called DeleteMe. They make sure these messages don’t turn more serious. They hide my data, keep my information secret. You can do it too. Go to this link. Use code AARON. Protect yourself today.

President Trump was still posting on social media in the early hours of the morning after his White House UFC birthday event, launching an all-caps attack against efforts to renew controversial government surveillance authorities. The post underscored Trump’s growing opposition to intelligence and law enforcement powers that he and many of his supporters believe have been abused against political figures. Critics seized on the timing, noting that the president was posting angrily online just hours after the UFC spectacle ended after 1 a.m. The episode added to a turbulent birthday weekend that was already dominated by controversy surrounding the White House fight card, the Epstein fallout, and ongoing battles over the Iran deal.

Trump further confirmed he will be holding a campaign-style rally on the 4th of July in Washington, D.C.:

At least 11 people were killed and more than 50 wounded after Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine in recent months, firing 70 missiles and more than 600 drones overnight. The strikes damaged the historic 11th-century Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Ukraine’s most important religious landmarks, prompting condemnation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron. Russia denied targeting the cathedral and claimed a Ukrainian air-defense missile caused the damage, while Ukraine accused Moscow of attacking both civilians and cultural heritage sites. The assault comes ahead of the G7 summit, where Zelensky is urging world leaders to increase military assistance and pressure on Russia.

LA28 announced that applications for its Games-time volunteer program will open on July 14, exactly two years before the opening ceremony of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Organizers are seeking roughly 60,000 volunteers to help during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with roles ranging from welcoming spectators and athletes to providing medical and language support. While most positions will be based in the Los Angeles area, volunteers will also be needed in Olympic host cities including New York, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San José, and San Diego. LA28 officials described volunteers as the backbone of the Games, saying they will play a key role in shaping the experience for athletes, fans, and visitors from around the world.

American singer and comedian Oliver Tree was listed among the passengers on a helicopter involved in a deadly midair collision over Rio de Janeiro, though authorities have not yet been able to identify the victims. Two helicopters collided Sunday morning, killing all six people aboard and causing one aircraft to crash into a car dealership parking lot, where a fire broke out. Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the crash, while reports also indicate that Argentine content creator Gaspar Prim Díaz may have been among the passengers. Officials say identification efforts are ongoing, meaning the identities of those killed have not yet been officially confirmed.

Iran’s World Cup opener against New Zealand is becoming a political flashpoint, with Iranian Americans divided between supporting the national team and protesting the Iranian government outside the stadium. Many members of the diaspora, particularly in Southern California’s large Iranian community, plan demonstrations over Tehran’s crackdown on dissent, while others insist the players represent the Iranian people rather than the regime. Team captain Mehdi Taremi urged fans to see the squad as a unifying force, saying the team is there “to bring joy to all Iranians” and not engage in politics. The tensions reflect broader divisions within the Iranian diaspora as the World Cup unfolds amid the aftermath of the U.S.-Iran conflict and a newly announced peace framework.

Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway’s crown princess, was convicted of two counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison. The 29-year-old was found guilty of raping two women who the court determined were asleep or otherwise unable to resist, though he was acquitted on two other rape charges. He was also convicted of abusing former girlfriend Nora Haukland and causing serious bodily harm to another partner. The case has cast a shadow over Norway’s royal family, which is already dealing with Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s serious health problems, though the palace declined to comment on the verdict.

The U.K. will ban social media for children under 16, making it one of the most aggressive efforts in the world to restrict minors’ access to major online platforms. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was not prepared to “compromise on the safety and happiness of our children,” while also announcing restrictions on livestreaming, disappearing messages, and AI companion chatbots for young users. The government is considering additional measures, including overnight curfews and limits on infinite scrolling for minors. The move is broadly popular with British parents and is expected to take effect in 2027 if approved by Parliament.

More On Threats To American Rights, Laws, Values, Democracy

paul krugman oligarchs chartPaul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Meet the New Bosses, Worse Than the Old Bosses, Paul Krugman, paul krugmanright, June 15, 2026. The second Gilded Age is much uglier than the first.

Many people have compared our current era to the Gilded Age. But that analogy is deeply unfair to the Gilded Age. Like the robber barons of yore, today’s oligarchs are immensely wealthy — even wealthier, relative to the economy as a whole, than their predecessors. And extreme wealth corrupts our democracy. But the corruption is deeper and more destructive now than it was then: The mitigating factors that once put some brakes on the harm done by excessive wealth concentration are now mostly gone.

About wealth concentration: The standard source for information on extreme wealth is the Forbes 400 list. Forbes only began compiling that list in its current form in 1982, but it published its first listing of America’s top fortunes in 1918. The chart above compares the wealth of the richest 5 Americans in 1918 with that of the richest 15 in 2025 — 15, not 5, because the total U.S. population more than tripled over that period. I scale their wealth both as a percentage of total wealth and as a share of GDP.

Either way, the concentration of wealth at the very top is much higher now than it ever was during the Gilded Age. And these are numbers from last year, before the SpaceX IPO. The robber barons were pikers compared with today’s oligarchs.

This level of wealth brings with it immense political influence. A New York Times analysis found that 300 billionaires accounted for 19 percent of political contributions in the 2024 election. And since the election the power of money has grown even stronger.

In part this reflects the way great wealth has been used to corrupt the media. Elon Musk bought Twitter, not as a financial investment, but to turn it into the right-wing fever swamp it has now become. Larry Ellison, America’s second-richest man, purchased CBS basically to destroy it as an independent news source and convert it into Fox News 2.0, a goal he is achieving — and he is now on track to do the same to CNN.

On top of this, the presidency is now more or less openly for sale. “Donald Trump,” writes Forbes, “has presided over the most lucrative presidency in history,” adding $4.2 billion to his personal wealth since regaining the White House.

There were many corruption scandals during the Gilded Age, but none on this scale.

What do today’s uberrich do with their political power? Much of what they push for involves their own self-interest. In 2024 Mark Zuckerberg basically used his financial clout to kill bipartisan legislation that would have tried to protect children from psychological harm due to social media and, of course, put some restrictions on Meta. The Koch family has spent decades doing everything it can to prevent action against climate change and keep America burning fossil fuels.

Beyond this, some megabillionaires use their power to push political extremism.

True, Elon Musk is something of an outlier; you have to go some ways down the list to find someone comparably extreme (Peter Thiel is #40.) And he isn’t the first incredibly wealthy man to be deeply bigoted and an avid consumer of conspiracy theories: Henry Ford was a rabid anti-Semite who published and distributed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forgery probably concocted by the Russian secret police.

Still, it’s remarkable that the world’s richest man has passionately embraced the “Great Replacement” theory of a sinister conspiracy to replace whites with nonwhite immigrants.

And it’s equally remarkable that our political system accepts it as a fact of life that such a person should command such power, even leaving on one side the dubious roots of his wealth. Where’s the outrage?

Obviously some Americans are outraged, but the backlash against a highly corrupt, rigged system is far weaker than one might have expected. Why?

I’ll return to this question in later posts, but it’s clear that modern America suffers from a combination of cynicism — “everybody does it” — and fatalism — “that’s just how the world works” — far worse than anything we experienced in the robber baron era.

You can see this moral malaise in the shrugs with which all too many politicians, especially but not only Republicans, greet each new revelation of presidential scandal. You can also see it in the behavior of the ultrawealthy themselves.

Make no mistake: the men on that 1918 Forbes list were, without exception, ruthless businessmen. The term “robber barons,” popularized in the 1930s by the historian Mattew Josephson, was apt. The great fortunes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were accumulated by men who functionally played the same role as feudal warlords extorting tolls from travelers passing their castles. In particular, John D. Rockefeller, the world’s richest man, in effect controlled an essential economic choke point, a sort of financial Strait of Hormuz, through his monopolization of oil refining.

Yet many of the robber barons also possessed a sense of noblesse oblige, believing that they should deploy some of their riches on behalf of the public good.

Many of the robber barons gave huge sums to philanthropy. These included large donations to cultural institutions, which continue to enrich our society to this day. Mention Andrew Carnegie or Henry Clay Frick to a modern New Yorker and the first things they think of will probably be Carnegie Hall and the Frick Collection of fine art.

No doubt this was in large part a public relations exercise, but the fact that the robber barons believed that this PR effort was necessary was itself a symptom of a society less cynical than it is today. And the Gilded Age wealthy left a lasting legacy of good deeds to set against the history of their ruthless business practices.

By contrast, today’s oligarchs spend very little on good works, according to Forbes. Musk and Ellison have both given away less than 1 percent of their fortunes.

And Musk in particular is the opposite of a philanthropist. Not only doesn’t he spend any of his own money to help others, he used his power when running DOGE to cut off aid to poor countries, condemning hundreds of thousands of children to avoidable death. And he was gleeful about it:

Again, where is the outrage?

So, are we living in a second Gilded Age? If only. We surpassed Gilded Age levels of income and wealth inequality decades ago. We’re now in an era of oligarchy in which the power of great wealth and the abuse of that power by a tiny elite eclipse anything we saw in the late 19th and early 20th century. And the super-wealthy themselves are far more lacking in redemptive qualities than their predecessors.

Meet the new bosses, worse than the old bosses.

The Breakdown with Allison Gill, Headlines: Today, the United States Postal Service is seeking to block mail in ballots to any state that doesn’t hand over its voter rolls, Allison Gill, right, allison gillJune 15, 2026. Also, the United States struck civilian drinking-water facilities in last week’s strikes, ICE agents detained two people at a preschool graduation in Baltimore, the bystander shot near the White House was hit by Secret Service, and more.

New York Times, Postal Service Seeks to Block Mail Ballots in States Resisting Trump Demands, Adam Sella and Nick Corasaniti, June 12, 2026 (print ed.). Democrats and voting-rights groups have challenged the proposed rule as a harmful federal intrusion that could affect millions of voters who cast their ballots by mail.

postal service old logoThe U.S. Postal Service has proposed a new rule that would allow it to refuse to deliver mail ballots in states that don’t turn over voter rolls to the federal government.

The rule, proposed last week, is vaguely written but appears to establish broad authority for the agency to intervene in the mail voting process. It calls on states to compile lists of mail voters that Postal Service employees would use to screen ballots for eligibility. If states refuse to comply, the agency could refuse to send their mail ballots.

Democrats and voting-rights groups say the proposed rule is clear evidence that the Trump administration is trying to unconstitutionally intrude on state-run elections.

Withholding some mail services in states where voters rely heavily on mail balloting could affect millions of Americans. And most of those affected would likely be Democrats, who disproportionately vote by mail because more Republicans have been convinced by Mr. Trump’s unfounded claims that mail balloting is not reliable and invites fraud. Screening mail ballots for voter eligibility, meanwhile, would amount to an unprecedented, and potentially unconstitutional, involvement of the federal government in the administration of elections. The proposed rule is vague, however, so it is unclear how the screening would work.

In recent oral arguments before a federal judge in Boston, a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general and multiple voting rights groups said the rule amounts to a federal intrusion into the voting process, which the Constitution dictates is the domain of the states. They also argued that it would be expensive, cumbersome and chaotic to comply with the demand to create new lists of voters and, in some cases, to change mail ballot designs, with fewer than 150 days until the 2026 general election.

“It’s just difficult to overstate the disruption that this will cause to election administration,” said Michael Cohen, the deputy attorney general in California, who was speaking on behalf of a broad coalition of states in federal court last week.

The rule is consistent with an executive order Mr. Trump signed in March effectively instructing the Postal Service not to deliver election mail unless states comply with other aspects of the president’s order, including handing over the voter lists.

Postal experts said the order also threatens the service’s independence. Anton Hajjar, a former member of the Postal Service Board of Governors, said his main concern is that Mr. Trump’s order amounts to “political interference with the U.S.P.S., which by law is supposed to be independent.”

The service, whose precursor predates the United States’ independence, was codified by Congress and signed into law in 1792 by President George Washington. The founders considered the service an essential pillar of the young country’s democracy that would protect the uncensored and affordable exchange of ideas. Congress passed another law in 1970 that converted the Postal Service from a cabinet-level arm of the executive branch to an independent federal agency.Editors’ PicksIs There Such a Thing as Timeless Jeans?Our Best Father’s Day RecipesWant to Rent Out Your House? Here’s How to Get Started.

The proposed rule is currently open for a 30-day comment period. The executive order calls on the Postal Service to issue a final rule by the end of July.

The proposal is in line with repeated attempts by Mr. Trump and his Republican allies to take over critical parts of the electoral process in the run-up to a challenging midterm election cycle for their party. The president’s first attempted executive order on elections, which he signed last year and included a requirement for documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, was blocked by courts. His signature voting legislation in Congress, which would have restricted vote by mail and added similar citizenship requirements, stalled in the face of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

There are vanishingly few instances of illegal noncitizen voting. Democrats have repeatedly accused the president of trying to give Republicans an electoral advantage in the name of improving election security. Mr. Trump has not denied it. At a gathering of Republican lawmakers in March, he framed support for legislation that would in part crack down on mail voting as a way to hold the G.O.P. majority in Congress.

“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” he told them, warning that failure would bring “big trouble.”

The president has also tried to insulate against Republican losses in the midterms by igniting a nationwide redistricting war to draw new, safely partisan congressional seats before the midterms. And he has repeatedly, falsely castigated the slow voting process in California’s primary earlier this month as fraudulent, a preview of what he might do in the general election if Republicans fared poorly. Without offering any evidence, the Department of Justice has even promised to bring charges of election fraud in the state.

Democrats argued that the executive order signed in March was unconstitutional, and multiple lawsuits were filed within days. But Judge Carl J. Nichols ruled in late May that it was premature for the court to intervene. He cited the fact that the Trump administration had yet to carry out much of the order, meaning that any potential harm caused to states or voters was still theoretical.

“The court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects plaintiffs or their members, or that the government may develop state citizenship lists that omit specific individuals due to particularized flaws,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur.”

Although the Postal Service has not yet issued what the judge called a “final” rule, Democrats pointed in court last week to both the agency’s proposed rule and the directive in the executive order to create citizenship lists at the Department of Homeland Security as evidence that the order is being implemented and causing harm.

Both the Postal Service proposal and the executive order show that states will “suffer real harm,” Mr. Cohen said in federal court last week.ImageThe Postal Service sign outside its headquarters.The Postal Service’s proposed rule affecting mail voting is open for a 30-day comment period. An executive order issued by President Trump in April calls on the agency to issue a final rule by the end of July.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

Lawyers from the Department of Justice defended both the proposed rule and the executive order, but also reiterated that many details regarding implementation had not yet been developed, making any litigation ill-timed.

“There remain significant uncertainties, even within the federal government, about how and to what extent the executive order will be implemented,” Stephen M. Pezzi, a lawyer for the Department of Justice, said in court.

The rule offers little explanation for how the Postal Service would screen those ballots. One uncertainty is whether there is a plan for merging the citizenship lists that Homeland Security has been ordered to create with the mail-voter lists required of the states. The president’s executive order said the Homeland Security lists would be transmitted to the states, but explained little else.

Earlier this year, Postmaster General David Steiner told The New York Times that the agency would have no part in determining who would be on such a list.

“We’re not going to compile a list. I mean, we can’t compile a list. That’s not what our job is,” Mr. Steiner said. He added: “We can only work off of a list that we are given, and then we deliver mail.”

The Postal Service did not respond to a request for comment.

The 20-page proposed rule was posted on June 2 for public comment. The changes would not apply to primary elections or overseas and military voters.

The proposal also establishes standards for envelope design and tracking, many of which would fall on state and local election officials to carry out.

While the proposed rule says states would retain full control over who can vote by mail, it also makes clear that using the Postal Service to deliver that mail requires states to comply with the rule.

The Postal Service plans to use a “Mail-in and Absentee Participation List” to “facilitate law enforcement efforts,” and plans to verify ballot mail against that list before it enters the Postal Service’s mail stream. If there isn’t a match, or if the envelope does not meet the new standards, the ballot will be rejected.

The proposal does not say how ballots en route to voters would be screened, but it does say they would be verified by Postal Service employees. Mail ballot verification, however, has long been the province of state election officials.

Meanwhile, screening and rejecting such mail for compliance before it enters the mail stream could create bottlenecks. The proposed rule says that if mail ballots are found to be noncompliant, they will be returned and would have to be amended before being resubmitted.

The service rarely returns mail, said William Hensley, a former election mail specialist at the Postal Service, but in this case the rule appears to indicate that the service may say “turn that truck around.”

“And the consequence of that could be incredibly damaging for election officials and for voters,” he said.

Jena Griswold, the Democratic secretary of state in Colorado, said in an interview that the proposed changes, especially requiring states to share voter information for ballots to be delivered, “would put a state like Colorado in a tremendous bind.”

A majority of Coloradans vote by mail, “so it would absolutely have a tremendous effect on our election system,” she said.

The Atlantic, The Voters Who Believe That Trump Defends Their Values, Katy Osborn and Scott Warren, June 13, 2026. Why calls to ‘save democracy’ don’t work.

djt bible doug mills nyt june 1 2020 st johns CustomThe Atlantic, The Voters Who Believe That Trump Defends Their Values, Katy Osborn and Scott Warren, June 13, 2026. Why calls to ‘save democracy’ don’t work.

atlantic logo horizontalGiven President Trump’s disregard for long-standing political norms and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, many Americans fear that he is hostile to democracy. According to this view, the 49.8 percent of voters who supported him in 2024 must simply be unaware of the existential threat he poses to our republic. The logic, to Trump’s critics, is therefore simple: Once voters fully grasp that democracy is under threat from creeping authoritarianism, then surely they will turn against Trump.

Yet this strategy has largely fallen flat. Why? The consulting and pro-democracy organizations where we work have spent the past few months with conservative Trump voters across three counties in Wyoming, Michigan, and South Carolina. We learned that many do indeed revere America’s founding design, including the Constitution, free and fair elections, the Electoral College, and the rule of law. But these voters feel that government institutions have drifted from their founding values and priorities, which they classify as faith, or the belief that moral authority precedes political authority; family, the primary unit of social life and obligation; freedom, mainly from government overreach; and place, or the importance of local community over national abstraction. The people we spoke with explained that by forsaking these values, the country’s political institutions have lost touch with the moral ethos that they believe should guide public life, and that these institutions were designed to protect.

Our research involved conducting in-depth interviews with and observing the daily lives of dozens of people along with their friends, families, and neighbors to better understand how they think about American democracy right now. Our goal was not to persuade or judge, but to figure out why public trust in national institutions has plummeted to historic lows and what might be done to build it back up.

We learned that the central question for the conservatives we met is not “Should America be a democracy?” Instead it is: “Has American democracy remained faithful to what makes it legitimate?” Democratic institutions are legitimate, in the view of conservatives, when they honor and protect the faith, freedom, families, and communities of their constituents. When institutions and the politicians who inhabit them fail to appreciate the centrality of these core values, they become illegitimate.

One participant, Sarah, a 30-something mother of three in rural Wyoming, grew up poor, the daughter of a single teen mom. From the time she was 10, her local church fed her family, cared for her when her mother couldn’t be around, and surrounded her with people who treated her with dignity. In 2008, at age 18, she strongly considered voting for Barack Obama for president. She appreciated his care for struggling Americans and believed his promises of change. The parents of her boyfriend at the time didn’t argue with her. Instead, her future in-laws listened and then asked: Who brought you out of poverty? The answer, Sarah realized, was not the federal government, but her church community—a view that she believed put her closer to the priorities and policies of conservatives rather than Democrats.

Christopher Beam: The ‘democracy’ gap

Nearly 20 years later, Sarah told us that virtually every major institution she has encountered in her life, including public schools, hospitals, and various federal agencies, has squandered her trust and fallen short of what her church gave her. Having witnessed the shortcomings of the public-school system firsthand as a teacher, Sarah now homeschools her children. When neurologists dismissed her young son's recurring seizures, she turned to networks of mothers online to crowdsource a diagnosis and treatment plan, which largely entailed avoiding certain government-sanctioned products and chemicals. (When we met her, her son hadn’t had a seizure for more than a year.) During the coronavirus pandemic, Sarah watched policies that seemed designed for urbanites arrive in her rural town without the consent of residents or evidence of their local efficacy. She threw herself into local activism, showing up to county meetings, local boards, and precinct caucuses. She now aligns herself with a chapter of the right-wing Freedom Caucus.

Across Wyoming, Michigan, and South Carolina, we heard stories like Sarah’s: Conventional institutions had failed participants, and faith and values-aligned organizations filled the gap. This is why calls to restore power to government institutions ring hollow, and why the Democratic Party’s faith in institutions can appear naive and godless. As Thomas, a rural South Carolinian who comes from a family with a long history of military service and civic engagement, told us: “Democrats see government as their god, while conservatives see their god as God, and government as sort of secondary.”

Disappointment and distrust in much of government—owing to the ways these institutions have seemingly abandoned the priorities that made them just and meaningful—have hardened into a worldview, one that dismisses democratic rules and norms as expendable if they don’t reinforce what’s morally essential. As Sam, a small-business owner in Michigan, put it: “Political norms are just like culture, right? Norms just mean how we have always done things. So I think that’s fine to disrupt.”

Which brings us to Trump. How can people with such a strong attachment to faith and family vote for someone who criticizes religious leaders and defies so many ethical standards? We learned that these voters evaluate Trump not as a model of their values, but as a defender of them. “I don’t like him as a person,” Cindy, a 50-something nurse in South Carolina, told us. “But I like him as a president.”

A number of respondents expressed gratitude for the way Trump has worked to protect their communities and livelihoods, particularly in coal country. Sarah told us, for example, that when Trump returned to office, her husband, a land surveyor in Wyoming, was nearly unemployed and the family was worried about making ends meet. But thanks to the president’s reversal of Biden-era restrictions on coal mining, her husband is now overwhelmed with work. Such moves have made Trump a hero in parts of the country where Americans have been unwilling or unable to pivot away from coal.

This view of Trump as a protector of the country’s core values and interests also helps explain how participants reconcile the president’s interventionist policies and growing executive power with their stated preferences for small, local governance. Many of the people with whom we spoke justified Trump’s aggressive use of federal power as a necessary response to hostile institutions that have violated their constitutional mandate. When the FBI investigates Trump, when government agencies mandate vaccines, and when the Department of Education influences local curricula, voters say these institutions have exceeded their legitimate authority. In cracking down on these institutional breaches, Trump is not breaking the rules but defending the foundation the rules were meant to protect. “Do I think Trump’s all the time, great? No. But I do think he’s fighting for everyone right now,” Kyle, a 20-something delivery driver in rural Wyoming, told us.

Peter Wehner: The American pope vs. the American president

Our research suggests that activists seeking to protect American democracy from authoritarian influences are pursuing a failing strategy. They are defending largely abstract democratic processes, such as norms and rules, on the assumption that everyone agrees that they are legitimate and worth saving. But such arguments are unlikely to resonate with voters who have come to believe that many of these norms and processes have abandoned the country’s bedrock values. Calls to defend democracy promise to alienate anyone who feels that democratic institutions have somehow failed them. Few care to preserve a system they feel stopped serving its purpose long ago. 

New York Times, Health Risks of Alcohol Accelerate After One Drink a Day, Study Finds, Roni Caryn Rabin, Updated June 10, 2026. The alcohol industry has criticized the research, which found that even light drinking increases the risk of premature death.

A government alcohol study published on Tuesday concluded that the health risks of alcohol start at a single drink a day. The report was caught up in controversy after drawing the ire of the alcohol industry.

For people who have one drink a day on average, the researchers found, there was an increased risk of premature death from an illness or injury directly attributable to alcohol, though it was small — one in 1,000 people. But the risk of premature death jumped to one in 25 for those who had two drinks a day, a level long considered safe for men, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The Alcohol Intake and Health Study was one of two reports commissioned during the Biden administration to inform an update to the U.S. dietary guidelines.

The second report, from a panel appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, or NASEM, came to very different conclusions. It suggested that moderate drinking (up to two drinks a day for men and one for women) was healthier than not drinking at all, although it noted that moderate drinking was also linked to a higher breast cancer risk. Some of the panelists behind that report had financial ties to the alcohol industry.

The second report’s finding was more palatable to the alcohol industry, which had called the Alcohol Intake and Health Study ideologically driven and scientifically flawed, and said it had communicated its concerns repeatedly to government officials over a period of several years.

When the Trump administration finally issued the new dietary guidelines in January, they advised Americans to drink less for better health but omitted any recommendation for daily limits, in a departure from previous years.

“The new dietary guidelines say that consuming less is better for your health, but don’t say what consuming less means,” said Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, one of the authors of the new paper and the deputy scientific director of the alcohol research group at the nonprofit Public Health Institute. “This paper does, and it says that having no more than one drink a day is best for health, and that drinking above that comes with significant risks.”

A standard drink is defined as 12 fluid ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

In an editorial accompanying the new paper, Robert M. Vincent, the former government official who commissioned the study, said he believed he was fired because the report produced evidence “at odds with commercial interests.” Mr. Vincent lost his job as associate administrator for alcohol prevention and treatment policy at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration during a reduction in force last year.Editors’ Picks‘Darling, I Love You, but Give Me Park Avenue’Dakota Johnson Finds a Buyer for Her Los Angeles HouseStill Need to Book a Summer Trip? Here Are Our Suggestions on Where to Go

“It was going to cost the alcohol industry money,” Mr. Vincent said. “They didn’t like going from two to one for men, and they didn’t like the mention of cancer.”

But ultimately, Mr. Vincent wrote, the findings were sidelined and dissemination of the paper was stalled. The authors of the study decided to publish a version of their research independently in a peer-reviewed journal.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Vincent’s statement about his firing, but said that “any characterization that the study was ‘shelved’ is inaccurate.”

The new study, which relied exclusively on U.S. health data, assessed relationships between average alcohol consumption and the risk of disease or death from causes that were directly attributed to drinking.

Women who had one drink a day were more likely to die of liver cancer or breast cancer than women who did not drink. And at one drink a day, both men and women were at increased risk of dying from liver cirrhosis, oral and esophageal cancers and injuries, the paper found. The risks continued to climb with higher levels of consumption.

Consuming more than one drink per occasion was associated with progressively higher risks of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and injury.

The report did find that one drink a day was associated with a lower risk of diabetes for women and a lowered risk of stroke for both men and women. However, occasional heavy drinking nullified the protective effects against stroke.

One reason the studies reached such different conclusions is that while the new study examined deaths from causes directly attributable to alcohol, the NASEM report commissioned by Congress looked at overall death rates of moderate drinkers, including deaths not causally related to alcohol.

Critics of the NASEM report say that people who drink in moderation often have other healthy lifestyle habits that contribute to their longevity. The moderate drinking group also included many people who consumed less than two drinks a day. Both of these factors could make the health effects of moderate drinking look less significant than they might be.

Dr. Ned Calonge, an epidemiologist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who led the NASEM study, said he stood by its conclusions.

“Alcohol research is complex and I am not surprised by different methods producing different results,” Dr. Calonge said, adding that modeling studies like the Alcohol Intake and Health Study, which use data to estimate the lifetime risk of diseases and deaths caused by alcohol, also come with potential biases.

New York Times, Democrats Warn Trump Officials Not to Pursue Arch Project Without Congress, Luke Broadwater, June 15, 2026. In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and national parks officials, lawmakers said that members of the administration could face fines and even criminal prosecution.

Global News

 

 G7 Summit 2026

New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: President Arrives in France for Group of 7 Summit, Staff Reports, June 15, 2026. What We’re Covering Today.

  • G7 Meeting: President Trump arrived in France on Monday for the annual Group of 7 summit, as his positions on trade, the war in Ukraine and NATO strain ties with European allies. Mr. Trump met with President Emmanuel Macron of France, and he is scheduled to hold group sessions with other world leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. Read more ›
  • Vaccines: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, is trying to restart the work of a panel that advises the government on vaccines, after a judge froze its decisions and prevented the group from meeting. Six medical organizations have argued that the panel’s decisions endangered the health of Americans. Read more ›

President Emmanuel Macron of France complimented President Trump on his birthday celebration, and praised the “very important” agreement announced with Iran on Friday. Macron said it would “fix the nuclear issue” and was also a “very important matter for peace for the world.” He said that France was ready to “take our fair share of the burden” in supporting the deal.

Macron also laid out the summit’s agenda, which will include discussions about the war in Ukraine and critical minerals, and a dinner he will host at the Palace of Versailles for Trump. Macron said the celebration would commemorate the U.S.’s 250 years of independence, and that its setting was fitting because of France’s support for the U.S. throughout history and where the Treaty of Versailles was prepared.

New York Times, Historic Orthodox Cathedral Burns in Russian Attack on Kyiv, Maria Varenikova, June 15, 2026. A bishop reported that many holy items had been recovered from the church, at the site of the Perchersk monastery, a revered place for the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox faiths.

A cathedral at one of the oldest and holiest sites in Eastern Orthodox Christianity burned early on Monday as Russia bombarded Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, with missiles and drones.

Russian FlagExplosions shook buildings across Kyiv through the night in attacks that killed five people and injured 35 others, the authorities said. At least 14 residential buildings were damaged, and two street markets burned down. Russia has intensified missile attacks on the capital amid setbacks on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.

More than four years into the war, Moscow’s strikes are taking a growing toll on Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

The church that was struck, the Dormition Cathedral, is part of the Pechersk monastery complex, which was founded in the 11th century. The monastery is important to the early history of both Ukraine and Russia, and its capture was an early objective of the Kremlin in the war.

Medieval catacombs hold the mummies of early Slavic saints, and church buildings or elements of them date back more than 1,000 years. The monastery is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The cathedral’s roof was engulfed in flames. Fire also rose beside the onionlike cupolas. A priest there, Father Rafail, said that the damage had most likely been caused by falling debris, adding that he believed the material had fallen on the church by accident.

However, he added, “Nothing happens by chance with God.”

In the overnight assault on Ukraine, Russian forces launched 70 missiles and 611 drones, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said. Kyiv was the main target, with 60 missiles directed at the capital, Mr. Zelensky said. 

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: U.S.-Iran Framework Brings Relief, but Challenges Loom, Lara Jakes and Yan Zhuang, June 15, 2026. The United States and Iran reached a preliminary deal that was expected to open the Strait of Hormuz. But it defers the toughest issues to further talks.

World leaders on Monday welcomed a new cease-fire deal and diplomatic road map to ending the monthslong U.S. war with Iran, as oil prices tumbled and Iranians expressed wary relief that a conflict that has killed thousands across the Middle East could soon end.

The framework announced on Sunday by President Trump and Iranian officials includes a cease-fire of 60 days to pave the way for negotiations toward a final peace agreement. Mr. Trump said it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world’s energy supplies, which would bring respite to Iran’s economy and likely ease soaring U.S. gas prices that have become a political problem for the president. Iranian officials have not commented on the specifics of the agreement.

The preliminary deal, the text of which has not been released, could still come apart, and the negotiations to come are likely to be complex. They are expected to include Iran’s demands that the Trump administration ease American economic sanctions, and U.S. demands for further limits on Tehran’s nuclear program — two issues on which neither side has shown much willingness to compromise.

It was also unclear what the deal would mean for Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been attacking the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah. Iran and Pakistan, a mediator in the negotiations, said the agreement called for an immediate end to military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. But on Monday morning, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed any Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Israel was not directly involved in the U.S.-Iran talks.

The U.S.-Iran agreement had appeared at risk early Sunday after Israel bombed the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in retaliation for rocket fire from Hezbollah. Last-minute negotiations, led by Qatar, eased the tensions, and the deal appeared to come together late in the night in Tehran. The framework was scheduled to be signed by American and Iranian leaders on Friday in Geneva.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Trump calls The Times: In a 28-minute phone conversation that he initiated from the White House, and a brief follow-up call, the president asserted that his decision to attack Iran in late February, and the subsequent naval blockade of its ports, had remade the Middle East in America’s favor and saved Israel from nuclear obliteration. Read more ›
  • Strait of Hormuz: Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that he had authorized “the immediate removal of the United States naval blockade” on Iranian ports. Yet the economic shock waves of the war will keep rippling through the global economy for months.
  • Europe meetings: The deal will be a major topic of discussion this week at the Group of 7 meeting in France, which Mr. Trump will attend, and at a meeting of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
  • Lawmakers react: Democrats and Republicans largely stuck to party lines in their reactions to the deal. But Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, voiced skepticism about the extent to which it would curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities, adding that he was “somewhat concerned” that Iran’s view of the agreement seemed different from that of the U.S. negotiating team.
  • Opposition in Israel: As details about the agreement surfaced in news media reports before it was announced, Israelis across the political spectrum responded with criticism and discontent. Read more ›

The Contrarian, Opinion: A Concept of a Plan for an Iran Deal, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 14-15, 2026. What happened — and did — not so far?

Sunday night, Donald Trump announced an Iran ceasefire deal had been reached. In the days to come, we will learn more, but it will be critical to keep an eye on what is NOT in this memorandum and to understand the ceasefire will not curtail, let alone end, Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

contrarian logoCouncil on Foreign Relations Middle East expert Steven Cook told me that his initial impression of the announcement “is that there is nothing in the agreement on which President Trump can actually claim ‘victory.’” He noted, “Even if there is a return to freedom of navigation in the strait, it is merely a return to the Feb. 27 status quo.” Though we are supposedly going to sit down to talk about the Iranian nuclear program, Cook pointed out, “that is what we were doing before he launched the war.” He asked, “Why did he fight this war? Strategically, the president achieved nothing.”

Several aspects of the “deal” already raise troubling issues.

First, Trump and his bumbling negotiators did not force Iran to end its nuclear program or turn over enriched materials. At most, it appears Trump got an agreement to talk about negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program (a concept of a plan, if you will). Trump officials say the memorandum will “lead to” or be “direct line to” the results they promised because they have not actually attained their objectives.

Trump launched a war to topple Iran’s regime, eliminate its missile program and navy, end its support for terror proxies, and, most important, obliterate (really this time) its nuclear weapons program. He achieved none of those. (Andrew Miller pointed out that Iran still has nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, just shy of weapons grade, and we see no evidence that newer nuclear sites not hit in 2025 were damaged.)

Any initial agreement merely would kick off a 60-day period for Iran to open the strait and the United States to wind down its blockade. However, because Trump has retreated many times after threatening renewed military action, virtually no one — certainly not Iran — thinks Iran would be under a credible threat to complete negotiations within that timeframe. Like his never-delivered healthcare plan, an Iran final deal very likely will perpetually be two weeks away.

After the 60 days expires? The New York Times suggested it is “unclear” what happens then. But there is no mystery. Talks could continue — or not. In either case, Trump almost certainly won’t be any closer to a better version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Second, be wary of empty catchphrases. Each side has recited its respective catchphrase for decades. U.S. officials’ insistence Iran will “never procure or develop nuclear weapons” offers us nothing new. (When even a CBS interviewer can flummox Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by pointing out that Iran made the same pledge in the JCPOA, you know how weak that talking point is.) The only difference is a U.S. president desperate enough to take Iran’s empty words at face value. We did not need to fight a war, spend billions, lose 13 Americans, kill thousands of civilians, spike gas prices, and give the Iranian regime a new lease on life to get stale platitudes.

Third, the Strait of Hormuz might open — at some point. Or not. The Hormuz Strait is “OPEN TO ALL,” Trump insisted on Saturday … or maybe it has been open all along. (“We have controlled the straits this entire time!” Hegseth lied). Maybe it will be open. Then again, maybe it does not matter. Trump’s “announcing” Sunday evening that the Strait was open turned out to be another meaningless pronouncement. Comically, just minutes later he declared it would not open until Friday. (He can announce whatever he pleases of course; whether Iran is compelled to agree is another matter.)

More than 100 days after the war began, we still do not know if or how Trump will be able to reverse his jaw-dropping strategic blunder. Whatever benefits Iran reaps (e.g., tolls, blackmailing the world with the threat of future oil shocks) from shutting down transit will be entirely attributable to an ill-conceived war only Trump was dumb enough to start.

Finally, this is not anything resembling an “unconditional surrender.” Trump swore Iran would unconditionally surrender, but unconditional surrenders do not take weeks to negotiate. (By definition, deal points are conditions on ending a war.) Whatever we get won’t bear any remote semblance to an unconditional surrenders (e.g., all substantive wins for the victor, requirement for the vanquished loser to give up ample munitions or pay tribute). This seems closer to a Vietnam War-style negotiated retreat.

Aside from Iran, we should acknowledge unconditional surrenders may be anachronistic. Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman explained,“The United States prosecuted a massive strike campaign against Iran, resulting in significant damage to its naval, missile, drone, and air defense capabilities — not to mention the deaths of regime leaders, including top military brass.” However, tactical triumph did not compel capitulation because Iran’s “deployment of relatively inexpensive drones, mines, and missiles has managed to wreak havoc on one of the world’s most critical waterways, countries throughout the Gulf, and select U.S. military assets.”

In other words, Iran’s anything-but-unconditional surrender underlines the flawed premise of Trump’s delusional foreign policy, namely certitude that major powers can annihilate lesser powers at will. However, when asymmetric warfare enables the latter to avoid defeat (let alone “unconditional surrender”), bullies’ fantasy of military dominance collapses. Instead, dimwitted aggressors who mistakenly think 20th-century military assets like battleships and air power give them unchallenged supremacy wind up stuck in foreign quagmires (whether Iran or Ukraine) and besieged at home.

No one should miss the magnitude of America’s tragedy. Fixated on an unworkable foreign policy rooted in colonialism and spheres of power, Trump discarded the only viable means by which the U.S. could maintain unparalleled superpower dominance and prosperity — a rules-based international order under the auspices of the U.S. and its democratic allies. He traded that in for nonstop chaos and national decline.

The bottom line: Fighting ends for now with Iran’s regime in place, its nuclear materials beyond our reach, and issues like its ballistic missile program and support for proxy groups nowhere in the discussion. Worse, Iran comes away with an ace up its sleeve: its proven prowess in halting freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which it may use to extract fees/tolls or threaten future closure. One big clue as to the magnitude of Trump’s blunder: His junior partner Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israel officials are very displeased.

We will have ongoing coverage as the deal points emerge.

New York Times, Trump Claims Strait Will Be ‘Permanently Toll-Free’ Under Agreement With Iran, David E. Sanger, June 15, 2026. In a call to The New York Times, President Trump praised Russia’s and China’s leaders and described Israel’s prime minister as “a very difficult guy.”

President Trump said in an interview on Sunday afternoon that the agreement he had reached with Iran would ultimately assure that the Strait of Hormuz was “permanently toll-free,” and asserted that, despite the objections of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, he had saved Israel from nuclear obliteration.

Mr. Trump also insisted that if Iran failed to reach a final nuclear accord with the United States — a process that his aides say they expect will begin on Friday in Switzerland — he would restart military attacks on Tehran or make the United States “the guardian of the Middle East” in return for 20 percent of the region’s revenues.

In a 28-minute phone conversation that Mr. Trump initiated from the White House residence, and a brief follow-up call, the president contended that his decision to attack Iran in late February, and his subsequent naval blockade of its ports after Tehran closed the strait, had remade the Middle East in America’s favor.

Speaking on his 80th birthday, as his family could be heard gathering in the background for a celebratory dinner, he praised two authoritarians — Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia — for aiding in the settlement, or at least not interfering in the blockade of the Strait.

“He was a total gentleman,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Xi, whom he visited in China last month. “He didn’t send a tanker, along with 20 destroyers on each side of it, to try and break up the blockade,’’ an act that would have put the Chinese and American navies into potential conflict.

But he excoriated Mr. Netanyahu for mounting attacks that nearly derailed the final agreement.

“He’s a very difficult guy,” Mr. Trump said of the Israeli prime minister, “and to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn’t be around for two hours.”

Mr. Trump’s assertion that the United States would, if necessary, become a paid police force for the Middle East would be a striking, if very Trumpian, departure. The president would, in effect, be turning American protection of the region — and the U.S. nuclear umbrella — into a mercenary force, there in return for profit. The arrangement would essentially reject the post-World War II American tradition, in which the United States used its power to assure global peace and prosperity.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Bread and Capitulation, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 15, 2026. It would have been nice to write this morning about the remarkable and inspiring Knicks and the joyful scenes of celebration in New York City that followed their championship. I would have relished a word about the happy removal of our current president’s name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C.

But the stern siren of duty calls. There is an Iran deal to discuss, and discuss it I shall, even if writing about a defeat for our country is genuinely painful.

bulwark logo big shipFortunately our friend Tom Nichols of the Atlantic is made of sterner stuff. He stepped up last night to perform the distressing task of analyzing the deal that will apparently bring to an end Donald Trump’s misbegotten war against Iran:

The United States has little to celebrate: Trump and his team, in record time, just lost a war to a militarily mediocre—but nonetheless extremely dangerous—adversary. . . . It is clear that Trump has failed to achieve every one of the goals he put forward for this war of choice, and now he is determined to sign, seal, and deliver America’s capitulation as quickly as possible. . . .

The reality is that the war will close with the regime in Tehran intact and in the grip of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; the Strait of Hormuz will remain under the threat of Iranian attacks; Iran will continue to possess significant drone and missile stocks; the regime will maintain the capability to be a state sponsor of terror; and many sanctions will be lifted and billions of dollars in unfrozen assets will flow to Iran. In other words, the Iranians have achieved their key strategic aims—regime survival above all—while the Americans have achieved none of their own.

Indeed, the United States has perhaps done worse than gaining nothing. Iran, while temporarily weakened, is now an even more powerful political actor: The regime in Tehran stood up to a massive U.S. onslaught, survived, and then inflicted pain on various states in the Gulf as punishment for going along with Trump’s war. . . .

The war leaves Iran battered, but more powerful and with more cash at its disposal, while it leaves America weaker.

I’m sad to say that Tom has it right. And I’ll mention one point in particular that seems not to be getting the attention it deserves. The memorandum of understanding to be signed Friday reportedly says that Iran will not impose tolls in the strait of Hormuz for the next sixty days. This is presumably the basis of Trump’s claim that the strait will be “toll-free.” But the government of Iran says that the strait will operate in the longer run “under Iranian arrangements.” This seems likely to be true, since Iran has established the principle that it can close the strait, has paid no price, hasn’t repudiated a right to do so in the future, and will be more interested and able to enforce its will in the months and years to come than we’ll be able to stop them.

So Iran comes out a winner. But Iran’s victory isn’t the most important outcome of Trump’s foolish war. The most important outcome is our defeat. Trump’s failure in Iran has confirmed and accelerated the broader retreat during his second term from our standing as the linchpin and guardian of an American-friendly international order. We were a great power—the greatest world power—from 1941 to 2025. Now we appear to be one power among many, even one bully among many, perhaps the preeminent one, but one without much credibility among either allies or enemies.

Our allies at the G7 meeting in France over the next couple days will have no interest in highlighting the fact of our decline, as they want to buy time to make their adjustments. But everyone with eyes to see understands what Trump has wrought. This failed war will leave us both less feared and less respected than before, and will leave the world more dangerous and its future less hopeful than before.

When the world is dark and gloomy, it’s that much more important to have a community. That’s why we’re building the best pro-democracy community on the internet. Join us.Subscribed

The coincidence yesterday of the announcement of an agreement on a deal and the cage match at the White House has led to much discussion of imperial decadence, and of our entering an age of bread and circuses. The phrase comes from the Roman poet Juvenal, writing around 100 A.D.: The people “shed their sense of responsibility long ago . . . the mob . . . reveals its anxiety for two things only, bread and circuses.”

But the Roman Empire remained great for quite a while after Juvenal’s lament. In his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon identified the subsequent eighty years or so as the peak of the Empire in size and power, the height of the Pax Romana, and also as a golden age of peace, prosperity, and human happiness. So a taste for bread and circuses didn’t mean imminent Roman collapse.

But things seem to move faster these days. Our decline shows every likelihood of being far quicker and more thorough than Rome’s.

Or not? Could the humiliating loss to Iran—along with the embarrassment of our 250th anniversary celebration—be a kind of blessing? Could it provide a spur for us to arrest and reverse our decline in national power and also our slide into imperial decadence? Indeed, the American people don’t seem to have been too impressed by Trump’s White House cage circus. Perhaps here, unlike in imperial Rome, it may not be too late to revive the spirit of republican virtue?

After all, the Knicks pulled off a remarkable comeback. Who’s to say America can’t, too?

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Immigration, Rights, Justice

New York Times, Frustrated by Courts, Trump Weighed Suspending a Constitutional Right, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, June 15, 2026. Secret memos show that the White House debated last year, to a greater degree than previously known, whether to limit habeas corpus rights for undocumented immigrants.

Last spring, Will Scharf, an arch-conservative lawyer serving as the White House staff secretary, wrote a secret memo to the chief of staff that reflected growing unease in the West Wing about one of the extreme measures being weighed by Stephen Miller, the powerful adviser driving President Trump’s deportation campaign.

Dated April 29, 2025, and stamped “confidential,” the memo was careful and lawyerly but amounted to a warning against end-running the rule of law. The subject line read: “THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.”

Habeas corpus — the centuries-old right to force the government to justify, before a judge, why it has locked a person up — is enshrined in Article I of the Constitution. Mr. Scharf’s memo, in its unassuming way, was a blinking red warning light. The second Trump White House was deliberating an explosive new claim of presidential power: the suspension of habeas rights for unauthorized immigrants.

The suspension of habeas corpus has occurred just a handful of times in U.S. history, and always under the most dire circumstances of war or invasion. Yet to a greater degree than previously known, administration officials, encouraged by Mr. Trump, actively weighed taking that step in the early months of his second term — this time to accelerate the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally.

Flush with a decisive 2024 election victory, Mr. Trump and some members of his team wanted to test how far the emboldened president’s authority could be pushed, setting off previously unreported internal struggles over where the limits should be.

The man who outlined his concerns in the memo, Mr. Scharf, was no resistance figure. A trim, balding, Harvard-trained lawyer who had run for office in Missouri, he had bemoaned John McCain as too moderate for the 2008 Republican nomination, and believed Mr. Trump had been vindictively prosecuted after his 2020 election loss.

He had helped develop the Trump team’s legal arguments behind the successful effort to get the Mar-a-Lago classified documents indictment thrown out, as well as the arguments behind the presidential immunity case that prevailed at the Supreme Court. He had embraced the most contentious elements of Mr. Trump’s agenda, but was quickly coming up against the limit of what the Constitution, in his reading, could be made to bear.

The Constitution, Mr. Scharf wrote in his memo to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, permits suspension of habeas corpus only in cases of rebellion or invasion. Courts have almost uniformly held that only Congress can do it.

He added: “Even where Congress has explicitly suspended habeas corpus rights, the Supreme Court has held that some alternative process must be provided to defendants, with procedural safeguards akin to a habeas corpus action.”“It prevents, in effect, governmental actors from detaining, imprisoning or executing individuals arbitrarily,” Mr. Scharf wrote.

In early April last year, the Supreme Court had allowed the administration to continue its use of the Alien Enemies Act as the basis for deporting Venezuelans who were in the United States illegally. But the justices also ruled that the migrants were entitled to challenge their deportations in court before being expelled. The detainees, the court held, could file lawsuits citing habeas corpus to challenge the basis for their removal, substantially slowing the administration’s deportation drive.

Inside the White House, Mr. Miller, the influential deputy chief of staff, saw an opening for an idea he had raised previously: What if Mr. Trump simply claimed the power to suspend habeas corpus?

Then the locked-up immigrants would be blocked from receiving hearings or even from seeking court orders to prevent their removal from the country. This was an opportunity for Mr. Trump not only to speed up deportations, but also to assert vastly expanded power over a legal system that was getting in his way.

Suspending habeas corpus was one of two radical ideas Mr. Miller had been pushing that alarmed Mr. Scharf. The other was invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to enforce the law on American streets as protests grew against deportation sweeps.

Mr. Scharf wrote confidential memos to Ms. Wiles on both topics, setting out in a low-key way why taking either step would shatter historical norms and likely precipitate hazardous legal and constitutional battles. A senior administration official, speaking on background because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said for this article that “senior staff” had maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changerequested the memos, and that they were seen by relatively few people.

But the documents reflected alarm among a small group of senior aides. They felt that Mr. Miller’s eagerness to test the limits of executive power — and to accuse other branches of encroaching on it, echoing a president who bristled at any constraint — riskedsteering the administration, and the country, in a dangerous direction.

In the case of the Insurrection Act, Vice President JD Vance pushed to invoke it just days after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a Minnesota critical care nurse who was protesting the administration’s immigration policies.

Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, who cover the White House, are the authors of the forthcoming book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” shown at right.

Washington Post, Pirro's tough-on-crime approach is undercut by acquittals and mistrials, Salvador Rizzo, June 15, 2026 (print ed.). Since taking over as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia last year, Jeanine Pirro has seen her office fail to get convictions in several high-profile cases. 

Days after Jeanine Pirro took office last year as the top federal prosecutor in D.C., a jury convicted four-star Navy Admiral Robert P. Burke of awarding a contract in exchange for a bribe. He remains the highest-ranking military officer in U.S. history to be imprisoned.

But in a head-scratching twist, the executives who were accused of bribing Burke — with a postretirement job that paid $500,000 a year — walked free last month after another D.C. jury found them not guilty.

The acquittals of Charlie Kim and Meghan Messenger, co-chief executives of the New York-based company Next Jump, defied historical trends. Their attorneys said it was the only known case in which a public official was behind bars for collecting a bribe that no one was guilty of paying. An earlier trial for the same two executives ended last year with a hung jury.

Of the 51 bribery defendants nationwide who faced jury trials in the decade that ended last year, only four were acquitted, according to statistics from the federal judiciary. Veteran defense lawyers and former prosecutors said acquittals and mistrials, while still a rarity, have become more frequent in D.C. in the year since President Donald Trump recruited Pirro from Fox News to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in the nation’s capital.

Kim and Messenger are among at least six defendants whom juries have declined to convict in headline-grabbing cases in D.C. federal court since Pirro took office in May 2025.

Throughout their trials, the executives argued they were misled by Burke, whom they trusted as a respected military commander who would not stray from ethical standards.

“In less than six hours, a jury of 12 unanimously said we were innocent,” Messenger said.

“Admiral Burke was the trophy, and we were collateral damage,” Kim said, criticizing prosecutors for tarnishing “our brand and reputation.”

Pirro has embraced a tough-on-crime persona she says is needed to “clean up” D.C. and solve cases involving drug rings, financial scams, and national security threats, regularly holding news conferences to talk about arrests and indictments, and directing her staff to prosecute the most serious charges for each offense. She points to statistics showing that violent crime has decreased in D.C. under her watch, and has been praised by city leaders including Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) for her efforts.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Pirro said that despite occasional snags in court, the criminal justice system is working “exactly as designed.”

“D.C. juries have always been discerning in evaluating cases and we respect our juries’ verdicts,” Pirro said. “While we may be disappointed with the outcomes of certain cases, we welcome the fact that our justice system requires we meet our burden before a person’s liberty may be taken.”

Jurors rarely speak publicly about verdicts, and attorneys trying federal cases in D.C. can approach them posttrial only with the court’s permission, making the precise reasons for the mistrials and acquittals difficult to pinpoint. But legal experts, defense lawyers who practice in the nation’s capital, and former prosecutors who have left the U.S. attorney’s office said Trump’s fixation with using the Justice Department to punish critics and reward allies is one probable reason the D.C. jury pool now seems more inclined to side with those accused of crimes.

Since taking office, Pirro has pursued Trump’s perceived political foes with allegations of misconduct that have not led to criminal charges, including then-Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, and six Democratic lawmakers who angered the president by posting a social media video reminding U.S. service members that they could refuse illegal military commands. A grand jury refused to indict the six Democrats, and Pirro closed the investigation into Powell after a judge blocked subpoenas in the case.

Pirro also has been asking judges to throw out the most serious convictions from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. A federal appeals court, acting on her request, has dissolved the convictions of members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers extremist groups, who had been found guilty of carrying out a seditious conspiracy against the United States.

A former Fox News personality who served for decades as a district attorney and judge in the New York City suburbs, Pirro also emerged as a key figure in Trump’s move last summer to take over D.C. police and flood the city with federal law enforcement officers — an effort the administration said made the city safer, but which was seen by many residents as unnecessary overreach.Veteran defense attorney Eugene Gorokhov said he has seen a shift in how D.C. residents disclose their biases when called for jury duty.

“I’d never had a case with so many people coming in the door saying, ‘I’m going to have a hard time believing the feds,’” Gorokhov said, describing the jury-selection process at a recent trial in which jurors ultimately deadlocked on all counts.

His client, Guanghua Jin, a Chinese man living in Australia, was extradited in 2024 to face trial in D.C. federal court on charges that he and others conspired to run an international tobacco-purchasing scheme that funded North Korea’s nuclear program, in violation of U.S. sanctions.

After his first trial ended with a hung jury last fall, Jin faced another jury this spring. He was acquitted of the conspiracy charge, and jurors deadlocked on all other counts. Rather than face a third trial, Jin pleaded guilty to a lesser fraud conspiracy and successfully petitioned the court to be deported to China, Gorokhov said.

Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: Elon Musk is the election cheat Dhillon and Essayli claim to be hunting, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 15, 2026. There was a weird phenomenon in several of the stories last week covering the FBI raid of a voting rights group in Ohio, first broken by MS-NOW. In a laudable effort to point out how the Trump administration’s hunt for election crimes is based on flimsy claims, they dutifully aired Democrats’ warnings that such fraud mostly doesn’t exist.

Many election officials and voting rights activists say there is very little voting fraud in the United States, and Democrats say Trump officials are seeking a pretext to challenge results they don’t like.

President Donald Trump has publicly sought to undermine trust in the election process, claiming with no evidence that large numbers of noncitizens and dead people are casting ballots in favor of Democrats. Most recently, he declared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that California’s primary election last week was “rigged” and “crooked,” walking out of the interview when host Kristen Welker challenged those assertions.

Justice Department log circularThe Justice Department has demanded voter roll data from states and sued those that have not complied. Officials have also launched a criminal investigation in Fulton County, Georgia. Trump has repeatedly attributed his narrow 2020 loss in Georgia to voter fraud, a claim that Republican state officials have rejected.

But they’re being inexact. Of course, there’s a massive case of voter fraud in recent memory, when Trump had his electors sign fake certificates as part of an effort to steal the election, which was being prosecuted as a conspiracy to defraud the US and to deprive Joe Biden voters of their right to have their votes count until Trump’s election got the case dismissed.

More importantly, there’s a very prominent culprit behind precisely the kind of crimes DOJ claims they’re hunting. Chapman U grad Bill Essayli claims that a woman paying people to register to vote is proof of voter fraud that would justify letting him and Harmeet Dhillon “audit” California’s voting rolls.

The woman in question, Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, pled to nothing more than having “knowingly and willfully paid and offered to pay another person to register to vote in a federal election,” for which she likely faces no prison time.

That is precisely the same thing Elon Musk did during the 2024 Federal election and 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Only Musk not only did it on a far, far bigger scale, he did so in a way that has him facing multiple ongoing lawsuits for fraud:

McCaferty v. Musk and Harvick v. Musk, both filed in Austin and both claiming Elon engaged in fraud by promising that people would be randomly selected to win $1 million (Elon decided not to award the money this way after Larry Krasner sued Musk for operating an illegal lottery). Maglietta v. America PAC and John Doe v. America PAC, both filed in Philadelphia on behalf of those referring people to register to vote, whom Elon stiffed. Wisconsin’s AG, Josh Kaul, unsuccessfully attempted to stop a similar scheme in advance of the 2025 Supreme Court race.

That’s not the only election cheating in which Elon Musk engaged. In February, Georgia’s State Election Board reprimandedAmerica PAC for sending out partially filled-in mail-in ballot applications in 2024.

In October 2024, the Georgia secretary of state’s office launched an investigation after receiving numerous reports from residents across several counties saying they’d received partially prefilled absentee ballot applications from Musk’s America PAC, according to John Fervier, the State Elections Board’s chairman.

There was evidence to suggest America PAC had violated a state law that prohibits any person or entity, other than an authorized relative, to send an elector an absentee ballot application prefilled with the elector’s required information, according to Janice Johnston, the SEB’s vice chairman.

America PAC had also failed to display in a conspicuous location that this was not an official government publication, was not provided by the government, and was not a ballot, Johnston added.

The board swiftly voted to issue a letter of reprimand to America PAC.

This is a guy spending hundreds of millions across the country in precisely the kind of election misconduct Harmeet Dhillon claims to be the crime she is seeking. It has been reported publicly everywhere.

It’s how Harmeet and Bill got their job.

And yet Elon Musk is publicly wandering in and out of Washington DC without Dhillon lifting a finger to stop his imagined crime.

Bill Essayli has laid a marker: Based on the Brown Armstrong precedent, what Elon Musk did in the 2024 election was a crime.

OK then.

Do something about it, Harmeet.

 

New York Times, Democrats Warn Trump Officials Not to Pursue Arch Project Without Congress, Luke Broadwater, June 15, 2026. In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and national parks officials, lawmakers said that members of the administration could face fines and even criminal prosecution.

Congressional Democrats warned the Trump administration on Monday that officials could face fines or even criminal prosecution if they push forward with building the president’s 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington without the approval of Congress.

In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and two National Park Service officials, Democrats who oversee national resources on Capitol Hill said that the administration would be breaking at least three laws by moving ahead with the project, and that Trump officials could be personally penalized.

“Appropriated funds may be applied only to the objects for which Congress appropriated them,” the letter says, warning that officials who use unauthorized funds could be subject to “suspension without pay, removal from office and, for knowing and willful violations, criminal fines and imprisonment.”

The letter was signed by Senator Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Representative Jared Huffman of California, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, among others.

The letter adds that the administration would also be violating the Commemorative Works Act, which governs monuments on federal land in Washington; a 1912 law that says buildings or structures “shall not be erected” on federal land in the capital “without express authority of Congress”; and the Height of Buildings Act, which generally does not allow buildings that are more than 160 feet tall in Washington.

“This project is stone-cold illegal,” Mr. King said in an interview. “It is one of the clearest legal cases I’ve seen in more than 50 years of being a lawyer.”

A group of Vietnam War veterans has sued to stop the project, citing the lack of congressional approval and arguing that the arch would obstruct the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump administration officials have argued that the Height of Buildings Act does not apply to the arch. They claim congressional actions in the 1920s connected to the design of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, near which the arch would sit, already give the administration the legal right to build.

Mr. Huffman referred to the administration’s argument that Mr. Trump has approval to build based on a 1920s congressional action “laughable.”Editors’ PicksLaverne Cox Is Ready to Tell the Truth. Even if It’s Messy.Ben Mims Loves an Erewhon Brownie7 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

“It is so specious on its face,” he said. “That it is going to get nowhere in court.”

Mr. Huffman said the courts were one way to try to stop the project, but he added that if Democrats were to take control of the House after the midterm elections, they would also be able to conduct greater oversight.

“We’re putting people on notice, both members of this administration and anyone who might be following their directives, which we think are patently illegal,” he said. “They could be held personally liable.”

U.S. Markets, High Tech, Media

elon musk djt oval officePaul Krugman via Substack, Opinion: Elon Musk, Human Ponzi Scheme, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 12, 2026. With Wall Street’s help, you’re about to be forced to buy stock in SpaceX

Yesterday I took a short trip. I began with a ride on the local Hyperloop, which ran through a tunnel dug by Boring Company. Then I used my neural implant to summon a fully self-driving Tesla robotaxi. While enroute I read the latest steady statenews from the Mars colony.

OK, none of that actually happened, because those products don’t exist. There are no working Hyperloops. The Boring Company has not dug any commercial tunnels. Tesla has a few self-driving — though not fully self-driving — taxis in Austin and nowhere else. (Google’s Waymo driverless taxis are operational in several major hubs.) Neuralink, which is purportedly pioneering brain implants, has tested its products in a handful of patients but done no more than that. And of course there is no Mars colony: there have been no manned flights to Mars, nor the prospect of any for the foreseeable future.

Yet at various points over the past decade Elon Musk promised that each of these services would be available by 2025 if not sooner.

Granted, Musk has had some real successes. Tesla was ahead of the EV curve, and Starlink is a critically important service as well as a viable business.

But these achievements weren’t enough to make Musk the world’s richest man. His wealth has, instead, historically rested mainly on self-fulfilling faith — investors believing in Musk’s genius have piled into stocks in Musk-controlled companies, and the rising value of these companies has enhanced his reputation for genius.

We have a term for enterprises that look successful because they keep drawing in new investors and keep drawing in new investors because they look successful. They’re called Ponzi schemes. And Elon Musk is basically a human Ponzi scheme.

Furthermore, the SpaceX IPO now in progress makes it clearer than ever that Musk’s greatest skill isn’t developing futuristic products. It’s his mastery of financial shell games and his ability to leverage insider influence, especially his influence with the Trump administration.

To see what I mean, consider Musk’s 2022 purchase of Twitter, which he renamed X. To finance the deal, investment banks lent Musk $13 billion, debt they planned to quickly move off their books by selling it on to investors. But Musk proceeded to destroy X’s business model by turning it into an extreme-right, Nazi-friendly cesspool, prompting advertisers to flee. By the summer of 2024, X was valued at less than half of its purchase price. Faced with losses of 40 cents on the dollar if they sold the debt, his bankers were forced to hold the Twitter debt far longer than anticipated, prompting the August 2024 Wall Street Journal headline: “Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Is Now the Worst Buyout for Banks Since the Financial Crisis”.

But then two things happened that bailed out the banks along with Musk’s future creditworthiness: the 2024 election of Donald Trump and the advent of AI. After Trump’s election, advertisers began returning to X, citing a need to appease Musk and Trump. And in March 2025, Musk merged his newly-founded AI company xAI with X, playing off the accelerating AI buzz to further prop up X’s valuation and his own personal balance sheet.

Unfortunately for Musk, xAI’s Grok is, by all accounts, much inferior to the AI models offered by Anthropic and OpenAI. It’s also widely considered unsafe and unreliable. At one point it began spewing racist and antisemitic comments, dubbing itself MechaHitler. Trump administration officials have pushed government agencies — including the Pentagon — to use Grok, but with little success.

So Musk, having bailed out X by rolling it into xAI, is now bailing out xAI by rolling it into SpaceX, which has a genuinely successful business in Starlink.

And today SpaceX is going public. Its initial public offering (IPO) debuts today on the Nasdaq at a price that implies a $1.77 trillion valuation for a company that had revenues of only $18.7 billion last year and lost money.

How can this, um, astronomical valuation be justified? The IPO is premised partly on the assumption that retail investors will buy in, not because they have made any rational assessment of SpaceX as a business, but because they believe that they are buying stakes in Elon Musk’s genius.

But the ranks of the faithful may not be enough to keep the shell game going. So Musk’s Wall Street allies are also rigging the game. Some of the major stock indexes, notably the Nasdaq 100 and FTSE Russell, have recently changed their rules in order to admit SpaceX almost immediately.

It’s important to understand that the inclusion of a company’s shares in a major stock index carries enormous financial rewards. A large share of stocks is held in “index funds,” mutual funds that hold portfolios designed to mimic the behavior of major indexes. Thus there is an immediate demand for the shares of a company when its shares are added to a major index because index funds must now add them to their portfolios.

Historically, the major indexes have waited at least a year after a company’s IPO before considering its inclusion in their market measures, to give the stock time to “mature”. The bending of the rules for SpaceX shows that Musk is again exerting his ability to co-opt and corrupt key institutions. (Notably, the S&P 500 has resisted the pressure and will wait a year before including SpaceX.)

Which brings me to my final point. The immense human Ponzi scheme that is Elon Musk will eventually collapse. But traditional Ponzi schemes only exploit investors who choose to participate. This time much of the money propping up Musk’s scam will come from ordinary Americans who have in effect been forced to buy in. Approximately 52% of mutual fund assets are now invested in index or index-based funds, and over 50% of American households are invested in mutual funds. Thanks to the collusion between Musk and Wall Street, enabled by the perception that the Trump administration has Musk’s back, many if not most of these small investors will be dragged, willy-nilly, into fueling the Musk juggernaut.

Everyone is entitled to my own opinion, Commentary: Welcome to Cage Match Idiocracy, Jeff Tiedrich, right, jeff tiedrichJune 15, 2026. Remember the 2006 movie "Idiocracy?" Its premise was ‘What if everyone in America was a f------moron — and what if the biggest f-----moron of all was the president?’

Within the world of the movie, it took hundreds of years for the United States to devolve into a state of permanent, unending stupidity.

In real life, it only took ten.

Lucky us.

Take a look at the heaping slice of dumb____ that happened on Saturday, the day before Donny’s beloved cage fight: Motorcycles were zipping through the air above the White House fountain.

You won’t believe it unless you see it. Does this not look like a deleted scene from Idiocracy?

ufc motorcycles djtIt was a crass display of toxic hypermachismo, just as our founders intended.

Seriously, I’ll bet if old Ben Franklin could have seen this, he would have been all “I said ‘it’s a republic, if you can keep it.’ I didn’t say anything about a pedo president s______his vulgar aesthetic all over the People’s House.”

It’s loutish and undignified.

When Idiocracy was released in 2006, the idea of a nation of morons ruled over by a oafish fool seemed like something that could only be mocked in a movie — yet here we are. That’s because stupid timelines don’t get stupid all by themselves.They need idiots....

Hey, remember in Idiocracy how President Camacho made his State of the Union entrance, firing an assault weapon?

ufc idiocracy assault weapon firingI guarantee that Donny Convict would love to make an entrance like this, but he’s too old and feeble — and, above all, Preznit Five Deferments is much too chicken____ to ever pull an actual trigger. So he does the next best thing: he arranges for muscle-bound numbskulls to beat the s___ out of each other for his own personal entertainment.

Roman Empire much?

That’s really what this is all about: Donny’s infantile winners-and-losers worldview. I would love nothing more than to explain this to you, but Robert Reich has beaten me to it.

Trump and his regime are seeking to project an America that’s like the winner of a cage match.

Trump sees everything and everyone in terms of dominance or submission, and he’s hellbent on dominance. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong,” he told his supporters on January 6, 2021, before urging them to go the Capitol.

He views America as locked in a zero-sum match with the rest of the world, and there’s no limit to our violence.

Well-adjusted people don’t think like this. Well-adjusted people understand that we’re all trapped on this planet together, and the best possible outcome requires all of us to peacefully coexist and get along with each other.

But just try explaining any of that to the Oval Bordello diaper-s_____whose entire life has been one long mission to prove to the world that he’s not the whiny loser that his tyrant Klansman father always told him he was.

Here’s one problem with seeing every f_____ thing as a battle to be won: you end up beefing with the weather.

It’s an objective fact that the Sunday weather forecast in DC was abysmal, and it’s also fact that the cage____ event had to be delayed for hours because of the abysmal weather.

djt ufc weather delay announcementBut because the White House is run by children..... they had to insult the poor schmuck whose job it was to accurately report the weather, calling them a ‘friendless loser.’

Wait, did I say that this cage-fight thing was all about Donny’s dominance-and-submission worldview? I was wrong. It was also about making a profit, and making sure Dear Leader gets a cut of the action.

It turns out that the whole goddamned thing was a money-making venture, from start to finish. This gaudy cage____ was held on the lawn of the People’s House, but if We the People wanted to see it, we had to pony up first.

ufc gift to america paramountAs for the event itself, it was just one shameless commercial after another, projected onto screens right in front of the White House.

Here’s Brendan Ballou, founder of the Public Integrity Project, to lay out just why this is so f____ up.

MS Now: “Right now let’s take a look at some of the ads appearing on the White House lawn. There is beer, crypto, nicotine pouch ads, and they’re all inside the claw there. And you took issue at the branding at the event and UFC’s broadcast partner Paramount Skydance, so what are your concerns about the branding?”

Brendan Ballou: “Ultimately, we have any number of laws that are trying to prevent our national parks and national monuments being used for for-profit, corrupt endeavors, which is exactly what’s going on here. The UFC, which is very closely allied to Donald Trump, stands to make a lot of money from it’s branding, not to mention the 1.5 million dollar individual sponsorship packages that it’s selling. Donald Trump stands to make a lot of money through the stock that he has invested in the UFC’s Paramount company… This is a literalization of the corruption we’re experiencing in America right now, where you literally have sponsorships that the president and his friends are going to benefit from at our national monuments.”

And now, we really need to hear from Josh Hokit, who had this heartfelt message of peace and unity after successfully beating the shit out of his opponent.

“Michelle Obama is a man!”

What a charmer.

Why even go there? It is too really much to ask that these f______check their hate and bigotry at the door, and not vomit it into all of our faces? 

This is what happens when you give the worst people in the world free reign to be the worst people in the world: the truth always outs.

Instead of having Josh Hokit whale the tar out of dinguses, can we not arrange for him to try to get the round peg in the round hole? Because that’s what really would be entertaining to me.

ufc fighters paid in cryptoThe ultimate joke’s on this ____, however, because he’s getting paid in fake money.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on Friday that it will pay bonuses to fighters in a form of cryptocurrency issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial at the heavily publicized White House mixed martial arts event on Sunday.

The development connects the Trump family’s financial interests to the high-profile UFC competition being promoted on government property. The competition on the south White House lawn is scheduled for 14 June, Donald Trump’s birthday.

Oh how great. not only are these violent _____getting imaginary money whose only use is paying for crimes, it’s being done so in a way that personally profits Dear Leader — because of course it does.

Everything is a grift with this gonif.

It’s cheap, it’s crass, and it’s downright un-American.

In the 1970s, Jimmy Carter had to sell his peanut farm just so there wouldn’t be any appearance of impropriety. Fifty years later, all that ___’s out the window. We’ve normalized greed and corruption. Donny turns everything into one more opportunity to enrich himself off the powers of his office, and the cowards in Congress and the worthless scribblers of the corporate-controlled press just stand around like the useless lumps they are.

Idiocracy. It’s what’s for breakfast.

But I know there’s just one question that remains to be answered: did Preznit F______ fall asleep during his big beloved birthday present to himself? 

Of ____course he did....even President Camacho would have found a way to stay awake. 

June 14

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 New Fears Of Trump-Fostered Reprisals, Violence, Election-Rigging Targeting U.S. Opponents, Media, Courts

UFC Bouts At White House

Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).

  • New York Times, How Trump Transformed the White House Lawn Into a Fighting Arena, Simon Ducroquet and Shawn McCreesh, June 14, 2026. It was back in late May that construction began on the towering, claw-like superstructure that now sits complete on the South Lawn of the White House, ready to stage Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Sunday, President Trump’s 80th birthday.

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A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

U.S. Crime, Courts, Corruption, Rights 

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

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  • New York Times, debbie wasserman shultzHow Redistricting Pit Wasserman Schultz Against Black Democrats in Florida, Patricia Mazzei, June 14, 2026. Four candidates running in a historically Black district risk dividing the Black vote and losing to Ms. Wasserman Schultz, who is white.
  • The Daily with Sarah Jones via PoliticusUSA, Commentary: CNN Platforms The Lie That Trump Is More Alert Than Joe Biden, Sarah Jones, right, sarah reese jonesand Jason Easley, June 14, 2026. CNN's State of the Union featured Stephen A. Smith, who claimed that Donald Trump is more alert than Joe Biden was, which is simply false.
  • The Breakdown via Allison Gill, Advocacy, Happy Obama Appreciation Day, Allison Gill, June 14, 2026. A personal tribute to an inspirational leader.  was a pretty rough year for me. I had just been diagnosed properly with PTSD by the Department of Veterans Affairs after experiencing Military Sexual Trauma a decade earlier, and had been living with the symptoms for some time.

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New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Trump Announces Cease-Fire Agreement, Farnaz Fassihi, Adam Rasgon, Ronen Bergman and Jonathan Swan, June 14, 2026. The deal would halt fighting for 60 days, officials said, and open the Strait of Hormuz, while leaving the thorniest nuclear issues for another day.

Here’s the latest.

The United States and Iran reached a cease-fire agreement on Sunday, paving the way for further talks that could ultimately end a monthslong war that has killed thousands and rattled the global economy.

“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” President Trump said in a post on social media. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that the country had finalized a memorandum of understanding with the United States after “months of long and difficult negotiations.”

Mr. Trump said that the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an economically vital waterway, and that he had authorized “the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade” on Iranian ports.

“Ships of the World, start your engines,” he wrote. “Let the oil flow!”

The agreement will be signed on Friday. The signing — which Iran and Pakistan, a mediator, said would take place in Geneva — would be the highest-level meeting between Tehran and Washington in 47 years.

Iran FlagThe text of the agreement was not immediately released. But Mr. Trump’s post aligned with what American and Iranian officials had previously said an initial agreement might contain. The deal would include a 60-day cease-fire, the officials said.

Each side sought to portray the agreement as a diplomatic victory after nearly four months of war. But some of the thorniest issues — including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, and sanctions relief for Tehran — remain unresolved and have been pushed to a further round of negotiations.

In a statement, Supreme National Security Council’s said the agreement called for an immediate end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, where Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah are fighting. Israel, which was not a party to the U.S.-Iran negotiations, has not yet commented on the agreement.

An agreement appeared at risk earlier in the day after Israel bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut in retaliation for rocket fire from Hezbollah. An angry Mr. Trump said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had shown “no judgment” in ordering those strikes and called on all sides to “stand down.”

A last-minute flurry of negotiations, led by Qatar, eased the tensions, and the final agreement appeared to come together late in the night in Tehran. Iran held off agreeing until the early hours of Monday there, allowing it to claim it had not signed on Mr. Trump’s birthday, on Sunday, as he had wanted, according to two Iranian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Major questions remain unanswered.

One concerns the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, over which neither country has shown much willingness to compromise. Officials previously said both sides would hold detailed negotiations over the program, as well as over the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran, during the 60-day cease-fire.

Lebanon may prove to be another stumbling block. Any deal that includes the conflict there would depend on both the United States being able to compel Israel to wind down its military campaign and Iran’s cooperation in restraining Hezbollah.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced in a statement that it had finalized the memorandum of understanding for a cease-fire deal with the United States under the guidance of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. The statement said the agreement came after “months of long and difficult negotiations,” and thanked Pakistan and Qatar for mediating the negotiations.

The council said the agreement includes: an end to the conflict and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, effective immediately, and an immediate end to the U.S. naval blockade on Iran. The statement said a formal signing ceremony will take place on Friday and negotiations will begin for a broader peace agreement.

President Trump said in a post on social media on Sunday evening that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on Friday, when the deal with Iran is expected to be signed. He suggested that the time was needed “for purposes of mine removal.” He had earlier said he was authorizing the “immediate” end of a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Trump calls The Times: In a 28-minute phone conversation that he initiated from the White House residence, and a brief follow-up call, the president asserted that his decision to attack Iran in late February, and his subsequent naval blockade of its ports, had remade the Middle East in America’s favor and saved Israel from nuclear obliteration. Read more ›
  • Markets react: Oil prices fell on Sunday after Mr. Trump said the United States had reached a deal with Iran that would allow the “toll free” passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a modest rise in stocks when U.S. trading resumes on Monday. Read more ›
  • Opposition in Israel: Details about the agreement before it was announced surfaced in news media reports, prompting a flood of criticism and discontent from Israelis spanning the country’s political spectrum. Read more ›
  • Lebanon: The Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier Sunday created concern that the peace negotiations could collapse if Iran and Israel resumed trading fire. Instead, it accelerated the completion of the final text, according to two Israeli officials. But the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could still complicate a more lasting peace deal. Read more ›
  • Farnaz FassihiJune 14, 2026, 7:17 p.m. ET38 minutes ago

The Contrarian, Opinion: A Concept of a Plan for an Iran Deal, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 14-15, 2026. What happened — and did — not so far?

Sunday night, Donald Trump announced an Iran ceasefire deal had been reached. In the days to come, we will learn more, but it will be critical to keep an eye on what is NOT in this memorandum and to understand the ceasefire will not curtail, let alone end, Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

contrarian logoCouncil on Foreign Relations Middle East expert Steven Cook told me that his initial impression of the announcement “is that there is nothing in the agreement on which President Trump can actually claim ‘victory.’” He noted, “Even if there is a return to freedom of navigation in the strait, it is merely a return to the Feb. 27 status quo.” Though we are supposedly going to sit down to talk about the Iranian nuclear program, Cook pointed out, “that is what we were doing before he launched the war.” He asked, “Why did he fight this war? Strategically, the president achieved nothing.”

Several aspects of the “deal” already raise troubling issues.

First, Trump and his bumbling negotiators did not force Iran to end its nuclear program or turn over enriched materials. At most, it appears Trump got an agreement to talk about negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program (a concept of a plan, if you will). Trump officials say the memorandum will “lead to” or be “direct line to” the results they promised because they have not actually attained their objectives.

Trump launched a war to topple Iran’s regime, eliminate its missile program and navy, end its support for terror proxies, and, most important, obliterate (really this time) its nuclear weapons program. He achieved none of those. (Andrew Miller pointed out that Iran still has nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, just shy of weapons grade, and we see no evidence that newer nuclear sites not hit in 2025 were damaged.)

Any initial agreement merely would kick off a 60-day period for Iran to open the strait and the United States to wind down its blockade. However, because Trump has retreated many times after threatening renewed military action, virtually no one — certainly not Iran — thinks Iran would be under a credible threat to complete negotiations within that timeframe. Like his never-delivered healthcare plan, an Iran final deal very likely will perpetually be two weeks away.

After the 60 days expires? The New York Times suggested it is “unclear” what happens then. But there is no mystery. Talks could continue — or not. In either case, Trump almost certainly won’t be any closer to a better version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Second, be wary of empty catchphrases. Each side has recited its respective catchphrase for decades. U.S. officials’ insistence Iran will “never procure or develop nuclear weapons” offers us nothing new. (When even a CBS interviewer can flummox Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by pointing out that Iran made the same pledge in the JCPOA, you know how weak that talking point is.) The only difference is a U.S. president desperate enough to take Iran’s empty words at face value. We did not need to fight a war, spend billions, lose 13 Americans, kill thousands of civilians, spike gas prices, and give the Iranian regime a new lease on life to get stale platitudes.

Third, the Strait of Hormuz might open — at some point. Or not. The Hormuz Strait is “OPEN TO ALL,” Trump insisted on Saturday … or maybe it has been open all along. (“We have controlled the straits this entire time!” Hegseth lied). Maybe it will be open. Then again, maybe it does not matter. Trump’s “announcing” Sunday evening that the Strait was open turned out to be another meaningless pronouncement. Comically, just minutes later he declared it would not open until Friday. (He can announce whatever he pleases of course; whether Iran is compelled to agree is another matter.)

More than 100 days after the war began, we still do not know if or how Trump will be able to reverse his jaw-dropping strategic blunder. Whatever benefits Iran reaps (e.g., tolls, blackmailing the world with the threat of future oil shocks) from shutting down transit will be entirely attributable to an ill-conceived war only Trump was dumb enough to start.

Finally, this is not anything resembling an “unconditional surrender.” Trump swore Iran would unconditionally surrender, but unconditional surrenders do not take weeks to negotiate. (By definition, deal points are conditions on ending a war.) Whatever we get won’t bear any remote semblance to an unconditional surrenders (e.g., all substantive wins for the victor, requirement for the vanquished loser to give up ample munitions or pay tribute). This seems closer to a Vietnam War-style negotiated retreat.

Aside from Iran, we should acknowledge unconditional surrenders may be anachronistic. Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman explained,“The United States prosecuted a massive strike campaign against Iran, resulting in significant damage to its naval, missile, drone, and air defense capabilities — not to mention the deaths of regime leaders, including top military brass.” However, tactical triumph did not compel capitulation because Iran’s “deployment of relatively inexpensive drones, mines, and missiles has managed to wreak havoc on one of the world’s most critical waterways, countries throughout the Gulf, and select U.S. military assets.”

In other words, Iran’s anything-but-unconditional surrender underlines the flawed premise of Trump’s delusional foreign policy, namely certitude that major powers can annihilate lesser powers at will. However, when asymmetric warfare enables the latter to avoid defeat (let alone “unconditional surrender”), bullies’ fantasy of military dominance collapses. Instead, dimwitted aggressors who mistakenly think 20th-century military assets like battleships and air power give them unchallenged supremacy wind up stuck in foreign quagmires (whether Iran or Ukraine) and besieged at home.

No one should miss the magnitude of America’s tragedy. Fixated on an unworkable foreign policy rooted in colonialism and spheres of power, Trump discarded the only viable means by which the U.S. could maintain unparalleled superpower dominance and prosperity — a rules-based international order under the auspices of the U.S. and its democratic allies. He traded that in for nonstop chaos and national decline.

The bottom line: Fighting ends for now with Iran’s regime in place, its nuclear materials beyond our reach, and issues like its ballistic missile program and support for proxy groups nowhere in the discussion. Worse, Iran comes away with an ace up its sleeve: its proven prowess in halting freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which it may use to extract fees/tolls or threaten future closure. One big clue as to the magnitude of Trump’s blunder: His junior partner Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israel officials are very displeased.

We will have ongoing coverage as the deal points emerge.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimior Putin, portrayed above during a 2019 meeting in Osaka, Japan, have long worked together with parallel visions of global cooperation, with each allocated a dominant role in their part of the world.

New York Times, News Analysis On Deadlocked Wars: How Major Powers Misread the Regions They Attacked , Neil MacFarquhar, June 14, 2026. Russia and the United States projected their own centralized views onto Ukraine and Iran, analysts said. As a result, the smaller countries trapped larger ones in a costly confrontation.

President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, both resist the idea that ostensibly weaker powers fought them to a stalemate, with the two leaders leaning on negotiations to win the capitulation that they failed to secure in battle.

Iran and Ukraine have pushed back robustly against this “might makes right” mentality, with top officials adopting an even more defiant tone in recent days.

ukraine flagIn an open letter to Mr. Putin this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine derided Mr. Putin for clinging to power as he aged. “You did not expect full-scale resistance from Ukraine, and you did not foresee that things would go this far,” Mr. Zelensky wrote.

After Iran unleashed a missile barrage against Israel last week in retaliation for attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Parliament and Iran’s top negotiator, threatened more. “Until there is a sincere commitment to restoring trust, Iran’s response will not change,” he wrote on X.ImageSeveral people and a small brown dog are resting on a blue floor. One person holds a child, while another uses a cell phone.People taking Iran Flagshelter in Ramat Gan, Israel, last week after air raid sirens warned of incoming Iranian missiles.Credit...Oded Balilty/Associated Press

Their recalcitrance reflects the reality of two wars in stasis, with a profound lack of trust all around stymying progress.

Talks to find peace in Ukraine hit an impasse right before the Iran war started, with Ukraine demanding more robust security guarantees for ceding territory than Russia was willing to accept. Diplomacy has mostly produced prisoner swaps between the sides. The United States, once trying to play the main mediator, has shifted its focus to Iran.

American and Iranian officials now say a peace deal with Iran could be at hand. But it appears that it will initially consist of a framework for negotiations that will push the thorniest issues, like Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief, down the road. It is expected to allow for at least the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

 New Fears Of Trump-Fostered Reprisals, Violence, Election-Rigging Targeting U.S. Opponents, Media, Courts

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above). 

Robert Reich via Facebook, Opinion: Former Longtime Democratic Leaders Richard Gephardt and Tim Wirth warn of Trump plans to thwart Midterm Elections, Democracy via 'National Security' pretexts to foster dictatorial Trump-MAGA powers, Robert Reich, right, robert reich color headshotJune 13, 2026. Richard Gephardt was the U.S. House Democratic Leader, from 1989 to 2003, representing Missouri in the House from 1975 to 1983.  and representative of Missouri. Tim Wirth served in the U.S. House and Senate from Colorado from 1975 to 1993 and as the first U.S. Secretary of State for Global Affairs.

"Friends," retired U.S. Secretary of Labor Reich wrote in his Facebook posting, "I have worked with both and know them quite well. Neither is an alarmist, but they did want me to help spread this alarm. Hence, I’m sharing with you what they wrote to me. (Research is from Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan NGO focused on fair elections.)"

* * *

By Richard Gephardt, below right, and Tim Wirth, below left (file photos):

dick gephardt 1997Between us we have served for seven decades, mostly in elected federal office, through Watergate, the post-Vietnam anti-war demonstrations, years of civil rights marches, Iran-Contra, debates over voting rights, the post-9/11 surveillance debates, two impeachments.

tim wirth 2011We are writing today because we are watching something different from any of these, and because most Americans, including most of our friends in both parties, do not see the big picture.Many may recognize and be concerned about individual actions or decisions taken by the administration but few have taken a step back and connect the dots.

The “rolling coup” is much more than one development, one decision or a single day.On September 25, 2025, President [Trump] signed a directive called a National Presidential Security Memorandum known as NPSM-7 (titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence’).

Its language designates as targets of federal counterterrorism authorities Americans whose sponsors are labeled “anti-American”, “ anti-capitalist”, “ anti-Christian” or “hostile to traditional American views on family, religion and morality.”

No statute authorizes the federal government to treat protected political speech as terrorism; NPSM-7 does it anyway. It tasked the FBI, the IRS and the Treasury Department with tracking the funding sources and supporters of organizations suspected of directly or indirectly facilitating political unrest, with no reference to the First Amendment.

Soon thereafter, the FBI organized a Joint Mission Center, drawing hundreds of personnel from ten federal agencies to identify and prosecute the targets of NPSM-7. The Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, left, subsequently testified [that there was] a kash patel o cropped300 percent increase in domestic terrorism investigations. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified that thousands of U.S. citizens and non-governmental organizations are now on a secret watch list tied to the Joint Mission Center.

irs logoConcurrently the Justice Department has opened grand-jury investigations and indictments aimed at officials of previous administrations including former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.

The President’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, has publicly described political opposition as a “fifth column,” and Trump himself amplified this by declaring “Arrest them all. Prosecute them all. Incarcerate them all… But first, Barack Obama.”

On May 6, 2026, the administration’s Senior Director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, released a new National Counterterrorism Strategy that names “violent left-wing extremists,” “anti-fascists,” and certain religious minorities as principal threats to the United States.

Bondi provided a Department of Justice operational order that included a five year plan for retroactive mining of data files and plea interrogations along with the requirement that financial donors be named. The Joint Mission Center uses its $12.5 billion dollar budget to do the targeting. The President’s lead lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel have preauthorized the use of domestic force.

Meanwhile the administration has appropriated $45 billion for construction of new ICE detention facilities, a 265 percent increase over previous years and more than four times the entire budget of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Tom Homan, the President’s “border czar” has overseen the proposal for the acquisition of over 100,000 detention beds above the current capacity of 70,000, with contracts for permanent mega-centers whose scale far exceeds anything an immigration processing operation would require.

FBI logoThese are undoubtedly prisons for political prisoners, even as 1974 federal law prohibit the detention of American citizens without an act of Congress.In the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, U.S. forces have killed more than 200 people across nearly sixty strikes on small boats designated as “narcoterrorists” without indictment, trial or judicial review. The commander of U.S. Northern Command has said publicly he would “definitely” execute lawful orders to apply this same authority on American soil.

The White House has declined to rule out using lethal force against U.S. citizens designated as members of domestic terrorist organizations, while Trump has fired most of the Department of Defense officials responsible for overseeing the legality of military operations.

Trump is seeking yet more funding for what appears to be his private army of ICE and Border Patrol agents, to be deployed in numerous target states, at airports and at urban polling places in the states he lost in the 2024 election, where he has now begun to seize voter roles and ballots.

[The U.S. Senate recently passed a $70 billion supplemental funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The legislation is on track for an upcoming U.S. House vote. The funds aim to finance these agencies through 2029.]

[Another piece of the puzzle: Over the last year, the Justice Department has sought voter roll data from most states; sued those that have declined to comply; opened a criminal investigation into 2020 election results in Fulton County, Ga., a state Trump narrowly lost that year; and demanded ballots from the 2024 race from Wayne County, Mich.]

Political prisons, a domestic army, control of the military’s legal apparatus, the seizure of voter roles, and much more presage the potential declaration of a national crisis and the implementation of various of the President’s Emergency Action Documents. These are among the many individual actions and plans of the “rolling coup” which is currently underway.

Unlike what might be recognized as a coup with tanks in the streets, this is not the seizure of power on a single day but the methodical construction of an apparatus designed to identify, arrest, prosecute and if necessary forcibly suppress Americans whose only offense is opposition to this administration, by an executive who has openly declared that opposition itself is the enemy.

Why aren’t more Americans seeing this? Because each step has been incremental. Each has been framed in the legitimate-sounding language of national security or law enforcement. Each was paired with a reassuring denial — we are not deploying the military domestically, we are not declaring an emergency over elections, we are not coming for citizens.

Congress, paralyzed and outnumbered, has not mounted a serious institutional response. Some press has reported stories about the pieces but not on the whole dangerous picture.The first job of any coup is to make the recognition of it seem premature. That is the trap. By the time recognition is no longer premature, the moment to resist has already passed.

So what is to be done?

Congress must reassert its Article I authority over emergency powers, military deployment on U.S. soil, and the Office of U.S. House logoLegal Council’s power to rewrite statute by memo.

Governors and state attorneys general must adopt the protective measures that civil liberties lawyers have already drafted to shield citizens, non-profits and election workers from NPSM-7.

Newsrooms must report the rolling coup architecture as a single big picture story, because that is what it is.

And each of us — in pulpits, in classrooms, in podcasts, in union halls, at work and around kitchen tables — must call this by its name out loud, while there is still time and there is still room.

Unless we begin to act with resolve, fortitude and clear-eyed commitment to our democracy, a future election will be lost and our democracy will likely be destroyed by a Presidential declaration of a national emergency and the subsequent implementation of the emergency measures, not authorized by law but drafted and implemented without any Congressional oversight.

We took the same oath of office that every member of the military and every federal officer takes — to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

The obligation in that oath does not end when one leaves office. We believe that an awake America can stop what a drowsy one will not, but time is short and the challenge is urgent.

Lance's Substack, Opinion: Is There An Internal Coup Plot Against Trump Underway As We Speak? Lance F. Rosen, right, lance rosenJune 14, 2026. If There's Not, I'd Be Shocked; My response to a reader's comment and share of Robert Reich's five-alarm fire article

A friend shared a link to Bob Reich's Facebook column today. It's a doozy, a very big deal.

Reich published an open letter from former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and former Democratic Senator Tim Wirth. Most of you likely heard of these two.

It's pretty stark. They wrote the article that I should have written, was actually planning to write, but didn't because I was too busy blocking. And honestly I wasn't mentally ready to start a project that might send me into a tailspin because it is just so much lunacy.

It is a thorough summation of the recent overt moves by the Trump regime to institute dictatorship, void election results, mass imprison dissidents under so-called anti-terrorism executive orders, to deploy the military, ICE, and CBP as an armed force to conduct a Nazi-style election interference (my description, not theirs) and to expand their illegal global wars in order to seize raw materials and territory, overriding Congress entirely.

My friend was sending me this post to make the point that those quoted in Reich's article were saying things similar to my own recent coverage.

Well, yes and no. They addressed what is in the headlines. In my view it is what they omitted, which is much needed as the subject of my response to my friend.

So, I'm not by any stretch refuting anything they warned about, all of which are more than valid concerns. These are both super-qualified and experienced people, but I believe they are holding back to avoid spreading panic. We here will be looking at the third dimension of what amounts to a 3-D Chess game.

These longtime Democratic stalwarts, like many opponents of Hitler in the 1930's, still underestimate both Trump's and his inner circle's capacity for destruction and evil. The fact that none of them use the words "madman" or "insane" to describe his recent actions and statements is a function of their blindspot. Which is.

..djt riding missile

...the word "nuclear" is nowhere in their open letter. They need to revise the damned thing and re-release it as an updated version with an important editorial correction. I have some things to say about this [emphasis added].

Here is the Facebook link to Bob Reich's piece. Here is my response, written for everyone, not just my friend.

"Thank you, I just read the whole thing.

It is always very eventful when a dedicated non-alarmist sounds the alarm, especially when it's done in a clinical, analytic fashion by two retired former Democratic leaders who between them never had much in the way of drama or big political scandals tied to their names.

The part that's missing is that Trump wants to use nuclear weapons against Iran. He says he's not planning on it. Right. You can go ahead and include that statement on his decades long list of nine-hundred thousand lies told in public. I'm not going to let myself or others block on this. Reich misses the boat on the most important thing, in the name of trying to not sound alarmist.

The oligarchy itself is in massive internal conflict, chaos, and division, as of this moment. A faction is trying to figure out how to put down the monster of their own creation. It is the "Frankenstein Dilemma" we talked about last week.

Unless we start with this strategic gestalt, we are looking at the crisis from the bottom up, instead of the big picture.

I believe there is a kind of internal coup plot to remove him in the near term before he destroys everything, including them. If true, it is extremely complex, might not work, and could be too late.

This kind of shift in the US establishment has happened before. Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party was funded by powerful Wall Street families. Families which in a strict sense were not partisan, including both Democrats (J.P. Morgan, the Harrimans) and Republicans. (Bush, Ford, Dulles, Mellon, Dupont and Rockefeller) These were the interests who caused the Great Depression with their looting of labor and farmers, along with allowing mindless bingeing on stock bubble speculation.

They supported racial eugenics and they wanted to re-arm Germany to march eastward and break up the Soviet Union. Hitler crossed up the Anglo-Americans, and moved westward first instead, provoking war with England (which had also previously backed the Nazis through Bank of England head Montagu Norman, with support from the pro-fascist Royals and aristocracy) by invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France, as well as the north countries. Each of those financial interests either openly or covertly supported the fascism project of Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco in Europe as a geopolitical gambit. So the western oligarchs who helped install Hitler's regime reached a blowback crisis point when he turned on them, got out of control, and they had to get rid of their own creation in order to survive.

As with Trump today, the powerful ruling elite miscalculated in thinking that they could "manage" Hitler, first by helping his rise to power, then by appeasing him as he began to implement his drive for world conquest. They underestimated his actual degree of madness.

At a certain point Wall Street stopped trying to sabotage FDR's economic and war buildup because their own survival depended upon its sustained success. FDR himself was a part of the oligarchy, but was looked at by the old blue-blood families as a renegade who betrayed his class. They did nothing but obstruct him for six years, just like today with MAGA, using a right-wing Supreme Court to throw up obstacles. When we were finally inching into the war with Lend Lease before Pearl Harbor, the obstruction mostly abated. They had to let FDR have full rein over the budget and credit system in order to mobilize the economy and labor force to produce enough, to build enough, to wage a sustained global conflict.

Everything the oligarchy has done since then was intended to undo what FDR did to beat the Great Depression and the fascist Axis.

This is what they do. They create monsters and disasters, then have to step back to let the real leaders lead, to clean up their own mess so to speak, if not for patriotic reasons then just to save their own asses. Then, when the beast is finally put down at great cost in human lives, they'll crawl out of their crypts and do the same things again which created the last crisis.

As you have probably guessed, this response from me is for everyone and not just in response to your comment and share of Bob Reich's piece. I'm here to give a general briefing.

We are taking a deep dive beneath the mainstream media headlines and looking at the dynamics which are driving strategic events. I don't just kvetch about what Trump does on any given day, bad as it is. There is a bigger picture.

I keep saying he is in his “Downfall” stage, and it is going to be a total effing mess, but I fear that our movement is not getting enough in the way of leadership or deeper analysis.

The headlines don't tell the full story. Human nature is telling the story. And we need to put more time into thinking about that, because that's how we will figure out what to do.

 UFC Bouts At White House

Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).Here’s a look at the fighting arena: The Claw, a 600-ton steel arch built in Belgium. Jumbo-sized and star-spangled, with huge television screens hanging from every corner, it coexists strangely with the rest of its environs (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).

New York Times, How Trump Transformed the White House Lawn Into a Fighting Arena, Simon Ducroquet and Shawn McCreesh, June 14, 2026. It was back in late May that construction began on the towering, claw-like superstructure that now sits complete on the South Lawn of the White House, ready to stage Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Sunday, President Trump’s 80th birthday.

The spectacle is estimated to cost more than $60 million, according to Mark Shapiro, who is the president of U.F.C.’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings. (Mr. Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO weeks ahead of this event at the White House that he has been promoting for months).

It towers over the old willow oaks and magnolia trees planted long ago by past presidents on the gentle slope of the South Lawn. It towers over the White House itself. Spectators seated in the topmost section on Sunday night will be on eye level with the Truman balcony.

The cage is an eight-sided feat of marketeering, its every angle prominently displaying the name of some sponsor who’d paid big bucks to have their brands juxtaposed against the ultimate backdrop.

Among them: Live Trade on Polymarket, Bud Light, Pit Boss Grills, Total Wireless, Morgan & Morgan (“Dial #Law”) and Toyo Tires. “Crypto.com” is carved into each metal step leading into the ring

The Claw is not all. That venue can only fit a little more than 4,000 people, so a space for a watch party capable of hosting more than 70,000 people has been set up on The Ellipse, which is the park just south of the White House gates.

Back on the White House lawn, just behind the Claw, there are large tents set up. On Saturday afternoon, a crew of six motocross riders performed stunts on the lawn, including backflips 45 feet in the air. 

News Roundups

donald trump money palmer report Custom

MS Now, Weekly Summary: What Trump gains from today’s UFC fight, Staff Reports, June 14, 2026. Welcome to MS NOW’s Sunday Spotlight, where you can find a selection of the msnow new logoweek’s most interesting and important stories. President Donald Trump could profit from Sunday’s cage match on the White House lawn. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s new status as a trillionaire can’t be separated from his other behavior, Albanians are protesting the president’s daughter and son-in-law, and a far-right influencer is streaming ICE raids. Plus, how Trump undermined the World Cup.

1. Fight purse: Behind the spectacle of Trump’s star-spangled mixed martial arts fight on the White House’s South Lawn, there are concerns that the president might be personally profiting, writes Laura Barrón-López. Trump purchased tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in UFC’s parent company before announcing the event last year, he’s holding a $1 million-per-plate fundraiser for his top super PAC the night before the cage match, and a line of “officially designed” Trump-UFC medallions are selling for $250 to $12,000. Read more.

2. space x logoA lot of zeroes: SpaceX’s initial public offering on Friday made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. But even as investors hailed him as a visionary or just grabbed their piece, he continued showing the kind of repugnant behavior that is “the heart of who he is and the world he is seeking to create,” Paul Waldman argues. Ahead of the IPO, Musk encouraged what became an anti-immigrant pogrom in Belfast, amplifying calls on X for anti-immigrant protests and far-right rhetoric about destroying evil. Musk denies he is promoting violence, but he has turned the social media network formerly known as Twitter into an amplifier of hatred. Read more.

3. The Flamingo Revolution: Tens of thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets repeatedly to protest a controversial luxury resort project linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, writes Ines de la Cuetara. The demonstrations began over attempts to protect one of the Mediterranean’s largest flamingo habitats but have since evolved into a broader public outcry against corruption in the European country’s government, leading to them being dubbed “the Flamingo Revolution.” Protesters say the project is an attempt by Prime Minister Edi Rama to strengthen ties with the Trump administration. Read more.

4. Streaming propaganda: A far-right influencer with extensive ties to extremist figures and a history of demonizing immigrants and Muslims has been given exclusive access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in order to film propaganda about deportations, writes Christopher Mathias, author of “To Catch a Fascist.” Ben Bergquam, host of “Law and Border” on Real America’s Voice News, frequently embeds with ICE and takes part in ride-alongs with agents during immigration raids, broadcasting the videos to more than 1.5 million viewers on social media. Read more.

5. America’s Cup: American soccer fans have suffered many indignities over the years, from waking up early to watch games to enduring the men’s national team’s repeated FIFA 2026 world cupfailures. This year’s FIFA World Cup was supposed to make up for that, but the Trump administration made a number of bad decisions that undermined it, Roey Hadar argues. The list includes travel restrictions on multiple countries, longer lines at airport security, threats to send immigration agents to games or pull customs officers from airports, and visa problems for some participants. The games will go on, but America has lost a chance to show off during the world’s biggest sporting event. Read more.

6. Missouri Republicans are taking an ax to Dolly Parton’s signature initiative: Legendary singer-songwriter Dolly Parton has long run a literacy initiative that offers one free book per month for children from birth until age 5, donating over 300 million books in partnership with more than 20 states. But the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently announced it would freeze enrollment in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as the Republican-dominated legislature cut the program’s funding from $6 million to $2 million. The consequences of the cuts are all too clear, argues Christina Wyman, a teacher and children’s author. She recounts growing up in a working-class household without many of her classmates’ vacation homes and new cars, “but while my family did not have much, we did have books.” By contrast, she notes how she once saw students whose families could not afford a copy of the book being taught get distracted by a teacher’s in-class reading “because they simply could not see the words on the page.” “To read books, children need access to them — the same type of access that Missouri is poised to take away from its own communities,” she writes. Read the column here.

The Parnas Perspective, Afternoon News and Commentary: White House Terrified Over Recordings That Could Derail Presidency, Bad Weather for UFC, Democrats Prepare Large Investigations, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 14, 2026. The White House is reportedly terrified that recordings may exist from Situation Room discussions about Epstein, Israel, and other sensitive matters. If such recordings were to surface, it would represent a massive breach and could create a major political crisis for Trump.

Meanwhile, the weather is not cooperating for Trump’s UFC event tonight, and the White House has somehow found itself attacking The Weather Channel. Democrats are also pledging Epstein hearings on day one if they take control of the House, and that’s just the start of today’s news.

Our Epstein interview yesterday received major national coverage, and the White House has not been pleased with our exclusive reporting showing that pilots were being blinded by lights from the UFC octagon while flying into Washington.

This work is important, and you are the reason it is possible. If you’re able, please consider subscribing, upgrading your subscription, or gifting one to someone else. This Substack remains the one place where I am fully independent and accountable only to you. Your support makes this work possible.Subscribed

Here’s the news:

As I mentioned above, those around the White House are not happy with my exclusive reporting. Here is Richard Grenell attacking me on Twitter:

According to Axios, the White House is reportedly alarmed by the possibility that reporters may have obtained recordings or highly detailed accounts of Situation Room meetings. Officials fear some of the administration’s most sensitive conversations could become public, including those related to be the Epstein files. The concern stems from published excerpts containing remarkably detailed dialogue about discussions on Iran and the Epstein files. President Trump is said to be furious about the disclosures and the attention they are receiving. Aides worry that future revelations could create a major political headache and further intensify scrutiny of the administration.

President Trump turned 80 today as reports surfaced describing occasional memory lapses and signs of fatigue, with some allies telling reporters he appears more tired than in the past. Former ally Tucker Carlson said Trump is uncomfortable with aging, remarking, “He’s really uncomfortable with it,” and described the president’s push for a new White House ballroom as “an older man building a monument to himself.” Trump’s own comments about aging, including a recent joke that he was “not happy” about his birthday and that it was “a number I don’t like.” While critics point to these episodes and the fact that Trump was examined by 22 medical specialists during his latest physical, the White House insists he remains mentally sharp and energetic.

The weather for tonight’s UFC fight is not complying right now. This is the latest as bugs, wind, rain, and lightening are set to derail the fight:

The White House is now attacking the Weather Channel:

Democrats are preparing an aggressive oversight agenda if they regain control of the House in the 2026 midterms, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, who is expected to lead the House Oversight Committee under a Democratic majority. Garcia says Democrats would immediately pursue public hearings on the Jeffrey Epstein matter, subpoena senior Trump administration officials, and investigate what they describe as potential corruption involving the Trump family and its business dealings.

Republicans, led by current Oversight Chair James Comer, dismiss the plans as partisan attempts to target President Trump rather than address government waste or accountability. Democrats also plan to scrutinize federal workforce cuts, DOGE-related actions, and other administration policies they argue harmed government operations. The article highlights the likelihood of major legal and political battles over subpoenas, compliance, and congressional oversight should Democrats win the House.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended U.S. military capabilities, arguing that no country produces better weapons or munitions than the United States and dismissing concerns about depleted stockpiles as a media-driven narrative. Journalist Margaret Brennan challenged that claim, pointing out reports of shortages and noting that Hegseth had previously testified under oath that rebuilding certain stockpiles could take years.

Hegseth claimed the U.S. had maintained control of the strait throughout the conflict. Brennan pushed back, noting that the administration was simultaneously negotiating with Iran to reopen it.

Israel carried out new airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs after Hezbollah fired projectiles into northern Israel, killing three people and wounding several others, according to Lebanese authorities. The escalation threatens ongoing efforts to finalize a U.S.–Iran agreement, with Iran warning that Israel’s actions could jeopardize negotiations and vowing that the strikes will not go unanswered. President Trump publicly criticized the attack, saying it “should not have happened” and urging all sides to stand down as a peace deal appears close. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the operation as a response to Hezbollah’s ceasefire violation, while Hezbollah rejected ongoing ceasefire talks and continued attacks on Israeli forces.

President Trump said a planned U.S.–Iran agreement remains on track for Sunday despite an Israeli strike in Beirut that briefly delayed the signing. He said he was “so pissed off” about the timing of the attack and criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “He has no fucking judgement.” Iranian officials warned that Iran is ready to retaliate if provoked, raising fears of further escalation. Trump argued that the deal would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, require the disposal of nuclear material, and allow inspections of its nuclear facilities.

After the strikes, Netanyahu took to Twitter to wish Trump a happy birthday:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz praised the emerging U.S.–Iran agreement but stopped short of guaranteeing it would be signed Sunday, despite President Trump’s prediction. Waltz said Iranian negotiators had accepted major U.S. demands, including eliminating highly enriched uranium, but acknowledged that Iran’s leadership was not always unified and that negotiations remained difficult. He described the agreement as a memorandum of understanding, warning that many details would still need to be worked out in future talks. Waltz argued the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end Iran’s support for groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, while rejecting criticism from Barack Obama that it may not be substantially different from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Markwayne Mullin is still talking about shutting down international travel to big blue cities: “I’m gonna have to go get the resources. The most logical way for me to get the resources is to go to CBP at the airports, because they are trained to deal with large crowds.”

ufc deal crypto guardianThe UFC announced that some fighter bonuses at Sunday’s White House event will be paid in USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company tied to the Trump family. Critics argue the arrangement blurs the line between government events and the president’s private business interests, since the fight is being held on White House grounds and World Liberty is an official sponsor. The White House denies any conflict of interest, saying President Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children. The move is likely to draw further scrutiny of the Trump family’s growing crypto business, which has become a significant source of wealth and political controversy.

Sen. Mitch McConnell was admitted to a hospital on Sunday morning, according to a statement from his office. A spokesperson said only that he is receiving “excellent care” and did not provide details about the reason for his hospitalization. The announcement comes amid ongoing public attention to McConnell’s health following several medical incidents in recent years. Further information was not immediately available.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joked about the viral Knicks fan who shouted, “My mayor’s Muslim!” during a recent appearance. Mamdani said the moment has taken on a life of its own, with people now regularly running up to him and repeating the phrase. Laughing, he added that his response is usually, “It’s true. I am.”

According to the Guardian, a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines has killed at least 61 people and left around 40 missing. The quake dramatically altered parts of the coastline, lifting the seabed by as much as two meters and extending some shorelines by up to 200 meters. The sudden “coastal uplift” exposed coral reefs, seagrass beds, and other marine habitats, causing widespread die-offs of fish, eels, clams, and other sea life. Scientists say the change was caused by movement along the Cotabato Trench, highlighting the earthquake’s extraordinary geological impact in addition to its human toll.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that thousands of Palestinians believed to be buried beneath Gaza’s rubble may never be identified as recovery efforts continue to move slowly. Forensic experts say that as bodies remain unrecovered, decomposition, displacement of remains, and the loss of personal effects make identification increasingly difficult, even with DNA testing. Gaza officials estimate that at least 10,000 people remain buried under debris, while shortages of heavy equipment and restrictions on importing DNA-testing materials have hampered recovery and identification efforts. Families of the missing face prolonged uncertainty, with many unable to obtain death certificates or closure as hopes of identifying loved ones diminish over time.

Swiss voters appear to have rejected a far-right proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million people, with projections showing about 55% voting against it. The measure would have imposed strict immigration limits and could have forced Switzerland to leave its free-movement agreement with the European Union if the population exceeded the cap. Supporters argued that rapid population growth was straining housing, infrastructure, and public services, while opponents warned it would damage the economy and Switzerland’s relationship with the EU. The result suggests voters were concerned about the economic and diplomatic consequences of the proposal despite broader worries about immigration and population growth.

Media, Propaganda, Politics

New York Times, The World’s Leading Deepfake Expert No Longer Trusts His Own Eyes, Eli Saslow, Visuals by Erin Schaff, June 14, 2026. In the age of A.I., Hany Farid is struggling to prove what’s real before the internet decides for itself.

The emails began to arrive on a Sunday morning, as the worst ones often did. Hany Farid, right, opened the first message at his home in hany faridthe hills above Berkeley and found a link to a viral video purporting to show a U.S.-made missile hitting an elementary school in Iran, where more than 150 people had been killed, most of them children. “Is this an internet hoax or an international war crime?” one note read. “We’re trying to verify what’s real.”

Farid grabbed a pencil and a notepad, leaned into his computer and watched. He saw blue sky, telephone wires and a few palm trees swaying in the wind. Then a missile streaked across the screen, clear and unmistakable even at 500 miles per hour. It looked like a scene from a video game. In the last few days, Farid had reviewed dozens of convincing A.I.-generated videos of fake bombings, fake plane crashes, fake fires and fake executions. His instinct was to be skeptical. He was nearly certain the video was another fake.

He chewed on his pencil and watched it again, slowing down the video, breaking it apart frame by frame. The camera shook in a way that seemed plausible for an amateur filming with a cellphone. The shadows were geometrically accurate. He watched the missile strike a building and noticed a short delay before he heard an explosion and high-pitched screams, which seemed consistent with the speed of sound. Maybe the video was real. It had already been viewed at least 1.1 million times on social media. With each passing second, it was becoming reality, whether it was real or not.

“Anyone can create a video of anything or anybody, doing or saying anything,” Farid wrote back. “This will take a little time.”

cal campus university california berkeleyFor more than two decades, Farid, 60, had been the world’s leading expert in the field of digital forensics, but in the last six months he’d stopped trusting his own eyes. Farid andhis wife, Emily Cooper, taught at the University of California, Berkeley (shown above). He’d made a career of differentiating visual reality from deepfakes as he fielded requests each day from governments, human rights organizations, journalists, law enforcement and thousands of others who were increasingly confused and deceived by the online world. Farid’s own research had proven that most people could no longer distinguish a real photograph from a digital creation, a real voice from an A.I. clone, a real video clip from a wholesale fabrication. Lately, he was failing his own tests.

“I feel like I’m going blind,” Farid said, and he worried that A.I. was obscuring the truth, distorting reality, fracturing democracies and slowly breaking him, too. He and his wife had begun making plans to leave California and trade the tech culture of Silicon Valley for a farm in rural Vermont.

He restarted the video and played the clip again. Sky. Bomb. Smoke. Screams. In the last hour, at least a dozen media organizations had emailed him to ask about the video. It had been published and shared by an official Iranian news agency, but that didn’t mean much to Farid, because recently he had seen deepfakes created and shared by foreign governments and by staffers at the White House. He geolocated the video using a database of millions of images from around the globe, and it pointed to a street in Minab, Iran, several hundred feet from an elementary school.

Maybe the video itself was real, Farid thought, except that someone had inserted a Tomahawk missile into the frame. He stabilized the video to get rid of the shaking and then charted the missile through a series of still frames, hunting for inconsistencies. The missile’s path was straight, its speed consistent. He zoomed in to measure pixels and calculated that the missile looked to be about 18 feet long, exactly the right size.

Sky, bomb, smoke, screams. He watched at least 100 more times, doubting his instincts and rechecking his math. For most of his career, he had been charged with identifying the rare fake in a world of shared truths. But now fakes were the norm and truth was elusive. Even after a full day of analysis and consultation with other visual experts — all of which confirmed the video’s authenticity — he couldn’t quite bring himself to declare it real

“Overall, we find no compelling evidence that the video is fake or has been manipulated,” Farid wrote.

He turned off the computer and went outside. He rode his mountain bike through the Berkeley Hills, pushing his speed and leaning into the wind. He smoked a cigar and went to bed, and later that night he returned to the video in his sleep. This time he wasn’t counting pixels or measuring shadows. He was inside the school, sitting down in a classroom of 10-year-olds, watching the warhead detonate, absorbing the concussive blast, coughing up dust and listening to the children’s screams. He woke up and went back to the computer, scanning the internet for news about the bombing.

“You can’t kill 100 schoolgirls and just say ‘whoopsie,’” he wrote to a colleague, as he read through social media posts. Some people were citing Farid’s analysis to confirm the video was real. Others dismissed Farid as somehow biased and said the video looked fake. Several new A.I.-generated videos about the bombing had already begun to appear online, showing fake generals giving orders or fake parents mourning fake schoolgirls. The internet was already moving on from what would turn out to be one of the deadliest bombings of the war, and now Farid saw a new request arrive in his inbox. It was a different video, showing another explosion in a separate part of the world.

“Can you please help us understand what the hell is really going on here?”

It was the question that arrived in his inbox a dozen times each day: What in the world was happening?

Was that really President Joe Biden calling thousands of Democratic voters the day before the New Hampshire primary and telling them not to vote? Was that really President Trump tossing bags of garbage out of a window at the White House? Were those real nude photos of ninth graders circulating around a high school in Pennsylvania, or images that a classmate had generated with a free app? Was that really Tom Hanks advertising an obscure dental plan to his fans? Was that the C.E.O. on the Zoom call asking for a wire transfer of $25 million, or a North Korean impersonator? Was that a real gun in Alex Pretti’s hand, or just a shadow? Was that really a 12-year-old daughter on the phone, screaming for help, saying that she’d been kidnapped?

“I miss the days when it was a grainy video of a shark swimming up the street,” Farid said one night, as he sat on the back deck of his house with his wife, Emily Cooper. He put down his phone and poured a whiskey. “The technology is getting so good. It takes me to a dark place.”

“Because you can’t tell just by looking anymore?” Cooper asked.

“Because nobody can,” Farid said. “I don’t trust anything. Every image I see, I’m drawing lines for shadows and doing geometry in my head, trying to figure out what I’m looking at. It’s over. Within a year or two, our whole visual system will be utterly useless.”

“And then what? You give up? You retire?”

 

anthropic logo. jpgThe Pugilist, Investigative Commentary; The Trump Administration Just Came for Anthropic, Again. Hard, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, right, alisa valdez rodriguezJune 14, 2026. The only AI company that has demanded ethical regulation of its own industry just had its latest model shut down worldwide by the Trump administration's weaponized commerce department.

For the past year, the Trump administration has waged a remarkably consistent war against the idea that artificial intelligence should be regulated by anyone other than the industry itself. You know, the kind of self-regulation cartels and other extractive industries have always preferred — let the fox guard the henhouse and call it efficiency.

The administration built a Justice Department task force whose entire job is to sue states that try to ethically regulate artificial intelligence at all. This should terrify you. It terrifies me. Trump signed an executive order instructing all federal agencies to treat state algorithmic-discrimination laws as the kind of “onerous” burden that threatens American AI dominance. Trump tried, twice, to get Congress to ban state AI regulation outright for a decade, and got rejected so badly the second time that even Ron DeSantis — not exactly known as a guardian of corporate accountability — called it “a subsidy to Big Tech” that “lets technology companies run wild.”

So when, on June 10 of this year (that’s four days ago as I write this) the CEO of Anthropic, the only AI company to ethically self-regulate in defiance of Trumpian norms, published the most detailed, most concrete argument any major AI executive has ever made for binding government regulation of frontier AI — complete with a proposed legislative framework, a commitment of “substantial financial backing,” and an explicit comparison to how the FAA oversees aviation — you might have expected the administration to either ignore it or push back on policy grounds.

Instead, two days later, the administration acted swiftly to use the closest thing to the exact power Dario Amodei had just finished asking for, against Amodei’s own company, on Amodei’s own newest product. It targeted Anthropic for immediate shutdown of its newest model. And succeeded.

It was a move so brutal, so unjust, that it takes my breath away. Anthropic asked, publicly, for a referee. Forty-eight hours later, they got it, but the referee disqualified only Anthropic — for a foul no one else had to disclose, on a complaint no one else can see, filed by a competitor whose name we don't even know.

(A quick primer, for my readers lucky enough not to know exactly what AI is: Artificial intelligence, in the form most people encounter, is software that can write, reason, answer questions, and make decisions in ways that used to require a human. The newest versions — like the ones at the center of this story — can also find security flaws in computer code, which is exactly why governments are nervous about them.)

What Amodei Actually Asked For

On June 10, two days after Anthropic released its most advanced AI models ever — Claude Fable 5 to the public, Claude Mythos 5 to a small circle of trusted partners — Amodei published an essay called “Policy on the AI Exponential.” It marked a real break from Anthropic’s previous public posture, which for years had been built around transparency: disclose your safety testing, publish your findings, let the public and policymakers see what’s happening, but don’t necessarily force anyone’s hand.

In this essay, Amodei asked for hands to be forced. He proposed a regulatory regime modeled explicitly on the FAA: frontier AI models above a certain compute threshold would undergo mandatory third-party testing across four risk categories — cybersecurity, biological weapons, loss of human control, and the model’s ability to accelerate its own further development. And the government, in Amodei’s proposal, would have the authority to block or recall a model’s deployment if it failed.

He framed the urgency using a metaphor from Tolkien: Treebeard, the wise but achingly slow tree-creature who can’t move fast enough to respond to the world burning down around him. His argument was that AI is moving at a pace democratic institutions were never built to match, and that without real regulatory authority — government power to say no, and to make it stick — the gap between capability and oversight would only widen.

It was, by any reading, a direct challenge to the administration’s entire 2025-2026 AI agenda. Where the White House had spent a year arguing that AI regulation of any kind was a drag on American competitiveness — an “onerous” burden, in the language of its own executive order — Amodei was arguing the opposite: that the absence of binding regulation was itself the danger, and that the United States needed to build regulatory muscle before it was too late to matter.

Forty-Eight Hours Later

On June 12 at 5:21 p.m. Eastern time, a Friday evening, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sent Amodei a letter. According to Axios, it informed him that Fable 5 and Mythos 5 would be subject to export controls barring access “to any location outside of the U.S. and to all foreign persons within the country” — including, Anthropic would later clarify, Anthropic’s own foreign-born employees working inside the United States.

This is, by Anthropic’s own account and by the account of multiple outlets, the first time the US government has ever used export controls to restrict access to an AI model itself, as opposed to the chips that power it. It is, in the company’s words, “unprecedented.”

The letter gave Anthropic almost nothing to work with. It cited “national security authorities” without elaborating. Anthropic says it has still not received written details of the government’s specific concern — only a verbal description, relayed after the fact, of what the government believed was a “jailbreak” of Fable 5’s safeguards. And according to an administration official who spoke to Axios, the catalyst for the entire directive wasn’t a foreign intelligence service, a terrorist organization, or even Anthropic’s own internal red-teaming. It was another AI company, claiming it had found a way around Mythos’s protections.

Anthropic’s description of what that “jailbreak” actually consisted of is almost deflating: asking the model to read a codebase and identify software flaws in it. A defensive security task. One that, Anthropic says, other publicly available models — including OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 — can already do without any workaround at all, and one that real security teams perform routinely to keep systems safe. The company says it has received no disclosure of any jailbreak that produced an actual harmful outcome, and that what was described to the government was a narrow, non-universal technique — not the kind of broad, repeatable jailbreak that would represent a genuine new risk.

None of that mattered. Because the directive applied to “any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States,” and because a consumer chatbot has no reliable way to verify every user’s citizenship in real time, Anthropic concluded it had no choice but to disable both models for everyone, everywhere, immediately. It asked Amazon Web Services to pull access globally. By Saturday morning, Fable 5 — Anthropic’s flagship, launched three days earlier with the company’s biggest rollout in its history — simply didn’t exist anymore, for anyone. Every other Anthropic model, including the workhorse Claude Opus 4.8, remained untouched.

This Isn’t the First Time the Trump Administration Has Targeted Anthropic

Anthropic is already suing the government over retaliation. Back in March, the administration labeled Anthropic a “supply chain risk” — and Anthropic says that was punishment for refusing to let the military and surveillance agencies use its AI however they wanted. A judge agreed that claim was credible enough to put that punishment on hold while the lawsuit plays out.

It’s pretty clear this latest shutdown of the company’s newest models by the Trump administration is also relationship, but the word “retaliation” doesn’t appear anywhere in Anthropic’s comments about it. There are likely legal reasons for that. When you’re already suing someone, you don’t hand them a quote to use against you in court. The silence is the tell.

But Anthropic did say one thing worth sitting with. It warned that if this is the new standard — a company’s best product gets shut down over one unproven complaint from a competitor — then no AI company will ever be able to release anything new again.

Why the Trump Administration Hates Anthropic Siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, former OpenAI researchers who left to start Anthropic as an ethical AI alternative.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of researchers, including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who left OpenAI specifically because they wanted safety to come first, not as an afterthought bolted onto a race for market share.

The company structured itself as a Public Benefit Corporation, meaning it has a legal obligation that goes beyond making money for shareholders — it's supposed to weigh the public good in its decisions. Anthropic built its AI models around something it calls "Constitutional AI," essentially a written set of values and principles the AI is trained to follow, similar to how a constitution sets boundaries for a government.

Where other major AI labs have largely resisted external oversight, Anthropic has spent the past year publicly arguing the opposite: that AI is moving too fast for anyone, including the companies themselves, to be trusted as the only check on it. Whether that stance always survives contact with a $965 billion valuation and an looming IPO is a fair question — but on the specific issue at the center of this story, Anthropic asked for a referee, and no other major AI company did.

In other words, in a world of predatory capitalism where companies routinely put profit above the wellbeing of humanity and society, Anthropic took a very different stand, a stand that Trump and all others who put profit above people hate.

An Administraion That Hates Regulation, Except When It’s a Weapon to Hurt Their Critics

This is the move, and it is one this administration has made before in other contexts: when an opponent makes a structural argument for regulation of any kind — “the system needs a check here” — don’t argue the merits. Find the loophole inside their own argument and use it against them first, before anyone else can, so the lesson lands as “see what happens when there’s a check” rather than “see what happens when there isn’t one.”

Amodei’s essay argued that governments need real authority to block AI deployments that pose serious risks. The administration didn’t have to build the FAA-style system he proposed to prove a point. It already had something close enough — Commerce Department export control authority, repurposed for the first time ever to apply to a model rather than a chip — sitting right there. All it took was a letter, an unnamed competitor’s complaint, and a national-security label vague enough that no one outside the building could check whether it was true.

Trump seems to live for this exact sort of weaponization of systems against perceived enemies. Its consequences in this case are severe: Anthropic, the one company that spent the last year telling Washington it needed more power to police AI for the wellbeing of humanity, just got a live demonstration of what that power looks like when this administration is the one holding it. Why Lutnick’s Signature Matters Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in blue, on Epstein’s Island in 2012. Before this image surfaced in the DOJ’s limited Epstein file release, he lied and said he’d cut off communication with Epstein in 2005.

The letter ordering this came from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — the same Howard Lutnick who, in February of this year, confirmed under direct questioning before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that he and his family visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012, after previously telling Congress he’d cut off contact with Epstein back in 2005. Justice Department records released this year show Lutnick himself initiated that 2012 visit by email, and show contact between the two men continuing as late as 2018. Senator Jeff Merkley counted at least eight documented post-2005 interactions, not zero. Senator Chris Van Hollen told Lutnick the discrepancy “does call into question your fitness for the job you now hold.” Several senators called for his resignation. The White House said he kept the president’s full support.

The same administration that argues, constantly, that AI needs less oversight rather than more, just handed unprecedented, undocumented, unilateral power over a $965 billion company’s flagship product to a Cabinet official whose own credibility on a completely separate matter is still, by his own colleagues’ account, an open question. If the lesson of this whole episode is supposed to be “see why we don’t trust government with power over AI” — well, Exhibit A is sitting right there in the Commerce Secretary’s chair, and Anthropic didn’t even have to write the script.

What Happens Now

Anthropic says it’s working to restore access “as soon as possible,” and promised more technical detail within 24 hours of its initial statement. Maybe both models come back online by the time you read this. That’s almost beside the point. They are offline as I write, however.

The point is what every other AI company in the country just learned, in one weekend, for free: the administration that has spent a year insisting AI doesn’t need more government power used the closest thing it had to that power — once, suddenly, opaquely — against the single company that had just finished arguing the opposite case in public. Everyone else in the industry, the companies that have spent the year quietly going along with the deregulatory agenda, just

Status with Natalie Korach, The Two Sides of The Times; UFC at the White House; Kimmel's Trump Birthday Wish, Natalie Korach, June 14, 2026. A New York Times guest interview with a Jeffrey Epstein associate has sparked internal backlash and renewed questions about the divide between its newsroom and opinion section, Status has learned.

On Thursday, The New York Times published the first public interview with Kathy Ruemmler, the former Goldman Sachs chief legal officer and White House counsel whose ties to Jeffrey Epstein have come under scrutiny following the release of emails detailing their relationship. Yet the interview was not conducted by one of the newspaper’s journalists. Instead, it appeared in the opinion section as a guest essay—an unusual arrangement that quickly sparked criticism from nearly 1,500 commenters who saw the piece as a sympathetic forum for a powerful figure seeking to rehabilitate her reputation.

Beyond the backlash to the interview itself, the circumstances surrounding its publication generated blowback inside The Times. The interview was conducted by Ankush Khardori, a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor who is not a Times staffer, even as the newsroom continues its extensive reporting on Epstein and the shadowy figures who enabled his notorious sex-trafficking operation. According to multiple people familiar with the matter, the opinion section didn’t commission the interview; instead, Khardori approached The Times with the piece himself.

The episode has revived frustration inside the newspaper about the relationship between the opinion section and the newsroom, two operations that function independently but have occasionally found themselves at odds. Recent controversies have laid bare how the columns published by Kathleen Kingsbury’s department has generated tension within the broader organization, with some questioning whether the standards and priorities of the opinion section are aligned with those of the Joe Kahn-led newsroom. Multiple staffers told Status they worry some public figures could begin viewing the opinion section as a way to “end run” tougher scrutiny from Times reporters and secure a more favorable hearing.

The Ruemmler interview landed less than a month after The Times published a front-page news story examining the extraordinary lengths she had gone to repair her reputation amid revelations about her ties to Epstein. In that article, reporter Robert Draper noted that Ruemmler declined to comment on reporting about the involvement of reputation management firm Terakeet in efforts to downplay her relationship with Epstein.

Some staffers found it striking that Ruemmler sat for more than three hours of interviews with Khardori after largely declining to engage with the newsroom’s inquiries. Status has learned that staffers privately complained about the “uncritical” nature of the interview, which concluded that “castigating Ms. Ruemmler will not change the incentives that allowed Mr. Epstein to evade prosecution for so long, and it will not fix the deficiencies in federal law enforcement and the American legal system.” Another staffer questioned whether the opinion section had effectively served as a “loophole” in this instance.

A spokesperson for The Times disputed that characterization, telling Status in a statement: “A recent guest essay from New York Times opinion presented compelling and illuminating coverage of Kathy Ruemmler. As you know, our news and opinion sections do not coordinate with each other.”

Of course, the concern among staffers is not that opinion contributors conduct interviews. The Times opinion section has a long history of securing exclusive conversations with newsmakers. The issue is that a public figure facing intense public scrutiny can decline to engage with newsroom journalists, only to tell their story in a more favorable forum under the same masthead. 

Trump Watch 

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, following a federal judge’s order to remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the institution, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2026. (Reuters photo by Ken Cedeno).

MeidasTouch, Sunday Message News and Comment: The Cover-Up. And the Paint-Over, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 14, 2026. Today I want to talk about what I think are the two perfect metaphors for the Trump regime.

Let’s start with the Cover-Up. This week, the Kennedy Center, which the Trump regime unlawfully renamed after Trump, mtn meidas touch networkwas finally forced to remove Trump’s name from the building after a court ordered it.

But instead of simply complying, they put up giant scaffolding and enormous tarps so nobody could see the removal taking place. 

Think about how ridiculous that is.

If Trump couldn’t keep his name on the building, apparently nobody was allowed to see anything at all.

  • The name Trump gets removed. The entire building gets covered up.
  • And when I saw that giant tarp hanging there, I couldn’t help but think: that’s the whole administration.
  • A cover-up.
  • Not a metaphorical one. An actual cover-up. It’s almost too on the nose.
  • Everywhere you look, there’s another cover-up. The Epstein cover-up. The cover-up of corruption. The cover-up of fraud. The cover-up of failed policies. The cover-up of broken promises.
  • The tarp hanging over the Kennedy Center felt like the perfect symbol of what we’ve been watching.

Now let’s move to the Paint-Over.

As many of you know, Trump became obsessed with the Reflecting Pool.

The Reflecting Pool is now what I call Ninja Turtle Green. It’s filled with algae.  This story tells you everything you need to know about how Trump approaches governing.

For years, the pool had an algae problem. The water source had changed. There were filtration issues. Engineers were trying to address the actual causes.

It wasn’t perfect, but people were dealing with the real problem. Trump’s solution?

  • Drain it. Paint the bottom bright blue. Declare victory.
  • That’s it.

No focus on the underlying issues. No focus on the filtration system. No focus on the water source.

Just paint it blue and tell everyone it’s fixed and better than Obama or Biden (who, by the way, were focused on more important things than incessantly talking about the Reflecting Pool).

And now the algae is back in the Reflecting Pool. In fact, it’s more visible than ever because it’s growing on top of a blue surface.

To me, that’s Trump’s entire governing philosophy. Don’t fix the problem. Paint over it.

  • Debt exploding? Tell everyone you’re bringing in trillions of dollars.
  • Prices rising? Tell everyone inflation is defeated.
  • Farmers struggling? Hold a photo-op and declare they’re thriving.
  • A war spiraling out of control? Announce everything is going great.
  • Just paint over it. Just tell people it’s fixed.
  • But reality eventually wins.
  • The algae always comes back.

People eventually notice when groceries cost more. People eventually notice when their bills go up. People eventually notice when promises aren’t fulfilled.

You can cover things up for a while. You can paint over things for a while. But eventually reality shows through. And maybe there’s a third metaphor as well...

The circus.

What we’ve seen at the White House increasingly feels like a reality show mixed with a UFC promotion mixed with a fascist reality project. No offense to actual circuses. At least circuses are honest about what they are.

Government is supposed to solve problems. Government is supposed to help people. Government is supposed to make life better.

Instead, we’re getting odd performances, stunts, distractions, and endless attempts to keep people focused on anything except what’s actually happening. 

The good news is that people are seeing through it. The cover-ups aren’t working. The paint-over isn’t working. The circus isn’t working. People are asking questions. People are demanding answers. People are paying attention. And that’s because of all of you. You’ve stayed engaged. You’ve stayed informed. You’ve kept fighting. You haven’t given up. And that’s exactly what we need right now.

So my message this Sunday is simple.Stay in the fight. Stay strong. Keep building. Keep growing. Keep sharing the truth. Keep supporting independent journalism.

The Contrarian, Publisher's Roundup and Opinion: You Removed the Name — and the Curse — of Donald, Norman Eisen, right, norman eisen Smallpublisher of The Contrarian and litigation counsel, June 14, 2026. Inside our Kennedy Center and slush fund wins. 

You did it, Contrarians. Out of all the over 300 legal cases and matters that your paid subscriptions have helped make possible, few have garnered more attention than our fights to remove Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center and to stop his $1.8 billion slush fund. Now both are finally happening — and that’s good news for our democracy.

contrarian logoLet’s start with the Kennedy Center, where this happened in the wee hours early on Saturday: A tarp hangs over the signage of the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump’s name was removed from the building. (The Contrarian)

The removal of Trump’s name was thanks to our client, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), to my colleagues at Democracy Defenders Action, to our co-counsel Washington Litigation Group — and to your paid subscriptions, which help fuel my and my colleagues’ pro-democracy litigation.Subscribed

Of course, Trump being Trump, he and his cronies did it in the stupidest and most unlawful way. Throughout the 24 hours before the Friday midnight deadline, Trump & Co. kept trying and failing to get a stay of the order to remove his name. We responded to his desperate gambits with snap filings of our own and defeated him at both the trial and appellate level.

Then Trump blew past the court-ordered midnight Friday deadline in order to erect a scaffold and then hang a tarp, clearly so he could attempt to hide the removal of the letters. It was a literal cover-up! But, true to form, he botched the attempt to hide the removal, allowing photographers to capture an iconic image.

The scale of Trump’s corruption makes Richard Nixon look like a piker — and Trump’s bumbling makes the Watergate burglars look slick. As we noted in response to the regime’s midnight motion to get another 12 hours, “Defendants had two weeks to comply with the order, and only need an extension because of their inexcusable delay.”

Meanwhile, the whole pathetic display only heightened already strong public attention across the nation. Why do people care so much about this case? Trump’s name on that building defaced the memory of a beloved, fallen president. We don’t need more than that to be horrified.

But there is more. The Trump administration has featured the most outrageous corruption of any president in American history. Like the $1.8 billion slush fund (more in a minute about that), the Kennedy Center renaming is a corruption scandal. The naming rights to the building are literally priceless. Congress mandated the name, and by law that is sacrosanct. For Trump to violate that by putting his own name on the structure is yet another theft from the American people.

And the removal of the name is visible, tangible proof that Trump’s corruption and Trump himself can be stopped — that the rule of law still reigns in America and we can take back the institutions of our democracy. And if Trump thinks he’s just gonna leave the tarp there indefinitely to cover up his shame, we have plans for that, too.

We could not fight Trump’s corruption without you Contrarians. We are capping off our week-long pledge drive for new paid subscriptions to support the Contrarian 1-2 punch. The first is our great weekly coverage. The second is the fact that all profits from those paid subscriptions go to help support my and colleagues’ pro-democracy litigation.Subscribed

Your support was on full display not only at the Kennedy Center but also earlier on Friday when we supported some folks who put the kibosh on Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. A Virginia federal judge enjoined the fund at the request of a wonderful group of lawyers and their clients. She had this to say about a bipartisan brief that we filed in that case on behalf of a Republican and a Democratic senator:

Senators Booker and Cassidy’s timely brief is very useful by providing the unique perspective of current members of the U.S. Senate and explaining how the Anti-Weaponization Fund implicates significant legal and constitutional issues including the Appropriations and Appointments Clauses of the Constitution, as well as the separation of powers.

The judge also read the following passage from our brief aloud from the bench at the hearing where she granted the injunction:

A scheme deliberately designed to recast insurrectionists — including those who perpetrated violence against law enforcement officers — as victims and legitimate prosecutions as persecution does not merely rewrite history. It creates incentives for similar conduct in the future, with the explicit encouragement of the officials responsible for administering justice.

Kudos to our Democracy Defenders Action co-counsel at Platkin LLP and to our local counsel at WLG, plus the superb lawyers and their clients who brought the case in the first place.

But it’s not enough to stop the slush funds from flowing. We have to hold accountable the people responsible. That’s why we, with Platkin LLP and Susman Godfrey, represented a bipartisan group of 35 former judges who successfully petitioned a Florida federal judge to investigate the whole mess.

That case is important because it provides an additional vehicle to probe the $1.8B and the associated “settlements” purporting to wipe away vast liabilities from Trump and his family. Late Friday night, Trump’s lawyers filed their brief attempting to justify this outrage. It substantially consists of attacking the motives and acumen of our dozens of former federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties and with hundreds of years of collective experience on the bench.

Now it is our turn to file a response explaining why this scandalous behavior — unlike anything we have ever seen in our history — is unjustifiable. Stay tuned.

New York Times, Merger Cleared, David Ellison to Join Trump at U.F.C. Bout, Michael M. Grynbaum, June 14, 2026. A U.F.C. fight on President Trump’s birthday will now double as a capstone for Paramount’s successful effort to secure Justice Department approval for a mega media merger.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the White House on Sunday is in some ways a birthday present for President Trump, who will celebrate turning 80 by cheering on the fighters inside the specially constructed Claw on the South Lawn.

One V.I.P. guest at the fight will be celebrating, too: David Ellison, the technology heir and Paramount Skydance chief executive who on Friday received a gift of sorts from the Trump administration.

After months of meticulous courtship of the president and his senior aides, Paramount got word on Friday that the Justice Department would not challenge its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, eliminating one of the last major obstacles for the deal to close.

Upon completion, the merger will elevate Mr. Ellison, 43, into a rarefied level of media moguldom. He will be in charge of two Hollywood film studios; a pair of streaming services, including HBO Max; and two major television news platforms, CBS News and CNN.

Mr. Ellison also controls the exclusive broadcast rights to the U.F.C., one of Mr. Trump’s favorite sports, after he paid a whopping $7.7 billion last year for the privilege. Americans hoping to watch the event at 8 p.m. Sunday at the White House — which consists of seven marquee fights — will need a subscription to Paramount+, the Ellison-owned streaming platform.

This is not the first time that the president and Mr. Ellison will spend time together at a U.F.C. fight; the men sat together alongside the sport’s signature octagon-shaped ring at an event last year in Miami.

The prospective merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. has raised alarms among Democratic lawmakers and heavyweights in the entertainment industry, who have argued that the deal could reduce competition within Hollywood and limit consumers’ choices.

Mr. Ellison and his father, the software mogul and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, have sought to cultivate Mr. Trump in recent years. Larry Ellison appeared in the Oval Office with the president and spoke with Mr. Trump as Paramount was pursuing its bid for Warner Bros.

After the merger came under review by federal regulators, Mr. Ellison threw a private dinner for Mr. Trump in April at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. The president sat at a table with Mr. Ellison and Bari Weiss, the CBS News editor in chief.

Justice Department log circularNumerous senior cabinet officials also attended, including Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general who oversees the Justice Department; Stephen Miller, a deputy White House chief of staff; and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

On Sunday, Paramount officials plan to host a brunch ahead of the fight at Ned’s Club, an exclusive Washington members’ club, the newsletter Status reported on Saturday.

Last August, in an interview with The New York Times about his purchase of the U.F.C. broadcasting rights, Mr. Ellison said he and the Paramount team “could not be more excited about this.”

“From my perspective, the U.F.C. is really a unicorn sports asset,” he said.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 13, 2026 [Trump Name Finally Removed From Kennedy Center In DC], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnune 14, 2026. Before noon on Saturday, June 13, Charles M. Floca, whom Trump installed at the head of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, certified to the court that “the Center and its Board have complied with the Court’s order.”

They had, he wrote, “[r]emoved all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any other individual besides President Kennedy,” updated the website, removed references to Trump from letterhead, promotional materials, and so on, and “[w]ithdrawn any trademark application officially referring to the Kennedy Center as the ‘Trump Kennedy Center’…or any similar formulation.”

What they did not do was take down the tarp workers installed last night around the scaffolding they erected yesterday, hiding the portico wall. Through a crack between the tarp and the wall, photographers caught a few images of letters coming down shortly after 3:00 AM—Cliff Owen of the Associated Press got an iconic shot of a worker loosening the P from the wall—but so far the public has not seen the restored facade. The portico remained shrouded all day.

In a statement, Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi said that the center was “fully compliant with the court’s directive” and that the board was evaluating “legal options.” Tonight workers were back at the Kennedy Center, where they created passageways in the tarp to make the center’s doors accessible while keeping the wall where Trump had put his name covered.

Last night, while workers were putting up scaffolding at the Kennedy Center, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters held a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial in advance of the UFC cage matches to be held at the White House on Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday. Trump sent the United States Army Herald Trumpets, the U.S. Army ensemble chiefly responsible for playing the entrance and exit fanfares for the President of the United States, to open the event.

The fighters walked from Lincoln’s statue down the steps of the memorial through the Armed Forces Full Honor Cordon, a pathway formed between two groups made up of sixteen service members in dress uniforms. This is the U.S. military’s highest ceremonial formation, usually reserved for heads of state, foreign dignitaries, senior officials, and funerals for military heroes.

This morning the weigh-in for the UFC fights at the White House also took place at the Lincoln Memorial. Heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit seemed to pretend to throw up, dribbling colored liquid from his mouth. “So what? Maybe I was drinking last night,” Hokit told the media there. “Who wouldn’t be? I’ve got a giant man who wants to knock me out,” he said, referring to his scheduled opponent Derrick Lewis, whom Alex Pattle of Yahoo! Sports identifies as Trump’s favorite fighter. “He has the most knockouts in UFC history.”

Today stunt performer Travis Pastrana performed a backflip on his dirt bike over the UFC octagon fight arena on the South Lawn of the White House. Other riders performed stunts as well. They were filmed on their bikes, flying across the facade of the White House.

On the eve of his 80th birthday, the president posted an image of the Obama Presidential Center as a garbage can surrounded by a homeless encampment. Then he posted an image of himself leaving his trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in 2024, when a jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts, under the caption “Only Trump.” Then he posted an image from 2018 of himself walking with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Then he posted a picture of himself speaking at a lectern in front of Air Force One while he was campaigning for reelection in August 2020.

Then he posted an AI image of himself on a ship looking out at battleships from different eras, including a wooden sailing vessel, flying the American flag, with fighter jets in formation overhead; the back of his jacket is emblazoned with “COMMANDER IN CHIEF,” and the caption reads: “YOU’RE GETTING DISCOMBOBULATED.”

Then he posted an image of himself on the cover of Fortune magazine from December 8, 1986. And then he posted a black and white image of himself as a younger man in the same era, looking pensive, seated in a chair on an ice rink, with the caption: “Years ago after saving the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park—Long before I fixed The Reflecting Pool, and everything else in Washington, D.C. including, most importantly, CRIME! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Tomorrow night, the fighters will enter the ring from the Oval Office. The fight will be carried live on Paramount Plus, for a fee of $8.99 and up.

PoliticusUSA, News and Opinion: Trump Attacks The Weather Channel As Storm Threatens To Obliterate His White House UFC Event, Jason Easley, right, June 14, 2026. jason easleyThe forecast for Trump's UFC card on the White House South Lawn includes wind, thunderstorms, and bugs -- lots of bugs -- so the Trump administration attacked the Weather Channel.

Holding a UFC card at the White House is wrong. The White House belongs to the American people, not any president. The current president has vandalized the White House many times over, but his destruction of the South Lawn to hold politicus usa logoa birthday party for himself is especially twisted.

No one asked for a UFC card to be held at the White House. The event is not free to the American people. The White House grounds are a national park. A commercial event is being held for profit in a taxpayer-funded space.

It is very fitting that a man who fails at everything is about to see his birthday party wiped out by what sounds like a biblical event.

Here is The Weather Channel’s forecast for Sunday night’s event: UFC Freedom 250 is facing a chaotic weather setup on the White House South Lawn, with a 60% chance of thunderstorms, heavy downpours, and wind gusts up to 34 mph threatening to delay the outdoor fights.

On top of the storm risk, brutal D.C. humidity is driving a triple-digit heat index alongside massive swarms of mosquitoes and gnats that fighters will have to battle inside the cage.

While the venue’s massive 92-foot overhang will keep the octagon dry, a single lightning strike within eight miles will trigger an automatic 30-minute freeze on the entire event.

The White House responded by blaming The Weather Channel for the forecast.

This is what the Rapid Response 47 account posted on X: This event is about celebrating America’s unmatched greatness after 250 years — which apparently doesn’t sit well with the friendless loser who wrote this bullshit clickbait headline. Rain or shine, we’re celebrating our great country no matter what. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

This event is as much about celebrating America as last year’s failed military parade, which was also held on Trump’s birthday.

It is almost too on the nose for the Trump administration to blame The Weather Channel for a weather forecast that they don’t like.

If the weather forecast is accurate, the White House UFC card will either be delayed or potentially wiped out.

Trump is delusionally predicting Super Bowl-level viewership for this fiasco. Although the event getting knocked out by Mother Nature would likely cause more people to tune in.

If you do want to tune in, don’t look for the card on TV. It is only on Paramount+.

One would have thought that if this was such a huge event, it would have been available to as many people as possible, but the lack of availability gives away the game. Some kids get a bouncy house for their birthday party. Donald Trump gets a UFC card that has cost the taxpayers $60 million.  

Hopium Chronicles, Advocacy and Opinion: The Knicks Triumph And Inspire While Trump Desecrates And Betrays, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookJune 14, 2026. Congrats to all Knicks fans. This a team for the ages........

The Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years, mounting another incredible comeback, this time from 16 points down. As a young kid growing up in the New York area I rooted on the Knicks when they won their last two championships in 1970 and 1973. This gritty, resilient and inspiring team led by Jalen Brunson will go down as the one of the great ones, a team folks will be talking about for generations like those historic teams of Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley and Earl The Pearl Monroe from those championship years……

We are having quite a weekend of spectacle here in DC this weekend too…… We had the dramatic emergence of Donnie’s Tarp…….We had the just in time for his birthday removal of his name from the Kennedy Center (yes this is image of a statue of Saddam Hussein falling): This weekend we are fortunate and grateful to learn that our GREAT AND MIGHTY Leader has determined that millions and millions should be spent to “re-gild” our statutes here in our Nations’ Capital (this is a real post):

We are also fortunate that our MIGHTY and POWERFUL Leader is gracing the White House with these glorious activities to celebrate his 80th birthday this weekend (not since ancient Rome have we seen such spectacle!):

And as it his birthday it is appropriate that our MIGHTY Leader is rewarded by the people for his years of service to the nation:

Back in the real world a new Reuters-Ipsos poll finds that just 16% of Americans support the UFCing of the White House, including only 31% of Republicans…… Happy Sunday to the Knicks fans out there from Washington, DC. Here, today we are the Ultimate Fight Capital of the World. It is up to us, all of us, to ensure that today will not be remembered for an ailing, addled old man’s ridiculous birthday festivities but for his traitorous betrayal of our democracy and the rancid desecration of it’s most important symbols.

May that be what June 14th signifies to Americans for generations to come. A day of infamy, not celebration. For as Jalen Brunson and the USMNT’s team have showed us in recent days there are heroes among us, leaders who can lift us up and inspire, and give us hope that this once great nation can become great again……

 

djt asleep oval office

New York Times, Trump at 80: A President ‘Really Uncomfortable’ With Aging, Katie Rogers, June 14, 2026. Even for a president known for imposing his own reality on every situation, Mr. Trump has not outrun scrutiny over his age.

He stays up late, phoning lawyers and lawmakers, while posting up to 150 times a night on Truth Social. His mornings involve calls with world leaders about the war in the Middle East, or talks with landscapers about replanting a bothersome tree. When he arrives in the Oval Office, his unstructured days unfold like a time-lapse video, with people zipping around him as he stays seated at the center of the frame.

As President Trump turns 80 on Sunday, he is so intent on projecting an image of relentless energy that he has installed a massive, mixed martial arts octagon on the South Lawn to mark the occasion. After watching the fight, Mr. Trump will depart Washington in the middle of the night and cross an ocean for a diplomatic summit in France. It is a schedule that seems devised to ward off questions about age and stamina as he begins his ninth decade.

But even for a president known for imposing his own reality on every situation, Mr. Trump is facing scrutiny over his age that has grown more intense with each passing year. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in February showed that nearly six in 10 Americans think Mr. Trump is growing more erratic.

On Monday, Mr. Trump appeared to doze off during a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. That episode prompted such intense speculation that James Dolan, a prominent ally and the team’s owner, felt compelled to weigh in publicly, saying the president “was very much awake.”

On June 4, during an hourlong appearance in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump leaned to the side in his chair, closing his eyes for a few seconds as Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, spoke about the importance of coal.Earlier this month, legions of online observers speculated, as they had before, that Mr. Trump was ailing when his public schedule contained no public events for nearly a week, a streak that began just after a physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Three days after that evaluation was completed, the president’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, declared in a summary that the 79-year-old Mr. Trump “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function.”

So the oldest president ever to be inaugurated and his advisers spend a lot of time hitting back at people who have drawn a different set of conclusions about his health based on what they believe they can plainly see.

This week, senior White House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk about Mr. Trump’s health, said that when the president appears to slump or lean over at his desk in the Oval Office, as he did during an event earlier this month, he is doing it to lean closer to better hear someone speaking. (He leaned away from Mr. Zeldin and closed his eyes during the event on June 4th.)Editors’ PicksEmily Blunt on ‘Disclosure Day’ and Feeling Flappable Around SpielbergMy Sister-in-Law Made an Indecent Suggestion After a Night of Drinking. Help!The Four Suits You Should Have in Your Closet

Mr. Trump’s hand is frequently bruised and bandaged, but the White House officials said that was from all of the handshaking he likes to do. And he is not sleeping during public events, like the game at Madison Square Garden. He is just looking down, they said, or actively listening with his eyes closed. Other times, they believe he is the victim of selective editing or unflattering camera angles.

“The White House doctors are among the most elite physicians in the world, and they have released multiple comprehensive reports confirming President Trump is in excellent health and fully fit to carry out all duties of commander in chief,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “The president proves this himself every single day, taking nonstop questions from a hostile press corps and maintaining a relentless schedule.”

Still, Mr. Trump, like any president or medical patient, only discloses what he wants the public to know. His physicians have evaded questions about his health for years, including after a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear in Butler, Pa., and when he was sick with Covid in 2020. Presidents are not legally required to share their most sensitive health information with the public, and the summaries they do share are in keeping with modern tradition rather than obligation.

U.S. Crime, Courts, Corruption, Rights

 

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

New York Times, Kash Patel Keeps Suing the Press, Erik Wemple, June 14, 2026. The F.B.I. director, following a strategy from President Trump, has filed six defamation lawsuits against news media companies and commentators in nearly seven years.

In 2019, Kash Patel, then a White House aide, objected to how news outlets portrayed his role in President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. “It’s time that I began fighting back,” Mr. Patel said at the time. He sued Politico, The New York Times and CNN.

In 2023, Mr. Patel, then a roving pro-Trump commentator, took offense to the work of a blogger who had bashed his record and called him a “chud,” a derogatory term progressives use to describe MAGA followers. He sued the blogger, Jim Stewartson, for $10 million in damages.

FBI logoAnd in April, Mr. Patel, now the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, seethed over an article in The Atlantic that reported alarm among some colleagues over his “erratic” behavior and alleged heavy drinking. He soon sued the publication, demanding $250 million in damages.

Mr. Patel has yet to reach a settlement or a favorable jury verdict in the cases. Each of the news organizations he has sued has defended its journalism and said it was protected by the First Amendment.

But the strategy is a familiar one. Mr. Trump, the man who appointed Mr. Patel to lead the F.B.I., has long turned to the courts when faced with unfavorable press coverage. And perhaps no one in his two administrations has followed his lead as closely as Mr. Patel, who has filed at least six defamation lawsuits against news media companies and commentators in nearly seven years.

In some of the cases, Mr. Patel filed strongly worded complaints only to allow them to languish in the ups and downs of civil litigation — a trajectory that some legal experts said raised questions about his objectives.

“The goals here,” said Sonja R. West, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, “appear to be to muddy the narrative, run up opponents’ legal bills and send a message to journalists that if you cover us critically, it’s going to cost you a lot of time and money.”

Jesse R. Binnall, a lawyer in Virginia who represents Mr. Patel, said in an email, “Director Patel pursues these cases to win them — and anyone who thinks he would tolerate anything less than aggressive, expeditious accountability simply doesn’t know the man.” He added that the number of defamation lawsuits filed by Mr. Patel is a “direct reflection of the volume of lies published” about him.

The suits constitute another front on which news organizations have been forced to spend time and money to defend their work in the Trump era. Others include steady public criticism from top officials, including Mr. Trump; limitations on access to the White House and the Pentagon; leak investigations that ensnare national security reporters; and investigations by the Federal Communications Commission.

 

ICE logoEyes On ICE. Advocacy and Comment: The 3% Statistic and The Suicide Crisis, Staff Report, June 14, 2026. 

Segment 1 – Opening & The 3% StatisticOnly 3% of individuals detained by ICE in the first 14 months of the current administration had a violent felony conviction.

  • Source: ABC News – Just 3% of recent ICE detainees had a violent felony conviction (Published June 12, 2026)
  • Key Data: Out of 438,537 people detained between January 20, 2025 and March 11, 2026, only 13,018 had a violent felony conviction in the U.S.

Segment 2 – Stewart Detention Center (Lumpkin, Georgia). The death of 33-year-old Danny Gonzalez at the CoreCivic-operated Stewart Detention Center.

  • Key Details: Gonzalez was found alive after attempting suicide on April 28, 2026. Due to only two ambulances in the county (both busy) and long response times, he died after a 34-minute delay.
  • Further Reading: Scripps News investigation into medical emergencies at Stewart Detention Center (referenced in reporting around the incident).

Segment 3 – Deportation flight from Louisiana to the Central African Republic (CAR) carrying non-CAR citizens, including an Iranian woman with prior U.S. court protection.

Key Issues:

  • Use of third-country agreements to circumvent U.S. court protections
  • Safety concerns due to CAR’s reliance on Russian mercenary forces (Wagner) and ties to Iran
  • Strategy of removing people to countries where they have no support network

Segment 4 – Resistance & Friction: Examples of pushback including releases from Delaney Hall (Newark), blocked raids in Los Angeles, and local sheriffs reducing cooperation with ICE.

  • YouTube – Delaney Hall Protests (Newark): Newark ICE Detention Center Protest Footage
  • YouTube – Broader Resistance Coverage: Search recent: “Delaney Hall Newark protest June 2026”

 

President Trump's nominee to become U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, is shown at right in a file photo showcasing his previous role in defending Trump from fraud charges before acountability for the convictions was essentially voided because of the president's reelection.

President Trump's nominee to become U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, is shown at right in a file photo showcasing his previous role in defending Trump from fraud charges before acountability for the convictions was essentially voided because of the president's reelection.

Civil Discourse, Legal Opinions: Autocracy, Democracy, and Kleptocracy, oyce Vance, right, June 14, 2026. As we enter our fifth year together...joyce vance.

We’ve celebrated the fourth anniversary of "Civil Discourse." We’re now entering our fifth year together. We’ve built a community of people who believe in democracy and want to act based on accurate information and knowledge about how the system works and is supposed to work, instead of on emotional reaction and misinformation. This new year, with pivotal midterm elections fast approaching, is our next challenge.

The first newsletter I ever sent out had the subject line “Civil Discourse Making a start — June 7, 2022.” Joe Biden was still the president. We were making slow progress restoring democracy. It was a hopeful moment, but looking back over those early posts, my optimism was already tempered by the concern that so many of our fellow citizens were frogs sitting in a pot of water where the temperature was slowly rising. I was becoming worried they wouldn’t jump out in time, a worry that became a reality in the 2024 presidential election, and that I wrote about in my first book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy.

I still believe we can fix what’s broken in our country, though. Our ultimate strength is our work together and our support for each other; it’s our community of people who love democracy. I was looking back to the early days of Civil Discourse and stumbled across this exchange. Two amazing women, showing up to support a friend (me) as I embarked on a new adventure. That’s our secret power. We all show up for each other and for this country, and there’s nothing an autocrat can do when we all band together.

Since our start here, we’ve discussed and analyzed one of the most critical eras in American history together. We will keep doing that because, of course, it doesn’t stop.

Last year at this time, we were talking about the Justice Department. After weeks of saying it couldn’t return El Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, it Justice Department log circularannounced it was going to do exactly that. The government backed down from a confrontation with the Supreme Court, which had ruled 9-0 against it. Then DOJ indicted Abrego Garcia on criminal charges. Attorney General Pam Bondi made public statements about him that were inconsistent with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty that defendants in America are entitled to. Now, the charges against Abrego Garcia are dismissed, and Bondi is no longer the Attorney General. And so, we make slow progress, even as Trump’s second term in office continues.

This administration’s conduct has become so out of control that it’s no wonder Trump’s favorability ratings are now worse than Richard Nixon’s at the height of Watergate. The question is whether our friends and neighbors, faced with the increasing cost of food, housing, transportation, and medical care, will understand, like we do here, that the midterm elections offer us the best hope of imposing meaningful control on this president and his allies and starting to restore order. This is a president whose Justice Department, after all, told a federal judge that as long as it was quick enough and did it before a judge could tell it no, it could bulldoze the Statue of Liberty without facing legal repercussions.

sean hannity uncreditedSean Hannity, the Fox News host portrayed above in a file photo of an appearance at the White House, had to run a disclaimer following his on-air interview with the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, because Blanche misstated facts regarding a cadre of people Todd Blanche Owho Trump considers to be his enemy — this was part of Blanche’s audition to get Trump to nominate him for the permanent job as AG, which he did. In July of 2024, I wrote to you about Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025. Upon learning Democrats opposed his project, he said, “Project 2025 will not be stopped,” and Democrats are “more than welcome to try” to stop it. A few days later, he doubled down on Steve Bannon’s War Room (minus Bannon, who was in federal prison) and said: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

I have never forgotten Roberts’ comments. Was it a threat if we exercised our right to vote? Our First Amendment rights to protest? I remembered his comments when Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot execution style on the streets of Minneapolis, because comments like that aren’t something you just move on from. It’s one thing to argue for conservative policy. It’s an entirely different thing to suggest the use of violence against people with different political views. Roberts’ words came in a context, and that context is Project 2025, which, despite Trump’s disclaimer during the campaign, he has moved to implement with fidelity to the plan. It’s up to us to turnout the vote this fall—get people registered now, help people educate themselves about candidates and make plans to vote. We need a Congress that will not roll over in fealty to “King Trump.” Federal district court judges across the country are doing their job. We need Congress to do its job, and we, the voters, have the power to make that happen.

Last year at this time, I was finishing up my book.

One of the strongest themes that emerged in the book was that although our country is at a perilous moment, we have a great deal of power as citizens. We’ve talked about this over the course of the last week in our Autocracy, Democracy, and Kleptocracy series of Substack Lives, with friends including Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Lauren Groh-Wargo, Louise Jones, and Mary Trump, and we’ll finish up Monday with Tim Snyder. Donald Trump is doing his best to make us think that we have no control over him, that we should just bend the knee in advance and give up. We aren’t going to do that and I’m going to continue telling the stories of democracy, voting, and the people who are doing everything they can to make sure we don’t slide into dictatorship.

U.S. Governance

The Steady State, Opinion: Death By A Thousand Small Surrenders, Jennifer Gregg, June 14, 2026.  What happens when a nation mistakes warning signs for normal politics.

steady stateAmerica is under strain, but the story is not yet one of collapse. It is a story about whether democratic institutions can endure long enough for citizens to defend them.

This week the Steady State doubled down on the fact that the greatest threat to American democracy is not a sudden coup or dramatic crisis, but the slow normalization of authoritarian behavior that weakens institutions, erodes truth, politicizes expertise—behavior that encourages citizens to treat freedom as permanent rather than something that must be actively defended.

We also strongly maintain that democratic renewal remains possible IF Americans awaken to this threat and exercise what remains of their constitutional freedoms, before it is too late, choosing vigilance over complacency and principle over partisanship. 

The Atlantic, Commentary: So Much for Leaving Abortion Up to the States, Adam Serwer, June 14, 2026. Louisiana’s case against the FDA is not just about one drug.

atlantic logo horizontalThe 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, supposedly gave states the authority to decide for themselves whether to permit abortion. What should have been apparent then, and is obvious now, is that anti-abortion activists and their allies on the high court were never going to be satisfied with that.

Since October, the state of Louisiana has been seeking to block the distribution of mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortion, through the mail—not just in Louisiana, but anywhere in the United States. The state’s lawsuit against the FDA asserts that the Comstock Act—an anti-obscenity law championed by the 19th-century book burner Anthony Comstock—bans the mailing of abortion medication, and that the federal government wrongly repealed the in-person requirement for prescribing it.

“Louisiana is complaining about reported harms in Louisiana, but they would be imposing a nationwide requirement that patients pick up the pill in person from their health-care provider, even in states that protect abortion access, even in states that explicitly, in their laws, allow for telemedicine provision of mifepristone,” Andrew Beck, an attorney with the ACLU, told me. “Louisiana is really trying to impose its own policy choices on the entire country.”

Medication abortion accounts for about two-thirds of all abortions in the United States, which have actually increased since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization made it possible to send mifepristone through the mail. Providers were first able to mail the drug during the pandemic, a temporary measure that was made permanent by the FDA in 2023. Even in Louisiana, which has a strict anti-abortion law with few exceptions, the number of abortions has risen, according to the state’s lawsuit. This was in part because Louisianans were able to access abortion drugs through providers based in states where the procedure is legal. Indeed—abortion medication has made it possible for women who live far from any clinic to end unwanted pregnancies. Many of those pro-abortion-rights states had passed “shield laws” that protected providers in their jurisdictions from being sued or prosecuted by authorities in anti-abortion states.

Although Louisiana v. FDA is ostensibly about a federal regulatory decision and the safety of an abortion drug, it is really about access to abortion. Louisiana even began its complaint with the declaration that “the fight for life is far from over.” The FDA has asked the court to hold off on a ruling for now, as the Trump administration has said it is conducting its own review of the drug (all medical evidence indicates that mifepristone is safe). In the meantime, two drug companies are asking the courts to allow the continued distribution of mifepristone. The Supreme Court responded to this question on May 14, overturning a lower order that halted distribution and sending the case back for review. The late Justice Antonin Scalia once predicted that overturning Roe would get the Court out of the “abortion-umpiring business.” That prediction has not aged well.

In their dissents to the May 14 ruling, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito showed their hands. Thomas asserted that the Comstock Act banned sending abortion drugs through the mail, and that drug companies seeking to overturn the ruling were “not entitled to a stay of an adverse court order based on lost profits from their criminal enterprise. They cannot, in any legally relevant sense, be irreparably harmed by a court order that makes it more difficult for them to commit crimes.” Alito, the author of the Dobbs opinion, attempted to maintain the facade that Dobbs allowed pro-abortion-rights states to make it “easier to obtain an abortion than it was before, and that is their prerogative.” Yet he insisted that allowing providers in states where abortion is legal to mail the drugs to women where it is not was “a scheme to undermine our decision” in Dobbs. So much for the supposed abortion federalism the Court had put in place.

Whatever happens next, the legal battle reveals that the paradise of abortion federalism is a fraud. Either anti-abortion states will get to impose their policies on pro-abortion-rights states, or they will have to live with their residents being able to access abortion care from providers elsewhere.

“Those who oppose abortion are not satisfied with the Supreme Court’s ruling that it should be up to the states to decide abortion policy,” Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, told me. “They want a national ban. They’ve always wanted a national ban. And this case, Louisiana v. FDA, is a type of effort to get at least a national ban on medication abortion.”

Then-President Trump is shown debating future President Biden on Sept. 29, 2020 (AP photos by Patrick Semansky).Then-President Trump is shown debating future President Biden on Sept. 29, 2020 (AP photos by Patrick Semansky).

The Daily with Sarah Jones via PoliticusUSA, Commentary: CNN Platforms The Lie That Trump Is More Alert Than Joe Biden, Sarah Jones, right, sarah reese jonesand Jason Easley, June 14, 2026. CNN's State of the Union featured Stephen A. Smith, who claimed that Donald Trump is more alert than Joe Biden was, which is simply false.

Stephen A. Smith has made himself a very rich man who only has one skill. Smith is very good at generating attention for himself. In this way, he is just like Donald Trump. Smith is a fixture on ESPN who gets paid to deliver his half-baked hot takes.

politicus usa logoSmith is an endless irritant to many sports fans. I am not an ESPN viewer, so my personal exposure to Smith has been limited to a few clips, but cable news saw the kind of reactions that Smith generates in sports, so they have moved him into politics.

The ESPN personality has turned up on Fox News with regularity, and now, with CNN about to be owned by David Ellison, Smith turned up on CNN’s State Of The Union.

Smith was asked by guest host Kassie Hunt, “One thing that you had also said to the president is that he was sleeping. You said that he was sleeping at the game. And then I was watching what you had to say further after he posted on TRUTH Social about you, and you noted that he is 80 years old. Do you think that he is still sharp enough to hold the job that he has based on these events?”

Smith answered by claiming that the constantly sleeping Trump is more alert than Joe Biden was:

"Well, I don't know anybody that would associate the word sharp with him, because he doesn't seem that sharp with some of the decisions that he makes sometimes, to be quite honest with you.

But I'm not here to denigrate or insult the president of the United States in that regard. He is certainly an upgrade from what we were seeing from Joe Biden in terms of his alertness and what have you. I certainly would say that. I would not accuse him of that. But I'm not going to insult the president."

The comparison to Biden is tiresome, because it is simply not true.

Smith did criticize Trump for falling asleep at the NBA Finals in New York, but he also made the standard MAGA suck-up excuse for Trump:

Just pointing it out. It is what it is. But he is the president. He's got a lot on his plate. He certainly gets up early enough in the morning and he certainly has time to post tweets on his TRUTH Social platform. He's always in front of the camera.

I'm certainly not going to denigrate or insult him in that way by questioning his intellect. I'm in no position to do that. But when he wants to sit up there and question my I.Q. and talk to me about people that would smoke me in a debate, well, why don't you do it yourself? Why defer to anybody else?

Conservative media circulated clips where they claimed that Biden was sleeping, but those clips were usually heavily edited and quickly debunked. There is no evidence of Biden consistently falling asleep during meetings and in public, as Trump has frequently done throughout his second administration.

The fact that corporate media, which pushed for Trump’s return to the White House while driving Biden out of the race, is still bringing up Biden to defend Trump years after the 2024 election is pathetic.

The media wants to talk about Biden because they don’t want to talk about Donald Trump’s dumpster fire second presidency.

Joe Biden had cancer and was more alert and functional than Donald Trump is currently.

CNN platformed Smith, who, in my opinion, is chasing MAGA, to spread a lie that they hope will make everyone forget that they normalized a felon candidate who has become a failed and corrupt president.

The Breakdown via Allison Gill, Advocacy, Happy Obama Appreciation Day, Allison Gill, allison gillright, June 14, 2026. A personal tribute to an inspirational leader. 2007 was a pretty rough year for me. I had just been diagnosed properly with PTSD by the Department of Veterans Affairs after experiencing Military Sexual Trauma a decade earlier, and had been living with the symptoms for some time.

After getting out of the military in 1996, I took several odd jobs living paycheck to paycheck including working at Guitar Center and selling Sprint mobile phones from a kiosk at Horton Plaza. But more recently, I had landed a job in the hospitality business as housekeeping at the Hard Rock Hotel downtown. My job was to hand towels to rich people in the bathroom at the rooftop bar nightclub. A humbling job to be sure, but I had used my VA benefits to earn a Master’s in Business with a focus on Human Resources and Labor Relations (HRLR) and was trying to figure out what was next for me.

That’s when the subprime mortgage crisis hit. Billionaires got richer giving high-interest no-asset, no-income loans to working people, then betting against them. It completely crashed the market. And while I couldn’t even get one of those loans, rents were skyrocketing due to dwindling supply. It got to the point where I’d have to find an ATM that dispensed ten dollar bills, and would have to float checks to buy food.

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I wanted to put my new HRLR skills to use, but couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do.

Enter presidential candidate Barack Obama. On December 5th, 2007 at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Obama issued a call to serve. The American Presidency Project recalls:

In his campaign, Obama has enlisted hundreds of thousands of Americans to join him in working for change that America can believe in. As President, Obama will increase opportunities for Americans of all ages to serve their country. In his remarks, Obama discussed his personal experience in public service, as well as his plan to call on Americans from all walks of life to serve and to build an architecture that focuses their service toward achieving leading national goals.

“That’s it!” I thought. But how can I serve my country? I’m a disabled Veteran. I can’t re-enlist. But I could work to help other Veterans get timely access to quality care. I could help other women like me. So I decided to apply to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

While tracking Obama’s campaign, working nights at the hotel, I began applying for jobs at the VA. Then, on January 3rd 2008 - with a record voter turnout - Obama won the Iowa Caucus defeating John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. A victory that would eventually propel him to secure the nomination. The next day, I got a tattoo of his iconic hope symbol on the inside of my right wrist.

People thought I was nuts - and technically, they were right - but I was so inspired by the promise of hope and Obama’s call to be of service to others. I was equally determined to not only survive, but to help others do the same. I often think about how leaders inspire, and wonder at the same time what Donald Trump has inspired anyone to do besides spit hate. But I digress.

Obama won the 2008 election in a landslide, and after nearly a year of applying to every job available at the San Diego VA Health System, I was finally offered a job as an entry level GS-5 clerk. Miraculously, I took the executive oath of office on the same day Obama took his oath. It was also my birthday: January 20th, 2009. I raised my right hand, Obama tattoo on full display, and repeated the words:

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

So this June 14th, we celebrate Flag Day and Barack Obama Appreciation Day. And nothing else. Thank you, President Obama, for being an inspiration. The American people will never forget.

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Israel and Hezbollah Exchange Strikes, Complicating Possible Iran Peace Agreement, Yan Zhuang, Jonathan Swan, Abdi Latif Dahir and Leo Sands, June 14, 2026. Israel’s military said it attacked the southern outskirts of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, after accusing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, of violating a cease-fire. Here’s the latest.

President Trump said an agreement would be signed on Sunday, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry cautioned that the timeline could be slower.

President Trump and Iran over the weekend offered conflicting timelines for the signing of a potential peace agreement, casting doubt on whether a deal might be signed on Sunday or in the coming days.

Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that a deal was “scheduled to get signed” on Sunday, and that it would immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that Iran has tried to control during the war. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, a mediator in the negotiations, said in a post hours earlier that an agreement was expected within 24 hours, followed by the “electronic signing of the peace deal.”

But Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said a deal would not be signed on Sunday, though he left open the possibility that one could be in the coming days, according to the Iranian state news media.

Neither the United States nor Iran has shared the text of the deal being considered, and it could still be derailed. American and Iranian officials have said that under a “memorandum of understanding,” Iran would reopen the strait, the United States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, and the cease-fire that the two sides agreed to in April would be extended for 60 days.

During that period, both sides would commit to holding detailed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and over the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Diplomatic agreements like this are usually signed in person, and it was not immediately clear why this one might be finalized electronically. Mr. Trump, who is expected to remain in Washington on Sunday, his 80th birthday, had previously said he would send Vice President JD Vance to attend the signing if a deal was finalized.

Mr. Baghaei said on Saturday that there were no plans for an Iranian negotiating team to travel to Geneva, where a signing ceremony had been expected to take place, or elsewhere in the next day or two, according to Iran’s state broadcaster.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Opposition in Iran: There were signs on Saturday that some conservative factions in the Iranian government and the military were opposed to the peace agreement being negotiated. Two conservative parliamentarians criticized it, with one saying in a television interview that under the agreement, “Iran would become a colony of America.”
  • Fighting in Lebanon: Israel’s military warned residents of nearly 30 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate on Sunday before fresh strikes, as efforts to establish a lasting cease-fire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to falter. Hours later, the Israeli military accused Hezbollah of violating the current cease-fire by firing toward northern Israel.
  • Strait of Hormuz: Mr. Trump said in recent days that the U.S. military had been helping ships and oil move through the crucial waterway. But the number of ships passing through the strait every day is still far lower than it was before the war. 

PoliticusUSA, News and Opinion: Pete Hegseth Tried To Defend The Iran War And It Was A Complete Disaster, Jason Easley, right, jason easleyJune 14, 2026. Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth went on CBS's Face The Nation to defend Trump's Iran war, and efforts to rewrite history were met with facts in what turned into a disaster interview.

politicus usa logoThe name of the Department of Defense and the title of Secretary of Defense can only be changed by an act of Congress, so it doesn’t matter if Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump change his job title to Queen of England. Hegseth’s official and legal job title is Secretary of Defense, and that is how he will be referred to in this publication.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared on CBS’s Face The Nation to discuss the supposed deal that is coming any minute now to end the Iran war that Trump and Hegseth started and proceeded to lose.


cbs news logoEven though CBS is now owned by Trump ally David Ellison and CBS News is being run (into the ground) by Bari Weiss, the Face The Nation interview was not a Fox News-style fluff piece. The Iran war is so unpopular that some pushback was required on it.

The issue was that Hegseth made so many absurd claims that were detached from reality that they could not be ignored.

Despite multiple reports from Pentagon sources, US weapons stocks are dangerously low, and Hegseth testified to Congress that the national weapons stockpile is low; the Secretary of Defense claimed that everything is fine.

Department of Defense SealFace The Nation host Margaret Brennan asked Hegseth, “ Ukraine's President Zelensky was on this program a few weeks ago. He made a plea, not just for more interceptors, but for the ability to produce them for friendly governments to be able to produce Patriots. Some Republican lawmakers support this idea. Do you?”

Hegseth answered, “ Nobody makes better and more munitions than the United States of America, and we are open to co-production wherever we can. And because of this administration, we're supercharging our arsenal of freedom, building more, building faster, opening up the Pentagon, ripping through the Pentagon bureaucracy to force industry to move faster.”

Brennan said, “ Is, there is a crisis with those stockpiles right now?”

Hegseth replied, “No, there is not ... that is a manufactured story that the media wants to peddle.”

So the stockpile crisis that Hegseth testified about in front of Congress was real, is now made up? Does this mean that Hegseth lied to Congress?

Hegseth ran into more trouble when he tried to defend the Trump deal with Iran that may or may not happen.

Hegseth tried to claim that Trump’s supposed Iran deal is better than Obama’s, “ The document says Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, won't seek one, won't buy one, won't have one.”

Margaret Brennan: “JCPOA said that too.”

Hegseth said that the Trump deal is better because it is strong:

In 60 days there'll be negotiations to make that final. But they didn't have the threat of military force the way that we do that Iran respects in a very way that their regime is more devastated, more devastating, m- excuse me, more devastated than it's ever been in its 47 years. Okay. And that's why they're at the table. So the huge difference is we did this from a position of strength. President Trump led with military might. That military might will stay as long as necessary.

If the blockade comes off, then you pull back and you allow shipping to flow, just like Iran needs to allow shipping go through the straits. But we can snap that blockade back at any point, and they can't do anything about it. And Iran knows that, and that's why we have the leverage in these talks, and we hope they'll go well. We really do.

More Global News 

New York Times, News Analysis: It Was Meant to Unify. Now the G7 Is Dogged by Chaos and Divided by Trump, Mark Landler, June 14, 2026. Group of 7 meetings once embodied the effort to sustain the global diplomatic order. This year’s gathering, starting on Monday, symbolizes its fragmentation.

The last time the leaders of the world’s richest countries gathered in Évian-les-Bains, France, in June 2003, the United States had just invaded Iraq over the strident objections of France and Germany. President George W. Bush got chilly handshakes, but he and the other leaders worked to maintain the veneer of like-minded countries uniting to confront the perils of an unruly world.

Twenty-three years later, as leaders gather in the same town amid another American war in the Middle East, the veneer has been stripped away.

When President Trump arrives on Monday afternoon in Évian, an Alpine spa town on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, he will be greeted by European leaders who no longer view the United States as a partner on key issues such as climate change and security. In some cases, they view the United States as a threat, after Mr. Trump’s destabilizing attacks on Iran that have roiled the world economy, his deepening disdain for NATO, and his threats to take over Greenland.

“From the beginning of Trump’s second term, up until Greenland, the rule of thumb for America’s allies was, ‘Let’s bite our tongue and be nice to Trump,’” said Charles A. Kupchan, a professor of international relations at Georgetown University. “Greenland and Iran are a double whammy, where allies now say, ‘We’ll work with Trump where possible, but we have to say no when necessary.’”

However rancorous the split over the Iraq war in 2003, Mr. Kupchan said that it did not fracture the foundations of NATO or of other multilateral institutions like the Group of 7. “That’s not where we are now,” he said, adding, “There isn’t a consensus within the G7 about what to do.”

That does not mean the leaders will not seek to find some common ground. Wars are rumbling on in Ukraine and Iran. Global energy supplies are being disrupted by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Worries about how artificial intelligence will upend the labor force are prompting calls for government regulation.

New York Times, British Forces Seize Russian Shadow Fleet Oil Tanker, Stephen Castle, June 14, 2026. Britain’s defense ministry said it was the first time that British forces had acted alone to stop a ship in the fleet, a collection of vessels that Russia uses to move fuel and evade sanctions.

Britain’s armed forces have intercepted and seized control of a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker sailing in the English Channel, the British defense ministry said on Sunday.

russian flagRoyal Marine Commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers boarded the vessel early Sunday in a military operation that lasted six hours and that was supported by British military ships and aircraft, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The intercepted tanker, the Smyrtos, will be held and monitored off the southern coast of England, it added.

“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said in a statement, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

ukraine flagRussia’s shadow fleet is a collection of often dilapidated ships with hazy ownership that covertly moves fuel around the globe, enabling the country to sidestep international sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Russia and the United Kingdom? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

According to the British government, the shadow fleet consists of more than 700 vessels and is responsible for carrying 75 percent of Russia’s sanctioned oil, giving the Kremlin an important economic lifeline.

Britain, which has so far imposed sanctions on more than 500 Russian shadow fleet vessels, says more than 70 percent of them are over 15 years old.

The interception of the Smyrtos was the first time that British forces had acted alone to stop a ship in the shadow fleet, the defense ministry said.

New York Times, Germany and Japan Are Rearming Again, 80 Years After World War II, Jim Tankersley and Javier C. Hernández, June 14, 2026. After becoming allies to disastrous effect in the 1940s, Berlin and Tokyo are finding new reasons to team up — including rebuilding their militaries.

In 1940, the imperial regimes of Germany and Japan joined what would be known as the Axis powers, bound by mutual opposition to the United States. They fought a world war, and they lost it, and their populations spent the next 85 years with shrunken militaries and a heavy reliance on their former enemy, America, for security.

Now, both countries’ wariness of America has resurfaced, alongside heightened fears about a surging world power, China, and an aggressive Russia. Tokyo and Berlin are rushing to rebuild their militaries. And, once again, they are strengthening ties.

Their cooperation is expected to gather momentum at the meeting of the leaders of the Group of 7 nations in Evian, France, this week. It already includes sharing know-how, technology and weapons, like drones and helicopters, critical to the countries’ respective efforts to rearm.

It is hardly an Axis redux. This time, Japan and Germany are banding together from a defensive posture, with Berlin supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia, and Tokyo wary of threats posed by China and North Korea. They are joining other like-minded “middle powers,” like fellow Group of 7 members Britain, Canada and France — their enemies in World War II. And they are casting themselves as champions of international law and institutions that serve as bulwarks against the bullying behaviors of the world’s most powerful countries.

As Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, said in March at a Japanese naval base, nations like Germany and Japan, “who still stand by the rules-based international order, must move even closer together and make clear what we stand for.”

U.S. Elections, Politics

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

New York Times, How Redistricting Pit Wasserman Schultz Against Black Democrats in Florida, Patricia Mazzei, June 14, 2026. Four candidates running in a historically Black district risk dividing the Black vote and losing to Ms. Wasserman Schultz, who is white.

Four Black Democrats running for Congress in the same South Florida district met last week for a highly unusual discussion. Should three of them drop out and rally around a consensus Black candidate in the Democratic primary against Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

debbie wasserman shultzMs. Wasserman Schultz, right, who is white, had announced a few weeks earlier that she would run in the safely Democratic 20th Congressional District in Broward County, after Republican state lawmakers redrew Florida’s congressional map and eliminated her seat.

But the 20th District is historically Black and has elected a Black representative for decades. The Black Democrats running felt affronted by Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s decision to enter the race, especially with a spate of Republican gerrymanders across the South this spring almost certain to reduce Black representation in the House.

The race to redistrict ahead of the midterm elections has forced Democratic candidates in Republican-led states to make rushed decisions about where to run based on cold electoral math, as the number of winnable districts has shrunk. In Florida — a state that sends 28 representatives to Congress, and where 43 percent of voters cast ballots in 2024 for Kamala Harris — the Republican-drawn map cut the number of Democratic-leaning seats from eight to four.

Nowhere in the state has Democrats’ dilemma been more evident than in South Florida. Ahead of Friday’s candidate-qualifying deadline, Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s announcement turned Democrat against Democrat.

The 20th District includes most of Broward County’s African American and Caribbean American communities. So the four Black Democrats huddled last Monday, thinking that, if they consolidated behind one of them, he or she might have a chance of defeating Ms. Wasserman Schultz, an 11-term incumbent and a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee who has far out-raised them all.

In the end, though, they could not agree on who among them should remain in the race.

“Everybody thinks that they can be the one who will win,” said Dale V.C. Holness, a former Broward County mayor.

Mr. Holness and three others — Luther Campbell, known as Uncle Luke, from the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew; Elijah Manley, a teacher and political activist; and former Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick — all qualified to run. They remained in the race knowing that they would likely split the Black vote, improving Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s odds of winning.

Under the new map, only one majority-Black district will remain in Florida: the 24th, which is based in Miami-Dade County and safely Democratic. The incumbent, Representative Frederica Wilson, announced her retirement last month.

The 20th District, with its plurality of Black voters, can still elect a Black representative, the Florida Legislative Black Caucus noted in a statement last month that called Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s decision “disheartening.”

“This district was established to remedy decades of racial exclusion and to ensure that Black communities have the opportunity to elect leaders who truly reflect their experiences and needs,” the statement said.

The discomfort has stretched to Washington. When asked this month about the landscape in the 20th District, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader, who typically endorses incumbents, said he had not “made a decision” in the race.

“Everybody has a right to run where they see fit,” he said, praising Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s “strong record of accomplishment.” He added, however, that the country was experiencing “an unprecedented Jim Crow-like assault on Black political representation.” The Supreme Court issued a decision in April weakening a key provision of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, finding that Louisiana lawmakers had unconstitutionally relied on race when they created a majority-Black district. The decision set off a rush to redraw maps in Southern states.

Last week, the House Democratic Caucus, led by Mr. Jeffries, appointed Ms. Wasserman Schultz to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In a statement, Ms. Wasserman Schultz thanked her colleagues for “this vote of confidence.” She has blamed President Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis and their fellow Republicans in the Florida Legislature for eliminating four Democratic-leaning districts. Two are in Broward County — hers and that of Representative Jared Moskowitz — while two more are in the Tampa and Orlando areas.

Voting and civil rights groups have challenged the map in court, saying it violates a state ban on partisan gerrymandering. A judge declined to temporarily block the map from taking effect, so it will stand for this year’s elections.

“I’m just as angry” as other Democrats, Ms. Wasserman Schultz said in an interview last month. “DeSantis and Trump have intentionally dismantled Broward County’s power.”

She added that, over her 34-year political career, she had represented nine of the 14 cities in the district. “I know the people, and the people know me,” she said. “It was critical that we not start over with a beginner and ensure that someone like me with the seniority and clout represents this community.”

More On Sports, Media, Entertainment, Culture

New York Times, Knicks win first NBA championship since 1973, topping Spurs in Game 5, Joe Vardon, Updated June 14, 2026. The New York Knicks celebrate their 2026 NBA championship.

As if a 53-year wait wasn’t long enough, the New York Knicks needed to be the conqueror of comebacks before they could again be kings of the NBA.

Mission accomplished.

The Knickerbockers, residents of the world’s most famous arena, an original NBA franchise founded in 1946, named for the city’s Dutch settlers, are champions for the first time since 1973 and for just the third time in team history. They stunned the San Antonio Spurs, again, with another come-from-behind win in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals, 94-90.

Jalen Brunson, the finals MVP and heart and soul of this team, carried an otherwise struggling Knicks offense in the clincher with 45 points. He scored 15 in the Knicks’ last, furious fourth-quarter comeback and averaged 32.6 points in the series.

“I put a lot of time and effort to be best player I can be for this team and organization,” Brunson said. “Tonight, we played like we wanted to go home as champions. Not to start but at the end.”

New York took down the Spurs, 4-1, winning all three games in San Antonio and setting an NBA Finals record by coming from 29 points down in the second half to win Game 4 with the OG Anunoby tip heard ’round the world. The Knicks’ only loss in the series was also historic, coming on a night when a sitting U.S. president, Donald J. Trump of New York, attended a finals game.

Their average margin of victory for the entire playoffs of 14.9 points is an NBA record. And yet, this series was a lot closer than 4-1. The Knicks outscored the Spurs by 12 points, tying the closest margin for a five-game series in finals history.

The Knicks mounted yet another comeback in Game 5. This one was smaller (16 points), but they nevertheless won a series in which they trailed by at least 10 points in the first quarter of every game. New York trailed by seven when the fourth quarter began and was down 10 before mounting one more rally for the ages.

“I couldn’t believe it. That was the first thing. It was surreal. I couldn’t believe that it was happening,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “I am so tired. I mean, I’m gassed. And you know, just this stuff is harder than what you think.”

jalen brunson clutch playerThe Athletic via The New York Times, Jalen Brunson, NBA champion and finals MVP, is officially the greatest Knick ever, James L. Edwards III, June 14, 2026. Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had a legendary run in these playoffs.

The greatest tales, the ones passed down like heirlooms, often end with an underdog placing a foot on the chest of a giant.

These stories survive because of the power packed within them. The lore of overachievers, of adversity conquerors, of those who prevail when defeat is expected, deliver the most inspiration. The late Dr. Albert Bandura, a noted psychologist and Stanford professor, called it vicarious reinforcement. People love underdogs not just because they see themselves looking back, but they find motivation in the role model’s success. It’s why these stories sometimes can get filled with hyperbole as they get lost in translation.

The legend of Jalen Brunson, now an NBA champion, follows this timeless story arc. It almost sounds fictional, exaggerated, much like the greatest stories told. But the tale of Brunson’s journey to this current glory is every bit as real as it is improbable. It sounds like a tale playing loose with veracity for the sake of emphasis. Yet it’s also a most traditional sports story, the kind that makes these games addictive and these figures immortalized.

On Saturday night, a second-round pick hoisted his sport’s most prized possession for a franchise known for its illusions of grandeur. The man many believed to be too small to lead a city has taken its millions of antsy congregants to The Promised Land safe and sound. Now the-supposed-6-foot-2 point guard is a monument taller than any skyscraper, while overcoming the game’s greatest giant to get the job done. Brunson was born in South Jersey, went to high school in the Chicago suburbs and played college ball in Philly. But now he’s a New York legend, good for a free meal in every borough for life.

The hero with the blue-and-orange cape, who has rescued the Knicks with clutch performance after clutch performance, bucket after bucket, scored 45 points in a Game 5, close-out game to defeat the San Antonio Spurs, 94-90, on the road. Michael Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bob Pettit and, now, Jalen Brunson — the only players to ever score 45 points in a close-out NBA Finals victory.

“I love (Patrick Ewing), and I hope he doesn’t kill me … he’s bigger than me, but we’re both old and slow, but Jalen Brunson is HIM when it comes to New York basketball,” head coach Mike Brown said. “He is freaking HIM.”

When the final buzzer sounded inside Frost Bank Center, a makeshift stage only built for champions was erected within minutes. The Knicks gathered as an organization to receive the hardware and praise that comes with being the last team standing. Cheers bounced off every corner of the arena from the thousands of fans who traveled hoping to witness New York back on top with their own eyes, to one day be able to pass down a story similar to the one passed down to them. As the presentation unfolded, Brunson stood front and center, his left arm resting on the shoulder of team owner James Dolan.

Dolan has controlled the Knicks for 27 years. He’s known for his squabbles with the NBA, fans, media and former players. New York has been a laughingstock for the majority of Dolan’s tenure, with bad hires, trades, draft picks and free-agent signings sinking a proud basketball town into the abyss.

Dolan now gets to be known as a champion, and it’s all because of that left arm on his shoulder, the one many NBA scouts doubted despite it leading to championships in both high school and college. Since arriving in New York in 2022, Brunson has led the Knicks to at least the Eastern Conference semifinals every season. Before his arrival, New York made it past the first round just once in 21 years.What You Should Read NextHow Jalen Brunson has outperformed every expectation with Knicks: ‘Gold dust’How Jalen Brunson has outperformed every expectation with Knicks: ‘Gold dust’Jalen Brunson was asked during these finals what teams missed on him in the draft process. With a smirk, he uttered one word: “Everything.”

New York steadily improved with Brunson as their leader. Last year, the franchise made it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. That experience propelled one of the most dominant playoff runs ever this season, which ended with Dolan being able to grab the championship trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver, someone Dolan hasn’t always seen eye to eye with.

“Hey New York! I’m sorry it took so long, but here we are and hopefully it won’t take that long again,” Dolan said before grabbing the trophy.

The attention eventually turned to Brunson, where he was handed both the Larry O’Brien trophy and the finals MVP trophy. He raised both toward the roof, where the jersey of former San Antonio Stars guard, Spurs assistant and current Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon hangs among the city’s basketball greats.

The irony.

Hammon is only important in Brunson’s story because her critique in 2023, when she was an ESPN analyst during the NBA playoffs, was the loudest of many who had the same feelings about the undersized guard.

“At the end of the day, they don’t have a dude,” Hammon said of the Knicks. “You have to have a 1A dude. They’re missing that at the end of the day.”

“They do have that dude,” colleague Kendrick Perkins retorted, “Jalen Brunson.”

“He’s too small,” Hammon said back.

If Brunson isn’t a “1A dude,” how do you explain 45 points in a close-out game in the finals? How do you explain Brunson making the 7-foot-4 alien on the Spurs look like an earthling? Brunson’s foot on the laid-out body of Victor Wembanyama will be how his story is told decades from now. Brunson, who now has 10 40-point games in his postseason career, averaged 32.6 points per game in the finals against a defensive as aggressive, fast and diverse as any seen this decade. Brunson’s numbers in the clutch rise above everyone’s since Jordan. He has quite literally won a championship at every level — twice in college at Villanova.What You Should Read NextWhy the NBA champion Knicks are the greatest team in New York sports historyWhy the NBA champion Knicks are the greatest team in New York sports historyThey accomplished so much on the court, and impacted so much off it, that they don’t merely deserve to go down as the finest Knicks team.

Earlier this month, as the Knicks were on a trail of destruction toward the finals, Hammon was asked about her 2023 comments and doubled down, but added that she hopes to be proved wrong.

“I didn’t respond to them then and I damn sure not going to respond to them now,” Brunson said Saturday before dropping the mic.

Brunson walked to the podium with both trophies, one in each arm. Ski goggles were just above his eyes, with residue from a champagne shower sticking to the black lens. Before sitting down, Brunson walked to the far edge of the table and saw familiar media faces. A smile broke out across his face before asking us a question first.

“Do I be myself or do I talk my s—!?” he said with an awkward yet serious smile.WatchYour browser does not support the video tag.How the Knicks became NBA championsJoe Vardon and Jeshua Kidd

This is the duality of Brunson, and why he’s the King of New York. At his core, Brunson has the humbleness of an everyman. When media wants to shower him with questions about his greatness, he reverts to praising his teammates and coaches. He always seems to be in the moment, never riding the high of success or dwelling in the sorrows of defeat. This is the guy who, when the Knicks won the NBA Cup this season, devised a plan to make sure that the peripheral people in the Knicks organization — medical staff, public relations, locker-room attendants, etc. — received a portion of the money that the players get for winning the in-season tournament. This is who Brunson is.

Brunson, the player, is a killer. His game has the bravado of a street-ball legend in Queens or Harlem. His bang-bang crossover into a smooth, step-back jumper has deflated fan bases across the country. His herky-jerky, stop-and-go style is as particular to him as The Shammgod once was to New York City playgrounds. Confidence oozes out of Brunson when the basketball is in his hand, when the game is on the line.

The combination of the person and player is the perfect representation of New York, a city known for its blue-collar roots but brash personalities.

Brunson, though, couldn’t be at the top of the hill without the likes of Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. The Knicks were a well-oiled machine these playoffs, packed with pick-your-poison offensive weapons and slap-the-floor defensive dawgs. Yet, this Knicks starting lineup wouldn’t have been possible without Brunson’s selflessness.

In the summer of 2024, Brunson left $113 million on the table when he signed his extension. Part of the reasoning was to allow the Knicks front office to be able to build a true contender, to add the perfect pieces around its perfect star. New York doesn’t get Bridges and Towns without Brunson taking less money. It doesn’t make the move for Anunoby if the powers that be didn’t view Brunson as one of the game’s elite.

The qualities and talent that made the Knicks champions came to fruition because of a culture Brunson helped create.

New York Times, Meet the Smallest Country Ever to Reach the World Cup, James Wagner, Photographs by Luis Antonio Rojas, June 14, 2026. Competing for the first time, Curaçao is brimming with joy. Most of the Caribbean nation’s team was born and raised in the Netherlands, but residents say the players represent them.

In the nearly 100-year history of the World Cup soccer tournament, 80 countries have competed (plus a few that no longer exist). Four new ones will join the ranks this summer, including Curaçao.

The tiny Caribbean island, which sits 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela and is better known for producing top baseball players, is home to 158,000 people. When it takes the field Sunday for the first time in World Cup history, it will supplant Iceland, which had 350,000 residents when it played in 2018, as the smallest nation ever to do so.

“It’s hope to other countries that it’s possible, no matter the size,” said Brenton Balentien, 35, a bartender and lifelong Curaçao soccer fan.

The journey has taken decades. But a shift in the national soccer federation’s approach — moving away from local amateur players toward professionals of Curaçaoan descent — has finally propelled the country into the 48-team tournament.

It has also created a dynamic emblematic of the nation itself: Only one player on the squad facing Germany in Houston, Tahith Chong, was born on the island. The rest were born and largely raised in the Netherlands.

The reason lies in history. Following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, Curaçao became an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has its own prime minister, Parliament and laws, but its head of state is the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, its highest court is the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, and its military and foreign affairs are handled from The Hague. All Curaçaoans hold Dutch passports.

So when residents reach college age or want to start careers, many head to the Netherlands, relatively easy given that public schools teach four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento, the local Creole language. Nearly as many people of Curaçaoan descent (roughly 150,000) now live in the Netherlands as on the island itself. 

Mobology, This is the 3rd anniversary of Mobology: 156 consecutive weeks that catalog 52 years of fiercely independent investigations, Dan Moldea, right,dan moldea June 14, 2026, Friday, June 12, 2026, marked the third anniversary of my weekly column, Mobology—”an omerta-free zone”— that I created 156 weeks ago with the assistance and inspiration of my long-time trusted friend, investigative reporter and author Jeff Stein, the publisher of SpyTalk, one of the most respected and successful sites on the Substack platform.

For the archive of my 413 columns posted during the past 156 consecutive weeks with no breaks in service, see Mobology link here.

I declare to my readers that: I have never missed a deadline. I have never misquoted a source. I have never taken an off-the-record quote and placed it on the record. I have never revealed a confidential source without the source’s permission. Also, no one has ever sued me for any reason for anything contained in any of my books.

Boss of my own operation, I receive no weekly paycheck, no expense account, no paid vacations, and no pension or welfare plans. I will not get a gold watch when I retire. Because I never had any real business sense, I have spent most of my career overcommitted and underfinanced.

And never having any real institutional protection, I have been nearly killed on no fewer than six different occasions. Inasmuch as I am neither naturally courageous nor trained to be brave, I have battled primal fear in any number of situations, trying not to freeze up.

Please join the fray and keep me in the game, especially as we approach the critical 2026 midterm elections. 

 I began my career in 1974, writing a weekly column for The Reporter, a small newspaper that served the black community in northeastern Ohio. Between November 30, 1974, and March 15, 1975, I published eighteen columns. However, as my investigations became more complicated, I found it difficult to maintain a weekly deadline. Consequently—especially after Jimmy Hoffa disappeared four months later on July 30, 1975—I began spending weeks, months, and even years working on a single story.

Although I occasionally took consulting assignments, I never accepted a job with a media organization. I have always been completely on my own. 52 years later, I have returned to my roots, writing a weekly column, this time on the Substack platform. And, after 156 consecutive weeks of columns, I am loving it. :

EMPIRE OF INK: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper, by Alex Wright

New York Times, Book Review:A Spunky History of Newspapers Adds Color to the Black and White, Alexandra Jacobs, June 14, 2026. In “Empire of Ink,” Alex Wright describes how newfangled technologies and disruptive personalities have regularly unsettled the American media.

One day Tony Soprano was padding down his driveway in bedroom slippers to retrieve his daily newspaper; the next a Silicon Valley hotshot was describing newspapers (and magazines) to me as “these things outside that get wet … like roadkill.” Ouch.

In his scholarly, unruffled third book, “Empire of Ink,” Alex Wright reports that America is down from 9,000 papers in 2005 to 6,000 in 2025 (more than I would have guessed), with an average of two more closing each week. Starbucks stopped selling them months before the pandemic.

Still, many of my fellow journalists — younger ones, too — continue to monitor anxiously whether their articles will appear in print and celebrate when they land on the front page. This though the internet version will be the one that endures, with clicks and screen “stickiness” the new metrics of popularity, if not always quality.

“Empire of Ink” helps explain the lingering attachment to the increasingly obsolete and overlooked technology of type on paper. It’s an unsentimental history of the American newspaper from the Revolutionary War to the beginning of the 20th century, finding in the actual cut-and-paste culture from then much in common with today’s jostling, jousting online media.Empire of InkEmpire of Ink

Wright is a digital designer and researcher who has done work for Google News and The New York Times (we haven’t met), and the author of two previous books about how human knowledge is indexed and distributed. 

The book labors hard, and mostly well, to build a bridge from yesteryear’s multitasking print mavens to the TikTokerati of today, stopping by legends (like Horace Greeley) and little-knowns along the way.

“The old small-town country editor — trading subscriptions for whiskey or eggs; soliciting gifts of poems, essays and bits of gossip from the neighbors; and exchanging newspapers with fellow editors all over the country, free of charge,” Wright argues, “may be a better avatar for the news creator of the future than the comfortably middle-class newsroom typewriter jockeys of the mid-20th century.”

June 13

Top Headlines

 U.S. Courts, Crime, News Media, Rights 

Trump's Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon, lead prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at a church of at anti-immigration enforcement tactics.

Trump's Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon, lead prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at a Minneapolis church of abuses by federal immigration employees of abusive anti-immigration enforcement tactics.'

  • Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: Floundering: Two Lines of Testimony about Georgia Fort, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), June 13, 2026. marcy wheelerDon Lemon and Georgia Fort have been fighting to get grand jury transcripts for four months, since February 13. They asked to accelerate briefing on the topic more than three months ago, on March 3. Starting more than two months ago, on April 10, their co-defendants commenced their own effort to get grand jury transcripts.

Top Stories

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Major Epstein News Ahead of Trump's Birthday, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 13, 2026. Tonight’s update is a little different.

I spent the day at the Trump-Epstein Reading Room in Washington, D.C., where I had the privilege of sitting down with two survivors, Marina Lacerda and Andrea Sterling. The conversation was raw, emotional and deeply honest. They spoke about their experiences, the abuse they endured and the lasting impact it has had on their lives. They also had a message for Donald Trump ahead of his birthday tomorrow: they are not going away, and they will not stop fighting for justice.

This interview is longer than what I typically publish, and it is different from our usual coverage. But I have made two promises to you. First, I will continue to amplify the voices of survivors and keep telling their stories until they receive justice. Second, I will continue expanding the kind of journalism and content we produce here.

This video is not polished. It is not heavily produced. What it is, however, is real. It is honest. And I believe it is important. You’ll find other news and reporting below as well.

Not every platform will be comfortable with this interview. Some may try to limit its reach. That is exactly why I hope you’ll watch it and share it.

And if you are able, please consider subscribing, upgrading your subscription, or gifting one to someone else. This Substack remains the one place where I am fully independent and accountable only to you. Your support makes this work possible.Subscribed

Here’s the news:

Ahead of Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, Jeffrey Epstein continues to cast a shadow over the Trump White House as new revelations, congressional inquiries and behind-the-scenes accounts keep the scandal in the spotlight. Reporting on internal administration discussions suggests officials viewed the issue as a serious political threat, particularly as demands for the release of Epstein-related information grew among Trump’s own supporters. The controversy has persisted despite efforts to redirect public attention, fueled by ongoing questions about Epstein’s relationships with powerful figures and what remains undisclosed in government files. The result is a scandal that refuses to fade and continues to haunt Trump’s presidency.

Protesters at San Francisco's Ocean Beach gathered Saturday to create a giant human banner demanding the release of redacted government files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that mention President Donald Trump. The demonstration came one day before Trump's highly publicized 80th birthday celebrations and was designed to draw attention to ongoing questions about the administration's handling of Epstein-related records. Organizers said the protest was aimed at increasing pressure for greater transparency surrounding the files. This is an image taken by Josh Edelson from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Melinda French Gates said in a new interview that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “could have been stopped,” arguing that the U.S. justice system failed to prevent his abuse of underage girls. Her comments came days after Bill Gates testified before Congress that Epstein had attempted to blackmail him and used relationships with powerful people to bolster his reputation. Melinda Gates said meeting Epstein left her with a strong sense that he was “evil” and said her heart goes out to his victims. She also used the interview to advocate for greater female leadership and highlighted her recent investments in women’s health initiatives.

The United States and Iran say they are nearing a deal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route, with President Trump claiming an agreement could be signed as soon as Sunday. Mediator Pakistan said a memorandum of understanding is close, but Iranian officials cautioned that negotiations remain fluid and a signing may take several more days.

The proposed agreement would reopen the strait, extend the fragile ceasefire between the two countries and lay the groundwork for further talks on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief. Despite the diplomatic progress, disputes remain over key terms, and tensions continue in the region, with U.S. forces reporting they recently shot down Iranian drones near commercial shipping lanes.

Trump threatened to use a nuclear weapon against Iran if the deal is not executed:

A federal judge’s order forcing the Kennedy Center to remove President Donald Trump’s name from the venue has been fully carried out, with workers taking down exterior signage and officials removing references online and throughout the building. The judge ruled that the Trump-backed board lacked authority to rename the congressionally chartered institution, stating only Congress can change its name. The Kennedy Center unsuccessfully argued that removing Trump’s name could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in donor funding tied to the rebranding and sought to delay or block the order. The ruling also upheld a separate decision blocking the board’s proposed two-year closure of the center for renovations. As it currently stands, however, tarps over the Kennedy Center remain concealing the place where Trump’s name once was. There is no requirement they take down the tarps:

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s planned multibillion-dollar luxury resort development in Albania is facing fresh controversy after villagers alleged that land included in the project was wrongfully sold by a Miami-based businessman who has been linked to organized crime investigations. About a dozen residents claim they are the rightful owners of property near the proposed resort site and are seeking a court order to halt the development, while the businessman at the center of the dispute denies any issue with his ownership claims. The project has already sparked weeks of protests over environmental concerns, with critics warning it could threaten protected coastal habitat and accusing Albanian authorities of a lack of transparency. Neither Trump nor Kushner has been accused of wrongdoing, and the Albanian government maintains that the land designated for the project is privately owned.

During an interview with Greta Van Susteren, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked which country is America’s best friend in South America and cited El Salvador and Costa Rica as examples of close partners. The answer was geographically incorrect: neither country is in South America; both are located in Central America. Noem praised the countries for their cooperation with the Trump administration on migration and security issues, but neither directly answered the question as asked. The exchange quickly drew attention online because it confused two distinct regions of the Americas.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the Trump administration’s proposed “Shield of the Americas” security framework would be “stronger than NATO,” arguing that it would create deeper cooperation among countries in the Western Hemisphere on border security, migration, counterterrorism and transnational crime.

Forecasters say Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House faces a slight chance of severe weather, including tornadoes and hail, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologists said damaging winds are the primary concern, while rain and thunderstorms are more likely earlier in the day. Weather conditions are expected to improve somewhat by the event’s scheduled 8 p.m. start, though the threat of storms will remain. The Secret Service said it has contingency plans in place and will coordinate with government and UFC meteorologists to monitor conditions in real time.

This is the current state of the White House ahead of Trump’s UFC fight:

According to Politico, a growing divide is emerging within the Republican Party over artificial intelligence, as populist conservatives including Sen. Josh Hawley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis push for stronger regulation of AI and Big Tech while challenging President Trump's more hands-off approach. The faction argues that AI poses risks to jobs, families, communities and self-government, and has opposed White House efforts to prevent states from enacting their own AI regulations. The debate is increasingly becoming a major political issue ahead of future elections, with Republican candidates campaigning against Big Tech and concerns over data centers, deepfakes and worker displacement. Polling suggests the public broadly supports AI safeguards, giving momentum to conservatives advocating a more aggressive regulatory approach.

Green algae has reappeared in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool just days after the completion of a Trump administration renovation project that cost roughly $16 million, far more than the original estimate. The Interior Department said the algae is a temporary byproduct of dormant water supply lines being restarted and defended the project as a permanent fix, citing a new filtration system and ongoing maintenance plan. The renovation, part of preparations for America’s 250th anniversary, included a $1.7 million ozone nanobubbler system and a $14.2 million project to line the pool in “American Flag Blue.” Similar algae problems emerged after the pool’s last major renovation in 2012, when officials ultimately had to increase ozone treatment to address persistent blooms.

Haitian security official James Boyard, who serves as both cabinet director of the Defense Ministry and inspector general of the national police, was kidnapped Thursday in Port-au-Prince, according to people familiar with the case. Boyard is the highest-ranking government official abducted in Haiti in recent years, highlighting the growing power of gangs that control roughly 70% of the capital. Analysts say the kidnapping appears to have been carefully planned and may have involved assistance from someone close to his security detail. The abduction comes as gangs increasingly target public officials and follows years of widespread kidnappings amid Haiti’s worsening security crisis.

Blue Origin says it expects to resume flights before the end of 2026 despite the massive explosion that destroyed a New Glenn rocket and heavily damaged its Florida launch pad last month. The setback is significant because NASA is relying on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and Blue Moon lunar lander for key missions tied to the Artemis program’s planned return of astronauts to the Moon. NASA, the Space Force and Blue Origin are working together to investigate the failure and accelerate repairs, with officials emphasizing that the lunar lander can continue development even as launch infrastructure is rebuilt. While experts say the recovery timeline is ambitious, they note that Blue Origin has substantial resources and government support behind efforts to get the program back on track.

 U.S. Courts, Crime, News Media, Rights

 

Trump's Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon, lead prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at a church of at anti-immigration enforcement tactics.

Trump's Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon, lead prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for covering a protest at a Minneapolis church of abuses by federal immigration employees of abusive anti-immigration enforcement tactics.'

 

Lincoln Square Media and The Lincoln Project, Opinion: This Isn't a Blue Wave. It's Something Bigger, Strategy Session with Rick Wilson and Joe Trippi, June 11, 2026. Joe Trippi argues that 2026 isn't shaping up to be a traditional Democratic wave election.

lincoln square media logoInstead, he sees a broader "change wave" fueled by economic frustration, collapsing Republican turnout, and voters demanding new leadership. Rick Wilson and Joe break down what they're seeing in Iowa, Texas, Florida, and beyond—and why they believe Washington insiders are underestimating what's happening on the ground.

Farron Balanced, Tommy Tuberville in MAJOR TROUBLE, Career in TOTAL JEOPARDY! Farron Cousins, June 10, 2026. Tommy Tuberville is threatening to sue a publication after his own campaign accidentally handed over unredacted tax documents while trying to prove he really lives in Alabama, turning his residency defense into an even bigger political disaster.  

Award-winning journalist Georgia Fort, who received a bachelor's degree in business administration and management from the University of St. Thomas in 2010, is amplifying stories of racial justice.Award-winning journalist Georgia Fort, who received a bachelor's degree in business administration and management from the University of St. Thomas in 2010, is amplifying stories of racial justice.

Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: Floundering: Two Lines of Testimony about Georgia Fort, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), June 13, 2026. marcy wheelerDon Lemon and Georgia Fort have been fighting to get grand jury transcripts for four months, since February 13. They asked to accelerate briefing on the topic more than three months ago, on March 3. Starting more than two months ago, on April 10, their co-defendants commenced their own effort to get grand jury transcripts.

In one (March 27) after another (May 1) filing, the government argued that false claims in public comments about the case from people like Trump and Harmeet Dhillon might not reflect what prosecutors presented to the grand jury, and besides, in the Eighth Circuit, prosecutors don’t have to instruct grand jurors on what the law actually is.

Then, on June 1, Georgia Fort filed a separate motion (with attached letter, dated May 26) — not joined by Lemon, shown in a file photo at left, but instead joined by a different defendant, Michael Beute — for Brady discovery and grand jury transcripts, citing several claims HSI Agent Timothy Gerber made seeking search warrants for her YouTube account; I wrote about some dumbass things did in those affidavits don lemon where, but not the false claims Fort laid out.

The first docket entry after Fort’s request, docket 530, appears to be sealed. That same day as Fort’s second grand jury request, June 1, docket 531, DOJ asked for permission to share the grand jury transcript of a witness — but definitely not the other grand jury materials for which defendants were asking, explaining, “the testimony of a percipient victim-witness has its own significance that differs [sic] a summary grand jury witness.” The next day, the government basically said, “we intend to respond to this, give us a briefing schedule and until June 8 to respond.” Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko (the same guy who originally rejected complaints targeting Lemon and Fort) gave them an extra day, until June 9.

On Wednesday June 10, the day after the government met Micko’s response deadline, the Magistrate Judge denied all the grand jury requests filed before Fort’s (without prejudice, so if anything comes up, they can ask for grand jury transcripts again), agreeing with the government that in the Eighth Circuit, the government doesn’t require the government to provide instructions on the law, and implying that the arguments about improper comments by Trump and Harmeet, without proof those false claims were repeated before the grand jury, might be more appropriate for a motion to dismiss for outrageous conduct: “This is not, after all, a motion to dismiss based on outrageous government conduct.”

But in the process, Micko noted that Fort’s motion — which he acknowledged was for all intents and purposes fully briefed — was still out there. He’ll get to it, Micko said of a request that, if he were going to respond to it in the same way he responded to the others, could have simply been incorporated into this opinion.

5 Still pending before the Court is Ms. Fort’s Motion for Disclosure (Doc. 528), which Mr. Beute has joined (Docs. 532 (Motion to Join), 534 (Order granting Motion to Join). The government filed its response to Ms. Fort’s Motion yesterday. (Doc. 539.) A decision on Ms. Fort’s Motion will issue separately in due course.

There are likely several reasons why Micko didn’t include Fort’s motion in there, starting with the fact that, after some truly pathetic excuses, the government offered up two lines of grand jury testimony it wants to share with Micko (but not Fort).

The statement about Fort chanting was incorrect, but the error was due to simple inadvertence. The characterization of the camera as a weapon, though not ideal editing, is immaterial. Although the Government regrets any error and does its best to avoid them, mistakes are inevitable. When they occur, the Government discloses and fixes them in accordance with Department policy and the Court’s justifiably high expectations.

For the reasons set forth herein, both motions should be denied. In connection herewith, however, the Government intends to make an in camera submission for the Court’s consideration of Fort’s motion.

[snip]

However, in preparing its response to defendant Fort’s motion (but not Lemon’s), the Government has noted two lines of testimony that it believes should be disclosed in camera for the Court’s consideration. Under Rule 6, the Government is not here able to explain the issue further, but the Government will prepare and file a document for the Court’s in camera review. With the Court’s permission, the Government proposes that it be allowed to make that filing on or before Friday of this week. [my emphasis]

There were other problems with the government response, signed by Robert Keenan, who was profiled in an article titled, “This Prosecutor Was Floundering. Now He’s a Go-To Guy at Trump’s DOJ.” For example, Keenan appears not to understand that Lemon didn’t join this filing, Beute did.

You should definitely give it read for all the ways Keenan complains that mean old Georgia Fort filed this motion five days after Magistrate Judge John Docherty publicly unsealed search warrants showing that Gerber had made 50 minutes of discussion worth of false claims about Fort in warrant affidavits and court filings, before DOJ could correct the record voluntarily (the letter Fort’s attorney sent on May 26 gave the government a May 27 deadline to correct the record). But don’t worry, Keenan says, it’s not a Brady violation because Fort asking for disclosure of Brady evidence is not the same as a Brady violation, withholding Brady evidence through trial.

Shortly after the applications were unsealed, counsel for defendant Fort sent an e-mail to Government counsel demanding an immediate meet and confer, by the next day. The Government’s counsel obliged, and we had a videoconference with Fort’s counsel that last approximately 50 minutes. During that conference, Fort’s attorneys asked the Government if it would correct the erroneous allegation contained in one or more of the unsealed applications (i.e., the erroneous allegation that defendant Fort joined in chanting inside Cities Church on January 18, 2026). In summary, the Government’s counsel confirmed that we would review the matter and take appropriate action to address the matter in accordance with standard DOJ policy.

The Government’s counsel commenced such a review, but defendant FORT opted to file her pending motion instead of allowing the Government a reasonable opportunity to correct the record voluntarily.

[snip]

Defendant Fort repeatedly invokes Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), but her motion never addresses the threshold requirements of a Brady claim: suppression and materiality. The central concern of Brady is the withholding of favorable material evidence from the defense. Id. at 87.

In Brady, the Supreme Court held that “suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.” Id. at 87.

[snip]

Moreover, as we have made clear to all defense counsel and this Court in prior filings, the Government is continuing to produce new discovery on a rolling basis as it becomes available. Thus, Fort’s invocation of Brady is really out of place.

You should read the filing, too, for the way that Keenan claims that the main thing mean Georgia Fort complained about (in that 50-minute videoconference as well as her motion) was that the affidavits, attested by Gerber, claimed that she chanted with other protestors at the protest. Having established that premise, Keenan then showed over and over how Fort is not named among those defendants that the indictment does claim chanted at the protest.

The primary focus of Fort’s complaint concerns a statement contained in an unsworn search warrant application alleging that Fort engaged in chanting while inside Cities Church and used her camera as a “weapon” to her during the January 18, 2026 incident. (Dkt. 528.)

[snip]

In February 2026, the grand jury issued a Superseding Indictment charging an additional 30 defendants with the same two offenses. (Dkt. 144.) In Count One of the Superseding Indictment, Overt Act #25 alleges the following that various defendants engaged in chanting while inside Cities Church on January 18, 2026, but that lengthy list does not include either defendant FORT or defendant LEMON.

Overt Act #25 alleges the following:

While inside the Church, defendants ABOUD, ADAMSON, ALLEN, ARMSTRONG, AUSTIN, BEUTE, BLUMENFELD, CAREY, CREWS, DOTY, DUNLAP, EDWARDS, GOLIGOSKI, HANSA, HAUPTMAN, HOGAN, KELLY, LEWIS, LUNDY, MATTHIAS, C. MICHAELSON, E. MICHAELSON, PINEDA, PERRY, PERSIGEHL, RICHARDSON, SHAW, STRONG, C. SWENSON, R. SWENSON, TIER, TUGGLE, VERGIN, and others, led and/or joined, with their co-conspirators in various chants, including “ICE Out!,” “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!,” and “Stand Up, Fight Back!,” while gesturing in an aggressive and hostile manner, which congregants and the pastor perceived as threats of violence and a potential prelude to a mass shooting.

(See Dkt. 144 at 12.)

In Overt Act #26, the Superseding Indictment basically tracks the allegation in Overt Act #15 of the original Indictment, except that it opts to forgo the long list of defendants at the start of the sentence. (See Dkt. 144 at 12-13.) In relevant part, though, it alleges only that “some”defendants engaged in “chanting” while at Cities Church. (Id.)

Thus, as with the original Indictment, the Superseding Indictment does not allege that either defendant FORT or defendant LEMON engaged in chanting while inside Cities Church on January 18, 2026. [bold, italics, underline — all that is Keenan’s]

This focus on chanting matters for several reasons. Keenan argues, correctly, that the “chanting allegation is not a legally-required element” of the charges. But chanting with protestors is what January 6 prosecutors used to distinguish between actual journalists it did not charge and right wing propagandists who were covering a riot they also participated in. Whether intentionally adopting that rule or not, by claiming she chanted, they put her in the same category as a bunch of far right bloggers who live streamed the insurrection.

Keenan’s unrelenting focus on chanting is important, too, given Fort’s reply, filed Thursday June 11 (and so the day after Micko denied all the other requests). There’s a lot in there, most notably a complaint that the government ignored several of the complaints Fort raised in both that 50-minute videoconference and her filing (albeit primarily incorporated in her attorney’s letter), including the rest of the allegation in Overt Act #26, that the “defendants collectively” engaged in menacing and threatening behavior, a claim that is a legally-required element of the charges.

[T]he government’s response ignores the host of other material factual misrepresentations about Ms. Fort all of which do appear in the superseding indictment. Ms. Fort’s counsel identified those falsehoods to the government more than two weeks ago and then again in her motion. See ECF 528 at 6-7 & Ex. 1 at 3-5. Yet, nowhere in the government’s 18-page response does it address the following significant misstatements of fact about her conduct found in the superseding indictment:

The allegation that Ms. Fort purportedly engaged in “menacing and threatening behavior,” ECF 144, Overt Act #26, which is directly contradicted and disproven by video footage and numerous witness statements; The allegation that Ms. Fort attempted “to oppress and intimidate” the Pastor, ECF 144, Overt Act #35, which is contradicted and disproven by video footage and [redacted]; and The allegation that Ms. Fort purportedly blocked a van while conducting an interview outside the church, ECF 144, Overt Act #41, which is contradicted and disproven by video footage and all available witness statements—all of which refer to a male doing so.

In fact, not a single witness statement describes Ms. Fort as physically “menacing,” “threatening,” “oppressing” or “intimidating” anyone; impeding the Pastor; or blocking a van. The substantial video footage in the government’s possession likewise demonstrates that these factual averments are false. Since these are the key factual allegations asserted against Ms. Fort, the Court should convene a hearing and require the government to address at that time, if not before, (a) whether these averments about Ms. Fort in the superseding indictment, which the government presumably presented to the grand jury for its ratification, are also false, and (b) what steps it intends to take to correct those material falsehoods.

All the allegations asserted against Georgia Fort are wrong, she says — and she goes onto describe how the chanting allegation can’t just be a cut-and-paste error, as the government claims, because it was simply made up — notably, for the first time, for a January 23 affidavit.

On January 23, 2026, Special Agent Timothy Gerber swore, under penalty of perjury, that “Broadcast video obtained from Cities church shows” Fort “chanting with agitators.” See Appl. For Search Warrant, In re Search Warrant, No. 26-MJ-87-SGE (Jan. 27, 2026), ECF 3 ¶ 43. In that same affidavit, Special Agent Gerber attested that the facts were based on his “personal observations” and “review of documents and other evidence,” including portions of multiple livestreams of the January 18, 2026 events that he personally watched. Id. ¶¶ 3, 14, 41. The “chanting” allegation was false, as the government now concedes.

Let me repeat that: All of the allegations asserted against Georgia Fort in the indictments (save her presence) are false, she claims.

Thinking he’s doing himself a favor, Keenan’s response first insinuates that he has no access to the unredacted complaint and then feigns diligence and asserts that the chanting claim doesn’t obviously appear about either Fort or (remember, he’s confused about which co-defendant joined this motion) Lemon.

The complaint on file publicly in this case is still redacted. However, based on careful review and word searches for “chant” and “chanting,” it appears that the complaint contains no allegation accusing either defendant FORT or defendant LEMON of engaging in chanting inside Cities Church on January 18, 2026.

Unlike Keenan, I genuinely don’t have access to the unredacted complaint, but the redacted version appears to lack all those other allegations, as well — the chanting, the menacing, the blocked van — everything that specifically implicates Fort in a crime in the indictment.

Understand that this means. On January 20, Douglas Micko found that there was no probable cause to arrest Georgia Fort (and also Don Lemon). Starting in a warrant affidavit targeting a different defendant obtained on January 27 (and apparently sworn on January 23, the day DOJ asked for a writ of mandamus against Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz because he wouldn’t give them an arrest warrant), DOJ started claiming that Fort was chanting and menacing, both claims that would meet the bar imposed on January 6 media personalities and the latter a detail that was an element of the offense for the charges. Starting at least as early as an indictment obtained on January 29, DOJ added several other allegations about Fort, the ones Keenan blew off in his response. Based on those claims, which she says are false, a grand jury voted to indict Fort along with everyone else.

Douglas Micko ruled there was no probable cause to arrest Georgia Fort. And then DOJ started making a series of what she claims are false claims about her, and on that basis obtained an indictment.

In Fort’s original filing with Don Lemon, they argued that the fact that DOJ indicted them after several judged found there was no probable cause was enough to demand grand jury transcripts, a claim that Micko ruled (after seeing both Fort’s follow-up motion and the government’s response) was not particularized enough to merit obtaining the warrants. But this filing strongly implies — but does not go so far as to state outright — that after Micko rejected the complaint in January, someone or someones invented claims about Fort out of thin air — that the mean Black lady was chanting, menacing, wielding her camera as a weapon, and blocking a van.

And based on that, they got a grand jury to agree to what Micko had not, that there was probable cause she had committed a crime.

DOJ claims this is just about two lines of testimony (given Fort’s representation that DOJ had not yet turned over the witness transcript that Micko gave them permission to share on June 4, I’ll bet they were trying to head off her motion by releasing that as the bare minimum to comply with disclosure requirements).

But the filings so far suggest they’ve got something else: One or more agents who repeatedly attested to false claims about Georgia Fort.

Remember: by the time DOJ got this indictment, Harmeet Dhillon had already adopted two false claims: the AI slop targeting Nekima Levy Armstrong, and CBS’ false claim that the entire Eighth Circuit had found probable cause to charge Lemon and Fort.

That’s what we saw publicly. Behind the scenes, snowballing evidence suggests, the team was adopting the same license to lie, including to the grand jury. 

June 12

Top Headlines

Top Stories

The Parnas Perspective, Exclusive Friday Night News Update and Commentary: Trump's UFC Structure is Blinding Pilots, Big Epstein News, Trump's Name is Coming Down, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 12, 2026. I have an exclusive breaking story for you tonight. We are still waiting for Trump’s name to come off the Kennedy Center, though it may not happen until late tonight as he files emergency appeals to stop it. But I wanted to get you an update because I learned from a pilot that they are filing safety reports because Trump’s UFC octagon nearly blinded them.

Meanwhile, there was major Epstein news, Trump’s UFC event is being threatened by bugs and bad weather, Trump cut off funding for homeless services in Los Angeles, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, and much more.One of the biggest stories tonight that is being underreported is that the Ellisons’ takeover of Warner Bros. and CNN is moving forward. If completed, it would pave the way for Bari Weiss to take over CNN.That should concern everyone. Beyond the media consolidation issues, it comes as we are already seeing how fragile independent information ecosystems can be. Meta went down for hours today and removed several pieces of my content. That follows recent censorship issues on TikTok. Now the same consolidation pressures are reaching major media outlets.This Substack remains the one place where I am fully independent and accountable only to you. If you can, please subscribe, upgrade your subscription, or gift one today. It is going to be a very busy weekend. SubscribedHere’s the news:• Major exclusive reporting this evening: A commercial airline pilot has filed safety reports with both the FAA and NASA after powerful moving lights used during preparations for President Trump's UFC event on the White House lawn allegedly shone directly into her cockpit while they were on final approach to Reagan National Airport (DCA). • The pilot told me the white lights were so bright they significantly impaired visibility and were "10 times worse than any laser illumination event" the pilot has experienced, despite not involving lasers. After reporting the incident, the pilot said a local FAA office advised her to contact the White House regarding the lighting concerns, and they also submitted an internal airline safety report. The incident raises questions about coordination between White House events and aviation safety given DCA's congested airspace and the critical nature of the landing phase of flight. It also comes amid heightened scrutiny of flight safety around Reagan National following this year's fatal midair collision near the airport.

• The House Oversight Committee has asked attorney Alan Dershowitz to testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files. Chairman James Comer said the committee believes Dershowitz may have relevant information because of his past role as Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer and documents reviewed during the investigation. The interview is tentatively scheduled for July 9, and the committee plans to release a video and transcript of the testimony. Dershowitz said he is looking forward to testifying and is working to adjust his schedule to appear.

• A federal judge rejected the Kennedy Center’s attempt to delay a court order requiring Donald Trump’s name to be removed from the institution’s branding and signage. Workers were seen preparing to take down Trump’s name ahead of the court-imposed deadline after the judge ruled that the center’s board lacked the authority to rename the venue, which was established by Congress as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The ruling also temporarily blocks plans to close the center for a major renovation project. The dispute stems from a lawsuit challenging the board’s decision to rename the venue “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”• Trump filed an emergency appeal seeking to keep his name on the Kennedy Center after a court ordered its removal, while the Kennedy Center board reportedly amended its bylaws after the ruling in a way that could require repayment of donations and create major financial consequences if the Trump name is removed.

• A federal judge has indefinitely blocked the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which was intended to compensate people who claimed they were unfairly targeted by the government. Judge Leonie Brinkema said the Justice Department has failed to formally confirm under oath that the fund has been abandoned, despite public statements suggesting it is no longer moving forward. The judge expressed concern that the program could reappear in another form, especially after President Trump recently praised the idea and said he would be disappointed if it were not approved. The ruling keeps the fund frozen while the court considers broader constitutional challenges, and the administration has been ordered to provide sworn declarations within a week clarifying the fund’s status.• A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to stop the White House from hosting its planned UFC event this weekend, clearing the way for the fights to proceed on the South Lawn. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing, failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm, and waited too long to bring the challenge. The lawsuit argued that the event improperly uses public property for a private, for-profit venture tied to President Trump’s birthday and the America 250 celebration. With the ruling, organizers can move forward with Sunday’s UFC event, including the large arena and staging structures already erected on White House grounds. This is what the White House looks like:

• Organizers of Trump’s White House UFC event are reportedly worried that swarms of insects could become a major problem during the outdoor fights. Forecasts for Sunday call for hot, humid weather and possible thunderstorms, conditions that typically lead to increased mosquito, gnat, and other bug activity in Washington, D.C. UFC president Dana White has previously complained about the large number of insects around the White House and has reportedly arranged special measures, including industrial fans and other mitigation efforts, to keep bugs away from fighters and spectators. The concern has become significant enough that some reports describe the insects as one of the biggest logistical threats to the event.• President Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., could take two to three years to build and require extensive construction that critics warn would severely disrupt traffic between D.C. and Northern Virginia. According to federal planning documents, the project would involve continuous heavy equipment operations, deep excavation, massive cranes, and year-round work in a major traffic circle near Arlington National Cemetery. Local officials, residents, and veterans groups have raised concerns about congestion, public access, and the administration’s fast-tracked approval process, while a lawsuit challenges the project’s legality. The administration says it is studying traffic impacts and expects delays to be manageable, but the total cost of the monument has not yet been disclosed.• Trump is further “re-gilding” various horse statues in Washington, D.C. with real gold using taxpayer dollars:

• The Justice Department has approved Paramount’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a major federal regulatory hurdle for one of the largest media mergers in recent history. Regulators concluded the deal would not significantly harm competition and approved it without requiring asset sales or other concessions. The merger would combine Paramount with major properties including CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures, and HBO Max, creating a larger competitor to streaming giants and technology companies. However, the deal still faces scrutiny from state officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, while critics warn it could lead to layoffs and further consolidation in the entertainment industry.

• SpaceX’s stock market debut became the largest IPO in history, pushing the company’s valuation above $2 trillion and making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Shares surged well above their IPO price on the first day of trading, dramatically increasing the value of Musk’s stake and enriching many longtime SpaceX investors and executives. The historic valuation has also sparked criticism from activists and economists who argue that such extreme concentrations of wealth pose risks to democracy and highlight growing economic inequality. At the same time, the IPO is expected to pull millions of ordinary investors into AI and space-related investments through retirement accounts and index funds, tying more Americans’ financial futures to the sector.• The Trump administration has suspended federal funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, citing allegations of fraud, conflicts of interest, misuse of funds, and inadequate oversight. Federal officials say the agency has received nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funding over the past five years and argue that funding should be halted pending an investigation. Local officials, including Los Angeles leaders who have previously criticized the agency, condemned the move as politically motivated and warned it could undermine efforts to reduce homelessness and maintain housing for vulnerable residents. The funding suspension is the latest clash between the Trump administration and California officials, following other federal funding cuts affecting projects and programs across the state.

• A shooting in Midland, Texas, left at least one person dead and 10 others injured after a gunman opened fire on police and bystanders before barricading himself inside an abandoned building. Authorities identified the suspect as 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal, who was already wanted for allegedly shooting at a police officer during a vehicle pursuit earlier in the week. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, exchanging gunfire with the suspect before he was found dead inside the building several hours later. Several victims remain hospitalized, and officials have launched an investigation into the shooting and the officers’ response

.• The U.S. and Iran are still trying to negotiate a deal despite repeated threats of military escalation and claims that an agreement is imminent. Key sticking points include access to frozen Iranian assets, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly shifted between threatening strikes and predicting peace, creating uncertainty in both diplomacy and financial markets. Analysts believe a temporary agreement is possible, but major disagreements remain and hardliners continue pushing for a tougher approach if talks collapse.

• A Venezuelan immigrant living in Wisconsin says a honeymoon trip to Miami with his Trump-supporting wife turned into a nightmare after he was detained by ICE at a security checkpoint near Trump’s Doral resort. Bryan Rojas spent more than three months in detention after authorities questioned him about his tattoos and investigated possible gang ties, allegations he denies, before an immigration judge granted him bond. Since his release, Rojas says his family has lost their home, sold their car, depleted retirement savings, accumulated more than $80,000 in debt, and remains stuck in immigration limbo while awaiting a court hearing scheduled for 2028. Despite criticizing the administration’s immigration policies, his wife, a U.S. citizen and Trump supporter, says she still supports the president, though she believes what happened to her family was unfair.

• President Trump has appointed a number of U.S. attorneys with little or no federal prosecutorial experience, and several have already faced serious setbacks. Some have had cases dismissed, been criticized by judges for misconduct, been disqualified from cases, or faced ethics investigations. Critics argue the appointments reflect a preference for political loyalty over prosecutorial expertise, while supporters say experience outside federal prosecution can also prepare someone for the role. The article highlights multiple examples where inexperience allegedly contributed to legal and procedural problems in high-profile cases.

• An elephant made an unexpected impression at the Texas Republican convention in Houston when it reportedly urinated between the press area and the delegates shortly after Governor Greg Abbott finished speaking. The elephant, a nod to the Republican Party’s mascot, had been brought to the convention as part of the festivities. The incident quickly drew attention from attendees and reporters, creating an unusual and memorable moment at the gathering. This video is from the Texas Tribune: • A massive fire destroyed a 1 million-square-foot medical supply warehouse operated by Medline Industries in Tracy, California, prompting evacuations of nearby facilities, including Amazon and FedEx warehouses. Officials said no injuries were reported and all employees were accounted for, but firefighters continue battling the blaze nearly a day later. High winds, extreme heat, failed sprinkler systems, and low water pressure hampered firefighting efforts, allowing the building to become fully engulfed in less than an hour. Authorities are also warning nearby residents about hazardous smoke containing respiratory irritants, toxic gases, carcinogens, and at least one neurotoxin.

• A federal judge ruled that actress Blake Lively can seek reimbursement of her legal fees from the production company of actor-director Justin Baldoni, but cannot recover additional damages through the current proceeding. The decision stems from Baldoni’s previously dismissed defamation and extortion lawsuit against Lively, which followed her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation during the production of It Ends With Us. Judge Lewis J. Liman said Lively could pursue damages through a separate lawsuit if she chooses. The ruling comes after the two sides settled their long-running legal dispute in May, avoiding a high-profile trial.

• A Louisiana jury awarded $1.1 billion to Pamela Lockridge, who sued over years of sexual abuse she suffered from her stepfather beginning when she was four years old in the 1960s. The case was made possible by Louisiana’s “lookback law,” which temporarily lifted filing deadlines for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue civil claims. Jurors awarded $500 million for pain and suffering, $600 million in punitive damages, and additional compensation for medical and psychological treatment. Lockridge said the verdict was about accountability and recognition of the lifelong harm caused by the abuse, while her attorneys called it a powerful message that child abusers can still be held responsible decades later.

June 11

Top Headlines

News Roundups

U.S. Governance

More On Iran War

  • New York Times, Analysis of Satellite Image and Videos Suggest Precision U.S. Strikes on Iranian Water Facility, Christoph Koettl and Christiaan Triebert, June 11, 2026 (print ed.). It is unclear if the U.S. intentionally struck the facility or knew what it was. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The War Gets Worse, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 11, 2026. Just over three months ago, acting alone, lacking authorization from Congress, and having made no case for the war to the public, President Trump chose to attack Iran. His choice was unwise and his action was unlawful. And his war has clearly been unsuccessful.

U.S. Law, Immigration, Courts, Rights, Justice

ICE logo

  • New York Times, Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say, Megha Rajagopalan and Hamed Aleaziz June 11, 2026. The women are among nearly two dozen people slated to be sent to a country where the U.S. government has advised “Do not travel for any reason.”
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Trump Found His Roy Cohn, Andrew Egger, right,andrew egger June 11, 2026. Here are four things we already know. Donald Trump’s top criterion for his attorney general is someone who will act as his personal attorney. He tapped Todd Blanche as deputy AG last year because Blanche had been his personal attorney and would see the job as a continuation of that work. Blanche has now gotten the nod for the top job because Trump thinks he’s done a good job in this respect so far. And a big part of that, as Bill wrote the other day, has been Blanche’s work as “prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.”

Trump Watch

  • The Contrarian, Opinion: Reality Defies Trump-Friendly Predictions, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 11, 2026. Israel and vote-rigging conspiracies get clobbered.
  • Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Trump is all smoke and mirrors, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 11, 2026. Shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, the president sat in one of the most recognizable rooms in the United States of America. Seated in a tall brown leather chair inside the Oval Office, with men and women packed in behind him, Donald Trump decided to use that moment to insult the presidents who came before him. While answering a question about Iran, the sitting president of the United States of America said this: “They dealt with some very stupid presidents. I have to say that. I’m embarrassed to say some very stupid people were sitting here.”

More On U.S. Elections, Politics

  • Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: UPDATE: Polymarket ends sponsorship of election misinformation, Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 11, 2026. On Monday, Popular Information revealed that a network of at least 16 online influencers was pushing election misinformation in posts on X sponsored by Polymarket, a popular online prediction market. The posts claimed, without evidence, that the Los Angeles mayoral election was “rigged” against reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a Republican candidate.

More Global News

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

Jeffrey Epstein's fellow sex trafficker and teen rapist Ghislaine Maxwell, attending a social gathering with her friends Donald Trump and the onetime model Melania Knauss, the future First Lady Trump.

Jeffrey Epstein's fellow sex trafficker and teen rapist Ghislaine Maxwell, left, is shown attending a social gathering with her friends Donald Trump and the onetime model and party girl Melania Knauss, the future First Lady Trump.

  • Emptywheel, Opinion and Analysis: NYT’s Titty Distraction, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 11, 2026. The name “Melania” does not show up in NYT’s 8,000-word piece claiming to explain the “White House freakout over the Epstein files.” Instead, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan give us tits, a bullshit claim that the White House was panicked about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files primarily because a woman had claimed Trump abused a girl’s nipples until they hurt.
  • New York Times, The Big Questions About Jeffrey Epstein: What The Times Has Learned, Staff Reports, June 11, 2026. More than 60 Times journalists have delved into the life of the sexual predator whose secrets spurred an international reckoning over money, power and complicity.Some questions we’ve been pursuing.
  • Miami New Times, Epstein file says Trump “knew and funded underage sex parties” at his golf course, Natasha Yee, June 9, 2026. An FBI tip memorialized in the Epstein files alleges Trump knew about underage sex parties at a Trump golf course.
  • New York Times, Guest Essay: She Was One of Obama’s Top Lawyers. How Did She Get Tangled Up With Epstein? Ankush Khardori (former federal prosecutor who specialized in white-collar crime), June 11, 2026. One of the ways Jeffrey Epstein infiltrated America’s elite was by giving important people what they wanted — private plane travel for Bill Clinton, research funding for Harvard professors and donations for the leaders of world-renowned museums. He drew them into his orbit using the gravitational pull of his wealth and rarefied social network. They reciprocated not necessarily because they liked him, but because it was their business to know people like him.

U.S. Inflation, Markets, Economy, Jobs

  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 10, 2026 [Inflation Impacts], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 11, 2026. Today a report from the Department of Labor showed that inflation in May hit its highest level since early 2023, reaching an annual rate of 4.2%, up from 3.8% in April.

Top Headlines

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: U.S.-Iran Strikes Risk Dangerous New Phase, Shirin Hakim, Eric Schmitt, Qasim Nauman and Lara Jakes, June 11, 2026. The continued exchanges of fire have raised fears that the two sides could return to all-out war. Tehran said that the latest U.S. strikes had effectively rendered the cease-fire “meaningless.”

Here’s the latest.

The United States and Iran traded a new round of attacks early Thursday, bringing the countries closer to all-out war after President Trump vowed to keep up military pressure on Tehran to make a peace deal.

The tit-for-tat strikes this week risked pushing the conflict into a perilous new phase, with no clear signs of whether the fighting could be contained. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran had effectively rendered the cease-fire “meaningless,” and warned of “highly dangerous consequences,” without giving specifics.

The latest American attack began shortly after midnight in Tehran, according to the U.S. military’s Central Command. Explosions were heard in Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the southern cities of Bandar Abbas, Minab and Sirik, Iranian news outlets reported.

Just after 4:30 a.m. in Iran, Central Command said that its round of strikes had concluded. Mr. Trump had earlier told Fox News that strikes would resume the following night if Tehran did not capitulate in negotiations to end the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Iran said it had responded with two waves of attacks on targets at U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s military said on Thursday morning that it was intercepting hostile targets, and the authorities briefly closed the country’s airspace to civilian aircraft. Sirens were activated in Bahrain, the country’s interior ministry said, without saying what had triggered them.

Iran also said that the Strait of Hormuz was now closed to any type of vessel, including oil tankers and commercial ships. The U.S. military said the strait was not closed.

The latest attacks followed U.S. strikes roughly 24 hours earlier, in which the U.S. military said that its jets had hit multiple Iranian targets in response to the downing of an American Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Iran responded by launching strikes on U.S. targets in the region.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the new strikes were meant not as retaliation for a particular military action but to pressure Tehran to agree to peace on Mr. Trump’s terms.

“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Iran water tanks: A New York Times analysis of satellite images and photographs suggests that a precision U.S. attack early Wednesday hit drinking-water facilities in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. A local official said water service had been cut off for some 12 hours to about 20,000 people as temperatures soared. U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for comment on the report of the strike. Read more ›
  • Economic impact: The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates today in response to rising inflation caused by the war. The price of oil was down in early trading on Thursday after jumping the previous day following the first round of new strikes. Read more ›
  • Not-so-secret mission: Mr. Trump described a clandestine mission that involved spiriting millions of barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz undetected. But a U.S. military official said that the president’s comments referred to a previously reported U.S. effort to steer commercial vessels through the strait. Read more ›

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Trump’s Dangerous Escalation in a Losing War, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 11, 2026. Plus: Todd Blanche, Epstein coverup.

bulwark logo big shipThere are certain moments in sports when, right after the game ends, you instantly know it has a place in history. Last night was one of those moments. The Knicks came back from 29 points down to defeat the Spurs in the final seconds and take a 3–1 series lead. It was the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history. And even in the groggy early-morning scroll through the social media algorithms, the highlights didn’t feel quite real. How did they do it? A mix of grit, a streak of insanely good shooting, a heap of boneheaded plays from the Spurs, and a dollop of the divine from one OG Anunoby. It certainly didn’t hurt that the president—having messed with the juju in game three—wasn’t in the building for game four. As the saying goes:

Their mayor is Muslim. Their bagels Jewish. Without Trump they thrive. Knicks in Five. Happy Thursday.

News Roundups

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Epstein Investigation Escalates, 'Knives Are Out' Inside White House, Trump Announces Possible Invasion to Seize Iranian Oil, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 11, 2026. “It’s Donald Trump’s Watergate.” That’s what members of Congress are calling the bombshell revelations from the past 24 hours, which exposed allegations that Trump officials coordinated with Justice Department officials in the Situation Room to shield Trump from the fallout surrounding the Epstein files. Now, the investigation is escalating on Capitol Hill.

Many in Congress are demanding testimony from JD Vance, Susie Wiles, and other top officials. If you thought this story was over, it is anything but. The investigation is growing because the facts continue to emerge, and because we are helping bring those facts to light.

At the same time, tensions with Iran are escalating. The United States reportedly struck Iranian water infrastructure, and Trump is promising additional bombing operations today. There is a lot to cover below.

Meanwhile, Trump officials are openly celebrating efforts to ban TikTok accounts investigating Epstein. One of my Epstein videos was censored on TikTok this morning as well. That should concern everyone. It also reinforces why this work matters. If you can, please subscribe today and help support independent reporting. We will not be intimidated, and we will not stop.Subscribed

Tonight at 7:45 p.m. ET, we’ll have our next paid subscriber live event. I’ll be joining from a train, so let’s hope the Wi-Fi cooperates. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you there.

Here’s the news:

The Knives are out inside the White House. The ascent of Bill Pulte reflects a broader shift inside Trump’s orbit, where loyalty is prized above all else and grievances are increasingly driving decision-making. According to Trump allies who spoke to Politico, along with GOP Senate aides and others close to the administration, the president has become increasingly frustrated with both his own staff and congressional Republicans. As one MAGA-world operative put it, Trump is now “increasingly frustrated with everyone, from his own team to the Senate.”

Members of Congress are increasingly comparing the controversy surrounding the Epstein files to Watergate, arguing that questions about what information has been withheld and how the administration has handled the issue deserve far greater scrutiny. New reporting suggests that Vice President JD Vance has been deeply involved in the White House’s strategy surrounding the Epstein files, including participating in high-level discussions with senior administration officials.

According to the report, meetings on the issue have even taken place in the Situation Room, underscoring the importance the administration has attached to managing the fallout. Critics say these revelations raise new questions about transparency and accountability, with many now calling on Vance to publicly explain his role in the administration’s handling of the matter.

As a result, members of Congress are intensifying scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, with the House Oversight Committee now seeking testimony from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Committee Chair James Comer said lawmakers want answers about the release process, including whether any Epstein-related documents remain undisclosed, after former Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly said Blanche oversaw the effort. Democrats are pushing for Blanche to testify under oath in a public setting, arguing that the public deserves full transparency about how the files were handled. The growing investigation comes as Blanche seeks Senate confirmation to permanently lead the Justice Department, placing additional political pressure on the administration over the Epstein controversy.

Overnight, Paolo Zampolli, a Trump Administration official who is mentioned repeatedly in the Epstein files, admitted to having an account banned on TikTok of Bekah Day, an independent journalist covering Zampolli’s ties to Epstein:

Paolo Zampolli is a former modeling agent, businessman, and longtime friend of Donald Trump who is widely known for introducing Trump to Melania Knauss (now Melania Trump) in 1998. He later became a presidential special envoy and has remained closely connected to the Trump family through business, diplomatic, and social circles. According to a 2026 New York Times investigation, Zampolli contacted senior ICE officials regarding his former partner, Amanda Ungaro, during a custody dispute over their son, though he denies seeking special treatment or favors.

The Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room is in Washington, D.C. this week. It is a traveling exhibition in Washington, D.C., featuring millions of pages of publicly released Epstein-related documents and a timeline of Trump and Epstein’s past relationship. Organizers say the exhibit is intended to encourage deeper engagement with the facts surrounding Epstein’s crimes and their impact on victims rather than serve as a political protest. The installation includes artwork by Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and a memorial space with 1,400 candles representing victims, where visitors can leave written reflections. Many attendees described the experience as emotional and sobering, with some saying it reinforced the importance of seeking accountability and remembering the victims.

Concerns about Donald Trump’s health are rising again after it was revealed that 22 medical specialists participated in his recent physical examination at Walter Reed, reportedly the highest number ever involved in a presidential checkup. The figure was nearly double the 14 doctors who examined him during his previous physical, leading some medical experts to question why such an extensive team was needed. Critics argue that the unusually large number of specialists, combined with recurring bruising on Trump’s hands and concerns about his age, has fueled speculation about underlying health issues. Trump and the White House, however, maintain that the examination was simply a comprehensive assessment and that he remains in excellent health and fully capable of serving as president.

Iran war: This morning, Donald Trump announced the intent to seize an Iranian island, and with it, the oil on the island. To do so experts say boots on the ground would likely be required.

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran escalated sharply over the past 24 hours, with both sides exchanging military strikes across the Middle East. The U.S. launched a second day of attacks after accusing Iran of downing an American military helicopter, while Iran retaliated by targeting U.S. military assets in the region. President Trump warned that additional American strikes could follow and said Iran would “pay the price” for its actions. Iranian officials responded by saying the renewed attacks had effectively destroyed any remaining ceasefire efforts. Trump further said that if Iran did not sign an agreement today, he will “bomb the shit out of them.”

One of the most significant developments is Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all marine traffic until further notice. The narrow waterway is one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes, carrying a large share of global oil and gas exports. Iranian authorities blamed the closure on what they called American aggression, while U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim and maintained that the strait remains open. The closure has heightened fears of disruptions to global energy markets and international shipping.

New evidence suggests that U.S. strikes may have damaged drinking water infrastructure on Iran’s southern coast. Images and satellite analysis reviewed by NBC News showed collapsed roofs and bomb fragments at facilities believed to be part of a local drinking water system in Hormozgan Province. While the extent of the damage remains unclear, questions are being raised about whether the facilities were intentionally targeted. If civilian water infrastructure was deliberately struck, it would be a war crime.

The fighting is increasingly affecting civilian and commercial shipping throughout the Gulf region. Iran reported that a cargo vessel was hit by a U.S. projectile near Oman, while a separate tanker experienced a fire off Oman’s coast. India also confirmed that three of its citizens were killed aboard a tanker disabled by U.S. forces after it allegedly violated an American blockade on Iranian oil exports. These incidents underscore how the conflict is disrupting maritime trade and putting civilian crews at risk.

The broader regional fallout continues to grow, with missile interceptions, civilian injuries, and rising fears of a wider war. Jordan said it intercepted at least 20 Iranian missiles, while Bahrain reported that debris from an intercepted Iranian drone injured an 11-year-old girl and damaged homes and vehicles. Iran also claimed to have targeted a U.S. air base in Jordan, though those claims have not been independently confirmed. As hostilities spread across multiple countries, concerns are mounting that the conflict could evolve into a larger regional confrontation.

Other news:

Meanwhile, for his 80th birthday this Sunday, Trump said he wanted “world peace.” Trump proceeded to bomb Iran hours later:

New court filings reveal that Trump’s planned “UFC Freedom 250” event on the White House South Lawn has grown into a massive $60 million production, far larger than originally envisioned. Organizers now expect roughly 125,000 attendees, with another 75,000 people requesting tickets, requiring nearly 500 portable toilets, hundreds of trucks, and up to 900 contractors to support the event. The centerpiece is a full UFC Octagon surrounded by extensive staging, lighting, broadcast infrastructure, and temporary seating. The event is also the subject of a lawsuit from critics who argue it is effectively a taxpayer-supported celebration of Trump’s 80th birthday rather than a legitimate America 250 celebration, though the administration has defended it as a historic patriotic event.

The New York Knicks staged a historic comeback from 29 points down to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 107–106 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. After trailing by 27 at halftime, the Knicks dominated the second half and gradually erased the deficit. OG Anunoby scored the winning basket on a tip-in with seconds remaining, giving New York a 3–1 lead in the series. The victory was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and put the Knicks one win away from a championship.

A Guardian investigation details allegations from prisoners held in Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s underground H Unit, known as “the tombs,” where inmates describe years spent in windowless cells with no access to natural sunlight. Letters from prisoners recount unsanitary conditions, vermin infestations, prolonged isolation, inadequate mental health care, and frequent incidents of violence and sexual assault, with some describing the experience as psychological torture. Human rights experts and advocates argue that the lack of sunlight and extensive solitary confinement can cause severe mental and emotional harm, while former inmates say the conditions left lasting trauma and contributed to suicidal thoughts. Oklahoma corrections officials dispute the allegations, saying the facility complies with state and federal standards and that any maintenance or policy issues are addressed when identified.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a nearly $100 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security along party lines, highlighting ongoing divisions over immigration policy and enforcement. The legislation provides billions for ICE and Customs and Border Protection on top of roughly $70 billion already approved through a separate Trump-backed funding package, while also increasing Coast Guard funding and supporting additional border security personnel and technology. Democrats argued that the bill does not go far enough in limiting ICE and Border Patrol enforcement practices and raised concerns about the scale of funding being provided with limited oversight. Republicans defended the measure as necessary to stabilize DHS operations and strengthen border security, rejecting most Democratic amendments aimed at imposing additional restrictions on immigration enforcement activities.

Germany is turning the collapse of its joint fighter-jet project with France and Spain into an opportunity to establish itself as Europe’s leading aerospace power, leveraging its much larger defense budget, strong industrial base, and growing political confidence. German officials argue that the country now has the resources and expertise to help lead development of a sixth-generation fighter aircraft, while France faces tighter financial constraints despite its greater experience in military aviation. An Airbus-led consortium has already proposed a new fighter program centered on German industry, reflecting Berlin’s ambition to become the hub of Europe’s future defense sector. The shift marks a significant change in European defense dynamics, with Germany increasingly positioning itself as a leader rather than a junior partner in major military projects.

Five EU countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Ireland, are urging a coordinated European response to growing pressure from the Trump administration and pharmaceutical companies to raise drug prices across Europe. The countries argue that individual negotiations could weaken Europe’s bargaining power and undermine healthcare systems that rely on lower medicine costs. The push comes as the U.S. seeks lower drug prices domestically while pressuring European governments to pay more, with some countries already facing direct negotiations and investment threats from major pharmaceutical firms. The group is calling for deeper cooperation on drug pricing and reimbursement policies to preserve affordable access to medicines and prevent a fragmented European response. 

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Jarring Epstein-Trump Details Revealed, Major Epstein Testimony in Congress, Judges Refuse to Say Who Won in 2020, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, June 11, 2026. There have been major developments in the Epstein investigation. New reporting reveals that the White House has been holding secret emergency meetings to coordinate its response to the Epstein files, and the details are raising serious questions. At the same time, Bill Gates testified before Congress, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant confirmed that she arranged calls between Epstein and Donald Trump, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is now set to testify as well.

Meanwhile, inflation has climbed to its highest level in years, yet Trump told reporters that he “loves” the inflation. I break down all of it.

People keep asking me: What are we going to do about the Epstein story? My answer is simple. I am not going to stop. I will keep reporting, digging, and exposing the facts until the truth is fully known and those responsible are held accountable. I will not let this story disappear. I will not move on because others want us to. And I will not stop asking questions.

Today, Instagram heavily suppressed one of my videos about Epstein. Reaching people with this information is becoming harder, not easier. But with your help, we can keep pushing forward, keep growing, and keep making sure these stories reach the public.

Here’s the news:

According to a new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, White House aides were reportedly worried about the possible release of a document containing allegations that Donald Trump had a sexual “predilection for nipples” and had mistreated an maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changeEpstein victim. The book describes internal concern over the potential political fallout from the allegations. The excerpt focuses on how seriously staff viewed the threat posed by the document rather than on proving the underlying claims.

Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant, Lesley Groff, told Congress that she occasionally arranged phone calls between Epstein and Donald Trump before Trump entered politics. During her testimony, Groff denied knowing about or witnessing Epstein’s abuse and said she was unaware of the full extent of his crimes while working for him. Lawmakers questioned the credibility of those claims, arguing it was difficult to believe that a close aide could have been unaware of Epstein’s misconduct. The testimony is part of an ongoing congressional investigation into Epstein’s associates and activities.

Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee that meeting with Jeffrey Epstein was a “grave error in judgment” and insisted he never witnessed criminal conduct by Epstein or harmed anyone himself. Gates said his interactions with Epstein were limited and focused on philanthropic fundraising, but acknowledged that Epstein later learned about his extramarital affairs and attempted to use that information to pressure him into renewing their relationship. He denied being friends with Epstein, denied visiting Epstein's private island or residences, and said no charitable partnership ever resulted from their discussions. The testimony is part of Congress's broader investigation into Epstein's network and whether he used relationships with powerful figures to gain influence or leverage.

According to Rep. Melanie Stansbury, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has agreed that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should testify before Congress about the handling of Epstein-related records.

Inflation rose to 4.2% in May, driven in part by higher energy prices during the ongoing conflict with Iran. When asked about the increase, Trump said he “loves the inflation,” arguing that the economy had been performing exceptionally well before the war and that confronting Iran was necessary despite the economic costs. He suggested that higher oil prices were a consequence of military actions against Iran and maintained that inflation and energy costs would fall once the conflict ends. Critics have seized on the remarks, portraying them as dismissive of the financial impact on American consumers.

Senators pressed Trump judicial nominees today on whether or not they would say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. They refused:

Here is another example:

The war in Iran is restarting tonight. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. Central Command would carry out military strikes against Iran following President Trump’s directive to “hit Iran hard.” Hegseth described the planned attacks as strong and decisive, arguing that military action would advance U.S. strategic objectives while strengthening America’s negotiating position. He suggested that Iran’s failure to reach a diplomatic agreement had led to the use of force instead. His comments emphasized the administration’s view that military pressure and diplomacy can be used together, stating that if necessary, the U.S. would “negotiate with bombs.”

A reporter asked Hegseth whether attacks on bridges and electrical infrastructure could constitute war crimes. Rather than directly addressing the legal question, Hegseth accused the media of asking a biased and misleading question that unfairly questioned the motives of the U.S. and its allies. He argued that the reporter was implying wrongdoing without considering the broader context of the military actions. The exchange highlighted tensions between the administration and journalists over scrutiny of military operations.

Trump said he plans to appoint businessman Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence on June 19 and has instructed him to immediately shrink the Office of the Director of National Intelligence by returning staff to their original agencies. Trump described Pulte’s role as temporary and said he is still searching for a permanent nominee with national security experience. He also asked Congress to pass a short-term extension of Section 702 of FISA, a key surveillance authority that is set to expire, to allow time for selecting and confirming a permanent intelligence chief. Critics, particularly Democrats, argue that Pulte lacks national security credentials and that his appointment could jeopardize bipartisan negotiations over renewing the surveillance program.

Trump signed a law providing nearly $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement agencies through 2029. The measure significantly expands resources for ICE, Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security to support border security and immigration enforcement operations. Republicans argued the funding is necessary for public safety and border control, while Democrats criticized it as a major expansion of deportation and detention efforts with insufficient oversight. The bill passed Congress by a very narrow margin after months of political conflict over immigration policy.

According to Politico, a senior Justice Department official planned to seek compensation from Trump’s proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund” because he believed he had been unfairly targeted during past government investigations. His intention to file a claim raised conflict-of-interest concerns because he was also involved in communicating with Congress about the fund. The proposal became politically controversial and faced bipartisan criticism, leading the Justice Department to abandon it. The episode exposed internal disagreements over both the fund’s purpose and who should be eligible to benefit from it.

After the Knicks lost their first game in 46 days while Donald Trump was in attendance at Madison Square Garden, some fans blamed him for ending the team’s winning streak. A group of fans gathered outside the arena and burned sage in an effort to “cleanse” the venue before the next game. The idea of a “Trump Curse” spread online, with fans, commentators, and celebrities playfully suggesting that Trump’s presence disrupted the team’s momentum. The article focuses on the humorous fan reaction and superstition surrounding the loss rather than any serious claim that Trump caused it.

A Somali referee, Omar Artan, who was selected to become the first Somali official to work a World Cup, was denied entry to the United States and sent home after being detained and questioned for 11 hours in Miami. U.S. officials cited unspecified “vetting concerns” and alleged associations with suspected terrorists, while Artan denied any connection to the militant group al-Shabab and said he was repeatedly questioned about it. His return to Somalia sparked a hero’s welcome and fueled criticism that U.S. immigration and security policies are undermining the World Cup’s promise of global participation. The incident is part of broader controversy surrounding visa denials, travel restrictions, and border scrutiny affecting some World Cup officials, players, and fans from countries subject to U.S. travel bans or heightened vetting.

According to CNN, Taiwan conducted its first live-fire exercise using U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket systems aimed toward the Taiwan Strait, demonstrating how it would respond to a potential Chinese invasion. The drills emphasized Taiwan’s “shoot-and-scoot” strategy, in which mobile rocket launchers quickly fire and relocate to avoid being targeted. The exercise reflects Taiwan’s broader effort to strengthen its defenses against growing military pressure from China, which continues to claim the island as its territory. The United States remains Taiwan’s primary arms supplier and has encouraged this more mobile, asymmetric defense approach.

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland claims he was barred from attending the UFC event being held at the White House and says the decision was retaliation for his criticism of Donald Trump, Israel, and Jeffrey Epstein. Strickland, once a Trump supporter, has become increasingly critical of the president, particularly over U.S. military actions involving Iran and Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. UFC CEO Dana White publicly dismissed Strickland’s claim that he was banned, joking that he is “banned from humanity” rather than from the event. The dispute has added controversy to the planned White House UFC card, which is already drawing attention because of its political symbolism and Trump’s close ties to the UFC.

The FBI has executed a search warrant at a southern California aerospace facility after an overheated chemical tank containing thousands of gallons of highly flammable methyl methacrylate forced the evacuation of about 50,000 residents last month. Federal investigators are seeking records and evidence related to how the chemical was stored, monitored, and cooled, while local prosecutors are conducting a separate criminal investigation. The incident raised fears of a major explosion, though one was ultimately avoided when pressure in the tank was relieved. The company says it is cooperating with investigators, while residents and local officials continue to seek answers about what caused the emergency and whether similar risks remain.

The U.S. has recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases in 2026, putting the country on pace for its worst measles outbreak in decades. Health experts attribute the spread largely to declining vaccination rates, vaccine misinformation, and weakened public health systems that have struggled to contain outbreaks. Doctors and public health officials warn that unvaccinated communities and infants too young to be vaccinated are especially vulnerable, and many believe the true number of cases is significantly higher than reported. The outbreak has also intensified debate over vaccine skepticism and the role of public officials in promoting accurate health information.

Former Republican-turned-Democrat David Jolly selected former congresswoman Gwen Graham as his running mate in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial race. The move comes after a major Democratic rival dropped out, giving the Jolly-Graham ticket time to unify the party before the August primary. Jolly and Graham are presenting themselves as pragmatic centrists focused on governing rather than culture-war politics, while Republicans argue the ticket represents an outdated Democratic establishment. The announcement highlights Democrats’ challenge of building a broad coalition in a state that has become increasingly Republican in recent years.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the Trump administration does not plan to create national environmental regulations or standards specifically for data centers. Instead, he argued that decisions about issues such as water use, air pollution, and energy consumption should be made at the state and local level because data centers and communities have different needs. Zeldin said EPA’s role will be mainly advisory, providing technical expertise and sharing best practices rather than acting as a regulator or mediator. His comments reflect the administration’s broader approach of encouraging AI and data center development while relying on voluntary agreements and local oversight rather than new federal requirements.

Police in Toledo, Ohio, have identified 20-year-old Ka Nye Taylor as a suspect in a mass shooting at the Old West End Festival that wounded 12 people and are also seeking help identifying a second alleged shooter. Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute between two rival groups, with only a few victims involved and most of the injured being innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Victims ranged in age from 14 to 61, and all are expected to survive, with most already released from the hospital. Authorities are offering up to $15,000 in combined rewards for information leading to the arrests of the suspects.

According to NBC News, an American diplomat assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar, was found dead at a residence popular with diplomats and foreign visitors. The U.S. State Department confirmed the death but has released few details, citing the privacy of the employee’s family. According to unnamed diplomatic sources, Myanmar police are investigating the case as a possible homicide and have detained a Thai woman in connection with the investigation. Authorities in Myanmar, Thailand, and the United States have declined to provide further information, and no charges or official findings have been announced.

House Democrats are escalating their fight with Republicans over campaign fundraising by threatening to investigate WinRed, the GOP's main online fundraising platform. Democratic lawmakers claim there is evidence that WinRed may have processed illegal foreign contributions and are demanding records and testimony from the company's leadership. The move comes as Republicans intensify their own investigation into the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, whose CEO invoked the Fifth Amendment during a congressional hearing. The dispute reflects a growing partisan battle over allegations of fraud, foreign donations, and oversight of the two parties' major online fundraising systems.

The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to advance a constitutional amendment that would formally ban member churches from having women serve as pastors or preach to congregations. Supporters argue the measure reflects biblical teachings and provides clarity on church leadership, while opponents say existing rules already address the issue and that the change is unnecessary. If approved again next year, the amendment would strengthen the denomination's ability to expel churches that allow women in pastoral roles. The vote highlights the SBC's continued movement toward a more conservative interpretation of gender roles in church leadership.

NATO allies are considering speeding up drone purchases and other counter-drone measures after a series of security incidents along the alliance’s eastern flank, including a Russian drone crash in Romania that injured civilians. Member countries discussed expanding air-policing capabilities, improving drone defenses, and increasing monitoring of critical infrastructure, particularly around the Black Sea. The push reflects growing concern that Russia’s war against Ukraine is creating new aerial threats for neighboring NATO countries. Officials hope to approve concrete drone-defense initiatives at NATO’s summit in Ankara next month.

U.S. Governance

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Social Security is Facing a Political Crisis, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 11, 2026. America can afford to keep paying full benefits. But will we?

On Tuesday the Social Security Trustees released their latest report on the system’s finances. The numbers didn’t change much: Unless something is done, the Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, Social Security’s official name, will be unable to pay full benefits starting in either 2032 or 2034, depending on some technical issues. That’s not far away: If the Trustees are right, the prospect of a Social Security crisis will loom over the next presidential administration.

It’s important to understand, however, the nature of the looming crisis. It won’t be an economic crisis. It won’t even be a serious fiscal crisis. Whatever you may have heard, Social Security isn’t in danger of going bankrupt.

What we’re facing, instead, is potential political crisis. Congress and the White House could easily take action to sustain America’s retirement system. But given the current state of our politics, there’s no guarantee that they will.

There is a widespread misunderstanding of how Social Security works. While Social Security was designed to look like a pension fund, it isn’t. A pension fund pays benefits out of a stock of assets it has accumulated over time. In contrast, Social Security operates as a government transfer program, like food stamps or Medicaid.

Now, unlike food stamps — but like the highway trust fund — Social Security is on paper supported by a dedicated tax, the payroll tax, that is assigned to that program. But I say “on paper” because from an economic point of view assigning the payroll tax to Social Security is just an accounting convention. What matters for the U.S. economy is the overall balance between government spending and government revenue, not the difference between one type of spending and one source of revenue. So there’s no inherent economic significance to the fact that by 2034 payroll tax receipts will be insufficient to cover promised benefits.

There is, however, a legislative issue. As long as the Social Security Administration can pay benefits out of payroll taxes and its cash reserve, there’s no need for Congress to vote each year to authorize benefits — they just keep going out until further notice. However, once those resources become insufficient, benefits will fall —by 17 percent according to the Trustees — unless Congress passes new legislation that “tops up” Social Security’s finances.

Yet the current administration and Republican party are such extremists that there is a real risk that Social Security will be held hostage on behalf of their goals. If this should come to pass, the hostage-takers will claim that shoring up Social Security is unaffordable. Right on cue, Mike Johnson, the Trump-sycophant Speaker of the House, declared on Monday that “entitlement programs” like Social Security “have to be adjusted and fixed,” and that Republicans will introduce a plan to that effect next year.

But this is a ploy, because while the cost of maintaining Social Security benefits at their promised level isn’t trivial, it is in fact affordable. According to the Trustees’ report, the actuarial balance of OASDI up through 2050 — the amount of additional funds it would need to keep paying full benefits for the next 25 years — is 1.06 percent of GDP. To put that number in perspective, the Trump administration proposes increasing military spending next year by $420 billion, equivalent to about 1.4 percent of GDP – without any discussion of whether that’s affordable

Yet how did we get to the point where Social Security will need to be topped up? The main answer is that we have an aging population, with a growing ratio of retirees collecting benefits to workers paying into the system:

Trump’s anti-immigration policies are making this problem worse. According to the Trustees’ report, lower immigration will deepen Social Security’s financial hole because many immigrants are working-age adults who will pay into the system for decades before they collect benefits. In fact, this problem may be much bigger than the report acknowledges: The report’s baseline assumption is that we’ll have net immigration of almost 1.2 million people a year, and even the pessimistic case assumes 750,000 a year. Meanwhile actual net immigration has already been cut far below that — and may now be negative.

Moreover, Social Security is being financially damaged by growing income inequality in America. Payroll taxes are levied only on wages up to $184,500, and they don’t touch capital income. With the distribution of income increasingly shifting from labor to capital, as well as becoming more unequal among wage-earners, revenue from the Social Security payroll tax has been falling as a share of national income. From 1990 to 2024, it fell from 5.02 percent of gross domestic income to 4.46 percent.

Which brings me to the question that, these days, we ask about everything: How might Social Security be affected by the advent of AI?

A short answer: If, as many of us fear, AI accelerates rising income inequality, it will further reduce the payroll tax receipts that currently pay for Social Security and further endanger its finances.

On the other hand, if AI, as its advocates promise, leads to faster economic growth, it will increase the potential tax base that could and should be used to support Social Security and other social insurance programs. But to take advantage of that larger base, we’ll have to get serious about taxing wealth and capital income.

Is Social Security in trouble? Yes, but only because of the way its financing is currently structured — a structure that no longer works well because our society and economy have become so unequal. Moreover, Trump’s immigration policies are further endangering its already deteriorating financial condition.

So don’t believe Republicans’ gaslighting that it will be necessary to cut Social Security benefits. All that is necessary to preserve Social Security is political will to raise taxes on the wealthy and a sensible immigration policy.

New York Times, News Analysis: How Trump Skewed Presidential History, Larry Buchanan, Karen Yourish, Doug Mills, Jon Huang and Raj Saha, June 10, 2026 (interactive). Eight historians evaluate Trump’s gold plaques for each president.

In a well-trafficked walkway linking the West Wing to the White House residence, President Trump has recast history with gold-lettered plaques that summarize each of the 47 U.S. presidencies.

They are peppered with falsehoods, misrepresentations, insults, praise, self-promotion and erratic capitalizations.A photo of attendees in the hallway where the plaques are displayed. They are scattered across the length of the display.

Attendees at a Rose Garden dinner mingled near the plaques in May. Doug Mills/The New York Times

The Times photographed each plaque and asked eight historians who have studied and written about both Democratic and Republican presidents to examine and annotate the exhibit, which spans 5,400 words. 

More On Iran War

New York Times, Analysis of Satellite Image and Videos Suggest Precision U.S. Strikes on Iranian Water Facility, Christoph Koettl and Christiaan Triebert, June 11, 2026 (print ed.). It is unclear if the U.S. intentionally struck the facility or knew what it was. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

Strikes early Wednesday destroyed what appears to be a drinking-water facility on Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Around the time of the strikes, the U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that it had conducted attacks near the strait “with precision munitions from U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets.”

Iranian state media reported that the U.S. had hit water storage buildings and a local official said that water was cut off to more than 20,000 people living in a town and villages nearby. Temperatures in the area have reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week.

A commercial satellite image from the morning of June 9 shows two small water structures in the village of Bemani. Both have light blue pipes, typical for water distribution infrastructure, as is their location — on a hill outside of a populated area. The buildings are consistent with the description of the two storage tanks that Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, the head of the provincial water authority, said were destroyed.

It is unclear if the U.S. intentionally struck the water facilities, or knew what was in the buildings. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime under international law.

Videos released on Wednesday by Iranian media outlets, including state media, and the provincial water authority show that the roof of the smaller building collapsed.

The larger facility next to it still stands, but images show that it has a small impact hole in the center of its roof. The Times confirmed the images of the structure by matching the visible surroundings to reference imagery of the site. 


bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The War Gets Worse, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 11, 2026. Just over three months ago, acting alone, lacking authorization from Congress, and having made no case for the war to the public, President Trump chose to attack Iran. His choice was unwise and his action was unlawful. And his war has clearly been unsuccessful.

bulwark logo big shipThe terrible Iranian regime remains in place. In fact, having survived a massive assault from the United States and Israel and having damaged both U.S. forces and its Gulf neighbors, and having also succeeded in harming the global economy by successfully closing the Strait of Hormuz, that dangerous and deplorable regime is now more powerful than it was before.

Meanwhile the Iranian people, who had bravely risen up against that regime, have been utterly betrayed.

And for our part, we’ve suffered casualties and spent billions and drawn down munitions. Our government has made unjustified claims of success and has concealed losses and setbacks. Our president has demonstrated even worse leadership than one might have expected, with shifting and untenable justifications for the war, threats of war crimes, generally incompetent leadership, and truly unhinged behavior. The American public justifiably has no confidence in this administration’s conduct of the war, and nor do our allies in the Gulf, in Europe, or in Asia.

It’s all very bad, and now Trump is making it worse. Frustrated and angry at the failure of his vanity war, prevented by his narcissism from coming to grips with the situation he now faces, Trump has been resisting putting the country first and extricating us without too much further damage.

And now, over the last couple of days, he has been getting us in deeper rather than getting us out.

Sometimes things get worse before they get better. That’s why it’s important to have like-minded people to ride the peaks and troughs with. Join our pro-democracy community by becoming a Bulwark+ member.Subscribed

A U.S. Army helicopter, flying to enforce what is at this point a pointless blockade or counter-blockade of the strait, crashed Monday after a collision with an Iranian drone. The U.S. military launched a new round of “self-defense” strikes on Iran in “a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”

These strikes led in turn to relatively uneventful retaliatory attacks by Iran against its neighbors, and it seemed for a few hours that the tit-for-tat might have been completed. Perhaps Trump could now focus on extracting us from the mess into which he’d gotten us? But his vanity and narcissism prevailed. And so, when Iran didn’t immediately accept his latest stipulations for an acceptable deal, last night he ordered a second wave of air strikes, described by CENTCOM as “additional self-defense strikes . . . in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression” against Iranian targets that “posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.”

These vague rationales or excuses for continued strikes are justifications for endless attacks on Iran. These rationales are a justification for endless war.

But Trump himself promptly undercut even the pretense that these strikes were about self-defense or dealing with threats. As the attacks were underway, he acknowledged both on social media and in interviews with reporters that the point of the strikes is to coerce Iran to sign the peace agreement that he wants, one that he presumably hopes will make it less obvious that his war has been a failure.

In a call with Fox News’s Trey Yingst from the Situation Room (!) as the strikes were ongoing, Trump forgot that he was supposed to talk about proportional responses and self-defense.

He warned that if Iran doesn’t sign the agreement, “we’ll bomb the shit out of them.” He then boasted that the strikes were “vicious” and “violent,” and “they didn’t know what the hell hit them.”

This morning, he threatened further escalation: “At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island.”

We will see if this is real or Trumpian bluster. But either way, it’s unseemly braggadocio and dangerous fantasy. As the military historian Phillips O’Brien explained, our latest attacks

will almost certainly not get Iran to bend the knee. Trump can boast all he wants, as he did above, about the Iranian military being destroyed, but the reality is that he is still very worried about Iranian capacity. How do we know that? Well many of the US strikes against Iran were done on June 9 and then again last night with (fast depleting) stocks of Tomahawk missiles or by aircraft that can fire at safe distances.

We can fire more missiles and drop more bombs. But at this point, we are waging war, and putting our own service members at risk, for no justifiable reason. And we are simply compounding the considerable damage Trump has already done first by launching, and then by continuing with, this foolish and reckless adventure.

Trump is now digging the hole he has gotten us into even deeper. Responsible members of Congress should redouble their efforts to force an end to this unauthorized, unwise, and unsuccessful war.

U.S. Law, Immigration, Courts, Rights, Justice

ICE logo

New York Times, Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say, Megha Rajagopalan and Hamed Aleaziz June 11, 2026. The women are among nearly two dozen people slated to be sent to a country where the U.S. government has advised “Do not travel for any reason.”

The Trump administration is preparing to deport nearly two dozen people to the Central African Republic on Thursday, including at least two Iranian women who had sought refuge in the United States, according to lawyers and a government official.

The flight, which is also expected to include migrants from Afghanistan and Syria, would mark the first such deportation to the Central African Republic, a deeply impoverished country that has been plagued by conflict. The country is so dangerous that the U.S. State Department states on its website, “do not travel for any reason.”

At least some of the migrants have received court orders in the United States prohibiting their deportation to their home countries because of the threat of persecution or torture, their lawyers said. Migrants face a higher burden of proof to win this “withholding of removal” status than they do to qualify for asylum.

The Trump administration is working to find ways to deport people despite these court orders. The government is cutting deals with other countries willing to take them. The U.S. has sought or signed agreements with dozens of countries, including Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini.

The Iranian women scheduled to be on Thursday’s flight have no criminal record and have been granted court protection against deportation to Iran, said Sahar Jalili Pawelski, one of their immigration lawyers. The precise circumstances of their cases were not immediately clear, but many Iranians who hold this protection fear persecution over their political beliefs or religious identity.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

The women were in “serious disbelief” when they realized they were scheduled to be sent to the Central African Republic, said Ali Rahmana of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, who recently met with them.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would not confirm future deportations for security reasons. The planned deportations were confirmed by a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans were not public. A senior immigration official in the Central African Republic said he had no knowledge of any final agreement.

The migrants have no ties to the country, and it is unclear where they will live or whether they could ultimately be sent back to Iran. The U.S. government has documented significant human rights abuses in the Central African Republic, including unlawful killings, torture and arbitrary arrest and detention.

“It’s one of the hardest places in the world to live, and the idea that it would be considered a safe third country is absurd,” said Anjli Parrin, director of the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

The existence of a deportation deal with the Central African Republic was earlier reported by Reuters.

Ms. Parrin, who has worked extensively in the country, said it has no functioning health care system and that fears of violence are constant despite a tentative peace agreement between armed groups and the state.

Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to curtail immigration, and the White House is looking to step up deportations to third countries as a way to make good on that pledge. The deportation of Iranians would be another example of that policy extending to groups that had previously been seen as U.S. allies or aligned with its values.

The administration had been in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo to deport more than 1,000 Afghans who had aided the U.S. war effort in their country, rather than allowing them to immigrate to the U.S. as planned. Negotiations stalled after a wave of public criticism, leaving the administration to seek new alternatives.

Margaret Stock, an Alaska-based immigration attorney and a member of the legal team for an elderly Syrian man who was told he would be on the flight to the Central African Republic, said he has scars all over his body from being tortured in his home country. He feared returning to Syria because he is a Sufi Muslim, she said, and a U.S. immigration judge agreed that those fears were credible.

The man, she added, suffers from diabetes — a grave risk in the Central African Republic, where medical care, even for routine ailments, is extremely limited.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Trump Found His Roy Cohn, Andrew Egger, right,andrew egger June 11, 2026. Here are four things we already know. Donald Trump’s top criterion for his attorney general is someone who will act as his personal attorney. He tapped Todd Blanche as deputy AG last year because Blanche had been his personal attorney and would see the job as a continuation of that work. Blanche has now gotten the nod for the top job because Trump thinks he’s done a good job in this respect so far. And a big part of that, as Bill wrote the other day, has been Blanche’s work as “prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.”

bulwark logo big shipNew York Times’s big new piece of behind-the-scenes narrative reporting of the White House’s struggle to contain the Epstein crisis last year.

Last year, the administration’s shambolic rollout of the files seemed to turn primarily on the work of three officials: then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and then-FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Patel and Bongino were the administration émigrés from the right-wing fever swamps, where they had spent years podcasting about the giant trove of incriminating documents about Epstein’s associates they insisted the FBI was sitting on. And Bondi was the clownish figure whose failure to grasp the seriousness of MAGA’s belief in the files had done much to multiply the story’s political damage. The three of them spent months fighting over who was to blame for the crisis.

Blanche, by contrast, was the cleanup man. When the top members of the president’s personal-defense team gathered in the White House Situation Room last July to figure out how to contain the spiraling story, it was Blanche who suggested both major planks of what would come to be the White House’s response. Blanche raised the possibility of publicly calling for the unsealing of the grand jury testimonies in past Epstein-related criminal cases. “If the courts refused to unseal them—as Blanche predicted—they could shift the blame for withholding the Epstein material away from the Trump administration and onto the judges,” the Times reports. “Blanche’s suggestion would make it appear that the White House wanted the materials released, when it was almost certain not to happen.” Trump would go on to do exactly this in a Truth Social post.

At the same meeting, Blanche sanded the rough edges off a lunatic idea proposed by Vice President JD Vance: What if we tapped Tucker Carlson to go interview Ghislaine Maxwell? It would be better, Blanche suggested, to have Justice Department lawyers question Maxwell and release the transcript—and, he said, he was willing to do it himself. The only snag, he suggested, was that “Maxwell’s lawyers might expect something in return for her candor.” It fell to others—White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair—to make the argument that pardoning or reducing Maxwell’s sentence would be a colossal PR mistake.

It’s worth dwelling on how far through the looking glass this moment was. By all rights, it was insane for Blanche—the second-in-command at the Justice Department, the man most responsible for its day-to-day operations—to be attending this meeting at all. It was still more insane for him to be taking the point position in laying out a strategy for how to protect the president from a political crisis, and how to tap the resources and respectability of the Justice Department in order to do so. And perhaps most insane of all—for anybody to suggest, let alone a person in Blanche’s position—was the suggestion he let twist in the air that perhaps a convicted sex trafficker could be recruited as a key part of their self-defense effort, provided they were willing to scratch her back too. While others in the room shot down suggestions of a pardon or commutation, there was one other, smaller thing they could offer Maxwell: Shortly after speaking to Blanche, she was transferred to a far more comfortable prison.

Again: None of this really changes anything we knew about Blanche. It was always in keeping with what we know of his character and how he sees his role that he would do any of these things. But we now know from the Times not just that he would do them, but that he has done them: Blanche in fact was the mastermind behind nearly all of the political effort to shield Trump from any political fallout over the Epstein files. When he goes before the Senate for his confirmation to the top job, they should tear him apart for it.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • Meet the Millennial Pastor at the Vanguard of the MAGA Culture War… Pastor/influencer Russell Johnson is the media-savvy new face of growing, Trumpified churches. DOMINICK BONNY takes you on a deep dive.
  • bulwark logo big shipDamn the Risks, Pour Me Another Glass… Why MONA CHAREN on why she doesn’t plan to stop drinking alcohol.
  • No Guns, No Drugs—Why Did We Blow Up These Boats? Shocking new facts are still emerging about the campaign against ‘drug boats,’ AMANDA KLASING writes.
  • Fight for Your Democracy… On the flagship pod, SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK joins TIM MILLER to discuss why Trump & co. are pushing the South to gerrymander back to the dark days of Jim Crow: They’re gonna lose the midterms bigly.
  • The third annual Liberalism for the 21st Century Conference, hosted by the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism—publisher of the UnPopulist—comes to the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. on July 16–17. This year’s theme is an important one: the Reconstruction Agenda, or how to create a post-Trump future that is a genuinely and securely post-authoritarian one. In addition to our own Bill Kristol, Sarah Longwell, and Cathy Young, you can catch speakers like Anne Applebaum, Ezra Klein, Adam Serwer, and Jan-Werner Müller. Check out the full program and register here. And use BULWARK-26 for a 10 percent discount.

Quick Hits

RUMBLE WITH THE DEVIL: Yesterday, we published a profile of millennial political operative-turned-pastor/influencer Russel B. Johnson. He’s a case study of a growing trend of overt politicization among some evangelical churches, and things got testy in his exchanges with reporter Dominick Bonny. The independent minister’s aggression toward the press is part of a deliberate strategy that he has used to grow his profile online:

The hope of prosperity in this life is both part of the American dream and a quieter theme of Johnson’s preaching, although he has expressly rejected belief in what critics call the “prosperity gospel,” which associates material wealth and success with faithfulness to God. But asked in an email how he reconciles his luxury lifestyle with Christ’s teachings about the spiritual hazards of wealth, he rejected the question as an example of journalists “cosplaying as theologians.” The Bible, he wrote in an email, “doesn’t teach that holiness requires performative poverty, nor does it require pastors to live according to the aesthetic preferences of hostile journalists.” Whether a person is wealthy doesn’t matter, morally or spiritually; their personal attitude toward their wealth—“whether wealth owns the person,” as Johnson puts it—is what’s important.

“I make no apology for enjoying life,” he continued.

Johnson was similarly exercised about other questions I emailed him about his ministry and politics, including some that touched on recent political stories. For instance, asked how he squares a Christian ethic with Trump’s mass deportations–focused immigration policy, which has broken up families across the country and caused untold harms to communities targeted for enforcement, Johnson claimed the question was “morally unserious.” “Scripture commands compassion for the stranger. It doesn’t command national suicide or the erasure of borders,” he wrote.

Does he differ with President Trump on any significant political matters? The former Republican campaign operative insisted on his ideological independence. “There are always policies, appointments, rhetoric, and other decisions I would evaluate critically. I am a pastor, not a campaign surrogate,” he wrote. He did not provide specific examples.

“If any of my answers come across as dismissive or dripping with disdain, that is intentional. I have deep contempt for what your profession has become,” he added before ending on a version of a classic Trump line: “The media truly has become the enemy of the American people.” Johnson then posted the full set of questions and his responses (with hostile commentary about The Bulwark) to his Instagram story.

There’s a lot more to the story than that. Read the whole thing.

NO BOTTOM: Here’s a simply amazing report from Politico: “A top Justice Department staffer responsible for liaising with Congress planned to make a claim with President Donald Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ and asked to recuse himself from any work related to it—a move that alarmed colleagues at the DOJ.”

The official, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Patrick Davis, is a former top aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Davis told the department he intended to apply for money from the proposed fund—now on indefinite hiatus, if acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is to be believed—because his phone and emails had been subpoenaed while he was involved in investigating the origins of the “Russiagate” investigation while on the hill.

Where to begin on this one? For starters, the story highlights once again how unbelievably incestuous the fund was from the jump: Not only was the fund itself negotiated incestuously by Trump’s current personal lawyers and his former personal lawyers who now run the Justice Department, but at least one Justice Department staffer heavily involved in trying to sell the thing to senators on the Hill was planning to try to benefit from it personally. (And that wouldn’t have been the half of it: Recall that the Justice Department tried to win over hostile senators to support the fund by reminding them they could apply for money as well!)

The second is that the “weaponization” Davis would have been seeking restitution for hadn’t taken place under Biden at all, but under the first Trump administration, when his records were pulled as part of a leak investigation. And the third is this bleak joke: We only know about this at all because Davis asked to recuse himself from official work on the anti-weaponization fund in light of his application—which means, relatively speaking, he’s one of the ethical ones. Read the whole thing.

Trump Watch

The Contrarian, Opinion: Reality Defies Trump-Friendly Predictions, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 11, 2026. Israel and vote-rigging conspiracies get clobbered.

We live in an era in which domestic politics and international events routinely plunge us into historically unprecedented circumstances. Although some humility should be in order before attempting to propound extravagantly definitive predictions, political operatives and pundits confidentially exude unwarranted certainty only to see reality confound their prognostications.

contrarian logoA year ago, not many foreign policy gurus would have predicted nonstop war would leave Iran, not Israel, on the rise in the Middle East; upend the U.S.-Israel relations; and severely undermine AIPAC’s political attack machine. (Likewise, not many foreign policy gurus doubted “the narrative put out by Russian propaganda, tacitly assuming that Ukraine, outmanned and outgunned, would eventually lose,” as Anne Applebaum recently observed.) These days, foreign policy prognostication is a fool’s errand.

Domestically, many horserace political reporters and angst-ridden Democrats have insisted Donald Trump’s nonstop onslaught of election denial conspiracies would imperil free and fair elections. That does not seem so certain now either.

Given how frequently results contradict Trump’s preferred storylines, we should pay far less attention to hysterical doom-mongering about his power to shape events.

Iran/Israel

In launching last year’s 12-day bombardment of Iran to “obliterate” its nuclear weapons program, Israel’s right-wing government, bolstered by Trump’s war fervor, believed it found a path to rebound from its Oct. 7, 2023, national security debacle and worldwide condemnation of its conduct in Gaza. With scant evidence, too many observers accepted Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spin that they were in the driver’s seat and that intraparty fights over support for Israel would tear apart Democrats.

Now, the picture both internationally and domestically looks quite different. Israel faces condemnation across the U.S. political spectrum for dangling the prospect of Iranian regime change in front of Trump. The war has been a strategic failure for Israel and the U.S., endangering Netanyahu’s coalition government, turning American public opinion against Israel, and boosting advocates in Israel and the U.S. who want to curtail military aid to Israel. (AIPAC is in quite a pickle now that Netanyahu appears to favor curtailing U.S. military aid, the very position for which AIPAC vilified Democratic progressives.)

Matters got worse for the Trump-Netanyahu duo (and prognosticators certain of their triumph) when Iran bombed Israel, Netanyahu defied Trumps’ demand for restraint, and Netanyahu incurred Trump’s public tongue-lashing. Forced to halt his retaliation, Netanyahu was humiliated at home, which only affirmed his position as the snubbed junior partner in a disastrous war. (Now that Trump has retaliated for downing of a U.S. helicopter, Netanyahu looks all the more impotent.) Netanyahu’s rationale for retaining power — his supposed talent in manipulating the U.S. and garnering support for nonstop wars — is evaporating.

After that embarrassment, Netanyahu still faces, as Gideon Rachman explained, a “peace deal that Trump is working on seems likely to leave Iran in a stronger financial position — and still with a residual nuclear capability.” Netanyahu’s reliance on Trump and his preference for “an entirely military solution to Israel’s security problems — ignoring the political and diplomatic dimensions” render Israel more isolated and his coalition more precarious than ever.

Netanyahu’s arrogant insistence that Israel needed the support of only right-wing Republicans, permitting him to ignore bipartisan American opinion and legitimate concerns of American Jews, was a stupendous miscalculation. Instead of restoring his reputation, cementing an authoritarian alliance with the MAGA movement, and demonstrating the superiority of war over diplomacy, Netanyahu enters a treacherous election environment with Israel’s standing in the U.S. collapsing. Netanyahu apologists and observers who bought their spin certainly did not expect a seismic readjustment in U.S.-Israel policy, the hardening of Americans’ conviction that advocates of forever wars are dangerous, or a serious backlash against the Israel-right-or-wrong crowd. By contrast, Democrats who stuck with a morally and strategically defensible anti-war stance critical of Netanyahu have widespread public support.

Middle East developments remind us that extrapolating from unrelated events and assuming competency neither Trump nor Netanyahu possess lead to faulty conclusions. Remembering Trump’s uncanny preference for picking the wrong ally to pursue the wrong strategy — that is, betting against Trump’s utterly flawed foreign policy impulses — would lead to far more accurate results.

Trump’s election denial/voting rigging may run out of steam

Inarguably, MAGA Supreme Court justices’ evisceration of voting rights and re-imposition of Jim Crow along with Trump’s phony election fraud claims have done real damage to pluralistic democracy. Certainly, Republicans’ re-redistricting gambit threatens to disenfranchise millions of voters, make elections less competitive, and increase ideological extremism. Still, Trump’s political collapse and the anti-MAGA political environment (getting worse by the day, thanks to Trump’s Iran war-driven 4.2 percent inflation , which he loves) strongly suggest that “the House map is not red enough to protect Republicans,” as Kyle Kondik of Sabato’s Crystal Ball confirmed. Bottom line: With Democrats are still favored “to flip the House in November,” panic over “stolen” or (even more hysterically) “cancelled” elections looks unwarranted.

Election law expert Rick Hasen recalled, “Trump has incessantly fueled beliefs on the right that voter fraud is prevalent in Democratic states, and in particular that California’s slow vote count shows that the system is ‘crooked.’” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson piled on when he told reporters California vote-rigging is “so diabolical and so far upstream it’s impossible to prove.” In declaring “everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here,” however, Johnson gave away the game, Hasen dryly observed. (“Yes, the alleged voter fraud claimed by Trump and his allies is always the perfect crime: happening on a massive scale yet impossible to detect. It’s quite convenient to have a theory that is completely unfalsifiable.”)

With time, more voters, media outlets, public officials, and the courts have figured out that MAGA’s wild accusations are the fever dreams of losers desperate to excuse defeat. Trump’s early test runs (e.g., Fulton County, Georgia) of his election denialism risk inoculating the public against his specious claims. As Hasen noted, “[T]hanks to Trump himself, anyone paying any attention knows that California’s vote count is notoriously slow, that the ‘blue shift’ favoring Democrats routinely happens and that Trump has produced no evidence to support his claims.”

The legacy media now get it. “By baselessly framing [Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya] Raman’s rise as a Democratic scam, Mr. Trump extended his long-running project to erode public faith in elections — and gave an unusually clear preview of how he could greet any disappointing results for his party in November, when control of Congress is at stake,” the New York Times reported, emphasizing “how little of this has survived contact with reality.” Perhaps keeping Trump’s laughably ineffective antics under wraps would have been smarter.

Democracy activists should remain vigilant about efforts to invalidate elections based on a jerry-rigged, inaccurate national registration database. They should challenge executive decrees that may create havoc with mail-in balloting. But hysteria about a stolen election now appears unwarranted, especially if Democrats maximize voter engagement and turnout. (The bigger the margin, the harder it is to cheat.)

Widely publicizing Trump’s and Johnson’s confession that they have zero evidence of fraud may be the best way to boost the credibility of our elections, fend off Republican election antics, and quiet hysteria over a stolen election.

Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Trump is all smoke and mirrors, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 11, 2026. Shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, the president sat in one of the most recognizable rooms in the United States of America. Seated in a tall brown leather chair inside the Oval Office, with men and women packed in behind him, Donald Trump decided to use that moment to insult the presidents who came before him. While answering a question about Iran, the sitting president of the United States of America said this: “They dealt with some very stupid presidents. I have to say that. I’m embarrassed to say some very stupid people were sitting here.”

He said that from the very room where generations of presidents once sat, where decisions were made during wars, economic crises, civil rights battles, and national tragedies. It is a room that is supposed to remind its occupant that the office is bigger than the person holding it. But he once again couldn’t help himself.

Trump’s people had gathered to witness the signing of the so-called “Secure America Act,” legislation that will funnel an astonishing amount of money to ICE and Border Patrol for the entirety of his presidency. “So we won’t have that to be talking about anymore,” he said. Money he will almost certainly use in ways that will hurt, not help Americans. Enough money to carry out whatever he plans to use these agencies to do before, during, and after the midterms in an effort to help him stay in power.

Because with this president, it is all smoke and mirrors, something so many of us have seen for years now. And once you see it, you cannot unsee it. He showed it to us twice in less than an hour, from the same chair and in front of the same cameras. He just needed us paying attention to what he was saying instead of what he was doing.

And it wasn’t just what he said about the men who came before him, because he was not finished there. In addition to calling past presidents “stupid,” he kept going, the way he always does when no one in the room will stop him. He bragged about the border. He bragged about crime numbers. He spent close to ten minutes describing the old news of the reflecting pool being painted, the color he chose, the dumpsters full of garbage he said were hauled out, and the cost he claims he cut from the job. He went on a tangent about all of the pools he has built.

Before long, he was once again making a claim so childish and self-centered that it was hard to believe he was saying it from the Oval Office, insisting that the crowd he drew on the National Mall was larger than the one Martin Luther King Jr. drew for the speech that changed this country. “I had more people than him,” he said. The president cannot sit in one of the most important rooms on earth without insisting that he is the most important thing throughout all of our nearly 250 years.

But the part that matters, the thing behind the mirror, arrived this morning while he was still talking about himself. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that annual inflation hit 4.2% in May. That is the highest level in three years. It is up from 3.8% the month before, and it is nearly double what it was a year ago, when it sat at 2.4%.

And when a reporter asked the President of the United States whether he was concerned about that number, here is what he said: “No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.”

But this is where the performance falls away for a moment, and we see what all of it is really costing us. Because 4.2% is not just an economic statistic. It is how groceries become completely unaffordable. It is the rent payment that went up again. It is the gas pump. The electric bill. The prescription that suddenly costs a little more than it did last month. It is the quiet, exhausting arithmetic millions of Americans do at the end of every month, trying to figure out what gets paid now and what can wait until next week. And the man who promised over and over that he would bring prices down on day one looked into a camera from the most powerful chair in the world and said he loves it. He loves the thing that is making life harder for millions of people. There is a particular kind of contempt in that. Not anger. Not even indifference. Delight. And I can’t even put into words the cruelty of saying it.

And while still discussing inflation, Trump claimed that the United States has been secretly pulling millions of barrels of oil out of Iran in the dark of night and said that was the reason gas prices had not risen as high as they otherwise would have. He then promised that when the war ends, inflation is “going to come down like a rock.” In other words, everything is fine, everything is under control, and everything is about to get better, even as Americans continue paying more and the rest of the world absorbs the consequences of the instability surrounding his presidency.

He must have known how it sounded, because by the afternoon he was already trying to take it back. He went to the New York Post and said his words had been taken out of context, that what he really loved was that the numbers were “much lower than anticipated.” His own Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, ran the identical line the same day, that the comment had been “totally out of context.” But the country had already seen it. And no amount of spin can make us forget what we heard.

Thank you to those of you who support this work with a paid membership. Your $5 a month is what allows me to keep writing every day and, just as importantly, to keep these posts free and accessible to everyone. Those who can pay are the reason those who can’t still have access. And right now, with so much at stake heading into the midterms, that matters more than ever. If you’re in a position to join, I’d be grateful to have you with us.Subscribed

But the inflation comment wasn’t even the most bizarre thing he did in that room. When he was asked about Iran, he went into details on where we are right now, saying: “we hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today in case you miss it in case you don’t turn on your television set.” And then, a few minutes after that, a reporter asked him what he wished for himself ahead of his 80th birthday this Sunday, when he turns 80. And this is what he wished for, “Peace for the whole world.”

Peace for the whole world. In nearly the same breath, he detailed the strikes he was ordering on Iran. And lest anyone think he misspoke, his own Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, stood in front of cameras and confirmed it. “Central Command will be busy tonight,” Hegseth said, “because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard and we will be.” This is not a man wishing for peace. This is a man who has learned that he can wish for peace out loud while ordering bombs to be dropped, because it is all smoke and mirrors.

It is not easy to live like this. With a leader this volatile. And maybe this is the part we do not say enough. It is not only the cruelty of any single thing he does. It is the whiplash. It is listening to him say he loves inflation while the cost of just surviving is crushing American families, and hearing him wish for world peace while ordering strikes. It is never being able to settle, plan, or trust what tomorrow morning will bring because the President of the United States treats reality itself as something he can repaint at will. That kind of recklessness has a weight. It is heavy beyond words.

I draw from a lot of things when I sit down to write to you every night. I draw from history. I draw from the places I have traveled and the things I have stood in front of. I draw from the people around me, the ones who tell me what this year is doing to their families.

But something I have noticed more and more over the past few months is that there are fewer and fewer clean comparisons for what he is doing. There is no chapter I can turn to that perfectly matches it. We are not looking back at history right now. We are living through it.

This is a new moment in American history, and the old maps are not much help because no one has stood exactly where we are standing and watched a president do this much damage, not just to our country, but to the rest of the world as well.

That is a frightening thing to write. It is a frightening thing to realize. But it is also where the responsibility lives. Because a future that has not been written yet is still ours to shape, even when the path in front of us feels dangerous and uncertain.

And that is why we can’t give up and why we need to keep speaking out. Because every time we speak out against what he and his enablers are doing, we tell someone else that it is safe, and that it is necessary to use their voice too. The whole point of the smoke is to make us doubt what we can see. And the whole point of the mirror is to make us stare at the reflection instead of the thing standing behind it. And the only way to break this show is for one person after another to say out loud what is actually happening, and that we are not alone.

We are not imagining the prices. We are not imagining the bombs. We are not imagining a president who loves the inflation that is hurting his own people and wishes for peace at the same time he orders strikes. So say it. Say it to your neighbor, to the people you work alongside, and strangers alike, and say it again the next morning. Let us all keep speaking out.

Because this is not the end of the story. We are still here. We are still paying attention. We are still speaking out. We are still refusing to mistake the reflection for the truth. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

More On U.S. Elections, Politics

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: UPDATE: Polymarket ends sponsorship of election misinformation, Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 11, 2026. On Monday, Popular Information revealed that a network of at least 16 online influencers was pushing election misinformation in posts on X sponsored by Polymarket, a popular online prediction market. The posts claimed, without evidence, that the Los Angeles mayoral election was “rigged” against reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a Republican candidate.

The influencers pushing these conspiracies — including former InfoWars host Owen Shroyer and far-right content creator Benny Johnson — have a collective audience of 13 million.The "truth machine" is paying for election lies The "truth machine" is paying for election lies. 

Polymarket did not respond to Popular Information’s request for comment for Monday’s story, or to a similar inquiry from Semafor. The company has previously used sensationalism on X as a way to generate engagement and interest.

But, after Monday’s investigation gained traction, Polymarket determined that the X posts violated its policies. “Our existing marketing guidelines explicitly prohibit affiliates from providing misleading or false information, and we will continue to monitor and ensure compliance with our paid contributors,” Polymarket told Popular Information in a Wednesday statement.

Content creators partnering with Polymarket agree to publish a certain number of posts promoting the company each month. Polymarket has informed creators that posts promoting election conspiracies violate their agreement and is requesting the “Paid Partnership” label be removed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, seven of the Polymarket-sponsored X posts flagged by Popular Information had been deleted entirely, six had the “Paid Partnership” label removed, and three had not been changed.

Polymarket declined to comment on whether it was ending its overall partnership with far-right influencers or whether its actions were limited to the specific posts with election misinformation.

Lincoln Square Media and The Lincoln Project, Opinion: This Isn't a Blue Wave. It's Something Bigger, Strategy Session with Rick Wilson and Joe Trippi, June 11, 2026. Joe Trippi argues that 2026 isn't shaping up to be a traditional Democratic wave election.

lincoln square media logoInstead, he sees a broader "change wave" fueled by economic frustration, collapsing Republican turnout, and voters demanding new leadership. Rick Wilson and Joe break down what they're seeing in Iowa, Texas, Florida, and beyond—and why they believe Washington insiders are underestimating what's happening on the ground.

Farron Balanced, Tommy Tuberville in MAJOR TROUBLE, Career in TOTAL JEOPARDY! Farron Cousins, June 10, 2026. Tommy Tuberville is threatening to sue a publication after his own campaign accidentally handed over unredacted tax documents while trying to prove he really lives in Alabama, turning his residency defense into an even bigger political disaster. 

More Global News

New York Times, With Inflation Bearing Down, Europe Is Facing Higher Interest Rates, Eshe Nelson, June 11, 2026. The European Central Bank is set to raise rates, the first such move since September 2023, as energy disruptions caused by the Iran war drive higher prices.

The European Central Bank is expected on Thursday to become the first major central bank to raise interest rates in response to rising inflation set off by the war in the Middle East.

Policymakers, who set interest rates for the 21 countries that use the euro, are expected by economists and investors to lift their key rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 2.25 percent. It would be the first increase by the bank since September 2023.

A rate increase would be a decisive step toward countering some of the economic fallout of the war, which has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for energy and other commodities off Iran’s southern coast, for more than three months. In May, the inflation rate in the eurozone was 3.2 percent, driven by higher energy prices and well above the central bank’s target of 2 percent. Before the war, the inflation rate was just below 2 percent.

“Whatever happens with the conflict, you can argue that a lot of damage has been done to inflation in the short term,” said Frederik Ducrozet, head of strategy and macro research at Pictet Wealth Management. Policymakers are right to believe, he said, that even when the strait reopens, the disruption to energy supplies won’t end right away and that “inflationary risks” will persist.

New York Times, The War in Ukraine Has Now Gone On Longer Than World War I, Constant Méheut, June 11, 2026. Parallels between the two wars abound, from the grinding nature of the fighting to the way new technologies reshaped warfare.

The war in Ukraine has often been compared to World War I for its brutal infantry assaults and heavy casualties. Yet the idea that it could, by any measure, surpass a conflict so long and bloody that French soldiers hoped it would be “the last of the last” once seemed unthinkable.

ukraine flagThat is just what happened on Thursday. The war in Ukraine — which reached 1,569 days, or more than four years and three months — has now outlasted World War I.

When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sent his troops into Ukraine in February 2022, he believed the country would fall within days. After Ukraine pushed the Russians back and the conflict settled into a war of attrition, even many of those fighting could not imagine it would last this long.

“I thought maybe two or three years, and then politicians will find some kind of consensus,” said a Ukrainian soldier who, for security reasons, gave only his call sign, France, a nod to his time in the French Foreign Legion.

But the war has raged on, and, with peace talks stalled, it shows no sign of ending soon. Polls suggest that about half of Ukrainians believe it will not end before next year, which would push it closer to another threshold: the duration of World War II, which lasted six years. And there are many Ukrainians who would argue that the current war really began in 2014 when Russian troops seized Crimea.

New York Times, A Fractured North America Begins a Historic World Cup, James Wagner, June 11, 2026. Mexico and Canada have faced significant recent tension in their relations with the United States. But in their historic World Cup bid, the three countries promoted teamwork.

When this year’s World Cup was awarded to the United States, Mexico and Canada back in the summer of 2018, world leaders and soccer officials alike stressed an overarching theme: unity.

“It’s an opportunity to bring the world together and highlight how well things work between Canada, Mexico and the United States,” said Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister at the time.

“Canada, the United States and Mexico are profoundly united,” said Enrique Peña Nieto, then Mexico’s president.

President Trump, then in his first term, agreed: “The U.S., together with Mexico and Canada, just got the World Cup. Congratulations — a great deal of hard work!”

Fast forward to Thursday, when this first-ever three-country World Cup is scheduled to begin in Mexico.

The Mexican national team will face off against South Africa in the first of the tournament’s 104 games spread all over the continent, from Vancouver and Toronto to New York and Kansas City to Monterrey and Guadalajara. Mexico City’s iconic stadium will host the opener for a record third time, after undergoing a near $200 million makeover for this World Cup and increasing its capacity to 87,500 seats.

It is a historic tournament, with a record number of teams competing (48). And it is an event that the world celebrates every four years, one of the few touchstones to resonate throughout almost every corner of the globe, bridging national, religious, ideological and countless other divides.

But aside from the fever for the game, unity has not been the prevailing sentiment of late among the three host countries, and the execution of this neighboring-allies World Cup has not been seamless.

Since beginning his second term last year, Mr. Trump has repeatedly targeted Mexico and Canada with verbal attacks, vows of military action and tariffs. His administration has enacted a strict immigration policy that has turned away some World Cup participants, journalists and fans.And just a day before the tournament was set to begin, Mr. Trump took another economic swing at his co-hosts, threatening to let the nearly $2-trillion free trade pact between the three countries expire.

“We don’t need anything that Canada has, we don’t need anything that Mexico has, but they need everything that we have,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office, adding: “We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy, we don’t need anything that they have.”

Beyond that, there has been widespread criticism of over the prices for a tournament that was billed as being inclusive. For the first time, FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has used dynamic pricing, pushing tickets to eye-popping levels, when they can be secured at all. 

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

New York Times, The Big Questions About Jeffrey Epstein: What The Times Has Learned, Staff Reports, June 11, 2026. More than 60 Times journalists have delved into the life of the sexual predator whose secrets spurred an international reckoning over money, power and complicity.Some questions we’ve been pursuing:

What’s the latest? What did he do to girls and women? How did he get away with it for so long? Where did all his money come from? How did he build his network? What were his relationships with Trump and Clinton? Why weren’t more people charged? How did he die? What are the Epstein files?

Few, if any, figures in recent history have caused as much legal, political, financial and reputational upheaval as Jeffrey Epstein. A convicted sex offender, Mr. Epstein was connected to many of the world’s richest and most influential people and institutions. He died in prison in 2019.

The public fascination with Mr. Epstein intensified after President Trump initially refused to release federal investigative records after pledging to do so. In late 2025 and early 2026, Congress and the Justice Department did release millions of pages of documents related to Mr. Epstein that have helped answer questions, though many mysteries remain.

The New York Times has been investigating Mr. Epstein’s finances, enablers and possible co-conspirators since his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019. Based on our continuing reporting, here is what we know.

The most recent revelations about Mr. Epstein include:The president’s top advisers gathered in a series of Situation Room meetings as they struggled to contain a scandal engulfing Donald Trump himself

Behind the scenes, the Epstein crisis was paralyzing the Trump administration to a far greater extent than the public knew. In their public statements, Trump’s advisers were full of bravado, dismissing the crisis. In reality, it was consuming the highest ranks of the administration.His long friendship with the restaurateur Stephen Hanson, a wingman who enjoyed the company of attractive women, and had the means to help manage and entertain them

Mr. Hanson’s New York City empire included Blue Water Grill and Ruby Foo’s. He performed an array of tasks for Mr. Epstein, including arranging jobs, visas and entertainment for women.How a prestigious arts school and camp is working to shed its connections to Epstein

The Interlochen Center for the Arts in northern Michigan is preparing to demolish a lodge that was once named for Mr. Epstein, a donor who had attended the center as a teenager. During some of his return visits to Interlochen, he is said to have met two of the earliest victims of his grooming and abuse.Other news

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, told a congressional committee that the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exploited information about his extramarital affairs “to pressure me to re-engage with him” after Mr. Gates had begun to sever ties with him.What did he do to girls and women?ImageA man lies on his stomach on a mattress on a balcony outdoors. Two women, who are not wearing pants and with black boxes superimposed on their faces, are massaging his legs.Millions of pages of records related to Mr. Epstein include photographs of him.Credit...U.S. Department of Justice

Mr. Epstein has been accused by prosecutors and victims of raping, abusing and trafficking girls and young women. It was a vast, yearslong operation that involved:Recruiting girls who said they were raped or sexually abused

In the mid-2000s, federal and state authorities identified more than a dozen such teenage girls in Florida. In many cases, Mr. Epstein’s longtime companion Ghislaine Maxwell recruited them under the pretense that they would be masseuses for a wealthy man at his mansion in Palm Beach.Trafficking minors in both New York and Florida

Federal prosecutors later accused Mr. Epstein of abusing and trafficking dozens of girls at his townhouse in Manhattan, as well as in Palm Beach, from at least 2002 to 2005. He lured some by posing as a talent scout for Victoria’s Secret.Later shifting his focus to young women and aspiring models

After he served time in a Florida jail for soliciting prostitution from a minor, Mr. Epstein appears to have shifted focus from underage victims to young women. He was often surrounded by aspiring models from Russia and Eastern Europe, some of whom later said they felt trapped under his control.Introducing women to male friends and business associates

Some have accused several of those friends and associates of rape, though the men deny it.

Hundreds of women coming forward after his death in 2019

FBI logoThey have accused him of raping or abusing them, including when they were girls — allegations that in some cases date to the early 1990s. At least one of those women, Virginia Giuffre, has died by suicide.

The federal government repeatedly missed opportunities to fully investigate or charge Mr. Epstein, until 2019. The missteps and lost opportunities included:A tip about nude photos ignored by the F.B.I.

maria farmer youngIn 1996, Maria Farmer, shown in a file photo, called the F.B.I. to tell the agency that Mr. Epstein had stolen nude photos of her underage sister. It ignored the tip for roughly a decade.A sweetheart deal negotiated with federal authorities

In 2005, the parents of a 14-year-old girl told the Palm Beach police that she had been paid to give a sexual massage to Mr. Epstein. That set off a state and federal investigation. While the authorities identified dozens of underage victims, the Justice Department — including the U.S. attorney for southern Florida at the time, Alexander Acosta — negotiated a deal: Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from just one minor.An easy jail sentence that allowed him to work from his office

The agreement also shielded any “potential co-conspirators,” including his female assistants, from prosecution. Though Mr. Epstein served his sentence in the county stockade, he was allowed to spend much of his jail time working from his office.An ability to return to society after just 13 months

After being released early from his 18-month sentence, Mr. Epstein was welcomed back into elite society, attending parties, hosting dinners and continuing to do business with major financial institutions.Multiple secret federal investigations that bore no results

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

Jeffrey Epstein's fellow sex trafficker and teen rapist Ghislaine Maxwell, attending a social gathering with her friends Donald Trump and the onetime model Melania Knauss, the future First Lady Trump.

Jeffrey Epstein's fellow sex trafficker and teen rapist Ghislaine Maxwell, left, is shown attending a social gathering with her friends Donald Trump and the onetime model and party girl Melania Knauss, the future First Lady Trump.

Emptywheel, Opinion and Analysis: NYT’s Titty Distraction, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 11, 2026. The name “Melania” does not show up in NYT’s 8,000-word piece claiming to explain the “White House freakout over the Epstein files.” Instead, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan give us tits, a bullshit claim that the White House was panicked about the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files primarily because a woman had claimed Trump abused a girl’s nipples until they hurt.

There are other enormous gaps in this story. There’s no mention of the woman who claimed she was raped by Trump as a teenager, duplicate copies of which were only released under pressure and the original files from which have never been released.

Perhaps relatedly, Maggie and Swan [Co-authors of the forthcoming book "Regime Change," shown below, as well as a major New York Times (NYT) article drawn on the book and here criticqued) make no mention of a key line in the July 7, 2025 letter asserting that there would be no more releases that claimed, “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changeindividuals as part of his actions;” the claim that was known then to be false at the time, given Epstein’s efforts to blackmail Bill Gates, and further proven false by Gates’ testimony yesterday. NYT claims Musk “repeatedly question[ed] why a client list had not been released,” rather than explaining that Musk created an enormous problem when he claimed, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

While NYT describes Susie Wiles scolding Dan Bongino for leaking something to ABC, it doesn’t say what the substance of the leak was (which, in addition to sharing details with Musk, may have been the disclosure that “as many as a thousand FBI agents, many of whom were typically focused on national security matters, were enlisted to help with” the March FBI review). It doesn’t describe Trump’s public acknowledgment he knew Virginia Giuffre, and then another girl, were recruited at Mar-a-Lago.

It describes Blanche’s strategy at length (including the discussion of bribing Ghislaine Maxwell for — what?!?!).

As the president’s former defense attorney, Blanche had a unique vantage point in the discussion. He was better equipped than anyone else in the room to weigh the ideas being discussed against Trump’s personal and political interests. Blanche laid out what he saw as their best options.

Option 1 was to petition Federal District Courts in Florida and New York to unseal the grand jury testimonies — the secret transcripts of prosecutors’ presentations of witnesses and evidence in their efforts to obtain indictments in past Epstein-related cases. As those were almost certain to contain no significant new information, everyone agreed that this option was a good idea, and not only because a release was unlikely to damage the president.

Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the secrecy of grand jury materials is regarded by most federal judges as almost always inviolate, and the bar for any release is exceptionally high. If the courts refused to unseal them — as Blanche predicted — they could shift the blame for withholding the Epstein material away from the Trump administration and onto the judges. And all the better if the judges had been appointed by Democratic presidents. Blanche’s suggestion would make it appear that the White House wanted the materials released, when it was almost certain not to happen.

Option 2 was to have Justice Department lawyers question Maxwell and publicly release the transcript — a twist on the idea proposed earlier by Vance. Blanche offered to interview Maxwell himself.

“What if we got her to talk to Congress?” Vance suggested.

Blanche raised the possibility that Maxwell’s lawyer might expect something in return for her candor.

But that discussion makes no mention of Blanche’s close ties to Ghislaine’s attorney David Markus. It doesn’t describe how radically Ghislaine Maxwell’s answers to Todd Blanche deviated from known facts, nor how deliberately incompetent his questioning was in the first place, nor how Blanche seemed to be working from a script of what DOJ discovered in the March review of files. It doesn’t consider the way the WSJ birthday book story seemed to be the opening salvo in potentially more damaging leaks, nor the way it coincided with the prospect of bribing Ghislaine.

This story may provide nifty, albeit provably incomplete, details of how the White House reacted. As Maggie and Swan’s previous, “JD Vance told NYT he told Trump so” fan-fic did, this one provides detailed seating charts from a selection of sensitive meetings (which I’ve quoted below). It does not provide any real explanation of why the White House freaked out. Nor does it accurately explain (or perhaps even understand) the cover-up Todd Blanche has pursued.

It provides tits, instead.

All these exclusions are suspect. But the Melania one is especially damning given that Haberman was part of this July 2019 story, written a month before Epstein suicided, describing that Epstein had, since Trump’s election, been claiming to have introduced Melania to Trump, precisely the topic about which Melania keeps frantically suing.

But while Mr. Trump has dismissed the relationship, Mr. Epstein, since the election, has played it up, claiming to people that he was the one who introduced Mr. Trump to his third wife, Melania Trump, though neither of the Trumps has ever mentioned Mr. Epstein playing a role in their meeting. Mrs. Trump has said that her future husband simply asked for her phone number at a party at the Kit Kat Club during Fashion Week in 1998.

With Maggie especially, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether she is deliberately crafting her narrative in service to clients, or whether she is just easily snookered by her sources.

This time around, there are several details that suggest it’s the former

July 9:

Two days later, on July 9, the two men were summoned to a meeting with Wiles and Bondi in the Situation Room complex. They were the last to enter the small, wood-paneled room. Seated around the table were Bondi, Wiles, Blanche and Taylor Budowich, one of Wiles’s deputies. The moment Bongino sat down, Wiles told him that she had been informed he leaked a sensitive story about Epstein and Trump to ABC News.

July 17:

Vice President JD Vance took a seat at the head of the table in the John F. Kennedy Conference Room of the Situation Room complex. “This is a huge problem,” he told the group. Arrayed around him were the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles; the White House counsel, David Warrington; the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt; the deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich; the communications director, Steven Cheung; the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche; the associate attorney general, Stanley Woodward Jr.; and the deputy chief of staff James Blair. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, joined on speakerphone.

Late July:

On the day the Trump team learned about the looming subpoena, another Epstein crisis meeting was convened in the Situation Room to discuss the pressure coming from Congress. It included most of the same group: Wiles and Vance, Blanche, Warrington, Patel, Bondi, Blair, Cheung, Budowich and Leavitt.

August 13:

On Aug. 13, Trump’s team met again in the secure complex at 6 p.m. for two hours to refine the Epstein defense strategy. Again, the group included Wiles, Bondi, Blanche, Patel, Blair, Budowich, Cheung and Leavitt. Vance phoned in from Britain.

November (not included by NYT but addressed in Pam Bondi interview): 

Miami New Times, Epstein file says Trump “knew and funded underage sex parties” at his golf course, Natasha Yee, June 9, 2026. An FBI tip memorialized in the Epstein files alleges Trump knew about underage sex parties at a Trump golf course.

An FBI document from the U.S. Department of Justice Jeffrey Epstein files contains extraordinary allegations involving President Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and a Trump-owned golf course — claims that appear to have originated from a single tipster who contacted federal authorities in 2021.

FBI logoThe FBI intake report does not identify the golf course referenced by the caller. However, the allegation appears in files connected to Epstein, whose sprawling Palm Beach mansion served as the center of many of the activities that ultimately led to his conviction and the federal sex-trafficking investigation that followed.

The document, dated June 21, 2021, summarizes a call received by the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center from an individual who claimed to have firsthand knowledge of criminal activity involving Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Trump. 

New York Times, Guest Essay: She Was One of Obama’s Top Lawyers. How Did She Get Tangled Up With Epstein? Ankush Khardori (former federal prosecutor who specialized in white-collar crime), June 11, 2026. One of the ways Jeffrey Epstein infiltrated America’s elite was by giving important people what they wanted — private plane travel for Bill Clinton, research funding for Harvard professors and donations for the leaders of world-renowned museums. He drew them into his orbit using the gravitational pull of his wealth and rarefied social network. They reciprocated not necessarily because they liked him, but because it was their business to know people like him.

In theory, Kathy Ruemmler — the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and a White House counsel under President Barack Obama — should have been the last person to fall for Mr. Epstein’s charms. She had prosecuted white-collar criminals, risen to the highest levels of the Justice Department and built a sterling reputation as a defense lawyer in the private sector.

The Epstein files, however, paint a damning picture of their relationship. Among their emails were elliptical messages about “girls” (“careful i will renew an old habit,” he once wrote), sharp criticisms of the lawyers representing Mr. Epstein’s accusers (“Victim’s rights, my ass”) and discordant terms of endearment (“sweetie,” “Uncle Jeffrey”). He gave her gifts, including luxury handbags and a fur coat, and offered her career advice. At one point Mr. Epstein designated her as the backup executor of his will.

Ms. Ruemmler has been criticized by politicians and commentators for consorting with Mr. Epstein, but outside of the media spotlight (and off the record), most white-collar lawyers I know have been unwilling to condemn her. That is not because they are sympathetic to Mr. Epstein or friendly with Ms. Ruemmler, but because doing business with Mr. Epstein, and people like him, was business as usual for the top ranks of the legal profession. It most likely remains so to this day.

I recently sat down with Ms. Ruemmler for her first and only interviews since all of this became public. Years earlier, when I was still practicing law, we’d had a call to discuss opportunities in the public sector, and in March, she contacted me to ask if I’d like to hear her side of the Epstein story. For more than three hours over two interviews, we covered how she came to work with Mr. Epstein despite his questionable past and what she knew, or thought she knew, about the extent of his criminal misconduct.

The unsettling truth that emerges from these conversations and my reporting says less about the content of the emails and much more about the culture of big law firms. She looked past his 2008 conviction — for procuring a minor for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution — in the pursuit of business. Many other prominent criminal defense lawyers and former federal prosecutors would have made the same decision, and that tells you everything you need to know about how unreliable and corroded the legal world has become.

In the summer of 2014, Ms. Ruemmler was at the top of the legal profession.

At 43 years old, she had just stepped down as the White House counsel (“one of my most trusted advisers,” Mr. Obama said) after advising the president on some of his most consequential decisions: to seek to end the filibuster for lower court judges, get congressional approval for a military strike against Syria and accept the legal analysis that paved the way for gay marriage nationwide. Seen as one of the most impressive lawyers of her generation, she was in high demand. Large law firms had grown reliant on former high-ranking government officials to attract business and connect them to prospective clients.

After the White House, she returned to her old firm, Latham & Watkins. Her days were long and hectic. She regularly worked 12 hours a day — when she was handling a trial, it was more like 17 — and spent nearly half of her time traveling for clients. Some days, she might be finalizing a settlement with the Justice Department. On others, she might simply be supervising colleagues doing the day-to-day work.

But her principal responsibility was business development. She had been brought on to generate new work — to burnish the profits that have become standard at the largest law firms — and that required her to stay in regular contact with current and prospective clients.Editors’ PicksWhat Steven Spielberg Taught Me About Fear, Catharsis, and Being HumanIs Frozen Yogurt Better for You Than Ice Cream?7 Secrets for a Great Pasta Salad

She was “getting paid what seemed like an extraordinary amount of money” to do this, she told me, after a modest upbringing in a small town in southeastern Washington, a public-school education through college and a career spent working mostly in the public sector in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Inflation, Markets, Economy, Jobs

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 10, 2026 [Inflation Impacts], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 11, 2026. Today a report from the Department of Labor showed that inflation in May hit its highest level since early 2023, reaching an annual rate of 4.2%, up from 3.8% in April.

The Federal Reserve likes to keep inflation at 2%. Energy costs are the biggest driver of that inflation, with fuel oil up 59% and gasoline up 41% over their costs last year. Airline fares have risen 27%. Fruits and vegetables are up 6% over their cost a year ago.

At a signing event for the budget reconciliation measure Republicans passed to add an additional $70 billion in funding for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protect (CBP), the parent agency for Border Patrol, a reporter in the Oval Office asked President Donald J. Trump if he was concerned about the inflation number. Trump answered:

“No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why?”

And then his speech slid into a fantasy rewriting of the history of his war on Iran and his decision to launch it.

Trump claimed that he was telling reporters—and Iran—for the first time that the U.S. was secretly taking oil from Iran. “Do you know we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil?” he asked. “Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night 22 ships, late at night, with no lights, ’cause they don’t have any radar, ’cause we blasted the crap out of it. We took out, that why oil’s $85 a barrel.”

As Eric Schmitt and Jonathan Swan of the New York Times report, Trump appeared to be referring to the well-known U.S. operation to help dozens of commercial vessels traverse the Strait of Hormuz. So far, the journalists report, the U.S has guided more than 200 ships through in a little more than a month. Before the war, about 3,000 ships a month traveled through the strait. The reporters say they could not confirm Trump’s claim that the effort had enabled more than 100 million barrels of oil to reach the market.

Then Trump segued into a rewriting of why he started the strikes in the first place in order to suggest the dramatic hit the economy has taken from the war was part of his plan all along. He claimed he had deliberately made the choice to hurt the economy to stop Iran from producing a nuclear weapon, which he claimed—contrary to his own intelligence officers’ assessments—it was going to have “very soon.”

“I said, look, the one bad thing will be, we hit the best economy we’ve ever hit,” Trump claimed. “And I said to my people, I had [Treasury Secetary] Scott [Bessent], I had [Commerce Secretary] Howard [Lutnick], I had [Defense Secretary] Pete [Hegseth], I had all—I had [then–deputy attorney general] Todd [Blanche] in the room. I said, The one thing we have to do now, we had just hit the highest stock market in history. Highest 401Ks in history. Everything was going well, and I said, I hate to do this to you guys, but Iran’s gonna have a nuclear weapon very soon. We have to go and attack.”

In fact, in his video announcing the strikes and in comments in the early days of the war, Trump emphasized that the U.S. intended to end the Iranian regime, which he claimed had been at war with the U.S. for 47 years, and he urged Iranians to rise up against it. Ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions would come from the regime change he advocated.

In any case, he said today, oil was not nearly as expensive as the $250 a barrel people had said it could reach, so its current level is “pretty amazing.” And the stock market, he said, remains high. He went on to say that his strikes on Venezuela were “a great success” and that Venezuela has “become a happy country,” and that “we went to Iran and essentially we’ve done the same thing.” He claimed Iran’s military has been destroyed and all the Iranian leadership is gone.

When a reporter finally brought him back to the question about inflation coming down, he said that when the war is over, “it’s gonna come down like a rock.”

Meanwhile, John Knefel of Media Matters noted yesterday that Fox News hosts, many of whom supported the initial strikes on Iran, are now arguing that Trump should start bombing again. Their mantra is that it will take only two weeks to win a decisive military victory.

Trump’s relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news as New York Times White House reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, who have a book on the Trump presidency coming out, detailed how desperately worried the White House was last summer over the Epstein files. They searched desperately for a way to look as if they were being transparent to appease the MAGA base, while also making sure the files stayed hidden.

The write-up of the story distances Vice President J.D. Vance from the files, suggesting he was “panicked” by them and wanted them released. This position, attributed to him by White House officials, is good for him politically, as he will want to pick up MAGA voters unhappy about the Epstein cover up by 2028, at least—or before, should he need to take the mantle of the presidency from Trump, who will turn 80 on Sunday.

Vance is in the news this week as he seems to court MAGA in other ways, as well. On Monday he announced he would refer Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison to the Department of Justice for an investigation of criminal fraud. The claim that Somalis in Minnesota are engaging in social services fraud while Democrats look the other way is a driving factor behind MAGA politics.

Raquel Coronell Uribe and Tara Prindiville of NBC News report that Walz has called Vance’s attacks on him a “campaign of retribution” meant “to punish blue states like Minnesota.” Ellison told the reporters the allegations were “unfounded” and a “political stunt.” “It is deeply troubling to see official powers and public resources diverted away from serving the people and instead aimed at pursuing political adversaries,” he said. “That is not what government is for, and it diminishes public trust in our institutions.”

Vance has also jumped aboard the unfounded accusation of Trump and his loyalists that the slow counting of ballots in California suggests the election is insecure and the Republican candidate is being cheated. Election denialism is increasingly a hallmark of the MAGA Republicans as they argue any election they lose is fraudulent.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, when caught lying about Haitian immigrants eating pets, Vance admitted he felt it necessary “to create stories so that the…media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people.”

Yesterday, an Iranian drone downed a U.S. helicopter, although a U.S. official told CBS News it was not clear that the strike was intentional. This evening, Trump launched new airstrikes against Iran, saying they were “self-defense strikes” “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” after the slow progress of negotiations for an agreement to end the war.

U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces “launched strikes on Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran. U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy assets fired precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.”

Christoph Koettl and Christiaan Triebert of the New York Times confirmed reports from Iran that U.S. strikes destroyed what appears to have been a drinking water facility. They note that targeting civilian infrastructure can be a war crime under international law.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded to the U.S. strikes with their own strikes against U.S. targets in the region and announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz completely and would attack any vessels trying to cross it.

With the renewed strikes, the price of oil jumped more than $1 a barrel.

Tonight, Trump posted on social media a demand that Republicans in Congress give the U.S. military an additional $350 billion and pass the SAVE America bill that would suppress voting. “No games, no delays, and no weak compromises! Do this ASAP,” he wrote.

“This is a GENERATIONAL Investment in our Military, even bigger than President Reagan’s,” he wrote. The “$350 Billion Reconciliation Bill,” which could pass without any Democratic votes, “is the ONLY path to the full $1.5 TRILLION DOLLAR Military Budget our Warriors need in order to build THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM.”

He also demanded Republicans pass “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT” requiring proof of citizenship to vote and an end to mail-in ballots “EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY, OR TRAVEL!” in order to “protect our Elections for Generations to come” and “to secure the NATION for our children and grandchildren.”

Then he added “NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS” and “NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION SURGERY FOR OUR CHILDREN,” then concluded: “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP” 

More Global News

The Geo Network, News and Opinion: Ukraine Just ERASED 6 Bridges In 48 Hours, Staff Report, June 11, 2026. 110,000 Russians Are STRANDED In A 7km CHOKEPOINT,

In a masterclass of military strategy, Ukraine has executed a devastating logistical trap, destroying 6 critical supply bridges in just 48 hours.

This mathematically calculated offensive has completely severed the main arteries connecting the southern front to Crimea, trapping over 110,000 Russian troops in a massive logistical nightmare.

Forced into the narrow 7km Perekop corridor—now a deadly kill zone under heavy Ukrainian artillery fire—Putin's forces are facing an unprecedented fuel and ammunition crisis. With Russian armored mobility completely paralyzed, the operational initiative has officially shifted, bringing the war directly to the heart of the Crimean fortress.

June 10

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President Trump's nominee to become U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, is shown at right in a file photo showcasing his previous role in defending Trump from fraud charges before the convictions were voided because of the president's reelection.

Trump Watch, Public Reactions

  • djt mission from godThe Contrarian, Opinion: The President Is Bonkers, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 10, 2026. What we can do about it.  We should not be surprised that Donald Trump is mentally and emotionally imploding under the cumulative effect of plunging poll numbers, his disastrous Iran war (which constantly humiliates him as both Iran and Israel repeatedly defy his desperate attempts to control them and his phony prognostications of progress in peace talks), and an increasingly irritable Senate Republican caucus.
  • Lincoln Square Media, Opinion: Donald Trump's Hideous Tantrum, Rick Wilson, right, rick wilsonJune 10, 2026. There is a particular kind of absurdist theater that happens when a man who has spent his life surrounded by people paid to nod and agree with him suddenly collides with journalism.

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New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: After U.S. and Iran Exchange Strikes, Trump Issues New Threat, Lara Jakes and Yan Zhuang, June 10, 2026. President Trump said Iran would “pay the price” for taking “too long to negotiate” an agreement to end the war.

President Trump issued a new threat against Iran on Wednesday after U.S. and Iranian forces traded strikes across the Middle East, potentially upending a fragile cease-fire.

“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media. He made the comments hours after the U.S. military said its jets hit Iranian targets, including air defenses and radar sites near the Persian Gulf, describing the strikes as a “proportional response” to an attack on an American Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Iran has not admitted or denied downing the helicopter.

Iran FlagIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said the American strikes were conducted “under false premises.” In retaliation, Iran said it launched attack drones against U.S. naval targets in Bahrain, and fired missiles at American military facilities in Jordan.

Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said the attacks undermined diplomatic efforts to end the war and that negotiations could not advance without “a minimum level of conducive conditions,” according to Mehr, a semiofficial Iranian news agency.

IRIB, the Iranian state broadcaster, reported that the U.S. attacks hit drinking water facilities in the Bamani district of Sirik County, in the southern Hormozgan Province, cutting off water for thousands of people. Video footage of the damage, published by IRIB, was verified by The New York Times. U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for comment.

The Jordanian military said it had intercepted five missiles launched from Iran toward a region of the country that includes the Muwaffaq Salti base, which has been used for U.S. air operations and was also targeted in the early days of the war. Bahrain’s military said it had taken out several Iranian drones and missiles. And the Kuwait Army said its air defenses intercepted hostile targets.

The Revolutionary Guards claimed to have caused damage at U.S. bases, but that has not been confirmed.

Neither side had said how or whether the exchange might affect negotiations on a deal to end the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Mr. Trump has often said in recent weeks that such an agreement was close, but there have been no clear signs of progress. Mr. Trump said early Tuesday that a deal could be signed within days.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Lebanon: Israel deepened its assault across southern Lebanon on Tuesday in attacks it said were aimed at Iran-backed Hezbollah militants after an exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel ended the previous day. In the southern city of Tyre, at least eight people were reported to have been killed after the Israeli attacks.
  • Market reaction: Oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday after the tit-for-tat strikes across the Middle East had jolted energy markets. Read more ›
  • Nuclear talks: The Trump administration’s negotiations with Tehran have focused on four major elements of a nuclear agreement that U.S. officials say would grind Iran’s program to a halt for about 15 years. Read more ›
  • Lebanon conflict: Israel’s military campaign against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon has emerged as a major wedge issue in the efforts to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Read more ›

 

graham platner senate campaign

New York Times, 3 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Primary Election Results, Kellen Browning, June 10, 2026. Graham Platner, above, won the Democratic primary for Senate in Maine and quickly turned his populist message against Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent.

Graham Platner, the military veteran and first-time candidate whose populist message resonated with voters in Maine, prevailed over the state’s governor to win the Democratic primary for Senate on Tuesday. Now, he will face Senator Susan Collins, a vulnerable Republican incumbent, in one of the most consequential races in the country this fall.

Mr. Platner’s campaign has survived a series of scandals about his personal life, which Republicans began highlighting within minutes of his victory. And he used his speech Tuesday night to cast Ms. Collins as a tool of a political establishment that has let Maine down.

In other primaries on Tuesday, Democrats in Nevada picked Aaron Ford, the state attorney general, to oppose Gov. Joe Lombardo, solidifying the matchup in a competitive governor’s race in a key swing state. And Republicans in South Carolina showed their loyalty to President Trump, supporting his preferred candidates in races for Senate and governor.

Here are three takeaways from the night of primaries.

  • Amid a barrage of scandals, Platner sought to shift to the fall.
  • Trump’s candidates advanced or were leading.
  • Lindsey Graham avoided the embarrassment of a runoff.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Get Ready for November’s ‘Stop the Steal’, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 10, 2026. Republicans’ reactions to the Los Angeles mayoral race preview their reactions to the midterms.

After first taking time this morning (naturally) to denounce some of his cable news critics,1 Donald Trump got around to letting us know he may shortly order a resumption of major hostilities against Iran: “Iran is all talk and no action,” he posted. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

Apropos of nothing, it was ninety days ago that Trump had this to say about Operation Epic Fury: “We’ve won. Let me tell you, we’ve won. You never like to say too early you won—we won. We won. In the first hour it was over. We won.” Happy Wednesday. 

New York Times, Hopes Dim for Renewing Spy Law as Trump Digs In on Bill Pulte, Dustin Volz and Robert Jimison, June 10, 2026. Republicans are struggling to extend a powerf

Hopes were fading on Wednesday for a breakthrough in Congress to salvage a warrantless surveillance law before its expiration this weekend, after President Trump dug in on naming a close ally who has alienated members of both parties to a top intelligence post.

Unless lawmakers act by midnight on Friday, the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, will sunset. It is the legal underpinning for what is widely considered to be the most powerful surveillance tool the federal government has at its disposal, credited with generating intelligence that thwarts terror plots, defangs foreign hackers, curtails drug trafficking and gleans key insights for policymakers about chief rivals like China and Russia.

Trump administration officials and some Republican lawmakers have warned that letting Section 702 lapse would risk grave security threats to the United States, especially as the war in Iran grinds on.

But while a bipartisan coalition had been close to a deal to extend it, Mr. Trump injected fresh chaos into the debate last week by naming Bill Pulte, a confidant without any national security experience, as acting director of national intelligence.

Even some Republicans expressed reservations, noting his lack of qualifications for the post. And days later, a bipartisan coalition blocked a renewal from moving forward in the Senate, as even Democrats who had previously been working with Republicans to forge an agreement to renew the law said they would not vote to do so unless Mr. Trump withdrew Mr. Pulte as his pick.

Congressional leaders had already been struggling to find enough votes amid longstanding privacy objections to pass compromise legislation that would renew Section 702 for three years.

Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, conceded on Wednesday that there was now almost no chance of acting on such a bill before the law expired, and he was instead gauging support for a short-term extension, perhaps for three weeks.

“Well, I think if we do, it’s looking increasingly like it’s going to be some sort of an extension,” Mr. Thune told reporters at the Capitol.

But Congress has already punted on the issue twice this year, and another short-term reprieve looked less achievable, as some privacy advocates indicated they were unwilling to continue extending the law.

News RoundupsPresident Trump's nominee to become U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, is shown at right in a file photo showcasing his previous role in defending Trump from fraud charges before acountability for the convictions was essentially voided because of the president's reelection.

President Trump's nominee to become U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, is shown at right in a file photo showcasing his previous role in defending Trump from fraud charges before acountability for the convictions was essentially voided because of the president's reelection.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 10, 2026 [Trump Formally Nominates His Fixer As Attorney General], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 10, 2026. Yesterday afternoon, President Donald J. Trump officially nominated acting attorney general Todd Blanche to become the attorney general of the United States.

Before going to the Department of Justice, Blanche was Trump’s personal attorney. He led Trump’s criminal defense team in the case of falsifying records to cover up hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, as well as his defense against the two cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith: the one indicting him for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the one indicting him for retaining classified documents after leaving office.

Since he took over for former attorney general Pam Bondi, Blanche has openly flouted the law in order to do Trump’s bidding. He secured indictments against people Trump perceives to be enemies, including former FBI director James Comey for posting on Instagram a picture of seashells arranged to form the number “8647.”

He backed the deal Trump made with the Department of Justice to establish a $1.776 billion slush fund to pay off those convicted of committing crimes surrounding Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Blanche put his name to the second half of that deal that seems to be being eclipsed by the slush fund: an agreement between Trump and the Department of Justice promising to drop any pending claims against Trump, his oldest sons, or the Trump Organization for past illegalities in tax returns, and promising not to conduct audits of Trump’s tax returns.

In the 1920s, gangster Al Capone kept his hands clean of direct evidence of the crimes he committed. The federal government finally took him down by convicting him of federal income tax evasion.

Trump’s nomination of Blanche directly challenges Republican senators to collude with him to flout the will of rank-and-file Republicans and break the law. In November 2025 the Senate voted unanimously to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This law required the Department of Justice to release all the files compiled by the FBI in its investigation of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein no later than December 19, 2025.

The Department of Justice has ignored that law. To date, it has released about half the files. Many of those it has released are heavily redacted although the law expressly prohibits such redactions. Instead, the Department of Justice released previously unknown names of Epstein survivors.

Mike Spector and Lindo So of Reuters reported yesterday that those survivors are now under threat from Trump supporters. “She’ll be unalived,” someone wrote under a news report of an accuser demanding the release of the files. “She really should’ve stayed quiet. RIP.”

In her testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Bondi told members of Congress that Blanche “was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files.” Bondi also said that she had “nothing to do with” the transfer of Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender, from prison to a minimum security camp. As Annie Grayer, M.J. Lee, Paula Reid, and Marshall Cohen of CNN reported, that transfer happened just after Blanche interviewed Maxwell for nine hours.

In that interview, Maxwell said nothing that would tie Trump to Epstein’s crimes, language Trump loyalists used to push back against the story reported just weeks before by Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo in the Wall Street Journal that what appears to be Trump’s signature is at the bottom of a birthday card to Epstein suggesting the two shared a “wonderful secret.” The words were written over a drawing of a naked girl.

MAGA Republicans supported Trump in 2024 because he promised to release the Epstein files, and Senate Republicans responded to their anger that the Trump administration was hiding those files by voting unanimously to require—not request—their release. Now Trump is demanding they abandon those voters to put the man behind that cover-up into office as the top law enforcement officer in the country.

As David Kurtz of Talking Points Memo explained today, if Republican senators confirm Blanche, they will be rubber-stamping Trump’s perversion of the Department of Justice and encouraging it to continue, blessing “wide-ranging and extreme” corruption. “No accountability, no roadblocks, no pumping the brakes.”

That rubber stamp on criminality would fall just as the corruption of the administration has become too obvious to pretend doesn’t exist.

New stories out today examine new aspects of that corruption.

Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski of ProPublica reported that an Indian billionaire appears to have gotten Trump to ease sanctions against his family’s energy empire by investing $100 million in a Texas start-up company in which Donald Trump Jr. is an investor.

Upon the Ambani family’s investment in America First Refining, the start-up secured beneficial U.S. policies for which it had been lobbying. The journalists report that longstanding problems with the company make it unlikely that the refinery America First has promised will ever get built, especially at a time when refineries are expensive and unprofitable.

The journalists note that it has become “a theme of Trump’s second term: overseas investors with interests before the administration putting money into the Trump family’s business interests.” Last December, looking only at publicly disclosed investments—the one the journalists uncovered today was secret—Forbes estimated that Don Jr.’s net worth had jumped from about $50 million to about $300 million since the 2024 election.

In Mother Jones today, scholar of corruption Casey Michel explored the many connections between Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East billionaires who have invested billions in his investment fund Affinity Partners, essentially buying access to the president and U.S. policymaking even as the inexperienced Kushner represents the U.S. in sensitive negotiations in the region.

Kushner’s plans include a deal for a $1.6 billion tourist resort in Albania along a stretch of coastline and a pristine island protected as a critical area of biodiversity. Critics claim Prime Minister Edi Rama backed the Affinity Partners project to curry favor with the Trump administration. Protesters have taken to the streets in Albania’s capital, Tirana, chanting “Albania is not for sale!” and calling for Rama’s resignation.

White House press spokesperson Anna Kelly told Mithil Aggarwal, Raf Sanchez, and Mo Abbas of NBC News that Kushner is a “volunteer” for the government and that his business activities “have nothing to do with the President or the administration.” Asked if Rama’s government had backed the project to gain favor with Trump, she said: “This is the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade.”

An investigation by Tom Bergin, Michelle Conlin, Koh Gui Qing, and Tom Wilson of Reuters today shows that the Trump family has made at least $2.3 billion in their crypto currency licensing adventures since Trump began his second term. It also shows that more than a million people who invested in their enterprises have suffered at least $2.3 billion in losses.

The journalists report that the investors they interviewed believed that Trump’s position as president and “what they perceived as his business acumen” guaranteed they would make money. “Some said they still hold on to the hope that Trump will make things right. Others expressed regret, anger and embarrassment.”

Trump and MAGA Republicans celebrated the model of governance used by prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán during his 16 years in power, calling for the U.S. government to mimic his rejection of immigration, undermining of the rule of law, and destruction of liberal democracy in favor of what Orbán called “illiberal democracy” or “Christian democracy.”

After voters threw out Orbán and his party with a supermajority that would empower the country’s new leaders to investigate their predecessors, the extraordinary corruption is coming to light. Marton Dunai of the Financial Times reported today that tracking the financial transactions of the Orbán government has shown that it siphoned off at least 160 billion euros, equivalent to about $185 billion dollars, from European Union funds, with the corruption peaking in Orbán’s last year in office as loyalists worked to grab what they could as Orbán’s power was crumbling.

But, as Andrew Higgins and Lili Rutai reported in the New York Times just before the election that swept Orbán and his party out of power, many Orbán loyalists jumped ship. Although they risked government persecution from Orbán should he win reelection, they took the gamble that the future belonged not to him but to his opponents.

Trump appears to be trying to prevent such defections in the ranks of the Republican senators by forcing them to confirm Blanche, thus rubber-stamping his perversion of the rule of law and joining him in his utter disregard of the demand of Republican voters for the release of the Epstein files.

There may well be an effort to downplay the Blanche confirmation process, but make no mistake: it is a very big deal indeed.

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: White House Held Secret Meetings to Protect Trump from Epstein Files, Trump Races to Save UFC Fight, Iran War to Restart, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 10, 2026. This morning brings a bombshell Epstein revelation that confirms what many suspected: senior officials across the Trump administration and the Justice Department worked together to shield Trump from the fallout of the Epstein files.

According to the reporting, they held emergency Situation Room meetings, coordinated messaging, and repeatedly looked for ways to contain or delay disclosures that could politically damage the president. And the effort is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, the White House is scrambling to save its UFC event, with administration lawyers comparing it to George W. Bush allowing kids to play T-ball on the South Lawn. Trump is also escalating his rhetoric toward Iran, warning that the country will “pay the price” after taking too long to negotiate, fueling new concerns about a wider conflict.

The Epstein story is serious, and it’s exactly why I’m ramping up my work in the files today, especially with key hearings approaching. Some of you have reached out to say you’re concerned about my safety. I appreciate that. Don’t worry, I’m taking steps to protect myself.

Here’s the news:

Bombshell Epstein Developments:

maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changeThere is a bombshell New York Times investigation this morning: it reveals that senior officials across the White House, Justice Department, and FBI were consumed by a months-long effort to manage the Epstein files in ways that would protect Donald Trump from political damage. Drawing on accounts of private meetings, internal discussions, and conversations among top aides, the investigation portrays an administration that viewed the Epstein issue not merely as a transparency question but as a potentially existential political threat.

Top officials, directly in coordination with the Attorney General of the United States, repeatedly gathered in the White House Situation Room to discuss how to contain growing pressure from Congress, conservative media, and Trump's own supporters. According to the reporting, the central challenge was balancing demands for disclosure against fears that further releases could generate headlines about Trump's past relationship with Epstein. The result was a strategy that often prioritized political protection over full transparency.

jd vance oVice President JD Vance, right, repeatedly pushed for far greater disclosure than many of Trump's other advisers were willing to accept. Vance argued that Congress would eventually force the release of the files and that the administration would be better off releasing everything voluntarily, including material that mentioned Trump. He reportedly warned colleagues that every delay would deepen public suspicion and make the eventual fallout worse. In one extraordinary proposal, Vance suggested that the White House arrange for Tucker Carlson to interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, believing that if Maxwell publicly stated Trump had not participated in wrongdoing with Epstein it could help defuse the crisis. He also encouraged exploring congressional involvement and broader public disclosure, repeatedly pressing the case that transparency was ultimately safer than continued secrecy.

The investigation details how senior officials repeatedly searched for ways to appear transparent without exposing Trump to unnecessary political risk. During one Situation Room meeting, officials discussed seeking the release of grand jury materials even though some believed courts would almost certainly refuse. The strategy would allow the administration to publicly claim it wanted transparency while shifting blame for continued secrecy onto judges. Other discussions centered on interviewing Maxwell, publicly releasing transcripts, and finding ways to rebut allegations involving Trump without opening the door to a broader release of sensitive material. Throughout these debates, officials were openly assessing how different disclosure strategies might affect Trump politically. The article portrays the president's interests as the dominant factor shaping decision-making.

The Times also finds that the administration was trapped by expectations it had helped create. Before taking power, figures such as Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, JD Vance, Tucker Carlson, and others had spent years suggesting that hidden Epstein information was being suppressed by the government. Attorney General Pam Bondi further fueled expectations by publicly implying that major revelations and possible client-list information were under review. When the Justice Department eventually released a memo concluding there was no Epstein client list and no evidence supporting many of the theories promoted by the MAGA base, supporters reacted with outrage. Rather than ending the controversy, the memo triggered accusations of betrayal and cover-up from many of the same voters who had expected the administration to expose hidden truths.

Perhaps the investigation's most damaging conclusion is that officials repeatedly altered or abandoned transparency plans after confronting how much potentially embarrassing material involving Trump existed throughout the broader Epstein record. The article describes discussions about creating a searchable public database of Epstein-related documents, only for concerns to emerge about allegations, witness statements, and references to Trump that could attract renewed scrutiny regardless of their credibility.

Officials debated how to handle documents already available in court records, worried about how the media and political opponents would use them, and sought ways to comply with congressional demands while limiting political fallout. By the end, according to the Times, the administration found itself trapped between a president who wanted the issue buried and a political movement demanding more disclosure.

Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers are expected to question Gates about his past relationship with Epstein after millions of newly released documents included references to Gates, photographs, and records showing multiple meetings between the two men. Gates has repeatedly denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein's criminal conduct and says he welcomes the opportunity to answer the committee's questions. Ahead of the closed-door session, Gates again described his association with Epstein as a "huge mistake," saying he met with him to discuss philanthropy but never witnessed or participated in any illegal activity.

White House UFC Fight in Trouble:

The Justice Department has filed a 40-page court brief defending President Trump’s planned UFC event at the White House this weekend, blasting the plaintiffs seeking to block it as “people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else.” According to the filing, the administration has already spent more than $60 million and invested tens of thousands of labor hours preparing for the event. Here is the current state of the UFC cage:

More than 4,000 spectators are expected on the South Lawn, including over 1,000 service members, while another 120,000 people could watch from the nearby Ellipse after winning tickets through a lottery.

In defending the legality of the event, DOJ lawyers argue that previous presidents have hosted entertainment and sporting activities on White House grounds, citing youth tee-ball under President George W. Bush and performances by Elton John and Beyoncé during the Obama administration. The filing comes in response to a lawsuit seeking to halt the event, with the administration arguing that courts should not second-guess the president’s authority over activities hosted at the White House.

Iran War to Restart:

This morning, after a night of bombing by the United States in “self defense,” Donald Trump announced that Iran will now pay a “heavy price” as negotiations have fallen apart:

He proceeded to “praise” Allah in another message this morning:

Other news:

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) faked a phone call for roughly 90 seconds after being asked about Speaker Mike Johnson’s comments regarding potential Social Security cuts. The phone's screen remained visible, with his cheek inadvertently tapping different parts of the display.

U.S. inflation rose to 4.2% year-over-year in May, its highest level in three years and up from 2.4% in February before the Iran war, driven primarily by higher energy and gasoline prices (about 60% of the increase), along with rising shelter and food costs; monthly inflation was 0.5%, while core inflation (excluding food and energy) climbed to 2.9%, its highest since September.

Democrats selected Graham Platner as their Senate nominee in Maine, where he won the primary despite months of scrutiny over past controversies and will now face Republican Senator Susan Collins in a closely watched general election. In South Carolina, President Trump continued to demonstrate his influence in Republican primaries, with Senator Lindsey Graham securing renomination while Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who had called for the release of the Epstein files, was defeated. In Nevada, Democrats nominated Attorney General Aaron Ford for governor, setting up a competitive race against Republican Governor Joe Lombardo. The results across four states provided an early snapshot of the political landscape ahead of the 2026 midterms, highlighting both Democratic efforts to target key seats and Trump’s continuing sway within the GOP.

South Carolina Republican voters advanced Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson to a runoff in the state’s closely watched gubernatorial primary, while Congresswoman Nancy Mace finished a distant fifth. After conceding, Mace argued that her support for releasing the Epstein files cost her political support, saying she chose to stand against what she called an Epstein cover-up even if it hurt her campaign. The result marks a setback for one of Trump’s most outspoken allies, while Trump-backed Senator Lindsey Graham easily secured renomination despite facing multiple challengers. The Republican nominee will face Democratic state Representative Jermaine Johnson in November, though Republicans remain favored in the deeply conservative state.

Trump is moving forward with plans to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, despite bipartisan concerns over his lack of national security experience and warnings that the move could derail efforts to renew a key federal surveillance program before it expires this week. Trump said Pulte, who currently leads the federal mortgage agency, will take over from Tulsi Gabbard on June 19 while remaining in his current role. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Pulte "deeply unqualified" and warned Democrats would oppose reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act if the appointment proceeds. The controversy comes amid criticism that Pulte has used his government position to pursue allegations against political figures viewed as adversaries of Trump.

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is set to stand trial in federal court over his arrest during a September 2025 protest at Manhattan’s main immigration court. Lander and 10 other elected officials were arrested after attempting to inspect ICE holding areas at 26 Federal Plaza following a federal judge’s ruling that conditions there were unconstitutional and inhumane. Prosecutors say the group illegally blocked access inside the federal building, while Lander argues he was carrying out oversight responsibilities and protesting conditions facing detained immigrants. Federal officials later offered to drop the case if Lander agreed not to protest inside federal buildings for six months, but he refused the deal.

A new survey across 15 European countries found confidence in the United States as a security partner has fallen sharply, with just 11% of respondents now viewing the U.S. as an ally that shares their interests and values. Majorities in every country surveyed said they no longer believe the U.S. would come to their defense if attacked, while support is growing for Europe to strengthen its own military capabilities and reduce dependence on American weapons and security guarantees. Researchers attributed the shift in part to concerns over President Trump’s approach to NATO, threats to withdraw U.S. troops from Europe, and broader uncertainty about America’s long-term commitment to the alliance. Despite the decline in trust, most Europeans still expect relations with Washington to improve after Trump leaves office and do not support replacing NATO with a Europe-only defense alliance.

According to Politico, Belgium has rejected U.S. pressure to impose a travel ban on people arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak, setting up a dispute between Washington and European governments ahead of the World Cup. Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said Belgium would follow scientific guidance rather than political demands, arguing that screening and quarantine measures are more appropriate than blanket entry bans. The disagreement comes after reports that the Trump administration urged European countries to adopt tougher restrictions and warned that nations refusing to do so could face U.S. entry restrictions. Belgian officials also accused Washington of undermining the global response through cuts to international aid, a claim the U.S. government denies. 

Trump Watch, Public Reactions

djt mission from godThe Contrarian, Opinion: The President Is Bonkers, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 10, 2026. What we can do about it.

We should not be surprised that Donald Trump is mentally and emotionally imploding under the cumulative effect of plunging poll numbers, his disastrous Iran war (which constantly humiliates him as both Iran and Israel repeatedly defy his desperate attempts to control them and his phony prognostications of progress in peace talks), and an increasingly irritable Senate Republican caucus.

contrarian logoTrump recently suffered from supporters’ unraveling and/or disaffection (e.g. Trump’s Paramount/CBS allies’ embarrassing implosion, the defection of white working-class and male voters, another insult to faith groups reminded of white Christian nationalists’ religious bigotry), repeated legal defeats, and multiple legislative losses unprecedented for a president with majorities in both houses (e.g. a House vote to fund Ukraine, passage of the War Powers Act resolution, opposition to Trump’s sleazy slush fund, collapse of FISA Section 702 reauthorization because of outrage over the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence). Donald Trump and Meet the Press’s Kristen Welker in Wisconsin. (White House photo)

When you throw in the indignity of seeing his name physically scraped off the Kennedy Center building, the cancellation of musical has-beens from his cheesy, self-referential 250 Freedom bash, and the entirely expected torrent of boos from Knicks fans, you have the pathological narcissist’s worst nightmare: public humiliation. (Historian and fascism expert Ruth Ben Ghiat has explained that when their autocracies unravel, strongmen’s overwhelming fear of humiliation and loss of power compels them to lash out, grab more tightly to power, and make increasingly rash decisions in the vain hope of fending off decline.)

Certainly, Trump’s mental and physical disintegration has been on display for many years. However, it is easy to lose track of the velocity of Trump’s decompensation.

As a group of 36 mental health professionals recently explained in a stinging written statement, Trump’s outbursts are not “momentary lapses nor political theater”; they instead “reflect a rapidly worsening, reality-untethered, increasingly dangerous decline.” And this was before Trump’s explosion on Meet the Press, among the most cringeworthy presidential media appearances ever.

However, you do not have to be a medical professional to conclude Trump is getting much worse much more quickly. We should not avert our eyes from the indisputable evidence that Trump cannot cope with reality. When confronted with indisputable facts, he lashes out and retreats into denial. (As the New York Times reported, “President Trump, who campaigned on a central promise to keep the United States out of overseas wars, denied in an interview aired on Sunday that he’d ever made the pledge.”)

The “big blubbery baby man, enraged at his ebbing power” provided a disturbing image in his MTP interview, Democratic pollster and analyst Simon Rosenberg aptly noted, of an “an old, addled man clearly in profound decline.” His bloated, rage-filled, disheveled appearance and inability to engage rationally with anyone outside his cult tempt one to look away. Denial is natural when you fear nothing can be done to stave off an impending disaster.

But now is precisely the time to demand a robust debate in public, in Congress, and on the midterm campaign trail about the gravity of leaving a patently unfit, raving lunatic in the Oval Office. In light of the grave danger Trump poses, pro-democracy forces must educate the public, compel legacy media to cover his breakdown as vigorously and consistently as they did Joe Biden’s health after his 2024 debate, and pressure Republicans to remove or at least restrain him.

Democrats do not control Congress, although they do occasionally take charge of the House through discharge petitions. Nevertheless, they have successfully used so-called shadow hearings to expose urgent issues (e.g., ICE brutality). A serious, sober subcommittee (perhaps drawn from both the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight Committee) with professional staff should conduct methodical public hearings and assemble a comprehensive report documenting Trump’s deterioration. In the laying out the circumstances and frequency of his mental/emotional breakdowns, the public should receive ample evidence that Trump’s increasingly severe meltdowns are not a function of simple aging or odd personality quirks (an absurd if not delusional interpretation of his conduct) but of dangerous mental and emotional dysfunction.

At the end of the process, Democrats (and any patriotic Republicans inclined to prevent grave harm to the country) should present a series of specific, feasible recommendations, including legislation to compel the release of all presidential medical records and to require independent medical evaluation of presidents and vice presidents. They should spell out rules to implement the 25th Amendment. They also should make clear that once they have subpoena power after the midterms, they will supplement findings by calling witnesses to testify under oath as to his observable behavior. If Republicans defend his indefensible conduct and block common-sense measures, they will take on full responsibility for the wreckage that ensues from sheltering an unhinged, unwell president.

Next, Democrats must undertake a focused and robust push to present their findings to the press and the voters. If the president’s emotional and mental competency is not the most compelling issue of the moment, it is hard to imagine what would be. Republican House and Senate candidates need to be put on the spot in every public encounter: Do they think the president is of sound mind? What do they intend to do to, for example, protect nuclear codes? Why shouldn’t the public have full visibility into the health of a president whose conduct has been so obviously aberrant? Democrats should pound away at the issue in floor speeches, media spots, op-eds, and public forums.

If it were not obvious before, leaving Trump in power surrounded by spineless yes men unwilling to challenge him and a MAGA Congress that abets his increasingly erratic conduct and flights from reality is a recipe for disaster — and the most persuasive reason to elect substantial Democratic majorities in both houses. Nothing is more urgent to the survival of our democracy, national security, and collective well-being than to begin now to convince voters that stringent guardrails (if not, removal by 25th Amendment or impeachment) are required to shield the United States from further harm.

Given the public’s rising disgust with Trump and his propensity to humiliate himself on a near daily basis, voters might well become convinced that extraordinary action is required to defuse the ticking time bomb in the White House. 

Lincoln Square Media, Opinion: Donald Trump's Hideous Tantrum, Rick Wilson, right, rick wilsonJune 10, 2026. There is a particular kind of absurdist theater that happens when a man who has spent his life surrounded by people paid to nod and agree with him suddenly collides with journalism.

Under a metal roof booming from a summer storm on a Wisconsin farm, Kristen Welker conducted that experiment in real time.

lincoln square media logoThe results were not a triumph of journalism so much as a clinical observation of a figure in steep decline as a President, as a leader of a party, and as a man. The tantrum was pathetic, juvenile, and politically poisonous.

By the end, the leader of the free world stormed off the set, spitting mad and ranting like an escaped mental patient trying to convince the EMTs that aliens had implanted computer chips in his rectum.

Trump screeched like a cut hog, calling Welker crooked, stupid, and finally…“darling,” and fled into the rain like a man who’d just remembered he left the stove on.

Let’s begin with the lies, because there were so many they formed a kind of weather system of their own.

Start with the one he loves most, the one he returns to like a dog to a familiar patch of political vomit: the 2020 election. Welker, doing the thing journalists are supposed to do, asked for evidence. What she got was a man insisting “there’s more evidence than ever presented,” which is a sentence that eats itself.

You, dear readers, know this a titanic mountain of Trumpian lies.

There is no evidence. There has never been evidence. Sixty-odd courts, dozens of them staffed by his own appointees, looked for it and found nothing.

But watch how he pivots, because this is the tell: cornered on 2020, he leaps immediately to California, where Republicans are “dropping fast” in a slow count because that is, factually, how California counts votes.

The fraud is always happening now, always somewhere he can’t quite point to, always five days from being proven. It is the permanent revolution of a man who cannot accept that anyone, anywhere, has ever beaten him fairly. He is not committed to the stolen-election lie. He is fused to it. It is a defining test of the mental and moral degeneracy of everyone around him; either agree or be cast out.

Then there’s Iran, where the fabrications come industrial-grade. On Day 100 of the war, his trainwreck of a military escapade is no closer to a resolution than it was on Day 1.

He claims he “built” the most powerful military in the world, a thing presidents do not do in four years and certainly did not do while losing reelection. He claims Iran retains “21, 22 percent” of its missiles with the breezy precision of a man inventing a statistic on camera.

He claims he “took over” Venezuela “in a matter of minutes” and that the country is now “doing very well,” a sentence that would startle anyone actually in Venezuela under the continued oppression of the Delcy Rodriguez regime, but you do you, Donnie.

Concerningly, Trump’s answers on the Iranian nuclear material stockpile veered from the irrational to the imaginary, sometimes over the course of the same question.

You could watch the one trigger he knows in his feral way that has cracked part of his base: the 2024 crowd favorite that he promised no new wars.

If I may put this in language Trump understands: Sir, you ran on it three times. The clips exist in abundance.

The “no new wars” promise was not a footnote; it was the central pillar of so much of the entire America First aesthetic; it’s hard to imagine the movement without it. By serving as Bibi’s Dial-A-Military and launching Iranapalooza, he kicked it out from under himself in real time and dared us not to notice.

The recurring motif, the one that should chill anyone who thinks adults are in charge, is the body count theater.

Thirteen dead Americans, repeated like a rosary, always followed by Vietnam, always followed by “nineteen years,” as if the comparison to a generational military catastrophe is the flex he thinks it is. A naval blockade, which he cheerfully acknowledged is an act of war under international law, dismissed with “I don’t define it at all. I don’t think about it.” There it is. The whole foreign policy in one sentence.

He doesn’t think about it.

Finally, we’ve seen the digital equivalent of the hard punch in the fucking mouth that that soft-handed sadist Stephen Miller has obviously needed since middle school.And this is the part the foreign ministries and chancelleries of the world were watching.

Because no head of state, no field marshal, no foreign minister sat through that performance and concluded they were dealing with a stable negotiating partner. They watched a man who couldn’t get through a single hostile question about a domestic terrorism slush fund without detonating.

They watched him lose the thread, lose the plot, lose his temper, and then lose the room entirely, all over Kristen Welker asking whether people who beat police officers with flagpoles should get taxpayer checks.

China FlagIf a Wisconsin rainstorm and a polite anchor can crack his composure in under an hour, imagine what an actual adversary does with that. Putin took notes. Xi took notes. The Iranians he’s allegedly “very close” to a deal with took notes.

Impulse control is not a personality quirk at this level. It is the entire game, and he showed his cards to the table. To quote Hillary Clinton, a man who can be triggered by a tweet…

The exit itself deserves its plaque in the museum of presidential dignity. “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.” Welker, to her credit, kept saying she’d traveled all the way to Wisconsin, the most Midwestern act of accountability imaginable, while he muttered about sitting in the rain for an hour like a man owed a medal for enduring sunlight. He didn’t end the interview. He evacuated it, stepping on the mic he’d thrown on the ground moments before.

And we have to talk about how he looked, because the country has a right to a president who appears to be metabolizing oxygen normally. The color was a kind of greasy umber, a mottled, overcooked hue that no bronzer fully explains. The sweating was conspicuous. The eyes looked swollen, the hands looked swollen, his feet were held in a strange position, and the whole effect was less “commander in chief” than “man who will be telling the EMTs if he knows what day it is.”This is not vanity. A president’s physical state (and of course, the attendant White House coverup) is a national security matter, and the visual evidence on Sunday did not inspire confidence. It inspired the urge to take his blood pressure.

So that was the interview. A lie-a-thon conducted in a downpour, ending in a tantrum, narrated by a body that seemed to be filing its own complaint. Welker wanted answers about Iran, the economy, the weaponization fund. What she documented instead was something closer to a diagnosis.

For all the MAGA right’s obsession with their gimcrack version of masculinity, a person of Trump’s lack of discipline, febrile emotional control, and commitment to indignity is no kind of man at all.

The press, he warned on the way out, can never make a country great. Perhaps not, but neither can a president without emotional regulation and the inability to level with the American people about the world he’s busily wrecking in front of their eyes.

More On U.S. Governance, Social Justice

djt golden age for farmers white house graphic

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Breaking the Heart of the Heartland, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanune 10, 2026. White rural voters are belatedly awakening to reality.

Farm Bankruptcies Rising in 2025 - Farm Policy News: Every modern presidential administration has issued fact sheets describing and, yes, discreetly touting its recent policy moves. But Trump’s minions don’t do discreet. Click on any of their fact sheets and this appears: And if, in the midst of this “Golden Age”, someone should observe that Americans aren’t feeling so golden, and are in fact feeling very feeling negative about the economy, the Trumpist answer is that it’s all fake news. Kevin Hassett, the administration’s top economist, says that low consumer sentiment numbers are “being driven by Democrats who have Trump derangement syndrome.”

So it will be news to Hasset that rural whites – who are very Trumpy – have now fallen victim to Trump derangement syndrome. Or, more accurately, they are finally awakening to the nightmarish reality that Trump has created for them.

djt maga hatWhen I say that rural whites are very Trumpy, I mean very Trumpy. In 2024 Donald Trump narrowly won the popular vote, with only a 1.5 percentage point margin. But he won rural areas by 30 points.

Trump won rural areas by such a large margin because farmers were wildly optimistic about what he would do for them. The Purdue/CME Ag Economy Barometer, which is basically an index of farmers’ economic sentiment, surged with Trump’s victory:

Today, the rural Trump bump is nowhere to be seen. In fact, white rural voters’ views about Trump’s economic policy have turned astonishingly negative. Normally, partisanship strongly colors economic perceptions. According to a recent Fox News poll, only 29% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 71% disapprove. Yet 60% of Republicans still approve.

Remarkably, however, rural white voters are no longer behaving like non-rural Republican voters. They are almost as negative on the economy as the population as a whole, with only 32% of rural whites approving of Trump’s handling of the economy, and 68% disapproving. Trump has made the rural economy so bad that reality has overridden Trump voters’ usual tendency to make excuses for him.

The unavoidable reality is that things are really very bad in rural America. Moreover, the devastation hitting the heartland is squarely a consequence of Trump’s actions and not, like the Biden inflation of 2021-22, a result of forces outside presidential control.

First, there is Trump’s trade war, which has raised the cost of living for all Americans. But farmers have been hit especially hard because they are highly dependent on imported inputs. The tariffs raised the prices of farm machinery, chemicals and fertilizer. The final straw was the loss of foreign markets to rival agricultural exporters such as Brazil -- losses that began during the trade wars of Trump’s first term and have accelerated during his second term:

In 2025 the damage to the American farm economy from Trumpian policies caused a 46% rise in farm bankruptcies. The carnage looks much worse this year: farmers are being hit with another double whammy from the effects of the Iran war.

Like Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war is hitting farmers both as consumers and as producers. Along with all Americans, they are facing an overall rise in the cost of living as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Farmers are also suffering from a large increase in agricultural operating costs. For example, the crisis in the Strait has raised the price of diesel fuel, which runs most agricultural machinery, more than it has raised gasoline prices. In addition, there has been a sharp increase in the price of fertilizer because a significant share of the world’s supply comes from the Persian Gulf.

The carnage in the heartland raises the question of why rural whites so overwhelmingly believed that Trump would improve their lives. After all, Trump made no secret of his intention to pursue aggressive tariff policies that would start a global trade war. And U.S. agriculture is a highly globalized business. It sells much of what it produces overseas — for example, normally we export 40 percent or more of our soybean crop. Furthermore, it was entirely predictable that tariffs would raise the prices of farm machinery, chemicals and fertilizer.

It’s true that farmers didn’t know either that Trump would attack Iran or that he would botch the war so badly. But his indifference to the impact of his actions on ordinary people’s lives should have come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. When he said “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” when making decisions about Iran, the news was that he admitted it, not that he felt that way.

Why, then, did rural Americans vote to return Trump to office? Obviously, culture war issues and racism played important roles. But it’s also clear in hindsight that rural whites weren’t willing to see their livelihoods destroyed in order to stick it to the liberals by voting for Trump. Instead, they fell for a fantasy, believing that by voting for Trump they could simultaneously own the libs and do well financially.

Instead, they have been betrayed: far from supporting a conservative vision of rural life, Trump is destroying their livelihoods with his vandalism.

How will rural voters respond to this betrayal? Recent polls show that the Senate race in Iowa, which Trump won by 13 points in 2024, is now effectively a tossup. The heartland may be awakening to reality, with immense political consequences.

mike johnson djt uncredited

While Donald J. Trump sleeps, they steal....Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Mike Johnson’s plan to betray our most vulnerable, Heather Delaney Reese, shown above right in a collage, June 10, 2026. Mike Johnson’s plan to betray our most vulnerable.

Yesterday afternoon, on a little-known Louisiana radio show, a clue was given that shows just how devious the Trump administration plans to be if they pull off a midterm victory. In a short 9-minute and 31-second interview, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, shown above left in a file photo, let us all know exactly where his priorities, and the priorities of this entire administration, truly lie when it comes to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

With Johnson even saying, “Entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed.”

social security administrationLetting us all know that they plan to make it harder for seniors struggling to afford to simply survive, and for disabled Americans who depend on programs like Medicaid to stay alive. They do not care about the millions of people who spent their entire lives paying into a system they were promised would be there for them when the time came.

What came through loud and clear was something very simple. They don’t care if seniors suffer. They don’t care if seniors lose the healthcare they depend on. They don’t care if elderly Americans are forced into impossible situations at the end of their lives. They only care about finding more money for Donald Trump, his donors, and the wealthy people who have spent years treating the federal government like their own personal piggy bank. The people who always seem to have enough money for tax cuts, corporate giveaways, and political favors, but somehow never enough to take care of the people who spent a lifetime building this country.

Here is what makes this moment so revealing. He did not say it under hard questioning from a reporter determined to pin him down. He did not let it slip in the heat of a press conference. He said it on the Moon Griffon Show, a conservative Louisiana radio program. It was friendly, comfortable, and exactly the kind of room where a man says what he actually believes, because he is certain only friends are listening.

And for most of that interview, Johnson sounded like a man selling the best of times. He told the host, “God is not done with America yet, brother.” He called this “the greatest nation in the history of the world,” and said we are “the most free, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation that’s ever been.” He bragged that “People just got their biggest tax refunds that they’ve ever gotten in their lives,” that “They’re getting bigger paychecks,” that “The stock market’s doing well,” and that the economy “is going to take off like a rocket.” Then, in that same easy conversation, somewhere between the talk of tax refunds and the fall elections, he turned to the programs that keep tens of millions of Americans alive and said they “have to be adjusted and fixed.”

Here is the fuller quote, in his own words. “Over 74 percent of federal spending is on autopilot. Mandatory spending. That’s your entitlement programs like, Medicare, Medicaid, and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed. We have a plan to do that, uh, next year, and it’s critical because we’re at 40 trillion, plus.” He closed that thought with one more line, that concerns me the most: “desperate times call for desperate measures.”

U.S. House logoHe called this the most benevolent nation that has ever existed. In the same breath, he announced a plan to cut into the three programs that represent the closest thing this country has ever built to a real promise to its own people. And the language he used was chosen to hide exactly that. He called it “mandatory spending” that is “on autopilot,” as though it were some runaway machine that nobody asked for. That framing is a lie of omission. Social Security is not a handout. It is funded by a dedicated payroll tax that working people pay out of every single paycheck, deposited into a trust fund that is legally separate from the rest of the budget, and by law, it cannot spend a dollar more than workers have paid into it. The hospital portion of Medicare works the same way. This is not charity. It is earned money. It is deferred wages, taxed out of people their whole working lives on a promise that it would be waiting for them when they needed it. Medicaid is built differently. It is funded out of general revenue, and it is the program that covers children, people with disabilities, working families, and the seniors in nursing homes who have nowhere else to turn. But the smear that it is a handout fails there, too, because the people it keeps alive are not freeloaders. They are the most vulnerable among us.

Thank you to those of you who support this work with a paid membership. Your $5 a month is what allows me to keep writing every day and, just as importantly, to keep these posts free and accessible to everyone. Those who can pay are the reason those who can’t still have access. And right now, with so much at stake heading into the midterms, that matters more than ever. If you’re in a position to join, I’d be grateful to have you with us.Subscribed

But maybe the most concerning part is why they are pushing so hard to take away these much-needed programs. The law they passed last year, the one Johnson bragged about in this very interview, tells the whole story of why. The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan scorekeeper, looked at who wins and who loses under that law. Its finding was that resources go down for households at the bottom of the income scale and up for households at the top. The Medicaid cuts in that law and the tax cuts for the top 1% of earners each amount to roughly a trillion dollars. The same law raised the threshold on the estate tax so that inherited fortunes worth up to fifteen million dollars now pass without a dime of tax owed. The floor was cut out from under the people who paid in, and the ceiling was raised for the people who inherit. That is the entire design, in a single sentence. To give the tax cuts to the ultra-rich, they have to find the money elsewhere, and they have zeroed in on the money we spend on the most vulnerable Americans to make up the difference.

What is happening here is much darker than ordinary politics. These are not men who lie awake worried about a senior choosing between insulin and rent. To the people writing this plan, those seniors are not real in the way you and I are real. They are a line item. A number on the wrong side of a ledger. People who, in their eyes, consume more than they produce, who take out more than they put in, even though that is a lie, because most of these people paid in for decades. To this class of lawmaker, insulated by wealth most Americans cannot imagine, the suffering of an ordinary person does not register as suffering. It registers as savings. And here is the coldest part, the part we have to say bluntly. They do not need to actively want seniors to die. They simply need to not care if it happens. Because a senior who dies a few years early, a disabled person who cannot get the care that would have kept them alive, a sick person who gives up, every one of them frees up money. Money that does not get returned to the people. Money that flows up, to Trump, to his donors, to the men who treat the Treasury as a vault they are entitled to empty.

There is one more thing that makes this interview so damning, and it is the contrast with his own mouth. In March of 2025, on Meet the Press, Mike Johnson looked the country in the eye and said cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security were off the table, that the focus would only ever be on “waste and abuse.” That was barely over a year ago. Now he is admitting that there is a plan, and it will arrive next year.

And we can’t look away from the timing. He said next year. Not now, before voters have their say. Next year, after the midterms, after the votes are counted, after it is too late to do anything about it at the ballot box. He told us the plan, and he told us the schedule, and the schedule gives him away. They are not bringing this to us before November because they know exactly what we would do with it.

These cuts will have devastating effects on our seniors, with the cost counted in something heavier than dollars. Older Americans are already the fastest-growing group of homeless people in this country. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans over 65 rely on Social Security, and for most of them, it is their main source of income. Cut that income, and you are not trimming a line on a spreadsheet. You are deciding which grandmother loses her apartment. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that people who first become homeless after the age of 50 are about 60% percent more likely to die than those who became homeless younger. So when we talk about cutting the income that keeps frail, elderly Americans housed, we are talking, on the evidence, about shortening their lives. That is the desperate measure. Not a hard choice bravely made. A transfer of money from the people least able to survive without it to the people who least need any more of it.

And here is what breaks my heart most, because it is the cruelest part of how this works. The very people who stand to lose the most often do not believe any of this will reach them. Many of the seniors most exposed to these cuts have been told, over and over, by Trump and by Johnson both, that their benefits would never be touched. So they believe their money will be there. They believe the promise. They cannot picture the check not arriving, because it always has, and because men they trusted swore it always would. And then there is a second belief, quieter and sadder still. Some have made a kind of peace with the harm, telling themselves that it will be temporary, or that it is a sacrifice worth making for some larger good they have been sold. It is not temporary. There is no larger good. A person is not foolish for believing a promise made to them by their own government. They were betrayed by the people who made it. But the belief is exactly what the people writing this plan are counting on, because a person who cannot imagine being harmed will not move to stop the harm until it is already done.

None of this was improvised, and none of it is new. There is a strategy underneath it that is decades old, and the people who practice it know it by heart. You cut taxes first, especially for the wealthy, which drains the revenue and drives up the debt. Then you point to the debt you just created and announce that the only responsible thing left to do is cut the programs you wanted to cut all along. The crisis is not discovered. It is built. Johnson did exactly this inside the interview. He bragged about the tax cuts, and then he held up the nearly 40 trillion dollars in debt as the reason seniors and the sick must now sacrifice. We have watched versions of this before. In Pinochet’s Chile, economic shock therapy gutted the working class and concentrated wealth and power in a small elite while ordinary people were told to accept less. The pattern never really changes. Hollow out what belongs to the people, and funnel what is left toward the top. This is how Trump and his enablers are having record growth in their personal net worth.

The biggest tool we have right now is helping others see what he is doing, and that means getting out into our own communities and talking to people. Today I spent the day driving my father and my oldest daughter up to Orange County to one of my dad’s favorite computer stores. He came out shaking his head, which is not like him, and got in the car saying, “Wait till I tell you what just happened.” At the counter, a cashier in their mid-twenties had pointed out that his items had gone up in price. My dad said, “Yeah, it’s tariffs and inflation.” And the cashier replied, “Yeah, we really need to get Gavin Newsom out of here,” because she was worried he would be reelected and felt the elections were so rigged. My dad did not know where to start. Newsom is term limited and on his way out. The elections are not rigged. And the actual cause of those higher prices, the tariffs and inflation coming straight out of what Trump is doing, never even came up. The story had been turned completely upside down, the blame pinned on the wrong man while the one raising the prices walked away clean.

That is exactly how the cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security get through. Not because people want it, but because by the time it reaches them, the truth has already been buried under something easier to repeat. So the job between now and November is simple, and it is ours. When Trump says something, it is parroted everywhere within the hour. We need to be just as clear and just as relentless with the truth because it only wins if we are willing to say it as often as they say the lie. So we say it. To our parents, to our kids, to the stranger at the register. Every single time.

But here is the one thing Mike Johnson left out of his plan to come after our most vulnerable Americans. For the past year, Democrats have been overperforming in special elections, in deep red places, and even in districts Trump won by double digits. Americans are seeing right through this. And the more these men talk, the more they stand in front of a friendly microphone and tell us exactly what they intend to do to us, the more people see them for precisely who they are. That is the gift in a moment like this one. Johnson told on himself. And every time one of them does, another person wakes up.

We still have nearly five months to get ahead of this. And everything I am seeing tells me we can, from the polls, to the booing that followed Trump at the Knicks game last night, to the simple fact that the plan Johnson is bragging about does not actually exist yet. It is scheduled, not done. If we do our job between now and November, if we keep talking and keep telling the truth, he does not get to do it, because they lose the House, and maybe the Senate, too. That is what the last year has been pointing at. And that is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The Catechism of the Stolen Election, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 10, 2026. These days, Donald Trump reflexively denounces any election result he dislikes as stolen and fraudulent. But it doesn’t always catch on. 

In April, Republicans seemed faintly embarrassed by his claim that Virginia’s redistricting referendum had been a “rigged election” and “crooked victory” after Democrats executed a phony “mail-in ballot drop”; few wanted to defend it on the merits, and the president let the matter drop.

bulwark logo big shipBut last week’s mayoral primary in Los Angeles is going the opposite direction: Trump’s claim last week that “there’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California” is catching on. Conservative commentators have embraced the allegation en masse. So have lawmakers: “Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it’s impossible to prove,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday. “But I think everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here.”

Sen. Mike Lee suggested North Korea had a more reliable voting system than California. Rep. Tim Burchett insisted “they” had rigged the election against the Republican-coded candidate. Sen. Ron Johnson argued that the absence of evidence of fraud was itself evidence of fraud: “People who do things cover it up.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused California of “dumping votes” until “you get the result you want.”

The Bulwark exists for three reasons: To share facts, to give honest opinions and analysis, and to create a pro-democracy community. Join us.

What had happened to get these guys so riled up? As the ballots were counted, progressive challenger Nithya Raman, who had been in third place in the early stages of the counting process, gradually caught up to and passed conservative candidate Spencer Pratt to advance to the runoff against incumbent Karen Bass.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. Voters who voted in a certain way—by mailing in ballots at or near the deadline—turned out to be more pro-Raman than early mail-in voters or same-day voters had been. This is the smoking gun that has Republicans everywhere crying “fraud.”

As always, these allegations fall apart at the slightest touch. Why should we find it fishy that Pratt finished up pretty much exactly where polls suggested he would? Why would Bass, who is running for re-election, deliberately scheme to boost a strong Democratic opponent who could beat her in the runoff rather than a Republican she would crush with zero effort? Why is it more “suspicious” that late mail-in voters were disproportionately progressive than it was that same-day voters were disproportionately conservative?

But these counter-arguments shouldn’t even matter. Because the simple fact is there’s nothing to argue against. Nobody denouncing the race has pointed to specific supposed examples of malfeasance; it’s simply the result itself that’s supposedly suspicious.

This is a change from 2020. The original “Stop the Steal” effort was lousy with cooked-up anecdotes of scurrilous election-official behavior. They’re pulling boxes of phony ballots out from under the table in Atlanta! They’re giving Republicans ballot-spoiling Sharpies on purpose in Phoenix! They’re re-scanning the same batch of ballots repeatedly in Detroit! The voting machine companies are deliberately switching ballots from Trump to Biden—and we’ve got the proof!

Each of these stories was quickly debunked, but they served their purpose at the time: They generated an overwhelming sense in the minds of MAGA voters that something fishy was going on. Even if this or that individual story fell apart under scrutiny, they couldn’t all be invented, could they? Without the wide dissemination of these anecdotes, Trump wouldn’t have found nearly as much success convincing his base he’d had a presidential election stolen from him.

What we’re seeing now is that this legwork is no longer needed. So thoroughly poisoned are the minds of Trump’s base voters by now that they no longer need to see even pretend evidence to believe his claims that this or that election are rigged. For the election to turn out more Democrat-friendly than they expected is all they need.

This is really bad news for a few reasons. One involves accountability. After 2020, media companies that simply pumped their MAGA viewers’ brains full of vague unease about the outcome didn’t run into any trouble. It was the ones that parroted specific and defamatory stolen-election claims that got burned—most famously in Dominion Voting Systems’ enormous lawsuit against Fox News. If the specific false claims are no longer necessary to convince the base the fix is in, we lose our biggest proven weapon for holding election liars accountable.

Meanwhile, it becomes clearer every day: The GOP base is going to go along with Trump on any major election he decides to claim is fraudulent this November. All it will take, again, is for Democrats to do better than they expected. And what Republican base voter is expecting a blue wave? Trump is going to do this, and they’re going to fall in line. Somehow, some people will be surprised by this. Don’t be among them.

Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

New York Times Magazine, Times Exclusive: Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, (both White House reporters for The Times, they are the authors of the forthcoming “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" from which this article is drawn), June 10, 2026.

On July 17, 2025, at around 6 o’clock in the evening, President Trump’s top officials filed into the White House Situation Room — the secure bunker where classified and high-stakes national security matters are discussed and decided. This was where President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the president’s national security team, watched the raid that ended with the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

Now, however, Trump’s most senior advisers had gathered — without him — to figure out how to gain some measure of control over a very different kind of crisis threatening to engulf the presidency: the Epstein files.

Ten days earlier, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. had jointly released a memo that bluntly stated that their review had found no “client list” of powerful men for whom the notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had allegedly procured underage girls and young women. Intended to put to rest years of speculation and end the pressure campaign to release the voluminous material in the department’s possession, the memo instead had the opposite effect, setting off a backlash that was notably loud among the MAGA base.

And it was about to get worse: The Wall Street Journal was preparing a damaging article about Trump’s relationship with Epstein. The president’s desperate attempts to kill the story had failed. His team now had to get everyone onto the same page about how to counter the growing swarm of attention. They needed a gesture of transparency to appease an increasingly angry base, but also a way to convey the message that the president was sympathetic to his supporters’ concerns. Which itself was a problem, because he clearly wasn’t.

Vice President JD Vance took a seat at the head of the table in the John F. Kennedy Conference Room of the Situation Room complex. “This is a huge problem,” he told the group. Arrayed around him were the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles; the White House counsel, David Warrington; the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt; the deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich; the communications director, Steven Cheung; the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche; the associate attorney general, Stanley Woodward Jr.; and the deputy chief of staff James Blair. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, joined on speakerphone.

The vice president appeared panicked to others in the room about the way the subject of Epstein was already dividing the MAGA coalition. Some senior officials had the impression that Vance had bought into the darkest theories about Epstein and a cabal of predators hidden within the country’s ruling class. Wiles would tell others that the vice president had proved himself to be a major conspiracy theorist. Another top official said later that Vance had been pounding on the Epstein issue since the release of the memo. He was privately pressing for the administration to release all the Epstein files, everything in the Justice Department’s possession, even encouraging a congressional investigation.

Vance had also floated to colleagues an extraordinary P.R. gambit — that the White House enlist Tucker Carlson to interview Epstein’s longtime girlfriend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, in prison. It might help the president if Maxwell was willing to state that Trump had not been part of any wrongdoing with Epstein.

Vance told the group he believed all the files should be released as soon as possible. He argued that Congress was going to force the release of the files eventually. It was already clear that a bipartisan coalition in favor of such action was forming on Capitol Hill, and the momentum was going in one direction. If the administration got out ahead of this and released everything voluntarily — including whatever material existed about the president — it would at least get credit for transparency. The alternative was to let the story drag on for months as information dripped out, each new revelation renewing the cycle of suspicion and fury. Better to rip the bandage off and move on.Even the unsubstantiated allegations and anecdotes about Trump should go out, Vance argued. They were going to surface regardless, and if the administration published them first, it would demonstrate good faith and take the oxygen out of the conspiracy theories. His arguments fell on skeptical ears, but some advisers thought it would be a good idea to have Justice Department officials call a news conference to explain their position on the Epstein affair — going beyond the memo that precipitated the crisis.

At this point in the meeting, Blair spoke up. “With all due respect,” he said, “the communications strategy of this group got us here. I don’t know that it’s going to get us out. And if you’re going to go in front of the press, you’ve got a lot of work to do.” He began to ask pointed mock questions, demonstrating how difficult a news conference might be.

As the president’s former defense attorney, Blanche had a unique vantage point in the discussion. He was better equipped than anyone else in the room to weigh the ideas being discussed against Trump’s personal and political interests. Blanche laid out what he saw as their best options.

Option 1 was to petition Federal District Courts in Florida and New York to unseal the grand jury testimonies — the secret transcripts of prosecutors’ presentations of witnesses and evidence in their efforts to obtain indictments in past Epstein-related cases. As those were almost certain to contain no significant new information, everyone agreed that this option was a good idea, and not only because a release was unlikely to damage the president.

Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the secrecy of grand jury materials is regarded by most federal judges as almost always inviolate, and the bar for any release is exceptionally high. If the courts refused to unseal them — as Blanche predicted — they could shift the blame for withholding the Epstein material away from the Trump administration and onto the judges. And all the better if the judges had been appointed by Democratic presidents. Blanche’s suggestion would make it appear that the White House wanted the materials released, when it was almost certain not to happen.

Option 2 was to have Justice Department lawyers question Maxwell and publicly release the transcript — a twist on the idea proposed earlier by Vance. Blanche offered to interview Maxwell himself.

“What if we got her to talk to Congress?” Vance suggested.

Blanche raised the possibility that Maxwell’s lawyer might expect something in return for her candor.

Warrington, the White House counsel, responded by laying out the available choices, without advocating any of them. Maxwell could be given a pardon, he said, or she could have her sentence reduced.

At that, several around the table spoke up to register their strong disapproval.

“Pardoning Maxwell, a trafficker of young girls, would create a huge P.R. problem,” Cheung said. He predicted that in the wake of a pardon, the Epstein accusers would be fanning out on TV, telling their stories and ripping the administration to shreds.

Blair was also adamantly opposed to a pardon. “We can’t offer Ghislaine Maxwell anything,” he said. “A, I don’t know why we would. And B, if we give Ghislaine Maxwell any sort of break whatsoever and then she turns around and says nice things about us, or says nice things about us and we give her a break, it will undermine the entire point of her saying good things. That will feed the conspiracy theory, period. If there’s nothing for her to say that hurts us, we shouldn’t have to offer her anything.”

The consensus was that calling for the release of the grand jury material was the best course of action. Wiles told the group she would discuss the matter with Trump and ask if he would send a Truth Social post calling for the release of the sealed grand jury documents

Just then, The Wall Street Journal article they had been trying to kill was published online. Cellphones are forbidden in the Situation Room, so a staff member brought in printed copies of the explosive report, which detailed how Trump, and many others, had created birthday cards and letters to be assembled by Maxwell into a special birthday book for Epstein in 2003. The birthday card attributed to Trump depicted a nude woman, hand-drawn and inscribed with an imagined dialogue between the two men about a “wonderful secret.” The drawing was signed with what appeared to be Trump’s distinctive jagged Sharpie signature in place of the woman’s pubic hair.

In the days before publication, Trump, in the effort to quash the story, had called News Corp.’s chief executive, Robert Thomson; News Corp.’s owner, Rupert Murdoch; and The Journal’s editor in chief, Emma Tucker. Practically shouting, the president told Tucker, who is British, that she must “hate America.” He told her he would file a lawsuit.

But none of his bullying had worked, and now, as the group sat quietly reading the full story in the Situation Room, Wiles readied a public denial for the president, which he soon posted on social media.

Shortly after this, the president posted again. He was going along with the plan his advisers had hashed out in the Situation Room, though it was clear he didn’t like having to do it: “Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”

In response to a request for comment, a White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, repeated Trump’s claims that he was innocent in all Epstein-related matters, adding that “by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”\

maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changeAuthors’ noteThis article is adapted from reporting for our book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” The bulk of the reporting took place from the spring of 2023 to the spring of 2026. During that time, we conducted more than 1,000 interviews with a wide range of people close to President Trump, including campaign officials, White House staff members, officials serving in government departments and agencies, former aides, donors, lawmakers, friends and business associates.

Many of our interviews were conducted on the journalistic ground rule of “deep background,” agreed to in advance, which meant we could use the information but not identify who gave it to us. Throughout the reporting process, we made extensive efforts to contact the individuals named and give them ample opportunity to offer their perspective. When we use direct quotes, those quotes came either from the person speaking, from someone who heard that person directly or from contemporaneous notes, recordings or transcripts. When we paraphrase, it’s because witnesses or participants in the dialogue could not recall the precise wording but were confident about the thrust of the message expressed. Where there were discrepancies between the accounts of participants in meetings, we generally erred on the side of removing the disagreed-upon material; in some instances, we relied on our own judgment of various sources’ reliability, based on our long histories of covering Trump and his inner circle. Over the course of these past three years, during our daily reporting for The New York Times, each of us has spoken to Donald Trump multiple times, and the president sat for an hourlong interview with us on March 16, 2026.

New York Times Magazine, 6 Takeaways From the Story of How the Epstein Files Paralyzed the White House, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, June 10, 2026. Senior officials clashed in a series of meetings as they struggled to manage a crisis over the president’s refusal to release the documents.

Last summer, as pressure mounted on the Trump administration to release material it held on Jeffrey Epstein, the president’s top advisers gathered in a series of meetings, many of them in the White House Situation Room — typically used during national-security crises — as they struggled to contain a scandal engulfing Donald Trump himself. The discussions included the vice president, JD Vance; the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles; the White House counsel, David Warrington; the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche; and the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, among others.

The reporting, which documents many previously undisclosed conversations and conflicts, is drawn from our forthcoming book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” We discovered how the Epstein files consumed and often paralyzed the highest levels of the Trump administration, far more than the public knew.

Here are six takeaways from the article in The Times Magazine.The government’s national-security bunker became an Epstein war room.

The secure Situation Room complex, where President Obama and his team monitored the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, became the setting for a string of meetings in which the Trump administration’s most senior officials gathered — without the president — to manage the fallout from public fury over their failure to release the Epstein files. To their surprise, much of that backlash was coming from what they had considered the reliably loyal MAGA base.

As the calls for disclosure grew louder, Trump’s inner circle spent more and more time in the Situation Room, which became inseparable from the crisis — a guarded space used not to weigh a foreign threat but to steer the president around a political problem concerning a notorious dead pedophile.

maggie haberman jonathan swan regime changeThe officials knew that prominent people, including Trump, were named in the records of F.B.I. agents’ interview notes with witnesses, some of whom were Epstein’s victims. While many of the claims made in the notes were not corroborated evidence, releasing them was, for most of the president’s advisers, a nonstarter.

Trump made clear to his aides that he had no interest in releasing anything related to Epstein. He snapped at anyone who raised the issue, and his staff mostly learned to avoid the subject in front of him. They were left to worry and plan among themselves. The president’s refusal to acknowledge that a crisis existed, let alone that it was growing, complicated every path his team wanted to take.

As The Wall Street Journal prepared a damaging article about his relationship with Epstein, the president tried to kill it. He called News Corp.’s chief executive; its owner, Rupert Murdoch; and the paper’s editor in chief, Emma Tucker. The president, practically shouting as he threatened to sue, told Tucker, who is British, that she must “hate America.” When his efforts to stop the article failed and his advisers settled on a limited gesture of transparency, the president went along grudgingly.Vice President JD Vance wanted to release all the files — even the unsubstantiated material about Trump.

Within the White House itself, no one was more vocal about releasing the Epstein material than the vice president. “This is a huge problem,” Vance told colleagues in the Situation Room. Others thought he appeared panicked about how the issue was splintering the MAGA coalition. Wiles would later describe the vice president to associates as an Epstein conspiracy theorist.

Vance pressed repeatedly for the administration to release everything — even unsubstantiated material about Trump — arguing that Congress would force the issue eventually and that getting ahead of it would earn the White House credit for transparency.

He floated the idea of enlisting Tucker Carlson to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime girlfriend and co-conspirator, in prison, and fretted to colleagues about how the crisis was alienating the young, low-propensity voters who had backed the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024. But the vice president’s suggestions were far from popular with the core Trump team, and most of them went unheeded.Expletive-laden blowups fractured the top of the Justice Department.

The lingering distrust between Pam Bondi, then the attorney general, and the F.B.I.’s top two officials — Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, then his deputy — exploded over the Epstein controversy.

The day the Justice Department released a memo intended to put the Epstein matter to rest, Bongino marched into a daily meeting and erupted at Bondi. He and Patel told White House officials that Bondi should resign; at a later meeting, the two said they suspected that she had leaked damaging stories about them. When Wiles accused Bongino of a leak of his own, he stormed out of the Situation Room complex. Bongino privately warned associates that the Epstein crisis would become “President Trump’s Iran-contra.”Advisers found themselves having a surreal debate over an unverified allegation about Mr. Trump.

At an August meeting in the Situation Room, one of the president’s senior aides raised an uncorroborated and secondhand claim that had been made nearly a decade earlier, about Trump aggressively flicking and sucking a young woman’s nipples until they “looked incredibly painful.”

The claim about Trump had surfaced in 2024 in unsealed court filings from a civil suit unrelated to him, and when the matter was raised by another official, Vance argued for including this and many other accusations on the Justice Department’s website, saying that it would show maximum transparency and that Trump wouldn’t mind, given that he had been accused of worse. Wiles shut that down, saying the president would not, in fact, be fine with releasing it. One official later said it was “surreal” to be debating the nipple accusation in the White House Situation Room.More than a year later, the files were still damaging the president.

In late March 2026 — a full year into the White House efforts to manage the fiasco — a confidential memo from Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, summarized responses from focus groups conducted with voters earlier that month, in which the Epstein files ranked as the sixth most important political issue, ahead of crime, the military and being pro-working class. The memo flagged the Epstein issue as “a real negative with some of these voters.”

New York Times, Bill Gates Says Epstein Tried to Use His Extramarital Affairs Against Him,  Matthew Goldstein, June 10, 2026. The billionaire philanthropist testified on Wednesday in a closed-door congressional hearing about the Justice Department’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, told a congressional committee on Wednesday that the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exploited information about his extramarital affairs “to pressure me to re-engage with him” after Mr. Gates had begun to sever ties with him.

Mr. Gates made his comment in an opening statement to the House Oversight Committee, which asked him questions about his dealings with Mr. Epstein at a closed-door hearing. The committee has been investigating the Justice Department’s handling of its investigations into Mr. Epstein and those associated with him.

A representative for Mr. Gates released a copy of his statement on Wednesday ahead of the hearing, which was expected to last for four hours.

In his statement, Mr. Gates repeated his prior comments that he regretted having anything to do with Mr. Epstein but had never seen him engage in any “criminal conduct.” Mr. Gates also said he had “never victimized anyone.”

Revelations about Mr. Gates’s interactions with Mr. Epstein began to surface not long after Mr. Epstein was arrested by federal authorities in 2019 on sex trafficking charges. The revelations have tarnished Mr. Gates’s reputation, contributed to the erosion of his marriage and prompted his charitable foundation this year to authorize an external review of his ties to Mr. Epstein.

“In the work I do, reputation is the basis for developing partnerships that save lives. Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment and put this work at risk,” Mr. Gates said in his statement. “His behavior was antithetical to all my efforts to contribute to a world where everyone has a chance to live a healthy and productive life.”

Mr. Gates’s dealings with Mr. Epstein began in 2011, about three years after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The guilty plea followed a controversial nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, which short-circuited an investigation into allegations that Mr. Epstein had regularly sexually abused dozen of teenage girls — some as young as 14.

When he was introduced to Mr. Epstein in 2011, Mr. Gates said, he should have done more homework on the man he was meeting.

“I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” he said. “I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.”

Up until 2014, Mr. Gates had several meetings with Mr. Epstein, mainly to discuss the possibility of setting up a so-called donor-advised fund — a type of tax-advantaged charitable fund. Mr. Epstein also had conversations about the fund with bankers at JPMorgan Chase, and he had hoped to earn a fee in connection with his work. But the fund never came about, and by the end of 2014 Mr. Epstein’s conversations with Mr. Gates over it had largely ended.

Mr. Gates said he had learned after he stopped dealing with Mr. Epstein that the disgraced financier had been trying to use his marital problems to gain leverage over him.

The sex offender had a pattern of trying to gather personal information on some of the people he dealt with to put himself in a position of making them aware he knew things about them.

“As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities,” Mr. Gates said in his statement.

The House committee has already interviewed a number of people in Mr. Epstein’s orbit, including former President Bill Clinton and the retail magnate Leslie Wexner. The committee has also scheduled interviews with James Staley, a Wall Street executive who for years was Mr. Epstein’s main advocate at JPMorgan, and Leon Black, the private equity billionaire, who paid Mr. Epstein $170 million for tax and estate services.

PoliticusUSA, Democrats Have All The Info They Need To End Trump And Vance With A Real Epstein Investigation, Jason Easley, right, jason easleyJune 10, 2026. An upcoming book spells out how the Trump administration colluded to hide the Epstein files because Trump didn't want anything released.

A new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (two Trump-friendly authors) who withheld all of this reporting to make money off a book detailed the extensive cover-up by the Trump administration to bury the Epstein files.

The New York Times Magazine published an excerpt of the book that laid out how all of the top members of the administration colluded together to try to get out in front of the story while also giving Trump what he wanted, which was to bury the Epstein files.

According to the book excerpt:

Vice President JD Vance took a seat at the head of the table in the John F. Kennedy Conference Room of the Situation Room complex. “This is a huge problem,” he told the group. Arrayed around him were the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles; the White House counsel, David Warrington; the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt; the deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich; the communications director, Steven Cheung; the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche; the associate attorney general, Stanley Woodward Jr.; and the deputy chief of staff James Blair. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, joined on speakerphone.…

But there was one major obstacle in the path of a solution: The president himself still had no interest in transparency. He wanted the whole Epstein issue buried, and he was snapping at anyone who mentioned it. His staff largely avoided the subject in their conversations with him, forced to worry among themselves.

House Democrats responded to the details in the story by making it clear that if they win the majority, the Trump cover-up will be investigated.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) responded to the news that House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) will finally bring in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify in the Epstein investigation.

Stansbury said:

 We are all glad to hear that Mr. Comer has had a change of heart in making sure that Todd Blanche is brought before this committee. We wanna make clear that he must be brought before this committee under oath in a deposition that is recorded for the American people to see, and this is separate from his confirmation process. Todd Blanche is at the heart of the cover-up of this case, as was revealed, especially in The New York Times explosive reporting today about Situation Room meetings that were held in which Todd Blanche, as the president's personal attorney and deputy AG, was working with others, including the vice president, to help to try to cover up this case.

Now, with regards to Bill Gates' interview today, what we have learned is that Mr. Gates saw this as an opportunity to interact with a financial advisor who had access to vast amounts of wealth, that Mr. Gates was interested in potentially forming partnerships to bring donors into his global health work.

And so he saw his relationship and conversations with Jeffrey Epstein as a means to potentially get wealthy donors to donate philanthropically to Mr. Gates' global health work. He admitted that he knew of Mr. Epstein's reputation. He admitted that he knew that he had been convicted of sexual crimes.

But ultimately, in his words, he viewed this narrow relationship as being an acceptable means to access wealthy donors. So obviously, we have a lot of questions, but we're glad that he's cooperating with the investigation.

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, How Quiet Oman Landed Itself in Trump’s Cross Hairs, Vivian Nereim, June 10, 2026. As the Iran war drags on, Oman — a U.S. ally and mediator with Iran — has found itself at odds with the Trump administration and some of its own neighbors.

When President Trump casually threatened last month to bomb Oman, a longtime American ally, it was so extraordinary that some people assumed he had misspoken. Surely he meant Iran?

Apparently, he did not.

As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran inflames tensions across the Middle East, the sleepy sultanate of Oman has found itself in the cross hairs of the Trump administration and at odds with its Gulf Arab neighbors — perceived by some as too sympathetic to Iran, according to analysts.

“Sometimes standing in the middle is not easy,” said Abdullah Babood, an Omani academic. “For Washington, it is almost that you are either with us or against us — and Oman doesn’t want to do that.”

Iran FlagOman has facilitated talks between the United States and Iran for years and maintains that it is still playing its traditional role as a neutral mediator, advocating regional stability.

Then last month, it emerged that Oman had discussed partnering with Iran to charge service fees for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz — ignoring the Trump administration’s warnings against this.

The president snapped.

“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” Mr. Trump told reporters on in late May. “They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

That threat shocked people across the region. Yet the response from the Omani government, which did not respond to a request for comment, has been silence.

Oman, a peaceful nation perched at the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula — just across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran — has long had a reputation of being somewhat aloof from the rest of the region.

“What they would say to me is, ‘Well, we are the Gulf’s window on Iran, and that’s a function that needs to be respected,’” said Marc Sievers, a former U.S. ambassador to Oman. “And I think it was, to a certain degree.” 

New York Times, White House Again Shrugs Off High Prices Amid War With Iran, Tony Romm, June 10, 2026. As inflation outpaces workers’ wages, the Trump administration insists that its agenda is working.

President Trump, wearing a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie, gestures as he sits at a desk. Standing behind him are about a dozen people.Speaking at a bill signing on Wednesday, President Trump predicted that inflation would recede quickly, once the Iran conflict concludes.“ It’s going to come down like a rock.”Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesTony Romm

Prices jumped in May for the third straight month, leaving U.S. families and businesses to suffer the sting from the war with Iran.

And for the third time, the White House largely shrugged off the news, insisting that the problem was temporary — and that President Trump’s agenda was working.

“No, I love it, the numbers were great,” the president told reporters on Wednesday. “I love the inflation.”

It was a familiar pattern, one that appeared to underscore the widening chasm between Mr. Trump and the majority of Americans who say they are frustrated with the direction of the economy. The president’s comments perfectly framed both the political strategy and the stakes for Republicans entering an election season that may well hinge on the state of voters’ finances.

The latest gauge of the Consumer Price Index, released on Wednesday, showed that goods overall became more expensive last month, rising 4.2 percent compared with a year earlier. That marked the fastest pace since April 2023, and as a result, offered renewed evidence that prices are rising faster than Americans’ wages.

The acceleration largely stemmed from the war with Iran, which has snarled the world’s energy supply, sending oil and gas costs soaring as a result. That, in turn, has made travel and shipping more expensive, pushing up the price of many products, including some groceries.

Much as before, though, the scourge of creeping inflation hardly troubled Mr. Trump.

Speaking at a bill signing on Wednesday, the president argued that the U.S. economy had been in strong shape before the war with Iran. He suggested that he had initially expected the fallout from the conflict to be much worse. He later bragged about gains in financial markets, even though major indexes all had fallen by the time he spoke.

Eventually asked when he expected prices to subside, Mr. Trump predicted that inflation would recede quickly, once the Iran conflict concludes.

“It’s going to come down like a rock,” he said.

The comments captured Mr. Trump’s political strategy throughout the war with Iran, an intervention that the president once proclaimed would be over in weeks — yet now has eclipsed three months.

More On U.S. Elections, Politics

Democratic-Republican Campaign logosNew York Times, The Battle for the Senate Could Come Down to Hopes and Fears in Maine, Lisa Lerer, June 10, 2026. Graham Platner’s primary victory in Maine sets up a high-stakes contest between an insurgent progressive with political baggage and a battle-tested but vulnerable Republican senator.

Graham Platner’s primary victory in Maine sends Democrats barreling into one of this year’s most important Senate contests with a rush of insurgent energy but gnawing uncertainty about the withering Republican scrutiny to come.

His decisive victory offered a vivid display of the deep Democratic desire for a new generation of leaders, suggesting that many primary voters in Maine embraced his populist economic message and working-class appeal.

Yet in nominating Mr. Platner, Democrats are making an enormous bet in their quest to regain control of the Senate, staking their chances in a crucial race on an untested and scandal-plagued oysterman.

Maine is a linchpin of both parties’ midterm strategies. With Republicans holding 53 seats in the Senate, Democrats will have to defend all the seats they hold and flip four more to win control in November. For months, party leaders have believed their most likely path ran through North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska and especially Maine — the only state of the four that voted against President Trump in 2024.

But Mr. Platner’s controversy-filled ascent to the Democratic nomination has complicated those plans, leaving some strategists worried that the party may need to win in deep-red Iowa or Texas to offset a loss in Maine.

Even with many Maine liberals excited about his candidacy, the road ahead for Mr. Platner remains difficult.

He is facing Senator Susan Collins, a powerful moderate Republican legislator with a three-decade record of winning over the female voters, who make up a majority of the Maine electorate.

He must pivot from being a left-wing insurgent — Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been one of his fiercest champions — to winning over general-election voters in Maine.

And he must dispel the concerns of the nearly 30 percent of primary voters who, according to incomplete results on Tuesday night, cast ballots for other Democratic candidates.

Those efforts began with his victory speech on Tuesday night.

“If you believe as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” he told supporters in rural Blue Hill, where he was born. “Every day, I wake up and I try to be a little better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before.”

Ms. Collins, who is widely seen as the most vulnerable Republican incumbent, faces her own considerable challenges. She must outrun the difficult national political environment for Republicans, with Mr. Trump’s approval ratings sagging amid an unpopular war with Iran that has driven up gas prices and inflation. And she must persuade voters eager for generational change and new leadership that she remains fit for a sixth term at age 73.

Mr. Platner sought to remind voters of those liabilities in his victory speech, lacing into Ms. Collins with scathing attacks intended to tie her to the Trump administration.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Stop the Arch, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 10, 2026. Last night, President Trump had the White House colorfully and dramatically lit up.

Was it a belated recognition of D-Day, whose anniversary Trump had ignored on June 6? No.

Was it a commemoration of the day 250 years ago when the Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration of independence? No.

bulwark logo big shipTrump has no interest in wars against fascism or declarations of human equality and liberty.

What Trump is interested in is self-aggrandizing spectacle and personal grift. And so last night’s garish lighting display was to illuminate the Ultimate Fighting Championship arena now set up on the White House South Lawn, which will be the venue for the cage matches to take place on Trump’s eightieth birthday Sunday.

It’s all grotesque.

But even more grotesque to my eyes is the gigantic 250-foot triumphal arch Trump wants to have built on Memorial Circle, interrupting the vista from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington Cemetery.

I hadn’t been able to put my finger on just why, of all Trump’s offenses to good taste and American history, it’s the arch that bothers me the most, until I read the excellent testimony of Holly Berkley Fletcher, a friend of and occasional contributor to The Bulwark, at a recent hearing of the National Capitol Planning Commission.

Here’s the crux of what Holly told the commission:

I strongly object to the building of the proposed arch because it is an affront to the history and meaning of the site.

In 1864, General Montgomery Meigs made a deliberate decision to bury Union dead at the Arlington estate of his former friend and mentor, Robert E. Lee, whom he considered a traitor to the United States. Meigs wanted to send a message, both to Lee personally and to the nation, about the rebellion’s high moral and human cost.

Decades later, the Macmillan Commission approved a long overdue architectural plan for Washington based on the original design of Charles Pierre L’Enfant, who, notably, is also buried at Arlington, in the section visible from Washington.

The Lincoln Memorial was purposefully placed in the direct sightline of Lee’s home and the graves of the first Union soldiers buried there, with the Memorial Bridge connecting the two, as a symbol of union, reconciliation, and the high price of freedom. This site was never meant to be triumphal, but rather somber, reflective, and profound, much like Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural and Gettysburg Addresses, which are etched into the walls of his memorial.

And Holly concluded on a more personal note:

I am also a former CIA Africa analyst who was raised in Kenya under a dictatorial regime. This arch reminds me more of the bombastic, self-aggrandizing displays of the African strongmen I have observed than the expression of a mature, dignified democracy whose greatness has been proven over time through the fulfillment of and fidelity to its founding principles.

I don’t know if those, like Holly, standing athwart Trump’s arch yelling ‘Stop,’ will succeed. Trump really wants it to happen. On June 6, he boasted that “The Triumphal Arch . . . will be, along with the White House Ballroom, the Greatest Structure in Washington.” Today, the Washington Post reports that federal officials at Trump’s direction are hurrying to begin construction of the arch. Indeed, “the administration envisions 20 hours per day of construction on the arch, year-round, in hopes of completing the project within two to three years.”

But veterans groups in particular are fighting valiantly against it as a desecration of Arlington Cemetery, and there are other arenas—including other federal agencies, the courts, and Congress—in which the struggle to stop it will continue.

But even if the arch isn’t stopped now, the fight against it can lay the groundwork for removing it as soon as possible after January 20, 2029. The day the arch is taken down will be a fitting occasion for the next president to light up the White House, this time to mark the restoration of fidelity to the nation’s founding principles.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • bulwark logo big shipBulwark Book Club: Join MONA CHAREN and MARK HERTLING as they discuss his book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal.
  • How the Libertarian Party De-MAGAfied Itself… And could Republicans ever follow suit? BERNARD TAMAS explains.
  • Sorry, That’s the Wrong Kind of ‘Invasion’... Team Trump keeps mum about Russia’s attack on Ukraine—but fixates on how immigrants ‘threaten’ Europe’s future, writes WILL SALETAN.

Quick Hits

COST OF LIVING. IT’S A THING: Donald Trump came into office pledging to bring down prices, particularly energy prices. But a year and a half later, it’s fair to say that he’s been an abject failure on this front. The latest data point came this morning as the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index showed inflation rising at a 4.2 percent pace year-over-year. This is the first time that the CPI has crossed 4 percent in three years. And while the main driver of it is transitory, Trump is clearly to blame for it: Gas is up because of his war in Iran. While this might be a major political nuisance for the president, it’s a professional Catch-22 for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Warsh got the job by embracing Trump’s demand to lower interest rates. He would never have been able to do so without the approval of the Fed board. But now, with inflation at this level, it seems silly for him even to try.

—Sam Stein

ICE RE-FUNDED: After months of congressional deadlock, ICE and the Border Patrol are about to be funded again. Here’s NBC News:

After weeks of setbacks and delays, the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday narrowly passed a roughly $70 billion package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol through the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

The vote was 214–212, with Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent who caucuses with Republicans, joining all Democrats in voting no. The package, dubbed the Secure America Act, cleared the Senate last week and now heads to the president’s desk for his expected signature.

The successful House vote ends months of drama and partisan bickering over immigration enforcement funding. In February, Senate Democrats voted to shut down the Department of Homeland Security after the fatal shootings of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration operations in Minneapolis the previous month.

We’ve praised congressional Democrats for how they played this fight, which made Republicans’ path to re-funding the agencies that killed Pretti and Good much more politically difficult and painful, and even provided opportunities for disgruntled Republicans to confront Trump on other matters like his ballroom and his anti-weaponization fund. In the end, though, Republicans ended up shuffling back into line: The final bill contains none of the immigration-enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats and no restrictions on Trump’s ability to relaunch his J6 slush fund, should he choose to do so. No ballroom money, though.

IT’S PLATNER: As expected, Graham Platner romped to victory in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary last night—but it wasn’t just Platner. As Politico notes, other candidates endorsed by Bernie Sanders had a good night across the board, extending a string of victories for the progressive Vermont senator:

Hours before his victory was called, Sanders-backed Randy Villegas advanced to a runoff ahead of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s endorsed candidate, as he fights to face Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) in a swingy Central Valley seat. Other Sanders-backed victors for House seats in recent weeks include Adam Hamawy and Analilia Mejia in New Jersey, Sam Forstag in Montana, Brian Poindexter in Ohio and Bob Brooks in a key Pennsylvania swing district.

Sanders stood vocally by Platner through the latest round of controversies, and his support helped bolster the progressive oyster farmer and former combat Marine through the closing stretch.

Platner heads into the general election against GOP Sen. Susan Collins following a wide margin of victory over Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who shelved her struggling campaign before Election Day, and an also-ran opponent. That may be enough to quiet at least some of the Democrats who had been angling for him to step aside.

So it goes. Now we’ll see how he does against Collins.

AS BAD AS THEY SOUND: Beef prices are high now, and they’re likely to get worse. The New World Screwworm, a flesh-eating fly that was once the scourge of the domestic cattle industry but had been eradicated from America for decades, has been creeping back north toward the U.S. border for months. Cases are now popping up well north of the Rio Grande. Four animals carrying the parasite have now been identified in Texas; another case, the USDA announced Monday, was identified in a pet dog in New Mexico.

The screwworm, a deeply unpleasant creature that lays eggs in the wounds of mammals, which hatch into larva that eat living flesh, had been gradually eradicated by means of a huge, painstaking government intervention: the breeding and release of bazillions of sterile male screwworms into areas overrun by the pest. Since female screwworms mate only once, this program did wonders for knocking out the population in areas where it was implemented. And once they’d done it in America, they didn’t stop—scientists kept pushing the battle line against the screwworm farther and farther south into Central America.

A few years ago, though, the screwworms started breaking back through and spreading north again. The federal government and the government of Texas have been preparing for their arrival, in part by building a big new breeding facility for sterile flies outside Edinburgh, Texas. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sounded the alarm last week that that facility may not come online quickly enough: Without greater fly production, he said Friday, “we cannot make it through a second summer.” Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been taking heat for a different screwworm-related decision: Programs for surveillance against the parasite and for animal disease control and prevention were among the cuts implemented by DOGE at USAID and the USDA last year.

New York Times, Hilton Beats Steyer to Win Second Spot in California Governor Race, Laurel Rosenhall, Updated June 10, 2026.  Steve Hilton, a Republican endorsed by President Trump, will face Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, in the general election. Tom Steyer, another Democrat, will not advance.

Steve Hilton, a Republican former Fox News host who was endorsed by President Trump, has secured the second spot in the November general election for California governor, The Associated Press determined on Tuesday. He will face Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who served in the Biden administration.

The candidates survived an unprecedented barrage of spending for a California governor’s race. Tom Steyer, a billionaire who ran as a progressive Democrat, devoted more than $216 million of his personal fortune toward his primary campaign, finishing third.

Under California rules, the top two finishers in the primary election, regardless of party, advance to the general election. There had been a chance that Mr. Steyer would face Mr. Becerra in an intraparty battle in November, but Tuesday’s outcome instead sets up a lopsided contest in a state where a Republican has not won the governor’s office in two decades.

The winner will replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run again because of term limits and is considered a potential Democratic presidential candidate for 2028.

Mr. Hilton on Tuesday called on the state to direct more money and staff to process ballots after each election. He also urged Californians to support a November ballot measure that would require voters to show identification and called on Mr. Becerra to join with him in supporting the Republican-backed measure.

“That’s the best way of showing Californians that we really are serious about giving this state the modern, secure, efficient election system that we deserve,” Mr. Hilton said during a campaign stop outside the offices of the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters in Norwalk, Calif.

Mr. Becerra responded by pointing out Mr. Hilton’s ties to Mr. Trump and his claims of election fraud in California.

“That’s who Steve Hilton is aligning himself with,” Mr. Becerra said during a campaign stop at a Latin American market in Los Angeles. “Is that what we would expect of the next governor?”

He added that the voter ID ballot measure would make it more difficult for Californians to vote. He said, however, that he thought the state should devote more resources to vote tabulation.

Mr. Becerra is the first Latino to emerge from a governor primary in California and is well positioned to become the state’s first Latino governor of the modern era.

Mr. Hilton, 56, grew up in England and was a top aide to Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to California so his wife could pursue her career in Silicon Valley. He became an American citizen five years ago.

He entered the contest with some familiarity among conservatives as a former Fox News host. He flexed his lively persona on social media over the course of the campaign and regularly injected quips in televised debates. He vowed to increase affordability by cutting taxes and regulations, and he railed against Democrats at nearly every turn. Some of Mr. Hilton’s largest campaign donations came from Rupert Murdoch, the conservative media mogul, and Sergey Brin, a founder of Google.

Mr. Steyer called on his supporters to unite behind Mr. Becerra on Tuesday and said that he understood “why so many people just couldn’t stomach voting for a billionaire,” referring to himself.

“It’s hard to blame them,” Mr. Steyer said in a statement, adding that he would continue fighting to “dismantle a system that only benefits billionaires.”

Mr. Hilton’s top-two finish seems to run counter to Mr. Trump’s claims in recent days that California elections are “rigged” to benefit Democrats. Mr. Hilton said on Tuesday that he takes the concern seriously, but that he has had lawyers monitoring the voting process and they have not seen signs of fraud.

The November matchup is one that Mr. Becerra and many Democrats had hoped for, knowing that Mr. Hilton was not just a Republican, but one endorsed by Mr. Trump, who remains deeply unpopular in California.

Days before the election, Mr. Becerra released an ad that highlighted the differences between him and Mr. Hilton, whom the ad called “Trump’s favorite.” While the ad ostensibly bolstered Mr. Becerra’s anti-Trump credentials, it also seemed designed to encourage Republicans to coalesce behind Mr. Hilton and give him enough support to finish second and prevent Mr. Steyer from reaching the general election.Mr. Hilton has already begun his attacks on Mr. Becerra, casting him as a “career politician” who would perpetuate “more of the same” problems that the state has experienced during Mr. Newsom’s governorship.

Mr. Becerra’s spot in the November contest was determined last Friday, but Mr. Hilton’s position was confirmed only on Tuesday, a week after Election Day, after counties provided their latest vote counts.

California’s slow count, which is because of the large number of people who vote by mail and the cumbersome procedure for processing ballots that arrive in envelopes, has become a flashpoint in recent days. Both Mr. Becerra and Mr. Hilton said on Tuesday that they wished the state were able to count its votes faster.

New York Times, Trump Endorsement Does Not Prove Decisive in South Carolina Primary, Eduardo Medina, Emily Cochrane and Nick Madigan, June 10, 2026 (print ed.). Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Alan Wilson, the state attorney general, now head to a runoff in the Republican contest for governor. President Trump vowed to “fight” for Ms. Evette in the second round.

Just under two weeks before the Republican primary for governor, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette of South Carolina clinched what she had long worked for: an endorsement from President Trump.

But in a crowded field of ambitious conservatives who had similar platforms, that was not enough for an outright victory on Tuesday night. Ms. Evette will now face Alan Wilson, the state attorney general who has prioritized his messaging around affordability, in a runoff later this month, according to The Associated Press.

The second round, on June 23, pits a Trump-backed candidate against a popular attorney general in a state that voted for the president three times in the general election, and was quick to embrace his Make America Great Again movement a decade ago. It will be another high-profile test of Mr. Trump’s political sway, which has had mixed results in races elsewhere in the country.

In South Carolina, voters appeared to be more concerned about who could steer their state and its ballooning population through infrastructure troubles and rising costs. And in interviews, they made a distinction between state and federal leadership. At Ms. Evette’s watch party on Tuesday night, one of the loudest cheers from the audience came after her pledge to fix roads.

As of Tuesday night, her portion of the vote hovered just below 30 percent. Mr. Wilson was not far behind, with about 26 percent. South Carolina has elected only Republican governors since 2002, meaning the winner of the runoff is likely to become governor.

More Global News

New York Times, A Twist in Ukraine’s Drone Campaign Is ‘Really Hurting the Russians,’ Marc Santora, June 10, 2026. Midrange attacks, using upgraded drones that Ukraine produces in huge numbers, are causing fuel shortages and complicating troop rotations.

First Ukraine assembled an arsenal of millions of drones that, along with Russia’s own buildup, turned a 25-mile-wide strip along the front line into a killing ground. Then Kyiv expanded its reach deep into the Russian heartland as it targeted oil infrastructure and military factories, making long-range violence in the war a two-way street.

Now, Ukraine is focusing on the middle ground — the critical roads and railways, in some cases more than 100 miles from the front, that feed Russian troops and matériel into battle. Kyiv is calling the effort a “logistics lockdown,” and it is systematically reshaping the battlefield, at least until Russian forces find a way to adapt.

Ukraine is wreaking havoc on unarmored trucks and trains in the battlefield’s rear, using drones with upgraded engines and batteries, integrated Starlink communication systems and new artificial-intelligence capabilities. The ramped-up attacks are causing fuel shortages, complicating troop rotations and reducing Russian military activity on the front.

May was the first month since 2023 in which Russia suffered a net loss of territory, according to the Ukrainian research group DeepState. On Monday, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the top Ukrainian military commander, said Ukraine had reclaimed in May nearly 40 square miles more than it lost.

The attacks on Russian logistics are part of a synchronized, multilayered campaign that covers the close-in “kill zone,” the midrange resupply zone in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, and the territory far inside Russia where Ukraine has hit sites producing crucial weapon technology.

“That’s what’s new, and that’s what is really hurting the Russians,” said Mick Ryan, a retired Australian general who is a fellow at the Lowy Institute, a research group in Sydney.

The coordinated campaign has made it hard for Moscow to generate momentum, with its spring and summer offensives so far failing to achieve notable results.Video

U.S. Markets, Inflation, Economy, Jobs

New York Times, Opinion Today Podcast: Wall Street’s A.I. Bet Is About to Become Yours, David Wallace-Wells and Natasha Sarin, Produced by Jillian Weinberger, June 10, 2026. David Wallace-Wells speaks with the economist and law professor Natasha Sarin about what the coming A.I. I.P.O.s could mean for your retirement account. 

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and A.I. company, is about to go public at a record-breaking $1.77 trillion. This summer, Anthropic and Open A.I. will follow suit, also with sky-high valuations. Are they worth it? The Opinion writer David Wallace-Wells and the contributing writer Natasha Sarin, an economist and law professor, tackle that question and discuss what these I.P.O.s mean for the American economy in the near future and beyond.

(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft claiming copyright infringement. The companies have denied those claims.)Wall Street’s A.I. Bet Is About to Become YoursDavid Wallace-Wells speaks with the economist and law professor Natasha Sarin about what the coming A.I. I.P.O.s could mean for your retirement account.

Below is a transcript of an episode of “The Opinions.” We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYTimes app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

David Wallace-Wells: I’m David Wallace-Wells, a writer for Times Opinion and a columnist for The Times Magazine.

It really wasn’t very long ago that chatbots, L.L.M.s and big A.I. first got the attention of the public. ChatGPT launched in late 2022. An awful lot has happened since then, but even so, every few months we have another burst of commentary about whether this is all a big bubble, whether the leading A.I. labs are raising too much money and spending too much money, given how much they’re earning, and leading the whole sector, and maybe the whole economy with it, towards a crash. But we’re about to enter a new phase, because two of these companies are preparing for absolutely mammoth I.P.O.s.

SpaceX, too, which is both an A.I. company and a satellite company, is about to go public for a total value of $1.77 trillion. So, what are these I.P.O.s telling us about the risks of a bubble, about the state of an American economy so highly leveraged on A.I., and about where we might be heading in the future? With me is Natasha Sarin, an Opinion contributor and an economist and law professor at Yale University, where she also runs the Yale Budget Lab. Welcome, Natasha.

Natasha Sarin: Thanks so much for having me.

Wallace-Wells: So, let’s start with a really naïve question: Why are these companies doing I.P.O.s right now?

Sarin: So, if you think about these companies — and SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic are all essentially trying to go public within just a few months of each other in the second half of this year. And they’re at the scale, as you’re describing, David, which is kind of unheard of. It’s hard to understand what to make of these multitrillion-dollar valuations. But one way I’ve been thinking about them is, if you take the three of them together, the sort of expected market cap of these three I.P.O.s is going to be something like over $3 trillion.Editors’ PicksNo Longer ‘Supporting Cast,’ Grooms Now Want Glam Squads, TooWhat We Know About Weight-Loss Drugs Is Rapidly ChangingAre Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Prepping for a New York Wedding?

And if you look at, essentially, all of the technology I.P.O.s in the internet boom — so, from 1995 to about 2000 — and you combine their value entirely, all of them, and this is inflation-adjusted, SpaceX alone is almost as large as that. And the three of them together are significantly larger than that.

So, these are huge I.P.O.s, and part of what is going to happen as a result of that — and part of what the motivation is, if you’re thinking about why these companies are deciding to go public now — is about access to capital. It is about being able to sell stakes in this company to a broader pool of investors, and being able to have the valuations attached with that, and the public market valuations attached with that. And I think that’s really a significant moment — not just for these particular companies, but for all that portends with respect to artificial intelligence more generally.

Wallace-Wells: So, just drilling down on that for a second. I mean, you’re saying that the motivations here are kind of classic I.P.O. motivations. You know, raise money for the companies, liquidate cash for the investors, make some amount of social compact with the public by getting them some slice of the pie. But is it the case that Anthropic is unable to raise money now in the private markets? Like, why turn to Wall Street?

Sarin: Yeah. It’s such a good question, and in part, we know the answer to that is no, right? And so, if you look at something I’ve written extensively about over the course of the last year or so, it really has been the growth in private markets, and particularly in private credit markets, which involves a lot of, traditionally, private equity firms that made equity investments. Things like Apollo, things like Blackstone, actually making loans to a lot of these same companies that are powering their growth or powering the data center infrastructure build-out.

And so, private markets are keen and eager, and stand ready to invest very substantially in these firms. But, to your point, that’s not the only motivation for why these companies are deciding to go public at this moment. There are lots of motivations for why they’re deciding to go public. One of them has to do with the ability of their own investors in the company to realize the benefits of these multitrillion-dollar valuations that they’re essentially going to be forcing on the market. If you take SpaceX, which is coming this week, and you take the valuation that they’re assigning to themselves, which is this record $1.7 trillion that they’re going to go out with, that’s significantly higher than a lot of what analysts are assigning to it, right?

Wallace-Wells: And they’re actually trying to relax some of the conditions to buy, right? To allow smaller investors in, which tells you something about the kind of buyer that they’re hoping to sell to.

Sarin: And there’s so many pieces of this that, I think, are so important for how the market functions, and for actually regular people and their portfolios, that are really important for your listeners to grapple with. One is that, part of what is happening, just because of the scale of these I.P.O.s that we started by talking about, is they’re going to instantaneously be a really significant part of household portfolios through things like their retirement accounts. And the reason for that is, because as these giant I.P.O.s are happening, the stock market indices are actually relaxing their own rules with respect to how long it takes in order for companies to get onto the index.

And so, the idea that 15 days after SpaceX I.P.O.s, it’s essentially going to be part of all of our retirement portfolios; and all of our index investing is actually really consequential for households. And in general, these I.P.O.s and the concentration that they’re going to represent — even before you had these I.P.O.s, by the way, something like 60 percent of stock market growth last year was about just a few technology companies — that trend is going to accelerate in a world with these mammoth I.P.O.s coming in the second half of this year.

And so, that too has really consequential effects for household portfolios, because, in some sense, it means that we’re all massively exposed to the idea that there might eventually be — and if what history tells us is true is, in fact, true, that when you have these types of technological changes, even ones that are hugely beneficial, and bring a lot of welfare, and a lot of economic growth — things like the internet, things like the railroad — they come with a bubble that eventually pops, and households are going to be massively exposed to that. And more exposed now that these companies are going public than they were a few weeks ago when all of them were private.

Wallace-Wells: So, one thing you’re talking about is that we’re all, collectively, going to be pulled into this investment cycle. And I wanted to pull back, a little bit, from the question of the I.P.O. and talk about the political economy of A.I. at the moment, generally; because, at the same time that we’re having the prospect of all of us getting enlisted in this profit machine, we’re also seeing huge amounts of public backlash, particularly around data centers. There’s broad unease about the future of an A.I.-powered economy. We see Bernie Sanders proposing the American government taking a 50 percent ownership stake in these labs. We see Donald Trump making similar noises, and the A.I. labs themselves saying, we’re open to this; kind of like, let’s talk about it.

U.S. Media, Education, Culture, Religion, High Tech

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: How data centers are blowing a hole in state budgets, Rebecca Crosby, June 10, 2026. States are paying billions to subsidize the AI boom. 

Communities across the country are fighting new data center projects due to concerns about environmental impacts, energy usage, and water consumption. But states are not just allowing these data centers to be built. In many cases, they are providing noel simsbillions of dollars in tax breaks to incentivize data center construction.

Thirty-eight states offer companies some sort of tax incentive for data centers, which house the technological infrastructure that powers AI models, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. States provide a variety of incentives, including waiving sales tax on construction materials or computer equipment.

Many of these tax breaks have been in place for years, but as the AI industry has grown exponentially, the cost of the tax breaks has ballooned. Some states are now forfeiting billions of dollars in tax revenue.

Data centers provide limited long-term economic benefits to communities because they create very few permanent jobs. According to a 2025 Business Insider analysis, while data centers provide job opportunities while they are being constructed, “even the largest data centers generally employ fewer than 150 permanent workers.” In some states, the tax breaks “can amount over time to more than $2 million for every permanent, full-time job.” In Illinois, for example, a Microsoft data center “received more than $38 million in data center sales tax exemptions but created just 20 permanent jobs,” according to CNBC.

Meanwhile, the AI industry is engaging in a furious lobbying campaign to keep these tax breaks in place. Many of the companies involved in the effort, including Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google, are highly profitable and have market caps of over a trillion dollars.A 100% sales tax exemption for 40 years in Ohio

At the end of May, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced that he was putting a tax break for new data centers on pause after it created a massive hole in the state budget. Ohio projected that the tax exemption would cost $136 million in fiscal year 2025, but it ended up costing over $1.5 billion. Agreements with Amazon, Meta, and Google included 100% sales tax exemptions for up to four decades on any facility built in Ohio.

The data center industry has a heavy lobbying presence in the state. According to the state’s lobbying database, the AI industry employs at least 37 lobbyists in Ohio, with Google (22), Meta (8), and Amazon (7) topping the list. The Data Center Coalition, a trade group whose members include major companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, employs three lobbyists in the state. (Some lobbyists represent multiple companies.) A nonprofit created by the Data Center Coalition called Connected Ohio has spent between $8,600 and $10,298 on Facebook ads promoting data centers since the start of May, according to Signal Ohio.

In 2014, Amazon signed an agreement for a full sales tax exemption under an affiliate, Vadata Inc. The agreement, which could last through 2055, was originally estimated to cost the state “$77 million in uncollected tax revenue,” but “the state could end up foregoing 20 times that much,” Bloomberg reported.Virginia’s $1.6 billion tax giveaway

In fiscal year 2025, Virginia lost an estimated $1.6 billion due to tax breaks for data centers. The cost of Virginia’s tax breaks for data centers has increased dramatically in recent years. In fiscal year 2017, the tax exemptions cost the state $65 million. In 2023, it was $750 million, according to Good Jobs First. This is “an increase of 1,051% in just six years.” When the tax exemption was approved in 2008, it was estimated to cost the state around $1.5 million per year.

The Virginia state budget is currently held up over disagreements between lawmakers over whether to keep the data center tax breaks in place. They are authorized through 2035, but some lawmakers want to begin to phase them out sooner.

The AI industry has launched an aggressive campaign to keep the tax breaks in place. According to the Virginia Public Access Project database, the Data Center Coalition has donated over $400,000 between 2024 and 2026. Virginia Connects, a group established by the Data Center Coalition, spent “at least $700,000 on digital marketing in the state in fiscal year 2024,” Mother Jones reported.A lobbying blitz pays off in Wisconsin

Tax exemptions for four data center projects in Wisconsin will cost the state over $2 billion in sales tax revenue, including “$1.5 billion in forgone state sales tax revenue” while the data centers are under construction, and “$369 million annually once the facilities are built.” The companies behind the projects are Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, and Epic.

Wisconsin lawmakers approved a sales tax exemption for data centers in the state’s 2023-25 budget. The tax exemption received over 200 hours of lobbying support from companies and business groups, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, including 41 hours of lobbying from Microsoft. In a statement to Wisconsin Public Radio, Microsoft argued that the “incentive makes the state more competitive with other states trying to attract data centers.”

Between 2023 and 2025, Microsoft spent $244,800 on lobbying in Wisconsin, according to the state’s lobbying database. Amazon also spent $60,000 on lobbying in Wisconsin in 2025. Both companies listed legislation related to data center tax exemptions among their lobbying interests.

A Texas-sized tax break

In fiscal year 2025, tax exemptions for data centers cost Texas over $1 billion.

The tax breaks were originally approved long before the surge in data centers. Between 2014 to 2022, the state lost “between $5 million and $30 million” in revenue per year because of the tax breaks, the Texas Tribune reported. But the state is now projected to lose at least $1.3 billion in the current fiscal year. As recently as 2023, the comptroller’s office estimated that the tax breaks would cost $180 million in the 2027-28 budget.

The Texas legislature will debate the tax exemptions for data centers beginning this summer.

The Data Center Coalition has created a nonprofit, Texas Connects, that has begun an ad campaign advocating for data centers, the Tribune reported. Between the 2023 and 2025 sessions, “[c]ompanies that own, operate or rent from data centers collectively added at least 15 more lobbyists,” according to the Tribune. Google and Meta are both planning new data centers in Texas. According to E&E News, Meta spent $1.3 million on the Texas primary elections and Google has “donated tens of thousands of dollars” to lawmakers in the state over the last two years.The backlash

Multiple other states are considering altering or repealing tax exemptions for data centers. Last week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) announced that he is temporarily pausing the processing of new applications for data center tax exemptions starting July 1.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, lawmakers have introduced proposals in at least 28 states to “substantially amend existing tax breaks.” At least seven states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, have considered legislation that would repeal tax exemptions for data centers entirely.

Public Notice, Opinion: MAGA's kayfabe meltdown over California primary, Liz Dye, June 10, 2026. If Spencer Pratt didn't exist, they'd have to invent him.

public notice logoReality show influencer Spencer Pratt won’t be getting clobbered in November by Karen Bass, and MAGA is psyched.

It’s a golden opportunity to scream about fraud in race Republicans were always going to lose, demonizing California and pre-planting seeds of doubt about the results in its newly-drawn congressional districts this fall. Win, win, win!

In the June 2 Los Angeles mayoral primary, Pratt slipped into third place behind City Council Member Nithya Raman, meaning he won’t advance out of the jungle primary to appear on the November ballot. Voters performed exactly as pollsters predicted, rejecting a candidate who had zero chance of ever becoming mayor of the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Time for some performative flopping!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.comRAJU: But what evidence is there to prove the California election is rigged? MIKE JOHNSON: Look, some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it's impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:56:22 GMTView on Bluesky

Honestly, they ought to send Pratt a basket of fruit to thank him before they completely forget about him 10 minutes from now!#Rigged

The result of last week’s mayoral election wasn’t just predictable, it was predicted.

The final UC Berkeley-LA Times poll showed Bass, the incumbent mayor, garnering 26 percent, with Raman and Pratt taking 25 and 22 percent respectively. Ten percent of voters were undecided, and 14 percent opted for other candidates. June 10, 2026.

In the end, the majority of voters opted not to waste their ballots on doomed candidates. Support for Democrats Huang and Miller dropped to less than four percent each, and, as of this writing, the tally stands at roughly 34 percent for Bass, 28 for Raman, and 26 for Pratt.

On election night, though, it looked like Pratt was going to edge out Raman for the number two spot. This was a terrific relief to Bass, who looked forward to facing off against a MAGA dilettante instead of a young progressive. And it was holy providence for Pratt, a figure so addicted to attention that he filed for divorce from his wife Heidi Montag as a publicity stunt, telling Life & Style: "Divorcing was the only way to keep Heidi's career going because everyone hated me so much. Look at Sandra Bullock — her divorce from Jesse James was the best thing to happen to her image."X avatar for @spencerpratt Spencer Pratt@spencerprattGod always wins.5:36 PM · Jun 4, 2026 · 1.87M Views4.86K Replies · 14.1K Reposts · 151K Likes

A similar shift took place in the gubernatorial race, where former Fox News host Steve Hilton was running ahead of former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra on election night, but moved into second place as the votes were tallied.

There is no universe in which Hilton was ever going to be governor — Becerra and third-place finisher Tom Steyer (both Democrats) took 50 percent of the votes between them, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one statewide.

The final Emerson College poll had Becerra at 28 percent, Steyer at 22, and Hilton at 21, which would have locked the GOP out of the November governor’s race as well. But Republicans nonetheless cited the vote tally as further proof of Democratic chicanery.

On Sunday, Trump went on Meet the Press and told anchor Kristen Welker that the results were “crooked just like you’re crooked,” insisting “there’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence.”

When Welker her pressed, he stormed out, snorting “you’re either crooked or you’re stupid. I’ve had enough. Thank you darling.”

The Grio, Kristen Welker is only the latest Black journalist to be disrespected by President Trump, Haniyah P., June 8, 2026. President Donald Trump’s recent outburst in an interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” reflects a larger pattern.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Walker. However, the conversation went astray when Walker inquired about the president’s persistent claims about voter fraud. When asked, Trump claimed that there is “more evidence” of voter fraud than ever, before calling into question Welker’s credibility and claiming that the veteran journalist is “either crooked or stupid.”

“The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. All I have to do is look. They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked. You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump told Welker before walking off. “Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

Beyond President Trump’s abrupt exit, the moment spotlights a familiar pattern. Through the years, Trump has been very vocal about his thoughts on the press, and Black journalists, particularly Black women journalists, have faced a number of personal attacks, insults, or dismissive responses while questioning Trump on policy, politics, and accountability.

June 9

Top Headlines

 

News Roundups

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

 

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

U.S. Military, National Security, Foreign Affairs

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Repentagon, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 9, 2026. Pete Hegseth has sparked a thousand controversies as secretary of defense, nearly all of them on purpose. But it’s safe to say he wasn’t expecting this one.
  • wayne madsen new observerWayne Madsen Report, Opinion: Hegseth's disrespect for the veterans of D-Day and D+85, Wayne Madsen, left, June 9, 2026. Likeningveterans of D-Day and the following D+85 Normandy beachhead to migrant "boat people" mocks every Allied veteran and their families. 
  • The Contrarian, Opinion: Words & Phrases, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 9, 2026. ‘Extensive experience.’ After nominations of thoroughly unqualified, incompetent, and ethically unfit characters such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one might have thought it impossible to come up with any appointment for a senior executive post who is even less fit to serve. But last week, Donald Trump rose to the challenge to tap someone so manifestly unsuited for a spot that even Republicans were taken aback.
  • Emptywheel, Analysis:and Opinion: Trump’s Team Is Not Qualified to Use FISA, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 9, 2026. Back when Trump proposed Bill Pulte to serve as interim Director of National Intelligence, I argued that Democrats should draw a line in the sand. They were poised to provide just enough votes to authorize FISA 702, which expires on Friday. But the prospect that Pulte would preside over the program should be cause for Democrats to refuse to reauthorize FISA.

U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Immigration, Rights, Justice

More On Iran-Lebanon War

U.S. Media, Education, Culture, Religion, High Tech

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New York Times, Social Security at Risk for Cuts by 2032, Unless Congress Acts, Tara Siegel Bernard and Margot Sanger-Katz, June 9, 2026. The trust fund for the program, which supports roughly 68 million Americans, is on schedule to be depleted in the next six years. Benefits could be cut on average by 22 percent.

The financial forecast for Social Security worsened this year, according to the annual financial report released on Tuesday by the program’s trustees. If Congress does not develop a plan to shore up the program, it will need to cut benefits for millions of Americans in just a little more than six years.

Social Security’s deteriorating finances have long been thought of as a future problem — for another president, or another Congress, to resolve. But now, it is creeping ever closer because funds will run out before the end of the next president’s term.

The Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, which helps pay retiree and survivor benefits to more than 68 million beneficiaries, is now expected to run out of money at the end of 2032, one quarter earlier than projected last year. That means incoming revenue would be enough to pay only 78 percent of benefits, in other words, a reduction of 22 percent, according to the report.

But that situation would come to fruition only if lawmakers didn’t act to strengthen the program before then, through some combination of higher taxes or reduced checks.

“This should be a wake-up call: Congress needs to act,” said Myechia Minter-Jordan, chief executive of AARP. “Americans have worked hard and paid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deserve to count on it when they retire. No family should see any cuts to what they’ve earned in Social Security.”

irs logoMedicare’s hospital trust fund is expected to run out of money in 2033, slightly earlier in the same year than the trustees had estimated last year. In the second quarter of that year, Medicare is projected to have only enough money to pay 89 percent of the program’s hospital bills. Future spending in other parts of the Medicare program, which is not financed using a dedicated fund, is expected to increase. That spending growth on doctors’ visits and prescription drugs will nevertheless increase the federal budget deficit and long-term federal debts.

Social Security has long faced a financing shortfall, but it has worsened in the short term for several reasons. The trustees assumed that fertility and immigration rates would be lower, posing a drag on the program. And the trust fund will collect less tax revenue from Social Security beneficiaries, because of the big tax and policy bill passed last summer. The trustees also assumed that workers’ earnings would grow faster, helping the program’s finances.

Some experts believe that the Trump administration’s aggressive stance on immigration may not be fully reflected in the report, which assumes lawful immigration at levels similar to those during the Biden administration and only a very short-term reduction in “temporary and unlawfully present” immigrants.

That “would make the Social Security picture even worse, because immigrant workers strengthen Social Security’s finances by contributing to the trust fund through payroll taxes,” said Kathleen Romig, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research group.

Social Security must also confront its more longstanding challenges, driven in part by demographic changes. Dwindling birthrates mean fewer workers are paying taxes into the program, all while thousands of baby boomers are retiring daily and collecting their benefits for longer periods.

In addition, a larger share of the country’s wage base is not subject to payroll taxes — Social Security’s lifeblood — compared with years past. The taxes are applied up to only $184,500 in income, and rising income inequality means a greater share of Americans’ earnings exceeds that cap and is not taxed.

Medical costs have also been growing more rapidly than the rest of the economy in recent years, putting additional pressure on Medicare’s finances on top of the demographic trends that affect both programs.

A separate trust fund, which finances Social Security disability benefits for another 8.1 million people, is on more solid ground. It will be able to pay its bills for the next 75 years, the report said.

Many Americans believe Social Security is in shakier shape than it actually is: A recent AARP poll found that 39 percent of respondents believed that the program would not be able to make any payments when the trust fund ran dry.

There’s a broad misunderstanding about how the program works. It is generally financed by a combination of payroll taxes, ordinary income taxes on benefits and interest earned from the trust fund. If the amount of taxes collected exceeds the amount paid out, that surplus is held in the trust fund. And if benefits exceed the taxes collected, that gap is covered by the money in the fund.

 

New York Times, A Challenge in the U.S.-Iran Talks: Both Sides Demand Victory, Erika Solomon, Farnaz Fassihi and Tyler Pager, June 9, 2026. Washington and Tehran would need to defend any potential deal as a win for their side. And each has a leader whose approach to talks is vexing mediators.

For weeks, the parameters of a preliminary agreement to end the war between the United States and Iran have been clear to its negotiators. The hang-up? How to devise a deal so each side can claim a win.

Washington and Tehran — both neither fully victorious nor completely defeated in the war — badly want a deal. But they also need something they can present as favorable to the hawks and hard-liners back home.

Added to this fundamental dispute are the peculiarities of the two countries’ leaders. One of them is in hiding and slow to sign off on any proposal; the other is so unpredictable, his own envoys struggle to negotiate on his behalf.

Unsuccessful efforts at devising this alchemy of wording have mired the two sides in a state of neither war nor peace. They have left the global economy in limbo, too, as both sides continue their blockades of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The longer this uncertainty persists, mediators warn, the higher the risk the whole peace process will be derailed. The tenuous nature of it all was reinforced on Monday when Israel and Iran exchanged strikes for the first time since the April cease-fire, bringing the Middle East back to the precipice of full-blown war before both sides backed down.

Any framework for a peace agreement is likely to require Iran to allow normal maritime traffic through the strait and the United States to halt its blockade of Iranian vessels. It is also likely to include a pledge to hold a second phase of negotiations culminating in Iran’s giving up its highly enriched uranium stockpile and Washington’s easing economic sanctions in return. And any deal is widely expected — perhaps most problematically for President Trump — to unlock some of Iran’s frozen assets.

The dilemma is how to sequence the terms, said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.

“The U.S. wants to get everything and not give too much at the beginning,” she said. “And the Iranians want to get things at the beginning and give things along the way.”

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Trump administration looking to transfer billions in Iranian assets to Kushner clients, Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 9, 2026. The Iran War is more than 100 days old — and there is no resolution in sight. Although Trump has claimed for weeks that a deal is imminent, the fighting has intensified.

One of the primary sticking points in the peace negotiations is the status of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets. In a June 5 interview on CNN, Mohsen Rezaei, a top military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said the money was “a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump – this is a test that America must pass.” Rezaei described the $24 billion as “our own money, not noel simsAmerica’s money.”

According to reports, Iran is seeking the immediate release of $12 billion as part of an interim deal that could set the stage for a long-term agreement. Bloomberg reports that the negotiations, which are co-led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, have “bogged down“ over the issue.

Now, according to CBS News, the Trump administration is pursuing a plan to “use Iranian assets to help U.S. Gulf allies recover from damage caused by Tehran’s regime during the Iran war.” As a starting point, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is seeking “comprehensive estimates from Gulf allies of the costs associated with repairing damage caused by Iran since the conflict began.” The money could also be used “for rebuilding and repair efforts related to any future damage inflicted by Iran.”

The initiative, Bloomberg reports, “risks further chilling negotiations on a truce extension, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and paving the way for more detailed talks over Iran’s nuclear program.”

The move to divert Iran’s frozen assets to other nations highlights the acute conflict of interest between Kushner’s dual role as a top negotiator for the Trump administration and the private equity manager of $6.2 billion in funds from foreign governments. Many of the potential top recipients of frozen Iranian assets — including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar — are also Kushner’s top investors at his private equity firm, Affinity Partners.

As Kushner navigates these issues, Middle Eastern governments are paying Kushner tens of millions in fees annually. Kushner was also reportedly seeking additional funds from these same governments — although those efforts have purportedly been put on hold. These activities would be illegal, but the Trump administration insists that Kushner is merely acting as a “volunteer” and not an employee of the federal government.

The idea that Kushner can repeatedly represent the United States in high stakes international negotiations and retain his status as a volunteer is not consistent with the Department of Justice’s longstanding interpretation of the law.

jared kushner djtPrior to the beginning of Trump’s return to the White House, Kushner, above right, seemed to understand this. He pledged not to be involved in a second Trump administration. In February 2024, Axios’ Dan Primack asked Kushner whether accepting billions in investments from public investment funds run by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE would make it “very difficult… to do any sort of foreign policy work” in a second Trump administration. “I’m an investor now,” Kushner replied. “I served in government, and I think my track record is pretty impeccable. Now I’m a private investor.”

Ian Brekke, the Chief Legal Officer at Affinity Partners, has defended Kushner’s conduct, saying that Kushner has “complied with ​all applicable laws” and “always operated in the best interests of the United States.” This is unfalsifiable. Kushner does not reveal the substance of his conversations with Middle Eastern leaders, his advice to Trump, or his positions during closed door negotiations with his Iranian counterparts or mediators. The American public has no idea whose interests Kushner is advancing — and that is the problem.

On March 24, the New York Times reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kushner’s single largest investor, “has been pushing President Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign presents a ‘historic opportunity’ to remake the Middle East.” More than two months later, with Kushner in a top negotiating role, the war continues.

Coverage of the Trump administration’s plans to transfer Iranian assets in CBS News, Bloomberg, Reuters, Fortune, and CNBC did not include any discussion of Kushner’s dual role. This is part of a broader pattern of the media ignoring or downplaying his historic conflict of interest.  

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Trump Says Iran Downed U.S. Helicopter and Vows to Retaliate, Max Bearak,Maggie Haberman and Euan Ward, June 9, 2026. Here’s the latest.

The president said Iranian forces had shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz and the United States “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.” There was no immediate comment from Tehran.

ImagePedestrians and vehicles fill a street under a large mural.Pedestrians in Tehran as the war continues in the region. Credit...Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York TimesLatestPinnedUpdated June 9, 2026, 1:34 p.m. ET5 minutes ago

President Trump on Tuesday blamed Iran for shooting down a U.S. helicopter gunship over the Strait of Hormuz, adding in a social media post that “the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Mr. Trump did not offer any more details on the shooting of the U.S. Army Apache helicopter Monday. There was no immediate comment from Tehran.

The threat of U.S. strikes on Iran came as the Israeli military attacked areas across southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Hostilities have flared in recent days after Israeli strikes on Lebanon prompted Iranian retaliation and waves of tit-for-tat strikes.

At least eight people were killed and dozens more wounded in an Israeli attack on Tyre on Tuesday, one of southern Lebanon’s largest cities, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The latest attacks underlined how Lebanon has emerged as a major wedge issue in efforts to negotiate an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The death toll from months of fighting stands at more than 3,600 in Lebanon and 30 in Israel.

Iran had warned Israel that attacks on southern Lebanon would trigger another wave of retaliatory strikes. But as night fell in the region on Tuesday Iran had not acted upon the threat.

Iran’s chief negotiator in peace talks with Washington, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, took to social media on Tuesday to reiterate that Iran was ready to resume strikes. “We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently,” he wrote. “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best.”

Tehran has insisted that any peace agreement include security for Lebanon, while Israel has rejected any such link, insisting it will keep striking there to target the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia.

The Trump administration did not publicly acknowledge that an Apache had gone down and that its two crew members safely rescued until The New York Times reported on it on Monday night.

The president has repeatedly said the United States and Iran were nearing an agreement to end the war, resolve the fate of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil and gas shipments.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Lebanon warnings: The Israeli military called for the evacuation on Tuesday of the entire city of Tyre, one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon, including, for the first time in the war, the Christian quarter of the ancient port city. Read more ›
  • Markets: The price of oil dipped slightly on Tuesday morning after rising the previous day following the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran. Read more ›
  • Negotiations: The Trump Administration was negotiating with Tehran on four major elements of a nuclear agreement that U.S. officials say would grind the program to a halt for 15 years or so. Read more ›

News Roundups

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Hegseth Loses His Holy War, Andrew Egger, Mona Charen and Jim Swift, June 9, 2026. A theological snit at the Pentagon serves as a reminder: Even for MAGA, religious pluralism still has its virtues.

bulwark logo big shipNew York Knick fans are accustomed to disappointment, having waited 53 years since their last NBA title. So it wasn’t just annoyance they felt when Donald Trump said he’d attend game three of the finals last night; it was dread, too. The team was on a thirteen-game playoff winning streak, two wins away from the title, and returning to Madison Square Garden. When the basketball gods align like that, you don’t mess with their juju.

And it was clear from the jump that the juju wasn’t right. Trump’s security requirements caused unfathomable waits outside the arena. His appearance on the jumbotron sparked deafening boos. He appeared to fall asleep at one point and was seen scarfing down fries at another.

The Knicks lost a dogfight. And while the president can’t directly be blamed, it’s hard to imagine that the blue-and-orange faithful want him returning to basketball mecca for game four on Wednesday.

Their mayor may be Muslim. Their bagel may be Jewish. Their Christian is Dior, and they’ll show Trump the door. Happy Tuesday. 

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: NEWS: New Yorkers Blame Trump and Boo Him Loudly, Rubio Creates Cage Match Diplomacy, Big Epstein Hearing, Vances Seeks Walz's Arrest, Aaron Parnas, aaron parnas new headshotright, June 9, 2026. Trump was loudly booed in New York overnight despite later claiming otherwise, and Knicks fans are now blaming him for the team’s Game 3 loss.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Army helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, Israel continues its strikes in Lebanon, JD Vance is pushing for a criminal investigation into Tim Walz, a major Epstein-related deposition is set for today, and Gregory Bovino is taking another step toward a presidential run. It was a busy night, and it’s shaping up to be an even busier day.

Thank you to everyone who reached out overnight after the latest wave of attacks and hate messages. I’m not going anywhere because I have all of you by my side.

Here’s the news:

A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, but both crew members were rescued within about two hours and are reported to be in stable condition. The rescue marked the first time the U.S. military used an unmanned surface vessel (a drone boat) to locate and recover personnel after such an incident. The crash occurred amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following renewed exchanges between Iran and Israel, though no evidence has linked Iran to the helicopter’s loss. President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran are nearing a deal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, though no agreement has yet been finalized.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is in the “final throes” of negotiating a deal with Iran that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, though no agreement has yet been reached. Despite his optimism, Israel launched new airstrikes on the Lebanese city of Tyre and expanded evacuation orders, including areas previously spared from fighting. The strikes followed a brief escalation between Israel and Iran that threatened to reignite wider regional conflict before both sides stepped back after U.S.-led de-escalation efforts. Iran warned that further attacks, including those in southern Lebanon, could trigger a stronger response, while uncertainty remains over whether ongoing Israeli operations could derail diplomatic progress.

Furious New York Knicks fans blamed Donald Trump for their team’s 115-111 Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs after he attended the game at Madison Square Garden. Many were already upset by security restrictions, street closures, and the cancellation of a fan watch party linked to his visit. Trump was loudly booed during the game, and criticism grew after videos circulated that appeared to show him resting his eyes. After the loss ended the Knicks’ winning streak, fans took to social media and the streets to blame Trump and label the defeat the “Trump Curse.” Here are the boos Trump faced leaving New York:

Donald Trump told reporters that he believed the crowd reaction at the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals game was overwhelmingly positive. "I thought it was very good. It was certainly amazing. I think mostly cheers. It was loud. And it was very enthusiastic," Trump said when asked about the reception he received at Madison Square Garden.

His comments came despite widespread reports and videos showing audible booing from many fans when he appeared on the arena's video board.

After the Knicks’ Game 3 loss, a reporter asked Donald Trump about comments from Stephen A. Smith saying he would blame Trump if New York lost. Trump responded by calling Smith a “nice guy” but dismissed any suggestion that he could run for president. He said that running for president requires a certain aptitude and a high IQ. Trump then added, “I don’t think Stephen has it.”

Vice President JD Vance has referred allegations of fraud and possible misconduct involving Tim Walz and Keith Ellison to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. The referral stems from a House Republican report alleging that Minnesota officials failed to act on warnings about fraud in state social-services programs and allowed payments to continue despite red flags. Walz and Ellison have previously denied accusations that they ignored or facilitated fraud, and neither has been charged with any crime. The move intensifies political pressure on Walz and expands a controversy that has become a major focus of the Trump administration’s anti-fraud efforts.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC CEO Dana White are set to sign an agreement establishing a partnership between the State Department and UFC. The initiative aims to use mixed martial arts and UFC’s global reach as a tool for sports diplomacy and international engagement. The agreement comes ahead of a major UFC event being held on the White House grounds as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Officials say UFC’s worldwide popularity makes it a valuable platform for promoting U.S. cultural influence abroad. This is what the White House currently looks like:

Lesley Groff, the longtime executive assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, is scheduled to testify before a House committee investigating Epstein and his associates. Groff worked for Epstein from 2001 until his 2019 arrest and has said her duties primarily involved managing his schedule, including arranging massage appointments that she claims she viewed as routine. Although she was identified in some FBI documents as a possible co-conspirator and was granted immunity under Epstein’s controversial 2007 plea deal, she has never been charged with a crime and denies knowing about or participating in any abuse. Lawmakers hope her testimony will shed light on Epstein’s operations, while survivors and investigators continue to debate how much his staff knew about his conduct.

Senator Ted Cruz warned that Republicans could face major political consequences if Democrats regain control of Congress in the 2026 midterms. He argued that a Democratic House majority would lead to repeated impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump. Cruz also claimed that if Democrats win the Senate, they would block confirmations for Trump’s cabinet nominees and judicial appointments. His remarks underscore Republican efforts to frame the midterm elections as critical to preserving Trump’s governing agenda.

us dhs big eagle logo4Former Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino has launched an exploratory committee to consider a run for president in 2028. Bovino, who became a prominent figure in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, said he will move forward with a formal campaign if conditions come together. Since retiring from the Border Patrol in March, he has remained an outspoken advocate of mass deportations and has publicly criticized several Trump administration officials, including DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, border czar Tom Homan, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. His exploratory campaign has already attracted controversy over inflammatory rhetoric on its website and renewed scrutiny of a coat he has worn that critics, including Gavin Newsom, have compared to Nazi-era attire.

Congress and the Trump administration are facing a deadline to renew Section 702, a key U.S. surveillance authority, but Democrats refuse to support an extension while Bill Pulte remains acting director of national intelligence. Republicans, including Chuck Grassley and John Thune, have suggested the White House may need to nominate someone else permanently to break the impasse. The law is set to expire on June 12, and lawmakers are increasingly preparing for a lapse if neither side backs down. Democrats argue that Pulte lacks national security experience and should be removed, while the White House defends him and accuses Democrats of jeopardizing national security.

According to NBC News, a Trump-aligned super PAC, MAGA Inc., is set to host a $1 million-per-person fundraiser at President Donald Trump’s Virginia golf club the day before a UFC event on the White House grounds. While organizers insist the fundraiser and the White House UFC matches are separate events, their timing allows wealthy Trump supporters to attend both. The UFC event, held as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations and backed by Trump’s longtime ally Dana White, is facing a lawsuit alleging it improperly uses public property for a private company’s benefit. Funds raised by MAGA Inc. are expected to support Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections, where the group is expected to play a major financial role.

There are several key elections tonight:

  • South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial primary is emerging as a key test of Donald Trump’s political influence after his endorsed candidate for Iowa governor lost last week. Trump has endorsed Pamela Evette, but polling shows a crowded field and a likely runoff.
  • In Maine’s Senate Democratic primary, frontrunner Graham Platner continues to face controversy over past conduct, social media activity, and a tattoo, raising concerns among Democrats about their chances against incumbent Susan Collins in a critical Senate race.
  • Nevada’s gubernatorial race will help shape a major battleground contest this fall, with incumbent Joe Lombardo favored on the Republican side and Democrats choosing their challenger in a race rated a toss-up.
  • Republicans are targeting Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden leaves behind one of the GOP’s best pickup opportunities of the cycle.
  • Maine voters are also deciding open governor primaries featuring several political dynasties, including Jonathan Bush, nephew of former presidents Bush, and Angus King III, son of Senator Angus King.

The Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court to limit how much money it must repay after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs that President Donald Trump had imposed under a 1977 law. While the government has already approved more than $85 billion in refunds, it argues that it is not legally required to repay all importers and is contesting a court order that would require broader repayments. Businesses and trade groups are preparing further legal challenges, including a potential class-action lawsuit, arguing that companies harmed by the unlawful tariffs deserve full reimbursement. The dispute could leave tens of billions of dollars in tariff refunds unresolved and may ultimately return to higher courts for a final decision.

The European Union has launched a new ocean research initiative called OceanEye to strengthen ocean monitoring and climate research as the Trump administration cuts U.S. science funding and dismantles parts of a major American ocean observation network. The program aims to improve data collection on ocean systems, including the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a current that plays a crucial role in Europe’s climate. However, the EU’s initial €92 million investment is far smaller than the $368 million U.S. network being scaled back, leading some researchers to argue that Europe will need significantly more funding. European officials say ocean observation requires global cooperation and are urging other countries to help fill the gap left by the United States’ retreat from ocean science.

A new report found that the world’s 65 largest banks provided $906 billion in financing to fossil fuel companies in 2025, an 8% increase from the previous year despite global climate commitments. JPMorgan Chase was identified as the largest fossil-fuel financier, followed by Bank of America, while Citigroup and other major banks also ranked among the top lenders. Environmental groups behind the report argued that the funding is incompatible with efforts to limit global warming and noted that banks have collectively directed about $8.7 trillion to fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Banks responded that they support both traditional and renewable energy projects and are trying to balance climate goals with energy security, affordability, and reliability.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman advanced to a November runoff after finishing as the top two candidates in the city’s all-party primary election. Raman overtook former reality TV star Spencer Pratt as later-counted ballots, which leaned more Democratic, were added to the results. Bass has faced criticism over her response to the 2025 wildfires and the city’s homelessness crisis, while Raman argues that City Hall has been too slow to enact major reforms. The runoff will pit two Democrats against each other in a race expected to center on housing, homelessness, public services, and wildfire recovery.

Former NFL star Darren Sharper, who pleaded guilty or no contest to drugging and raping women in four states, has been transferred from federal prison to a halfway house or home-confinement program as he nears the end of his sentence. Sharper was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2016 after admitting his role in a multistate conspiracy to drug and sexually assault numerous women. The transfer is a standard step toward reentry into society and comes with a projected release date of December 27, 2028. Previous efforts by Sharper to obtain an earlier sentence reduction, including arguments related to educational achievements in prison and football-related brain injuries, were rejected by the court.

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Trump ignores protecting elections, New Yorkers demand Trump leaves, Trump blasts National Park, World Cup referee denied entry, and more, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 8, 2026.  The Trump Justice Department appears to be doing little to prepare for or protect the upcoming midterm elections, and I explain in the video why that may not be an accident. Meanwhile, New Yorkers are telling Trump to go home as security measures surrounding the NBA Finals reach levels the city has never seen before.

We also have new developments in the screwworm outbreak, which has now spread into New Mexico and has been detected in a dog. The Trump administration has begun clearing and blasting parts of Big Bend National Park to make way for new border barriers. A World Cup referee has been denied entry into the United States, raising fresh questions about how immigration policies could affect the tournament. Plus, much more.

To everyone who reached out, offered support, and subscribed over the past 24 hours as I deal with these attacks, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Y

On a personal note, today’s keynote address went extremely well. I’ll have footage soon and look forward to sharing it with all of you.

A NOTUS report says the Trump Justice Department has canceled election-crime training, removed key guidance materials, reduced staffing in its election-related units, and has not yet established its traditional Election Day command center ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Former and current officials cited in the article warn that these changes could leave federal prosecutors less prepared to respond to voter intimidation, election-related disinformation, and other threats to election integrity. The DOJ says its priorities remain protecting election integrity, preventing voter fraud, and addressing civil rights violations, while noting that district election officers have already been designated nationwide. The article contrasts the administration’s emphasis on “voter integrity” investigations with the department’s previous approach, which relied on centralized expertise and coordination to ensure consistent, nonpartisan election-law enforcement.

Mike Johnson echoed President Donald Trump in raising doubts about election results in California, despite being unable to point to specific evidence supporting the claims. When asked to substantiate the allegations, Johnson argued that potential wrongdoing could be difficult to prove, saying, “Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it is impossible to prove. But think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here.”

us dhs big eagle logo4The Department of Homeland Security announced a waiver of dozens of environmental laws to accelerate construction of border barriers, roads, and related infrastructure through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas, a move the Center for Biological Diversity says is unprecedented for a U.S. national park. The waiver clears the way for extensive border projects, including fencing, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors, backed by recent contracts totaling more than $4 billion for construction along the Rio Grande. Conservation advocates argue the projects will damage wildlife habitat, limit river access, disrupt visitors’ experiences, and alter the park’s natural landscape despite historically low migrant apprehensions in the region. The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups are challenging the administration’s actions in court, contending that the government lacks congressional authorization for such sweeping waivers and construction efforts.

The USDA confirmed two additional cases of New World screwworm on Monday—a calf in La Salle County, Texas, and a dog in New Mexico that had traveled from Mexico—bringing the total to five recent detections, including two earlier cases in Zavala County. The parasite’s larvae feed on living tissue after flies lay eggs in wounds, making infestations potentially fatal if untreated. Officials have responded with quarantines, expanded trapping, and large-scale releases of sterile flies, deploying about 8 million weekly in core areas and up to 90 million across broader regions to suppress the pest population. While political leaders debate whether past border and funding decisions contributed to the outbreak, ranchers are concerned about quarantine-related business impacts and are calling for genetic tracing, as the USDA pledges more than $1 billion toward eradication efforts and emphasizes that the food supply remains safe.

Omar Artan, the only referee from Somalia selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was denied entry into the United States after arriving in Miami for the tournament. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said he was found inadmissible following additional screening and cited unspecified “vetting concerns,” though officials did not provide further details. The case highlights tensions between the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies and efforts to welcome participants and visitors for the World Cup, particularly because Somalia is among the countries facing U.S. immigration restrictions. The incident comes as the White House seeks to balance security measures with hosting the largest World Cup in history, with officials emphasizing that all travelers, including athletes and officials, are subject to case-by-case admissibility reviews.

Zohran Mamdani said he will attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden after purchasing a standing-room-only ticket for nearly $1,000, emphasizing that he plans to stand for the entire game. Mamdani’s appearance comes as President Donald Trump is also expected to attend after being invited by Knicks owner James Dolan. Trump will be sitting in a suite.

Ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden, security measures tied to the president’s attendance were so extensive that portions of Midtown Manhattan were effectively locked down, with pedestrian access restricted in key areas.

Trump has built a wall outside of Madison Square Garden: San Antonio Spurs player De’Aaron Fox said the heightened security measures at Madison Square Garden due to the president’s attendance created logistical hassles for players, comparing the screening process to airport security. “I think the president being here just makes it inconvenient for everybody else. ...We’re getting screened like it’s TSA. It’s a little inconvenient for the people that’s got to play, but it is what it is.”

Some New York Knicks fans expressed frustration over President Trump’s attendance at the NBA Finals, arguing that the heightened security disrupted public access to Midtown and prevented some residents from attending planned watch parties. One fan said, “I don’t really think Trump should even be here, to be honest with you. He doesn’t really claim himself as a New Yorker... A lot of people can’t afford to get into the game. I’m one of those people, so I was actually looking forward to going to one of these watch parties. Now, I can’t.”

During anti-World Cup protests in Mexico City, members of the Otomí Indigenous community called for greater social justice and drew attention to political grievances ahead of the tournament. In a symbolic demonstration, a woman was photographed holding a rubber head depicting Donald Trump. The protest linked concerns about inequality, displacement, and government priorities to the international spotlight that the World Cup is expected to bring. The image was captured by Reuters photographer Quetzalli Nicte-Ha.

Iran war update: Iran announced it was suspending military operations against Israel after the two countries exchanged missile attacks that threatened to reignite a broader regional war. The announcement marked the first direct military exchange between the two sides since their ceasefire began in April. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the immediate crisis had been contained but warned that Israel would respond forcefully to any future Iranian attacks. Both governments signaled that further escalation would depend on whether the other side resumed hostilities.

President Trump publicly urged Israel and Iran to stop fighting and claimed both sides were interested in reaching an immediate ceasefire. He also said negotiations were advancing toward a broader agreement that could help end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump described the talks as close to success but acknowledged that unresolved issues remained. U.S. officials emphasized that American forces were not directly involved in the latest exchange of strikes.

The latest flare-up began after Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Iran, prompting Tehran to launch approximately 30 missiles toward Israel. Israeli officials said most of the missiles were intercepted, while Iran portrayed the attack as a successful response to Israeli actions. Israel subsequently carried out strikes on Iranian military and industrial targets, including facilities linked to its missile program. Despite the military exchanges, analysts noted signs that both sides were trying to avoid a return to full-scale war.

The conflict continued to ripple across the region, with Israeli operations in Lebanon, Houthi missile launches from Yemen, and growing international diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation. The European Union imposed new sanctions on elements of Iran’s naval forces over restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Regional governments, including Qatar and Pakistan, called for restraint and supported ongoing mediation efforts. Financial markets reacted sharply, with oil prices initially surging before retreating after Iran announced its pause in military operations.

Other news:

President Donald Trump has become increasingly focused on renovation and beautification projects in Washington, D.C., frequently highlighting them during public appearances and using visual aids to showcase progress. During each of his three public events last week, Trump displayed materials promoting the projects and spent extended periods discussing improvements to the capital. At a White House event on Wednesday, he opened by talking about renovations to the Reflecting Pool and presented a series of posters illustrating the scope of the work. He also called aide Natalie Harp to bring out a poster board comparing the Reflecting Pool’s size to major landmarks, featuring the slogan, “Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers.”

Trump has formally nominated Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general on a permanent basis after appointing him to the acting role following the dismissal of Pam Bondi in April. Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney and later as deputy attorney general under Bondi, has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity for the past several weeks. The nomination makes official Trump’s announcement from last week that Blanche was his choice to lead the department. Blanche must now undergo Senate confirmation before he can serve as attorney general permanently.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing political pressure at home as renewed fighting between Israel and Iran unfolds just months before a closely watched election. Critics and rivals argue he has been constrained by President Donald Trump, who has publicly pushed for restraint and reportedly criticized Netanyahu for continuing military operations in Lebanon. Opposition figures and members of Netanyahu’s own coalition are demanding a stronger response to Iran and Hezbollah, while polls suggest public support for the broader conflict has declined significantly in recent months. Analysts say Netanyahu’s challenge is balancing Israeli demands for military action with maintaining close ties to Trump, though his long record of political survival makes it difficult to predict the ultimate electoral impact.

The Pentagon released a revised list of military faith classifications after criticism that an earlier proposal failed to identify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian denomination. The Defense Department said the original list contained redundant and unnecessary labels and that the issue has now been corrected. Officials said the changes are part of a broader effort to streamline a religious coding system that had expanded to more than 200 categories, reducing it to 30 classifications. The Pentagon emphasized that its role is not to resolve theological disputes but to ensure that service members’ sincerely held religious beliefs are respected and accommodated.

A federal judge blocked President Trump’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee on employers seeking H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the fee amounted to a tax that requires congressional approval. Judge Richard Stearns found that the administration exceeded its authority by implementing the fee through a presidential proclamation rather than legislation. The decision is a major win for states that argued the policy harmed public universities, hospitals, and other institutions that rely on international talent. The ruling adds another legal setback for Trump’s economic agenda and relies in part on recent Supreme Court decisions limiting the president’s ability to impose taxes or similar financial burdens without clear authorization from Congress.

A government watchdog report found that the IRS was unable to consistently and accurately match taxpayer records with data provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the Trump administration’s effort to identify undocumented immigrants for deportation. The review found that IRS systems failed to properly reject some incomplete records, struggled with inconsistencies in how names and data were formatted, and improperly shared address information in a small percentage of cases. The report also found that ICE had unresolved data-security issues when the agencies entered their information-sharing agreement, though many details remain redacted. The findings add to ongoing legal challenges over the program, which sought taxpayer information on more than 1.2 million people and ultimately produced address matches for roughly 47,000 individuals.

House Republicans are moving to block the Transportation Security Administration’s new $45 ConfirmID fee for travelers who arrive at airports without a REAL ID, passport, or other acceptable identification. Language in the House Homeland Security funding bill would prohibit TSA from charging or collecting the fee, with lawmakers arguing the agency lacks clear statutory authority and noting that identity verification was previously provided at no cost. The legislation would also require TSA to brief Congress on the program, which the agency says helps ensure travelers are properly identified while shifting verification costs from taxpayers to the individuals who need the service. More broadly, the spending bill would cut TSA’s overall discretionary funding, increase investment in screening technology and private-sector screening programs, and significantly reduce funding for the Federal Air Marshal Service.

sam bankman fried 2021Sam Bankman-Fried, right, has formally applied for a presidential pardon after being convicted in 2023 on multiple fraud charges tied to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The former crypto executive has spent months publicly praising President Donald Trump and told Fox Business he would “absolutely” welcome a pardon, though he said he has not personally discussed the matter with the White House. Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history by misusing customer funds to support affiliated businesses, political influence efforts, and a lavish lifestyle. His pardon request comes after a judge rejected his bid for a new trial, while his conviction remains under appeal and Trump has previously indicated he does not plan to grant clemency.

A 20-year-old employee at a McDonald’s in Yuba City, California, suffered severe burns to his face, neck, arm, and back after a coworker allegedly threw hot cooking oil on him while he was preparing to leave work. Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Jalani Bluett, who was arrested the following day and charged with felony battery causing serious bodily injury, mayhem, and assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, Jacob Smith, remains hospitalized in a burn unit and may require skin grafts as doctors work to limit the extent of his injuries. The restaurant owner said the suspect is no longer employed and that the company’s focus is on supporting Smith during his recovery.

Apple announced a major overhaul of its longtime voice assistant, renaming it Siri AI and adding advanced artificial intelligence capabilities designed to compete more directly with chatbots like OpenAI ChatGPT. The new assistant will be able to draw information from both a user’s device and the web to answer questions, manage tasks, search photos and messages, and create reminders or calendar events. Apple executives said Siri AI will launch later this year on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, initially in English, while availability in the European Union and China will be delayed because of regulatory requirements. The announcement, made at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, represents the company’s most significant upgrade to Siri since it was first introduced more than a decade ago.

U.S. Military, National Security, Foreign Affairs

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Repentagon, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 9, 2026. Pete Hegseth has sparked a thousand controversies as secretary of defense, nearly all of them on purpose. But it’s safe to say he wasn’t expecting this one.

bulwark logo big shipLast week, the Department of Defense significantly cut down its number of “recognized” faith groups from more than 200 to just 31. The point, as usual, was basically dewokification, with “wokeness” here defined as attempting to respect the faiths of servicemembers belonging to tiny religious minorities: “pagans,” “humanists,” and “New Age” faiths, among many others, were out. The Defense Department, Hegseth said, was “making the Chaplain Corps Great Again.”

But the biggest protests against the change didn’t come from a group Hegseth had taken off the list, but one he’d left on it. The bulk of the remaining list was taken up by various Christian denominations: “Christian - Baptist,” “Christian - Catholic,” “Christian - Non Denominational,” and so on. But one faith was conspicuously missing the “Christian” prefix: “Can anyone tell me,” Sen. Mike Lee tweeted Saturday, “why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?”

Seemingly by accident, the Pentagon had reignited a longtime controversy on the religious right: Is Mormonism Christian? Lee, who like many Utahns is Mormon, spent the next few days at all-out online war with online Christians who were overjoyed at what they saw as Hegseth’s “based” decision to leave Mormons outside the tent.

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Yesterday, Lee promised relief was coming: “I just got off the phone with President Trump,” he tweeted. “We discussed the Pentagon’s ‘Christian list.’ I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading.”

Sure enough, the Pentagon rereleased the list with all “Christian” prefixes eliminated altogether. “The Pentagon list included redundant and unnecessary labeling, and the mistake has been fixed,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks.”

As a theological matter, the “Is Mormonism Christian” question is fascinating, in part because it brings up other questions of who exactly gets to decide. Historically, Christianity has had very specific theological criteria for who is inside the faith of the church, particularly a series of doctrinal assertions about the nature of God (answer: Triune—three persons in one God) and the nature of Jesus Christ (answer: both fully God and fully man) summed up in a set of early-church creeds.¹

But Christianity in America has long been much less institutional and more doctrinally loosey-goosey. There are many churches and many professed Christians who don’t spend much time (if any) on these doctrinal matters, but who still believe that Jesus is their savior. And of course there’s an even broader category of people who have basically stopped having any real doctrinal commitments whatsoever, but who still consider themselves “Christian” in a vague social or political way. Mormons are far outside Christianity if the credal doctrines are what matter, but have a reasonable claim on the “we love Jesus, too” front—and perhaps a better claim than many in the vague cultural-Christian camp.

It’s fascinating to see this long-simmering theological conflict spill over into the intramural fights on the American political right—especially at a moment when many on the right have begun to sneer at anything resembling religious pluralism and agitate for a muscular Christian nationalism to grow in political power in America.

This moment is present as subtext in the Pentagon fight. The idea that Hegseth and Co. would have backtracked on their based new recognized-faiths list over organized protests from, say, Wiccans is hilarious: kicking woo-woo lefty-coded groups to the curb was the entire point of the exercise. The reason Mormons had capital with which to challenge the list to which they objected was because they’re more or less in good standing with the current religious right: They’re a relatively large, reliably conservative church body that sends a number of their own to Washington as Republican lawmakers.

And yet it’s just the latest reminder that “Christian nationalism” is really something that can only exist in America as a force against the established liberal order. If it were ever to come close to achieving actual hegemonic cultural or political power, it would immediately collapse under the weight of its own internal contradictions—because no single vision or version of Christian political power actually commands anything like majority support even on the political right. Who’s going to run the show? Catholics? Mormons? Radical Calvinists?

This is not, by the way, a problem specific to Christian nationalists, but to basically all forms of Trump-era right-wing nationalism, all of which are predicated on the assumptions of small intra-right factions that, when the right takes real power, they’re the ones who will be calling the shots. I wrote about the phenomenon when I attended last year’s National Conservatism Conference: “The NatCons are all chasing a vision of national greatness, but it turns out that ‘national greatness’ is a concept with as many definitions as there are NatCons.” As above, so below.

Amusingly, the Mormonism/Christianity episode seems to show the Pentagon recreating civic pluralism from first principles: To solve the fight, they found it useful to get less specific about who “counts” as Christian, not more so. If these folks could remember that that’s a useful prudential standpoint for all public policy, we’d be in business.

The Contrarian, Opinion: Words & Phrases, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 9, 2026. ‘Extensive experience.’

After nominations of thoroughly unqualified, incompetent, and ethically unfit characters such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one might have thought it impossible to come up with any appointment for a senior executive post who is even less fit to serve. But last week, Donald Trump rose to the challenge to tap someone so manifestly unsuited for a spot that even Republicans were taken aback.

contrarian logoTrump picked for acting director of national intelligence current Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, below right, the mastermind behindBill Pulte Trump’s vindictive, spurious inquests into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for alleged mortgage fraud. His sole qualification appears to be his eagerness to weaponize the legal system against Trump’s enemies. And if that were not disqualifying for the head of the intelligence community — whose credibility and objectivity are essential to protecting our national security — then his absence of statutorily required national security experience surely should be enough to make him an entirely illegitimate choice.(C-SPAN screengrab)

Very few jobs have statutorily mandated job experience. However, in creating the DNI post, Congress declared, “There is a Director of National Intelligence who shall be appointed by the President.... Any individual nominated for appointment as Director of National Intelligence shall have extensive national security expertise.” No one argues that Pulte has any such expertise (“a high level of specialized skill, knowledge, or judgment in a particular field, acquired through extensive training, study, and hands-on experience”) in national security, let alone “extensive” (“having wide or considerable extent”) expertise.

For once, Republicans reacted with outrage to a horrendous Trump pick. “Very few Senate-confirmable positions come with statutory eligibility requirements. There are good reasons why the Director of National Intelligence is one of them,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) observed. “Anyone performing this role of such immense public trust must have the extensive national security experience required by statute, and no nominee who falls short of this requirement will earn my vote.” Likewise, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who serves on the Intelligence Committee and was a victim of Trump’s Ken Paxton endorsement, remarked, “The Senate doesn’t have any role to play in terms of confirming acting officials but I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said simply that all he knew about him was his lack of qualifications. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said, “I don’t know whether he has any intelligence or military background,” adding, “I don’t even know whether he has a security clearance.”

The most damning indictment probably came unintentionally from Trump, who explained his enthusiasm for the pick: “He’s a very smart guy. And he may find out some things about the rigged elections.” Someone committed to finding evidence for debunked conspiracy theories is exactly the last person suited for the role. Trump, however, kept digging when he insisted a “less shackled” DNI should start firing career professionals to shrink the intelligence agency. (Is he trying to sink his pick?)

At least realizing Pulte would never win Senate confirmation, Trump announced Pulte would only serve in the “acting” role, which unfortunately can continue for 210 days. Though the Senate cannot technically block an acting appointment, the Senate has a strong card to play should these Republican national security hawks actually want a DNI with “extensive expertise” (in national security, as opposed to Trump vengeance).

The New York Times reported on Friday: With just one week left until a key government surveillance authority was set to expire, a deal to renew it faltered in the Senate early Friday morning after Democrats refused to back it because of concerns over President Trump’s recent appointment of Bill Pulte to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies.

A bloc of Republicans who have long harbored concerns about the spy program joined Democrats to block consideration of a bill that would extend for three years a warrantless wiretapping law known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The vote was 52 to 47, well short of the 60 that would have been needed to move ahead.

Well, that seems to be the solution: No extension of Section 702 authority with Pulte as acting director. (For those with legitimate qualms about the Trump regime’s snooping on Americans in conducting ostensible international security investigations, stalling Section 702 renewal is welcome, regardless of its impact on Pulte.)

The Pulte faceplant underscores two related political developments. First, given Trump’s plunging approval and the emergence of a block of minimally conscientious Republicans (thanks to Trump’s primary vendettas), Trump cannot count on blind obedience. Second, Democrats therefore have opportunities to halt some of Trump’s most destructive nominees and proposals if they keep their focus on potential Republican allies, the only audience that truly matters right now in these fights in Congress.

In sum, “extensive experience” has no meaning for Trump, who cares only about blind loyalty and moral vapidity. However, if Democrats can convince a handful of Republicans to hold Section 702 at bay if Pulte takes over, they would take a significant step in the direction of insisting that the Senate fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent. Reestablishing the notion that people in high government posts should be qualified for them would be welcome. It might even be the beginning of the end of Trump’s brand of DEI that puts dim-witted, morally deficient, and inexperienced white men in jobs for which they are unfit.

Wayne Madsen Report, Opinion: Hegseth's disrespect for the veterans of D-Day and D+85, Wayne Madsen, left, June 9, 2026. Likening wayne madsen new observerveterans of D-Day and the following D+85 Normandy beachhead to migrant "boat people" mocks every Allied veteran and their families. 

Pseudo “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth dishonored Allied forces who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 by likening them to migrants arriving on European beaches from war-torn and drought-stricken countries in Africa and Asia. Hegseth, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, demonstrated for the entire world his ignorance of history despite his Ivy League sheepskins. Hegseth also disparaged the bravery of the thousands of U.S. and Allied troops who followed the initial D-Day assault troops on the Normandy beachheads over the subsequent 85 days.

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Hegseth’s knowledge of the Allied invasion of Normandy is less than that of a first-grader. Hegseth, viewing the 9,389 grave sites of the Normandy American cemetery on the 80th anniversary of D-Day commented on the rows of white crosses, failing to mention that among them are 151 Stars of David for Jewish-American war dead.

Hegseth’s white nationalist speech also demeaned the bravery of the many non-white Allied personnel who stormed the beaches on D-Day, many paying the ultimate price. Hegseth disgustingly used the 80th anniversary of D‑Day — a sacred, multinational, multi‑faith, multi‑racial commemoration — to claim that modern migrants represent an “invasion” comparable to Nazi Germany.

Among those D-Day participants were the African American 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion who protected Allied troops on the Omaha and Utah beaches from Luftwaffe attacks. African-American Transportation and Port Companies arrived later on June 6 and unloaded ammunition, fuel, and vehicles. Thousands of African American U.S. Navy sailors serving aboard LSTs, LCTs, ammunition ships, and escort vessels provided critical support for Allied ground forces.

A significant number of Native American soldiers were present in the U.S. assault divisions on Omaha and Utah beaches. Charles Norman Shay of the Penobscot Nation in Maine. Shay was a combat medic with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He landed in the first wave at Omaha beach and pulled drowning men from the surf under fire. Shay was awarded the Silver Star. Several Crow soldiers served in the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions on D‑Day. Among the 200 Native Americans storming the Omaha and Utah beaches were Navajo, Cherokee, Lakotah, Ojibwe, and Choctaw. Others with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day. Comanche code talkers also served in the Normandy theater on D-Day as did French-speaking Cajun Americans who liaised with French Resistance units. A memorial to Native American soldiers now stands at Omaha. One of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldiers who took part in the D-Day assault o Juno beach was Charles “Charlie” Byce, an Ojibwe with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. Among the 500 Indigenous Canadians serving in the D-Day invasion were Mi’kmaq, Mohawk, Cree, and Métis soldiers.

Latinos from around the United States participated in the D-Day invasion. These included Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, Dominican Americans, and Texans and New Mexicans of Hispanic heritage. Latino sailors in the U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine provided critical support for the ground invasion. Specifically, Mexican-Americans with the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions took part in the invasion of Omaha Beach. Latino paratroopers with the 82nd & 101st Airborne also took part in early D=Day operations. Latino naval personnel drove landing craft, manned guns, cleared mines, and provided fire support.

French Kieffer Commandos on Sword Beach included Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian, and Senegalese Tirailleur volunteers from French territories in Africa. These troops fought in the assault on Ouistreham. The French Resistance also included French and foreign Jews and Muslims, as well as 60,000 Spanish Republican exiles, some of whom participated in the D-Day invasion. French Resistance units committing acts of sabotage against the Germans and Vichy collaborators included migrants from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Italy (anti-fascists), Armenia, Czecho-Slovakia, Germany (German Weimar government exiles), and Bessarabia (modern-day Moldova). Sailors from Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana served on board Free French Navy and Free French merchant ships involved with D-Day.

British and Canadian Pioneer and Labor Units arriving on the beaches on D-Day included soldiers from India (Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims), Caribbean Pioneer Corps (Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica, British Guiana, British Honduras), and West African Pioneer Corps (Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Uganda, Tanganyika, Kenya). These troops unloaded supplies, cleared obstacles, and built beach exit ramps and pontoons. Allied merchant vessels supporting the D-Day invasion included African Americans, Filipinos, Chinese, Caribbean, and Indian seamen. Indian mule companies and the African American 761st Tank Battalion arrived in the days after D-Day and proceeded to the Allied front lines. British merchant marine personnel in the D-Day war zone included Muslim Arabs from Palestine, Transjordan, Yemen, Aden, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, and Iraq. Ceylonese served on board merchant ships and Royal Navy logistics vessels. Surinamese and Curacaoan volunteers served on British merchant vessels in the D-Day war zone, as did Bahamians, Caymanians, and Bermudans on Royal Navy and merchant ships.

American women nurses arrived on Utah and Omaha beaches from D+1 through D+3. They were assigned to 1st Platoon, 42nd Field Hospital, 1st Platoon, 45th Field Hospital, 128th Evacuation Hospital, and 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group. Some of the nurses included member of the Blackfeet, Cherokee, and Ojibwe tribal nations.

Women of the Royal Navy WRNS (“Wrens”) were close enough in the English Channel on D-Day to hear the constant gunfire. WRENS had responsibility for naval communications, landing‑craft control signals, code and cipher rooms, and shore‑to‑ship coordination. Canadian WRCNS (“Wrens”) served on naval communications and escort ships during D-Day. U.S. Navy WAVES supported landing‑craft traffic on D-Day.

British SOE (Special Operations Executive) women were activated for behind-the-lines operations in France on D-Day. These women bravely coordinated sabotage, rail disruption, and resistance support that directly supported the Allied invasion. The most famous SOE women include Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom, Noor Inayat Khan (radio operator, later executed), Nancy Wake (Maquis liaison), and Yvonne Rudellat. French women with the Resistance helped isolate German forces on D-Day. Among the most famed are Simone Segouin (“Nicole Minet”) — teenage resistance fighter; Marie‑Madeleine Fourcade — leader of the Alliance (Hérisson or "Hedgehog") network; Lucie Aubrac — major Resistance organizer; Ariadna Scriabina (daughter of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin), and American Virginia Hall.

Hegseth’s comparison of unarmed migrants with the Nazi armed forces is historically false, morally offensive, and trivializes the enemy Allied forces faced. By framing D‑Day as a battle of “Western civilization” against outsiders, critics correctly argue that Hegseth whitewashed and Christian‑washed the actual Allied coalition. A common refrain from the families of those who lost relatives on D-Day and in the following weeks was “Don’t use my father’s sacrifice to attack migrants.”

Hegseth’s vision of an all-white and all-European army of Christians landing on the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago is as specious as his own military record and ability to serve as Secretary of Defense.

There is no place for a white nationalist idiot and drunkard like Hegseth in the office of Secretary of Defense. He and his far-right lunatic political advisors should resign without delay. They are a disgrace to the United States, what remains of its allies, and the American armed forces.

Emptywheel, Analysis:and Opinion: Trump’s Team Is Not Qualified to Use FISA, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 9, 2026. Back when Trump proposed Bill Pulte to serve as interim Director of National Intelligence, I argued that Democrats should draw a line in the sand. They were poised to provide just enough votes to authorize FISA 702, which expires on Friday.

But the prospect that Pulte would preside over the program should be cause for Democrats to refuse to reauthorize FISA.

There is absolutely no reason any Democrat should reauthorize Section 702 so long as the guy in charge of reauthorizing it is someone like Pulte, someone who has already proven willing to weaponize his access to sensitive data to target Trump’s adversaries.

[snip]

But given the timing, it should be simple to refuse to provide any votes for 702 so long as Pulte is anywhere near ODNI.

That is, remarkably, what has happened. Shortly after I called for Democrats to take a stand, Mark Warner (who would otherwise have whipped Dems to cast those votes) did. For a test vote last week, only John Fetterman voted to reauthorize the program. And Hakeem Jeffries has joined in the effort, stating that Democrats will not consider supporting FISA until Pulte is removed from DNI.

And now the fight has snowballed. Trump is contemplating using the FISA impasse to gut ODNI.

Trump administration officials have been using the stalemate to push their long-held desire to significantly scale back, if not eliminate outright, the ODNI. That would mean not naming a permanent DNI to succeed Tulsi Gabbard when she departs from the post at the end of the month.

“There is clearly an interest in downsizing and reevaluating the value that ODNI brings to the entire intelligence community and national security apparatus in the country — and so yes, I think that’s a part of the conversation,” Thune told us. Thune added that resolving the immediate situation would still likely require the White House to name a permanent nominee.

Yet most senators don’t see the need to resolve ODNI’s future while addressing Friday’s Section 702 deadline. The House and Senate intelligence panels have been debating this issue for several years now, and they’re far from a consensus. Which means the issue won’t get resolved this week.

“It’s a bureaucratic mess, it’s been downsized by Tulsi Gabbard significantly already,” Lankford said. “It is not a significant place that everybody makes it out to be… It’s an experiment that hasn’t worked.”

There are problems with this plan, which I’ll get to. Though admittedly many on both sides of the aisle believe ODNI (and DHS) should be rethought — just not in this context, where someone even stupider than Elon Musk takes over and makes stupider cuts than DOGE did (remember that Musk tried, several times, to cut nuclear safety, on orders from DOGE, IRS unlawfully shared the information of upwards of 2,000 people with ICE (each of whom should now demand $10 billion, like Trump did), and DOGE cuts to screwworm mitigation are leading to multi-billion dollar losses.

The further we go, the expensive, snowballing problems DOGE caused are becoming visible.

And Trump wants to repeat that with Pulte, only with national security.

There’s something few are addressing, though (and Trump appears not to have considered with his bid to do away with ODNI entirely). The reason tying Pulte’s nomination to FISA reauthorization works is because, to an extent not present in many other programs, FISA requires credible declarations: from the Directory of National Intelligence, from the Attorney General, and (to a lesser extent) the FBI Director.

Such declarations are the cornerstone of FISA 702, for example.

(a)Authorization Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon the issuance of an order in accordance with subsection (j)(3) or a determination under subsection (c)(2), the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence may authorize jointly, for a period of up to 1 year from the effective date of the authorization, the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information.

[snip]

(d)Targeting procedures (1)Requirement to adopt The Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, shall adopt targeting procedures that are reasonably designed to— (A)ensure that any acquisition authorized under subsection (a) is limited to targeting persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States; and (B)prevent the intentional acquisition of any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States. (2)Judicial review The procedures adopted in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be subject to judicial review pursuant to subsection (j).

And those declarations require judicial review.

At the Agent level, once you’ve been caught in a lie, your word is no longer considered good before judges.

There’s no reason the same rule should not apply with men like Pulte, Todd Blanche, and Kash Patel, given their clearcut records of false statements and abuse.

I first raised this issue when Kash Patel lied to the Senate about Kilmar Abrego, precisely the kind of target for surveillance on which FISA declarations pivot (the FBI Director certifies the methods to be used with individual FISA targets and must provide transparency for US Person queries of FISA 702).

But the issue is even more stark with Pulte and Blanche, on whose declarations the entire 702 program would rest.

Pulte appears to have rooted through privacy-protected agency data to find baseless claims against several of Trump’s enemies. NYT yesterday made it clear that Todd Blanche recognized his case against Tish James, at least, was bogus.

In July, Mr. Blanche summoned F.B.I. agents, Virginia prosecutors and senior F.H.F.A. officials to a meeting at the Justice Department to talk about the James investigation. The meeting began with a detailed presentation from F.B.I. agents, emphasizing the lack of evidence of criminality surrounding Ms. James’s mortgages.

Then Mr. Blanche declared that the evidence simply did not support a criminal case against Ms. James for either property. When Mr. Pulte’s aides tried to argue or interject, Mr. Blanche shot them down.

And Blanche has done still worse. Judge Waverly Crenshaw found that Blanche personally intervened to gin up a criminal case against Abrego, then had his fixer, Aakash Singh, directly oversee the investigation.

Blanche’s words directly confirm that the Executive Branch reopened the criminal investigation because the Judicial Branch required the Executive Branch to facilitate Abrego’s return from El Salvador. That evidence confirms what the timing of Agent VanWie’s reopening suggests. From the time Agent VanWie reopened the case, the investigation was marked by retaliatory taint. The evidence recovered from that tainted investigation was, in McGuire’s words, “significant” and “important corroboration” to support the charges against Abrego. (Evid. Hr’g Tr. at 65–66).

Blanche’s statements address the investigation directly, not the indictment. The evidence that ties the tainted investigation to the indictment comes from Singh’s ongoing close involvement to the indictment. As a direct report to Blanche, Singh ties the indictment to Blanche’s vindictive motive. This further suggests direct evidence of vindictive prosecution.

[snip]

Whatever McGuire thought about his own authority, Singh’s instruction to await “clearance” is evidence that Main Justice exercised control over the charging decision down to the finish line. Indeed, Singh did so to the end. On May 20, Singh asked McGuire and Warren for “a draft memo.” (Gov’t Evid. Hr’g Ex. 1 at 23). Only three days later, the Government indicted Abrego. (Doc. No. 3).

Singh thoroughly engaged himself in the preindictment process. His oversight touched on everything from the timing of the indictment to the substance of the potential charges. His sustained oversight is objective evidence that connects Main Justice to the indictment.

In the SPLC case, DOJ did not rebut the NGO’s contention that Todd Blanche lied about the case.

The NYT also revealed that Blanche pushed the 8647 investigation into Jim Comey after the Secret Service declined to participate, without disclosing that in his public press spectacle.

The morning after Mr. Comey’s post, Mr. Blanche’s deputies told prosecutors in Mr. Siebert’s office to investigate the seashells. Secret Service agents tracked Mr. Comey and his wife as they traveled from the North Carolina seashore to their home in Virginia — a level of surveillance that some agents said they felt was overkill.

Mr. Comey quickly agreed to sit down with Secret Service agents for an interview, and he insisted again that he had no intention whatsoever of threatening Mr. Trump. Given Mr. Comey’s cooperation and statements, Secret Service investigators concluded there was no point in opening a full investigation.

Mr. Blanche’s deputies disagreed and pressed both the Secret Service and the F.B.I. to pursue the case. The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security and therefore did not report to Mr. Blanche. Their agents refused to pursue the case, a decision that made it easier for the F.B.I. and prosecutors in Virginia also to say no.

[snip]

In April, prosecutors in North Carolina indicted Mr. Comey over the “86 47” photo. Mr. Blanche, by then the acting attorney general, declared the seashell charges were the product of work by career agents and prosecutors. He never mentioned that other career prosecutors and agents had previously rejected the case.

And perhaps most seriously, Blanche — as well as Stan Woodward, one of the other attorneys at DOJ sufficiently senior to sign certain kinds of FISA documents — are credibly accused of committing fraud on Judge Kathleen Williams, so much so that she has ordered more briefing on the deception involved in the Terrorist Slush Fund.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiffs shall file a response to the Motion (DE 63) on or before June 12, 2026, detailing their position on the matters set forth in the Motion, including (1) the charges of collusion and whether the Parties are truly adverse; (2) the assertion that the dismissal in this case was premised on deception by the Parties; and (3) the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the “victim of a fraud.” (DE 63 at 13, citing 11 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2870 (3d ed.)).

Everywhere you look, Todd Blanche is lying to target Trump’s enemies. More and more, judges are ruling that Blanche has engaged in misconduct to target Trump’s enemies.

And you think that guy is credible to sign FISA declarations?

I don’t know whether the current FISC presiding judge (former Clarence Thomas clerk and Trump appointee Carl Nichols) would reject declarations from such miscreants.

But the extent to which Blanche has absolutely shredded presumption of regularity should be at the forefront of discussions about his promotion and FISA.

Magistrate judges and juries, all over the country, will reject the statements of Agents who’ve been caught lying in the past. And yet we’re supposed to authorize programmatic spying based on the word of two Trump flunkies who seem to think their primary job is to weaponize the government against Trump’s imagined enemies? 

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

 

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

New York Times, Graham Platner Announced His Picks for Maine Governor. Will It Sway the Race? Jenna Russell, June 9, 2026 (print ed.). The crowded race for governor has barely qualified as background noise in recent months, drowned out by the high-stakes, turbulent campaign for U.S. Senate.

New York Times, Will Platner Scandals Dampen Democratic Vote? What to Watch in Tuesday’s Primaries, Kellen Browning, June 9, 2026. Any indication of tepid support for Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, will be seen as a warning sign about his chances against Senator Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent.

maine mapVoters in Maine will weigh in on one of the most consequential and high-profile Senate races in the country on Tuesday, when they are expected to cement a matchup between Senator Susan Collins, a vulnerable Republican, and Graham Platner, a scandal-plagued Democrat hoping to oust her.

Their likely face-off in November could determine control of the Senate, and political observers will be watching this week’s result closely to see if Mr. Platner’s many controversies have dampened voter enthusiasm for his populist campaign pitch.

Tuesday will also feature primary elections in South Carolina, Nevada and North Dakota.

Here’s what to know about the races.

New York Times, Democrats Accuse Republicans of Meddling in High-Stakes Maine Primary, Bayliss Wagner, June 9, 2026. A mysterious group has spent $500,000 to elevate a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary race for a key House seat.

djt maga hatRepublicans have appeared to use shadowy super PACs to meddle in a series of Democratic primary contests this year, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to elevate candidates they see as weak or controversial.

Democrats say the latest case is in their primary contest for Maine’s Second Congressional District, pointing to a mysterious out-of-state group that has poured more than $500,000 into a race that is one of the country’s most competitive general-election battles.

Four candidates are vying on Tuesday for the nomination to succeed the retiring Representative Jared Golden in the most Republican-leaning seat held by any Democrat in the House.

maine mapMr. Golden’s retirement bolstered the G.O.P.’s chances of flipping the vast, largely rural district, which he won with 50.3 percent of the vote — the margin of victory was fewer than 3,000 ballots — against a Republican challenger in 2024. President Trump won the district that year by nine percentage points.

Polls suggest that the race has no clear front-runner. None of the Democratic candidates have advertised themselves as moderates in the mold of Mr. Golden, who announced in November that he would not seek re-election because he had “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness” of political life, citing “frequent threats” against him and his family.

After actively recruiting candidates for Mr. Golden’s seat, the official campaign arm of House Democrats threw its weight behind Joe Baldacci, a state senator and former mayor of Bangor. The group argued that his record of “overperformance” in past elections made him the strongest candidate in a difficult district.

In the Maine Legislature, Mr. Baldacci supported abortion rights but broke from his party to oppose some gun control measures. Unlike his opponents, he has not called for universal health care.

The Democratic group recently claimed that Republicans had secretly worked to help one of Mr. Baldacci’s progressive opponents, Matt Dunlap, the state auditor, through the Real Change PAC, a political action committee registered so recently that it has not yet had to disclose its donors.

Real Change PAC has spent more than $500,000 to oppose Mr. Baldacci and support Mr. Dunlap, according to campaign finance filings, and one of its vendors uses the same Wyoming address as a firm used by another shadowy group with Republican ties, Politico earlier reported.

“Washington Republicans are spending over half a million dollars to attack Joe Baldacci because they’re afraid to face him in November,” Riya Vashi, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

On Monday, Mr. Trump singled out Mr. Dunlap, writing on social media that he believed the Maine Democrat would win the nomination and would be a weak candidate.

The Democratic nominee will face former Gov. Paul LePage of Maine, a Republican backed by Mr. Trump, in November. A colorful, polarizing and sometimes controversial figure, Mr. LePage ascended to the governorship during the height of the Tea Party movement in 2011, adopting a populist style that has invited comparisons to the Republican president.

“I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular,” Mr. LePage said after he endorsed Mr. Trump in 2016.

A spokeswoman for the campaign arm of House Republicans, Maureen O’Toole, cast all of the Democratic candidates as “far left” and said that “voters will send Paul LePage to Washington in November.”

Maine uses a ranked-choice voting system in the primaries. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those ballots are redistributed to the remaining candidates based on voters’ next-ranked choices. 

New York Times, A Democratic Super PAC Makes a $50 Million Bet in Republican Strongholds,Shane Goldmacher, June 9, 2026. American Bridge is hoping that Republicans are vulnerable in parts of the country that had been exceedingly tough terrain for Democrats in recent elections.

A major Democratic super PAC hopes to stretch the midterm battleground map by kicking off a roughly $50 million advertising campaign targeting Republicans in more than a dozen House districts and four Senate races, most of them in traditionally Republican areas.

The amount is the most ever spent in a midterm election by American Bridge, which has spent the past year studying the concerns of working-class voters and their media consumption habits and sees a rare opening for Democrats as President Trump’s approval rating plunges.

maine mapBradley Beychok, the president of American Bridge, said in an interview that Republicans were vulnerable in parts of the country that had been exceedingly tough terrain for Democrats in recent elections.

“We’re going to Republican territory and planting a flag,” Mr. Beychok said in an interview. “These Republicans are in a world of hurt.”

He summarized his mantra: “Your opponent’s drowning. We need to throw them an anvil.”

Of the 14 House races the group is initially targeting, 11 are rated by the Cook Political Report as likely or even solidly Republican.

“We should take a wider lens to what’s competitive,” he said. “The last thing we would want is to wake up the day after Election Day and Democrats have a good night but it could have been a better night if you would have invested in some places.”

The group’s initial target list includes four seats in North Carolina, where Republicans last year redrew the state’s congressional lines for their benefit. Notably, American Bridge is taking aim at the lawmaker who is overseeing House Republican strategy, Representative Richard Hudson, who is the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Among the longest shots the group said it planned to invest in this year was the Mississippi Senate race, where Scott Colom, a Democratic state prosecutor, is challenging Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent who had previously blocked Mr. Colom’s appointment to the federal bench.

“We’re investing in these races because they’re hard,” Mr. Beychok said, noting that much of the spending would come soon to try to put more races into play by fall.

American Bridge spent much of the past year on what it called the Working Class Project, which involved researching the frustrations and priorities of working-class voters. The effort has also identified individuals affected by Republican policies who can be featured in ads.

The advertising blitz is set to begin in Iowa, where officials said they planned to spend $2.8 million by the end of summer and $800,000 in the next three weeks.

The first two House seats being targeted are the generally competitive seat of Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican who has previously won re-election by narrow margins, and the open seat of Representative Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate. American Bridge is targeting the state’s Senate race as well.

The group also plans to invest in the Michigan and Alaska Senate races, which are among the nation’s most competitive. The other House seats include two districts in Michigan (the Fourth and the 10th), one in Pennsylvania (the Eighth), two in Colorado (the Third and the Fifth), two in Texas (the 15th and the 23rd) and one in Ohio (the Seventh).

The group is planning television, radio, streaming and digital ads as well as direct mail. The ads will focus on economic issues including the cost of living and tariffs, the group said.

michael fanone showgraham platner fight oligarchyThe Michael Fanone Show,  The Attacks on Graham Platner Didn’t Work, Michael Fanone, June 9, 2026 That Should Tell You Something.

Today, Maine Democrats go to the polls. And barring something nobody sees coming, an oyster farmer and former Marine named Graham Platner — a guy the national Democratic Party tried to strangle in the crib — is going to win.

The question of whether Platner should win got litigated for months, and Democratic primary voters are about to answer it it. The interesting question, now, is why they’re choosing that way. What does it tell the rest of us?

Maine Governor Janet Mills, the candidate Chuck Schumer personally recruited to take down Susan Collins, suspended her own campaign back on April 30. Her reason, in her own words, was that “I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources.”

Translation: she got outraised and outrun by a guy who farms oysters for a living, and she read the same polls everyone else did. Emerson had Platner up 55 to 28; other surveys had the gap even wider. Her name is still on today’s ballot, but it isn’t going to matter.

What’s more, though, Platner is running away with this thing while absorbing the kind of opposition research that ends most political careers. There’s his tattoo — a Nazi Totenkopf on his chest, which he says he got drunk as a young Marine overseas and didn’t understand at the time, and then hundreds of pages of crude old Reddit posts. There’s his infidelity in the early stages of his marriage. And the New York Times, recently, canvassed Platner’s ex-girlfriends and found that he’d shown “disturbing” behavior.

I’m not going to wave any of that off. But here’s what the people running the attacks never accounted for: they didn’t move the numbers. Platner told a rally last week his past was being “weaponized,” and Maine Democrats agreed with him. Bernie Sanders stood by his endorsement, and Elizabeth Warren stayed in his corner. The oppo that was supposed to bury him just didn’t.

Online, of course, none of this is really about Maine. It’s a proxy war for the soul of the Democratic Party. The national press has been wringing its hands about a Democratic “civil war” and whether nominating a populist with like Platner with baggage just hands Collins another term.

But that’s not what’s actually happening on the ground in Maine. Because among the actual Maine Democrats casting actual ballots today, Platner isn’t really a factional figure at all.

Before we keep going, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsor, Ground News, because as we’ve said before, this show doesn’t have corporate backers controlling the conversation. The reason we can do streams like this where we can just talk honestly — is because of viewer support and partners that actually believe in independent media.

And honestly, right now, with everything happening politically, Ground News has become one of the tools I use most.

Ground News is an app and website that lets you compare how different outlets are covering the same story across the political spectrum. You can compare headlines side by side, see political bias at the publication level, and spot when important stories are being minimized — or ignored completely — depending on who’s telling the story.

One feature I use a lot is the Blindspot Feed. It shows you stories heavily covered on one side of the media landscape while the other side barely touches them. And in a moment where narratives are getting shaped in real time, that matters.

If you actually want to understand what’s going on instead of just getting fed one version of events, I strongly recommend checking it out.

What attracts most voters to Platner is his apparent appetite for a fight. One supporter said the allegations weren’t a good look, but that Platner had been “open and honest” and the attacks were “politically motivated.” But most voters seemed totally unfazed by the scandals around the oyster farmer. At his final town hall before the primary, a woman named Laurie Hudson passed around a homemade card that read, “We are your Graham-ily and we’ve got your back,” and had the room sign it.

That night, hundreds of people showed up to hear Platner talk through his political vision. And Platner’s pitch to them, over and over, is some version of “the only thing that’s ever beaten fascism is a broad-based working-class coalition.”

These voters looked at a flawed, scarred, oppo-battered candidate standing next to a careful, credentialed, two-term governor. In poll after poll of the race, they’ve picked Platner. That’s not because they’re reckless, but because they’ve decided that in this moment, the single most important qualification is whether you’ll actually get in the fucking ring with Donald Trump. And they didn’t trust Janet Mills, who’d be a 79-year-old freshman Senator, to do that.

You can’t mistake the Platner phenomenon for a handful of online lefties. The guy is a combat veteran who farms oysters and — though he’s received the backing of Fight Agency, the firm behind Zohran Mamdani’s rise — talks like he’s never met a political consultant in his life. That’s why the small-dollar money came in faster than Mills, a sitting governor could match. And it’s why the scandals bounced off instead of sticking. Mills couldn’t opposition-research your way out of Mainers simply deciding that they trusted the guy.

And that is the exact thing I’ve been writing about all spring.

I’ve spent months on this page hammering the Democrats who had a chance to fight and went quiet on Trump instead. The consultant class keeps insisting this is a moment for the party to exercise caution. But Maine Democrats aren’t swayed by that advice, and they’re choosing the guy who had a Nazi tattoo over the safe two-term governor? Why? because the safe two-term governor, hand-picked by Chuck Schumer, never made them believe she’d fight.

I won’t sell you a fairy tale. If Platner wins today, he still has to beat Susan Collins in November. That’ll be a tough race: he’s been running ahead of her, but the race is narrowing. The attacks aren’t going to stop, and there’s more than enough material for Collins’s attack ads. Nothing is settled, and we may very well learn even worse things about Platner.

But today’s lesson isn’t really about one tattooed oyster farmer in Maine. Instead, it’s that the hunger for Democrats who will throw punches is now so strong it’s surviving stories that should have been campaign-enders. That should terrify the cautious wing of this party.

Since Platner announced his candidacy, Maine Democrats have been saying that they are done with careful—they want somebody who’ll fight. And today they’re going to put it in writing.

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Money and Machismo are Undermining America, Paul Krugman, right, June 9, 2026. paul krugmanFragile MAGA egos are rejecting the future, from energy to drones.

Drones have rapidly transformed modern war. The U.S. military, the most sophisticated, best supplied force in history, has been humiliated by Iran, largely thanks to Iran’s effective use of inexpensive drones to menace shipping, energy production, and even U.S. bases. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s growing superiority in drone warfare is increasingly giving it the upper hand over Russia. Remember, not so long ago the American far right celebrated Putin’s macho posturing and his supposed military invincibility.

Given this radical turn of events, shouldn’t the United States be eager to make a drone deal with Ukraine, benefiting from its technology and expertise?

Apparently not. The Hill reports that Donald Trump has been dragging his feet on such a deal, quoting U.S. military analysts who say that they don’t understand the delay and that they are “mystified.” But I assume that they’re being disingenuous and prefer to avoid saying the obvious. In fact, Trump’s unwillingness to make a deal that would clearly benefit America’s national interest is no mystery at all.

I’ll get to the obvious in a moment. First, let me take a slight detour into something that seems unrelated but in fact helps explain drone aversion: this administration’s hostility to renewable energy and its desperate, doomed and wasteful effort to revive the coal industry.

There was a time when “drill, baby, drill” could be portrayed as a realistic, hard-headed position. Does anyone remember the Cheney Energy Task Force? However, in the past few years, radical declines in the cost of solar power, wind power, and batteries — which solve the problem that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow — have made renewables the most cost-effective way to generate electricity. By contrast, coal is completely unviable. Here are the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s estimates for utility capacity additions in 2025:

Yet Trump is trying to block renewable energy projects any way he can and has just invoked wartime authority to spend $700 million subsidizing new power plants using “clean, beautiful” coal.

Why? Part of the answer is big money. Fossil fuel interests were huge supporters of Trump in 2024. In fact, the Trump presidency is itself the result of billions of dollars spent by the Koch Brothers and others to corrupt and undermine U.S. political institutions -- the Supreme Court very much included. Anti-renewable, pro-fossil fuel policy is their reward, along with the destruction of the Voting Rights Act and the adoption of Project 2025.

What’s the other part? Clean energy has become a bogeyman in the culture wars: mining and burning coal are considered “manly” activities, while renewable energy is portrayed as woke and effeminate. Real men don’t worry about black lung and airborne particulates, let alone climate change.

So a combination of big money and fragile male egos drives Green Derangement Syndrome. And the same is true for both the Iran debacle and the refusal to learn from the catastrophe by turning to Ukraine.

Why was the United States so unprepared for the Iranian drone threat, despite the obvious successes of Ukrainian drones against Russia? Well, as investigative reporters delve into the story, I would urge them to follow the money.

America has a huge, highly profitable defense industry, dedicated to a suite of technologies that are rapidly being rendered obsolete, as $4 million Patriot missiles, that take years to build, are being used to shoot down $35,000 Shahed drones that can be manufactured in months.

So it wouldn’t be surprising if defense-industry interests are playing a significant role in the Trump administration’s refusal to admit that the rules of war have changed — the same way that fossil fuel companies have campaigned against the new realities of energy technology. After all, a deal with drone-savvy Ukrainians would mean less money going to US defense contractors.

While this is speculative, we do know that recognition of the drone revolution in warfare by Trump and his inner circle would require that they abandon their fantasy of macho military power. Pete Hegseth has been purging the military of capable officers — especially Blacks and women — he considers insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump. Beyond loyalty tests, however, he has exalted the importance of “warrior ethos” and physical fitness, as if he were leading the 300 Spartans rather than a high-tech military in an age of drones and electronic warfare.

It’s true that Hegseth, perhaps chastened by his abject failure in Iran — why does he still have a job? — recently admitted that the U.S. has learned from Ukraine. But an admission that his entire conception of war was wrongheaded will be a step too far for him.

Likewise, Trump himself is in love with big, expensive weapons as symbols of virility and power. He’s still pushing for giant “Trump-class” battleships, even though they would be sitting ducks in a modern war. Just ask the Ukrainians, who have used missiles and naval drones to force Russia’s once-vaunted Black Sea Fleet to cower in a fortified refuge. But Trump doesn’t want to give up his fantasies.

And he’s especially unwilling to learn from Ukraine. After all, he cut off aid to Ukraine in a hissy fit over Zelenskyy’s well-deserved reputation for heroism, only to he humiliated by Ukraine’s refusal to lose its war. Admitting that he needs Ukrainian help would be a further humiliation.

As I said earlier, there is no mystery about why Trump refuses to make a drone deal with Ukraine. Never mind the national interest. In military strategy as in energy policy, Trump is betraying America in the service of money and machismo.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion:A Letter from the Insurrectionists, Mona Charen, mona charenright, June 9, 2026. Dear President Trump,

We, the undersigned, are the patriots who stood with you on January 6th. We are the people who charged the Capitol, broke windows, smashed doors, injured 140 law enforcement officers with flagpoles, bear spray, and other bulwark logo big shipweapons (causing the deaths of five), sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives, stole property, erected a gallows, sought to kill the vice president and speaker of the house, and left urine and feces on desks and in hallways. We don’t regret a thing. Unlike those who spoke at the rally that day—John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Mo Brooks, and of course, yourself—1,270 of us were tried and convicted and 660 of us were sentenced to terms in prison (long ones, in the cases of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers).

You’ve often stressed how terrible our plight has been since then. We were gratified, for example, when you justified the $1.776 billion slush fund by noting that we’ve been “horribly treated, horribly treated . . . they’ve been weaponized, they’ve been in some cases imprisoned wrongly, they paid legal fees that they didn’t have, they’ve gone bankrupt, their lives have been destroyed, and they turned out to be right.” We can see how deeply you feel the injustice.

Don’t get us wrong, we appreciated the blanket pardons for everyone, even the most violent. But as you yourself have said, more must be done to redress this injustice.

It’s a shame and disgrace that the Deep State was able to thwart your plan to create a taxpayer fund to compensate us for our suffering. But because we know how deeply you feel about this, we are confident that you will use your own money to create the war chest. In the last few years, you’ve been able to defeat the swamp in Washington and rightfully add at least another $3 billion to your personal net worth since January 2025. We imagine that’s only a down payment.

We don’t believe the fake news media stories about how you’ve been the stingiest billionaire in American history, claiming to donate to charities that you actually stiffed. One story about you just showing up at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a charity dedicated to kids with AIDS was really below the belt. They claimed that you just swanned into the event, took a seat at the front that was meant for an actual donor who was late, and basked in the assumption that you had donated, even doing the Macarena with the kids! And even afterwards, you never sent a dime. Or so the fake news said!

Nor do we credit the stories that say the vast majority of your charitable giving was actually just easements you signed with environmental groups when your plans to develop land parcels were blocked. About $119 million of the claimed $130 lifetime charitable donations were from these easements, so they claim. As for the rest, well, most were funded by the Trump Foundation, which was later shuttered for malfeasance. Or so the lying media would have it.

Sir, we know those stories are false. We have faith that you will do right by us out of your own pocket.

In fond expectation,The January 6th Patriots

P.S. If you need our Social Security numbers, just ask Musk’s DOGE team. They have all that private stuff, right?

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • bulwark logo big shipPutin’s ‘Cringe’ Weekend of Humiliation… His effort to put on a show of strength didn’t fool anyone, writes CATHY YOUNG.
  • Talk of Canceling Elections Shows Trump Is Unfit for Office… No president has ever canceled a federal election, even in our deepest crises, observes ROBERT DALLEK.
  • Make It the Summer of Epstein… On the flagship pod, BILL KRISTOL joins TIM MILLER to make the case why Democrats must ruthlessly hang Todd Blanche’s dirty work on every Republican senator who’s willing to confirm him as AG.

Quick Hits

H-1B FEES: One of the biggest policy wins Donald Trump gave his coalition’s hardline nativists last year was a new $100,000-a-head fee on companies hiring foreign workers on H-1B visas—a major crackdown on skilled legal immigration. But yesterday, a federal judge blocked the policy, declaring it a tax requiring congressional approval. The New York Times has more:

The decision by Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts nullified one of a series of tactics the Trump administration has used to restrict legal immigration, even in fields in which foreign skilled labor helped address severe shortages.

In a 42-page opinion, Judge Sorokin acknowledged that the policy, imposed in September, appeared to step on Congress’s “exclusive power” to levy taxes under the Constitution. He dismissed claims by the Trump administration that the fee was a “regulatory payment” that would have been within the executive branch’s power to set, not a tax.

“This is mere ipse dixit,” he wrote, meaning offered without evidence. “Defendants offer no definition for what constitutes ‘a regulatory payment,’ cite no cases or statutes employing the term, and advance no reasoned argument explaining how this term encompasses something different than a tax or a penalty.”

The White House intends to appeal the ruling, which comes months after a different federal judge ruled in the administration’s favor in a separate suit against the same policy. Read the whole thing.

FISA SPYING ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: For years now, despite perennial protests about warrantless spying from civil-libertarian lawmakers, Congress has repeatedly managed to cobble together coalitions to reauthorize the post-9/11 surveillance authorities of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Now, however, the program might be on life support—with Democrats threatening for the first time to oppose the program en masse over Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Here’s Politico:

Democrats are withdrawing their support in protest of the Pulte appointment, with nearly every Democratic senator joining a handful of Republicans in tanking a procedural vote early Friday morning that would have allowed for passage of that three-year deal before the June 12 deadline.

It’s only the latest in a string of occasions where Trump has acted seemingly on impulse and without consideration for the political fallout and ramifications on Capitol Hill. That has complicated efforts by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson . . . to enact the president’s agenda with just months to go until the midterms.

“I don’t think he thinks about the impact on us and the timing,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters. “Which is unfortunate because it really has had an impact. Quite honestly, I’m worried about what we’re going to do on FISA.”

In one sense, this is just Democrats going to war with the toolkit they have: If the only pain point they can inflict on the administration in protest of Pulte’s appointment is FISA reauthorization, you’re going to see more Democratic defections than you would otherwise. But Pulte’s appointment also makes the abstract civil-liberties argument much more concrete: It’s not just a matter of possible future abuse of surveillance authorities, but of all but guaranteed present abuse.

U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Immigration, Rights, Justice

New York Times, A Mayor, Her Boyfriend and China’s Mysterious Propaganda Machine, Amy Qin, June 9, 2026. On the day she was sworn in as mayor, Eileen Wang spoke in soaring terms about her journey from a “small mountain village” in China to America, and specifically to Arcadia, a small city in Southern California.

Then her speech took a sharp turn.

China Flag“As Americans, and especially as elected officials, our loyalty must always be clear,” she said, “to this country, to our constitution, to our residents, and to no one else.”

Three months later, in May, federal prosecutors announced that Ms. Wang, 56, had agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent of the Chinese government. She resigned as mayor that day and faces up to 10 years in jail.

Ms. Wang’s speech in February is just one of many plot points that have deepened the mystery around her true identity.

She jumped into city politics in her 50s, first as a Republican, then a Democrat. She had a fiancé who was a foreign agent. Or maybe not.

Before winning election to the City Council in 2022, she had actively promoted ties between the United States and China and voiced support for one of Beijing’s overarching goals, absorbing Taiwan. But some of her former colleagues said they could not recall any obvious examples of how she might have used public office to promote pro-Beijing views — or really any strong opinions at all.

“She just votes, and I don’t even remember how she votes,“ said Sharon Kwan, an Arcadia councilwoman.

Federal prosecutors have painted Ms. Wang, who pleaded guilty last month, as part of a concerted effort by Beijing to undermine American democracy. According to her plea agreement, Ms. Wang and Mike Sun operated a website, U.S. News Center, that circulated pro-Beijing propaganda at the direction of Chinese government officials from late 2020 through at least 2022.

Ms. Wang had variously described Mr. Sun as her boyfriend and fiancé. And Mr. Sun described Ms. Wang in a report for Chinese government officials as a “new political star” who had connections to higher-level American politicians, court documents show.Eileen Wang pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent. But what could Beijing want from the mayor of a small California city known as the “Chinese Beverly Hills”?

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Israel Launches New Strikes in Southern Lebanon, Staff Reports, June 9, 2026. The attacks came a day after Israel and Iran pulled back from direct confrontation. The Israeli campaign against the Lebanese militia Hezbollah has been an obstacle in U.S.-Iran peace talks.

The Israeli military struck towns and villages across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, testing the shaky two-month cease-fire again just a day after direct hostilities between Iran and Israel threatened to unravel the truce.

The latest attacks came after Iran halted strikes against Israel on Monday, but threatened to reignite the war with “harsher and more forceful actions” if Israel resumed its “aggression and hostile acts,” including in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli airstrikes hit areas of southern Lebanon that were not covered by evacuation warnings that Israel’s military had issued hours earlier. Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that at least nine people were killed in one strike near the southern city of Tyre. Lebanon’s health ministry has not yet published a casualty toll from the attacks.

On Monday, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel, saying it was in retaliation for an Israeli strike the previous day near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, targeting Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group. The attacks reignited direct hostilities between Iran and Israel and threatened to end a two-month cease-fire.

Iran’s threat underlined how Lebanon has emerged as a major wedge issue in efforts to negotiate an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Tehran has insisted that any peace agreement include security for Lebanon, while Israel has rejected any such link, insisting it would keep targeting Hezbollah, Iran’s most important ally. Israel has occupied large swathes of southern Lebanon during the most recent conflict saying that it was needed to defend itself against Hezbollah attacks.

President Trump said early Tuesday that both sides had agreed to stop the fighting, and that “a very, very good deal” between the United States and Iran could be finalized within days.

But it was not clear if the two sides were any closer to a deal, and there was no immediate response from Iranian officials to Mr. Trump’s comments. The president has repeatedly said that the United States and Iran were nearing an agreement to end the war, resolve the fate of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil and gas shipments.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Lebanon warnings: The Israeli military called for the evacuation on Tuesday of the entire city of Tyre, one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon, including, for the first time in the war, the Christian quarter of the ancient port city.
  • American helicopter: A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and its two crew members were rescued, according to two people briefed on the incident. It was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter to go down.
  • Markets: The price of oil dipped slightly on Tuesday morning after rising the previous day following the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran. 
  • Trump call: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called off further strikes against Iran after a phone call with Mr. Trump on Monday in which the president told him that a breakthrough in negotiations was near, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. 

New York Times, Crew Is Rescued After U.S. Helicopter Goes Down Near Strait of Hormuz, Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Updated June 9, 2026. It was not immediately clear what led to the incident, which came at a time when the cease-fire in the war has grown tenuous.

A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and the two crew members were safely rescued, according to two people briefed on the incident.

It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and said the incident was under investigation.

The incident occurred after days in which hostilities in the region escalated and then ebbed, as Israel and Iran exchanged military strikes before stepping back, the latest example of the tenuous nature of the cease-fire. 

U.S. Media, Education, Culture, Religion, High Tech

The Grio, Kristen Welker is only the latest Black journalist to be disrespected by President Trump, Haniyah P., June 8, 2026. President Donald Trump’s recent outburst in an interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” reflects a larger pattern.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Walker. However, the conversation went astray when Walker inquired about the president’s persistent claims about voter fraud. When asked, Trump claimed that there is “more evidence” of voter fraud than ever, before calling into question Welker’s credibility and claiming that the veteran journalist is “either crooked or stupid.”

“The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. All I have to do is look. They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked. You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump told Welker before walking off. “Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

Beyond President Trump’s abrupt exit, the moment spotlights a familiar pattern. Through the years, Trump has been very vocal about his thoughts on the press, and Black journalists, particularly Black women journalists, have faced a number of personal attacks, insults, or dismissive responses while questioning Trump on policy, politics, and accountability.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 8, 2026 [U.S. Religious Freedom Under Assault], Heather Cox Richardson, right, June 9, 2026. heather cox richardson cnnOn June 8, 1789, Representative James Madison of Virginia stood up to address the House of Representatives in order to introduce a series of amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Initially, Madison had been opposed to the idea of spelling out the rights on which the new government couldn’t intrude because he thought the document itself limited what the government could do. But he had come around to the idea of specifying the areas in which the new government could not intrude after voters opposed ratifying the Constitution until it included protections from government interference in their rights.

When Madison rose to introduce his amendments to the Constitution, ten of which would eventually be adopted and become the Bill of Rights, the Constitution had been ratified, but ratification had stalled. Two states of the original thirteen, North Carolina and Rhode Island, had not yet ratified the Constitution. Others had done so only with the promise that a list of rights would be forthcoming.

One of the amendments Madison proposed was especially dear to him. It was, as he told his colleagues, that “[t]he civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”

That proposal was the basis for what became the first part of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

With the wounds of religious persecution both in Europe and in the colonies still fresh, Madison cared deeply about keeping the government away from religion.

In 1772, when he was 21, Madison watched as the government of Virginia had itinerant preachers arrested for preaching against the established church in the state. By the next year, he had begun to question whether established religion, which was common in the colonies, was good for society. By 1776, many of his broad-thinking neighbors had come to believe that society should “tolerate” different religious practices; he had moved past tolerance to the belief that men had a right of conscience.

In that year, he was instrumental in putting Section 16 into the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It reads, “That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”

In 1785, in a “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments,” he explained that what was at stake was not just religion, but also representative government itself. The establishment of one religion over others attacked a fundamental human right—an unalienable right—of conscience. If lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights. Those in charge of government could throw representative government out the window and make themselves tyrants.

The concerns about inequality behind the First Amendment are being illustrated right now in the twenty-first-century United States. Those concerns come from an unlikely direction.

On Thursday, June 4, 2026, Nick Mordowanec of Military dot com reported that under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense had removed about 180 faith traditions from its number of recognized religious faiths and belief systems. As John Ismay, Alexandra E. Petri, and Aimee Ortiz of the New York Times note, of the 31 religions still recognized by the Defense Department, 22 of them are Christian denominations.

Left off the new list of Christian faiths was the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, whose members are commonly known as Mormons.

MAGA has worked to impose the ideology of evangelical religion on America. In the military, Mordowanec notes, Hegseth has pushed Christian theocracy through extremist Christian-based prayers services with a Christian nationalist preacher who has said women’s suffrage was a bad idea and has defended slavery, has described Trump’s war on Iran as a holy war. Michelle Boorstein and Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post add that Hegseth has urged chaplains to focus on scripture rather than psychology and has said those who disagree with him are God’s enemies.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is a Mormon and represents Mormons in Utah. Lee has been a staunch MAGA supporter to the point that he was a key figure in urging President Donald J. Trump to stay in office in 2021 despite the fact he had lost the election.

But on Friday, Lee—the ultimate MAGA insider—found his religion excluded from the “Christian” category that the Trump administration embraces, turning him abruptly into an outsider.

Lee spent the weekend posting angrily about the slight that suggested Mormons aren’t Christians, only to have other posters deride his faith. He posted 37 times on social media insisting that the Defense Department’s classification be expanded to include Mormons under the “Christian” category, recording and reposting a video saying “As of two days ago, the Pentagon recognizes every Christian faith in America as Christian. Except one. That’s not okay, and it needs to change—now.”

Finally, yesterday, he posted that he had “just got off the phone with President Trump[.] We discussed the Pentagon’s ‘Christian list’[.] I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading[.] We’re most fortunate that President Trump (1) loves Latter-day Saints, and (2) is our commander in chief[.] Stay tuned[.]”

Today the Defense Department edited its list of religions so that no group is labeled “Christian.” Lee posted that he was grateful to Hegseth “for correcting the error” and said he agreed with Hegseth’s statement that “[t]he Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks.”

Madison and those who wrote, debated, passed, and ratified the Bill of Rights believed that making people’s religion—their right of conscience—depend on the approval of the president would destroy self-government..

A former U.S. Army chaplain told Mordowanec that the Defense Department’s limit to the religions it recognized was “horrible.” “When I raised my hand to become an Army chaplain, I swore that I would support and defend the Constitution. The First Amendment is the free exercise of religion for everybody. That’s what I was buying into.” Referring to the revised list, the former chaplain added: “As far as I’m concerned, that’s a violation of the United States Constitution.”

On June 8, 1789, Madison urged his colleagues to pass the new amendments to demonstrate that those who had pushed the adoption of the Constitution “were as sincerely devoted to liberty and republican government” as those who opposed it, and that those who wanted a strong new government were not, in fact, trying “to lay the foundation of an aristocracy or despotism. “ It would be a good thing, he said, to cement support for the government by reassuring Americans that those in favor of the new government had no “wish to deprive them of the liberty for which they valiantly fought and honorably bled.” 

June 8

Top Headlines

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

  • New York Times, How the Drive to Find a Conspiracy Against Trump Rocked the Justice Dept., Devlin Barrett (covering the Justice Department and the F.B.I., with this article is drawn from reporting in his forthcoming book, “The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice).” June 8, 2026. The push to investigate what the president’s allies saw as a “deep state” cabal intent on taking him down set off cascading crises, ended careers and undercut the department’s credibility with judges. (Excerpt continued below)
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Blanche: “Not a Crime to Party with Mr. Epstein,” bulwark morning shots logoBill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Cathy Young, June 8, 2026. To defeat Todd Blanche, talk about Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump Still Seeks $1.776 billion in taypayer funds for defendant pro-Trump, insurrectionist, grifter 'victims'

 

insurrection

Pro-Trump Insurrectionists and Election-Deniers storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent presidential election certification on Jan. 6, 2021 (Brett Davis photo via Flickr and Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/2kpXH7i; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en)\).

 Pro-Trump Insurrectionists and Election-Deniers storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent presidential election certification on Jan. 6, 2021 (Brett Davis photo via Flickr and Creative Commons -- CC BY-NC 2.0)

New York Times, Trump Says He Never Promised No New Wars, and Defends Compensation Fund, Katie Rogers,.June 8, 2026 (print ed.). In a lengthy interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the president again vowed that gas prices would go down when the war in Iran ends. During the NBC interview, the president also defended a proposed fund to compensate his supporters who feel they’ve been unfairly prosecuted. Mr. Trump’s attorneys have said in court in recent days that the fund is not moving forward, but the president has continued to raise the idea of compensation for people who claim to be victims of federal overreach.

More On Iran-Lebanon War

News Roundups

More On Trump's Meltdown Against Fact-Checking

  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 7, 2026 [President v. Press], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 8, 2026. Meet the Press today aired an interview host Kristen Welker taped yesterday with President Donald J. Trump. It showed Trump losing control and walking out of the interview when Welker challenged his insistence that the 2020 presidential election and the recent California election were rigged.
  • Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Donald Trump has chosen his next enemy, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 8, 2026. At 2:50 PM Friday afternoon, the President of the United States completely lost control on camera.

More On U.S. Law, Corruption, Crime, Immigration, Rights, Justice

 

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

U.S. Military, Religion, Foreign Affairs

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

 

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

  • New York Times, Graham Platner Announced His Picks for Maine Governor. Will It Sway the Race? Jenna Russell, June 8, 2026. The crowded race for governor has barely qualified as background noise in recent months, drowned out by the high-stakes, turbulent campaign for U.S. Senate.
  • The Opposition via The Bulwark, Opinion: The Platner Blame Game, Lauren Egan, June 7-8, 2026. Before we get into today’s edition, I wanted to give a refresher of what this space is all about. This newsletter is not an expression of my preferred politics. I spend my days talking to officials and strategists across the left’s ideological spectrum to bring you some of the best-sourced journalism out there on the inner workings of the Democratic party. Which means sometimes you’re going to read things that you don’t want to hear. 
  • BIG: The Monopoly Roundup: Graham Platner and Stock Market Democrats, Matt Stoller, right, matt stollerJune 7-8, 2026. Lots of news happened on the monopoly front. Bernie Sanders suggested nationalizing big AI firms, states look like they are preparing to try and block the Paramount-Warner merger, and the stock market fell sharply on Friday.
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Vance Never Met a Racial Controversy He Didn’t Like, Cathy Young, June 8, 2026. jd vance oSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who used D-Day commemorations in Normandy to lecture Europe on resisting a new “invasion,” wasn’t the only Trump administration figure to annoy our allies with anti-immigration harangues in recent days.
  • New York Times, Progressive Challenger Overtakes Spencer Pratt in Race for L.A. Mayor, Shawn Hubler, June 8, 2026 (print ed.). Nithya Raman pulled into second place in the race to see who will face Mayor Karen Bass in November. There are more votes to be counted.
  • PoliticusUSA, News and Opinion: Mike Johnson Has Surrendered His Power As Speaker Of The House To Trump, Jason Easley, jason easleyright, June 8, 2026. It turns out that the idea that Trump is the real Speaker of the House wasn't completely a joke, as Mike Johnson has surrendered some of his powers as Speaker to Trump
  • Michael Fanone via Substack, Opinion: Everyone’s Asking If Jon Ossoff Will Run in 2028, Michael Fanone, June 8, 2026. Anyone who reads me knows I hate endorsing politicians. I’ve been burned enough times to know better. So I’m not endorsing Jon Ossoff. Not yet, at least.

Markets, Inflation, Economies, Jobs

  • New York Times, Opinion: How to Fish Better, Paul Greenberg, June 8, 2026. We humans are capable of enormous devastation, but every now and then, we’re able to agree to stop the worst of our transgressions.
  • Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Polymarket sponsoring election conspiracies from far-right influencers, Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 8, 2026. Polymarket, one of the dominant players in the prediction market industry, promotes itself as a source of objective truth. However, as Semafor first reported, in the wake of the California primary election last Tuesday, Polymarket has sponsored posts from far-right influencers on X pushing election conspiracies and disinformation. Popular Information has uncovered a network of at least 16 influencers¹, with a collective audience of 13 million, publishing election-related misinformation in posts sponsored by Polymarket.
  • New York Times, Europe Watches Its Economic Recovery Fade Into the Distance, Eshe Nelson, June 8, 2026. As the war in Iran persists, signs point to a prolonged period of higher prices and slower growth rather than a quick shock.

More Global News

  • russian flagNew York Times, Opinion: In Russia, Rage Is Boiling Over, Andrei Zakharov (a Russian journalist and the author of “The Russian Cyberpunk"), June 8, 2026. Over the past year, Russian authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and coercing citizens to migrate to MAX, a new state-endorsed messenger platform. The messages there are presumed to be fully accessible to the F.S.B., the state security agency that succeeded the Soviet K.G.B. 

Sports, Culture, Entertainment, Religion

FIFA 2026 world cup

  • The Athlletic via The New York Times, This World Cup is uniquely challenging: it’s not the heat, the altitude or travel – it’s the combination, Alan McCallBy, Updated June 7, 2026. This article introduces The Athletic’s World Cup performance series, in which Alan McCall draws on more than 20 years of experience across elite football to explain the science behind the challenges teams are facing this summer and the strategies they will use to deal with them. He begins unpacking the unique challenges of preparing for a World Cup that spans three countries and a dizzying range of conditions.

Top Stories

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

New York Times, How the Drive to Find a Conspiracy Against Trump Rocked the Justice Dept., Devlin Barrett, June 8, 2026. The push to investigate what the president’s allies saw as a “deep state” cabal intent on taking him down set off cascading crises, ended careers and undercut the department’s credibility with judges.

It was an investigation long sought by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and it was announced not in court papers, but through a haze of cigar smoke on Joe Rogan’s podcast in early June of last year.

Justice Department log circularMr. Patel’s prized criminal inquiry, known as “the grand conspiracy case,” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him, going back to the examination of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and extending into events surrounding the 2020 election and the criminal prosecutions of Mr. Trump in 2023 and 2024. In the view of Mr. Trump and his supporters, there was a “deep state” cabal that had sought across multiple administrations and agencies to bring him down.

Mr. Patel told Mr. Rogan he had found a secret room of evidence inside F.B.I. headquarters confirming his long-held suspicions.

“You know how I caught these guys?” Mr. Patel asked. “Because these guys were so arrogant, they would write everything down, and I found the documents.”

To Mr. Patel, those documents, found in government burn bags — large brown paper bags with red and white stripes used to store papers designated for destruction — justified a sweeping investigation of former officials.

To the former officials and the career investigators who looked at the evidence, the papers in the burn bags were nothing like a smoking gun. The administration’s efforts to find prosecutors willing to pursue such theories became a defining feature of the Trump administration’s politicization of the Justice Department — and the internal resistance to it.

New details of how that period unfolded show how Mr. Patel’s drive to target critics of the president set off cascading crises with U.S. attorneys’ offices, derailed distinguished careers and undercut the Justice Department’s credibility with judges. This account is based on interviews with multiple people with knowledge of the effort, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

(Excerpt continued below) 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Blanche: “Not a Crime to Party with Mr. Epstein,” Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Cathy Young, June 8, 2026. To defeat Todd Blanche, talk about Jeffrey Epstein.

bulwark logo big shipThis weekend saw a series of worrisome escalations between Israel and Iran, with the battered, beleaguered ceasefire in the region threatening to give way entirely. On Sunday, Israel carried out strikes against Hezbollah forces in Beirut, prompting Iran to fire missiles at Israel for the first time since April.

President Donald Trump urged Israel not to return fire and for both sides to “stop shooting,” but Israel nevertheless responded, launching airstrikes against Iran itself early Monday morning. As we put this newsletter to bed, however, the growing tit-for-tat escalations seemed to have ended for now: Iran announced a “suspension” of further attacks within the last few hours. Happy Monday. 

Trump Still Seeks $1.776 billion in taypayer funds for defendant pro-Trump, insurrectionist, grifter 'victims'

 

insurrection

Pro-Trump Insurrectionists and Election-Deniers storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent presidential election certification on Jan. 6, 2021 (Brett Davis photo via Flickr and Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/2kpXH7i; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en)\).

 Pro-Trump Insurrectionists and Election-Deniers storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent presidential election certification on Jan. 6, 2021 (Brett Davis photo via Flickr and Creative CommonsCC BY-NC 2).

New York Times, Trump Says He Never Promised No New Wars, and Defends Compensation Fund, Katie Rogers,.June 8, 2026 (print ed.). In a lengthy interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the president again vowed that gas prices would go down when the war in Iran ends.

President Trump, who campaigned on a central promise to keep the United States out of overseas wars, denied in an interview aired on Sunday that he’d ever made the pledge.

“I didn’t guarantee no war,” Mr. Trump said in a lengthy interview with Kristen Welker, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” taped during his trip to Wisconsin on Friday. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

Speaking about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, he continued: “So when you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”

He did promise. As a candidate in 2024, Mr. Trump repeatedly pledged not to involve the United States in war, including on the night he won the election. “They said, ‘He will start a war,’” Mr. Trump said during his victory speech. “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”

During the NBC interview, the president also defended a proposed fund to compensate his supporters who feel they’ve been unfairly prosecuted.

Mr. Trump’s attorneys have said in court in recent days that the fund is not moving forward, but the president has continued to raise the idea of compensation for people who claim to be victims of federal overreach.

“If they get it approved, that’s great,” Mr. Trump said, an apparent reference to congressional Republicans, who have balked at the idea but have also declined to introduce legislation banning the creation of the pot of taxpayer money. “If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.”

Mr. Trump eventually ended the wide-ranging interview after being repeatedly pressed by Ms. Welker about claiming, without evidence, that recent elections in California were rigged.

Mr. Trump, who is now more than three months into a war with Iran that he began without congressional approval, is facing growing pressure to end the costly conflict. In recent weeks, voters have voiced frustration over rising fuel costs along with the overall price tag of the war, which grew to around $29 billion in May.

Mr. Trump has lately also faced more scrutiny for his intense focus on his various Washington construction projects, including his request for congressional approval of $1 billion in funding for his proposed White House ballroom.

In the interview, Mr. Trump repeated the promise he has made in recent days: “It’s all coming down as soon as the war’s over,” he said, referring to rising fuel costs.

But Mr. Trump again gave vague answers when Ms. Welker pressed him about the status of negotiations to end the war in Iran, and he offered praise to Iranian negotiators as “more rational” and “very smart.”

And though Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that the conflict was nearly complete, he did not commit to pulling some of the 50,000 troops deployed to the Middle East.

“It costs us very little to keep them there,” Mr. Trump said. “I would say it would be foolhardy to do that because maybe we may use them. It’s unlikely. But I think we’ll keep them there until such time as we have a completion.”

The president also did not say how the United States plans to remove highly enriched uranium from heavily secured underground bunkers, as Mr. Trump has said he would do to prevent Tehran from using the material to build a nuclear bomb. He suggested that if no deal was reached with Iran to end the war, the U.S. military would continue fighting and then would go in for the uranium.

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, Live Updates: Iran Signals It Will Halt Strikes Against Israel After Hours of Attacks, Aaron Boxerman and Farnaz Fassihi, June 8, 2026. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had concluded its latest military operation against Israel after both countries traded strikes and an uneasy two-month truce broke down.

Iran signaled that it was ready to wind down a military escalation with Israel on Monday after the adversaries traded attacks for hours, shattering a fragile two-month cease-fire and bringing the Middle East back to the precipice of full-blown war.

In remarks carried by Iranian state television on Monday afternoon, Iran’s military said that it was ceasing its attacks for now. But it warned that if Israel resumed its own strikes, including in southern Lebanon, “much harsher and more forceful actions than before will follow.”

Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Sunday night in retaliation for an Israeli strike near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, against its ally Hezbollah. The Israeli military said on Monday morning that it had launched two waves of airstrikes across Iran, including against the country’s largest petrochemical complex, prompting further Iranian missile attacks on central Israel.

President Trump on Monday called on both countries to “immediately stop” the attacks. He also promised that a final deal to end the war in the Middle East was on the way, although the president’s predictions of an agreement with Iran have frequently failed to materialize.

More than 18 hours into the escalation, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had yet to comment publicly on the crisis. Mr. Trump told Axios on Sunday night that he was planning to call Mr. Netanyahu to ask him not to retaliate.

The fighting left Israelis and Iranians bracing for a return to the all-out conflict that began in February with the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran. Mr. Trump has been unable to extricate the United States from the widely unpopular war with Iran, which has jacked up global oil and gas prices.

Here’s what else to know:

  • Energy markets: The price of oil jumped after Israel and Iran exchanged strikes but pared back much of those gains. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was almost 2 percent higher to about $95 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. marker, was up around 2 percent to around $92 a barrel. Read more ›
  • Yemen: The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at central Israel on Monday and announced a naval blockade against Israel in the Red Sea, although it was unclear what that threat would mean in practice. Earlier Houthi attacks in the Red Sea snarled global shipping and prompted a U.S.-led bombing campaign.
  • Israeli politics: For Mr. Netanyahu, a resumption of fighting with Iran may offer some short-term advantages at home, though it could also further inflame regional tensions. Read more › 

New York Times, News Analysis: The 15-Hour Fight With Iran Showed the Bind Israel Is In, David M. Halbfinger, June 8, 2026. As it braces for a possible U.S.-Iranian peace deal, Israel now knows that if it responds forcefully to attacks by Hezbollah, Iran may strike Israel with missiles.

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the resumption of fighting with Iran on Sunday may have shown his supporters, at least momentarily, that he still was capable of standing up to President Trump.

But the halt to the fighting on Monday, after less than 15 hours, left Israel and its embattled leader in a bind and appearing as beholden to Mr. Trump as ever.

Israel FlagIf Mr. Netanyahu had hopes of undermining the peace talks that Mr. Trump has been pursuing with Iran, the president’s pressure on both sides to stop the airstrikes — and Israel’s abandonment of preparations for another attack on Monday — showed this had failed.

The burst of warfare may have also altered how the warring parties weigh and respond to each new set of attacks — and not in a way that is advantageous for Israel.

Israel now understands that Iran can have its proxy army in Lebanon, Hezbollah, attack civilians in northern Israel, that Israeli counter-strikes at Hezbollah may prompt Iran to launch missiles at Israel and that Mr. Trump may prevent Israel from hitting back at Iran too hard or for too long.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Iran and Israel? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

“This was a major change,” said Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. He said it showed that Iran’s hard-line government was full of confidence and had concluded that “President Trump doesn’t want to go back to war, so they can take some risks to make sure this linkage of developments in Iran and Lebanon is maintained.”

The latest round of violence erupted days after a new cease-fire was reached in Washington between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah rejected the agreement, and Israel threatened to retaliate in Beirut if Hezbollah attacked Israeli territory again.

When Hezbollah did so, firing rockets at Israel on Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu ordered a strike on the Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold on the southern outskirts of Beirut.

Hours later, Iran responded by firing the first of around 30 missiles at Israel. And on Monday, Iran’s ally in Yemen, the Houthis, fired one missile into Israel and threatened to attack Israeli and Israeli-affiliated ships transiting the Red Sea.Danny Citrinowicz, a retired Israeli military intelligence officer who specializes in Iran, said that Iran and Israel were both trying to impose their own “equation” on the battlefield.

“Israel is saying that any attack on our cities and border communities will be a reason to attack in the Dahieh,” Mr. Citrinowicz said. “For Hezbollah, that’s not the case. Hezbollah says, ‘The Dahieh is for Tel Aviv, and your northern villages are for our southern villages.’”

In a recorded video message early Monday evening, Mr. Netanyahu said that the new Iranian and Hezbollah equation was “unbearable, and unacceptable to me.”

“I insist on our right to act against our enemies,” he said.

Israel’s airstrikes on Sunday and Monday gave Mr. Netanyahu at least one useful talking point. They showed his restive political base that he was willing to stand up to Mr. Trump, who had scolded Israel for bombing the Dahieh and then argued that Israel should exercise restraint against Iran.

New York Times, News Analysis: Resuming War Is a Short-Term Political Boon for Netanyahu, but Grim Choices Await, David M. Halbfinger, June 8, 2026. If President Trump forces Israel to stand down against Iran, analysts say, it could leave Israel hindered from responding forcefully to attacks by Hezbollah.

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, a resumption of fighting with Iran offered clear advantages — at least in the short term.

It showed his restive political base that he was willing to stand up to President Trump, who had scolded Israel on Sunday for bombing the outskirts of Beirut and, when Iran fired missiles at Israel in response, argued that Israel should exercise restraint.

Resisting Mr. Trump — or at least making a show of doing so, since it was unclear just what the two leaders said when they spoke Sunday night — was vital to Mr. Netanyahu, who is trailing in the polls heading into a difficult re-election fight. Just a week ago, Mr. Trump had humiliated him in an angry, profanity-laced phone call in which, the president later confirmed, he had called Mr. Netanyahu “crazy.”

Mr. Netanyahu also fears that the peace deal the Trump administration is pursuing with Iran would prove disastrous for Israel by, among other things, tying its hands in dealing with Hezbollah, the militant group that dominates Lebanon. If an exchange of airstrikes with Iran carries the risk of spiraling into a return to full-blown warfare, it could also make any broader peace agreement more difficult to achieve.

Some Israeli analysts suggested that a few days of Israeli attacks could help achieve better terms with Iran in those talks, by inflicting fresh wounds and pain.

The conspiracies involve the Los Angeles mayoral primary. Like other California races, all candidates competein a single primary and the top two candidates advance to the general election. Early returns on election night showed incumbent Karen Bass (D) leading the field and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt (R) in second place. Pratt has gained a following through viral AI-generated videos depicting him as Batman and Bass as the Joker.

But California’s vote-counting process has been slow and later returns have favored another candidate, Nithya Raman (D), over Pratt. Many Californians vote by mail, and these ballots take longer to count. Based on the breakdown of the mail-in ballots, most analysts expect Raman, not Pratt, to advance to the general. 

News Roundups

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump Begs Iran and Israel to Stop Shooting, GOP Calls to Cut Funding to California After Pratt Loss, Knicks Fans Lash Out at Trump, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 8, 2026. The conflict between Israel and Iran has escalated, with both countries exchanging direct strikes for the first time since the April ceasefire. Trump is urging restraint, but events appear to be moving beyond his influence.

Meanwhile, Republicans are furious after Spencer Pratt fell out of the top two in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Trump is claiming fraud without evidence, even as new polling suggests he is losing support among key voting blocs ahead of the midterms. And there’s much more to cover.

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Here’s the news:

Iran war erupts with new fighting: Israel and Iran exchanged direct military strikes for the first time since their April ceasefire, raising fears of a broader regional conflict. Iran launched three waves of attacks targeting Israel, while Israel responded with strikes on military and infrastructure targets inside Iran. Explosions were reported in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and at a petrochemical facility in southwestern Iran. The escalation followed Israeli strikes in Beirut that were linked to alleged Hezbollah activity.

President Donald Trump publicly called on both countries to stop fighting and said they should “immediately stop shooting.” He stated that the United States is trying to broker a deal to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also said the U.S. could work with Iran to remove and destroy enriched uranium if an agreement is reached. At the same time, he warned of severe military action if diplomacy fails. Trump seemingly has lost control over Israel and Iran overnight and all he can now do is hope they “stop shooting.”

Just last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that the war “was over.” Both sides claimed military successes while reporting limited casualties. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted key Israeli air bases, including Nevatim and Tel Nof. Israeli officials said their forces struck Iranian missile sites and other military targets. Iranian authorities reported no casualties from several of the reported Israeli attacks, while Israeli emergency services said there were no known deaths from the Iranian missile barrages. Here is a video of one of the Iranian ballistic missile launches:

The conflict is beginning to affect regional transportation and global markets. Iranian authorities closed airports across western Iran and suspended operations at major Tehran airports. Oil prices surged sharply as traders reacted to fears of wider instability in the Middle East. Houthi forces in Yemen also claimed missile attacks on Israel and threatened Israeli linked shipping in the Red Sea.

Diplomatic efforts remain active, but tensions are high and mistrust is growing. Iranian officials said they are still exchanging messages with the United States despite deep skepticism about Washington’s role. U.S. officials are monitoring the situation closely, though there has been no direct American military involvement in the latest exchanges. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem instructed government personnel and their families to shelter in place as a precaution.

Trump further claimed this morning that Israel and Iran want a ceasefire. If that’s the case, then there can not be a ceasefire in place currently:

Oil prices jumped more than 4 percent after Israel and Iran exchanged direct military strikes for the first time since their April ceasefire, raising fears that the conflict could expand and threaten energy supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude rose above $97 per barrel while U.S. crude climbed above $94, reflecting investor concerns about regional instability and the possibility that diplomatic efforts are breaking down. President Trump was briefed on the renewed fighting, and both U.S. and Iranian officials signaled that prospects for a negotiated agreement have become more difficult. At the same time, OPEC+ approved another increase in oil production for July, but the additional supply was not enough to offset market concerns about escalating geopolitical risks and potential disruptions to global energy flows.

Trump claims fraud in California:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman are projected to advance to the November runoff election for mayor. With most votes counted, Bass led the field with roughly 35 percent of the vote. Raman followed with about 27 percent, narrowly ahead of Republican reality television personality Spencer Pratt. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent, the race moves to a head to head general election.

Bass is seeking a second term after winning the mayor’s office in 2022. Her administration has faced several major challenges, including devastating wildfires, immigration related protests, and ongoing concerns about homelessness. Critics have questioned aspects of her leadership during these crises. Supporters point to improvements such as a reported decline in street homelessness across Los Angeles. Donald Trump, overnight, claimed fraud after his endorsed candidate, Pratt, lost:

Raman emerged as Bass’s strongest challenger despite entering the race as a city councilmember rather than a citywide officeholder. Polling before the election showed a very competitive contest among Bass, Raman, and Pratt. Raman’s advancement reflects voter interest in an alternative Democratic leadership option. The runoff is expected to focus heavily on the city’s recent performance and future direction.

Republicans, after Pratt’s loss, called for the cutting of federal funds to California:

All other news:

President Trump’s planned attendance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden has sparked frustration among some New York Knicks fans, largely because of the extensive security measures expected to accompany his visit. The team has advised fans to arrive at least two hours early, prompting complaints about long delays and disruptions on what is already a historic night for the franchise’s first home NBA Finals game since 1999. Some fans objected to Trump’s presence on political grounds, while others simply argued that thousands of attendees should not have to alter their plans because a president is attending. Despite the backlash, the game remains one of the biggest sporting events in New York in decades, and Trump’s appearance is likely to draw both cheers and boos from the crowd.

House Republicans are exploring a third major budget reconciliation bill before the August recess as a way to advance additional parts of President Trump’s agenda ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Potential priorities include defense spending, healthcare reforms, energy policy changes, housing initiatives, and efforts to reduce government waste, though lawmakers remain divided over what should be included. The effort faces significant political and procedural hurdles because Republicans hold only a narrow House majority, meaning a handful of defections could derail the legislation. Conservative members are pushing for deeper reforms and spending cuts, while party leaders argue the bill is still achievable if Republicans remain unified and move quickly.

New polling suggests President Trump may be losing support among young women, a group that shifted toward Republicans in 2024 and helped fuel his electoral success. Growing frustration over economic conditions and perceptions that key campaign promises have not been fulfilled appear to be driving the decline. Political strategists are increasingly concerned because young female voters can be influential in competitive suburban and swing districts. If the trend continues, it could become a significant vulnerability for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

A federal lawsuit is seeking to block a planned UFC event on the White House South Lawn that is scheduled for June 14 and coincides with Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and celebrations for the United States’ 250th anniversary. The plaintiffs argue that the administration improperly authorized the event because National Park Service rules prohibit sporting events on federal parkland, Congress did not approve certain temporary structures, and no environmental review was conducted before construction began. The White House has dismissed the lawsuit as politically motivated and says the event is comparable to other permitted public gatherings held on White House grounds and nearby federal property. Preparations are already underway, including construction of a UFC octagon and seating for thousands of spectators, while organizers have said tens of thousands of additional attendees could watch from the nearby Ellipse

Maine voters are heading into a closely watched Senate primary that is expected to make Democrat Graham Platner the party’s nominee against longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. Democrats view Maine as one of their best opportunities to gain a Senate seat, and Platner has built strong grassroots enthusiasm through a populist message focused on economic inequality, healthcare, and opposition to foreign military spending. However, his campaign has been overshadowed by a series of controversies, including offensive past online posts, questions about a tattoo linked to Nazi imagery, allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women, and reports of abusive conduct that he denies.

Senator Mike Lee voiced his displeasure with Pete Hegseth failing to classify the Church of Latter-day Saints as Christian:

A major development in the Texas Senate race came when attorney Dan Cogdell, who helped defend Ken Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial, endorsed Democratic candidate James Talarico. Cogdell said Paxton has lost sight of serving Texans and argued that Talarico is better positioned to unite Democrats, independents, and Republicans. The endorsement highlights continuing divisions within Texas Republicans following Paxton’s contentious Senate primary victory and could help Talarico appeal to moderate and anti-Paxton voters. Democrats see the race as a potential opportunity, while Republicans remain concerned that Paxton’s legal controversies and political baggage could make the seat more competitive than usual.

A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the southern Philippines near General Santos City, causing widespread destruction and leaving at least 19 people dead, more than 130 injured, and several others missing. Buildings collapsed across the region, including parts of a Jollibee restaurant, a commercial complex, and a high school, while power outages and infrastructure damage complicated rescue efforts. Authorities warned residents to stay out of damaged buildings because of ongoing aftershocks, and tsunami alerts were briefly issued for parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia before the threat largely subsided. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. activated emergency response measures, opened evacuation centers, and suspended classes in affected areas as rescue crews continued searching for survivors.

Six people were injured in a stabbing attack inside New York City’s Penn Station on Sunday evening, and authorities quickly took a suspect into custody. One victim suffered serious injuries, two were moderately injured, and several others sustained minor wounds, with victims transported to local hospitals for treatment. Investigators have not yet released details about a motive or whether the victims were specifically targeted, and the incident remains under investigation by law enforcement. The attack occurred just one day before Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, which sits directly above Penn Station and is expected to draw large crowds, including Donald Trump, though officials have not indicated any changes to planned security arrangements.

Former senior CIA official David Rush is accused of stealing more than $40 million in gold bars and other valuables from the agency, and investigators now allege he also created a fake classified "special access program" to divert millions of dollars in government funds. According to officials, Rush allegedly used the secrecy surrounding the fabricated program to persuade colleagues to transfer money through a fraudulent government contract tied to continuity of government operations. He has also been charged with theft of public funds related to allegedly falsifying his military and educational credentials and improperly claiming about $77,000 in military leave benefits. The case has raised serious questions about oversight, internal controls, and employee vetting within the CIA, particularly because Rush reportedly worked on highly sensitive intelligence programs and held senior positions for nearly two decades.

Global airline leaders are now openly acknowledging that the aviation industry's goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is unlikely to be achieved. The industry's plan depended heavily on the rapid development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but production remains far below targets, with SAF expected to supply less than 1 percent of aviation fuel demand this year despite a goal of 65 percent by 2050. Willie Walsh, head of the airline trade group IATA, blamed governments, fuel producers, aircraft manufacturers, and delays in air traffic system reforms for the shortfall, arguing airlines cannot meet the target on their own. The industry is now calling for a new, more realistic decarbonization timeline, while critics say the admission reinforces long standing concerns that aviation's climate pledges relied on technologies and fuel supplies that were never likely to scale quickly enough.

Good news:

At age 72, Irma Garcia achieved a lifelong goal by earning her bachelor’s degree from George Mason University after decades of balancing work and raising three daughters as a single mother. After moving from Puerto Rico to the Washington, D.C. area in 1978, she completed an associate degree but postponed further education to support her family, eventually returning to school through a program for older adults. Garcia credits her success to perseverance, self confidence, strong family support, and a love of salsa dancing that helped keep her motivated. Her story has inspired many people as a reminder that it is never too late to pursue long held dreams and educational goals.

A personalized mRNA cancer vaccine called intismeran, when combined with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda, reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49 percent and reduced the risk of cancer spreading by 59 percent in a five year follow up study. Nearly 69 percent of patients receiving the combination remained cancer free after five years, compared with about 49 percent of patients who received immunotherapy alone, while overall survival was 92 percent versus 71 percent. The vaccine is customized for each patient using genetic information from their removed tumor, helping the immune system identify and attack any remaining cancer cells. Researchers view the results as one of the strongest demonstrations yet that personalized mRNA cancer vaccines can improve long term outcomes, and larger phase 3 trials are already underway to confirm the findings and explore use against other cancers.

Hospice staff in London fulfilled a dying woman’s final wish by reuniting her with her long lost brother, whom she had not seen in nearly 15 years. After months of searching, staff discovered that her brother was actually volunteering at one of the hospice charity’s own thrift shops, leading to an emotional reunion. The siblings, both of whom have learning disabilities, had lost contact after changes in his living arrangements following the death of a caregiver. The story highlights how hospice care can focus not only on medical needs but also on helping patients achieve deeply personal goals and reconnect with loved ones during the final stages of life.

Six years after a farmer illegally dredged part of England’s River Lugg, removed riverbed gravel, and cut down dozens of trees along a key salmon habitat, the damaged ecosystem is showing signs of recovery. The farmer was convicted, jailed, fined, and ordered to restore the area after a judge described the destruction as ecological vandalism on an industrial scale. New vegetation, trees, and wildlife are returning to the riverbank, and environmental monitoring has found improving conditions along with the return of several fish and bird species. Conservationists say the recovery demonstrates nature’s resilience when given time and protection, although restoring the full biodiversity of the river ecosystem will likely take many more years.

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Trump ignores protecting elections, New Yorkers demand Trump leaves, Trump blasts National Park, World Cup referee denied entry, and more, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 8, 2026.  The Trump Justice Department appears to be doing little to prepare for or protect the upcoming midterm elections, and I explain in the video why that may not be an accident. Meanwhile, New Yorkers are telling Trump to go home as security measures surrounding the NBA Finals reach levels the city has never seen before.

We also have new developments in the screwworm outbreak, which has now spread into New Mexico and has been detected in a dog. The Trump administration has begun clearing and blasting parts of Big Bend National Park to make way for new border barriers. A World Cup referee has been denied entry into the United States, raising fresh questions about how immigration policies could affect the tournament. Plus, much more.

To everyone who reached out, offered support, and subscribed over the past 24 hours as I deal with these attacks, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Y

On a personal note, today’s keynote address went extremely well. I’ll have footage soon and look forward to sharing it with all of you.

A NOTUS report says the Trump Justice Department has canceled election-crime training, removed key guidance materials, reduced staffing in its election-related units, and has not yet established its traditional Election Day command center ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Former and current officials cited in the article warn that these changes could leave federal prosecutors less prepared to respond to voter intimidation, election-related disinformation, and other threats to election integrity. The DOJ says its priorities remain protecting election integrity, preventing voter fraud, and addressing civil rights violations, while noting that district election officers have already been designated nationwide. The article contrasts the administration’s emphasis on “voter integrity” investigations with the department’s previous approach, which relied on centralized expertise and coordination to ensure consistent, nonpartisan election-law enforcement.

Mike Johnson echoed President Donald Trump in raising doubts about election results in California, despite being unable to point to specific evidence supporting the claims. When asked to substantiate the allegations, Johnson argued that potential wrongdoing could be difficult to prove, saying, “Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it is impossible to prove. But think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced a waiver of dozens of environmental laws to accelerate construction of border barriers, roads, and related infrastructure through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas, a move the Center for Biological Diversity says is unprecedented for a U.S. national park. The waiver clears the way for extensive border projects, including fencing, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors, backed by recent contracts totaling more than $4 billion for construction along the Rio Grande. Conservation advocates argue the projects will damage wildlife habitat, limit river access, disrupt visitors’ experiences, and alter the park’s natural landscape despite historically low migrant apprehensions in the region. The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups are challenging the administration’s actions in court, contending that the government lacks congressional authorization for such sweeping waivers and construction efforts.

The USDA confirmed two additional cases of New World screwworm on Monday—a calf in La Salle County, Texas, and a dog in New Mexico that had traveled from Mexico—bringing the total to five recent detections, including two earlier cases in Zavala County. The parasite’s larvae feed on living tissue after flies lay eggs in wounds, making infestations potentially fatal if untreated. Officials have responded with quarantines, expanded trapping, and large-scale releases of sterile flies, deploying about 8 million weekly in core areas and up to 90 million across broader regions to suppress the pest population. While political leaders debate whether past border and funding decisions contributed to the outbreak, ranchers are concerned about quarantine-related business impacts and are calling for genetic tracing, as the USDA pledges more than $1 billion toward eradication efforts and emphasizes that the food supply remains safe.

Omar Artan, the only referee from Somalia selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was denied entry into the United States after arriving in Miami for the tournament. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said he was found inadmissible following additional screening and cited unspecified “vetting concerns,” though officials did not provide further details. The case highlights tensions between the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies and efforts to welcome participants and visitors for the World Cup, particularly because Somalia is among the countries facing U.S. immigration restrictions. The incident comes as the White House seeks to balance security measures with hosting the largest World Cup in history, with officials emphasizing that all travelers, including athletes and officials, are subject to case-by-case admissibility reviews.

Zohran Mamdani said he will attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden after purchasing a standing-room-only ticket for nearly $1,000, emphasizing that he plans to stand for the entire game. Mamdani’s appearance comes as President Donald Trump is also expected to attend after being invited by Knicks owner James Dolan. Trump will be sitting in a suite.

Ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden, security measures tied to the president’s attendance were so extensive that portions of Midtown Manhattan were effectively locked down, with pedestrian access restricted in key areas.

Trump has built a wall outside of Madison Square Garden: San Antonio Spurs player De’Aaron Fox said the heightened security measures at Madison Square Garden due to the president’s attendance created logistical hassles for players, comparing the screening process to airport security. “I think the president being here just makes it inconvenient for everybody else. ...We’re getting screened like it’s TSA. It’s a little inconvenient for the people that’s got to play, but it is what it is.”

Some New York Knicks fans expressed frustration over President Trump’s attendance at the NBA Finals, arguing that the heightened security disrupted public access to Midtown and prevented some residents from attending planned watch parties. One fan said, “I don’t really think Trump should even be here, to be honest with you. He doesn’t really claim himself as a New Yorker... A lot of people can’t afford to get into the game. I’m one of those people, so I was actually looking forward to going to one of these watch parties. Now, I can’t.”

During anti-World Cup protests in Mexico City, members of the Otomí Indigenous community called for greater social justice and drew attention to political grievances ahead of the tournament. In a symbolic demonstration, a woman was photographed holding a rubber head depicting Donald Trump. The protest linked concerns about inequality, displacement, and government priorities to the international spotlight that the World Cup is expected to bring. The image was captured by Reuters photographer Quetzalli Nicte-Ha.

Iran war update: Iran announced it was suspending military operations against Israel after the two countries exchanged missile attacks that threatened to reignite a broader regional war. The announcement marked the first direct military exchange between the two sides since their ceasefire began in April. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the immediate crisis had been contained but warned that Israel would respond forcefully to any future Iranian attacks. Both governments signaled that further escalation would depend on whether the other side resumed hostilities.

President Trump publicly urged Israel and Iran to stop fighting and claimed both sides were interested in reaching an immediate ceasefire. He also said negotiations were advancing toward a broader agreement that could help end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump described the talks as close to success but acknowledged that unresolved issues remained. U.S. officials emphasized that American forces were not directly involved in the latest exchange of strikes.

The latest flare-up began after Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Iran, prompting Tehran to launch approximately 30 missiles toward Israel. Israeli officials said most of the missiles were intercepted, while Iran portrayed the attack as a successful response to Israeli actions. Israel subsequently carried out strikes on Iranian military and industrial targets, including facilities linked to its missile program. Despite the military exchanges, analysts noted signs that both sides were trying to avoid a return to full-scale war.

The conflict continued to ripple across the region, with Israeli operations in Lebanon, Houthi missile launches from Yemen, and growing international diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation. The European Union imposed new sanctions on elements of Iran’s naval forces over restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Regional governments, including Qatar and Pakistan, called for restraint and supported ongoing mediation efforts. Financial markets reacted sharply, with oil prices initially surging before retreating after Iran announced its pause in military operations.

Other news:

President Donald Trump has become increasingly focused on renovation and beautification projects in Washington, D.C., frequently highlighting them during public appearances and using visual aids to showcase progress. During each of his three public events last week, Trump displayed materials promoting the projects and spent extended periods discussing improvements to the capital. At a White House event on Wednesday, he opened by talking about renovations to the Reflecting Pool and presented a series of posters illustrating the scope of the work. He also called aide Natalie Harp to bring out a poster board comparing the Reflecting Pool’s size to major landmarks, featuring the slogan, “Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers.”

Trump has formally nominated Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general on a permanent basis after appointing him to the acting role following the dismissal of Pam Bondi in April. Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney and later as deputy attorney general under Bondi, has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity for the past several weeks. The nomination makes official Trump’s announcement from last week that Blanche was his choice to lead the department. Blanche must now undergo Senate confirmation before he can serve as attorney general permanently.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing political pressure at home as renewed fighting between Israel and Iran unfolds just months before a closely watched election. Critics and rivals argue he has been constrained by President Donald Trump, who has publicly pushed for restraint and reportedly criticized Netanyahu for continuing military operations in Lebanon. Opposition figures and members of Netanyahu’s own coalition are demanding a stronger response to Iran and Hezbollah, while polls suggest public support for the broader conflict has declined significantly in recent months. Analysts say Netanyahu’s challenge is balancing Israeli demands for military action with maintaining close ties to Trump, though his long record of political survival makes it difficult to predict the ultimate electoral impact.

The Pentagon released a revised list of military faith classifications after criticism that an earlier proposal failed to identify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian denomination. The Defense Department said the original list contained redundant and unnecessary labels and that the issue has now been corrected. Officials said the changes are part of a broader effort to streamline a religious coding system that had expanded to more than 200 categories, reducing it to 30 classifications. The Pentagon emphasized that its role is not to resolve theological disputes but to ensure that service members’ sincerely held religious beliefs are respected and accommodated.

A federal judge blocked President Trump’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee on employers seeking H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the fee amounted to a tax that requires congressional approval. Judge Richard Stearns found that the administration exceeded its authority by implementing the fee through a presidential proclamation rather than legislation. The decision is a major win for states that argued the policy harmed public universities, hospitals, and other institutions that rely on international talent. The ruling adds another legal setback for Trump’s economic agenda and relies in part on recent Supreme Court decisions limiting the president’s ability to impose taxes or similar financial burdens without clear authorization from Congress.

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A government watchdog report found that the IRS was unable to consistently and accurately match taxpayer records with data provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the Trump administration’s effort to identify undocumented immigrants for deportation. The review found that IRS systems failed to properly reject some incomplete records, struggled with inconsistencies in how names and data were formatted, and improperly shared address information in a small percentage of cases. The report also found that ICE had unresolved data-security issues when the agencies entered their information-sharing agreement, though many details remain redacted. The findings add to ongoing legal challenges over the program, which sought taxpayer information on more than 1.2 million people and ultimately produced address matches for roughly 47,000 individuals.

House Republicans are moving to block the Transportation Security Administration’s new $45 ConfirmID fee for travelers who arrive at airports without a REAL ID, passport, or other acceptable identification. Language in the House Homeland Security funding bill would prohibit TSA from charging or collecting the fee, with lawmakers arguing the agency lacks clear statutory authority and noting that identity verification was previously provided at no cost. The legislation would also require TSA to brief Congress on the program, which the agency says helps ensure travelers are properly identified while shifting verification costs from taxpayers to the individuals who need the service. More broadly, the spending bill would cut TSA’s overall discretionary funding, increase investment in screening technology and private-sector screening programs, and significantly reduce funding for the Federal Air Marshal Service.

Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a presidential pardon after being convicted in 2023 on multiple fraud charges tied to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The former crypto executive has spent months publicly praising President Donald Trump and told Fox Business he would “absolutely” welcome a pardon, though he said he has not personally discussed the matter with the White House. Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of orchestrating one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history by misusing customer funds to support affiliated businesses, political influence efforts, and a lavish lifestyle. His pardon request comes after a judge rejected his bid for a new trial, while his conviction remains under appeal and Trump has previously indicated he does not plan to grant clemency.

A 20-year-old employee at a McDonald’s in Yuba City, California, suffered severe burns to his face, neck, arm, and back after a coworker allegedly threw hot cooking oil on him while he was preparing to leave work. Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Jalani Bluett, who was arrested the following day and charged with felony battery causing serious bodily injury, mayhem, and assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, Jacob Smith, remains hospitalized in a burn unit and may require skin grafts as doctors work to limit the extent of his injuries. The restaurant owner said the suspect is no longer employed and that the company’s focus is on supporting Smith during his recovery.

Apple announced a major overhaul of its longtime voice assistant, renaming it Siri AI and adding advanced artificial intelligence capabilities designed to compete more directly with chatbots like OpenAI ChatGPT. The new assistant will be able to draw information from both a user’s device and the web to answer questions, manage tasks, search photos and messages, and create reminders or calendar events. Apple executives said Siri AI will launch later this year on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, initially in English, while availability in the European Union and China will be delayed because of regulatory requirements. The announcement, made at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, represents the company’s most significant upgrade to Siri since it was first introduced more than a decade ago.

More On Trump's Meltdown Against Fact-Checking

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 7, 2026 [President v. Press], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 8, 2026. Meet the Press today aired an interview host Kristen Welker taped yesterday with President Donald J. Trump. It showed Trump losing control and walking out of the interview when Welker challenged his insistence that the 2020 presidential election and the recent California election were rigged.

Weirdly, he kept referring to the U.S. as “your” country when he was speaking to Welker, and to “your” elections. It was almost as if he was a foreign observer offering criticism of the U.S.

As Welker repeatedly pointed out that he has never produced any evidence for his assertions, he got madder and madder, calling the media—NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN—one-sided and crooked. He insisted “there’s more evidence than ever presented.” When she asked again if he had evidence, he said: “All I have to do is look.” When she continued to ask for evidence, he said: “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.”

Finally, he got up, pulled off his mic, and left, telling her: “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you darling. Have a good time.”

One of the things Trump spat at Welker was that “[a] country can never be great with a dishonest press.” With this statement directed at the legacy media, once again, Trump illustrated that he was accusing his opponents of what he, himself, is doing, a classic authoritarian technique to muddy the waters so people stop trying to figure out what is real and cease to believe anything.

Scott Pelley, who was fired last week from 60 Minutes after thirty-seven years as a CBS correspondent, spoke with Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the New York Times in an interview that appeared today. Pelley explained that CBS News director Bari Weiss, appointed after Trump loyalist David Ellison took over the network, asked for changes to a story about the anti-ICE and Border Patrol protests in Minneapolis over the winter.

Hours before airing, he explained, after the story had been approved, Weiss sent an email to Pelley’s boss asking them to make the protesters look more violent and to say that before an officer shot her, Renee Good was driving toward him.

But she wasn’t. Pelley continued: “On the video, you see the officer standing slightly off the front of the car. And you clearly see Ms. Good’s wheels turned completely as far as they will go, away from the officer. But he shoots her in the head, kills her, and says something about her that I can’t repeat in polite company.

“We have gone out of our way in our plan from the very beginning to show the protesters for the responsibility that they had. We had already scrubbed the video archives, looking for those scenes. Somehow that wasn’t enough for Ms. Weiss. The video showed that the officer wasn’t standing in front of the car and she wasn’t driving toward him, but that’s what the president said about that, and that’s the way she wanted it described.”

Pelley said: “There was a thumb on the scale for the president’s version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News.”

In her interview, Welker challenged Trump over more than his election denial. He didn’t appear to like questions about the economy or his war on Iran, either.

Meeting with Trump in Wisconsin, at his team’s request, Welker asked Trump about the economy, noting that “Gas is up. Diesel is up.” Trump answered: “It’s all coming down as soon as the war’s over.” Welker continued: “Seventy percent of farmers say they can’t afford fertilizer.” Trump responded: “The farmers are doing very well.” He added: “All of them support me because there’s nobody been better to farmers.” He continued: “You know I had a great first term. I had the greatest economy ever. And you know what? This one’s blowing it away.”

As for Iran, Trump denied to Welker that he had ever promised to stay out of foreign wars, although Jane C. Timm of NBC News reminded readers that he told Pennsylvania voters in 2024: “I will not send you to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end. I will not send our sons and daughters to go fight for a war in a country that you’ve never heard of. We’re not going to do it. We’re going to bring our troops home, and we’re going to focus on America First.”

In the interview, Trump pushed back on the idea that he needs to settle the Iran crisis quickly despite his promises to end it fast. He compared his Iran adventure, which so far has lasted just over three months, to the Vietnam War at nineteen years, the Korean War, and World War II. Here, too, he used that odd “you,” as if he were looking at the U.S. from outside. He suggested that the loss of thirteen U.S. military personnel in Iran is light compared to the losses of those other wars.

Despite his administration’s insistence that he doesn’t need congressional approval for his war on Iran because it’s not a war, Trump repeatedly referred to it as a war.

Trump also told Welker he hopes to revive the $1.776 billion slush fund his acting attorney general Todd Blanche said was dead.

Trump increasingly looks like a loser, and as he does so, more and more people appear willing to challenge him.

They are following in the footsteps of CNN’s Daniel Dale, who has fact-checked Trump for years now. Dale reported yesterday that a statistic about Black employment Trump cited in a speech in Wisconsin on Friday was so obviously false even Trump questioned it.

“And we’ve also had huge drops in—and I’ll tell you, this is something that’s amazing: African American unemployment is now doing better than it’s ever done,” Trump said. “And I don’t know where that stat came from, but I’ll take it,” he said. “I don’t know where the hell that stat come—but we’ll take it.”

Yesterday, Susan Douglas and Paul Romano, a political organizer and a Vietnam War veteran respectively, represented by the Public Integrity Project, filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Ultimate Fighting Club (UFC) cage fights at the White House on Trump’s birthday, a week from today. Fighters are expected to “conduct the ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs at the Lincoln Memorial, make pre-fight walkouts from the Oval Office, and do combat in a massive structure now under construction just steps from the Executive Residence.”

“This plan is deeply corrupt,” the lawsuit alleges. It is being organized by the UFC, “whose chief executive, Dana White, is a close friend and ally of the President. The President is giving White and his company what none have enjoyed before: unfettered access to the White House and Lincoln Memorial to stage a private, for-profit sports event, with all the promotional and branding opportunities that accompany such access.” One executive recently called the event “the greatest earned-marketing tool of all time.”

The lawsuit notes that “[f]ederal law tightly restricts private use of the national capital’s most sacred monumental spaces” and that Trump and the administration appear to be using the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to relax those rules. But, it notes, the UFC fight is tied to Trump’s 80th birthday rather than the nation’s 250th, and is being organized not by the congressional planning body for the 250th, but by UFC.

The suit lists the many ways in which the UFC fight is a money-making venture for the company and for Trump, including the fact that he bought between $15,000 and $50,000 of stock in the parent company of UFC, TKO Holding Group.

Trump has announced he will attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, forcing street closures and Secret Service perimeters for the event. Today, fans expressed their fury at the news that they would have to arrive at least two hours early and that he was “ruining the vibe” of the New York moment. 

Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Donald Trump has chosen his next enemy, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 8, 2026. At 2:50 PM Friday afternoon, the President of the United States completely lost control on camera.

While being asked questions for an interview released this morning, Donald Trump lost his temper multiple times. For more than 40 minutes, he told lie after lie while his anger became impossible to hide. And when Trump could no longer tolerate being fact-checked and asked for evidence supporting his many false claims, he ripped off his microphone, stood up and stepped on it while leaning into the journalist’s face and continuing to berate her. This was one of the most disastrous interviews of his entire political career. And what happened next confirmed one of my worst fears.

The journalist was Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press, and the interview was taped Friday ahead of Trump’s event at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, inside a barn the White House itself had requested for the setting. He had flown to this swing state to sell the country on the economy and the war. What the country got instead was more than 40 minutes of a man incapable of sitting through a difficult question. A man who could not tolerate having his claims challenged, his statements fact-checked, or being asked to provide evidence for what he was saying.

She started with Iran. As Sunday would mark 100 days since the first strikes. His own Secretary of State had already declared the war concluded. And yet, just this week, Iran had attacked American allies in the region.

So Welker asked a simple, direct question. “Is the United States at war with Iran?” And Trump responded: “Well, they’ve been largely decapitated. And I call it a military exercise because people would rather have it called that. It’s not a big war for us.” That answer may seem strange on its own, but it was one of several moments in the interview where Trump revealed far more than he intended.

He calls it a military exercise because people would rather he call it that. So my question is simple: who are these people who get to decide what the President of the United States is allowed to call his own war? He is supposed to be the one who decides. He is supposed to be the end of the line. The last word. The person the entire structure answers to. And instead, he sat in a barn in Wisconsin and admitted, out loud and on camera, that other people tell him what to call the thing he ordered.

This is the pattern we keep seeing, over and over again, in ways both large and small. He is the face of a movement that is being run from somewhere behind him. No doubt he is still involved. No one is saying he is innocent of any of it. But Friday’s interview reinforced many of my deepest concerns, including that, for better or worse, he is not the one calling the shots.

She pressed him on the blockade, on whether that alone made it a war under international law. And he would not even commit to an answer about his own war: “I don’t consider that a war, but if you want to define it as such, I guess you can.” So she asked him how he defines it. And he said: “I don’t define it at all. I don’t think about it. I just do what I have to do.”

The President of the United States, asked whether his country is at war, says he does not think about it. He just does what he has to do, and other people can call it whatever they like. Then he reached for the line he has been selling for nearly a decade now, the one where whatever deal or plan he is being pressed to explain is always just around the corner. Iran is no different. A deal is supposedly close. Progress is supposedly being made. And yet, in the same breath, he says that if there is no deal, “we’ll do it one way or the other. Either way, we win.”

That is not the language of strength. It is the language of a man who has no idea what he is doing and is hoping nobody in the room is paying close enough attention to notice.

It is the same trick he has been running since the day he came down that escalator ten years ago. Everything is two weeks away. Everything is a concept of a plan. Gas prices come down the moment the war ends. The war ends the moment the deal is signed. The deal is always, always just about to be signed. He has been showing us who he is for ten years. All we have to do is look back. He does not deliver what he promises. He never has.

Then came one of the oddest stretches, the one where he forced himself to look like he cared. He talked about the thirteen Americans who have been killed, and he said it the way someone says what they know they are supposed to say. Thirteen is too many. He does not want to lose anyone. And in nearly the same breath, he insisted our troops are not in any danger. He is trying to walk a line he cannot walk. He wants us to believe he is a tough, detached wartime leader floating above it all, but he also knows a president is supposed to mourn the dead. So he performs both at once and somehow means neither.

When she asked who is even leading Iran now, he answered about the country’s new supreme leader like this: “Younger. I think more rational. Injured. He’s pretty badly injured. So there’s a certain bravery there.”

It was one of the strangest moments of the entire interview. The new leader is Mojtaba Khamenei. And according to Iranian state media, during the strikes Trump himself ordered on February 28, Khamenei lost his father, his mother, his wife, and his son. He was reportedly so badly wounded that our own Defense Secretary later said he was likely disfigured. Yet Trump sat there describing him as rational, brave, and someone he believes he can work with. The disconnect was staggering. This is not some distant political rival or negotiating partner sitting across a conference table. This is a man who, according to those reports, watched his family be wiped out in an attack that Trump himself authorized and survived with severe injuries. Whether Trump fully understands that reality or not, it is the reality.

And that gets to something that surfaced again and again throughout this interview. Trump talks about war as though it exists on paper. As though it is a negotiation, a headline, a television segment, or a talking point that can be reshaped whenever it becomes inconvenient. But wars create consequences. They create enemies. They create grief. They create people who spend the rest of their lives carrying the scars of decisions made by powerful men thousands of miles away. Throughout the interview, he seemed detached from that reality. He spoke about events he helped set in motion as though they were happening somewhere outside of him, disconnected from his choices and responsibility. It was another reminder that one of Trump’s defining traits has always been his inability to reckon with the consequences of his own actions. He moves on to the next promise, the next grievance, the next performance.

She kept pressing, because that is her job. She reminded him that he has been saying for months that Iran is desperate to make a deal, and she asked the obvious question: if they are so desperate, why have they not made one? And that was when you could see the interview begin to turn. His answers grew shorter. His irritation became harder to hide. His face flushed. Every so often, he glanced away from the cameras, as if he was looking for reassurance, direction, or a way out of the conversation. Then he would turn back and keep talking, trying to regain control of the exchange. It was a remarkable thing to watch because the question itself was not unfair, hostile, or complicated. It was the natural follow-up to a claim he has been making for months. But that is often the problem for Trump. He knew the truth was about to catch up to him with a camera rolling.

For her part, Kristen Welker was extraordinary. She showed us why journalism is so important, and why it is not just about the questions themselves. It is about the delivery, the patience, the steadiness, and the basic humanity required to sit across from someone like this and refuse to let go of the truth. She walked into that interview knowing she was not going to get the truth the way most of us think about it. She was going to get the truth the way Donald Trump tells it, which is to say she was going to get him, on the record, being exactly who he is. Her job was to keep him talking, to keep pressing, and to keep asking the questions that millions of Americans would ask if they had the chance. She did it brilliantly. Without journalists like her, we lose our ability to hold power accountable. It is the reason a free press is written into the First Amendment alongside the freedoms to speak, worship, and assemble. The founders understood something we are in danger of forgetting: if no one is allowed to question those in power, freedom becomes little more than a slogan. That protection appears at the very beginning of the Bill of Rights for a reason.

Thank you to those of you who support this work with a paid membership. Your $5 a month is what allows me to keep writing every day and, just as importantly, to keep these posts free and accessible to everyone. Those who can pay are the reason those who can’t still have access. And right now, with so much at stake heading into the midterms, that matters more than ever. If you’re in a position to join, I’d be grateful to have you with us.Subscribed

She asked him how long he is willing to give Iran. He would not answer that either. He just kept reaching for comparisons that do not hold, telling her, “you were in Vietnam for 19 years, and you’re telling me about three months.” He is desperate to measure this against wars that lasted decades so that his looks brief and brilliant, and he does not want anyone doing the simple work of noticing that the comparison makes no sense. He does not want to admit what this actually was. Because the whole thing was a distraction. This was the war he thought would turn him into a wartime president, the one who saved the world from a nuclear weapon. And it did not work, because the truth came out, and the truth was never what he said it was. He is the one who tore up the agreement that was actually working. This is on him. All of it.

Then she pulled the camera back to the big picture, and asked the question that began the unraveling. She reminded him that one of his most consistent promises, going all the way back to 2015, was no new wars, and she asked him directly whether he had broken that promise. He said: “No.”

And here is the thing. Earlier in the very same conversation, he had counted the dead and said the number “includes two wars. That’s Venezuela, and that’s Iran.” He named them himself. Two wars. Out of his own mouth. And now, asked if he broke his promise of no new wars, he says no. “First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

She told him, correctly, that he had said it over and over. And this is where he started to lose himself, because the anger was rising and he does not handle being pushed back. He does not want a journalist. He wants someone who will go in there and flatter him, tell him whatever he wants to hear, walk him gently through the questions, and lead him when he cannot get there on his own. He did not have that on Friday, and it showed. He told her: “I know you, you’re a big liberal, a big progressive.” “No,” she said. “I’m just a journalist.”

This is exactly how he wants all of us to think about the press. She asks him questions, so she must be the enemy. She must be a partisan. She cannot simply be a reporter doing her job, because in his world there is no such thing. And then he went off on the country itself, insisting we were finished before he arrived. “We were a dead country,” he said. “A year ago, couple of years ago, we were a dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.” He used it to justify the war, to justify everything, and then he added: “So when you say I promised, I didn’t promise anything.”

And then he became even more agitated and reached for what may have been the ugliest moment of the entire interview, a threat disguised as a warning about Iran: “There will be no Kristen. There will be no NBC. There will be no Meet the Press. You will end the Meet the Press string.”

By this point, he was visibly angry. His frustration was no longer something he was trying very hard to hide. She tried to move him to the economy, to the seventy percent of farmers who say they cannot afford fertilizer, and he cut her off and snapped: “Are you ready? Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions, and you don’t listen to the answers.” He insisted the farmers are doing great, that they all love him. It was just more spin, and performance, and not one real answer for the people he claims adore him.

Then she asked about the weaponization fund, the one his own people have said is effectively dead, and whether he was backing away from it. He would not answer directly. Instead, he did what he always does when cornered: he made himself the victim. Within moments he was defending the January 6 attackers, arguing they should be compensated, blaming crooked cops, dirty cops, maybe the FBI, and eventually circling back to his old obsession with James Comey. Welker kept reminding him there was no evidence for what he was claiming. He did not care. He insisted the rioters were “being ushered into the building,” describing an attack that millions of us watched unfold in real time, wondering whether the country would survive the day. “Try looking at the tapes one time,” he told her. We have looked at the tapes. We watched the windows shatter, the officers attacked, and lawmakers flee for safety. And as the interview went on, one thing became impossible to miss: every time Welker mentioned evidence, he grew angrier. Facts were not something he was engaging with. They were something he was trying to overpower.

And that is what finally broke him, because she kept saying it, calmly, accurately. There is no evidence. It has not been presented in a court of law. And that is when he detonated, and arrived at the one thing he cannot survive being questioned about, which is elections. “The election was rigged,” he said. “It was a dirty election. And it’s happening again right now in California.”

She told him he had never presented evidence that 2020 was rigged. She asked where the evidence was. “It’s four days,” he said. She pointed out that Republicans are actually doing well in California. “No they’re not,” he said. “They’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election.” She told him that is simply how California counts its votes. “Do you know why they’re doing that?” he said. “Because they’re cheating on the election.” She asked him, directly, if he had any evidence to support that. And his entire answer, the whole of it, was this: “All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look.”

She said, again, that is not evidence. And then he turned the whole thing on her. “They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked.” She said, evenly, “To be fair, I’m not crooked. But let’s continue.” And he said, “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.” She said, again, “Let’s continue.” He told her, “You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged. Do you know that I won an election in a landslide and I got 94% bad press.” He told her she had no credibility. He said, “We’re like a third world country.” And then, finally:

“Your elections are crooked and you’re crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

She did not give up, even then. “Mr. President, let’s, please, I traveled all the way to Wisconsin,” she said. He was unmoved. “I sat in the rain with you for an hour,” he told her. “On and off in the rain, and I’ve given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press, because you know what?” And then he left her, and left the country, with this: “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.”

I want to be very clear about that last line, because it is the hinge of the whole interview. It was not just something he said on his way out. It was the point. He could not answer the questions, so he attacked the person asking them. He could not prove what he was saying, so he blamed the press for pointing that out. Over and over again, that is where he went. The problem was never his lie. The problem was the person who would not let him get away with it.

And that is the part that confirmed one of my worst fears. Because he is not just saying this in interviews anymore. He is not just angry in front of cameras. He is using the power of the presidency to act on it. The words matter because they show us what he believes. And what he believes is that any press that challenges him is dishonest, and any person who fact-checks him is the enemy. The clearest example may be what the White House is doing. They now have an expanded section on their official website called Media Offenders with a rotating Media Offender of the Week and an Offender Hall of Shame. There is even a form inviting the public to report journalists, and an email list supporters can join to receive alerts about the next ones. The government even has categories such as “Conspiracy Theories” and “Left-Wing Lunacy.”

And what struck me was how familiar that language sounded. In the very same interview, Trump used nearly identical language himself, calling the people who investigated him “radical left lunatics.” And that is why I keep coming back to the same concern. The interview was not simply a man losing his temper because a journalist would not stop asking questions. It was a glimpse into how this administration sees criticism itself. Not as something to answer or to debate. But as something to discredit, isolate, and eventually silence. The anger we watched in that barn was not separate from what is happening elsewhere.

And they are not just coming for the mainstream media. They now have a category called Leftist Influencers, and the names on it are independent voices. David Pakman. Ed Krassenstein. Brian Tyler Cohen. These are not networks with billion-dollar parent companies. These are people, individuals, reader-supported, sitting where I sit, doing what I do every night. The government of the United States has put their names on a public website and pointed at them. There is no charge or trial. There is no law attached to any of it. The only purpose of putting a private citizen’s name on a government enemies list is to mark them, and to tell the people who take their cues from this administration exactly who is fair game.

We know where this is heading. It never stops at the first target. That is the one lesson history refuses to stop teaching us. They start with the people who are easiest to isolate, the loudest critics. And once that is tolerated, once the country shrugs and scrolls past, the list grows. It always grows. The press becomes the enemy, then the professors, then the judges who rule the wrong way, then the election officials who count the votes honestly, then anyone who says a single word out of line. You do not have to write a post like this every night to end up on the wrong side of a government that has decided dissent is a crime. You do not have to do anything at all. Eventually the circle widens until it reaches the people who were sure it never would, the ones who kept their heads down and assumed silence would keep them safe. It will not. It never has. These movements do not stop until they have total control, and they do not get there by coming for everyone at once. They get there by coming for us one group at a time, while the rest of us convince ourselves it is not our turn yet.

So what do we do? We do the thing he is most afraid of, which is refuse to be isolated. The whole point of an enemies list is to make each name on it feel alone, to make the rest of us decide it is safer to look away. So we do the opposite of what he wants. We get louder. When he attacks a journalist for doing her job, that is our call to support her, to tell her network, her producers, and her advertisers that this is the work we want. And when he hands us a list of the voices he wants silenced, he hands us, without meaning to, a list of the people worth paying attention to. When we see a name on that list, we support it if we are able. Because money and attention are the only two things this movement truly understands, and both are still in our hands. There are far more of us than there are of them, and the moment we stop letting them pick people off one at a time is the moment this strategy starts to fail.

That is also why I keep this work free and reader-funded, and why I am so grateful to those of you whose paid subscriptions make it possible. You are the reason I can be here every night writing these posts and reaching people who may not hear this perspective anywhere else. But tonight I am asking you to think beyond my voice. Think about the journalists, independent publications, local newspapers, writers, and creators who are still doing the difficult work of telling the truth. If you already support this work, thank you. Truly. But if you are able, consider supporting some of the other voices doing this work as well, especially the ones being singled out and targeted. A free press survives because ordinary people decide it matters enough to sustain. That has always been true. It is true now. And it is going to matter even more in the months ahead.

We are in the fight of our lives for our country. The next five months are going to test us. There will be days when it feels overwhelming. There will be days when the headlines make it seem like the people abusing power are winning. But if we are paying attention, there are signs almost every day that the American people are not giving up.

Just a few hours ago in Los Angeles, news outlets reported that Spencer Pratt will not be on the ballot for mayor in November. Enough people looked past the noise, recognized him for what he was offering, and said no to putting another gravely unqualified politician in government. It was one election in one city, but it was also a reminder that we are not powerless. We still have choices. We still have a voice. And when enough of us use it, we can still change the outcome. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

More On U.S. Law, Corruption, Crime, Immigration, Rights, Justice

 

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

New York Times, How the Drive to Find a Conspiracy Against Trump Rocked the Justice Dept., Devlin Barrett (covering the Justice Department and the F.B.I., with this article is drawn from reporting in his forthcoming book, “The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice).” June 8, 2026. The push to investigate what the president’s allies saw as a “deep state” cabal intent on taking him down set off cascading crises, ended careers and undercut the department’s credibility with judges.

It was an investigation long sought by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and it was announced not in court papers, but through a haze of cigar smoke on Joe Rogan’s podcast in early June of last year.

Mr. Patel’s prized criminal inquiry, known as “the grand conspiracy case,” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him, going back to the examination of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and extending into events surrounding the 2020 election and the criminal prosecutions of Mr. Trump in 2023 and 2024. In the view of Mr. Trump and his supporters, there was a “deep state” cabal that had sought across multiple administrations and agencies to bring him down.

Mr. Patel told Mr. Rogan he had found a secret room of evidence inside F.B.I. headquarters confirming his long-held suspicions.

“You know how I caught these guys?” Mr. Patel asked. “Because these guys were so arrogant, they would write everything down, and I found the documents.”

To Mr. Patel, those documents, found in government burn bags — large brown paper bags with red and white stripes used to store papers designated for destruction — justified a sweeping investigation of former officials.

To the former officials and the career investigators who looked at the evidence, the papers in the burn bags were nothing like a smoking gun. The administration’s efforts to find prosecutors willing to pursue such theories became a defining feature of the Trump administration’s politicization of the Justice Department — and the internal resistance to it.

New details of how that period unfolded show how Mr. Patel’s drive to target critics of the president set off cascading crises with U.S. attorneys’ offices, derailed distinguished careers and undercut the Justice Department’s credibility with judges. This account is based on interviews with multiple people with knowledge of the effort, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

(Excerpt continued from above)

Asked for comment on this account and the roles of Mr. Patel and other officials, a Justice Department spokeswoman, Emily Covington, said the department “enforces federal law fairly, consistently and without regard to politics,” adding that all investigative and prosecutorial decisions “are grounded in evidence and the law.”

On July 14, barely a month after Mr. Patel told millions of podcast listeners about a supposed vault of dirty secrets, Todd Gilbert became the interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

Hours after he was sworn in, Mr. Gilbert got a phone call from Mr. Patel that would wreck his new job. On his first day, when most employees are still getting their work email set up, the new U.S. attorney was told by Mr. Patel to pursue the grand conspiracy.

Mr. Patel instructed him to investigate how classified documents had been placed inside the burn bags found inside Room 9582 of F.B.I. headquarters.

Some of the documents related to events from 2016 and 2017 that Mr. Patel wanted examined, specifically the actions of James B. Comey, who was the F.B.I. director at the time, and John O. Brennan, who had been the C.I.A. director. Mr. Patel wanted both men investigated for lying to Congress and suggested that the documents supported charging them.

His call to Mr. Gilbert was unusual. F.B.I. directors do not typically assign U.S. attorneys to open cases. Such a directive, particularly for high-profile investigations, would normally come from Justice Department headquarters. And investigations that involved purported lies to Congress were assigned to prosecutors in Washington, not in Roanoke, Va. It was also strange to give such a weighty assignment to a U.S. attorney with little authority to question orders because he was still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

But the administration had good reason to think of Mr. Gilbert as a loyal and willing hunter. A lifelong Republican with strong ties to Virginia’s G.O.P. leaders, he had given up a powerful position in the state legislature to become the U.S. attorney.

The premise of the “grand conspiracy” was that Mr. Comey and his allies had concocted the F.B.I.’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential contest to damage Mr. Trump, and that conspiracy extended into the 2020 election and the 2022 appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate him.

To Mr. Patel, the case consolidated years of his complaints and accusations about Democrats and national security officials.

To many career Justice Department veterans, the case looked more like Frankenstein’s monster — a motley assortment of long-dead investigations that were now supposed to be stitched together and brought to life.

From the start, F.B.I. leadership wanted near-daily updates on the case — a level of attention usually reserved for national crises. The Virginia prosecutors were confused why the case received so much interest from Mr. Patel and so little from their actual boss, the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who had been Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer.

Mr. Gilbert tried repeatedly to get advice and instruction from Mr. Blanche, even driving to Washington unannounced to try to speak to him. Instead, one of Mr. Blanche’s deputies, Aakash Singh, urged Mr. Gilbert to pursue the case aggressively. But Mr. Singh did not address many of Mr. Gilbert’s legal and factual questions. One senior Justice Department official said Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Blanche eventually did speak about the case.

Mr. Gilbert’s team decided that the law gave his office jurisdiction over only one of the issues Mr. Patel had directed him to investigate — whether the documents in the burn bags had been mishandled as part of a criminal scheme to hide them.

The other two prongs he was assigned — whether Mr. Comey had lied in congressional testimony in 2020 about leaks and Russia-related intelligence, and whether Mr. Brennan had lied to Congress about a 2017 intelligence assessment of Russian election interference that referenced a dossier compiled by a former British spy — had no legitimate venue in western Virginia, they concluded.

Mr. Gilbert angered the administration by resisting pressure to impanel a grand jury to investigate the burn bag case, since he and his team did not believe there was yet a sufficient factual basis for that step.

A related disagreement over personnel assignments in his office also hurt his standing. In mid-August, Sergio Gor, a powerful White House official, called Glenn Youngkin, then Virginia’s Republican governor, and told him that Mr. Gilbert was going to be fired and that the governor should not try to stop it.

Mr. Gilbert lasted just 37 days as a U.S. attorney. After his departure, prosecutors in his office wrote a lengthy legal analysis, called a declination memo, detailing why no criminal charges were warranted in the burn bag case. The senior F.B.I. agent on the investigation endorsed the memo’s conclusions.

At that point, a number of current and former law enforcement officials concluded that the administration had embarked on a new kind of fishing expedition — not for dirt on the people they did not like, but to find a prosecutor willing to file charges based on the threadbare evidence they already had.

Resistance by officials in western Virginia did not stop the pressure campaign from senior administration officials. Instead, that pressure simply migrated across the state, to the federal prosecutor’s office in Alexandria, Va.

Mr. Trump’s pick to lead that office, Erik Siebert, was an experienced lawman, and unlike Mr. Gilbert, he had allies among the Justice Department’s leaders. Mr. Siebert’s law enforcement career began as a D.C. police officer, and he heartily embraced Mr. Trump’s agenda.

But in the summer of 2025, Mr. Siebert suddenly found himself on thin ice, having inherited not just the Comey case but a separate investigation of Letitia James, the New York attorney general who successfully sued Mr. Trump over his business accounting. Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had made a criminal referral to the Justice Department against Ms. James in April 2025, accusing her of having falsified information in mortgage paperwork to get a more favorable interest rate.

Mr. Pulte leveled a similar allegation against Senator Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who while in the House had led impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump. Mr. Pulte suggested that Mr. Schiff had claimed two different places as his primary residence.

In July, Mr. Blanche summoned F.B.I. agents, Virginia prosecutors and senior F.H.F.A. officials to a meeting at the Justice Department to talk about the James investigation. The meeting began with a detailed presentation from F.B.I. agents, emphasizing the lack of evidence of criminality surrounding Ms. James’s mortgages.

Then Mr. Blanche declared that the evidence simply did not support a criminal case against Ms. James for either property. When Mr. Pulte’s aides tried to argue or interject, Mr. Blanche shot them down.

The agents and prosecutors on the case were encouraged to see the deputy attorney general back them up. Their optimism, however, was short-lived. Within days of the meeting, law enforcement officials were told that the White House still wanted to see Ms. James charged. (One senior Justice Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly disputed that characterization of the meeting as “inaccurate and oversimplified,” saying that investigators still wanted to pursue the case against Ms. James.)

The administration was not giving up on the Comey investigation either. Mr. Siebert had been handed the case in mid-August, after the federal prosecutors in western Virginia successfully argued that they did not have jurisdiction. It was the second time in months that Mr. Siebert and his team were pressured by superiors to investigate Mr. Comey.

 

Seashells photographed by former FBI Director James Comey while walking on a North Carolina beach during a vacation, leading to Comey's federal indictment by unscrupulous federal prosecutors that his posting on a social media site a photo of the seashells constituted a felony death threat against President Trump.

Seashells photographed by former FBI Director James Comey while walking on a North Carolina beach during a vacation, leading to Comey's federal indictment by unscrupulous federal prosecutors that his posting on a social media site a photo of the seashells constituted a felony death threat against President Trump

Emptywheel, Analysis: NYT Details Todd Blanche’s Personal Involvement in 8647ing Jim Comey, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 8, 2026. Devlin Barrett has a long story on the effort to prosecute Trump’s enemies (primarily the efforts in VA).

The outlines have been told before, including by him: Kash Patel made a big stink about documents in burn bags, he tried to get the WDVA US Attorney to turn it into a crime, then tried to get the EDVA US Attorney to turn it into a crime, Comey was charged for a small portion of that (allegedly lying to Congress), which case fell apart, only for Comey to be charged for posting 8647 on Instagram in EDNC.

What this story adds are a number of details that will make everything more difficult for DOJ: sustaining the 8647 case against Comey, bringing a grand conspiracy case against John Brennan and Comey in Florida, getting Bill Pulte into the Acting Director of National Intelligence role, or confirming Todd Blanche as Attorney General (whose nomination Trump sent to the Senate today).

For example, the story reveals that Blanche was convinced the mortgage case against Tish James sent over by Pulte had no merit.

DOJ charged it anyway.

In July, Mr. Blanche summoned F.B.I. agents, Virginia prosecutors and senior F.H.F.A. officials to a meeting at the Justice Department to talk about the James investigation. The meeting began with a detailed presentation from F.B.I. agents, emphasizing the lack of evidence of criminality surrounding Ms. James’s mortgages.

Then Mr. Blanche declared that the evidence simply did not support a criminal case against Ms. James for either property. When Mr. Pulte’s aides tried to argue or interject, Mr. Blanche shot them down.

The agents and prosecutors on the case were encouraged to see the deputy attorney general back them up. Their optimism, however, was short-lived. Within days of the meeting, law enforcement officials were told that the White House still wanted to see Ms. James charged.

This adds to the evidence that Pulte is framing Trump’s political adversaries with garbage.

It reveals that Blanche’s office pushed the Secret Service to investigate the 8647 post in VA.

The Secret Service refused.

The morning after Mr. Comey’s post, Mr. Blanche’s deputies told prosecutors in Mr. Siebert’s office to investigate the seashells. Secret Service agents tracked Mr. Comey and his wife as they traveled from the North Carolina seashore to their home in Virginia — a level of surveillance that some agents said they felt was overkill.

Mr. Comey quickly agreed to sit down with Secret Service agents for an interview, and he insisted again that he had no intention whatsoever of threatening Mr. Trump. Given Mr. Comey’s cooperation and statements, Secret Service investigators concluded there was no point in opening a full investigation.

Mr. Blanche’s deputies disagreed and pressed both the Secret Service and the F.B.I. to pursue the case. The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security and therefore did not report to Mr. Blanche. Their agents refused to pursue the case, a decision that made it easier for the F.B.I. and prosecutors in Virginia also to say no.

It identifies exculpatory information that Comey can now insist he gets in discovery.

The last paragraph describes EDNC charging the 8647 case Secret Service had declined to pursue in VA.

In April, prosecutors in North Carolina indicted Mr. Comey over the “86 47” photo. Mr. Blanche, by then the acting attorney general, declared the seashell charges were the product of work by career agents and prosecutors. He never mentioned that other career prosecutors and agents had previously rejected the case.

Blanche’s personal involvement in both the EDVA and EDNC attempt to criminalize sea shells will presumably be a topic of Blanche’s confirmation process, potentially leavened by disclosures in Comey’s case.

The sources for this story must be all lawyer or lawyer-adjacent people (two people whose names are conspicuously absent are the WDNC AUSAs who presided over the collapse of the EDVA case and reportedly were part of the EDNC sea shell case but then left for private practice, Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz). They have to know that the disclosures in this story will broaden the scope of Comey’s inevitable vindictive prosecution claim.

Comey’s deadline for pretrial motions is July 28, leaving plenty of time for Comey to work these disclosures into those filings. And if that motion is successful, then we may learn far more about the all out effort to do Trump’s bidding.

aakash singh dojRaw Story, 'These may be criminal acts': Controversial DOJ official implicated in tainted case, Travis Gettys, June 8, 2026. Six protesters — most with connections to local Democratic politics — were charged following a September protest outside a suburban immigration detention facility in Broadview.

raw story logo squareProsecutors alleged the group damaged a federal agent's vehicle during the demonstration, but the case collapsed last month after U.S. District Judge April Perry uncovered what she described as apparent prosecutorial misconduct during grand jury proceedings.

She found that transcripts submitted to her by federal prosecutors had been altered to conceal what had actually taken place, and the U.S. attorney's office subsequently dropped all charges.

Defense attorneys are now seeking records of any communications between Aakash Singh, shown above, and the Chicago office related to their clients' case, including cell phone records. Boutros's office has previously stated that no communications with outside parties influenced investigative or charging decisions in the case.

Justice Department log circularSingh has faced scrutiny in at least one other federal court related to the human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was charged criminally after he successfully challenged his removal from the United States to El Salvador.

A judge in Tennessee last month dismissed that indictment on selective prosecution grounds, citing Singh's role in pressuring a prosecutor and calling a politically sensitive case a "priority."

A Justice Department spokesperson said Singh's role coordinating with U.S. attorney's offices is standard across administrations and that charging decisions are made by career prosecutors consistent with the law.

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Blanche → Epstein, William Kristol, right, June 8, 2026. There are many, many Republican lawyers in America. Many, sadly, are also pro-Trump. But it is Todd Blanche who has been selected by the president to be attorney general of the United States. He has this distinction: He is the prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.

As former Attorney General Pam Bondi told the House Oversight Committee recently, it was Blanche who, as deputy attorney general, “supervised [the] entire process” of dealing with the Epstein files. “He was leading the Epstein matter and the release of bulwark logo big shipeverything from the beginning,” she testified. Blanche has also been the most visible public defender of the coverup, and of the decision not to investigate or prosecute anyone else for crimes.

Blanche stepped boldly into the Epstein spotlight on July 24, 2025, when he traveled to Florida to interview convicted Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. The meeting was initiated by Maxwell, and she received limited immunity via a proffer agreement.

But Maxwell didn’t use her immunity as an opportunity to be more forthcoming than she’d been previously about anything to do with Epstein. As every sentient observer familiar with the Epstein case agreed, she simply continued to stonewall and lie. But Blanche wasn’t sure. He told CNN a couple months later that deciding if Maxwell was a “credible” witness is “an impossible question to answer.”

Really?

In any case, Blanche explained, “The point of the interview was not for me to pressure test every single answer she gave.”

Why not?

Because “the point of the interview was to allow her to speak, which nobody had done before.”

This was laughable. But the real point of the interview became clear a few days later, when Maxwell was moved, contrary to Bureau of Prison guidelines for sex offenders, to a comfortable minimum-security prison.

The point of both the interview and the move was to encourage Maxwell not to talk about Donald Trump—and to hold out the prospect of even more favorable treatment in the future. Since the interview, Trump has continued to refuse to rule out the possibility of a pardon or commutation for Maxwell.

If you’re not a Bulwark+ member, you’re missing out on being part of the best pro-democracy community on the internet. Join us. We’d love to have you.Subscribed

Since then, Blanche has been assertively pushing back against widespread public unhappiness with the botched and selective release of the Epstein files. For example, in early February 2026, Blanche had this exchange with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham:

Ingraham: Is there any chance that any of these individuals who partied with Epstein and engaged in relations with minors will be prosecuted? Any chance?

Blanche: I’ll never say no, and we will always investigate any evidence of misconduct, but as you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein. And some of these men may have done horrible things, and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will. But it’s also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.

“It isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” But “Mr. Epstein” (it’s kind of striking that Blanche added the honorific) pled guilty in 2008, and then was indicted again in 2019, for horrible crimes arranged or committed or celebrated at some of those parties. The Justice Department could now be following up on the testimony of scores of survivors to finally, properly investigate those crimes and their perpetrators. But Blanche’s Justice Department hasn’t even pretended to be seeking further evidence. Blanche’s DOJ has no interest at all in investigating or prosecuting the men who have done truly horrible things. After all, “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”

Trump rewarded Blanche for arranging and managing the Epstein coverup. First he made Blanche acting Attorney General. Now he wants to place him in that post outright. And that requires Senate confirmation.

Which means the Senate will debate and vote. Last November, thanks to a discharge petition, and over the opposition of the Trump administration and Republican leadership, Congress was forced to engage on the Epstein matter. Opposition to legislation requiring the release of the Epstein files collapsed when the issue emerged into broad daylight, and Congress voted almost unanimously to order the Justice Department to release the files. At the time, everyone from both parties could look as if they were in favor of the truth coming out.

But now we’ve had only a partial release of those documents and no follow-up investigations. Trump has gone out of his way to punish Republican critics of his administration’s Epstein coverup. Republicans have been happy to avoid further engaging on the issue.

But thanks to Trump’s nomination of Blanche, there is a chance to force a real public debate, with real Senate votes, on the Epstein coverup.

That is not what Blanche wants. In early April, shortly after becoming acting attorney general, Blanche told Fox News, “And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.”

But the Epstein coverup should be part, a key part, of one thing going forward: It should be a key part of the upcoming debate on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general. The Blanche confirmation fight can bring the Epstein coverup back into the spotlight this summer. His nomination can be turned into a referendum on the coverup by the Trump administration, and by the entire political class, of Epstein and his co-conspirators and clients.

The vote on Blanche can become, it should become, a vote on Epstein.

The Contrarian, Opinion: How to Kill the Blanche Nomination, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 8, 2026. Democrats must focus on the most powerful issue.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly proved herself to be the most legally ignorant, dishonest, and ethically challenged person ever to head the Justice Department. However, if her former deputy and now-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is nominated and confirmed for the permanent job, she by comparison would seem like one of giants who have held the post (e.g., Robert H. Jackson, Edward H. Levi).

Blanche, whom Donald Trump said last week he would nominate for attorney general, has presided over the shoddiest lawyering in the history of the DOJ, which has earned unprecedented denunciations of federal judges (for, among other things, defying court orders and making material misrepresentations to courts), Blanche has been the tip of the spear in Donald Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department and government-wide corruption operation. (White House photo)

contrarian logoMaking clear his first loyalty is to Trump (“I love you, Sir”), not to the Constitution, Blanche has been at the wheel of vindictive prosecutions against Trump enemies, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, former FBI Director James Comey (in the infamous seashell case), journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort (a First Amendment travesty), and the civil rights legacy organization the Southern Poverty Law Center. He has been instrumental in turning the DOJ into a discredited, weaponized operation that has lost thousands of dedicated lawyers disgusted with the Trump regime.

Although directed to recuse himself from cases in which he represented Trump as a private citizen, he has continued to pursue Trump’s conspiracy-based inquests and investigations. He defended pardons of the violent January 6 felons and then authored the widely denounced (and, for now, discarded) slush-fund-for-secessionists. That deal, coupled with the legally suspect waiver of Trump’s tax liability, gives him the distinction of crafting the most corrupt scheme in presidential history.

However, far and away the single most compelling reason — and potentially the most politically damaging — for denying him the job came from Bondi herself. Blanche’s central role in the Epstein files coverup, which Bondi confirmed, should make his nomination a nonstarter.

Certainly, there are innumerable reasons for denying the job of heading the Justice Department to someone so obviously lacking independent judgment and respect for the rule of law and who is devoid of credibility, but if there is a single issue that should galvanize Republicans, Democrats, and independents — and pose a lethal threat to Republicans’ control of the Senate — it would be Trump’s demand that Republicans link arms with the Epstein coverup architect.

In her interview with the House Oversight Committee, Bondi struck a blow from which Blanche’s nomination should never recover. CNN, relying on the transcript of her interview, reported, “Bondi sought to distance herself from how her department handled the Epstein files as the Trump administration continues to deal with the political fallout.” Bondi threw Blanche under the bus, testifying, “He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files.” Bondi made clear that the decision to withhold 3 million files required by law to be released was not hers.

Blanche also made the bizarre trip to visit Epstein accomplice and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who then was transferred to cushier surroundings (a move Blanche defended). Why would the No. 2 man at DOJ talk to her when the potential for incriminating testimony (in exchange for a pardon) was all too real?

Again, the Maxwell encounter was not Bondi’s handiwork. The Guardian reported, “During Bondi’s testimony last week, she also told lawmakers that she learned of the controversial prison transfer of Maxwell through news reports ‘after it happened,’ claiming: ‘I had nothing to do with that.’” Does anyone think Blanche was also in the dark?Subscribed

The Epstein coverup, of which Blanche is the chief orchestrator, has revealed the moral and legal rot at the core of the Trump regime in a way no other scandal, lawless escapade, or assault on constitutional norms has. In direct violation of the law, Blanche refused to release all documents. At least according to Bondi, he is also responsible for the egregious errors and violations of victims’ privacy in failing to make appropriate redactions. Nothing better epitomizes the abuse of power on behalf of Trump and the creation of a two-tiered system of justice than Blanche’s Epstein handiwork.

It’s not simply the magnitude of the Epstein debacle that should push it to the top of the reasons to block Blanche’s nomination. The Epstein scandal was the first and remains the hottest flashpoint between Trump and his Republican base and thereby offers the most promise for peeling off Republican support for Blanche. In effect, Trump is asking the Senate to give a stamp of approval to the man who defied their own legislative directive to release all the files.

The Epstein coverup is the first serious breach with Senate and House Republicans; the first time Trump was unable to fend off a politically harmful vote (on the Epstein Files Transparency Act). Asking the Senate to confirm Blanche would amount to a demand the Senate affirm and continue the corrupt coverup at the expense of Epstein’s victims and any semblance of the rule of law.

Asking senators to ignore Blanche’s violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his dissembling about Maxwell, and his arrogant refusal to respond to Congress’s legitimate concerns and reward Blanche with the top law enforcement job should be a complete dealbreaker.

For Republican senators up for re-election (Maine’s Susan Collins, Ohio’s Jon Husted, Alaska’s Dan Sullivan) as well as newly unmuzzled Republicans (John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana) and Republicans most resistant to demands to fall in line behind the MAGA cult (Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska), the implications of Blanche’s nomination could not be clearer: A vote to confirm Blanche is a vote to continue the coverup and inflict egregious harm on Epstein’s victims.

In sum, Democrats would be wise to be strategic in their opposition to Blanche. Throwing the kitchen sink at him may be satisfying, but taking Democrats and those already inclined to oppose Blanche down the memory of lane of his offenses should not be the aim. If the goal is to stop Blanche, defenders of decency, the rule of law, and the rights of abuse victims should drill down on Trump’s worst scandal and most vulnerable issue.

 

 

Jeffrey Epstein and his Caribbean island for sex trafficking, perversion and high-level financial scheming. Jeffrey Epstein and his Caribbean island for sex trafficking, perversion and high-level financial scheming.

Last Page First, Investigtive Journalism: Lesley Groff: The Woman Who Made the Calls, Jana, right, jana last page firstJune 8, 2026. Lesley Groff’s name appears in more than 150,000 federal documents. She was named a co-conspirator, granted immunity, never charged. Tomorrow she testifies before Congress for the first time.

Jeffrey Epstein once told the New York Times his assistant team was “an extension of my brain.” He was describing, among others, Lesley Groff. She worked for him for nearly two decades. She is named in more than 150,000 documents in the federal EFTA archive, second only to Epstein himself. The United States government named her a potential co-conspirator, granted her federal immunity, and ultimately did not charge her. Every civil lawsuit filed against her was dismissed without reaching the merits. As of publication, Groff was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on June 9, 2026. If she appears, it will be the first time she has been required to answer questions on the record about her role in Epstein's operation.

Lesley Groff graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas in May 1990 with a liberal arts degree. Through the 1990s she built Village Office Supply in Bridgewater, New Jersey, growing it past $24 million in revenue. In late 2000 she posted her resume on Monster.com. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell interviewed her. She started work at his New York office in February 2001.

She would stay for nearly two decades. In 2005, Epstein told the New York Times he could not imagine losing her to motherhood — and to ensure he didn’t, he funded her childcare and gave her a Mercedes-Benz. That same profile described her salary as up to $200,000 a year. In the same interview, he called his assistant team “an extension of my brain.”

The Times profile was published in 2005. Five years later, Epstein was a convicted sex offender. Groff stayed.Co-Conspirator

In September 2007, Alexander Acosta, then US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, signed a non-prosecution agreement that ended a federal grand jury investigation into Epstein. Lesley Groff was named in that agreement as a potential co-conspirator, alongside Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marcinkova, and Adriana Ross. All four received federal immunity for any Florida-related conduct.

She had received a federal grand jury subpoena roughly one month before the NPA took effect. What testimony, if any, she provided before the investigation was shut down remains sealed. A federal judge later found the agreement had been signed without notifying victims, a violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. The deal held anyway.

In August 2019, three weeks after Epstein’s arrest and three weeks before his death, an internal FBI New York field office email chain named Groff alongside Maxwell, Jean-Luc Brunel, and Leslie Wexner as co-conspirators. The document states she “would coordinate with the main NYC victim listed in the Indictment, to schedule appointments and relay the information to Epstein,” and that on at least two occasions, victims believed Groff was the one paying them at Epstein’s Madison Avenue office. Multiple victims and cooperating co-conspirators placed her at Epstein’s NYC residence and described her as “in charge of making phone calls to set up massage appointments.” Her attorney confirmed in 2026 that she had been entirely unaware this document existed until it was released in the EFTA tranche.

The victim interviews are the hardest part of the record. A 2019 FBI 302 memo documents a victim who said she was 14 years old at first contact with Epstein’s operation. She identified Groff as the person she called to schedule massage appointments for herself and other girls. She recalled Groff asking her: “Was this her first time?” A second 302 memo, from 2021, documents a victim who called Groff when she needed $400 for an abortion. Groff connected her to Epstein immediately. Epstein gave her $1,000 in an envelope. The victim told investigators it was “pretty obvious” Groff knew what was happening.

The 302 memos reflect the content of witness interviews. They are evidentiary. None of the civil cases against Groff reached the merits. All were resolved after plaintiffs received compensation from the Epstein estate.The Logistics

Groff appears in 92 or more documented Epstein flight logs. In 2012, she was formally established as an authorized travel booking agent on Epstein’s American Express Black Card alongside accountant Bella Klein. This gave her direct authority to book travel for anyone in his network without Epstein’s sign-off on each transaction.

Amex Black Card authorization email, 2012. | EFTA02305344

In 2013, Groff emailed SpaceX to arrange a visit between Epstein and Elon Musk. The exchange is with Mary Beth Brown, Musk’s executive assistant. Groff told her that Epstein would be bringing assistants who were not US citizens, two Russian and one South African, and that she needed their passports scanned for security clearance. Her email: “I have the girls bringing me their passports in about an hour. I will scan and send to you.” The visit was confirmed for February 25 at 1pm.

February 22, 2013: Groff emails SpaceX arranging Epstein’s visit with “2 Russian and 1 South African” assistants. “I have the girls bringing me their passports in about an hour... I will scan and send to you.” Recipient is Mary Beth Brown, Elon Musk’s executive assistant. | EFTA02146603

February 22, 2013, 4:10 PM: “I have now sent you a copy of all 3 girls passports.” SpaceX confirms: “All received.” | EFTA02147370

In December 2013, Elon Musk emailed Epstein from St. Bart’s asking when he should visit the island. Groff forwarded the chain to Epstein with the note: “Did we need to organize Elon to your island on Jan 2nd?” The following year she contacted Thorbjorn Jagland, then Secretary General of the Council of Europe and a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, directly, to arrange a family trip to Epstein’s island. The trip was booked for April 8.

December 25-27, 2013: Musk emails Epstein from St. Bart’s asking when to visit his island. Groff forwarded the chain with the note: “Did we need to organize Elon to your island on Jan 2nd?” | EFTA01942151

In 2017, Groff arranged travel from Moscow to Paris to Miami for an unnamed woman, emailing the French consulate about transit visa requirements. The woman had told US consular officials New York would be her first destination. Her actual itinerary had her meeting Epstein’s contact in Paris first.

April 8, 2014: Jagland to Groff: “Thank you for the tickets. I hope he will be on the island when we are there.” Epstein to Groff: “Jeffrey’s treat for your family, he will fly you back to Miami on his plane.” | EFTA00371551

In 2014, Groff booked travel for a young woman identified in federal documents as Jane Doe 3, who was living in Poland. Groff emailed her directly: “Here is your ticket to come to NY and then on to Jeffrey’s island!! I will organize pick up for you and an apt in NY tomorrow.” Epstein personally controlled her return dates, at one point pushing her departure from New York back by two weeks.

Groff to Jane Doe 3, February 19, 2014. | EFTA02113168

May 30, 2017: Groff arranges Moscow-Paris-Miami routing for unnamed woman at Epstein’s direction. “He wants her to meet up with [redacted] at the airport in Paris where they will both take the same flight to Miami.” Groff also flags that the woman had told US visa officials New York would be her first destination — her actual itinerary was Paris first. | EFTA00452950

In November and December 2018, Groff coordinated delivery of Apple Watches from Epstein to Steve Bannon and his son Sean. Her email is plain: “Jeffrey will give to Steve when he sees him next.”

November-December 2018: Watch list documents “Jeffrey Epstein (for Steve Bannon)” and “Jeffrey Epstein (for Sean Bannon)” at $924.35 each. Delivery confirmed December 18, 2018. | EFTA00285607 / EFTA00488226

In December 2012, Allison Lutnick emailed Groff directly to arrange a visit to Little St. James. Howard Lutnick has claimed publicly he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. The documented coordination contradicts that by seven years.

December 21, 2012: Allison Lutnick to Groff: “Hi Lesley. This is Allison Lutnick. We are looking forward to visiting you. We will be coming from Caneel Bay in the morning. We are a crowd...2 families.” | EFTA02151054

The government’s own summary is at EFTA00101123, October 2020: Groff was “Epstein’s primary secretary who handled the travel logistics for Epstein, his employees, and the victims who traveled.”Not Charged

There are no EFTA documents specific to this section. The sourcing is SDNY announcements, attorney statements, and court records. Here is the full section:

Not Charged

Epstein was arrested by the SDNY on July 6, 2019, on federal sex trafficking charges. He died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019. His death was ruled suicide by hanging. The circumstances remain disputed.

Groff was subpoenaed by the SDNY following Epstein’s arrest. She voluntarily spoke with prosecutors. According to her attorney Michael Bachner, she was subsequently told she would not be prosecuted after speaking with investigators.

In December 2021, following Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction on all six counts of sex trafficking, the SDNY formally announced it would not charge Groff. Bachner’s statement: “Lesley Groff has never seen this co-conspirator document and was unaware of it.” Groff’s own statement said she had “never witnessed anything improper or illegal” and was “heartbroken” for victims.

Victim Jennifer Araoz sued Groff in 2019, alleging she had scheduled abuse sessions at Epstein’s New York home. A separate Jane Doe lawsuit in 2021 alleged participation in trafficking. Both were dismissed after the plaintiffs received compensation from the Epstein estate. None of the cases failed on the merits. Araoz has maintained her account.She Knew

In 2008, Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state charges and was sentenced to 18 months. He served 13, largely on work release, 12 hours a day, six days a week, out of his own office, with his own driver.

He sent her the articles. Every one of them. They detailed his conviction and her alleged involvement in the trafficking scheme. She read them, and stayed.What Congress Is Asking

On March 3, 2026, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer sent Groff a formal letter requesting her testimony at a transcribed interview on June 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The committee stated it believed she has information relevant to five areas of inquiry: the mismanagement of the federal investigation into Epstein and Maxwell; the circumstances of Epstein’s death; the operation of sex trafficking rings; how Epstein and Maxwell curried favor to protect their activities; and potential ethics violations by elected officials.

The request was not a subpoena. Her attorney Michael Bachner declined to say whether she would comply. As of publication, Groff was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on June 9, 2026, though her appearance had not been publicly confirmed.

Sarah Kellen, one of the other three assistants granted immunity in the 2007 NPA, testified on May 21, 2026. No transcript has been made public as of publication. Groff was scheduled to appear the following day, one day before Bill Gates.

The questions she will face are not hard to anticipate. What did she understand the massage appointments to be? What did she know about the ages of the women and girls whose travel she arranged? What did she believe she was doing when she routed women from Moscow to Paris to Miami at his instruction?

She has had answers prepared since at least 2021. The question is whether Congress will get to hear them.

She got immunity. The victims didn’t.What Remains Unanswered

Four things the public still does not have:

The names of four additional co-conspirators in the August 2019 DOJ document remain redacted.

The full Amex Black Card transaction record, every trip Groff booked for every woman in Epstein’s network from 2012 forward, has never been released.

The civil settlements that made the lawsuits go away may contain confidentiality clauses protecting Groff specifically. Nobody has said they don’t. And whatever she told the grand jury before Acosta shut it down is still sealed.

This is not a cold case. These are active gaps, held in place by legal architecture that was built around this exact situation. Congress is not a courtroom. But it is, for the first time, a room where Lesley Groff has to answer questions out loud.

 

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New York Times, U.S. Judge Reverses Decision on Colombian Woman Deported to Congo, Pranav Baskar, June 8, 2026. The judge had previously ruled that the woman had been improperly deported by the Trump administration and had ordered her returned to the United States.

One month after ordering the Trump administration to return a woman who had been deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a federal judge reversed his decision, citing new evidence.

The judge, Richard J. Leon, ruled in May that the Trump administration had improperly deported the woman despite a letter from the Congolese government refusing to take her on medical grounds.

But after weeks of court debate, the judge ruled on Friday that the letter had been sent to the U.S. government through “an irregular chain of custody” — a member of Congress and the woman’s lawyer — and that senior immigration officials and diplomats had been unaware of it before her deportation.

The woman, Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, is from Colombia. She is one of many migrants who had come to the United States colombia flag nameillegally but received court orders prohibiting deportation to their home countries because of fears of persecution. As a workaround, the Trump administration has been deporting people to third countries.

Ms. Zapata had challenged her deportation, but the Friday ruling puts her case on track to be dismissed. Ms. Zapata’s family declined to comment.

A message seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.

The dispute centered on whether an April 14 letter by the Congolese Interior Ministry had reached top U.S. immigration officials before Ms. Zapata was flown to Congo two days later with 14 other migrants.

Ms. Zapata has diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, and the letter said that Congo would not accept her because it would not be able to adequately provide her medical care.

The Trump administration argued that neither the State Department nor the United States Embassy in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, had received the letter. The U.S. government said that it had provided a flight manifest in advance to the Congolese government, which did not refuse her upon arrival.

Judge Leon said that the letter had reached immigration officials through Ms. Zapata’s lawyer and Representative Robert J. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who has championed Ms. Zapata’s case.Editors’ PicksNo Longer ‘Supporting Cast,’ Grooms Now Want Glam Squads, Too36 Hours on the Isle of Skye, ScotlandThe Fastest Woman to Circle the Earth on a Bike Is Aiming for the Men’s Record

“If plaintiff had conclusively shown that the April 14 letter had been brought to the attention of ICE before her removal,” Judge Leon wrote, “there would be no need to modify my prior order.”

Ms. Zapata’s lawyer wrote in a June 1 filing that Ms. Zapata was “dying by inches,” housed in Congo “during an active Ebola outbreak, without her insulin.”

It’s unclear what options Ms. Zapata will now have. Most of the other migrants sent to Congo have agreed to be returned to their home countries with the support of the U.N. migration agency, and many have already departed.

Markets, Inflation, Economies, Jobs

New York Times, Opinion: How to Fish Better, Paul Greenberg, June 8, 2026. We humans are capable of enormous devastation, but every now and then, we’re able to agree to stop the worst of our transgressions.

We no longer regularly scour the oceans for the great whales only to boil them down for margarine and pet food. We’ve stopped killing wild birds en masse to make hats out of their plumage. We’ve effectively banned DDT — a pesticide that nearly emptied the skies of hawks, falcons and even the bald eagle.

Bottom trawling — a destructive industrial fishing practice that indiscriminately brings to market about a quarter of the world’s wild-caught seafood — should be next. A bottom trawl is a weighted net that is often wider than a football field. As it is dragged along the sea floor, the trawl captures, kills or maims everything in its path. Around 19 million tons of marine life meets its end this way every year — that’s more than the combined weight of all the people in Brazil. At least another six to seven million tons of unwanted organisms are killed annually and dumped overboard. If a similar technique were deployed in the Amazon, people might be more likely to recoil from the mangled pulp of jaguars, toucans, sloths and trees deemed necessary sacrifices to bring meat to market. At our seafood counters, we never see the mangled pulp. Underwater, ignorance is bliss.

This year, that ignorance has been dealt a significant blow. In a major global study of bottom trawling, researchers at the University of British Columbia combed through years of international catch data and found that 3,000 different species are caught in bottom trawls each year. At least one in seven was vulnerable to extinction. As dogged as the researchers were, even they could not parse all the death. “An undifferentiated mass of diverse marine life,” they write, is typically sloughed off for animal feed and “surimi” (the pink mush that’s in your California sushi roll).Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.

When humans do bad things, we often console ourselves that such things were always done. And bottom trawling has existed since the 14th century. Yet, as a planet-wide undertaking, the large-scale dragging of the seabed is quite young. 

In my 20 years of covering oceans, I’ve seen all kinds of destruction. I have stood on the deck of a Louisiana shrimp trawler and watched 10 pounds of wildlife shoveled dead off the deck for every pound of shrimp that went in the hold. As an apprentice field researcher for the Bureau of Land Management surveying the riverside along salmon habitat, I saw whole stands of old-growth trees obliterated in clear-cuts. I noted down how many 200-year-old stumps were left behind and how the tangled slag of the forest lay across the land, too gruesome to contemplate for very long.

Arguments in favor of accommodation and compromise have been made about essentially every environmental problem — and they almost never achieve their goals. 

 

mike johnson djt uncreditedPoliticusUSA, News and Opinion: Mike Johnson Has Surrendered His Power As Speaker Of The House To Trump, Jason Easley, jason easleyright, June 8, 2026. It turns out that the idea that Trump is the real Speaker of the House wasn't completely a joke, as Mike Johnson, shown above left in a file photo, has surrendered some of his powers as Speaker to Trump.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has been referring to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the Deputy Speaker of the House for months. Jeffries has been telling reporters and the American people that politicus usa logoJohnson is bowing to Trump. What many people assumed was metaphorical is turning out to be literal.

Trump has joked that he is the Speaker of the House. There have even been rumors that some Republicans wanted Trump to be the Speaker of the House before he returned to the White House.

Sarah Jones talks about Trump and power:

However, NOTUS reported that Johnson has surrendered some of his power as Speaker to Trump:htBut it’s not just winning votes. At times, Johnson has handed over other powers that usually rest with the speaker.

U.S. House logoAccording to two sources who spoke with NOTUS, Johnson has in several instances directed members seeking to bring legislation to the floor to obtain the administration’s approval first.

“It is a total shirking of responsibilities to the White House,” another House Republican told NOTUS. “Everything has to be preordained and pre-blessed, and there’s very little that we’re able to have our own will on. We should be empowered to pass our own priorities, not just follow what the mandate of the day is.”

A senior GOP aide pushed back on the idea that relying on the president is a bad thing.

The fact that a senior House Republican aide defended this practice, which is a defense of gutting the Constitution, is a big part of the problem.

It is easy to point to the Constitution and see that Johnson has violated the separation of powers by transferring his authority to Trump, but what Speaker Johnson has done is an even deeper betrayal of the fundamental principles the country was founded on.

In Federalist 51, James Madison wrote:

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

The Speaker of the House was intended to be a person who had their own power and ambition. The Founders never foresaw a Speaker of the House who would surrender his power to a president.

When the argument is made that Democrats winning the House majority will take power away from Trump, it is now clear that the president will lose actual power if Hakeem Jeffries replaces Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House.

Mike Johnson and Trump are conspiring to undermine the voice and will of the people. The House isn’t representing the views and will of the people. House Republicans aren’t working for the people who elected them but often serve as a rubber stamp for Trump.

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Polymarket sponsoring election conspiracies from far-right influencers, Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 8, 2026. Polymarket, one of the dominant players in the prediction market industry, promotes itself as a source of objective truth. In 2024, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan called his company a “global truth machine“ and bragged the company would be “actually solving misinformation.” After Polymarket became the official prediction market of X, Coplan said the partnership joined together the “two top truth-seeking apps on the internet.”

noel simsHowever, as Semafor first reported, in the wake of the California primary election last Tuesday, Polymarket has sponsored posts from far-right influencers on X pushing election conspiracies and disinformation. Popular Information has uncovered a network of at least 16 influencers¹, with a collective audience of 13 million, publishing election-related misinformation in posts sponsored by Polymarket.

The conspiracies involve the Los Angeles mayoral primary. Like other California races, all candidates competein a single primary and the top two candidates advance to the general election. Early returns on election night showed incumbent Karen Bass (D) leading the field and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt (R) in second place. Pratt has gained a following through viral AI-generated videos depicting him as Batman and Bass as the Joker.

But California’s vote-counting process has been slow and later returns have favored another candidate, Nithya Raman (D), over Pratt. Many Californians vote by mail, and these ballots take longer to count. Based on the breakdown of the mail-in ballots, most analysts expect Raman, not Pratt, to advance to the general.

In numerous Polymarket-sponsored posts, far-right influencers, without evidence, claim that Raman’s improving fortunes are evidence of fraud. Former InfoWars correspondent Owen Shroyer, who has over 470,000 followers on X, posted that “California just keeps counting until the Democrat wins.” The post was labeled as a “paid partnership” with Polymarket.

Previously, Shroyer was a named defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by the family of a child killed at Sandy Hook and was found liable by default. Shroyer was also sentenced to 60 days in jail for his role in the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. “In the months prior to January 6, Shroyer spread election disinformation paired with violent rhetoric to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of viewers,” prosecutors wrote. “Shroyer helped create January 6.”

Another right-wing content creator, Benny Johnson, wrote in a Polymarket-sponsored post that the declining odds for Pratt reflected people’s belief that “Democrats are going to dramatically rig it.” Johnson, a serial fabulist, has repeatedly pushed false claims about the LA mayoral in recent days, including the claim that California has created a “system of fraud specifically designed to manufacture votes in races you need to win and make the fraud untraceable.” In another post, Johnson said the “election cheat machine in California is so wildly unconstitutional and fraudulent it’s not even funny.” Beyond LA, Johnson asserted that in California, an overwhelmingly Democratic state, it was impossible to believe that Republican “Steve Hilton isn’t in the lead for Governor.”

In other cases, Polymarket sponsored posts by pseudonymous accounts with large followings pushing disinformation about the LA mayoral election. Posts sponsored by Polymarket asserted the LA election officials were “openly cheating,” “SCAMMING Spencer Pratt,” and “rigging it.”

Many of the Polymarket-sponsored influencers also frequently post bigoted content. Kangmin Lee, for example, posts about election conspiracies and disparaging posts about Black Americans. “Everyone is feeling the black fatigue,” Lee posted on June 7.

Polymarket’s sponsorship of election disinformation is consistent with its overall approach of using sensationalism on X to drive interest in its product. Front Office Sports reports that Polymarket and Kalshi “post on social media like they’re troll accounts“ and “are shitposting their way to legitimacy.”

Polymarket did not respond to a request for comment.Kalshi removes some, but not all, sponsored election misinformation

According to the CEO of Kalshi, Polymarket’s chief competitor, the company is “replacing debate, subjectivity, and talk with markets, accuracy, and truth.” But Kalshi has also been sponsoring posts by right-wing influencers with misinformation about the LA mayoral election.

In one Kalshi-sponsored post, @GuntherEagleman, an account with 1.7 million followers, wrote “They are stealing it, aren’t they?”.

Kalshi told Semafor that these posts violate their “affiliate marketing policies“ and it has asked the creators to remove them. The @GuntherEagleman post, and a couple of similar sponsored posts, have been deleted.

But other posts raising doubts about the California electoral system remain. “We should all fly to LA and vote for Pratt,” @WallStreetMav wrote in a Kalshi-sponsored post on June 2. “Nothing can stop us, they don’t require voter ID.” In a June 5 post, @WallStreetMav asked, “Has anyone found a Democrat statistician or mathematician who can provide a legitimate explanation for how out of 24,000 ballots, Spencer Pratt received ZERO?”

That post is based on a thoroughly debunked rumor. The LA Times explained, “Voting data pushed out by the Associated Press came as two separate updates one minute apart, with Bass’ and Raman’s votes in the first and Pratt’s in the second.”George Santos under investigation, loses sponsorship deal

Pushing election misinformation is not the only scandal the prediction market industry has been dealing with recently.

Last week, Kalshi reported former Congressman George Santos (R), who was convicted of fraud and then had his sentence commuted by Trump, to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for “suspicious trades“ made ahead of Trump’s February State of the Union address. Santos “boasted he’d be going to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, then bet against his own attendance.” Ultimately Santos did not attend the event, blaming a flight delay.

The Santos case is an example of just how easy it is for insiders to game prediction market bets. On his own podcast in March, Santos called prediction markets “easily manipulable,” but argued “It is not a crime to do prediction market.” According to Santos, “there will always be advantaged players in this game and it’s very hard to understand who they are.”

In response to Santos’ referral to the DOJ, Polymarket announced George Santos would no longer be a paid content creator for the company.

New York Times, Europe Watches Its Economic Recovery Fade Into the Distance, Eshe Nelson, June 8, 2026. As the war in Iran persists, signs point to a prolonged period of higher prices and slower growth rather than a quick shock.

When the war began in the Middle East and energy prices soared, Europe braced for a sharp, short economic shock. More than three months later, the region is settling in for a period of higher prices and weaker growth that could last much longer than expected.

european union logo rectangleFor Europe, the recovery from the last energy shock just a few years ago has been cut short in its early stages. The economic drag is now forecast to last into next year as higher energy costs drain money from public budgets, sapping investment for more productive uses. Consumers would be left increasingly nervous about spending.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 cut Europe off from a critical source of natural gas, and inflation raced into the double digits. Policymakers responded by aggressively raising interest rates to thwart price growth, but that also sharply restrained the economy.

The concern today is a more subtle, but still adverse, economic hit: noticeably higher inflation and interest rates into next year at least.

“A short-term shock is being extended in time,” said Mariano Cena, senior European economist at Barclays. The longer the disruption to energy supplies from the Persian Gulf goes on, the worse the effects get, he added.

Initially, after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, and Iran responded by closing off the Strait of Hormuz, the expectation was for what economists call a V-shaped impact, with a big but short drop in growth and a strong rebound, Mr. Cena said. Now, it’s more U-shaped, where the economy is weaker for longer and the recovery is slower. Barclays recently halved its forecast for European growth this year to 0.7 percent, with just a meager pickup to 0.9 percent next year.

More On U.S. Law, Corruption, Crime, Immigration, Rights, Justice

 

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston).

The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s “grand conspiracy case” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him (New York Times photo by Kenny Holston). 

New York Times, How the Drive to Find a Conspiracy Against Trump Rocked the Justice Dept., Devlin Barrett (covering the Justice Department and the F.B.I., with this article is drawn from reporting in his forthcoming book, “The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice).” June 8, 2026. The push to investigate what the president’s allies saw as a “deep state” cabal intent on taking him down set off cascading crises, ended careers and undercut the department’s credibility with judges.

It was an investigation long sought by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and it was announced not in court papers, but through a haze of cigar smoke on Joe Rogan’s podcast in early June of last year.

Mr. Patel’s prized criminal inquiry, known as “the grand conspiracy case,” sought to tie together actions by a group of people that President Trump blamed for various investigations into him, going back to the examination of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and extending into events surrounding the 2020 election and the criminal prosecutions of Mr. Trump in 2023 and 2024. In the view of Mr. Trump and his supporters, there was a “deep state” cabal that had sought across multiple administrations and agencies to bring him down.

Mr. Patel told Mr. Rogan he had found a secret room of evidence inside F.B.I. headquarters confirming his long-held suspicions.

“You know how I caught these guys?” Mr. Patel asked. “Because these guys were so arrogant, they would write everything down, and I found the documents.”

To Mr. Patel, those documents, found in government burn bags — large brown paper bags with red and white stripes used to store papers designated for destruction — justified a sweeping investigation of former officials.

To the former officials and the career investigators who looked at the evidence, the papers in the burn bags were nothing like a smoking gun. The administration’s efforts to find prosecutors willing to pursue such theories became a defining feature of the Trump administration’s politicization of the Justice Department — and the internal resistance to it.

New details of how that period unfolded show how Mr. Patel’s drive to target critics of the president set off cascading crises with U.S. attorneys’ offices, derailed distinguished careers and undercut the Justice Department’s credibility with judges. This account is based on interviews with multiple people with knowledge of the effort, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

(Excerpt continued from above)

Asked for comment on this account and the roles of Mr. Patel and other officials, a Justice Department spokeswoman, Emily Covington, said the department “enforces federal law fairly, consistently and without regard to politics,” adding that all investigative and prosecutorial decisions “are grounded in evidence and the law.”

On July 14, barely a month after Mr. Patel told millions of podcast listeners about a supposed vault of dirty secrets, Todd Gilbert became the interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

Hours after he was sworn in, Mr. Gilbert got a phone call from Mr. Patel that would wreck his new job. On his first day, when most employees are still getting their work email set up, the new U.S. attorney was told by Mr. Patel to pursue the grand conspiracy.

Mr. Patel instructed him to investigate how classified documents had been placed inside the burn bags found inside Room 9582 of F.B.I. headquarters.

Some of the documents related to events from 2016 and 2017 that Mr. Patel wanted examined, specifically the actions of James B. Comey, who was the F.B.I. director at the time, and John O. Brennan, who had been the C.I.A. director. Mr. Patel wanted both men investigated for lying to Congress and suggested that the documents supported charging them.

His call to Mr. Gilbert was unusual. F.B.I. directors do not typically assign U.S. attorneys to open cases. Such a directive, particularly for high-profile investigations, would normally come from Justice Department headquarters. And investigations that involved purported lies to Congress were assigned to prosecutors in Washington, not in Roanoke, Va. It was also strange to give such a weighty assignment to a U.S. attorney with little authority to question orders because he was still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

But the administration had good reason to think of Mr. Gilbert as a loyal and willing hunter. A lifelong Republican with strong ties to Virginia’s G.O.P. leaders, he had given up a powerful position in the state legislature to become the U.S. attorney.

The premise of the “grand conspiracy” was that Mr. Comey and his allies had concocted the F.B.I.’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential contest to damage Mr. Trump, and that conspiracy extended into the 2020 election and the 2022 appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate him.

To Mr. Patel, the case consolidated years of his complaints and accusations about Democrats and national security officials.

To many career Justice Department veterans, the case looked more like Frankenstein’s monster — a motley assortment of long-dead investigations that were now supposed to be stitched together and brought to life.

From the start, F.B.I. leadership wanted near-daily updates on the case — a level of attention usually reserved for national crises. The Virginia prosecutors were confused why the case received so much interest from Mr. Patel and so little from their actual boss, the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who had been Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer.

Mr. Gilbert tried repeatedly to get advice and instruction from Mr. Blanche, even driving to Washington unannounced to try to speak to him. Instead, one of Mr. Blanche’s deputies, Aakash Singh, urged Mr. Gilbert to pursue the case aggressively. But Mr. Singh did not address many of Mr. Gilbert’s legal and factual questions. One senior Justice Department official said Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Blanche eventually did speak about the case.

Mr. Gilbert’s team decided that the law gave his office jurisdiction over only one of the issues Mr. Patel had directed him to investigate — whether the documents in the burn bags had been mishandled as part of a criminal scheme to hide them.

The other two prongs he was assigned — whether Mr. Comey had lied in congressional testimony in 2020 about leaks and Russia-related intelligence, and whether Mr. Brennan had lied to Congress about a 2017 intelligence assessment of Russian election interference that referenced a dossier compiled by a former British spy — had no legitimate venue in western Virginia, they concluded.

Mr. Gilbert angered the administration by resisting pressure to impanel a grand jury to investigate the burn bag case, since he and his team did not believe there was yet a sufficient factual basis for that step.

A related disagreement over personnel assignments in his office also hurt his standing. In mid-August, Sergio Gor, a powerful White House official, called Glenn Youngkin, then Virginia’s Republican governor, and told him that Mr. Gilbert was going to be fired and that the governor should not try to stop it.

Mr. Gilbert lasted just 37 days as a U.S. attorney. After his departure, prosecutors in his office wrote a lengthy legal analysis, called a declination memo, detailing why no criminal charges were warranted in the burn bag case. The senior F.B.I. agent on the investigation endorsed the memo’s conclusions.

At that point, a number of current and former law enforcement officials concluded that the administration had embarked on a new kind of fishing expedition — not for dirt on the people they did not like, but to find a prosecutor willing to file charges based on the threadbare evidence they already had.

Resistance by officials in western Virginia did not stop the pressure campaign from senior administration officials. Instead, that pressure simply migrated across the state, to the federal prosecutor’s office in Alexandria, Va.

Mr. Trump’s pick to lead that office, Erik Siebert, was an experienced lawman, and unlike Mr. Gilbert, he had allies among the Justice Department’s leaders. Mr. Siebert’s law enforcement career began as a D.C. police officer, and he heartily embraced Mr. Trump’s agenda.

But in the summer of 2025, Mr. Siebert suddenly found himself on thin ice, having inherited not just the Comey case but a separate investigation of Letitia James, the New York attorney general who successfully sued Mr. Trump over his business accounting. Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had made a criminal referral to the Justice Department against Ms. James in April 2025, accusing her of having falsified information in mortgage paperwork to get a more favorable interest rate.

Mr. Pulte leveled a similar allegation against Senator Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who while in the House had led impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump. Mr. Pulte suggested that Mr. Schiff had claimed two different places as his primary residence.

In July, Mr. Blanche summoned F.B.I. agents, Virginia prosecutors and senior F.H.F.A. officials to a meeting at the Justice Department to talk about the James investigation. The meeting began with a detailed presentation from F.B.I. agents, emphasizing the lack of evidence of criminality surrounding Ms. James’s mortgages.

Then Mr. Blanche declared that the evidence simply did not support a criminal case against Ms. James for either property. When Mr. Pulte’s aides tried to argue or interject, Mr. Blanche shot them down.

The agents and prosecutors on the case were encouraged to see the deputy attorney general back them up. Their optimism, however, was short-lived. Within days of the meeting, law enforcement officials were told that the White House still wanted to see Ms. James charged. (One senior Justice Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly disputed that characterization of the meeting as “inaccurate and oversimplified,” saying that investigators still wanted to pursue the case against Ms. James.)

The administration was not giving up on the Comey investigation either. Mr. Siebert had been handed the case in mid-August, after the federal prosecutors in western Virginia successfully argued that they did not have jurisdiction. It was the second time in months that Mr. Siebert and his team were pressured by superiors to investigate Mr. Comey.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Blanche → Epstein, William Kristol, right, June 8, 2026. There are many, many Republican lawyers in America. Many, sadly, are also pro-Trump. But it is Todd Blanche who has been selected by the president to be attorney general of the United States. He has this distinction: He is the prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.

As former Attorney General Pam Bondi told the House Oversight Committee recently, it was Blanche who, as deputy attorney general, “supervised [the] entire process” of dealing with the Epstein files. “He was leading the Epstein matter and the release of bulwark logo big shipeverything from the beginning,” she testified. Blanche has also been the most visible public defender of the coverup, and of the decision not to investigate or prosecute anyone else for crimes.

Blanche stepped boldly into the Epstein spotlight on July 24, 2025, when he traveled to Florida to interview convicted Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. The meeting was initiated by Maxwell, and she received limited immunity via a proffer agreement.

But Maxwell didn’t use her immunity as an opportunity to be more forthcoming than she’d been previously about anything to do with Epstein. As every sentient observer familiar with the Epstein case agreed, she simply continued to stonewall and lie. But Blanche wasn’t sure. He told CNN a couple months later that deciding if Maxwell was a “credible” witness is “an impossible question to answer.”

Really?

In any case, Blanche explained, “The point of the interview was not for me to pressure test every single answer she gave.”

Why not?

Because “the point of the interview was to allow her to speak, which nobody had done before.”

This was laughable. But the real point of the interview became clear a few days later, when Maxwell was moved, contrary to Bureau of Prison guidelines for sex offenders, to a comfortable minimum-security prison.

The point of both the interview and the move was to encourage Maxwell not to talk about Donald Trump—and to hold out the prospect of even more favorable treatment in the future. Since the interview, Trump has continued to refuse to rule out the possibility of a pardon or commutation for Maxwell.

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Since then, Blanche has been assertively pushing back against widespread public unhappiness with the botched and selective release of the Epstein files. For example, in early February 2026, Blanche had this exchange with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham:

Ingraham: Is there any chance that any of these individuals who partied with Epstein and engaged in relations with minors will be prosecuted? Any chance?

Blanche: I’ll never say no, and we will always investigate any evidence of misconduct, but as you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein. And some of these men may have done horrible things, and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will. But it’s also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.

“It isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” But “Mr. Epstein” (it’s kind of striking that Blanche added the honorific) pled guilty in 2008, and then was indicted again in 2019, for horrible crimes arranged or committed or celebrated at some of those parties. The Justice Department could now be following up on the testimony of scores of survivors to finally, properly investigate those crimes and their perpetrators. But Blanche’s Justice Department hasn’t even pretended to be seeking further evidence. Blanche’s DOJ has no interest at all in investigating or prosecuting the men who have done truly horrible things. After all, “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”

Trump rewarded Blanche for arranging and managing the Epstein coverup. First he made Blanche acting Attorney General. Now he wants to place him in that post outright. And that requires Senate confirmation.

Which means the Senate will debate and vote. Last November, thanks to a discharge petition, and over the opposition of the Trump administration and Republican leadership, Congress was forced to engage on the Epstein matter. Opposition to legislation requiring the release of the Epstein files collapsed when the issue emerged into broad daylight, and Congress voted almost unanimously to order the Justice Department to release the files. At the time, everyone from both parties could look as if they were in favor of the truth coming out.

But now we’ve had only a partial release of those documents and no follow-up investigations. Trump has gone out of his way to punish Republican critics of his administration’s Epstein coverup. Republicans have been happy to avoid further engaging on the issue.

But thanks to Trump’s nomination of Blanche, there is a chance to force a real public debate, with real Senate votes, on the Epstein coverup.

That is not what Blanche wants. In early April, shortly after becoming acting attorney general, Blanche told Fox News, “And so I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward.”

But the Epstein coverup should be part, a key part, of one thing going forward: It should be a key part of the upcoming debate on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general. The Blanche confirmation fight can bring the Epstein coverup back into the spotlight this summer. His nomination can be turned into a referendum on the coverup by the Trump administration, and by the entire political class, of Epstein and his co-conspirators and clients.

The vote on Blanche can become, it should become, a vote on Epstein.

The Contrarian, Opinion: How to Kill the Blanche Nomination, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 8, 2026. Democrats must focus on the most powerful issue.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly proved herself to be the most legally ignorant, dishonest, and ethically challenged person ever to head the Justice Department. However, if her former deputy and now-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is nominated and confirmed for the permanent job, she by comparison would seem like one of giants who have held the post (e.g., Robert H. Jackson, Edward H. Levi).

Blanche, whom Donald Trump said last week he would nominate for attorney general, has presided over the shoddiest lawyering in the history of the DOJ, which has earned unprecedented denunciations of federal judges (for, among other things, defying court orders and making material misrepresentations to courts), Blanche has been the tip of the spear in Donald Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department and government-wide corruption operation. (White House photo)

Making clear his first loyalty is to Trump (“I love you, Sir”), not to the Constitution, Blanche has been at the wheel of vindictive prosecutions against Trump enemies, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, former FBI Director James Comey (in the infamous seashell case), journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort (a First Amendment travesty), and the civil rights legacy organization the Southern Poverty Law Center. He has been instrumental in turning the DOJ into a discredited, weaponized operation that has lost thousands of dedicated lawyers disgusted with the Trump regime.

Although directed to recuse himself from cases in which he represented Trump as a private citizen, he has continued to pursue Trump’s conspiracy-based inquests and investigations. He defended pardons of the violent January 6 felons and then authored the widely denounced (and, for now, discarded) slush-fund-for-secessionists. That deal, coupled with the legally suspect waiver of Trump’s tax liability, gives him the distinction of crafting the most corrupt scheme in presidential history.

However, far and away the single most compelling reason — and potentially the most politically damaging — for denying him the job came from Bondi herself. Blanche’s central role in the Epstein files coverup, which Bondi confirmed, should make his nomination a nonstarter.

Certainly, there are innumerable reasons for denying the job of heading the Justice Department to someone so obviously lacking independent judgment and respect for the rule of law and who is devoid of credibility, but if there is a single issue that should galvanize Republicans, Democrats, and independents — and pose a lethal threat to Republicans’ control of the Senate — it would be Trump’s demand that Republicans link arms with the Epstein coverup architect.

In her interview with the House Oversight Committee, Bondi struck a blow from which Blanche’s nomination should never recover. CNN, relying on the transcript of her interview, reported, “Bondi sought to distance herself from how her department handled the Epstein files as the Trump administration continues to deal with the political fallout.” Bondi threw Blanche under the bus, testifying, “He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files.” Bondi made clear that the decision to withhold 3 million files required by law to be released was not hers.

Blanche also made the bizarre trip to visit Epstein accomplice and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who then was transferred to cushier surroundings (a move Blanche defended). Why would the No. 2 man at DOJ talk to her when the potential for incriminating testimony (in exchange for a pardon) was all too real?

Again, the Maxwell encounter was not Bondi’s handiwork. The Guardian reported, “During Bondi’s testimony last week, she also told lawmakers that she learned of the controversial prison transfer of Maxwell through news reports ‘after it happened,’ claiming: ‘I had nothing to do with that.’” Does anyone think Blanche was also in the dark?Subscribed

The Epstein coverup, of which Blanche is the chief orchestrator, has revealed the moral and legal rot at the core of the Trump regime in a way no other scandal, lawless escapade, or assault on constitutional norms has. In direct violation of the law, Blanche refused to release all documents. At least according to Bondi, he is also responsible for the egregious errors and violations of victims’ privacy in failing to make appropriate redactions. Nothing better epitomizes the abuse of power on behalf of Trump and the creation of a two-tiered system of justice than Blanche’s Epstein handiwork.

It’s not simply the magnitude of the Epstein debacle that should push it to the top of the reasons to block Blanche’s nomination. The Epstein scandal was the first and remains the hottest flashpoint between Trump and his Republican base and thereby offers the most promise for peeling off Republican support for Blanche. In effect, Trump is asking the Senate to give a stamp of approval to the man who defied their own legislative directive to release all the files.

The Epstein coverup is the first serious breach with Senate and House Republicans; the first time Trump was unable to fend off a politically harmful vote (on the Epstein Files Transparency Act). Asking the Senate to confirm Blanche would amount to a demand the Senate affirm and continue the corrupt coverup at the expense of Epstein’s victims and any semblance of the rule of law.

Asking senators to ignore Blanche’s violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his dissembling about Maxwell, and his arrogant refusal to respond to Congress’s legitimate concerns and reward Blanche with the top law enforcement job should be a complete dealbreaker.

For Republican senators up for re-election (Maine’s Susan Collins, Ohio’s Jon Husted, Alaska’s Dan Sullivan) as well as newly unmuzzled Republicans (John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana) and Republicans most resistant to demands to fall in line behind the MAGA cult (Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska), the implications of Blanche’s nomination could not be clearer: A vote to confirm Blanche is a vote to continue the coverup and inflict egregious harm on Epstein’s victims.

In sum, Democrats would be wise to be strategic in their opposition to Blanche. Throwing the kitchen sink at him may be satisfying, but taking Democrats and those already inclined to oppose Blanche down the memory of lane of his offenses should not be the aim. If the goal is to stop Blanche, defenders of decency, the rule of law, and the rights of abuse victims should drill down on Trump’s worst scandal and most vulnerable issue.

U.S. Military, Religion, Foreign Affairs

Wayne Madsen Report, Opinion: Christo-fascist pseudo-War Secretary and drunkard de-recognizes dozens of religious sects, Wayne Madsen, right, June 7-8, 2026. Hegseth irritates Mormons while cutting Pentagon's recognition of Unitarians.

The pseudo-Secretary of War and Christo-fascist and neo-Nazi Pete Hegseth pulled Pentagon recognition from dozens of religious faiths and sects prior to equating the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 to the arrival of refugees on European beaches. In a couple of days, Hegseth managed to irritate Mormons by designating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a non-Christian religion and antagonized Unitarians by pulling the Pentagon’s religious faith codes for Unitarian-Universalists. In total, Hegseth removed 200 religious faith codes by whittling the recognized codes to 31.

Religious faith codes are used for military dog tags, chaplain assignments, religious accommodation, and burial rites.

Creating lists of state-approved religious sects is often a slippery slope and the practice has no place in a nation where the separation of church and state is a constitutional right. Moreover, certain initially “approved” religions often find themselves subject to future bans. Following the Fascist takeover of Italy in the early 1920s, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, Salvation Army, and Freemasonry, originally legal under Benito Mussolini, were eventually banned outright.

Hegseth’s de-recognition of certain religions is a slap in the face during the 250th anniversary of American independence. Famous Deists include Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Ethan Allen, Gouverneur Morris, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), and Edgar Allen Poe.

Unitarians are counted among the founders of the United States and include Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster. Other Unitarians were Presidents Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft, as well as Adlai Stevenson II, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Susan B Anthony, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, Buckminster Fuller, Kurt Vonnegut, and Pete Seeger. One famed Deist and purported Rosicrucian was founding father Benjamin Franklin. Famed Swedenborgians in American history include Helen Keller, John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed), Henry James, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

In one stroke of a pen, the unaccomplished drunkard Hegseth, and, by acquiescence, the rapist and pedophile Trump, have crapped all over the legacies of illustrious Americans who were guided to success by their respective religious faiths.

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Hegseth canceled religious faith codes for the following Pagan, Wiccan, and Earth-based sects:

  • Wicca
  • Wiccan (various traditions)
  • Pagan
  • Paganism (general)
  • Asatru
  • Heathenry
  • Druid
  • Druidry
  • The Troth
  • Ásatrú Alliance
  • Ásatrú Folk Assembly
  • Celtic Reconstructionist
  • Norse Pagan
  • Odinist
  • Magick‑based traditions
  • Neo‑Pagan (general)
  • Shamanism
  • Shamanic traditions

Small Christian Denominations were also struck from the recognition list:

  • Unity Church
  • Swedenborgian
  • Christadelphian
  • Messianic Judaism
  • Restorationist micro‑denominations
  • Independent Charismatic groups

Also removed from the recognized list were the following New Age, Metaphysical, and Esoteric Traditions:

  • New Age
  • Eckankar
  • Rosicrucianism
  • Spiritualism
  • Theosophy
  • Anthroposophy
  • Universal Gnostic
  • Esoteric Christianity
  • Metaphysical Churches
  • Unity Church
  • Church of Light
  • I AM Activity

Secular, Humanist, and Non‑Theistic Codes were also dropped:

  • Atheism
  • Atheist
  • Humanism
  • Secular Humanism
  • Ethical Culture
  • Freethinker
  • Rationalist
  • Brights Movement
  • No Preference (as a religious code)
  • None (as a religious code)

Indigenous and Traditional Religions were also de-recognized:

  • Native American Church
  • Indigenous spiritualities
  • Animism
  • African Traditional Religions
  • Santería
  • Candomblé
  • Umbanda
  • Yoruba/Ifá
  • Vodou (Haitian Vodou)
  • Minority or Micro‑Religions were also dropped:
  • Deism
  • Cao Dai
  • Tenrikyo
  • Scientology
  • Raëlism
  • Falun Gong
  • Eckankar
  • Jainism
  • Taoism
  • Confucianism
  • Unitarian Universalism
  • Zoroastrianism

One of the stages of creating a fascist state is the state declaring what religious faiths are legal and which are not. In Nazi Germany, Judaism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Freemasonry, and Baha’i were banned. Restricted by the Nazis were Seventh-day Adventists, Christian Science, Anthroposophy, and Theosophy and Occultism. There should be no surprise that Hegseth’s banned list and that of Nazi Germany overlap. Both Hegseth and Donald Trump take their white nationalist beliefs straight from Nazi Germany’s doctrine.

The 31 religious faith codes which continue to be recognized are:

  • Agnostic (AN)
  • Baha’i faith (BH)
  • Buddhism (BU)
  • Christian - Assemblies of God (AG)
  • Christian - Baptist (BA)
  • Christian - Brethren (BR)
  • Christian - Catholic (CA)
  • Christian - Church of Christ (CC)
  • Christian - Church of God (CG)
  • Christian - Church of the Nazarene (CN)
  • Christian - Episcopal/Anglican (EA)
  • Christian - Evangelical (EV)
  • Christian - Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW)
  • Christian - Lutheran (LU)
  • Christian - Methodist (ME)
  • Christian - Non Denominational (ND)
  • Christian - Orthodox (OX)
  • Christian - Other (CO)
  • Christian - Pentecostal (PE)
  • Christian - Presbyterian (PR)
  • Christian - Quaker (QU)
  • Christian - Reformed (RE)
  • Christian - Scientist (SC)
  • Christian - Seventh Day Adventist (SA)
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (CJ)
  • Hindu (HI)
  • Islam (Muslim) (IS)
  • Judaism (Jewish) (JU)
  • No Religion (NR)
  • Other Religions (OR)
  • Sikh (SI)

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

Maine's Democratic candidates in the primary on June 9 are, from left to right, Troy Jackson, a former president of the State Senate; Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, and Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the State House (Photos by Amanda Sabga/Reuters; and Cliff Owen and Joel Page, via Associated Press).

New York Times, Graham Platner Announced His Picks for Maine Governor. Will It Sway the Race? Jenna Russell, June 8, 2026. The crowded race for governor has barely qualified as background noise in recent months, drowned out by the high-stakes, turbulent campaign for U.S. Senate.

For months, a crowded, collegial race for governor of Maine barely qualified as background noise amid the din of a high-stakes Senate campaign. Then Graham Platner, the populist newcomer in the Senate race, revealed his preferred candidates.

Mr. Platner, a self-proclaimed political outsider, named three Democrats with lengthy tenures in Maine government, who were at that moment pleased to receive his insurgent imprimatur.

“Those three candidates, whether it’s an issue of democracy and standing up to President Trump, or whether it’s around the environment, or broader progressive values, they are the ones that I think most represent my value set,” Mr. Platner said at a campaign event on May 21.

Two weeks later, as Mr. Platner faces new scrutiny after reports about his relationships with women, the shine may be off that endorsement. But the governor’s race has tightened, with a University of New Hampshire poll showing Troy Jackson, Mr. Platner’s top pick, tied with Dr. Nirav Shah, an epidemiologist who led Maine’s coronavirus response and had led the race in most previous polls. The primary election will take place on Tuesday.

Mr. Jackson, a logger and longtime state senator, stood beside Mr. Platner at a rally in Bar Harbor on Friday night as the Senate candidate railed against “politically motivated, serious and false allegations” against him.

Mr. Jackson’s campaign did not respond to questions about his view of the allegations. But he told reporters that he had not read all the details, and that he supported Mr. Platner because they cared about the same issues.

 

lauren egan bulwarkThe Opposition via The Bulwark, Opinion: The Platner Blame Game, Lauren Egan, June 7-8, 2026. Before we get into today’s edition, I wanted to give a refresher of what this space is all about. This newsletter is not an expression of my preferred politics. I spend my days talking to officials and strategists across the left’s ideological spectrum to bring you some of the best-sourced journalism out there on the inner workings of the Democratic party. Which means sometimes you’re going to read things that you don’t want to hear. 

bulwark logo big shipTHE CONTINUOUS WAVE of public controversy surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has given way to a private wave of recriminations over how the party’s marquee Senate race ended up in such a tenuous place.

And within the fractious and competitive world of Democratic operatives and consulting firms, it is the Philadelphia-based ad firm chiefly behind Platner’s rise that has taken it most on the chin.

Fight Agency is a new shop that has had a fairly remarkable run of success. Launched in 2025 by alums of the campaigns of Jon Fetterman, Ruben Gallego, and Bernie Sanders, the group quickly set the pace for the rest of the party in re-engaging the Trump-curious voters it lost in 2024. Its formula was fairly obvious: elevate more nontraditional, outside-the-box candidates with a working-class and anti-establishment appeal. And it scored arguably one of the most significant wins over the past year, when it helped a previously unknown New York state assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani to Gracie Mansion.

Platner seemed poised to be Fight Agency’s next triumph. And he may very well prove to be. But since October, he has repeatedly been accused of not being forthright about various episodes in his past, both troubling and embarrassing. There have been stories about Platner’s years-old Reddit comments, his Totenkopf tattoo, and whether—as the son of a Dartmouth-educated lawyer and the recipient of a private education—he was inflating his “working-class” background. Late last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner’s wife had discovered him sexting with other women in the spring of 2025. And last week the New York Times published a report about how some of Platner’s ex-girlfriends found him to be demeaning to women and, in at least one instance, physically threatening.

Platner has denied that last item. And he has continued to insist that he was unaware of the meaning of his tattoo. He has stressed that much of the controversy stems from a period in his life when he was struggling with PTSD following tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, overcoming a drinking problem and social isolation. And he has argued, more generally, that Maine voters are simply not as interested in or obsessed with dredging up the skeletons from his past as the national press corps is.

But the problem remains that he previously insisted there were no more skeletons. And there clearly were, leading to one of two conclusions:

That he wasn’t forthcoming or that the campaign didn’t have a real grasp of the damaging details out there. Either way, Democrats say, Fight Agency is to blame.

“This falls upon the consultants and operatives around Platner, no question about it,” said Michael Trujillo, a Democratic strategist who recently ran a super PAC supporting Antonio Villaraigosa for California governor (Fight Agency backed another candidate in the race, billionaire Tom Steyer). “This agency is serving the party raw cookie dough, and we’re getting sick of it.”

THE FALLOUT FROM THE PLATNER SAGA has led to intense fighting and factionalism within operative circles. Consultants aligned with the campaign have accused those critical of it of trying to plant stories designed to force Platner from the race. Their main target has been Genevieve McDonald, a former state legislator who was Platner’s political director.

McDonald left the campaign in October after Platner’s old Reddit account resurfaced. And she has not hidden her concern about the trajectory of the campaign. Platner’s allies have responded by attacking her for being a source for the Wall Street Journal sexting article, releasing incredibly private details that were divulged to her by Platner and his wife. Her defenders have said that the information was bound to come out at some point and the only question was whether it would happen before the primary or closer to November, when Democrats could be left trying to rally around a deeply damaged and problematic candidate.

In conversations with The Bulwark, McDonald made clear that she believed Platner’s past was a real liability. And she insisted that it was the consultants—who encouraged him to run for office despite knowing some of what was in that past—who were to blame.

“Fight Agency may cost us the U.S. Senate to be perfectly frank,” McDonald told me. “Maine Dems have a lot of work to do to clean up their mess.”

Whether or not McDonald is a disgruntled ex-staffer, her feelings were shared by a number of national Democratic operatives as well as other candidates and strategists in Maine whom I spoke with last week. They believe that Fight Agency was too eager to run out a candidate before Gov. Janet Mills, the party establishment’s top recruit, got into the race, in the process forgoing a more rigorous vetting process.

Platner was not the first candidate whom progressive-minded operatives wanted. As Michael Kruse reported in a profile for Politico last year, Democratic strategists Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan—alums of Bernie Sanders’s campaign—showed up at Platner’s mother’s restaurant last July to ask for her son’s phone number only after the candidate they’d initially recruited to run in the anti-establishment lane didn’t work out. Shortly after, Morris Katz, an operative at Fight Agency, was meeting with Platner at his house. And just a few weeks after that, Platner launched his campaign with a buzzy video that quickly went viral.

For a while, it worked. Platner’s forearm tattoos and bass voice, his clear comfort with populist politics, and his ease with digital campaigns helped turn him from a no-name oyster farmer into a viral Senate candidate. He drew huge audiences and overshadowed Mills. She eventually suspended her campaign. But the lack of extensive vetting caught up with Platner—and with Fight Agency.

“They ignored the red flags and put all of us in a bad position,” said a Maine-based Democratic strategist, who asked to be quoted anonymously in part because of a fear of professional retaliation.

When I asked other national operatives involved in candidate recruitment about the process for getting Platner launched, they told me that the timeline in this case was unusually short. Typically, they said, it takes at least a month to do a thorough vet—let alone recruit a candidate and stand up an entire campaign. The vetting process requires uncomfortable conversations with the candidate and their family, as well as going through personal finances and online social media accounts. And it usually involves paying an outside research firm to conduct an in-depth report, which results in a lengthy document of all the things that could be problems for the candidate. Then, the candidate and their team work through how they will respond, should those issues arise. Plus, additional time is needed prior to launching to figure out the campaign’s theme, message, and pathway to victory.

“It’s abnormal to have that kind of timeline to run for city council, let alone U.S. Senate,” said Trujillo. “You can’t even get a public records request back in the time that they met him to the time that they launched. It was absolutely unequivocally impossible that they did self-oppo thoroughly enough.”

Make friends and influence people: Pop this article into somebody’s inbox or post it to social media:

PLATNER’S DEFENDERS ARGUE that it is precisely because he has rough edges and an atypical past that he has been successful. Cookie-cutter candidates who have spent decades climbing the political ladder, they stress, aren’t set up for success in the current climate. If the Democrats want to make inroads with the voters they’ve lost to Trump, they need to be less cautious in the candidates they run.

“If you are going to engage a different type of voter with a different type of candidate, then you have to accept the fact that you’re not going to be able to catch all these things,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne.

Beyond that, it’s clear that Platner’s team did do some vetting. An operative close to the campaign told me Moraff hired a vetting firm in late July. Platner was also well aware that some of his background wouldn’t play well in an election. It’s why his Reddit posts were deleted just days before his campaign launched in mid-August. It’s also the reason we know about his sexting: Platner’s wife disclosed it to McDonald in the early days of his campaign out of concern that it could become a political problem.

Those close to the Platner campaign argue that the D.C. political class is overreacting to the negative stories. They emphasize that Maine voters are craving a different type of candidate and haven’t just shown a willingness to forgive Platner for his past mistakes, but continue to be enthused by his candidacy. And they note that small-donor fundraising hasn’t let up. Platner’s campaign announced last week that in the twenty-four hours after the New York Times article dropped, the campaign raised over $200,000 from more than 5,000 donors with an average contribution of $40—drawing in more money than on any day since Mills suspended her campaign on April 30.

“Let’s be very clear: we all want to win. We just have very different ideas of what it means to win in this environment,” said Rebecca Katz, a partner at Fight Agency. “Maybe it’s time to put the knives away and start focusing on what matters to folks outside of D.C.”

THE FRUSTATION WITH FIGHT AGENCY’S handling of the Platner race is symptomatic of a larger debate within the party—a debate not just over how to expand Democrats’ appeal but also over which consulting groups and operatives ought to be entrusted to bring the party into the future.

Payne was sympathetic to Fight Agency, noting that while there was risk in running Platner it has come with obvious reward. But other party strategists countered that Fight Agency’s basic theory of politics is flawed. They argued to me that the group’s support of Fetterman and Platner indicated a misunderstanding of working-class voters, that they were choosing to elevate people with a certain blue-collar aesthetic over candidates with genuine working-class roots. Fetterman and Platner are downwardly mobile well-off kids rather than authentically working class.¹

“What I find most revealing is that they think it is impossible to find working-class people who don’t talk this way or who don’t have these problems,” said a Democratic consultant, who has worked on the opposing sides of some of the Fight consultants on primary races. “It’s not that high of a bar to find somebody who isn’t an alcoholic or who isn’t spending ten years posting deeply offensive and hateful things on Reddit.”

Then there are those in the party who’ve stressed that Minority Leader Chuck Schumer deserves to shoulder just as much of the blame as Platner and his team. They argue that Schumer’s decision to recruit the term-limited Mills to the race—sending a clear signal to other ambitious Maine Democrats to get lost—led a slate of high-quality candidates to run for governor instead. While Mills hemmed and hawed all summer long about whether to run for Senate, the field was left wide open. Platner was largely alone in it, helping his candidacy to take off.

“Everyone is at fault,” said Amanda Litman, cofounder of Run For Something, which recruits and trains first-time candidates.

“It is hard to recruit candidates. You have to start with a very large number in order to then winnow it down to the best of the best. You have to do rigorous vetting. It takes staff, it takes time, and you can’t outsource it,” she added. “You gotta take a bunch of bets because most of them aren’t gonna pay off, but the ones that do, really do—like [Run For Something alum] James Talarico. And that takes time, it takes long-term planning.”

Perhaps that will be a lesson that Democrats take away from this primary season. But it won’t calm Democratic officials who are currently worried that they’re running out of time to course-correct in Maine. The Senate primary is on Tuesday. Platner will almost certainly win. He could under state law drop out of the race up until early July, in which case the party could select a new nominee. But even Platner’s critics don’t know if that would be the best move, noting all the complications that came after Kamala Harris was anointed instead of going through a competitive primary in 2024.

For now, it doesn’t look like Platner is going anywhere.

Speaking to hundreds of supporters at a campaign rally in Bar Harbor on Friday night, Platner told the crowd that they’ve helped build “the most powerful movement our state has ever seen.”

“When politically motivated, serious, and false accusations are made against me, Maine, you have my back,” he said. “And to all of you out there, Maine, I will always have your back.”

 


BIG logoBIG: The Monopoly Roundup, Analysis: Graham Platner and Stock Market Democrats, Matt Stoller, right, June 7-8, 2026. Lots of news happened on the monopoly front. Bernie Sanders suggested nationalizing big AI firms, states look like they are preparing to try and block the Paramount-Warner merger, and the stock market fell sharply on Friday.matt stoller

But this week, I want to start with a discussion about a deeply bitter political battle over the Senate candidacy of Maine Democrat Graham Platner, which is roiling the Democratic Party. I try to avoid discussing political races in BIG, but this one has broad implications for finance and market power.

Let’s start with some context. The emergence of monopoly in America is a fundamentally political phenomenon, based on choices made by policymakers over the last fifty years, from the late 1970s onward. The intellectual organizers of that era, on both sides of the aisle, argued the New Deal had been too rough on capital, and proposed deregulation, rolling back antitrust, and releasing the energies of Wall Street.

From Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton, they constructed a heavily financialized society, and a set of dominant firms, led by high technology. Part of this order was a security model based on an alliance with Israel, American dominance of the Middle East, and increasing foreign elite investment in the U.S. stock market and dollar assets.

This system almost ended multiple times. The 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq were shocks. But an even bigger moment occurred in 2007-2010, during the great financial crisis fostered by Too Big to Fail banks. At the time, there was an opportunity to reorder our philosophy of governance, to distribute power to ordinary people and away from Wall Street. The system had lost its popular legitimacy, no one believed that markets were free. But the Bush, and then Obama administrations, made a decision to double down, and, as Simon Johnson noted in 2010, build an oligarchy.

Just after that set of choices, the anti-monopoly movement was born. Lina Khan started doing journalism, Zohran Mamdani got into politics. And an angry bartender at a D.C. spot called the Tune Inn served drinks. Graham Platner was a veteran, having served four violent tours abroad, and loathed the banks. His bar was where Congressional reporters gathered, and discussed their views of politics, Congress, and power. He eventually returned to Maine, and began oyster farming.X avatar for @zachdcarter Zachary D. Carter@zachdcarterHa, one reason Platner reminds me of guys I used to know is that he’s literally a guy I used to know. Worked at the Tune Inn when I was a Hill(ish) reporter. He was quiet then, but had correct opinions about banks. Zachary D. Carter @zachdcarterGenuinely don't get why so many folks are so upset about Platner. Strikes me as very likeable, reminds me of multiple people I know.7:14 PM · Jun 7, 2026 · 86.7K Views12 Replies · 31 Reposts · 415 Likes

Voters have been getting angrier and angrier since the financial crisis. Donald Trump was one symptom. This bartender, who declared for Senate last year and caught fire among Democratic primary voters, is another. In ordinary times, a random person like Platner would be laughed out of a Senate race. But America is looking for newcomers, and Platner is certainly that.

In the early 2020s, debates on the right were what mattered, because there was a fight over how Donald Trump would govern. A party out of power has flexibility to fight over ideas, without the responsibility to govern. The monopolists and proponents of the status quo on security architecture by and large won that debate, and Trump’s second term is the result.

Now the battle is happening among Democrats, and market power is an important subtext. I’ve written about this dynamic before, when I discussed the Democratic Party’s cult of powerlessness, how split Democrats are when it comes to oligarchy, and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s shocking win last year. Right now, as odd as it seems, this debate is happening through the veil of Graham Platner.

Platner has a clear anti-corporate philosophy, which we saw last year when he coherently discussed, of all things, lobster regulations.

“The state of Maine has passed laws over the years that have regulated the lobster industry in a very specific way, and it means there’s one boat, one captain, one license. Fishing can only be conducted while the captain is aboard. This has entirely disincentivized consolidation,” he explained. “The result is a half-a-billion-dollar-a-year industry for the state of Maine that has almost no corporate ownership.”

Platner is a populist. He rejects corporate PAC money, supports breaking up health care monopolies, called to “bring the hammer of antitrust” down on the Paramount-Warner merger, and has even gone after the Fanatics monopoly for screwing over sports fans. And his broad view is that big business today is simply too profitable.X avatar for @grahamformaine Graham Platner for Senate@grahamformaineCorporate profits are at their highest level in modern history. They're bleeding us dry, and unless working people take this country back they'll leave us with nothing.Image4:36 PM · Feb 3, 2026 · 37.4K Views97 Replies · 458 Reposts · 2.21K Likes

He also has a basic opposition to the U.S. alliance with Israel and the broad security architecture underpinning the post-Cold War world. Like Mamdani, Platner does not see a world dominated by American finance as a safe place, or worth preserving. And that is a frightening prospect to most political and economic elites, whose positions of prestige and wealth are dependent on this particular architecture, and whose last real challenge was during the Great Financial Crisis.

In the primary, Platner faced a lethargic and disliked establishment candidate, Maine Governor Janet Mills, and easily defeated her. In the general election, he will go up against Susan Collins, a 30 year institution in the state, widely respected for her bipartisan gravitas and powerful ability to bring home Federal funding to Maine.

So that’s the setup.

This week, the New York Times initiated a scandal, publishing allegations of a professional conservative political operative, Lyndsey Fifield, who dated Platner, and called his behavior “unsettling,” saying he hated women, and was “cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions, of our ‘weakness.’” She claimed he “yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.” Platner has well-known struggles with PTSD, and covered up a controversial skull and bones tattoo he got in Croatia, a common thing for U.S. soldiers, but also associated with Nazi imagery.

After the Times published this story, the party exploded in acrimonious argument about Platner’s character. The scandal is layered onto typical intra-party discussions about who is best set up to win a particular political race. Can Platner win the Senate seat? Will the Democrats be giving up on the Senate? Is he electable? The debate seems to be about allegations of sordid behavior. Some believe her, others do not. I do not have any particular insight in this race or this scandal, I will simply note what has been revealed so far has not been enough to derail Platner’s candidacy among voters.

But if you look at the money in this race, another possible way to understand the situation is to see scandal and electability as a fulcrum to discuss ideology. Today, with AI data centers and foreign wars deeply disliked, it would be extremely unpopular to explicitly articulate a pro-oligarchy and pro-Iran war posture. It’s much easier to allege a sordid scandal. As with Mamdani’s alleged anti-semitism, those topics become the way we have a discussion about the social order.

The money involved in the race gives us a hint of what this debate is about. For instance, the biggest donor to Susan Collins is a hedge fund billionaire named Ken Griffin, who gave her $2.5 million. Griffin became a Collins supporter in 2017, after she single-handedly rescued a tax break that lets hedge funds and private equity firms pay less in taxes. She’s also a big recipient of AIPAC money, and a billionaire-associated SuperPAC has already reserved $23 million in ad spending for her. These are not criticisms of Collins, but simply observations that her constituency is the existing political and economic elite.

And Griffin is not just a random rich guy, he’s a politically connected monopolist. His company, Citadel, has an important position in the equity market structure, he was a big part of the GameStop market saga. He is an important creditor of Spirit Airlines, and helped throw that company into insolvency. He’s also politically savvy. He declared war on Mamdani in New York City after Mamdani suggested he should pay more in taxes. As a proponent of the U.S.-Israel alliance, Griffin is part of the economic elite who sees immense value in the existing global security and financial architecture. And while he is a supporter of Trump, Griffin had harsh words for the President over his tariff policy.

Griffin, in other words, shows that the campaign against Platner and that against Mamdani have the same financial and political organizers. Griffin is an important leader that other powerful billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos, are rallying around. Both ex-Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and ex-Fed Chair Janet Yellen were on his firm’s payroll. The campaign against Platner is coming from politically connected organizers of capital.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Vance Never Met a Racial Controversy He Didn’t Like, Cathy Young, June 8, 2026. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who used D-Day commemorations in Normandy to lecture Europe on resisting a new “invasion,” wasn’t the only Trump administration figure to annoy our allies with anti-immigration harangues in recent days.

bulwark logo big shipOn Friday, the office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized those who would “interfere in our democracy” by exploiting the murder of 18-year-old British student Henry Nowak after his killer, Vickrum Digwa—a Sikh of Indian background—was sentenced to 21 years to life. That was a veiled swipe at Vice President JD Vance, who jumped into the controversy over the police response to Nowak’s fatal stabbing last December with a post saying Nowak would be alive if “European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants.”

The outrage over the circumstances of Nowak’s death is legitimate. Digwa stabbed Nowak multiple times after a minor (non-racial) verbal altercation. But it was Digwa and his brother, not Nowak, who called the police to report a violent racial assault. When the police arrived on the scene, they initially dismissed Nowak’s pleas that he’d been stabbed. The victim, bleeding internally and barely conscious, was handcuffed and arrested for assault; only then, after a cursory check, did the police call an ambulance and try CPR. Digwa was arrested a few minutes later, and Nowak was soon declared dead. (I discuss the incident in more detail in an article in Persuasion.)

Though the pathologist on the case declared that Nowak could not have been saved, it’s still horrifying that one of the last things he heard was “You are under arrest.” Many people, including commentators who are not on the right, think this appalling police negligence may have stemmed at least partly from hypersensitivity about racism based on an “overcorrection” in response to legitimate concerns about biased policing. Or maybe, as conservative British analyst Andrew Fox argues in Quillette, it was lazy assumptions based on the Digwas’ police call (how often does the murderer call the cops, after all?); the belief that, as the Digwas had claimed, the man on the ground was a violent drunk; and the lack of visible stab wounds or blood. There is now a well-warranted official investigation.

But far-right narratives pushed by politicians like Nigel Farage and media outlets like the GB News TV channel have promoted a drastically distorted account in which “woke” antiwhite racism caused the police to let Nowak die in a pool of his own blood. These hyperbolic accusations have already led to violent protests against the police and harassment toward Sikhs. Nowak’s family has asked that their tragedy not become a cause of division.

jd vance oEnter Vance, right, not only denouncing the uncaring authorities but blaming Nowak’s death on immigration. Presumably, this means that Digwa, whose father is British-born and whose mother immigrated legally from India thirty years ago, should not have been in England. (One may only wonder what Second Lady Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants, thinks.) Presumably, Vance also means non-white immigration, since Nowak himself was the son of an immigrant from Poland. It’s repulsive, bigoted demagoguery, all the more vile since it exploits an awful tragedy to praise the Trump administration’s efforts to stop “mass migration.” But what else is new?

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • Soldiers Need Clarity From the President... When the commander-in-chief speaks, the troops—and our allies—listen, MARK HERTLING writes.
  • bulwark logo big shipTonight! The Bulwark Book Club kicks off with MARK HERTLING joining MONA CHAREN at 7 p.m. Eastern to discuss If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal. This is exclusively for Bulwark+ members on Substack and YouTube. Join now.
  • What a Russian Army Collapse Might Look Like… The Ukrainians are trying to break the Russian military—and they just might do it, argues BRYNN TANNEHILL.
  • North Korea’s New Nuclear Doctrine… On Shield of the Republic, ERIC EDELMAN and ELIOT COHEN discuss the latest jackassery before pivoting to the war with Iran and under-reported nuclear developments on the Korean Peninsula.

Quick Hits

PRESIDENTIAL HISSY FIT: Donald Trump’s done a lot of combative press interviews over the years, but it’s been a while since he ragequit one. In a Meet the Press interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker aired yesterday—taped in a barn in Wisconsin and frequently interrupted by torrential rain—the president gradually melted down over his stolen-election claims, insisting that the 2020 election had been rigged against him, that January 6th rioters who pled guilty to assaulting cops had actually been innocent, and that Democrats are rigging another primary election in California as we speak.¹ As Welker repeatedly pressed him to give evidence for any of these claims, Trump repeatedly dodged: “There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence. . . . All I have to do is look. . . . I listen to people.” He got madder and madder until: “You’re a one-sided crooked network,” he spat. “Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

It was all the base-pleasing hits he’s played a thousand times before: The elections are crooked, the press is crooked, everybody’s crooked except Donald J. Trump. Another major interview, in other words, in which Trump failed to do a thing to neutralize the enormous hole he’s dug himself with voters ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

DON’T TELL ME PEOPLE ARE MAD ABOUT THE ECONOMY: There were many other interesting moments in Trump’s Welker interview, but here’s another that stood out: As Welker repeatedly asked Trump what his message was to farmers who have been hammered by the economic effects of the Iran War, Trump repeatedly refused to give them a message at all, simply insisting that “nobody’s been better to farmers” and “I love the farmers and the farmers love me.”

It was a striking illustration of Trump’s bizarre unwillingness to engage on one of his key negative issues: voters’ growing fury about the cost of living in America.

Meanwhile, anti-Trump groups are gearing up to turn the heat up on Trump on the issue ahead of the midterms. This morning, our friends at Home of the Brave launched a new ad blitz in sixteen states highlighting spiking prices in essentials like gas and groceries, including a faintly horrifying AI spoof of Wal-Mart’s old price-rollback ads, which you can watch here.

New York Times, Progressive Challenger Overtakes Spencer Pratt in Race for L.A. Mayor, Shawn Hubler, June 8, 2026 (print ed.). Nithya Raman pulled into second place in the race to see who will face Mayor Karen Bass in November. There are more votes to be counted.

Nithya Raman, a progressive member of the Los Angeles City Council, pulled ahead of the reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral primary on Sunday, as a surge in the vote count signaled a potential shift in the race for second place.

Five days after the election deadline, it remained officially undetermined who will face Mayor Karen Bass, the incumbent, in the November contest to decide who will lead the nation’s second most populous city. The Associated Press, which estimates that about 80 percent of the vote has been counted, has not determined a winner.

But late returns have trended heavily in favor of the liberals who make up an overwhelming majority of the city’s electorate.

Ms. Bass, 72, a former Democratic congresswoman who has already advanced to the November runoff, remained in the lead with 34.7 percent of the vote, according to the updated tally released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.

Ms. Raman, 44, who has steadily gained ground as the count has progressed, had 27.1percent, enough to overtake Mr. Pratt by a little more than 3,000 votes. He had been running in second place since election night.

A resident of Pacific Palisades who lost his home in the fire and channeled the fury of his neighbors, Mr. Pratt, 42, a Republican, dropped to third place with 26.7 percent of the vote.

A Los Angeles mayoral candidate can win outright by receiving a majority of votes in the primary. Otherwise, the top two finishers regardless of party advance to a November runoff in the nonpartisan race.

Los Angeles residents vote by mail in large numbers, and ballot counting is a slow process, with leads often shifting as the tally drags on for days or even weeks. Mail-in ballots with an Election Day postmark are accepted by county election officials through June 9.

 

 

michael fanone showMichael Fanone via Substack, Opinion: Everyone’s Asking If Jon Ossoff Will Run in 2028, Michael Fanone, above, June 8, 2026. Anyone who reads me knows I hate endorsing politicians. I’ve been burned enough times to know better. So I’m not endorsing Jon Ossoff. Not yet, at least.

But if you’ve been online the last couple of weeks, you’ve felt the buzz around him. When Ossoff kicked off his reelection campaign in Atlanta, he tore into Donald Trump’s “Mar-a-Lago mafia,” and clips of the speech went viral. Almost immediately, the political class started floating him as a 2028 presidential contender.

Today, Michelle Goldberg wrote a whole column in the New York Times under the headline “Why Everyone Wants Jon Ossoff to Run for President.” Mediaite said the speech sparked “front runner” predictions. Newsweek asked if he’s the man Democrats have been waiting for. The New Republic crowned him a Democratic rock star. The prediction markets have him near the top of the field.

But Ossoff himself keeps swatting it down. He told Jen Psaki flat out he has “zero interest in running for president in 2028,” and that he loves serving Georgia and has two young daughters. He even warned people against playing “fantasy football” with 2028.

jon ossoff at podium uncreditedAnd he’s right to wave the speculation off. Because whether Jon Ossoff, shown above in a file photo,runs for president is the least interesting thing about his story.

The more interesting question is, well, what’s getting everybody got so excited in the first place? And the answer isn’t his looks, or his age, or that he’s from a swing state, but what he’s actually talking about: corruption and accountability.

I’ve spent months on this page writing about the same issues in this country. So when a politician puts that exact issue at the center of his pitch and the country lights up, I pay attention. Because it tells me that people are desperate for someone to name this stuff out loud.

At a rally in Atlanta, he called the Trump White House “the most corrupt administration of all time, and everybody knows it,” and pointed out that while your premiums skyrocket and hospitals cut services, the First Family is “raking in billions of dollars.” He picks examples and drives them home: another week it was a tungsten mine in Kazakhstan, where, as he told it, Trump’s sons took a stake in a mining company days before its parent landed $1.6 billion in federal financing.

He helped coin the phrase “the Epstein class” for the rich people of both parties who covered for the child sex trafficker. As Goldberg put it in the Times, the excitement “stems from his skill in eviscerating Trump’s gluttonous profiteering, his brazen attempts to turn this country into the most squalid sort of kleptocracy.”

Now here’s what consultants always miss. Running on accountability isn’t just the righteous thing, but the smart thing. It wins.

Goldberg’s column quotes a Stanford political scientist, Adam Bonica, who points out that corruption has been “the fatal weakness of authoritarian regimes” across decades and continents, and that outrage over looting is what brought down strongmen from the Philippines to Ukraine to Hungary. An anti-corruption message, he argues, offers something ordinary partisan politics usually can’t: the moral authority to unite a whole society against a rigged system. That’s not a left thing or a right thing, but a human thing, because everybody hates a thief.

And you don’t have to fly to Hungary to see it. The Bulwark and Jacobin, outlets that agree on very little, have all landed in the same place lately: anti-corruption may be the most potent issue Democrats have. Now, Jon Ossoff is proving it.

And I trust Ossoff more than most: he didn’t just discover the corruption issue when it started polling well. As chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, he ran a ten-month bipartisan investigation into the federal Bureau of Prisons, exposed the abuse and misconduct rotting the Federal Correction Institution in Atlanta, and wrote a law on the topic — the Federal Prison Oversight Act — that actually passed.

I spent twenty years as a cop watching what happens when nobody checks the people with power. And law and order requires people like Ossoff who bring accountability for the people meant to enforce it, too.

So set the 2028 parlor game aside. Goldberg ended her column with this line: “Whether or not he runs for president, the party can learn something from his approach.” Now, John Fetterman’s smart-money advice was to soften, tack to the center, maybe say something nice about the president. But Ossoff is doing the opposite, and it’s working.

I’ve spent this spring writing open letters to Democrats who had the chance to fight and went quiet instead. I wrote about Fetterman, who’d rather lecture his own voters than fight Donald Trump, and Abigail Spanberger, a governor who campaigned on accountability and abandoned it.

Democrats like those two keep treating this moment like it calls for caution. But it doesn’t. And if they have any political ambitions, they should learn from the Georgia senator who can’t kill the presidential talk no matter how many times he says he’s not interested.

More Global News

New York Times, Opinion: In Russia, Rage Is Boiling Over, Andrei Zakharov (a Russian journalist and the author of “The Russian Cyberpunk"), June 8, 2026. Over the past year, Russian authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and coercing citizens to migrate to MAX, a new state-endorsed messenger platform. The messages there are presumed to be fully accessible to the F.S.B., the state security agency that succeeded the Soviet K.G.B. 

Usually the Kremlin faces dissent only from the small, liberal, perpetually-opposed-to-Putin part of society. But the state’s latest policies — blocking the internet on people’s phones, social media and internet messaging apps and running pro-MAX programming around the clock on many other broadcasts on Channel One — are generating criticism among the core of people who favored the war against Ukraine. Exacerbating frustrations at the rising costs of the war — in mid-May, Moscow was hit by a record-breaking Ukrainian drone attack — these internet restrictions have left everybody angry, and the rage is boiling over.

Mr. Putin and his cronies have been trying to restrict Russians’ access to the internet for a long time. The bans are always carried out using the same playbook: While denying people access to a service, the authorities offer them a Russian alternative, owned by people close to the Kremlin. If you can’t use Facebook, just use VK, whose chief executive is the son of Mr. Putin’s curator of domestic policy. If you can’t use YouTube, just use VK Video. These transfers are actively encouraged by the state-controlled media, which loudly accuse Western services of not complying with Russian law.

Only opponents of the regime were sounding the alarm when the government blocked independent media and platforms such as Twitter, popular mostly among urban freethinkers. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, however, the restrictions have grown much tighter. Now, most international social media platforms with audiences of tens of millions are blocked or slowed down: Facebook and Instagram in 2022, YouTube in 2024 and, most recently, Telegram in 2025.

Restricting Telegram seems to have been a bridge too far for many Russians. Telegram, which combines private messaging and news channels, had essentially become the top Russian media app for both services. After the invasion of Ukraine, the audiences of pro-war Telegram channels grew to millions of users, and the channels became a central means of communication for Russian soldiers at the front line.Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.

Today, the pro-war audience is not happy. In their posts, members are even using the word “grandpa,” a derogatory nickname for Mr. Putin that was previously used mainly by the opposition. It refers not only to his age, 73, but to his relationship with modern technology. The Russian president does not use a smartphone, and only watches television and reads written news reports.

Why have Russians taken the banning of Telegram so personally? Being cut off from both Telegram and WhatsApp seems to have broken the social contract that people made with Mr. Putin’s regime many years ago: As long as the people stay out of politics, the Kremlin will stay out of people’s private lives. Many in Russia viewed the deal as affording a degree of material comfort in exchange for their political loyalty.

For the modern world, unfettered internet access is just as important as a good car or new clothes. Only the Kremlin’s grandpas, who don’t use the internet themselves, seem not to understand that. Along with the app bans, there have been frequent internet shutdowns in the past year across the country. When a shutdown happens, you can gain access only to sites on the so-called white list, the collection of websites and services preapproved by the government.

The official reason for the shutdowns is to minimize the consequences of Ukrainian drone attacks. In practice, they have had no effect on the attacks’ success; one recent wave in March managed to briefly disrupt ports on the Baltic Sea, through which up to half of Russia’s oil exports pass. Many Russians believe that this is a part of the state’s bigger strategy of building a sovereign internet, a corner of cyberspace completely controlled by the Russian state. They also suspect that such internet shutdowns will eventually become the norm. In some regions, especially those near the border with Ukraine, they already have.

Sports, Culture, Entertainment, Religion

 

FIFA 2026 world cup

The Athlletic via The New York Times, This World Cup is uniquely challenging: it’s not the heat, the altitude or travel – it’s the combination, Alan McCallBy, Updated June 7, 2026. This article introduces The Athletic’s World Cup performance series, in which Alan McCall draws on more than 20 years of experience across elite football to explain the science behind the challenges teams are facing this summer and the strategies they will use to deal with them. He begins unpacking the unique challenges of preparing for a World Cup that spans three countries and a dizzying range of conditions.

The 2026 World Cup will expose teams to an unusually complex mix of environmental and logistical challenges across three countries, multiple climates, vast travel distances, and potentially differing altitudes and time zones — not because these challenges are new to World Cups, but because they may be more pronounced and variable across a single tournament than ever.

Environmental and logistical challenges are part of international tournament football. Teams have long been required to adapt to demanding and often unpredictable conditions, from altitude in Mexico in 1986 to the heat of the United States in 1994 to travel across countries in South Korea and Japan in 2002.

More recently, Russia in 2018 brought extensive travel distances but generally moderate and relatively consistent environmental conditions, while Qatar in 2022 presented a different type of challenge — a World Cup played during the middle of the club season for many of the world’s elite players, but with minimal travel between venues and climate-regulated stadiums.

These were significant demands, but they were often more stable, predictable, or centred on one primary factor, allowing teams to prepare more specifically.

The demands of 2026, however, cannot be so easily separated. The challenge at this summer’s World Cup lies in the cumulative effect of transitioning between environments across matches, and the variability this creates for preparation, recovery, and performance.Fluminense players trying to cool off during the Club World Cup at the New York/New Jersey stadium last summerPaul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

Across a World Cup, these performance influencing pressures accumulate. Match play naturally induces fatigue and can disrupt sleep. Travel compounds this, particularly when combined with changes in climate, altitude, and routine. Heat and humidity likely further impair recovery, while altitude adds an additional physiological strain. These factors do not act alone — they interact and influence physical recovery, mental freshness, and decision-making across the tournament.

Throughout this World Cup Performance series, I will draw on more than 20 years of experience across club and international elite football, alongside conversations with elite players, medical and performance staff, and leading researchers, to explore how teams are likely approaching these challenges and the science and practical realities shaping those strategies.

June 7

Top Headlines

 normandy american cemetery

pete hegseth normandy 6 6 2026 uncredited

  • Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Hegseth dishonored D-Day in front of the entire world, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 7, 2026. At 2:54 p.m. local time in Normandy, France, Pete Hegseth (shown above below a view of the American cemetery at the battleground) stood among the graves of thousands of American service members who never came home. But instead of focusing on the sacrifice, courage, and humanity of the young men who crossed an ocean to confront fascism, Hegseth transformed a solemn remembrance into yet another political rally. 
  • Meidas Touch Network, Commentary: Sunday Afternoon Updates: Trump Storms Off Meet the Press, Israel Strikes Beirut + More, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 7, 2026. Top Stories. 
  • Newsweek, Trump Posts Doctored Music Video Saying Everyone Around World Loves Him, Giulia Carbonaro, June 6, 2026. President Donald Trump shared a self-celebratory AI-generated music video on social media which uses his name 45 times and claims that people all around the world love him.
  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 6, 2026 [$70 billion more for Trump enforcement actions], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 7, 2026. In the wee hours of Friday morning, Senate Republicans passed a measure to provide about $70 billion in additional funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the parent agency for Border Patrol. They did so without meeting any of the demands Democrats had made to reform ICE and Border Patrol in the wake of the violent sweeps that led to the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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While Donald J. Trump sleeps, they steal....

  • Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary, Trump is falling apart, and the people around him are racing to cash in, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 6-7, 2026. Just before 5:00 in the morning, after an all-night vote-a-rama, the Senate approved nearly $70 billion in new funding for ICE and Border Patrol, along with something no other American has ever received.
  • rfk jr oNew York Times, Kennedy Shows Minimal Engagement With Vast Health Portfolio, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, June 7, 2026. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, has demonstrated little interest in managing his sprawling department as he focuses on food and vaccine policies, according to colleagues. Mr. Kennedy, who is isolated from much of his top staff, leans on a small number of key advisers.
  • The Warning with Steve Schmidt, Opinion: Donald Trump Won't Rebound, Steve Schmidt, June 5, 2026. Trump can't stay awake and can barely speak. Steve Schmidt breaks down Trump's decomposing regime, his collapsing legacy, and his blatant compensatory and narcissistic monuments.
  • Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: The Coming Revival of America, Robert Reich, right, robert reich color headshotJune 7, 2026. Trump has shown us why we need a good and decent government. 

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  • New York Times, Trump Looms Over Pivotal Republican Senate Runoff in Georgia, Patricia Mazzei, June 7, 2026. The president has not yet endorsed Representative Mike Collins or Derek Dooley, a former football coach, in the race to challenge the Democratic senator, Jon Ossoff.
  • New York Times, They Vied for Trump’s Endorsement. Will It Matter? Eduardo Medina and Emily Cochrane,.June 7, 2026. The Republican candidates for South Carolina governor went to extraordinary lengths for the president’s support. But his choice of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette has not quite sealed the deal among voters.

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The late U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, a Nevada Republican, and the late FBI Las Vegas Field Office Supervisor Joe Yablonsky, a would-be whistleblower on the senator's corruption.The late U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, a Nevada Republican, and the late FBI Las Vegas Field Office Supervisor Joe Yablonsky, a would-be whistleblower on the senator's corruption.

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Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi, center right, joins other Trump administration officials in boasting in February 2025 outside the White House that they held in their hands Then-Trump Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi, center right, joins other Trump administration officials in boasting in February 2025 outside the White House that they held in their hands "The Epstein Files" in binders that they would soon release

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Heather Delaney Reese, Opinion: Hegseth dishonored D-Day in front of the entire world, Heather Delaney Reese, right, heather delaney reeseJune 7, 2026. At 2:54 p.m. local time in Normandy, France, Pete Hegseth (shown above below a view of the American cemetery at the battleground) stood among the graves of thousands of American service members who never came home. He was there to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, to honor the Allied troops who stormed those beaches and helped liberate Europe from one of the darkest chapters in human history.

But instead of focusing on the sacrifice, courage, and humanity of the young men who crossed an ocean to confront fascism, Hegseth transformed a solemn remembrance into yet another political rally. Standing on ground made sacred by those who fought and died for freedom, he compared modern immigration by sea to an invasion, bringing his anti-immigrant rhetoric into one of the most hallowed places in the Western world. “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late?” he said. “I pray not, and I believe not.” In that moment, the most disturbing part was not simply what he said. It was where he said it.

Department of Defense SealHe could have said those same words from a podium anywhere else in the world, and they would have been ugly. But he chose to say them on a bluff above Omaha Beach, over the graves of thousands of Americans who crossed an ocean to destroy fascism, and that choice is what turned ugly into desecration. It was an attempt to borrow the legitimacy of the dead. To wrap a modern political grievance in the sacrifice of a generation that fought and died for something far greater than fear. The ground was not the backdrop to his message. The ground was the message. He needed the dead. He needed the moral authority of men and women who can no longer speak, and he used it to give weight to something unworthy of their sacrifice.

What he did was use sacred ground to launder far-right anti-immigrant rhetoric. And he built the comparison not with a single sentence, but with the language itself. Earlier in the same speech, he spoke of the men who landed on those beaches, and he warned that in the years since, much of the West had grown comfortable. Then he turned, and the same words came back aimed in a different direction. Different European beaches, he said, are now stormed by dangerous ideologies. Beaches. Stormed. The exact vocabulary of June 6, 1944, lifted from the history being honored and laid over migrants arriving in boats. The word “invasion,” which on that ground carries the weight of liberation, he reassigned to desperate people crossing the Mediterranean. He placed migrants in the rhetorical role the Nazis occupied in actual history, and he cast closed borders in the role of the liberators. That is the inversion. That is the deception hiding inside the ceremony.

There was another layer to what Hegseth was doing. The very people being honored that day had themselves crossed an ocean to canadian flagreach those beaches. Americans, Canadians, British troops, and Allied forces arrived from distant shores to liberate a continent from tyranny. Their mission was liberation, not conquest, and the circumstances could not be more different. But standing on a coastline forever defined by men arriving from across the sea, Hegseth chose that same imagery to portray today’s migrants as a threat. He took one of history’s most celebrated examples of people crossing oceans in the name of freedom and repurposed its language to fuel fear of those crossing oceans in search of safety, opportunity, or survival. It was a comparison that turned history inside out.

And that wasn’t the only contradiction. Before he turned to immigration, Hegseth spent part of the speech praising the Allied coalition that fought on those beaches. He spoke about real allies making real sacrifices and named the countries we stood shoulder to shoulder with: Great Britain, Canada, France, Norway, Poland, and others. He honored the nations that bled with us, that lost sons and daughters alongside our own, and then, moments later, used the same stage to lecture their descendants about an alleged invasion and their failure to defend their countries. He delivered that warning as a guest in France, standing in a french flagcemetery on French soil that exists because France chose to preserve the memory of American sacrifice. There is something deeply heartbreaking and devastating about that. The allies of the past are treated as heroes. The allies of the present are treated as obstacles, failures, or cautionary tales. And somehow, on a day meant to honor partnership and shared sacrifice, that contradiction never seemed to occur to him.

Then he told the crowd that America saved Western civilization. And in that moment, I found myself feeling more sad than angry. Because D-Day is not the story of one nation rescuing the world. It is the story of countries setting aside their differences and sacrificing together in the face of evil. To stand in Normandy and reduce that history to another exercise in American exceptionalism feels like a betrayal of the very lesson thos

Meidas Touch Network, Commentary: Sunday Afternoon Updates: Trump Storms Off Meet the Press, Israel Strikes Beirut + More, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 7, 2026. Top Stories:

  • Trump melts down during Meet the Press interview with Kristen Welker, calls her “crooked,” rips off his mic, and storms off set
  • Israel launches airstrikes on Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood, Iran threatens full-scale war response and “Operation True Promise 5”
  • North Korea ramps up Hwasong-11 ballistic missile production while Trump praises the Ayatollah
  • Federal lawsuit seeks emergency court order to block UFC event at the White House
  • Trump’s planned attendance at NBA Finals Game 3 sparks Knicks fan fury
  • California election updates

Let’s start with the big one. Donald Trump sat down with NBC News anchor Kristen Welker for what was supposed to be a wide-ranging interview on Meet the Press. It did not go well for him, and by the end, he called Welker “crooked,” ripped off his microphone, and stormed off the set. It was a complete crash out.

mtn meidas touch networkThe interview covered Iran, U.S. troops in the Middle East, American hostages, the impact of tariffs on American farmers, and election fraud claims. Trump grew increasingly unhinged throughout, and Welker, to her credit, kept pressing him with basic, straightforward questions that he simply could not answer.

On Iran, Trump said he plans to resolve the situation either through a deal or by blowing them “the hell up.” He also warned that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, going so far as to say that if they did, there would be no more NBC, no more Meet the Press. I mean, what is he talking about? His own intelligence community said Iran did not have nuclear weapons capability. Now he’s out here threatening NBC with nuclear annihilation? This is how far gone he is.

He also praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him “younger and more rational” and expressing willingness to meet with him. This from the same guy who, moments earlier, was threatening to blow Iran off the map. The whiplash is remarkable. It’s giving Kim Jong Un love letters all over again — and we all saw how much good that did, but more on North Korea in a moment.

When Welker asked whether Trump had kept his campaign promise of no new wars, he flatly said he never promised anything. He didn’t promise anything. Okay. So all those rallies, all those speeches, none of that counts apparently.

Welker also pressed him on why, if he’s such a great dealmaker, he never finalized an Iran nuclear deal during his entire first term after tearing up Obama’s agreement. Trump’s answer was that it takes years to do these things and it has only been three months. So now the war could take years? Making a deal could take years? His first term was four years. Where’s the deal? Where are the 90 trade deals in 90 days he promised? Where is any deal, in writing, anywhere? There isn’t one, because the whole dealmaker persona is a fraud.

On American hostages potentially held by Iran, Trump said nobody really has an accurate list of who they are or whether they’re even being held. He’s the president of the United States. He’s been conducting military operations against Iran. And he’s telling us he doesn’t know who the hostages are. He told Welker that if she gave him the names, he’d do his best.Subscribed

On farmers: when Welker cited a statistic that 70% of farmers say they cannot afford fertilizer because of tariffs, Trump said the farmers are doing very well. That’s it.

The whole thing finally came apart when the conversation turned to election fraud. Trump claimed the 2020 election was rigged and that fraud is currently happening in California. When Welker asked if he had evidence, he said, “All I have to do is look.” She pushed back. He called her crooked and stupid, then got up and left. 

Israel Strikes Beirut, Iran Threatens Full-Scale War

Israel FlagWhile Trump was busy storming off a TV set, the situation in the Middle East continued to deteriorate. Israel launched airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood, acting on direct orders from Netanyahu per the IDF. Iran had made very clear, before these strikes, that any attack on Beirut would constitute a violation of the ceasefire and trigger a direct military response against Israel.

mojtaba khameneiThat response now appears to be coming. Iran’s IRGC announced it is ready to execute “Operation True Promise 5” against Israel. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, right, has authorized a full-scale resumption of hostilities. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council convened an emergency session. Iranian state TV is promising a “painful and decisive response.” Iran has issued evacuation warnings to residents in northern Israeli territory and transferred coordinates of Israeli targets to its missile units. An Iranian MP warned residents to “look at the sky over the occupied lands tonight.”

This is exactly what was always going to happen. Trump announced a ceasefire weeks ago and declared victory. Netanyahu never accepted it as binding. He kept pushing, kept escalating, kept probing for the moment he could drag everyone back into open conflict. And here we are.

This is Donald Trump’s weakness on full display. The whole world sees it. Netanyahu is using Trump, and Trump either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because the alternative is admitting he has no control over what’s happening.North Korea: Missiles and No Love Returned

kim jong un uniformedSpeaking of Trump’s brilliant diplomatic instincts — while he was on Meet the Press praising Iran’s new Ayatollah and talking about the “great respect” and “bravery” he sees in him, North Korean state media published footage of Kim Jong Un inspecting a defense plant and personally reviewing the fulfillment of ballistic missile production plans for the first half of 2026. The scale of Hwasong-11 production currently underway is massive, per state media.

Trump said Kim Jong Un and he exchanged love letters. He called him talented. He said they had a special relationship. North Korea has spent every day since then expanding its nuclear arsenal. The whole world sees this pattern. Flattery doesn’t work on dictators who are pursuing weapons of mass destruction. It just gives them cover.

 

Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

djt mount rushmore

Newsweek, Trump Posts Doctored Music Video Saying Everyone Around World Loves Him, Giulia Carbonaro, June 6, 2026. President Donald Trump shared a self-celebratory AI-generated music video on social media which uses his name 45 times and claims that people all around the world love him.

newsweek logoThe one-minute video, which features several AI-generated versions of Donald Trump traveling across the globe and being greeted by leaders and citizens alike, was created by a user identified on Truth Social as "ac132."

On the social media platform, where the president published the video early on Saturday, the user said: "I am proud to be endorsed by President Trump who I wrote this song about."

At the end of the clip, the song itself is credited to Anthony Constantino, a Trump-endorsed Republican congressional candidate in New York.

It is the latest example of Trump’s adoption of AI-generated imagery, which he has personally embraced and continued to share on his social media profiles despite recently receiving backlash over an AI-generated photo portraying him as a Jesus-like figure.

After receiving criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, including former allies such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and religious conservatives who typically support him, the president deleted the post and explained that it was actually a representation of himself as a doctor.

"It wasn’t a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker, which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one," he said in April.

The music clip shared this weekend shows the president paragliding, planting the U.S. flag on the moon in a spacesuit, riding a camel, riding a motorcycle through the streets of India, and even riding a lion. His face also appears on a pizza, a double-decker bus, and in the Northern lights.

ICE logoLetters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 6, 2026 [$70 billion more for Trump enforcement actions], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 7, 2026. In the wee hours of Friday morning, Senate Republicans passed a measure to provide about $70 billion in additional funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the parent agency for Border Patrol. They did so without meeting any of the demands Democrats had made to reform ICE and Border Patrol in the wake of the violent sweeps that led to the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

While Republicans tried to insist that Democrats who demanded reforms were starving immigration enforcement, in fact, the budget reconciliation measure the Republicans passed in July of last year—they one us customs logothey call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—provided an astonishing $191 billion to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with about $75 billion for ICE and $65 billion for CBP. According to Dominik Lett of the libertarian Cato Institute, those numbers were seven times ICE’s previous annual budget and four times the typical annual budget of CBP, and were designed to last through September 30, 2029.

Putting more billions behind ICE and CBP now will mean those agencies are funded through the rest of Trump’s term. Even if Democrats take control of Congress after the midterms, the funding will be in place, preventing Democrats from using funding to demand reforms.

How those tax dollars are being spent is a question. In February, twenty-one Democratic senators wrote to the Congressional Budget Office to note that there had been no public accounting of how that money was being spent. Adriel Orozco of the American Immigration Council reports that while the OBBBA gave ICE $45 billion for detention through September 2029, former Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem decided to use $38 billion of it to buy warehouses and convert them to detention centers.

On May 29, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler of NBC News reported that the new secretary of DHS, Markwayne Mullin, is considering selling a number of the warehouses. If he does so, Ainsley and Strikler report, there may well be scrutiny of the initial purchases. An Atlanta suburb has filed a lawsuit alleging that ICE paid more than five times the us dhs big eagle logo4assessed value of a warehouse there.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office noted that funding for ICE and CBP has historically been made under annual appropriations bills, and the Republicans’ new policy of giving them a huge pot of money for years makes it hard to estimate the pace of spending.

Democrats had demanded reforms to ICE and Border Patrol actions, so to pass the measure, Senate Republicans used the budget reconciliation process. Not usually used for appropriations, budget reconciliation prevented a Democratic filibuster and enabled Republicans to pass the measure with a simple majority.

But anyone can amend a budget reconciliation measure, and Democrats used amendments to cause an 18-hour debate that forced Republicans to vote against a number of measures that are popular with the American people, showing how Republicans really stand.

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.776 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

Republicans blocked Democratic proposals to stop Trump from establishing the $1.776 billion slush fund with the complicity of the men he has appointed to the Department of Justice and to prevent any such fund from giving payouts to people convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers during the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal to bar the use of federal funds or private donations for Trump’s ballroom unless Congress explicitly approved.

Bill PulteRepublicans blocked a Democratic proposal to bar William Pulte, right, the director of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency, from serving as the director of national intelligence by providing that no one could direct the Office of National Intelligence while heading a different agency. Trump has announced that Pulte will be the acting director of national intelligence, putting him in place through the midterm elections with the evident plan that he will weaponize intelligence against the president’s political opponents.

The Senate passage of ICE and CBP funding demonstrates a Republican worldview. In January 2024, then-candidate Trump convinced Republicans to abandon a strong bipartisan border bill to fix immigration issues because he wanted to keep the issue of immigration open as a way to win in 2024. Now it is clear that the assault on immigrants was a tool to enforce a right-wing vision of the country on the American people, much of which is happening under cover of darkness.

social security administrationYesterday Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post noted a report from former senior executive at the Social Security Administration Jeremiah Schofield, who is now a whistleblower. Schofield says that officials from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hatched a plan to make immigrants self-deport by declaring 2.7 million of them dead. Some of those people on the list were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Being listed on the Death Master File cuts off people’s access to wages, banks and other financial systems, and other services. The idea appears to have been that such an erasure would force people either to leave the country or to go to a Social Security office where they could be arrested. While they ultimately did not implement the larger plan, officials did move 6,100 mostly Latino immigrants into that database.

On Thursday, Douglas MacMillan of the Washington Post reported that ICE is abandoning a policy begun under the Biden administration in 2021 that required ICE to report to Congress and investigate the deaths of detainees who died within 30 days of their release. The policy was designed to make sure ICE could not pass off deaths caused by conditions in the detention centers simply by releasing severely ill people.

At least 18 people incarcerated in detainment facilities have died in the first five months of 2026. At least 30 died last year, the highest number in 20 years. MacMillan notes that a number of those deaths happened after detainees were taken to the hospital.

andy kimToday Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), right, went back to Delaney Hall, the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, to talk with detainees. Despite the established congressional duty of oversight, “ICE refused to let me talk to any detainees,” he said. “They restricted my ability to do my job.”

Kim reported that as he went through the women’s unit, “the women were trying to get my attention and flagging for me, waving their hands, and they were pointing into one of the beds. And I looked over, and I saw a woman curled up in a fetal position, clearly in some pain and agony. ICE and GEO Group [the private prison company that runs Delaney Hall on a federal contract] told me that they cannot share with me what is happening. I’m very concerned about that woman…. They have only one full-time doctor in this facility that has hundreds and hundreds of detainees.”

“The American people deserve to know what is happening,” Kim said. “We deserve to be able to hear directly from the detainees. They are doing whatever they can to impede congressional oversight and oversight from the American people.”

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) notes that the $70 billion in tax money Republicans just gave to ICE and Border Patrol could provide free childcare for 1.3 million children through September 2028, cover the annual cost of groceries for about 10.7 million U.S. households, provide a year of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to 31 million Americans, expand the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for at least a year, cancel about 31.5% of Americans’ medical debt, and end homelessness for about eight years.

But in France today, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, rejected the belief on which the United States of America was founded: pete hegseth facebookthat the government should act to “promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Instead, he perverted a commemoration of D-Day, when American soldiers fought with their Allies to defend democracy against fascism, into a call for the racial ideology on which fascism was based. Embracing the Great Replacement theory that says the culture of white Europeans and Americans is being undermined by people of color from Africa and Asia, he flipped the Allied and Nazi positions.

“Sadly, today,” he said in reference to the beaches of Normandy the Allies stormed in 1944, “different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not.”

More to the point on the anniversary of D-Day 2026, is the speech by of Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 4, 1940, promising that those who cared about freedom and human self-determination would never stop fighting the Nazis:

“We shall fight on the beaches,” he said. “[W]e shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” 

News Roundups 

President Trump repeatedly insulted Meet the Press host Kristen Welker of NBC News, above right, and then abruptly walked out of the interview broadcast on Sunday, June 7, 2026 after she pressed him for evidence to support his repeated lies about opponents, his previous statements and elections.President Trump repeatedly insulted Meet the Press host Kristen Welker of NBC News, above right, and then abruptly walked out of the interview broadcast on Sunday, June 7, 2026 after she pressed him for evidence to support his repeated lies about opponents, his previous statements and elections

The Parnas Perspective, Afternoon News and Commentary: Major Mid-Day Update: Trump Melts Down and Leaves Interview When Pressed on Lies, UFC Fight in Doubt, Screwworm Spreads, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 7, 2026. Trump crashed out of an NBC interview and walked off early after being pressed about his election lies in a remarkable exchange. He also refused to rule out giving taxpayer-funded payouts to January 6 defendants who assaulted police officers.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed seeking to stop Trump’s planned UFC event at the White House, the flesh-eating screwworm outbreak continues to spread in Texas, and another mass shooting has left multiple people wounded.

I’m heading to the Epstein reading room shortly and will have more updates for you this evening. If you value this reporting, please consider supporting it so I can keep doing this work and pushing back. If you’re able, subscribe today. And if you’re already a subscriber, upgrading your membership is one of the best ways to help sustain this reporting.Subscribed

Here’s the news:

U.S. House logoTrump crashed out during a heated Meet the Press interview after Kristen Welker repeatedly challenged him to provide evidence for his claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Unable to substantiate the allegations and increasingly frustrated, he lashed out at NBC as a “crooked” network and complained about the press instead of answering the questions. He then abruptly ended the interview, declaring “I’ve had enough” and walking off despite Welker’s attempts to continue the conversation. The exchange became a striking example of Trump losing his temper under sustained questioning about the 2020 election.

Welker pressed Trump on why he was moving toward military action after repeatedly touting “no new wars.” Trump responded that he never promised war would never happen, arguing that his investment in building the world’s strongest military was evidence that force remained an option.

Here is Trump promising “no new wars” during the 2024 campaign (video recording):

ufc arch white houseA lawsuit filed by a Virginia Vietnam veteran and a civic activist seeks to block UFC Freedom 250 (shown above under construction) at the White House, arguing that Trump is improperly giving his ally, UFC CEO Dana White, access to federal property for a private profit-making event. The plaintiffs contend that allowing the UFC and its sponsors to stage and brand a commercial event on White House grounds and at the Lincoln Memorial amounts to corruption and violates laws restricting private commercial use of federal land. They argue Trump is effectively using public monuments to benefit friends and political allies while generating revenue for the UFC and its broadcast partners. While the lawsuit faces long odds given the current administration and the event is only a week away, it directly challenges the legality of turning iconic federal sites into venues for a private sports promotion.

capitol insurrection climbing wall uncreditedPresident Trump said he is open to compensating some Jan. 6 defendants (some shown above attacking the Capitol to threaten lawmakers) through a proposed “anti-weaponization” fund, including not completely ruling out payments to people convicted of assaulting police officers, though he said individual cases would need review.

During the interview, he also repeated claims that the 2020 election and recent California elections were tainted by fraud, but did not provide evidence when pressed by Kristen Welker. Trump argued that many Jan. 6 defendants were unfairly prosecuted, defended his mass pardons of participants in the Capitol riot, and claimed some guilty pleas were made under coercion. The interview ended after Trump became increasingly frustrated during questioning about election claims and the press, while the future of the nearly $1.8 billion fund remains uncertain amid legal challenges and conflicting statements from his administration.

Several diabetes researchers were removed from the American Diabetes Association’s annual conference after distributing copies of an editorial criticizing Trump administration cuts to scientific and medical research. The incident occurred shortly before NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak; security and police escorted out multiple experts, confiscated badges, and barred some presenters from participating further in the conference. The researchers argued they were being intimidated for sharing a peer-reviewed editorial warning that federal funding cuts could damage diabetes research and U.S. leadership in health innovation. The ADA said the removals were due to violations of conference conduct rules and restrictions on distributing materials, while critics contended the organization was trying to avoid conflict with the Trump administration.

At least 12 people were shot near Toledo’s Old West End Festival on Saturday after at least two gunmen, who police believe may have been shooting at each other, opened fire in a crowded area. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 61, with two people left in critical condition, while the suspects remained at large. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage from the festival, which had hundreds of attendees and a significant police presence. In response to the shooting, organizers canceled Sunday’s events, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine condemned the violence and expressed confidence that the shooters would be caught.

During a discussion about the economy and the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Kristen Welker pointed out that gasoline and diesel prices had risen. Trump responded that prices would fall once the war ended. When Welker followed up by noting that 70% of farmers say they cannot afford fertilizer, Trump dismissed the concern, insisting that farmers are actually doing very well despite reports of mounting input costs across the agricultural sector.

A flesh-eating parasite known as the New World screwworm has been detected in Texas cattle near the Mexican border, raising fears that an outbreak could worsen already record-high beef prices and create major losses for ranchers. Officials are trying to contain the pest through quarantines and the release of sterile flies, but experts warn current production capacity is far below what would be needed if the infestation spreads widely. Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, are pushing to accelerate construction of a new sterile-fly facility, warning the state cannot afford another summer without stronger defenses. While the USDA says the food supply is safe and the impact on grocery prices remains uncertain, ranchers and industry groups worry the outbreak could reduce beef production and drive prices even higher. Trump blamed Biden for the outbreak:

nba logoThe New York Knicks have canceled all outdoor watch parties around Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals because President Donald Trump is expected to attend the game. The team said enhanced security measures required for a presidential visit made it impractical to hold the fan events, and attendees have been advised to arrive early for additional screening. Game 3 marks the series’ return to New York, with the Knicks holding a 2–0 lead over the San Antonio Spurs. The decision follows broader security changes around the arena, including stricter entry procedures and a no-bag policy for fans.

Israel carried out airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, just days after a renewed U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement took effect, saying the attacks were retaliation for rocket fire from Hezbollah toward northern Israel. The strikes underscore the fragility of the truce, with clashes continuing in southern Lebanon and both sides accusing the other of violations. Meanwhile, regional powers including Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt are trying to revive U.S.-Iran negotiations and secure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route disrupted by the broader conflict. The fighting has become increasingly intertwined with the wider Israel-Iran war, raising concerns about regional escalation, energy markets, and efforts to reach a lasting ceasefire.jared kushner anna moneymaker pool getty images

european union logo rectangleThe European Commission has warned Albania that a controversial luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner could jeopardize the country’s bid to join the EU if it violates environmental protections required under EU law. The project, planned in a protected coastal area home to flamingos, seals, and sea turtles, has sparked a week of nationwide protests and an anti-corruption investigation into changes made to the area’s protected status. albania flagBrussels says Albania should reverse legal changes that weakened environmental safeguards, end its fast-track strategic investment program, and ensure a full environmental impact assessment before any construction proceeds. The dispute has become a major political issue for Prime Minister Edi Rama as Albania pushes to complete EU accession negotiations and join the bloc by 2030.

New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: President Denies He Pledged Not to Start New Wars, Staff Reports, June 7, 2026. What We’re Covering Today.

  • Iran: President Trump denied in an interview aired on Sunday that he had ever promised not to involve the United States in new wars, which was a central pledge of his 2024 election campaign. “I didn’t guarantee no war,” Mr. Trump said in a lengthy interview with NBC’s “Meet The Press.” Speaking about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war.” Read more ›
  • Military: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech in France on Saturday to criticize Europe over its migration policies, saying that “dangerous ideologies” were storming the continent’s shores, in what he compared to an “invasion.” The comments reflect the Trump administration’s previous assertions on immigrants in Europe, which overlap with the language of European far-right political parties. Read more ›

In a lengthy interview with “Meet The Press” broadcast on Sunday, President Trump denied that he had ever promised to not involve the United States in new wars, which was a central pledge of his 2024 campaign for reelection. “I didn’t guarantee no war,” Trump told Kristen Welker, the show’s host, during the interview, which was taped on Friday. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

Speaking about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Trump said, “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and a former chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his remarks in France marking the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Hegseth’s remarks echoed anti-immigration sentiments of far-right parties in Europe, calling the continent’s migration policies “dangerous ideologies” and compared new immigrants’ arrival to an “invasion.”

McCaul called those remarks “out of place” and “inappropriate” on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that Hegseth’s message should have been about veterans’ sacrifice and what they did to “protect the free world at a time of great peril against Nazi Germany.”

A political activist and a Vietnam veteran represented by an anti-corruption organization filed a lawsuit on Saturday challenging the “night of cage fights” planned at the White House on June 14 as part of the celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary. The lawsuit argues that the event is an unlawful for-profit event designed to benefit President Trump and his friend, Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday outlined his deep concerns about the nomination of Bill Pulte to temporarily run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” Warner said that he did not believe Pulte, who will oversee 18 intelligence agencies in the role, has a security clearance.

“I fear that he is trying to gut the intelligence community, or so intimidate them that they don’t tell the truth,” he said of the president’s decision to put Pulte in the role. “What he has shown is a complete loyalty to do whatever Donald Trump wants,” Warner said of Pulte.

In the “Meet the Press” interview, President Trump also said that he would still support a fund to reimburse people he believes were unfairly prosecuted, even though his attorneys have said in court in recent days that the fund is not moving forward. “If they get it approved, that’s great,” Trump said, an apparent reference to congressional Republicans. “If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.” 

The Parnas Perspective, Sunday Evening News and Commentary: Sunday Night Update: Epstein Files Come to DC for Trump's Birthday, CBS Caves to Trump, Iran War, Trump Blames Weather for Melt Down, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 7, 2026. I just got home from the Epstein Reading Room, which has moved to Washington, D.C., for the President’s birthday. It is a powerful and emotional experience, and I’ll be there throughout the week, so I hope to see some of you there.

Meanwhile, Trump is blaming the weather for walking out of his interview, Scott Pelley says Bari Weiss directly intervened in a politically sensitive story at CBS, Iran and Israel are exchanging fire again, and much more.

The Pelley story is especially disturbing. Pelley alleges that Bari Weiss pushed 60 Minutes staff to portray protesters as more violent and to characterize Renee Good as driving toward the officer who shot her, despite his view that the available video evidence did not support that description.

Unlike CBS News, I will never trade the truth for access. If you want journalism that tells the truth even when it is uncomfortable, if you want reporting that is not shaped by political favors or advertising dollars, support this work. Subscribe today, and share this with everyone you know who still believes in a free press.Subscribed

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Just in time for Donald Trump’s birthday, the Institute for Primary Facts is moving its “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room” from New York to Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown area, where it will be open June 9–14. The exhibit contains more than 3.5 million pages of unsealed court records and investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, printed into over 3,400 volumes weighing more than 17,000 pounds. Organizers say the installation is intended to highlight the documented relationship between President Trump and Epstein and to preserve public access to the records. While the public can visit the exhibit in the afternoons, access to the actual documents will be restricted due to sensitive victim information, with special morning access available for journalists, lawmakers, survivors, and advocates. I visited today:

Trump said he became irritated during this morning’s interview with NBC because it was raining during the event. The interview, conducted by Kristen Welker, covered topics including Iran, the economy, and election-related issues, and ended with Trump criticizing several major news organizations before leaving early. Afterward, Trump told reporters that the rain contributed to his frustration, although the interview took place inside a barn. NBC's Welker later said the interview faced weather-related logistical challenges but still resulted in a substantial discussion on major policy issues.

Scott Pelley, recently fired from CBS News, told The New York Times that “CBS News is on fire” and argued that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss should be removed, criticizing both her leadership and what he described as political influence over editorial decisions. He said the shakeup at 60 Minutes—including the dismissal of top producers and correspondents—has devastated staff and undermined the program’s independence, while CBS denies any political interference and says its decisions are aimed at strengthening the show. Pelley specifically alleged that Weiss attempted to influence coverage of a politically sensitive story involving federal immigration enforcement, though CBS maintains her feedback was intended only to improve fairness and accuracy. The dispute reflects a broader struggle over the future direction of 60 Minutes and CBS News, with Pelley publicly defending the program’s traditional culture and journalistic autonomy.

Pelley accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of trying to influence a segment about the fatal shooting of Minneapolis protester Renee Good. Pelley claims Weiss pushed for language suggesting Good was “driving toward” an immigration officer and for protesters to be portrayed as more violent, which he says was not supported by video evidence. CBS rejected the allegations, saying Weiss’s feedback was intended only to improve the story’s fairness and accuracy and was not politically motivated.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly taking a limited role in the day-to-day management of the Department of Health and Human Services, with current and former officials describing a leadership vacuum at the agency. According to people cited in the report, Kennedy remains focused on a narrow set of priorities, particularly vaccine-related issues, while delegating many operational decisions to senior adviser Stefanie Spear. The department is facing multiple leadership vacancies, including the absence of a permanent surgeon general and recent departures from key health agencies. Some staff members expressed concern that the lack of active leadership could hamper the department’s ability to respond effectively to public health emergencies such as the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Israel carried out airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut despite an existing ceasefire with Lebanon, killing at least two people and injuring about 20 others. Iran responded by launching missiles toward Israel, marking the first direct attack since the April ceasefire. The Israeli military reported intercepting the missiles and later warned of a second barrage. The exchange has sharply increased fears of a broader regional conflict.

Iranian officials described the missile launches as retaliation for Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and warned that further Israeli action would trigger stronger responses. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian leaders said Israel had crossed “red lines” and threatened additional military action if the conflict escalates. Iran also warned that US bases and assets in the region could become legitimate targets. These statements reflect growing tensions between Iran, Israel, and the United States.

President Donald Trump urged restraint from both sides and emphasized that the missile exchange could jeopardize ongoing negotiations with Iran. He said Iran had “shot its missiles” and should return to the negotiating table rather than continue military escalation. Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with Israel’s strike on Beirut and reportedly planned to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate further. His comments suggest the United States is trying to prevent the confrontation from expanding into a larger war.

The crisis has already affected the wider region, with Iran closing airspace over western parts of the country and both Syria and Iraq temporarily restricting air traffic. Israeli military officials vowed to continue and intensify operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the Iranian response. Meanwhile, military and political leaders on all sides exchanged warnings and threats, signaling that the situation remains highly volatile. Regional governments and international observers are closely watching for signs of either de-escalation or a wider conflict.

Many criticize the President’s handling of the crises:

Sen. Mark Warner sharply criticized acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, calling him a “national security risk” and arguing that his lack of intelligence or national security experience makes him unfit for the role. Warner warned that Pulte could misuse intelligence claims to justify federal intervention in elections, though he offered this as a hypothetical concern rather than citing evidence of planned actions. President Donald Trump appointed Pulte to the temporary position after Tulsi Gabbard announced her departure, but Trump has not formally nominated him for the permanent post. Warner and other critics contend that Pulte lacks the qualifications normally expected for the job, and Warner predicted he is unlikely to receive a formal nomination or Senate confirmation.

Trump plans to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden after being invited by Knicks owner James Dolan. His appearance is expected to trigger heightened security measures that could disrupt normal fan activities around the arena. Some Knicks fans have expressed frustration about those disruptions and about Trump's attendance itself. The controversy has become a talking point ahead of the game, drawing attention away from the on-court matchup.

The New York Knicks have canceled all fan watch parties outside Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals because President Donald Trump is expected to attend the game. The decision was made due to the significantly increased security requirements that accompany a presidential visit. Fans attending the game have been advised to arrive early and expect additional security screening. The Knicks enter Game 3 with a 2–0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs.

A Virginia military veteran and a political organizer have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a planned UFC event tied to the “America 250” celebration, arguing that it is effectively a celebration of President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday rather than a national commemorative event. The lawsuit contends that using federal monuments and White House grounds for a privately financed, for-profit sporting spectacle violates rules governing national parkland and improperly benefits private parties, including UFC and its business partners. The plaintiffs also argue that staging UFC-related events near sites such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is inappropriate and disrespectful. The White House and federal officials have rejected the claims, calling the lawsuit baseless and comparing the event to other public gatherings that have been held on federal grounds.

According to the Telegraph, Trump is reportedly considering a plan for the United States to purchase the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, bypassing the United Kingdom’s stalled effort to transfer sovereignty of the territory. The proposal is aimed at securing long-term control of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base, which has become increasingly significant amid tensions and military operations involving Iran. Some U.S. officials reportedly oppose handing the islands to Mauritius because of concerns about the country’s ties to China and the potential security risks that could pose. Meanwhile, Chagossian representatives continue to push for a resolution that recognizes their right to return to their homeland, while the UK maintains that any sovereignty agreement depends on continued U.S. support.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with key European allies in London, including Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz, to discuss military support and European security amid the ongoing war with Russia. The talks came after a week of successful Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia and after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal for direct peace talks. Zelenskyy expressed confidence that Ukraine would continue resisting Russia and emphasized the need for stronger air defenses, while Ukrainian officials reported that Russian advances on the battlefield appear to have slowed. The meeting also followed a Russian drone strike near the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant; although a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel was damaged, authorities and international monitors reported no increase in radiation levels.

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Veterans furious with Trump on D-Day, Mormons erupt on Hegseth, Vance says Kirk's death convinced Usha to have another child, and more, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 6, 2026. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are furious with Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon declined to classify the church as Christian. Service members and veterans are also criticizing Trump after he failed to mark D-Day, instead spending the day posting AI-generated content about himself and Barack Obama. And that’s just the start.

I’m also hearing that the White House is preparing to significantly expand its attacks on creators and independent journalists in the days and weeks ahead.

If you value this reporting, please consider supporting it to help me fight back.

Here’s the news:

President Donald Trump marked D-Day by posting AI-generated content on social media, including a music video depicting himself being celebrated around the world and an image portraying the future Obama Presidential Library as dilapidated and surrounded by trash. Here is the first video:

Here is the Obama trash can image:

 

djt obama library 6 6 2026

Unlike many other world leaders and government officials, he did not post a direct D-Day tribute on his personal account, though the White House and members of his administration commemorated the anniversary. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day ceremony in France to criticize European immigration policies, comparing migrant arrivals on Mediterranean shores to an “invasion.” The comments reflected the Trump administration’s broader criticism of immigration in Europe and its calls for European governments to take a tougher approach.

Vice President JD Vance writes in his new memoir that the 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk deeply affected his family and ultimately influenced his wife, Usha Vance, to reconsider having another child. Vance says that after comforting Kirk’s widow, who expressed regret about not having more children with her husband, Usha changed her mind and later became pregnant with the couple’s fourth child. He describes Kirk as a close friend, mentor, and confidant who helped him navigate family life while serving in national politics.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech in Normandy to criticize European governments over immigration, comparing migrant arrivals on Mediterranean beaches to an “invasion.” His remarks echoed broader Trump administration warnings that large-scale migration threatens Europe’s cultural and political future. The speech followed similar mark hertling djt graphiccomments from Vice President JD Vance, whose criticism of immigration in the U.K. sparked backlash from British officials and the family of a murder victim whose case he referenced. The comments highlight ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and European leaders over migration policy, even as migration levels into Europe have fallen significantly from their 2015 peak.

Mormons have erupted this afternoon after the Department of Defense reduced its list of recognized religious designations to 31 categories and included The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a separate faith rather than under Christianity. Here is the list, and as you can see, the religion is listed separately:

djt hegseth list of religions 6 66 2026

Utah Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis sharply criticized the decision, arguing that the church is clearly Christian and that the government should not define a religion contrary to its own beliefs. The Pentagon said the changes were intended to simplify religious classifications and help military chaplains better serve service members. Critics from multiple faith groups also objected, saying the government should not create a hierarchy of religions or decide which faiths qualify as Christian.

The Trump Administration has changed the logo of the Kennedy Center’s LinkedIn page. The new logo no longer includes the President’s name. I have been tracking this religiously and monitoring the pages of the Kennedy Center ever since the court’s ruling, and today, they quietly changed it. This is the beginning of many more changes to come:

I spent the afternoon at the Kennedy Center and documented what I saw. The Center has not received official orders to remove the Trump name today. I will be returning every day until I capture the name removal:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed nine Navy officers from a promotion list, including all three women who had been selected for advancement to one-star admiral, resulting in no women receiving that promotion this year. The Pentagon has not explained why the officers were removed, leading many female service members to worry that their careers could be limited or increasingly influenced by politics. Critics argue the move breaks with the military’s traditionally structured promotion process and follows other recent dismissals of senior female officers under Hegseth. Pentagon officials maintain that promotions are based solely on merit and not on race or gender.

Albania's Prime Minister Ed Rama, a close ally of the Trump-Kushner families and now a target of mass protests in his country over the resort development deal arranged for Kushner on beachfront property, is shown as contributor to the Trump so-called Albania's Prime Minister Ed Rama, a close ally of the Trump-Kushner families and now a target of mass protests in his country over the resort development deal arranged for Kushner on beachfront property, is shown as contributor to the Trump so-called "Board of Peace" created in Washington, DC by and for world dictators and would-be dictators: Wayne Madsen Report.

Thousands of Albanians have continued protests under the slogan “Albania Is Not for Sale,” opposing a proposed $5 billion luxury tourism development backed by Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. Demonstrators argue that planned projects on Sazan Island and in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area could damage environmentally sensitive coastal and wetland ecosystems and limit public access to national assets. Protests have entered their seventh day:

Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley are warning that a lapse in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) could create a major intelligence gap if Congress fails to renew the authority before next Friday's deadline. According to the report from Punchbowl News, they urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for the possibility that intelligence collection could be disrupted.

I also visited the reflecting pool to see whether the pool is actually reflecting. Here is an image I took:

Russia’s war in Ukraine remains at a stalemate, with peace talks making little progress despite U.S. mediation efforts and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to meet directly with Vladimir Putin, which Putin rejected. At Russia’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Putin and other Russian officials emphasized that Moscow remains open to improving relations with the United States, while also expressing frustration that U.S. attention has shifted toward the conflict involving Iran.

Candace owens 2024 wSeveral prominent Americans, including Candace Owens, left, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., and the Tate brothers, visited Russia during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as the Kremlin sought to project strength despite setbacks in Ukraine and growing domestic frustrations. Russian officials and state media highlighted their presence as evidence that Russia is not isolated and that ties with Americans remain active. The visitors praised aspects of Russian culture, safety, and society, while critics argued that their trips primarily served the Kremlin’s domestic propaganda goals. Experts said the visits are unlikely to change American views of Russia but may help reassure Russian audiences that their country still has international connections.

The body of 20-year-old Auburn University student James “Weston” Higginbotham was found in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, Japan, after he had been missing for a week. He disappeared during a family trip on May 29 after walking away from his parents at Kyoto Station, prompting a large search effort involving police and volunteers. His family had said he may have been emotionally distressed following an argument about artificial intelligence before he left. His mother thanked everyone who helped search for him and asked for privacy as the family copes with the loss. 

The Parnas Perspective, Major Good News Sujnday Updates!! Spread the Word!! Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 7, 2026. As promised, we’re keeping our Sunday tradition alive with another weekly good news update. As always, share one piece of good news from your week in the comments—and pass this along so others can join in too.

I am heading to the Kennedy Center now to try and capture the moment they take Trump’s name down, stay tuned.

I’ve got two pieces of good news myself. First, tomorrow I’m giving a keynote address to a room full of Epstein survivors, advocates, and others about the fight to use social media to keep the Epstein files front and center. Second, this week I had the opportunity to speak with lawyers at my alma mater about my journey from lawyer to journalist. It was an amazing experience.

I say this often because it’s true: this is the best job in the world. We’re building something meaningful without billionaire backing, corporate ownership, or a giant media machine—just people who believe journalism can be better. And none of it works without you.

Here’s the news:

Identical twin brothers Travan Jasper and Travis Jasper have returned to their hometown of Richmond to serve as co-medical directors of the emergency department at Chippenham Hospital. The brothers were co-valedictorians in high school, attended the same college and medical school, and became the first members of their family to pursue higher education and careers in medicine. After years of practicing in other states, they now lead their hometown emergency room together, combining their shared experience and commitment to patient care. Both doctors describe each other as a source of strength and support, emphasizing that compassion, perseverance, and teamwork have been key to their success and are values they hope to pass on to future healthcare professionals.

A rehabilitation program at Cedar Creek Corrections Center is using golf to help inmates develop life skills, emotional control, and discipline before reentering society. Participants say the sport teaches perseverance, accountability, focus, and integrity—qualities they believe will help them avoid repeating past mistakes after release. The program was created by former superintendent Tim Thrasher, who views golf as a tool for reducing idleness and encouraging personal growth, noting that many of the game’s values mirror those needed for success in everyday life. Inmates involved in the program report that it has helped them manage anger, reflect on their futures, and build confidence as they prepare to return to their communities.

Undue Medical Debt has erased approximately $6.5 million in unpaid medical debt for about 97,000 residents of Connecticut through a partnership with the state government. The program uses leftover COVID-19 relief funds and charitable donations to buy medical debt from hospitals for a fraction of its face value, then forgives it entirely. Eligible residents are selected automatically based on income and debt criteria, and they do not need to apply or take any action to receive relief. The initiative is part of a broader effort that has already helped hundreds of thousands of people in other states, reducing financial burdens while allowing hospitals to recover at least some value from otherwise difficult-to-collect debts.

Roy Donk, a New York entrepreneur known as “The Baklava Guy,” has built a successful business by selling fresh-baked baklava directly to people at parks, concerts, and sporting events. He recently gained attention for giving away free baklava outside Madison Square Garden during a playoff celebration involving the New York Knicks, saying it simply felt like the right place for baklava to be. Donk’s unconventional business grew out of his travels following the band Phish after he got sober and looked for a legal way to support his nomadic lifestyle. What began as a small side hustle has expanded into a nationwide operation, with Donk selling baklava at events across the United States and even overseas.

A woman from Pennsylvania, Keshia Smith, found a 3.09-carat white diamond while visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park, shortly after experiencing the deaths of both her son and her father within a year. She spotted the heart-shaped gem while digging and described the discovery as a much-needed source of hope and emotional healing during a difficult period of grief. Park officials verified the diamond’s authenticity and noted that Arkansas diamonds often emerge from the ground looking unusually clean and polished because of their natural properties. Smith named the stone the “Za’Novia Liberty Diamond” in honor of her grandchildren and the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.

Carmelo Anthony surprised 12-year-old Knicks fan Carmelo Rios with tickets to the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. In a gift package from Fanatics, the boy first discovered a personalized New York Knicks jersey bearing his name before watching a video message from Anthony revealing the tickets. The heartwarming surprise was shared widely on social media and quickly drew attention from basketball fans. For the young Knicks supporter, the opportunity to attend the NBA Finals in person was described as a dream come true and an unforgettable experience.

An 86-year-old woman from Sissonville, Pauline Monk, became an internet sensation after attending the opening of her hometown’s first Taco Bell while battling terminal bile duct cancer. A lifelong fan who calls herself the “Queen of the Taco Bell,” Monk said one of her goals was simply to live long enough to see the restaurant open, and she was the first customer through the doors, ordering her favorite meal: Nachos BellGrande and a Diet Pepsi. Despite being given only a few months to live, she has maintained an upbeat outlook, crediting her faith, family, and sense of humor for keeping her going.

U.S. Military, Foreign Affairs

Hopium Chroniclessimon rosenberg facebook, Advocacy and Opinion: Inspiration From Lincoln and Eisenhower, The Importance Of Voting Early, Trump Lost Votes On Iran And Putin This Week!, Simon Rosenberg, right, June 7, 2026. Let’s start our Sunday together with Eisenhower’s Order Of The Day distributed to 175,000 men amassing for what has become known as D-Day.

 

d day dwight eisenhauer messageIn reading this remarkable letter this morning I just keep thinking of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

gettysburg address abraham lincolnEisenhower’s letter came 80 years after the Gettysburg Address, and here we are, working together, in our time’s great battle for freedom and democracy, 80 years after D-Day. Let us draw inspiration for these two great leaders, and their successful fights, for our own work to ensure that there is a new birth of freedom, here and everywhere, in the years ahead. And yes let us thank, and honor, all those who haven given their lives so we may be free.

The Week Ahead - As we rest up today to get ready for another week of hard work ahead let us marvel that Trump lost votes in the House this week on both Iran and Ukraine/Putin. It really is extraordinary that Trump has been repudiated now by Congress on the Epstein files, on his terrible tariffs, on his failed Iran war, and his treasonous fealty to Putin. The consequential losses just keep piling up for our addled, sundowning, failed leader (more here, here), and we need to keep the pressure on. Here are some things to call your Senators and Rep about this week:

  • Finish the job on the Ukraine Support Act, get it passed through the Senate to the President’s desk
  • Finish the job on the Iran war powers resolutions that have passed both the Senate and House in recent weeks, and get them to the President’s desk
  • No to the big ICE/CPB funding bill that gives DHS years of funding with no reform of the out of control agency that will be coming to the House this week
  • No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……
  • Hell no to Bill Pulte for ODNI, and hell hell no to Todd Blanche becoming Attorney General

More On Trump, Trump Team 

 

While Donald J. Trump sleeps, they steal....

Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary, Trump is falling apart, and the people around him are racing to cash in, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 6-7, 2026. Just before 5:00 in the morning, after an all-night vote-a-rama, the Senate approved nearly $70 billion in new funding for ICE and Border Patrol, along with something no other American has ever received.

It is the protection shielding Trump, his family, and his businesses from IRS audits. Democrats brought amendment after amendment to strip the carve-out from the bill. Republicans beat back nearly every one. The closest vote, an effort to block the $1.8 billion payout fund tied to Trump’s settlement, failed by a single vote, 49 to 50. Americans are expected to pay every tax dollar they owe and are always subject to audit. Some reports say the president may owe roughly $100 million in back taxes. One set of rules for them. Another for everyone else.

And the corruption runs deeper than one bill. A watchdog report revealed that more than half of the publicly identified donors to Trump’s White House ballroom have won new or expanded federal contracts worth over $50 billion in the past six months. Sixteen of those 27 donors have watched their federal enforcement actions get dropped, scaled back, or suspended. They are not funding a ballroom out of generosity. They are buying favor. Meanwhile, the House voted 213 to 210 to cut $141 million in fruit and vegetable benefits from WIC, the program feeding 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant mothers, while grocery prices keep climbing. They voted to take produce from babies while the president’s donors collected billions.

And the speed of it all tells us something important. The man at the center is failing. He fell asleep on camera at his own coal event. He needed help getting down a single stair in Wisconsin. And the people around him are not slowing down. They are speeding up, racing to seize as much money and power as they can while he can still sign what they put in front of him, because they know the midterms are closing in. This is a smash and grab in the window they have left. They are building it in a hurry because they know it is not built to last. Americans are waking up. And time is no longer on their side.

We are living through a pivotal moment for our country, and my goal is to reach as many people as possible with clear, factual information about what is happening. The more people who understand what is unfolding, the better our chances of pushing back against chaos, cruelty, and corruption ahead of the midterms.

Thank you for your continued support. Your paid subscriptions READ IN APP

New York Times, Kennedy Shows Minimal Engagement With Vast Health Portfolio, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, June 7, 2026. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has demonstrated little interest in managing his sprawling department as he focuses on food and vaccine policies, according to colleagues. Mr. Kennedy, who is isolated from much of his top staff, leans on a small number of key advisers.

rfk jr oShortly after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in Africa a public health emergency, a reporter asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he was worried about the virus. Six Americans had already been exposed. His response was brief: “Yeah, we’re working on it.”

In the nearly three weeks since, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed travel restrictions to keep the virus from coming to the United States, cdc logo CustomMr. Kennedy has made no public comments about the spreading outbreak. He has received very few briefings about the virus from C.D.C. scientists, although he speaks daily to the acting director, according to people familiar with his response.

Mr. Kennedy’s approach to the crisis reflects his broader management of the Department of Health and Human Services, which affects the health of 340 million Americans and provides health care to 40 percent of the population through Medicare and Medicaid.

Mr. Kennedy has shown little interest in managing the details of work in his department, according to multiple colleagues. Instead, they say, he is single-mindedly focused on his top priorities, including food recommendations and pesticide exposures, and hunting for evidence to support his long-held beliefs that vaccines are harmful.

hhs seal CustomDeeply mistrustful of career civil officials, the secretary has surrounded himself with a close circle of handpicked advisers and stacked agencies with political appointees aligned with his views. While major posts have sat vacant and a wave of veteran health experts and scientists have departed, Mr. Kennedy has remained isolated from much of the department’s top staff.

He rarely engages with members of Congress, colleagues said, unless he is asked to testify. He has made just one known visit to the C.D.C., after a gunman opened fire on its headquarters and killed a police officer last August.

This examination of Mr. Kennedy’s leadership style is based on the accounts of a dozen people who have had direct contact with him as secretary, as well as other health department employees, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.

Mr. Kennedy and the department did not directly address questions about his leadership style.

The secretary’s detachment from much of the work of the agency, along with the administration’s deep staff cuts and his attacks on career staff, have driven down morale, they say. It’s a dynamic that could threaten the department’s ability to protect Americans in a crisis, according to public health experts and former secretaries.

Critics say one of the most urgent problems is Mr. Kennedy’s failure to act more swiftly to address a leadership vacuum. There is no surgeon general. Around half of the 27 institutes and centers at N.I.H. are run by acting directors. The acting chief of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases was recently fired, as was the nation’s top drug regulator.

The leader of the Food and Drug Administration quit last month under pressure over tobacco policy. Mr. Kennedy fired the C.D.C. director last August; it is now run on an acting basis by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who already has another huge job as director of the National Institutes of Health.

New York Times, Screwworm Flies and Drought Spell Tougher Times for Cattle Ranchers, Kevin Draper, June 6, 2026. Some Texans fear “the nightmares and the horrors” of a potential screwworm outbreak. Elsewhere, not enough grass to feed cattle sends them to market earlier.

The discovery of the New World screwworm fly in the United States this week is threatening to further disrupt an already strained cattle business at a moment when many ranchers are also contending with a severe drought.

The United States herd is at its smallest level in 75 years, even as consumer demand for beef continues to grow. That has driven live cattle prices — and beef prices — higher, which normally would encourage ranchers to begin rebuilding their herds or prompt new ranchers to enter the business. Drought conditions across several states have led to a shortage of grass for grazing, forcing ranchers to sell some of their animals sooner.

“We have a lot of things happening all at once,” said David Anderson, a livestock market economist at Texas A&M University.

The average price for a pound of ground beef is $6.90, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a 32 percent increase from two years ago. Last month, the Agriculture Department forecast beef prices would rise 12.1 percent in 2026.

But successive crises and volatility over the last year have largely prevented ranchers from rebuilding their herds, meaning low cattle supplies and high beef prices are likely to stick around.

The latest blow is the discovery of the larvae from the New World screwworm fly in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexican border. The fly can lay its eggs in open wounds as small as a tick bite, and the infection can kill animals if left untreated.

The New World screwworm was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, and the rest of North and Central America by the early 2000s. This was done by breeding hundreds of millions of sterile flies each week and dropping them from aircraft into areas where wild flies were found. But eradication efforts have weakened, and since 2022 the fly has been making its way north from Panama and closer to the United States.

 

steve schmidt logo horizontalThe Warning with Steve Schmidt, Opinion: Donald Trump Won't Rebound, Steve Schmidt, June 5, 2026. Trump can't stay awake and can barely speak. Steve Schmidt breaks down Trump's decomposing regime, his collapsing legacy, and his blatant compensatory and narcissistic monuments.

 

Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

djt mount rushmore

Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: The Coming Revival of America, Robert Reich, right, robert reich color headshotJune 7, 2026. Trump has shown us why we need a good and decent government. 

I detest him and everything he does or says. Ditto his despicable aides and Cabinet members, his unprincipled sycophants and suck-ups.

But it’s possible that someday we’ll look back on this horrendous era and say we needed Trump. We needed to see how horrible it could get before America was able to revive its ideals.

Please hear me out.

Even before Trump, we were barreling down the wrong road. Inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity were worsening. Legalized bribery was soaring in the form of mounting campaign contributions from big corporations and the wealthy. Workers were getting shafted. On Wall Street and in C-suites, fealty to the rule of law was giving way to “greed is good” selfishness. Giant corporations were monopolizing ever more of the economy. America was losing its moral authority in the world (think Abu Ghraib and the torture memo).

We couldn’t have remained on that road. Even if we didn’t know it then, most of us understand that now. Trump has opened our eyes to the consequences of extreme greed, corruption, cruelty, and utter disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law. His brazenness and shamelessness have awakened us to much that we took for granted.

He and his regime are still dangerous as hell, of course. But the American public is catching on. His polls are in the cellar; they continue to fall.

It’s as if the nation has been through basic training in democracy, a stress test in civics, a crash course in the importance of having a decent and good government.

Before Trump, how many Americans understood the importance of “checks and balances” among the three branches of government, as envisioned by the Founders?

Now nearly everyone knows, because we’ve seen what happens when the head of the executive branch usurps the power of Congress and defies the federal courts.

How many of us really knew what “due process” meant when it came to giving people accused by the government an opportunity to defend themselves?

By now most of us have seen videos of people dragged out of their homes in the dead of night by masked agents of the U.S. government and thrown into detention camps without so much as a hearing. And we’ve seen government agents murder American citizens in cold blood on the streets of our cities.

Did we understand the meaning of corruption, bribes, self-dealing, and pay-to-play before Trump extorted corporations and billionaires to contribute millions to his campaign, his PAC, his inauguration, his ballroom, and his 250th birthday party? Now, we surely do.

Did we really know the importance of professional civil servants before Trump fired tens of thousands of them and substituted brainless loyalists? Before he got rid of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because it published truthful jobs data he didn’t like?

Did we understand the importance of expertise before Trump turned his back on career diplomats at the State Department, doctors and epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control, and experienced lawyers at the Justice Department and replaced them with loyalist hacks?

Or the meaning of “equal justice under the law” before Trump turned the Justice Department into his own private law firm to prosecute political enemies and pardon supporters?

Did we comprehend the true meaning of freedom of speech and expression before Trump attacked our universities for allowing demonstrations he disliked? Before he got CBS to fire Stephen Colbert for satirizing him and muzzle “60 Minutes” for criticizing him?

Did we know the dangers of oligarchy before Trump authorized Elon Musk to destroy entire federal agencies? Before Trump suck-up Jeff Bezos prohibited the editorial board of The Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris? Before Trump turned over to Larry and David Ellison much of how Americans learn what’s going on — CBS’s broadcast network, its news division, and over 28 local television stations, as well as CNN, TikTok, Comedy Central, Discovery, HBO and HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Studios?

Did we understand the importance of the federal government keeping us safe and healthy before Trump eviscerated health and safety regulations? Before he decimated the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, and much of the Department of Health and Human Services? Before he authorized a crackpot with no medical background who opposes vaccines to run the world’s largest and most powerful health agency?

Did we understand why the Federal Reserve needs to be independent of politics? Did we know why the Federal Trade Commission needs to crack down against monopolies? Did we appreciate why the National Labor Relations Board must protect workers’ rights to form unions?

I venture to say, in answer to all of these questions: No, we did not know.

Now, most of us do.

It’s a terrible time. I share your sadness, anger, and fear. But prior to this daymare, too many of us had fallen asleep at the wheel. We had let America barrel down a road that was compromising too many of the ideals we hold in common.

Maybe we needed this horrific wakeup call in order to get back on the road we should have been on. We needed to see how fragile the institutions of self-government are in order to know why we must strengthen them. We needed to be reminded of what America is all about — what it should be about — in order to revive it — and reclaim it, for and by the people.

We will use what we’ve learned. We will fight for a stronger democracy. We’ll demand equal justice and the rule of law. We’ll commit ourselves to the common good. And we will assign Trump and his regime to the dustbin of history. 

U.S. Law, Immigration, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice

ICE logo

New York Times, An Uncertain Win for Immigrants Seeking to Stay in U.S., Jesus Jiménez, June 7, 2026 (print ed.). After a judge’s ruling, there was a sense of renewed hope that immigration applications that were put on hold would move forward. But how soon that would happen was unknown.Listen · 6:21 min

A day after a federal judge struck down Trump administration policies that had frozen applications for many immigrants seeking to stay in the country, there was renewed hope that a six-month logjam might be easing.

There are more than a million backlogged applications for citizenship, green cards, work permits and asylum. When those applications would move forward, however, was uncertain.

In a strongly worded opinion on Friday, the judge, John J. McConnell Jr., wrote that the policies enacted by the Trump administration had effectively made it challenging for many immigrants to stay in the United States.

The policies, which were enacted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the legal immigration system and processes paperwork for immigrants already in the country, put a hold on asylum applications. The agency also paused decisions on applications filed by immigrants from 39 countries under a travel ban, many of them in Africa and the Middle East.

“When U.S.C.I.S. first enacted the policies at the center of this litigation, the agency did not simply place a hold on adjudications,” Judge McConnell wrote. “More fundamentally, the challenged policies placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth. Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures.”

The ruling was a victory for labor groups that had filed a lawsuit in March against the federal government over the policies. Among those groups was American Gateways, a nonprofit that provides legal services for immigrants.

Edna Yang, a co-executive director of American Gateways, said in a statement that the ruling “reinforces the integrity of our nation’s immigration system.”

“It allows people who have spent decades waiting for the legal system to work as promised to have certainty and a path forward for hard-fought permanent status and family reunification,” she said. “It is important that no administration excludes people based solely on their country of origin.”

Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, said that this decision could allow those with immigration cases to move their applications forward.

But the relief may be short-lived. While it was unclear immediately after the ruling how the Trump administration planned to respond, it was expected that the judge’s order would be appealed.

The White House referred questions about the decision to the U.S.C.I.S.

James Percival, the general counsel for the Homeland Security Department, the parent agency of U.S.C.I.S., said in an emailed statement on Saturday that the ruling was “sabotage dressed in legal clothing.”

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

New York Times, Kennedy Center Loses Case Against Musician Who Canceled After Trump Renaming, Mark Walker, June 7, 2026 (print ed.). A judge sided with jazz performer Chuck Redd, who canceled a 2025 holiday concert after President Trump’s name was added to the building. 

A judge in Washington on Friday tossed a lawsuit filed by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts against a jazz musician who canceled a performance at the venue’s annual Christmas Eve concert last year after the center’s board added President Trump’s name to the building.

In an order throwing out the breach-of-contract case, the judge, Tanya M. Jones Bosier, wrote that the Kennedy Center failed to prove that Chuck Redd, a jazz musician and a host of the institution’s holiday program, had signed a contract to perform as he had in years past.

The dispute arose after the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the institution The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, according to court papers.

Following the decision, Mr. Redd said that he would not participate.

The Kennedy Center sued, accusing Mr. Redd of breaking an agreement to appear at the concert. He argued that no enforceable contract existed.

“It is undisputed that Redd did not sign the 2025 Agreement that the Center provided,” the judge wrote.

According to court papers, the center said it sustained damages “from lost good will with the public, wasted marketing expenses, and sunk costs preparing for a concert that did not occur.”

However, the judge noted the center did not lose any ticket sales because the concert was free, “and the entire performance was canceled as a result of multiple artists canceling, so the center did not incur costs for staff or other performers.”

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

In a statement, a lawyer for Mr. Redd, Lisa J. Banks, noted that the suit was dismissed based on the District of Columbia’s Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Act, which empowers defendants to fight lawsuits meant to intimidate and silence opposing points of view on matters of public interest.

“The center sued Mr. Redd because he publicly and rightly objected to adding Donald Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center, a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy,” she said. “The lawsuit against Mr. Redd was political retribution, pure and simple, by the Trump Kennedy Center, and the court correctly saw it as such in dismissing the case with prejudice.”Editors’ PicksAre You a New Yorker? If You Weren’t Born Here, Jennifer Lopez Says No.For America’s Birthday, a Declaration of Independence WhodunitA 5-Point Checklist for Managing Your Aging Parents’ Money

The ruling was another setback for the institution stemming from the same renaming dispute that prompted Mr. Redd’s withdrawal.

On Thursday, the center’s general counsel in a memo directed staff to “immediately” remove President Trump’s name from official material after a federal judge ruled on May 29 that the board of trustees lacked the authority to rename the institution.

christopher cooperThe memo also instructed employees to replace indoor and outdoor signage bearing the disputed name by June 12.

In a 94-page opinion, Judge Christopher R. Cooper, left, of the Federal District Court in Washington, determined that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

Kennedy Center officials have indicated that they are planning to appeal Judge Cooper’s ruling.

More On Iran War

New York Times, Trump Says Iran Has Made a ‘Big’ Nuclear Promise. It Isn’t New, Michael Crowley, June 7, 2026. President Trump’s boasts of securing a commitment from Iranian leaders not to develop a nuclear weapon have puzzled nuclear experts who note that Tehran has made that pledge for more than 50 years.

More than two months of on-again, off-again peace talks have made little progress toward settling the U.S. war on Iran. But President Trump has lately claimed a major breakthrough.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with his daughter-Iran Flagin-law Lara Trump on Fox News last month. Iran, he added, has “agreed to that, and it was very interesting.”

Mr. Trump emphasized the point again on Monday. “They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he told a New York Post podcast. “That was one of the things they’ve had to agree, they’ve agreed to that. That was the big thing,” he said.

Mr. Trump has said the main reason he went to war on Feb. 28 was to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. An official White House fact sheet lists 74 occasions, dating to 2011, when Mr. Trump said that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. And when he posted his latest conditions for a deal on social media last month, the first was that “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb.”

But Mr. Trump’s boasts of an Iranian commitment have puzzled nuclear experts. The president appears to be claiming credit for something that is neither new nor, experts say, particularly meaningful.

“It’s not much of a concession,” said Gary Samore, a veteran arms control expert who dealt with Iran as a National Security Council official in the Obama administration.

One reason is that Tehran has forsworn nuclear weapons for more than 50 years, insisting over and over that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes such as electricity and medicine. Its promises have come in the form of written pledges, verbal statements and even a religious ruling, or fatwa, from its supreme leader.

Another is that such a promise means little on its own. Its only value would come as a first step toward subsequent talks that could establish detailed limits on Iran’s nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment. “The issue is how the pledge translates into limits on Iran’s enrichment program,” Mr. Samore said.

In fact, Iran’s promise is in the first paragraph of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the United States, under President Barack Obama, and several other world powers that Mr. Trump so often denounces.

New York Times, As Oil Prices Spike, Talk of ‘Demand Destruction’ Sets In, Lora Kelley, June 7, 2026. The decades-old term refers to the sustained loss of demand for a commodity, caused by high prices.

As the war in Iran has stymied traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, demand for oil has fallen, and industry watchers and oil executives have started to fret about “demand destruction.” The decades-old term refers to the sustained loss of demand for a commodity caused by high prices.

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

New York Times, Trump Looms Over Pivotal Republican Senate Runoff in Georgia, Patricia Mazzei, June 7, 2026. The president has not yet endorsed Representative Mike Collins or Derek Dooley, a former football coach, in the race to challenge the Democratic senator, Jon Ossoff.

georgia map 2Derek Dooley campaigned in rural Georgia this month with a lifelong friend: Gov. Brian Kemp, who also happens to be the state’s most popular Republican. Yet Mr. Dooley remains, by his own admission, the underdog in the Republican Senate primary runoff.

His opponent, Representative Mike Collins, who led after both advanced to a runoff in the first-round election last month, is the race’s self-styled MAGA candidate. President Trump has not endorsed either man ahead of the June 16 runoff — at least not yet.

But Mr. Collins told a Republican women’s club in suburban Griffin last week that Georgia’s MAGA crowd has “always known” who’s who. “I’ve been out there all over the country with President Trump,” he said.

Trump-aligned candidates have won nearly every time the president has made a primary endorsement this year, but some of those elections occurred in deeply Republican states, including Louisiana and Texas. In Georgia, Republicans face a much more difficult electoral landscape in their bid to unseat Senator Jon Ossoff, the Democratic incumbent, who has banked more than $32 million for the November election. That’s far more than either Republican so far.

The stakes are high for Democrats too, who must hold the seat to have any realistic chance of taking control of the Senate.

 

south carolina in us map

New York Times, They Vied for Trump’s Endorsement. Will It Matter? Eduardo Medina and Emily Cochrane,.June 7, 2026. The Republican candidates for South Carolina governor went to extraordinary lengths for the president’s support. But his choice of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette has not quite sealed the deal among voters.

Not long ago, a Trump endorsement in a solidly red state like South Carolina would have gone a long way toward helping Ms. Evette secure victory. But the president’s choice in the first wide-open governor’s race in almost two decades has not yet proved decisive — just as it did not prove decisive in Iowa’s primary for governor on Tuesday, when Mr. Trump’s pick lost to a political newcomer.

The candidates for governor in South Carolina went to extraordinary lengths to garner Mr. Trump’s endorsement, many of them repeatedly posting photos of themselves with the president as if his nod had been secured.

But in interviews, voters appeared to be more concerned about who could steer the state — the fastest-growing in the country — through its growing pains and infrastructure woes.

As of June 2, just over 207,000 people had voted, with Democratic votes nearly doubling the number of Republican votes. To energize their conservative base, candidates have barnstormed across the state, racking up hundreds of miles on bus tours and popping into barbecue joints and bars to shake hands and plead for support.

More Global News

New York Times, Ukraine Strikes St. Petersburg in Long-Range Drone Attack, Neil MacFarquhar, June 7, 2026 (print ed.). It was the second such attack in days and came just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin spoke at an economic forum in the city.

Ukraine hit a Russian military base and other targets near St. Petersburg with a barrage of long-range drones early Saturday, just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin, addressing an important annual economic forum in the city, rejected a peace overture by ukraine flaghis Ukrainian counterpart.

The Russian authorities called the attack “unprecedented,” with Gov. Aleksandr Drozdenko of the Leningrad region around the city announcing that more than 140 drones had been shot down. The attack ignited a fire at an unspecified military facility, causing “insignificant” damage and the evacuation of some residents, he said.

In an unusual move since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, urged residents to shelter indoors.

Falling drone debris from an attack elsewhere, in the Tver region, killed a man, while three people were injured in the St. Petersburg area, officials said. Mr. Beglov described the injuries as “minor” and said that Russian air defenses had prevented any serious damage.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, writing on X, stressed the distance that the drones had flown, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), to strike a naval base at Kronstadt, on an island just west of St. Petersburg, as well as a naval arsenal.

“It is time to end this war,” Mr. Zelensky said in his post. “But Russia’s ruler wants to keep fighting.”

Russia unleashed its own barrage of scores of long-range drones against various targets on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

The Ukrainian drone strike on St. Petersburg was the second such attack in four days. Black smoke from a burning oil facility billowed on Wednesday over the western edge of the city just as the country’s business elites were gathering for the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

While the forum was once a magnet for major Western investors, those investors have largely stayed away since the war began, although Russia said that 130 countries were represented this year. The United States sent an official representative for the first time in years, a low-level cultural delegation.

In conjunction with the forum’s start, Mr. Zelensky had released a letter to Mr. Putin suggesting that the two meet in person to try to reach a peace agreement. The letter was written in a slightly mocking tone, noting that Mr. Putin had already spent about half his over two decades as Russia’s leader fighting Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader was counting from 2014, when Russia seized Crimea and fostered a separatist movement in the country’s east.

At the forum on Friday, Mr. Putin rejected the overture, calling the letter “rude” and saying that the war would end only when Russia’s goals were met. Although the Kremlin has abandoned its initial objective of seizing all of Ukraine, Russia officially annexed four eastern provinces, only one of which it fully controls. The war has basically deadlocked, with Russian advances stalling again in recent weeks.

U.S. Media, Culture, Crime

 

 

The late U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, a Nevada Republican, and the late FBI Las Vegas Field Office Supervisor Joe Yablonsky, a would-be whistleblower on the senator's corruption.The late U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, a Nevada Republican, and the late FBI Las Vegas Field Office Supervisor Joe Yablonsky, a would-be whistleblower on the senator's corruption

Mobology, How a 1985 rivalry between ABC News and "60 Minutes" allowed a mobbed-up U.S. Senator to evade exposure, Dan E. Moldea, dan moldearight, June 7, 2026. An earlier example of a major public figure using libel litigation to chill the press.

On April 26, 2026, I published the column: “With defamation lawsuits now cynically used as political weapons, we need to reform the laws that govern libel.”

Today, I reprint the following award-winning article, “Networks Knuckle Under to Laxalt: The Story That Never Aired”—which I co-authored with investigative journalist Robert I. Friedman—in the Village Voice on March 5, 1985.

This piece chronicled, among other things, how that story—completed and scheduled for broadcast by both ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS’s 60 Minutes—was killed.

The parallels between this 41-year-old article and the circumstances behind the current crisis in journalism at both ABC and CBS, stemming from Donald Trump’s flagrant abuse of litigation, are striking.

abc news logo colorFriedman is an important character in this story, but he still wanted to share the byline after inviting me aboard. Consequently, unless otherwise noted, I conducted the interviews with 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt, and 60 Minutes senior correspondent Mike Wallace, as well as Peter Lance, Bill Lichtenstein, and Charlie Stuart at ABC News, along with others quoted in this story, including Joe Yablonsky of the FBI and Robbie.

This is the first time that I have published this edited story on Mobology.

Tragically, Robbie Friedman died at 51 on July 2, 2002, from a rare disease that he contracted while on assignment in India. . . . He was a good man and a brave reporter.

From the Village Voice, March 5, 1985: Overview

 

CBS 60 minutes logoThere was an air of excitement at 60 Minutes late last summer as journalists at that top-rated CBS news program completed an expose about Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt’s alleged ties to organized crime. Earlier stories in the press—most notably in the Miami Herald in 1981 and the Wall Street Journal in 1983—included long lists of Laxalt’s friends and campaign contributors who have mob connections.

By mid-September 1984, Lowell Bergman, a respected 60 Minutes producer for senior correspondent Mike Wallace, was putting the finishing touches on his own story—the end product of a three-month-long investigation—that had uncovered startling revelations about Laxalt’s notorious friendships.

On September 14, Wallace said on the Phil Donahue Show that the forthcoming Laxalt segment on 60 Minutes could possibly change the course of the November presidential election.

But the story, pegged for the season opener in late September, never aired.

cbs news logoOn September 20, CBS News executives received a hand-delivered letter from Laxalt’s New York attorney, which threatened a libel suit if they broadcast a report linking Laxalt to organized crime. The letter called into question the credibility of the network’s key on-camera source, Joseph Yablonsky, the former head of the FBI in Las Vegas, whose allegations about Laxalt’s mob connections were the centerpiece of the story.

ABC’s World News Tonight, which had also obtained an interview with Yablonsky and was racing to scoop its arch-rival with its own Laxalt expose, received a similar letter that same day.

Shortly after getting the correspondence, 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt called Roone Arledge, the president of ABC News and Sports. The news executives agreed to shelve their Laxalt stories.

Neither was broadcast.

Hewitt’s decision was based on the simple fact that his star correspondent, Mike Wallace, wanted to kill the segment after learning that Yablonsky had talked to ABC, giving that network the chance to scoop him. Yablonsky, who promised Wallace an exclusive interview, had spoken with ABC after receiving what he believed were assurances that ABC would not broadcast its program until after the 60 Minutes segment aired.

In the end, while the networks’ stories self-destructed, Laxalt, one of President Ronald Reagan’s closest friends and the chairman of both the Republican National Committee and Reagan’s reelection campaign, sidestepped the serious allegations in the reports. And the American viewing public was deprived of a significant insight into one of this country’s most powerful public officials.

What follows is an anatomy of the two networks’ aborted Laxalt stories in the era of the multimillion-dollar libel suit, as well as an inside view of what happens to journalists and their sources when rival networks are locked in bitter competition over the same story. CBS opens an investigation of Paul Laxalt

On November 30, Yablonsky sent a letter to Roone Arledge, chronicling his travails with ABC and CBS. Yablonsky concluded:

“Simply put, ABC’s lies to me turned me into a liar to Wallace. . . .

“Paradoxically, I became the scapegoat of an incident caused by ABC’s lack of integrity. I naively thought I could trust a network organization. . . .

“In retrospect, I really don’t think you had the guts to do the story in the first place. Your actions caused an important story to go untold to the American public.”

Besides the American public, however, the big loser in this story is clearly Joe Yablonsky, who, after a brilliant 32-year career with the FBI, jeopardized his reputation because of the naive manner in which he conducted himself with the networks.

Says Yablonsky, “I tried to please everyone: ABC, CBS, Friedman, and myself. In the end, I didn’t please anyone.”

Except, of course, Senator Paul Laxalt. . . .

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup 

 

Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi, center right, joins other Trump administration officials in boasting in February 2025 outside the White House that they held in their hands

Emptywheel, Analysis: DOJ Remains Panicked about So-Called “Duplicative” Jeffrey Epstein Files, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), June 7, 2026. marcy wheelerTo the extent anyone covered the Oversight Committee’s interview of Pam Bondi — the transcript of which was released on Thursday (see my Bluesky thread on it) — they focused on the extent to which Bondi said Todd Blanche was in charge.

Todd Blanche OIt’s true Todd Blanche, left, came up almost a hundred times. It’s true that Bondi’s invocation of Blanche (and StanWoodward) gives Democrats reason to demand they sit for interviews. It’s true that Blanche’s centrality in the process could make any confirmation hearing awkward.

Several invocations of Blanche are particularly interesting.

For example, Bondi told James Comer’s counsel, Jack Emmer, that Blanche was the one who made privilege determinations.

Q And who made the determination whether a document was considered to be privileged?

A Todd Blanche, while following the law.

In an Appropriations hearing that took place after Bondi’s interview but before its release, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean read the content of her hand transcription of an October 2009 email from Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer to the sex predator regarding what Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten had proffered Trump would say in lieu of a deposition (this is the same document Dan Goldmanraised with Bondi in a hearing and then taunted Blanche about in February). In the publicly released version, the passage was entirely redacted as privileged.

The contents differ from Trump’s public claims in three ways:

It conceded he may have been on Epstein’s plane It conceded he may have been at Epstein’s house It twice said that Epstein was never asked to leave Mar-a-Lago

Lisa Rubin laid out how absurd redacting this passage by invoking privilege was. All the more so that it was Trump’s defense attorney Blanche (who in an earlier exchange with Dean refused to say he owed a greater duty to the victims than Trump) who decided to redact the passage.

Equally important, again in response to a question from Emmer, was Bondi’s attribution of the unsigned July 7 letter claiming there was no there there to Blanche and Kash Patel.

Q What role did you have in issuing this statement?

A This was — I did not have a role in issuing this statement. I believe this was done by Deputy Attorney General Blanche in conjunction with the FBI, I believe.

Q And, for the record, this is the July 7, 2025, DOJ and FBI joint statement.

pam bondi 2025While still deferring to Blanche, Bondi, right, got a lot squirrelier when responding to questions from the Democratic staffer (whose name was redacted) about the same letter:

Q Thank you. With respect to that memo’s assertion that no further disclosure of files would be appropriate or warranted, do you recall who made the decision at the time that no further Epstein files should be released?

A Can you —

Q Yeah, it was just a sentence —

A — point out where you’re reading that?

Q Sure. Down at the bottom of the first page, there’s just one sentence. It says, “It’s the determination of the DOJ and the FBI that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

A I can’t answer that, other than that was in July, and we had sought, meaning the Department of Justice, to unseal in July documents from courts in the Southern District of Florida and Southern District of New York, and that was denied, I believe, by both judges, the release of those documents.

Q If you know, would the Department have been aware of the content of the 3 million or so pages that we now have seen at the time that this memo was written in July?

A I don’t believe so.

Q Okay. Okay. So that judgment about no further disclosure of files would be warranted was made on a lesser understanding of what the files were than as we sit here today?

A Well, clearly, they did not know there were 3 million-plus — approximately 3 million pages of documents at that time.

Q As far as you know, was that July memo written and formed exclusively within DOJ and FBI, or did the White House have any role in crafting that memo?

A I don’t recall. [my emphasis]

This exchange came shortly after Bondi (unsurprisingly) refused to give details about Trump’s response when she told him he was in the files, a refusal she repeated when Robert Garcia asked her those questions.

Q The Wall Street Journal has reported that you told President Trump last May that he was in the Epstein files and that the Department did not plan to release anymore Epstein files.

Deputy Attorney General Blanche was also reportedly in that meeting. What did President Trump say when you told him he was in the files?

A I won’t discuss any conversations that I had or did not have with the President of the United States.

Q I’ll note, just for the transcript’s purposes, that I think the Department of Justice publicly confirmed the nature and scope of that meeting. So that would seem to us like something that is reasonable to discuss in this forum. But I understand your position, and I’ll move forward.

Having just been asked about telling Trump, in May, that he appeared in the files, Bondi then claimed,

That the request to unseal grand jury materials, which happened weeks after the July 7 letter, is what preceded it Not to know about 3 million files held at SDNY Not to recall whether the White House was involved in the July 7 letter

Yeah, that’s bullshit.

Bondi also implied that Blanche approached Ghislaine Maxwell, not the other way around, offering the insanely stupid excuse that Ghislaine was a live witness, as if all the victims whom DOJ has blown off are not.

A I believe — I don’t believe who initiated it. If she reached out to us, I believe — I don’t want to speculate, but I believe Deputy Attorney General Blanche, at the time, reached out to them because there was someone, still living, in prison, who had potential information about other co-conspirators and crimes.

There’s one more reference I find important. As part of his initial questions, presumably meant to establish the least incriminating story, Emmer cued Bondi to specify that Blanche was in charge of collecting everything.

Q In relation to EFTA and the Department’s obligations thereunder, what concerns was — or, did Todd Blanche express concerns as far as releasing documents? What was he saying?

Ms. Dhillon. I’m just going to point out that you can answer that to the extent that it doesn’t reveal protected communications.

Ms. Bondi. I can say I believe everyone was concerned about protecting victims’ identities, given the 6 million pages of documents that was received and a 30-day timeline to comply with that process.

BY MR. EMMER:

Q And we’re going to talk in more detail about what was produced.

But, to start, how did the Department of Justice initially gather or collect the necessary documents or materials that complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act?

A Can you repeat that?

Q How did the Department of Justice initially gather or collect the necessary documents or materials that complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act?

A Well, as I stated earlier, we — the Department made motions to unseal things that were previously withheld from us by the courts and requested everything we possibly could, which is why there was an over-collection in documents, as well, from all the jurisdictions. And, again, that included the death of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell’s case, both of — all of Epstein’s cases in the multiple jurisdictions.

Q To the best of your knowledge, what was the process to determine which documents or materials fell under the Epstein Files Transparency Act?

A I believe we collected everything possibly out there related to Epstein, which is why there was such an over-collection as well.

Q And, again, then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was overseeing these efforts. Is that right?

A Yes. Todd Blanche oversaw the entire investigation, and he has made multiple statements and done multiple interviews regarding that. [my emphasis]

harmeet dillon oThe interruption by Harmeet Dhillion, right, purportedly there to represent the interests of DOJ (though there was someone from the Civil Division there, as well as two people who would represent Blanche’s interests), was the first she made, reminding Bondi not to invoke “protected” communications, whatever those would be in this context. This leads into a description of the purportedly heroic efforts to get 500 attorneys to review materials that — Emmer does not mention — were purportedly reviewed already in March, before Bondi told Trump he appeared in there.

One thing Bondi did take credit for, again in response to a question from Comer’s staffer, was the letter she sent Kash on February 27, 2025 about unreviewed documents at SDNY — the one that likely led to the March review which Blanche replicated with lawyers in December and January. But then she played dumb about what happened next.

Q And pursuant to your letter, did Director Patel initiate an investigation into that [NY] field office?

A I believe he did.

Q Do you know what the results of that investigation were?

A I don’t recall.

Q Given this letter, what other steps did you take to ensure the FBI turned over any and all of the remaining withheld documents?

A I relied on Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Blanche.

Q So you, yourself, did you ever confirm that the FBI turned over all relevant documents following this incident?

A You would have to ask Director Patel.

Given this very carefully crafted narrative, one cued up by the Majority’s staffer, I find the treatment of “duplicative” files just as important as the effort to make Blanche own this process.

Jack Emmer teed up the discussion of duplicative material in one of his most highly staged questions, where he asked Bondi why people still claim there were materials that haven’t been released.

Q And there has been public statements, I believe, that then-Deputy Attorney General Blanche had said that, at one point, there were 6 million total potentially responsive materials. Is that right?

A He did. And he has clarified that multiple times, I believe, publicly, indicating that a lot of — much of it was duplicative because it was coming from two districts and some was privileged.

And, also, he stated that some of the material had absolutely nothing to do with Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein. It was over-collection, in an effort to ensure radical transparency for the country.

Q So, to be clear, there has been a lot said and accusations that the Department didn’t produce everything. Attorney General Bondi, are there any documents remaining in possession of the Department of Justice that are required to be released pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act?

A To my knowledge, they’ve all been released. To my knowledge.

Q Why do people keep asking for the files to be released then?

A The unredacted versions are also available to Members of Congress, including the duplicative material, so — and I believe that’s still available — so people can — so Congress can go in and see for themselves the 6 million pages versus why 3 million was released, and much of it was duplicative or privileged or completely unrelated to Jeffrey Epstein. [my emphasis]

Much of this discussion relies on Blanche’s repeated public claims that there were duplicative materials.

When Emmer has Bondi define what duplicative materials are, she gets one main source of the duplication wrong, and then says she does not know how many duplicative files there were; when first Dem staffers and then Dave Min asked later, she (and Harmeet) were very aggressive that this question had already been asked and answered.

Q And, again, you — I believe one class was duplicative documents. And for the record — I know you’ve been an attorney for many years, but can you just explain again what 20 qualifies as a duplicative document?

A Sure. The same document being released twice.

And that occurred, I believe, because there were documents in multiple districts within the country — specifically, I believe, the Southern District of Florida and the Southern District of New York.

Q And understanding that then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was overseeing hese efforts, did he ever brief you on how many documents were considered to be duplicative?

A Not specifically, but I believe it was approximately 3 million, I believe — oh, duplicative. No, I don’t — I’m sorry — I don’t recall how many were duplicative.

The source that Bondi gets wrong — unforgivably so, given her false claim that DOJ tried to get grand jury material released before, not after, the July 7 letter — is discovery provided to Ghislaine, the material that was unavailable in July but became available because of the Epstein Transparency Act.

A Democratic staffer addressed the significance of this as their final questions: The interviews with the woman who claimed she was raped by Trump had been improperly labeled as duplicative (just as investigative files from a woman who described Epstein boasting to Trump, “This is a good one, huh?” were improperly withheld as duplicative).

Q I’d like to ask about a woman who was interviewed by the FBI four times and who accused Mr. Epstein and President Trump of sexual misconduct.

The January 30th production contained one of her interview summaries but not the other three interview summaries. And, in those other interviews, the woman had accused President Trump of sexual assault.

The Department subsequently released those other interview notes on March 5th and said that they had been incorrectly coded as duplicative.

Do you have any understanding of how those interview summaries came to be incorrectly coded as duplicative?

A Other than Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s statements that it was, I believe he said, incorrectly labeled because they were already mentioned in a summary. So it popped up as duplicative. And then they were, in fact, put back online.

And that’s the best of my recollection from his statements.

Q Thank you. And is it your perception that, if we wanted to get more granular and try to understand what exactly happened with these documents, that Mr. Blanche would be a logical starting point?

A Well, I believe he came to this committee, and I think he answered that question. I believe he addressed that in front of this committee already.

I addressed this here and here how important this is: What happened is that all of the original copies of these documents were withheld (or, potentially, worse), but references to them were disclosed in discovery provided to Ghislaine, which is how Roger Sollenberger and others discovered the files.

Sollenberger and others first discovered this woman’s existence via several summary documents (of a report by a friend of hers of the allegation, called into FBI’s tip center; of her complaint; of allegations against famous people).

That led them to find the one 302 that got published, which matched her known lawsuit (which in turn provided details of her representation). And that, in turn, allowed Sollenberger to identify the interview reports in the discovery inventory provided to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021, and through that, the omission of these reports (marked with pink rectangles) from the public release.

Justice Department log circularAnd when DOJ did release the files making explicit allegations about Trump (and, just as importantly, about threats that she attributed to Epstein), they were clearly marked not as the originals, but as the files turned over to Ghislaine in discovery.

As NPR focused in their original story on the withholding, what got released was the discovery shared with Ghislaine. Both the original release and these includes three Bates stamps, including the series — 3501.045-003, here — tied to discovery to Ghislaine, along with stamps from that production.

The Ghislaine material is the definition of duplicate material, because everything that went to her should have an original copy in the FBI’s case file.

But we didn’t get any of those originals. We still haven’t gotten those originals. We can’t be sure if the originals still exist. DOJ certainly hasn’t given us the originals, they gave us duplicates after saying these were duplicates.

I laid out a hypothesis of what went down here, and Bondi’s interview — and DOJ’s squeamishness — certainly accords with it.

Bondi did her stunt release in February 2025, thinking she was helping Trump. When it became clear everything had been released, she sent the letter to Kash about documents FBI was sitting on in NY. That led to the March FBI review — one which barely got addressed in this interview. Bondi at first denied, then (once Republicans had the floor) made a clarification confessing, then played dumb about whether that review specifically searched for mentions of Trump.

I understand the witness would like to make a clarification.

Ms. Bondi. Yes. I was asked by one of the Members of Congress —

Ms. Dhillon. Congressman Frost, I believe.

Ms. Bondi. — I believe Congressman Frost, whether I directed the President’s name to be reviewed in — to see if his name was in the documents.

I don’t believe — I know I didn’t dir- — I did not direct anyone’s name to be reviewed to see if it was in there, but it was done. Because I remember now — I don’t know the timeframe, though — but I remember being aware, of course, that his name was in it, along with hundreds — or countless — countless other individuals. And I think that list ultimately came out, as well, involving high-profile individuals.

So I am aware that his name was searched, but that was among many names that the department searched. I said “hundreds”; I’m not sure if it’s hundreds, but many, many high-profile names. And, in fact, that list was ultimately released.

But the FBI review appears to have been an attempt to both assess the exposure of Trump (and Melania, probably, but she was not mentioned once in this interview), and also to test the political value of exposing Democratic ties. Pam Bondi told Trump kash patel o croppeddamning references to him were in the file in May. That led Blanche and Kash Patel, right, to issue the July 7 letter saying there would be no further release and, importantly, that no one was being blackmailed; remember, the woman who implicated Trump believed she was being threatened. But then, on July 17, WSJ published the birthday book story, which may be what led Blanche to (per Bondi’s testimony) reach out to Ghislaine — to prevent any more really damning stories in the WSJ. That led to three actions, all in close succession:

On July 18, Blanche made the frivolous requests in both SDNY and SDFL to unseal the grand jury materials, eliciting court orders that had the effect of burying (temporarily) the damning testimony that ultimately would be released. On July 22, someone emailed a list of famous names based off the March review which — I have argued — served as the script for Blanche’s questioning of Ghislaine. On July 23 and 24, Blanche seemingly worked off that list, asking Ghislaine what she knew of allegations against them. Ghislaine declined to say anything damning about most anyone, including Trump, and also claimed (in response to repeated questions) to remember nothing damning from her discovery, even while making a slew of claims that conflicted with known record. Her testimony probably is not true, but the interview locked her into that testimony. As a reward for it, she was sent to Club Fed.

At this point, Blanche probably thought he had locked up the damning allegations about Trump (as well as whatever there is about Melania that remains buried under a policy redacting all women’s names as potential victims).

Then the Epstein Transparency Act not only mandated release of everything Blanche thought he had locked up for his client, but it also provided cause to release grand jury materials — the Ghislaine discovery where copies of those allegations remained.

It is still not remotely clear whether the allegations implicating Trump bearing the Bates stamps of Ghislaine’s discovery really are duplicative or not. I think it just as likely that Blanche tried to lock up the original files bearing those allegations (and, probably, a great many other 302s that victims say have not been released) via some other means, and then attempted to bury everything turned over in discovery to Ghislaine with both his interview and the frivolous grand jury request. Then, when the ETA came along and ruined that plan, someone — possibly Blanche — withheld the Ghislaine stuff based on a claim that should be true but was not in practice, that there were other copies, the originals, of those materials.

I’ve seen nothing that confirms those originals still exist.

No wonder DOJ remains so squirmy about duplicative files.

June 6

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Then-President Joe Biden and then-First Lady Jill Biden celebrate the anniversary of World War II's D-Day in Normandy, France on June 6, 2024 (New York Times pool photo by Kenny Holston).

Then-President Joe Biden and then-First Lady Jill Biden celebrate the anniversary of World War II's D-Day in Normandy, France on June 6, 2024 (New York Times pool photo by Kenny Holston).

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Michigan's U.S. Senate Republican nominee Mike Rogers is shown above at left in a normal campaign photo and at right after his campaign staff enhanced his muscles with photo tricks).Michigan's U.S. Senate Republican nominee Mike Rogers is shown above at left in a normal campaign photo and at right after his campaign staff enhanced his muscles with photo tricks).

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  • Hopium Chronicals, Political Advocacy: Reality Check -- Trump Has The Worst Jobs Record Since Hoover, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookJune 6, 2026. As of this morning my bottom line on the week - Trump is in profound political and physical decline 
  • Paul Krugman via Substack, Comments on a Freaky Friday, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 6, 2026. Yesterday was a job report day. The report was unusually strong, certainly stronger than almost any of the professional forecasters expected, 172,000 jobs. Predictably, Trump first boasted about this with a lot of talk about how you know we didn’t have this kind of prosperity under Joe Biden. 

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June 6

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Then-President Joe Biden and then-First Lady Jill Biden celebrate the anniversary of World War II's D-Day in Normandy, France on June 6, 2024 (New York Times pool photo by Kenny Holston).

New York Times, The Bidens Return to the Stage: Online, in Bookstores and at a Best Western in South Dakota, Shawn McCreesh, June 6, 2026. The re-emergence of the former first family has been fraught for some Democrats who just want to move on.

“This is the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America,” the 46th president of the United States of America was saying about the 47th.

It was Friday night in Sioux Falls, and Joseph R. Biden Jr. had turned up here, of all places, to speak at a dinner put on by the South Dakota Democratic Party in the banquet hall of a Best Western hotel. Hundreds of Democrats applauded as he delivered what amounted to the most political speech of his post-presidency yet.

At times halting and hard to understand, at other times yelling clearly at the top of his voice, he tore into the current occupant of the Oval Office and his “appalling vanity projects.”

“My god,” Mr. Biden scoffed, “tearing down the East Room of the White House to make room for a ballroom more fitting of Versailles?”

The crowd booed.

“Or writing his name on the Kennedy Center,” Mr. Biden said, and they booed some more. He seemed to be enjoying himself now. “Or building an arch that would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial,” he continued, “or turning the Reflecting Pool into something you might see in a theme park!”

The 83-year-old man who spoke in Sioux Falls would be approaching the halfway mark of his second term in office had things turned out the way he wanted. His speech Friday capped off a week that saw Mr. Biden, his wife and his son all start to return with a vengeance to the public stage, very much against the wishes of many Democrats, including some former Biden staff members.

A year and a half has passed since that freezing cold day in Washington when Joe and Jill Biden climbed into a helicopter outside the front steps of the Capitol as Donald and Melania Trump and JD and Usha Vance stood together and waved goodbye. Their jill biden memoirlegacy and standing within their party blown to smithereens, the Biden clan stayed pretty quiet until now.

The publication of Jill Biden’s book this week, right, and her subsequent publicity tour reopened deep wounds in the party as she presented her Rashomon version of how her husband’s presidency came to its painful end. The discourse turned messy as former Biden staff members contradicted her online and in media reports and she hit back.

At the same time, Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, re-emerged on X, where he has been scribbling prolifically. Treated as a liability to his father his entire term in office, the younger Mr. Biden is finally free to speak his mind, and, interestingly enough, people can’t seem to get enough of it. The self-deprecating tone he has used to describe his crack-addicted past, and the caustic wit he has turned on Biden family foes, Democrat and Republican alike, has earned him a kind of countercultural sheen that has won over even some Trump fans.

The former president also apparently has a lot more to say. He showed up at one of his wife’s book events in New York this week and said his book would be out in September. Was that correct, or did he misspeak? His spokesman TJ Ducklo said that Mr. Biden was “continuing to work on his memoir and the release date has yet to be determined.”

Many Democrats have said that none of this is what anyone should be focusing on now. The battle lines for the coming midterms are being drawn and the party is trying to exult in new faces. Just when President Trump is facing down the first real (if small) signs of rebellion from his party this term, and especially poor poll numbers, here come the ghosts of the Democratic Party’s past. 

“When we get pulled back into conversations about age and the election in ’24, it’s never going to be a good place for Democrats,” Meghan Hays, who worked in the Biden administration, said on C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” show.

Mr. Biden is hardly the first former president who has been treated as an albatross. Jimmy Carter, another one-term president, felt mistreated by Democratic presidents and candidates for decades until Mr. Biden came around and embraced him at the end of his life. Many Democrats didn’t want Bill Clinton popping up on the 2004 campaign trail. He and Hillary Clinton were radioactive in 2018, when the party was trying to move on from her loss to Mr. Trump, even as the Clintons decided to go on a nationwide speaking tour.

But what occurred with Mr. Biden — the way his decline was laid bare on the debate stage for all to see, and the shocking power struggle that followed — was sui generis.

Mr. Biden has since been diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized to his bones. He moved slowly on Friday, and his voice was a rasp. But, as many politicians do, he seemed to get a charge from the crowd. Jill Biden was not there with him. A friend of theirs had died, he explained, “and she had to be at the funeral.”

The room he was speaking in was the size of a small plane hangar. It was in a detached building out back of a sprawling Best Western that was constructed in the 1960s, the hotel’s low-ceiling hallways a maze of worn brown carpeting pungent with the scent of chlorine from the “indoor water park.” Sheets of paper taped to the doors outside the banquet hall in which Mr. Biden spoke read, “Photo ID Required. No Weapons. No Large Bags.” There was little else in the way of security. No magnetometers. No Secret Service agents searching bags or waving wands.

There was no great motorcade out front or a media circus inside. There were almost no reporters there. The former president’s speech was not televised.

He has appeared quietly at similar dinners in Delaware and South Carolina recently to help out Democratic operations in those states. But South Dakota? It’s redder than Mars out here; one local political operative said the last year a Democrat was elected to statewide office was 2008.

The caravan of South Dakotan Democrats who’d driven across the prairie to be there were just thrilled to see a former president up close. And they didn’t much mind that any of the Biden baggage was back out on display this week.

“They’re not bad people,” said Bob Porter, a 73-year-old former beer distributor from Mitchell, S.D. He was there with his wife, Sherry, who used to work for her local radio station. “Joe,” she said fondly as she put her hand over her heart. “I wish Jill was here.”

“That one event they used against him, and look at all the good things he’s done for America,” sighed Frank Kloucek, a 69-year-old former legislator from Scotland, S.D.

A 65-year-old retired local official from Sioux Falls named Arlene Brandt-Jenson was “one of the lucky ones” who got her picture taken with Mr. Biden before his speech, she said, adding: “I told him that we missed him. He said, ‘Thank you for taking the time to be here.’ And then I left with, ‘You’re an honorable man.’”

But how did he seem up close?

“Well,” she winced, “he seemed a little frail.” She hurriedly added, “But my goodness, when I look at Trump, I’m seeing a frail man, too!”

Mr. Biden’s speech on Friday was the most he has slammed Mr. Trump yet. He talked about the $1.8 billion “slush fund” — “what made me most angry was Trump was going to give that money to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists,” he boomed — and the gobs of crypto loot Mr. Trump has made since returning to office.

“I got criticized a while ago when I was still president for saying our democracy was at stake,” Mr. Biden said. It was the closest he came to a straight-up I-told-you-so.

He told the South Dakotans to stay positive.

“That photo line of 20 people I just did,” he said, pausing to make the sign of the cross. “I couldn’t help but walk away incredibly encouraged.” 

djt space costumeThe Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Veterans furious with Trump on D-Day, Mormons erupt on Hegseth, Vance says Kirk's death convinced Usha to have another child, and more, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 6, 2026. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are furious with Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon declined to classify the church as Christian. Service members and veterans are also criticizing Trump after he failed to mark D-Day, instead spending the day posting AI-generated content about himself and Barack Obama. And that’s just the start.

I’m also hearing that the White House is preparing to significantly expand its attacks on creators and independent journalists in the days and weeks ahead.

If you value this reporting, please consider supporting it to help me fight back.

Here’s the news:

President Donald Trump marked D-Day by posting AI-generated content on social media, including a music video depicting himself being celebrated around the world (and courageously exploring space, as shown above) and an image portraying the future Obama Presidential Library as dilapidated and surrounded by trash. Here is the first video:

Here is the Obama trash can image:

 

djt obama library 6 6 2026

Unlike many other world leaders and government officials, he did not post a direct D-Day tribute on his personal account, though the White House and members of his administration commemorated the anniversary. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day ceremony in France to criticize European immigration policies, comparing migrant arrivals on Mediterranean shores to an “invasion.” The comments reflected the Trump administration’s broader criticism of immigration in Europe and its calls for European governments to take a tougher approach.

Vice President JD Vance writes in his new memoir that the 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk deeply affected his family and ultimately influenced his wife, Usha Vance, to reconsider having another child. Vance says that after comforting Kirk’s widow, who expressed regret about not having more children with her husband, Usha changed her mind and later became pregnant with the couple’s fourth child. He describes Kirk as a close friend, mentor, and confidant who helped him navigate family life while serving in national politics.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech in Normandy to criticize European governments over immigration, comparing migrant arrivals on Mediterranean beaches to an “invasion.” His remarks echoed broader Trump administration warnings that large-scale migration threatens Europe’s cultural and political future. The speech followed similar comments from Vice President JD Vance, whose criticism of immigration in the U.K. sparked backlash from British officials and the family of a murder victim whose case he referenced. The comments highlight ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and European leaders over migration policy, even as migration levels into Europe have fallen significantly from their 2015 peak.

Mormons have erupted this afternoon after the Department of Defense reduced its list of recognized religious designations to 31 categories and included The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a separate faith rather than under Christianity. Here is the list, and as you can see, the religion is listed separately:

djt hegseth list of religions 6 66 2026

Utah Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis sharply criticized the decision, arguing that the church is clearly Christian and that the government should not define a religion contrary to its own beliefs. The Pentagon said the changes were intended to simplify religious classifications and help military chaplains better serve service members. Critics from multiple faith groups also objected, saying the government should not create a hierarchy of religions or decide which faiths qualify as Christian.

The Trump Administration has changed the logo of the Kennedy Center’s LinkedIn page. The new logo no longer includes the President’s name. I have been tracking this religiously and monitoring the pages of the Kennedy Center ever since the court’s ruling, and today, they quietly changed it. This is the beginning of many more changes to come:

I spent the afternoon at the Kennedy Center and documented what I saw. The Center has not received official orders to remove the Trump name today. I will be returning every day until I capture the name removal:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed nine Navy officers from a promotion list, including all three women who had been selected for advancement to one-star admiral, resulting in no women receiving that promotion this year. The Pentagon has not explained why the officers were removed, leading many female service members to worry that their careers could be limited or increasingly influenced by politics. Critics argue the move breaks with the military’s traditionally structured promotion process and follows other recent dismissals of senior female officers under Hegseth. Pentagon officials maintain that promotions are based solely on merit and not on race or gender.

Thousands of Albanians have continued protests under the slogan “Albania Is Not for Sale,” opposing a proposed $5 billion luxury tourism development backed by Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. Demonstrators argue that planned projects on Sazan Island and in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area could damage environmentally sensitive coastal and wetland ecosystems and limit public access to national assets. Protests have entered their seventh day:

Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley are warning that a lapse in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) could create a major intelligence gap if Congress fails to renew the authority before next Friday's deadline. According to the report from Punchbowl News, they urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for the possibility that intelligence collection could be disrupted.

I also visited the reflecting pool to see whether the pool is actually reflecting. Here is an image I took:

Russia’s war in Ukraine remains at a stalemate, with peace talks making little progress despite U.S. mediation efforts and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to meet directly with Vladimir Putin, which Putin rejected. At Russia’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Putin and other Russian officials emphasized that Moscow remains open to improving relations with the United States, while also expressing frustration that U.S. attention has shifted toward the conflict involving Iran.

Several prominent Americans, including Candace Owens, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., and the Tate brothers, visited Russia during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as the Kremlin sought to project strength despite setbacks in Ukraine and growing domestic frustrations. Russian officials and state media highlighted their presence as evidence that Russia is not isolated and that ties with Americans remain active. The visitors praised aspects of Russian culture, safety, and society, while critics argued that their trips primarily served the Kremlin’s domestic propaganda goals. Experts said the visits are unlikely to change American views of Russia but may help reassure Russian audiences that their country still has international connections.

The body of 20-year-old Auburn University student James “Weston” Higginbotham was found in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, Japan, after he had been missing for a week. He disappeared during a family trip on May 29 after walking away from his parents at Kyoto Station, prompting a large search effort involving police and volunteers. His family had said he may have been emotionally distressed following an argument about artificial intelligence before he left. His mother thanked everyone who helped search for him and asked for privacy as the family copes with the loss.

 

While Donald J. Trump sleeps, they steal....

Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary, Trump is falling apart, and the people around him are racing to cash in, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 6, 2026. Just before 5:00 in the morning, after an all-night vote-a-rama, the Senate approved nearly $70 billion in new funding for ICE and Border Patrol, along with something no other American has ever received.

It is the protection shielding Trump, his family, and his businesses from IRS audits. Democrats brought amendment after amendment to strip the carve-out from the bill. Republicans beat back nearly every one. The closest vote, an effort to block the $1.8 billion payout fund tied to Trump’s settlement, failed by a single vote, 49 to 50. Americans are expected to pay every tax dollar they owe and are always subject to audit. Some reports say the president may owe roughly $100 million in back taxes. One set of rules for them. Another for everyone else.

And the corruption runs deeper than one bill. A watchdog report revealed that more than half of the publicly identified donors to Trump’s White House ballroom have won new or expanded federal contracts worth over $50 billion in the past six months. Sixteen of those 27 donors have watched their federal enforcement actions get dropped, scaled back, or suspended. They are not funding a ballroom out of generosity. They are buying favor. Meanwhile, the House voted 213 to 210 to cut $141 million in fruit and vegetable benefits from WIC, the program feeding 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant mothers, while grocery prices keep climbing. They voted to take produce from babies while the president’s donors collected billions.

And the speed of it all tells us something important. The man at the center is failing. He fell asleep on camera at his own coal event. He needed help getting down a single stair in Wisconsin. And the people around him are not slowing down. They are speeding up, racing to seize as much money and power as they can while he can still sign what they put in front of him, because they know the midterms are closing in. This is a smash and grab in the window they have left. They are building it in a hurry because they know it is not built to last. Americans are waking up. And time is no longer on their side.

We are living through a pivotal moment for our country, and my goal is to reach as many people as possible with clear, factual information about what is happening. The more people who understand what is unfolding, the better our chances of pushing back against chaos, cruelty, and corruption ahead of the midterms.

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Newsweek, Trump Posts Doctored Music Video Saying Everyone Around World Loves Him, Giulia Carbonaro, June 6, 2026. President Donald Trump shared a self-celebratory AI-generated music video on social media which uses his name 45 times and claims that people all around the world love him.

newsweek logoThe one-minute video, which features several AI-generated versions of Donald Trump traveling across the globe and being greeted by leaders and citizens alike, was created by a user identified on Truth Social as "ac132."

On the social media platform, where the president published the video early on Saturday, the user said: "I am proud to be endorsed by President Trump who I wrote this song about."Read More on NewsDonald Trump Boasts as White House Releases Physical Exam Results6 min readDonald Trump Boasts as White House Releases Physical Exam ResultsPaulina Mangubat Posts ‘Temu Hitler’ Cake, Calls Stephen Miller Ugly Again5 min readPaulina Mangubat Posts ‘Temu Hitler’ Cake, Calls Stephen Miller Ugly AgainWhat are ‘Wrench Attacks?’ Nancy Guthrie Theory Emerges4 min readWhat are ‘Wrench Attacks?’ Nancy Guthrie Theory Emerges

At the end of the clip, the song itself is credited to Anthony Constantino, a Trump-endorsed Republican congressional candidate in New York.

It is the latest example of Trump’s adoption of AI-generated imagery, which he has personally embraced and continued to share on his social media profiles despite recently receiving backlash over an AI-generated photo portraying him as a Jesus-like figure.

After receiving criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, including former allies such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and religious conservatives who typically support him, the president deleted the post and explained that it was actually a representation of himself as a doctor.

"It wasn’t a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker, which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one," he said in April.

The music clip shared this weekend shows the president paragliding, planting the U.S. flag on the moon in a spacesuit, riding a camel, riding a motorcycle through the streets of India, and even riding a lion. His face also appears on a pizza, a double-decker bus, and in the Northern lights.

steve schmidt logo horizontalThe Warning with Steve Schmidt, Opinion: Donald Trump Won't Rebound, Steve Schmidt, June 5, 2026. Trump can't stay awake and can barely speak. Steve Schmidt breaks down Trump's decomposing regime, his collapsing legacy, and his blatant compensatory and narcissistic monuments. 

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The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump Upset as Celebrities Bail on UFC Fight, Screwworm Disaster, Pentagon Promotes Christian Nationalism, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 6, 2026. Republicans in Congress are preparing to break with Trump on key votes as his influence continues to weaken. The flesh-eating screwworm outbreak is expanding, with a second Texas case confirmed, Canada banning Texas cattle imports, and growing questions about whether DOGE cuts hampered early detection efforts.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is reducing the number of recognized religions, officials are reportedly concerned about Israeli espionage targeting U.S. leaders, and Trump is facing new headaches as major celebrities pull out of his UFC event.

In a few hours, I’m heading to the Kennedy Center, where I’ll be reporting throughout the weekend as efforts continue to remove Trump’s name from the building. We also have major Epstein-related developments coming tomorrow.

The White House is expanding its attacks on journalists and critics in an effort to silence dissent. We’re pushing back together. If you’re able, please subscribe to support my work and keep me caffeinated through what will be another long weekend of reporting.Subscribed

I honestly can’t remember the last day I took off, but I love this work and I love bringing you these stories. If you’re already a subscriber, consider upgrading your membership. Your support helps grow this community, strengthen independent journalism, and keep this reporting going.

Here’s the news:

A growing number of House Republicans are becoming more willing to break with President Donald Trump as the midterm elections approach, reflecting concerns that some of his recent decisions could hurt the party politically. Republican lawmakers have increasingly opposed or criticized parts of Trump’s agenda, including his proposed settlement fund, White House ballroom project, Iran policy, intelligence appointments, and other controversial initiatives. Vulnerable GOP members in competitive races are particularly focused on economic issues such as gas prices and cost-of-living concerns, and many worry Trump’s priorities are distracting from those messages. Despite the growing friction, most Republicans continue to support Trump’s broader legislative agenda, though signs of dissent on Capitol Hill are becoming more frequent as Election Day draws closer.

Senate Republicans are also increasingly pushing back on Trump instead of automatically falling in line. Several GOP senators voted against or distanced themselves from some of his recent proposals, including the White House ballroom and the anti-weaponization fund. Trump’s expected nominees, including Todd Blanche and Bill Pulte, are facing resistance and could have difficult confirmation fights. Republican support for additional Iran war funding and some other administration priorities appears to be weakening. The divisions suggest Trump’s influence over Senate Republicans is not as strong as it once was.

Several celebrities who were reportedly invited to President Trump’s planned UFC event at the White House are not expected to attend. Reports indicate that Dwayne Johnson, Adam Sandler, Jared Leto, and Mario Lopez have either declined or do not plan to participate. The event is part of broader America 250 celebrations tied to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. Organizers have reportedly faced challenges securing high-profile celebrity involvement for some of these events. The UFC event is still expected to move forward despite the apparent lack of support from several A-list figures.

A second case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite has been confirmed in Texas, just a few miles from the first U.S. case detected this week. The parasite, which lays eggs in wounds and can kill livestock if left untreated, has been moving north through Mexico and is now raising fears of a broader outbreak in the United States. Texas ranchers and federal officials have been preparing for its arrival for months, with the government spending millions on prevention efforts and keeping the border closed to live cattle imports from Mexico. A larger outbreak could have major economic consequences for the cattle industry, particularly in Texas, the nation’s largest cattle-producing state.

The development comes after DOGE-led cuts eliminated funding for a U.S. program that monitored and helped contain the parasite's spread through Central America and Mexico. Agriculture officials and ranchers warned for months that the cuts would leave the United States vulnerable, but those warnings went unheeded. Now, with the parasite detected in Texas for the first time in decades, officials are scrambling to contain a threat critics say was made worse by the administration's decision to slash prevention efforts.

Last November, Agriculture Secretary-designate Brooke Rollins claimed the screwworm threat was 'under control south of the border' and predicted beef prices would come down by spring 2026. Instead, the flesh-eating parasite has now been detected in multiple Texas cattle, Texas has declared a disaster, Canada has banned cattle imports from the state, and beef prices remain near record highs.

Farmers are blaming the Trump Administration for the outbreak:

Canada has now banned cattle and horse imports from Texas after a second case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm was confirmed near the U.S.-Mexico border. The outbreak has escalated quickly, prompting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to declare a state of disaster and warn that the parasite is likely to spread throughout the summer. The crisis comes after DOGE eliminated funding for a U.S.-backed monitoring and containment program in Central America that experts had relied on to track the parasite’s northward movement. Now, with international trade restrictions taking effect and fears growing over impacts on livestock and beef prices, critics argue the cuts left the U.S. less prepared for a threat agricultural officials had warned about for months.

According to a Pentagon memo, the Department of Defense has reduced its list of officially recognized religions and belief systems from more than 200 to just 31, saying the change will help chaplains better provide religious support to service members. The revised list continues to recognize major faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and the Baháʼí faith, but removes many smaller belief systems, including Wicca, Druidism, Paganism, Humanism, Unitarian Universalism, and Atheism. Defense officials say the move is intended to streamline administrative processes and improve chaplain services. Critics, including religious freedom advocates, argue the change marginalizes minority faiths and nonreligious service members and raises concerns about religious equality within the military.

Trump said he would be willing to meet Iran’s supreme leader as part of a potential peace deal, a proposal that surprised many foreign policy observers given the ongoing war and deep tensions between the two countries. Iran’s leadership quickly threw cold water on the plan:

According to NBC News, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency recently raised Israel’s counterintelligence threat level to its highest designation, citing concerns that Israeli intelligence efforts to monitor U.S. officials and gather information about the Trump administration’s internal deliberations have become unusually aggressive. U.S. officials told NBC the move comes amid growing tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war with Iran and military operations in the region. Israeli officials strongly denied the allegations, calling them false and insisting Israel does not spy on U.S. government officials. Despite the heightened concerns, officials said intelligence sharing between the two countries continues, though American personnel may take additional security precautions when interacting with Israeli counterparts.

The U.S. military said it intercepted Iranian missiles and drones launched toward Kuwait, Bahrain, and the Strait of Hormuz, while also carrying out strikes on Iranian coastal radar sites in response. According to U.S. Central Command, Iran fired seven ballistic missiles toward Gulf allies, with six intercepted and one failing to reach its target, while four Iranian drones were also shot down. The exchange marks another escalation despite an existing ceasefire, as tensions remain high over negotiations to end the conflict and reopen critical shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said the situation with Iran was “going quite well,” even as military confrontations continue and diplomatic efforts remain stalled.

Trump said Iran has not yet agreed to a deal to end the war because its leaders are “strong” and “proud,” but argued that they ultimately have “no choice” but to reach an agreement with the United States. In an interview with NBC News, Trump said Iran still possesses roughly 21% to 22% of the missile arsenal it had at the start of the conflict, despite U.S. and Israeli military operations that he claimed have severely degraded its capabilities. The president defended the pace of negotiations, arguing that resolving a decades-long conflict takes time and rejecting criticism that a deal has not yet been finalized. He also warned that if diplomacy fails, the administration could pursue a more forceful alternative, saying, “the other way is not nice.”

Israel is facing growing international pressure after activists detained aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla accused Israeli forces of abuse, including beatings, sexual violence, humiliation, and mistreatment following the interception of the aid convoy bound for Gaza. Several European governments, including France, Italy, and Spain, have demanded explanations and investigations into the allegations involving their citizens. Israeli military and prison authorities have denied the accusations, while criticism intensified after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted video appearing to show detainees being publicly taunted while restrained. Human rights advocates say the allegations add to broader concerns about the treatment of Palestinian detainees and are calling for independent investigations into the reported abuses.

This morning, Trump posted an AI-generated music video portraying himself as wildly popular around the world, with the video depicting enthusiastic crowds and adoring supporters in a highly stylized, unrealistic fashion.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is urging the Treasury Department to stop production of a proposed 24-karat gold coin featuring President Trump that is planned as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration. She argues the gold used by the U.S. Mint may come from supply chains linked to illegal mining operations and criminal organizations. She also criticized the idea of putting Trump’s image on the commemorative coin, saying it resembles the behavior of a monarchy rather than a democracy. The coin is part of a broader effort by the administration to incorporate Trump’s image into government-related commemorations and projects.

Justice Department log circularA federal prosecutor in California says the Justice Department and FBI have opened multiple investigations related to the state’s primary elections after President Donald Trump repeatedly alleged, without evidence, that Democrats were cheating in the vote count. A federal attorney also visited the Los Angeles County ballot processing center to observe ballot-counting operations, though election officials noted that such observation is routinely permitted and open to the public. California officials have defended the pace of the count, explaining that mail ballots received after Election Day can still be counted if they are postmarked on time and that close races often take days or weeks to finalize. The investigations come as several high-profile California races remain undecided, including the battle for the second spot in the governor’s race, where Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer remain in a tight contest.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, right, has advanced to California’s gubernatorial general election, according to NBC News projections. Becerra, a former California attorney general and longtime congressman, led a crowded field after gaining momentum in the final weeks of the race and secured one of the two spots in November’s election. The second spot remains undecided, with Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer locked in a close race. If Becerra ultimately faces a Republican in November, he is expected to benefit from California’s strong Democratic lean, though the final matchup has not yet been determined.

The Nashville Zoo is leading opposition to a proposed 69,000-square-foot data center that would be built roughly 50 yards from some of its animal habitats, warning that noise, artificial light, and other disruptions could harm vulnerable species, including endangered clouded leopards. Zoo officials have launched a petition that has already gathered more than 180,000 signatures, while local officials are considering a temporary moratorium on new data center projects. The proposal comes from DC BLOX, which says it will use waterless cooling systems, comply with environmental regulations, and work to minimize impacts on the zoo and surrounding community. The dispute reflects a broader nationwide backlash against AI and data center expansion as communities increasingly raise concerns about energy use, water consumption, noise, and quality-of-life impacts.

According to Politico, the Trump administration is in active discussions about creating a new Strategic Petroleum Reserve in California, a move that would expand oil infrastructure on the West Coast and likely spark a clash with California Governor Gavin Newsom and other state leaders. Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed the talks, while documents reviewed by Politico show that offshore oil company Sable Offshore Corp. has proposed a reserve that could eventually store up to 30 million barrels of oil. Administration officials argue the project would strengthen national security, support military operations in the Pacific, and help stabilize fuel supplies on the West Coast, which has limited pipeline connections to the rest of the country. Critics are expected to oppose the plan because it would deepen California’s reliance on fossil fuels at a time when state leaders are pursuing aggressive clean-energy goals and reducing oil production and refining capacity.

Trump says he plans to meet with major artificial intelligence companies as soon as next week to discuss a proposal that would allow Americans to share in the profits generated by the AI industry. Trump suggested the idea could involve giving the public an ownership stake or dividend payments from AI companies, arguing that Americans should benefit from an industry expected to generate enormous wealth while also disrupting jobs and the broader economy. The concept has been discussed by companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, though critics warn that government ownership stakes in regulated companies could create conflicts of interest. Trump said he has already spoken with leading AI executives and believes a profit-sharing arrangement could increase public support for the technology.

Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on Russian military and energy targets, including a naval base in St. Petersburg and oil facilities in Russian territory, on the final day of a major economic forum hosted by Vladimir Putin. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian drones struck naval arsenals near Kronstadt and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, while Russian officials reported fires, evacuations, and injuries. Russia said it intercepted more than 140 drones over the Leningrad region, but Ukrainian officials claimed some drones reached their intended targets. The attacks are part of Ukraine’s broader campaign to hit Russian military and energy infrastructure deep inside Russia as the war with Ukraine continues.

A seven-month-old Palestinian baby, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, died after Israeli soldiers opened fire on his family’s car in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron, according to his family and hospital officials. His father said the family had stopped their vehicle as instructed by soldiers when shots were fired, while the Israel Defense Forces said troops believed the vehicle was moving toward them and later determined those injured were uninvolved civilians. The baby’s parents were also wounded, and the military said the incident is under review while expressing regret for harm caused to civilians. The shooting comes amid ongoing violence in the occupied West Bank, where the United Nations says more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the broader conflict, including at least 240 children.

Planned Parenthood announced that clinics in Washington and Hawaii will begin offering “just-in-case” abortion pills, allowing patients to obtain medication before becoming pregnant. The initiative is intended to help people overcome growing legal, financial, geographic, and personal barriers to abortion access, particularly as restrictions have expanded across much of the country. Advocates say having medication on hand can be critical for people in rural areas, those facing domestic violence, or anyone who may struggle to access timely care when needed. Planned Parenthood leaders said the program is designed to expand reproductive healthcare access and hope to extend it to additional states where laws permit in the future.

Trump Watch 

 

djt dozing off foxTrump dozes in the Oval on Thursday (Fox News photo).

Public Notice, Opinion: Trump's cognitive impairment endangers us all, Justin Glawe, June 6, 2026. It's undeniable if you actually watch him.

“He doesn’t sleep and it’s actually a problem,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during Senate testimony this week.

public notice logoRubio was trying to make the point that President Trump is a dynamo — a near-superhuman leader who works deep into the night on the complex issues facing the nation and world. But Rubio inadvertently made the opposite point: Trump’s lack of sleep, evidenced by his frequently manic, late night Truth Social posting sessions, is a problem for the president’s clearly declining mental and physical abilities.

The signs of this decline are available for anyone who chooses to see them.

On Wednesday, after six days out of the public eye, Trump bumbled through a ceremony in which he signed a handful of executive orders, marveling at his own signature — “Oh, that’s a good one” — and asking aides to explain to him what the orders being placed in front of him actually did.

After listening to a lengthy explanation of an order that would expand the number of federal employees who can be fired by him, Trump still didn’t quite understand.

“And the reason for this was, what? Whose idea was that?” he said.

Then on Thursday, Trump sat in his chair dozing as members of his cabinet lavished him with praise.

Thursday’s embarrassment of an appearance in the Oval Office would be devastating for any other president. For Trump, it was just Thursday. And before that, it was just another Wednesday.

The on-camera dozing sessions that Rubio was being pressed about are one sign of Trump’s growing physical weakness — which is certainly not helped by staying up until the early morning hours voraciously consuming a Truth Social algorithm feeding him a steady and unhealthy diet of Trump-worshipping AI slop, election fraud conspiracies, and Boomer meme garbage.

Other signs of Trump’s body falling apart: swollen ankles, difficulty walking in a straight line, and unexplained bruising on both hands.

The garbage social media diet probably isn’t helping Trump’s declining cognitive abilities either. The president frequently appears unable to discuss complex matters like peace negotiations with Iran in any competent manner. (The peace deal has been just around the corner or days away, Trump has repeatedly said for several months. He now says the whole matter is “boring” to him.)

All of this madness is plainly viewable for anyone willing to look. And yet, Trump continues to be covered as if he’s a rational actor. “Trump optimistic on Iran deal,” read the chyron on Fox News on Thursday morning — as if the president is deeply involved with the complexities of negotiations and not clearly concentrating on things he actually enjoys, like White House renovations and preparations for his rally there later this month.

Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress have turned themselves into punchlines by never hearing or seeing anything Trump says or posts, or insisting they would need to hear the full “context” of his statements to conclude whether he’s actually losing his mind. But the reality is the signs of mental decline are obvious and abundant.

 

djt as jesus 4 13 2026

The letter referenced some of Trump’s more insane Truth Social posts, including the one where he portrayed himself as Jesus truth social logoChrist (above), as evidence of “grandiose and delusional beliefs, including assertions of infallibility.” The letter also cited Trump’s threats against Iran, domestic political opponents, and American citizens as evidence of his growing inability to control his own thoughts and statements — a symptom of cognitive decline called “disinhibition.”Trump has no way out on Iran Trump has no way out on IranNoah Berlatsky · May 28Read full story h

The authors warn of Trump’s “significant loss of self-control (disinhibition) and getting stuck on the same thoughts or actions, unable to let go or move on (perseveration), including seemingly compulsive, manic-like late-night communications — e.g., 150 social media posts in one night — fixation on perceived enemies, persecutory ideas, and prolonged, disproportionate attacks on specific individuals and institutions.”

This letter, of course, came before the last few days, when Trump has been busy posting AI slop depicting everything from oil tankers arriving in New York City, to him commanding military vessels and sitting behind a Star Trek-like command desk, to Gov. Gavin Newsom in a padded cell, and, for some inexplicable reason, Trump walking alongside an alien who is apparently under arrest, or perhaps being deported.

Politico, Trump could also tear down the Statue of Liberty, DOJ argues in defense of White House ballroom, Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, June 6, 2026. Justice Department lawyers said the courts are powerless to intervene in the dispute over the former East Wing.

politico CustomA federal appeals court panel expressed skepticism Friday about the Trump administration’s view that courts are powerless to stop the construction of the White House ballroom now that the East Wing had been demolished.

Two members of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit repeatedly pressed administration lawyers about its argument that President Donald Trump’s pet project — now well underway — could not be stopped by the courts even if it was found to be illegal, because it was too far along and involved significant national security interests.

“When did it become a fait accompli?” Judge Patricia Millett asked. “If this were complete lawlessness by the government … it couldn’t be stopped?”

“On these theories, I think that’s right,” replied Yaakov Roth, a Justice Department attorney.

Millett, an Obama appointee, peppered Roth with questions about the extent of the Trump administration’s view of its power to “move fast and break things” without being subject to legal challenge.

“If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty — the people whose ancestors that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast — nothing can be done?” the judge asked.

“I think that’s right, yes,” Roth responded.

A federal judge in March halted construction on the ballroom during the legal battle, but the D.C. Circuit quickly paused the ruling, allowing construction to continue while the litigation is ongoing.

The Friday exchange underscored the Trump administration’s full-throttle effort to defend Trump’s massive reconstruction project, which the president has made clear is a personal priority, along with other aesthetic and architectural ambitions he has across Washington. Millett was joined in her skepticism by Judge Bradley Garcia, a Biden appointee.

Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, questioned whether the plaintiff in the lawsuit, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, had a basis to sue in the first place, especially when set against Trump’s claim that the ballroom would serve as a critical national security bulwark in addition to an event space.

Roth told the panel that the Trust’s “aesthetic” concerns about the White House must take a back seat to the security issues at stake.

“The balance of harms and public interest are so lopsided in favor of this project,” Roth said. “It’s an architectural preference on one hand and the safety and security of the president of the United States on the other hand.”

Roth also asserted that it would be overreach for the courts to take any steps to halt the ballroom project at its outset or now, even if it was clearly illegal under federal law. Rather, he said, if a court found the project illegal, the only remedy would lie with Congress.

Trump has repeatedly ridiculed the lawsuit over the project, asserting in a social media post that it was “brought by a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely No Standing to bring such a suit.” In fact, the National Trust has claimed standing through Alison Hoagland, a historian and retired professor who has volunteered on various preservation boards and regularly visits the area.

The Contrarians, Contrarians Shake the Ground Beneath Trump; When you're winning, pour it on, Norman Eisen, right, June 6, 2026. norman eisen SmallThat’s because in the space of a few hours on May 29, my democracy litigation colleagues and I won the two biggest victories against Donald Trump’s corruption yet.

First, we represented 35 former federal judges in getting a Florida federal court to reopen an investigation into Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund. And then we won the Kennedy Center case, including getting an order that Trump’s name must come off the building. All thanks to your paid subscriptions!Subscribed

contrarian logoBut one of the fundamental lessons of the fight for democracy — indeed of any fight — is when you’re winning, pour it on. And that’s just what we did this week with two more major legal onslaughts against the slush fund plus much more (all covered here at the Contrarian, naturally). body of water near buildings under blue sky during daytime Photo by Clay Elliot on Unsplash

First, we did not accept the Trump administration’s claim that it was backing away from the fund. In a sign that we had drawn blood, anonymous leaks that the fund was supposedly dead were followed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s testimony on the Hill. He declared that the fund was “not moving forward.”

With an administration that lies so much (just look at Trump’s flip-floppery on Iran, among countless other examples), we weren’t buying it. That’s why, a day after Blanche’s announcement, we sued to make sure that not a penny of this money is ever paid — and the associated “settlements” also are stopped.

Sure enough, after we filed, Trump apparently back-tracked, saying of the fund “I love it…. I think it’s so important” and “These are great people that were destroyed, their families have been destroyed.” Violent insurrections who attacked cops should be paid? We don’t think so. And who better than our clients — two January 6 prosecutors — to take that on?

But more was to come. On Thursday, we filed a rare bipartisan brief opposing the fund. We represent Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in an amicus brief fighting this outrageous attempt to take $1.8 billion from taxpayers. They assert that it violates the Appropriations Clause by spending federal money without congressional authorization. Like hiding the Epstein files — which we are also litigating — Trump’s fund has unusual bipartisan opposition on the Hill. Experts say those kinds of defections are a sign of failing authoritarianism.

Now the Trump administration has filed legal briefs claiming that the fund is not going forward. Well, we are going forward. We won’t stop until we have not only guaranteed that no money will be paid, but also that Trump’s sweeping “settlement” absolving himself and his family from vast liabilities is also reversed.

U.S. Military, Foreign Affairs

New York Times, Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel, Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt, June 6, 2026. The Defense Department has increased the counterintelligence threat assessment to its highest level, and Israel is believed to have eavesdropped on American negotiations with Iran.

Recent U.S. intelligence reports have raised concerns about Israeli spy agencies eavesdropping on American negotiators working on a peace deal with Iran, amid rising concern over a more general counterintelligence threat by Israel.

Department of Defense SealIsrael and the United States have long known, and tolerated, that each was spying on the other. But an intensified Israeli effort to learn about U.S. positions in talks with Iran has crossed a line, according to some American officials.

The reports include concerns that Israel has stepped up its efforts to eavesdrop on senior American officials, including Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s top negotiator, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, and one of his main deputies, Michael P. DiMino IV.

Another report, written by the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military intelligence offices and focused on earlier events Israel Flaggoing back several years, said that the counterintelligence threat level posed by Israel had been increased in recent weeks to the top level, from high to critical. The report, to which the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency contributed, outlines various efforts by Israel to spy on American military personnel and government officials.

The reports and the intensified concern about Israeli spying come at an especially sensitive time. Israel and the U.S. have been fighting the war against Iran together, and have never had such close military coordination as they do now, with Israeli military officers working side-by-side with their American counterparts at U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. military is sharing huge amounts of tactical and operational information with its Israeli counterparts. But senior American officials said that Israel is looking for insights into Mr. Trump’s strategy and shifting stances on the peace talks. 

New York Times, Trump Says Bill Pulte, His New Intelligence Director, Should Slash Staff, Maggie Haberman, June 6, 2026 (print ed.). The president suggested that employees who worked for previous Democratic presidents were among those who should be fired.

President Trump called on Friday for his choice to temporarily run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct mass firings of employees who “shouldn’t be there.”

Bill PulteMr. Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, also said his pick, Bill Pulte, right, would be “less shackled” by the constraints of being the president’s choice to lead the agency permanently.

“It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time,” Mr. Trump added.

The comments are the most expansive that Mr. Trump has made about Mr. Pulte, who runs a lesser-known agency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and has no known national security experience. Mr. Trump on Monday announced Mr. Pulte as his choice to replace Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence.

Mr. Trump has said that Mr. Pulte will not be nominated for confirmation by the Senate to lead the agency permanently. Since Mr. Pulte has been Senate-confirmed previously for his current role, he can serve in the new position for 210 days.Sign up to get Maggie Haberman's articles emailed to you. Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent reporting on President Trump. Get it sent to your inbox.

But Mr. Pulte, a loyal attack dog on behalf of Mr. Trump, has spent more than a year identifying what he has called crimes committed by people the president views as his political enemies. Those people have either investigated Mr. Trump or been part of institutions, like the Federal Reserve, that the president has maintained are operating with political motives against him.

Mr. Pulte did not respond to a request for comment.

“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Mr. Trump told The Journal.

That has alarmed several Republican senators, who have said they worry about the office that oversees the intelligence community being used as a weapon. And the comments from the president are unlikely to assuage the concerns of those lawmakers, who are debating whether to reauthorize a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows the government to monitor U.S. citizens abroad without a warrant.

Mr. Trump has long been deeply skeptical of the intelligence community, primarily because of the investigation into whether his 2016 campaign conspired with Russians who, officials have repeatedly said, interfered in the presidential election that year to harm Mr. Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton.paul irizarry at capitol

New York Times, Jan. 6 Rioter Is Hired to Work in Sensitive Pentagon Office, Helene Cooper and Alan Feuer, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). It was not clear who hired Elias Irizarry, shown above at the U.S. Capitol, who pleaded guilty to various offenses at the Capitol and was later pardoned by President Trump.

The Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office is a sensitive Defense Department branch responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots and asymmetric warfare, and making sure that U.S. commandos have everything they need to carry out their missions.

The office now has a new asset: a Jan. 6 rioter who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol and to other offenses. Elias Irizarry, who was 19 on Jan. 6, 2021, eventually apologized for his actions.

President Trump pardoned Mr. Irizarry on Inauguration Day last year when Mr. Trump began his second term by granting blanket clemency to Jan. 6 rioters.

It was unclear who was responsible for the appointment of Mr. Irizarry, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post. But the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, said in a statement that Mr. Irizarry “is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee.”

Political appointees usually are selected by the office of the defense secretary or, in some cases, the White House.

Mr. Irizarry could not be reached for comment. mageMr. Irizarry, seen in another Justice Department photo, was not charged with committing violence on Jan. 6. He stayed on the Capitol grounds until after dusk, and later pleaded to a charge of federal trespassing.Credit...Justice Department

But one of the former leaders of the Special Operations office said the move could degrade public trust in the Pentagon.

“The office he was hired for works with our most elite military units and on extremely sensitive national security issues,” said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant defense secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in the Obama administration. “It used to be that any possible negative perception about a hire like this would prevent it from happening. Today, it seems fealty is often more valued than expertise, sound judgment, or a strong moral compass.”

On Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said, Mr. Irizarry, a former student at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, entered the Capitol through a broken window on the Senate side, and roamed through the building armed with a metal pole. He found his way to a private conference room, where he was videotaped by one of his friends, Elliot Bishai, sitting in an armchair with the pole across his lap.Editors’ PicksWhat to Expect at the Tony Awards9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This WeekMore Renters Are Using Tools to Skip Security Deposits, but There’s a Catch

Mr. Irizarry, Mr. Bishai and a third man, Grayson Sherrill, ended up in the Capitol’s Rotunda, where they took photos and videos of one another climbing on statues, prosecutors said. While Mr. Irizarry was not charged with committing violence, he stayed on the Capitol grounds until after dusk, and later pleaded to a charge of federal trespassing.

Prosecutors said that his participation in the riot violated the oath he took as a student at the Citadel to abide by the virtues of “honor, duty and respect.” At the time, Mr. Irizarry was also a member of the Civil Air Patrol, and the crimes he committed were a betrayal of his duty to “keep the homeland safe,” prosecutors said.

After he was arrested in March 2021, Mr. Irizarry showed no remorse, prosecutors said, but tried instead to figure out who had turned him in to the authorities. He sent text messages to Mr. Bishai about joining the Russian military if he could not eventually join the U.S. military. He also took part in a group chat titled “Civil War,” prosecutors said, in which he discussed “using small planes to cross borders undetected.”

Mr. Irizarry’s lawyers said that he was a top student at the Citadel who later trained as a volunteer firefighter. He was also deeply interested in politics. “Not the ‘politics’ spewed by Infowars and the MyPillow guy, but international relations through the Model United Nations and Boys State,” his lawyers wrote in a memo asking the judge who handled his case for lenience.Mr. Irizarry, seen in another Justice Department photo, was not charged with committing violence on Jan. 6. He stayed on the Capitol grounds until after dusk, and later pleaded to a charge of federal trespassing.Credit...Justice Department

More On U.S. Immigration, Law, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice

ICE logoNew York Times, ICE Says Detainees Are ‘Worst of the Worst.’ Government Data Disagrees, Ed Shanahan and Hamed Aleaziz, June 6, 2026. Federal officials said they are removing killers and rapists from the streets. Data obtained by The New York Times indicates most detainees at a Newark facility haven’t been convicted of crimes.

When reports emerged last month that immigrants held at a Newark detention center were staging a hunger strike to protest conditions there, demonstrators mobilized and New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, demanded to be let in so that she could inspect the building.

Federal officials rejected her demand and said that she and other Democratic officials in New Jersey should be grateful that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was removing killers, rapists and other criminals — “the worst of the worst,” they said — from the state.

But the federal government’s own data, including some from internal documents The New York Times obtained this week, indicates that people with criminal convictions account for just a fraction of the detainees at the Newark center, Delaney Hall.

In early April, ICE stopped updating its once-regular public reports on the number of people being detained at its facilities. The internal data obtained by The Times shows that of 591 people held at Delaney Hall this week, 76 — about 13 percent — had criminal convictions and 123 — about 21 percent — had pending criminal charges.

The detainees had been at the center for about 80 days on average, the data shows.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement on Friday that it was “working rapidly and overtime to remove these aliens from detentions centers to their final destination — home.”See the Clashes at Delaney Hall Between ICE and ProtestersJune 3, 2026

Delaney Hall’s population has dropped sharply since ICE’s April report, which showed 891 people (833 men and 58 women) being held there as of April 2. Less than 10 percent — 61 men and two women — were classified as criminals.

When people are detained, and then periodically during their detention, they are divided into categories that reflect the level of security risk they are believed to pose and then housed accordingly, according to ICE.

The categories — low, medium low, medium high and high — are based on factors such as previous convictions, disciplinary records and “special management concerns,” ICE says. As of April 2, just one Delaney Hall detainee was considered a high security risk, ICE data shows; 789, or just under 90 percent, were deemed low risk.

Immigration officials also assign detainees to “ICE threat level” categories determined by their “criminality,” including “the recency of the criminal behavior and its severity.” They are ranked on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the most severe. Detainees with no criminal convictions are classified as “no ICE threat level.” As of April 2, just six detainees were classified in the highest threat level. About 90 percent were said to be no ICE threat, agency data shows. 

New York Times, As Trump Pushes Deportations, a Skyrocketing Caseload Strains Immigration Courts, Jazmine Ulloa and Hamed Aleaziz, June 6, 2026. A federal surge has more than doubled caseloads within some immigration courts nationwide. Lawyers say the tactic is causing errors and confusion.

Federal officials have quietly begun fast-tracking cases through immigration courts, pushing dozens of additional cases onto the dockets on certain days in an effort to more quickly process asylum and other claims.

The fast-tracking, which is also intended to increase the pace of deportations, started without any formal notification or announcement from the Trump administration, according to immigration lawyers and court officials interviewed by The New York Times. But a surge of cases has been apparent in numerous courts around the country. Some judges have seen their caseloads double and triple, prompting worries that cases are being rushed through, violating due process rights.

At separate courthouses in Annandale and Sterling, Va., in recent days, Times reporters observed long lines and packed dockets. Some immigration judges saw their caseloads more than double, with as many as 100 adults waiting for their cases to be heard. In Annandale, the caseloads have included dozens of unaccompanied minors.

Lines were also evident at a courthouse in downtown Chicago on a recent weekday, with families spilling out of waiting areas and into hallways. Many cases were being processed in small groups, or in several instances with more than two dozen people appearing at once.

And in New Orleans, lawyers saw the number of cases increase to more than 200 on Monday and Tuesday in one courtroom alone. The judges at that courthouse typically take only about 30 to 40 cases per day, lawyers said. The morning dockets were so packed and chaotic that lawyers wishing to observe or monitor the proceedings were not allowed in to watch.

Federal officials say that speeding through cases will help alleviate backlogs that have led some asylum and immigration relief claims to languish for years. The slow pace of the process, they contend, creates incentives for people to enter the United States to file claims that may be weak or invalid.

More On Iran-Lebanon War

New York Times, What Visual Evidence Tells Us About Israel’s Use of White Phosphorus in Lebanon, Sanjana Varghese, June 6, 2026. Videos collected by The Times shows how the Israeli military has deployed a munition that can be extremely harmful over populated areas in Lebanon.

The Israeli military has deployed white phosphorus, an incendiary substance that can be extremely harmful, over populated areas in Lebanon in its battle against Hezbollah, according to experts, aid groups and visual evidence collected by The New York Times.

Israel FlagDistinctive smoke trails from this type of munition were seen as recently as May 30 in Nabatieh, a city of roughly 40,000, in social media footage verified by The Times, which was filmed as Israeli forces captured Beaufort Castle, a landmark in the area.

Other verified footage showed that white phosphorus had been used in the vicinity of the coastal city of Tyre, as well as near three small towns — Qlayaa, Khiam and Yohmor — in the months since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, began again in March. The latest fighting erupted after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Once exposed to air, white phosphorus spontaneously ignites and is exceptionally difficult to extinguish.

Often deployed by militaries to create fires and smoke screens during combat, white phosphorus is not illegal in itself, but deploying it deliberately against civilians or in an area populated by civilians violates the international laws of war. Human rights advocates have raised concerns that civilians have been affected by the Israeli military’s use of it.

Israel denies using the substance in violation of those laws. It is not clear for what purpose the Israeli military used white phosphorus in these incidents.

The Times asked the Israeli military questions about its use of white phosphorus in Nabatieh, Qlayaa, Khiam and Tyre in four specific instances and provided the coordinates for those incidents. The Israeli military had no comment on those incidents. The Times also asked the military about its internal guidelines for the usage of white phosphorus.

“I.D.F. procedures require that such shells are not used in densely populated areas, subject to certain exceptions. This complies and goes beyond the requirements of international law,” it said in a statement.Editors’ PicksThe Fastest Woman to Circle the Earth on a Bike Is Aiming for the Men’s RecordThe Good List: 6 Things to Bring Delight to Your DayThe Last Straw

Israel uses American-made 155-millimeter M825A1 artillery projectiles that contain 116 felt wedges, in the shape of pizza slices, coated with white phosphorous. They are designed to create five to 10 minutes of dense white smoke, providing cover to fighters.VideoVideo filmed on April 30 shows white phosphorus over the town of Qlayaa, in the south of Lebanon.CreditCredit...Associated Press

The shells can be fuzed to break apart and dispense their cargo midair, which will spread their incendiary effect over a wide area. That can be used to create a smoke screen, but also will cause fires on the ground wherever the wedges land.

The munitions can also be set to rupture on impact — to create a single fire, that militaries use as a visual marker to guide additional strikes.

Munitions experts who analyzed recent footage from news agencies as well as social media posts concluded that the imagery showed artillery projectiles bursting midair in Lebanon, releasing streams of burning white phosphorous below — consistent with previous Israeli uses of American M825A1 shells.

In response to questions by The Times, the Israeli military said that, “the primary smoke-screen shells used by the I.D.F. do not contain white phosphorus.”

“Like many Western militaries,” the statement added, “the I.D.F. also possesses smoke-screen shells that include white phosphorous that are legal under international law. These shells are used by the I.D.F. for creating smoke screens and not for targeting or causing fires and are not defined under law as incendiary weapons.”

There are currently no publicly available statistics about the Israeli military’s use of other smoke-screen shells.Israel’s use of white phosphorusVideoNews agency video filmed on March 27 shows these munitions dispersing over an area near Tyre, a large city in the south of Lebanon.CreditCredit...Associated Press

The substance is “cheap, plentiful and pretty good at what it’s used for,” said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of Armament Research Services, a private intelligence consultancy based in Australia that tracks arms and munitions.

Israel’s deployment of white phosphorus in populated areas has brought about scrutiny in the past.

A 2024 report by Human Rights Watch documented its widespread use in Lebanon and questioned its necessity, pointing out that there were safer alternatives, such as the M150 shells, which the Israeli military reportedly used in 2024. .

The traces of these shells are visually distinct from the feathery trails of white phosphorus, which are more irregular.

Israel has also deployed white phosphorus in Gaza — in 2009, and in conflicts in Lebanon, including 1982 and 2006. In the year following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, the Israeli military used white phosphorus more than 200 times in Lebanon, according to Ahmad Beydoun, an independent researcher who built a visual database of its sightings in the country.

The Lebanese government has filed four letters since October 2023 raising concerns about Israel’s use of white phosphorus to the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council. One of the letters, dated July 3, 2024, cites government figures showing that more than 600 fires have broken out as a result of the use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon.

More U.S. Politics, Elections, Governance

 

mike rogers photosEveryone is entitled to my own opinion, Commentary: This week in stupid: June 6 edition, Jeff Tiedrich, right, jeff tiedrichJune 6, 2026. Mike pumps it, Donny dumps it, and so much more...

As another stupid week comes to a close here in America, let’s look back: 

That’s Mike Rogers (shown above campaign in a normal photo and at right after his campaign staff enhanced his muscles with photo tricks). He’s some low-wattage Republican yutz running for Senate in Michigan. He can’t run in his record as a member of the House, because — like all MAGAfied Republicans — his record sucks. So Mike’s handlers had to figure out some way to make their underwhelming nobody stand out.Llook at what they did: they used AI to beef him up, and turn him into some garish cartoon version of himself.

Here are a couple more reasons why you should never let the six-fingered plagiarism robot crank out your bigoted propaganda.

 

maga familyWhen using the Holy Umbrella of Righteous Hatred to keep your family from being soaked by all the gayness pouring down from the sky, it always helps to have three hands.

Tthat way, you can hold your umbrella, your obedient blonde tradwife, and your obedient little blonde tradwife-in-training, all at the same time.

djt space costumeAnd yes, I absolutely do believe that if Preznit ____ ever made it the the moon, the very first thing he’d do is take off his helmet. 

New York Times, Paxton’s Senate Bid Raises the Stakes in His War on Latino Voting Groups, Jazmine Ulloa and Edgar Sandoval, June 6, 2026. The Texas attorney general has mounted an all-out effort to prove Democratic Hispanic groups have been corrupting elections. Now he could be the beneficiary of his own attacks.

For years, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has been waging war on Democratic and Latino-led groups over “election integrity,” leaving a trail of ransacked residences, shellshocked volunteers, struggling organizations and indictments behind him.

But the stakes of the fight with groups determined to mobilize Texas’ fast-growing Hispanic electorate changed significantly last month when he won the Republican Party’s nomination for Senate. Now it is personal and could help determine his own political future — and which party controls the Senate.

“It doesn’t look good for us,” said Gabriel Rosales, the Texas director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, which is one of the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organizations. “But we are going to keep fighting.”

Long a voice amplifying baseless claims that noncitizens are voting in huge numbers, Mr. Paxton went beyond rhetoric in 2024, using a new restrictive voting law to target left-leaning Latino groups and wielding corporate statutes that allow him to target entire organizations, not individual officers or employees.ImageKen Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, stands in a blue suit behind a lectern.“Under my watch, there will be no stolen elections in Texas,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose war on left-leaning Latino groups could affect his bid for the U.S. Senate.Credit...Desiree Rios for The New York Times

In the name of election integrity, the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature criminalized what had been fairly routine tools for civic groups, churches and political campaigns, particularly in Latino communities. The new law made it a felony to pay staff or give volunteers benefits — such as stipends or gas money — or to drop by the homes of voters. The measure also made it illegal for volunteers to help fill in ballots for, say, elderly or bilingual voters, and bring them to polling sites or drop boxes. Volunteers are allowed only to read mail-in ballots to those they would assist.

Lawsuits and investigations followed, along with raids on home offices and private residences. At least 15 Latino Democratic officials and volunteers were indicted last year in Frio County alone, a place with only about 20,000 people. They include a county judge, two city council members and a former county election administrator, charged with contravening the new Texas voting law by illegally “harvesting” ballots that otherwise would not be cast and with tampering with evidence.

“Under my watch, there will be no stolen elections in Texas,” Mr. Paxton said in February.

The groups remain defiant. Four prominent Latino civil rights and political organizations formed a strategic alliance in May, seeking to stem the Republican Party’s gains among Hispanic voters. In a separate initiative, seven national and state-led Latino rights and progressive groups announced on Tuesday that they will coordinate canvassing and voter outreach.

“We are at a critical inflection point,” said Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, a voting rights consultant, who said the coalitions would blanket Texas this campaign season, from community centers to quinceañeras. 

New York Times, Screwworm Flies and Drought Spell Tougher Times for Cattle Ranchers, Kevin Draper, June 6, 2026. Some Texans fear “the nightmares and the horrors” of a potential screwworm outbreak. Elsewhere, not enough grass to feed cattle sends them to market earlier.

The discovery of the New World screwworm fly in the United States this week is threatening to further disrupt an already strained cattle business at a moment when many ranchers are also contending with a severe drought.

The United States herd is at its smallest level in 75 years, even as consumer demand for beef continues to grow. That has driven live cattle prices — and beef prices — higher, which normally would encourage ranchers to begin rebuilding their herds or prompt new ranchers to enter the business. Drought conditions across several states have led to a shortage of grass for grazing, forcing ranchers to sell some of their animals sooner.

“We have a lot of things happening all at once,” said David Anderson, a livestock market economist at Texas A&M University.

The average price for a pound of ground beef is $6.90, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a 32 percent increase from two years ago. Last month, the Agriculture Department forecast beef prices would rise 12.1 percent in 2026.

But successive crises and volatility over the last year have largely prevented ranchers from rebuilding their herds, meaning low cattle supplies and high beef prices are likely to stick around.ANOTHER CONFIRMED CASEThe New World screwworm was found in a second Texas calf.

That cycle is “taking longer than we all wish for,” said Wesley Batista Filho, the chief executive for the U.S. business of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, on a call with analysts last month.

The latest blow is the discovery of the larvae from the New World screwworm fly in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexican border. The fly can lay its eggs in open wounds as small as a tick bite, and the infection can kill animals if left untreated.

The New World screwworm was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, and the rest of North and Central America by the early 2000s. This was done by breeding hundreds of millions of sterile flies each week and dropping them from aircraft into areas where wild flies were found. But eradication efforts have weakened, and since 2022 the fly has been making its way north from Panama and closer to the United States.

franklin d rooseveltLetters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 5, 2026 [When Happy Days Seemed Here Again], Heather Cox Richardson, right, June 6, 2026.heather cox richardson cnn President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. above,had good news for the American people when he gave his twenty-ninth Fireside Chat on June 5, 1944. The day before, June 4, Rome had fallen to Allied troops. “The first of the Axis capitals is now in our hands,” Roosevelt said.

The president pointed out that “it is…significant that Rome has been liberated by the armed forces of many nations. The American and British armies—who bore the chief burdens of battle—found at their sides our own North American neighbors, the gallant Canadians. The fighting New Zealanders from the far South Pacific, the courageous French and the French Moroccans, the South Africans, the Poles and the East Indians—all of them fought with us on the bloody approaches to the city of Rome. The Italians, too, forswearing a partnership in the Axis which they never desired, have sent their troops to join us in our battles against the German trespassers on their soil.”

This group of ordinary men from many different countries had worked together to defeat the forces of fascism. For all that the fascists boasted of the superiority of their form of government over democracy, in Italy “[o]ur troops have found starvation, malnutrition, disease, a deteriorating education and lowered public health—all by-products of the Fascist misrule,” FDR said.

But the president warned Americans that the fall of Rome was only the beginning. “We shall have to push through a long period of greater effort and fiercer fighting before we get into Germany itself,” he said. “[T]he victory still lies some distance ahead. That distance will be covered in due time—have no fear of that. But it will be tough and it will be costly.”

FDR knew something his audience did not. On the other side of the Atlantic, paratroopers, their faces darkened with cocoa, were already dropping into France, and the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allies were on their way across the English channel.

The order of the day from their commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on the evening of June 5 had read: “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed people of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”

“Your task will not be an easy one,” it read, but it assured the troops that the Germans had suffered great defeats and Allied bombing had reduced German strength, while “[o]ur Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!”

Eisenhower’s public confidence did not reflect his understanding that the largest amphibious invasion in military history was a gamble. The seas on the crossing were rough, and the beaches the men would assault were tangled in barbed wire, booby trapped, and defended by German soldiers in concrete bunkers. On June 5, in pencil on a sheet of paper, he had written a message to be communicated in case the invasion failed.

“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops,” it read. “My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and dedication to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”

But Eisenhower’s letter was never delivered.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, five naval assault divisions stormed the beaches of Normandy. Seven thousand ships and landing craft operated by more than 195,000 naval personnel from 8 countries brought almost 133,000 troops to beaches given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD.

By the end of the day, more than 10,000 Allied troops were wounded or killed, but the Allies had established a foothold in France that would permit them to flood troops, vehicles, and supplies into Europe.

When FDR held a press conference later that day, his comment to the cheerful reporters highlighted the extraordinary weight of the past 24 hours. “I knew last night, when I was doing that broadcast on Rome,” he told them, “that the troops were actually in the vessels, on the way across.”  

Hopium Chronicals, Political Advocacy: Reality Check -- Trump Has The Worst Jobs Record Since Hoover, Simon Rosenberg,simon rosenberg facebook right, June 6, 2026. As of this morning my bottom line on the week: Trump is in profound political and physical decline 

Trump got a goods job report yesterday and then the stock market tanked. So that little bit of good news the White House got was tempered by the broader damage their domestic policies -- tariffs, health care cuts, mass deportation, tax cuts/bigger deficits - and his failed war have done to the economic lives of Americans and our overall economy - soaring inflation, slowing GDP growth, real wage decline, rising health care costs and reduced access to care, struggle for farmers and small businesses.

It’s was a powerful and sobering reminder that there is no easy way out for Trump and the Rs from the historic failure of their government, and even the one thing that has gone right - the stock market - may be on shakier ground than they understood.

Paul Krugman’s morning post does a very good at explaining what happened yesterday. 

Paul Krugman via Substack, Comments on a Freaky Friday, Paul Krugman, right, June 6, 2026.paul krugman Yesterday was a job report day. The report was unusually strong, certainly stronger than almost any of the professional forecasters expected, 172,000 jobs.

Predictably, Trump first boasted about this with a lot of talk about how you know we didn’t have this kind of prosperity under Joe Biden. For what it’s worth you know how often during his 48 months in the White House did Biden preside over job reports that were as good as yesterday’s in terms of job creation? The answer is 37 times.

But still this was unexpectedly high job growth but not really something that should alter your fundamental view about how the economy works, although the near-term outlook looks stronger than you might have thought.

One thing I should say, since there are some people wondering, can we trust these numbers? Are these books being cooked? The answer is no. 

Okay trying to make sense of what is going on — why is the labor market as strong as it appears to be?

One important point about the economy right now is that there are three big forces that are hitting us. It would be really great from the point of view of professional economists if just one thing would happen at a time. But unfortunately, that’s not how it works. So there are three things happening. First, we are still feeling the effects of Trump’s erratic tariff policy, which has had a depressing effect on employment — not so much the tariffs themselves as the uncertainty. It’s very hard for businesses to make plans, very risky for them to sink money into new ventures when they have no idea what the tariff regime will be a few months down the road. But that uncertainty probably did a one-time hit to employment which is mostly probably behind us because yeah we have crazy erratic trade policy, but that’s now just a piece of the landscape which affects the level of employment, maybe, but not the rate of growth. The second thing is AI. So we have this enormous boom in spending on data centers, a large surge in investment, big rise in stock prices because of hopes about what AI might return. There are not that many people who benefit from high stock prices, but these are people with a lot of money and a lot of spending power. And if they go out and spend more, that boosts the economy. So that’s a sort of force that operates in opposition to the effects of the tariffs.

And possibly the AI-driven spending is coming on now while the tariff effect is sort of closing out.

About oil: For what it’s worth, prediction markets are by and large evil things, but they do give you a quick way of summarizing conventional wisdom. And just about a week ago,

Kalshi said that the probability that the Strait of Hormuz would be open by August 1st was 60%. It’s now 26%. So people have justifiably gotten very skeptical of White House pronouncements that this is just about over. They should have been more skeptical before.

But anyway, it just does not look like it’s going to open. And there’s a still huge remaining uncertainty about what does this imply? Through all of this there’s been a dichotomy between people in financial markets — including people in the futures market for oil who are presumably more professional, less vibes driven than a lot of investors — and what people who actually study the physical market for oil have to say.

 So what is happening? Trump professed to be baffled that a good jobs number should make stocks go down. But of course, it’s actually quite straightforward. What’s happening here is that with the combination of elevated inflation, now largely driven by the effects of Iran, and a job market that is holding up — that is not, in fact, falling off a cliff, if anything, appears to be accelerating — there is no case for cutting interest rates. A few months ago it seemed plausible that there would be some reduction in interest rates, that the Fed would have a rate cut or two this year. Now the chance of a rate cut, according to the market implied probability uh is around one percent. So there’s essentially no chance that rates will be cut and last I saw the market implied probability that rates will actually be increased is about 70 percent. 

More On U.S. Religion, Culture, Media, Education

christopher haleThe American Pope & US Politics, Vatican Confirms: Pope Leo XIV to Meet Abuse Victims in Opus Dei’s Birthplace, Christopher Hale, above, June 6, 2026. The Spanish Church organized the private encounter. The pope lands in Spain on Saturday with Gareth Gore’s evidence in hand and Opus Dei’s future on his desk.

The Vatican confirmed on Friday that Pope Leo XIV will meet privately with victims of clergy sexual abuse during his weeklong pilgrimage to Spain, which begins Saturday and runs through June 12.

The encounter was organized by the Spanish Church, and the Vatican says details will be released only after it concludes — a standard practice meant to protect the privacy of the survivors in the room. The meeting does not yet appear on the trip’s official program.

According to the Associated Press, Spain’s government and its bishops’ conference approved a new reparations program for abuse survivors in the months before the visit — an answer, years in the making, to the 2023 report from Spain’s human rights ombudsman that estimated hundreds of thousands of victims of clergy abuse across decades.

Leo has made three earlier trips outside Italy, and he is not known to have met with survivors on any of them.

The itinerary runs from Madrid to the monastery of Montserrat to Barcelona, where Leo will inaugurate the newest tower of the Sagrada Família, before ending in the Canary Islands among migrants who survived the Atlantic crossing.

The trip — Leo’s first major European pilgrimage — comes four months after the Spanish daily El País reported that the pope had told Spain’s bishops that far-right ideology is the country’s biggest threat.

The bishops’ conference afterward contested that report, saying the pope had spoken about the risks of subjecting faith to ideologies without naming any group.

Spain is also the country where the Church’s newest abuse reckoning was born. Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei in Madrid in 1928, and the movement grew from a Spanish student apostolate into a global power with banks, universities, and — according to the British investigative journalist Gareth Gore — a decades-long pipeline of underage girls recruited from poor families to cook and clean without pay as so-called numerary assistants.

Gore’s 2024 book Opus documents women who were cut off from their families, moved across borders, and — according to interviews Gore conducted — treated with sedatives and antidepressants. Argentine prosecutors, after a two-year investigation built on the testimony of 43 women, found grounds to bring charges against senior Opus Dei figures for human trafficking and labor exploitation. 

June 5

Top Headlines 

 

Threats To Democracy 

  • The Contrarian, Opinion: Undaunted, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 5, 2026. Standing up to bullies in New Jersey, Russia, and at CBS News.
  • Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary: The President is preparing to steal the midterm elections, Heather Delaney Reese, right, June 4-5, 2026. helen delaney reese djtAt 3 p.m. this afternoon [Thursday], Donald J. Trump was already seated in his high-backed leather chair in the Oval Office as the cameras focused in on him and the row of men standing shoulder to shoulder behind him.
  • Democracy Docket, Trump DOJ voter roll grab echoes ‘poll taxes and literacy tests,’ civil rights group warns, Yunior Rivas, June 4, 2026. A civil rights coalition is warning a federal court that the Trump Justice Department’s demand for unredacted statewide voter rolls is not just a privacy threat — it is a modern revival of a long racist history of using voter registration data to intimidate Black voters.
  • New York Times, Opinion: A Shocking Betrayal of Black Americans, Mara Gay, June 5, 2026. Outside the blindingly white antebellum columns of the Alabama State Capitol on a recent Saturday, Martese Chism stood in the Southern heat with thousands of others, rallying for voting rights. It was a show of defiance amid a sweeping attack on Black political power.
  • New York Times, Deal to Renew Surveillance Law Falters in the Senate Amid Revolt Over Pulte, Robert Jimison, June 5, 2026. Bill PulteDemocrats who had been expected to supply the votes necessary to advance it balked after President Trump named Bill Pulte, right, to head the intelligence apparatus.
  • Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Bad News On Big Money: Judd Legum, right,une 5, 2026. I’ve been doing campaign finance research since 1997. judd legumThe bad news is that the influence of big money on our political system has notwaned. The good news is that, with the right training, it is easier than ever to access public information about who is trying to buy influence.

More News Roundups

Disputed Trump Agenda Plans

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

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  • New York Times, Senate Passes $70 Billion G.O.P. Immigration Bill, Annie Karni and Robert Jimison, Updated June 5, 2026, Senate Republicans on Friday rammed through their $70 billion bill to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown through the remainder of his term, after beating back bipartisan efforts to add language to bar or sharply restrict a federal payout fund for his political allies.
  • New York Times, House Passes Ukraine Aid in Defiance of Republican Leaders, Robert Jimison, Updated June 5, 2026. Eighteen G.O.P. lawmakers broke with their party and joined Democrats to deliver yet another blow to the president’s foreign policy agenda.

More On Iran, Lebanon War

More On U.S. Politics, ElectionsDemocratic-Republican Campaign logos

  • New York Times, Platner Denies Hurting Ex-Girlfriend and Says He Will Not Quit Senate Race,graham platner cropped headshot Tim Balk, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, appeared Thursday night in his first interview since a New York Times report about his treatment of several women he had dated, denying one woman’s account that he had physically harmed her and saying he would not drop out of the race.
  • New York Times, Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior, Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). The Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine could be charming, women said in interviews, but some found his actions intimidating and disturbing. 

U.S. Media, High-tech, Culture, Religion

More On U.S. Governance

  • New York Times, How Trump’s Proposed Arch Could Complicate D.C.’s Congested Airspace, Anushka Patil, Marco Hernandez, Junho Lee and Karoun Demirjian, June 5, 2026 (print ed.).The mammoth triumphal arch President Trump wants to build would sit under one of the most complex sections of the national airspace — directly in the paths of flights in and out of Ronald Reagan National Airport and just a few miles from the site of a catastrophic midair collision last year.

U.S. Courts, Crime, Law, Rights, Justice

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

More Global News

Red Cross workers removing the disinfected body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week (New York Times visual by Arlette Bashizi, from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak).

Red Cross workers removing the disinfected body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week (New York Times visual by Arlette Bashizi, from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak).

  • New York Times, The Gold Mines at the Heart of This Ebola Outbreak, Declan Walsh, Visuals by Arlette Bashizi (reporting from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak), June 5, 2026. Mining has been the lifeblood of this remote Congolese hill town for decades. Now, it is fueling the spread of a devastating virus.
  • New York Times, China Builds an Economic Fortress as Global Tensions Rise, Alexandra Stevenson and Murphy Zhao, June 5, 2026. China FlagBeijing says the changes are needed for national security, but they could complicate efforts by Chinese companies to find growth overseas.China is erecting walls to prevent money, technology and companies from leaving the country.
  • New York Times, Why Xi Jinping Is Going to North Korea to Court Kim Jong-un, David Pierson and Choe Sang-Hun, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). As Xi Jinping visits Pyongyang, he faces an emboldened North Korean dictator, whose alliance with Russia has reduced his dependence on China.ina’s military buildup and Washington’s ability to honor its defense agreements as it depletes resources fighting a war with Iran.
  • New York Times, Ireland, Seen as a Weak Link in Europe’s Defense, Is Trying to Bulk Up, Megan Specia, Visuals by Paulo Nunes dos Santos, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). As concern rises in Europe over threats from an emboldened Russia, the Irish government says it’s working to plug gaps in its military, which reflect a tradition of neutrality.

U.S. Jobs, Economy, Markets, Tariffs

June 5

Top Stories

 

djt wrm collage on press 6 5 2026The Wayne Madsen Report, Trump's war against Washington press institutions, Wayne Madsen, left, author of 28 books and former Navy intelligence officer, June 5, 2026. White House is using wayne madsen new observerCBS News as a Trojan horse to seize control of longstanding press organizations.

The White House Correspondents’ Association, founded in 1914, has operated as an independent entity managing the media's logistics in relation to coverage of the president of the president and his administration. After having granted access to the White House press pool to far-right social media influencers and serial fabulists, Trump set his sights on the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton, the traditional venue for the event. In what is increasingly looking like a staged event designed to disrupt the first dinner featuring Trump as a speaker, a gunman rushed a security checkpoint. The resulting melee with Trump being evacuated by his Secret Service agents and heavily-armed Secret Service Counter Assault Team running across fully set tables and pushing over chairs is exactly the scene Trump wanted to send to the media.

 

weijia jiang reuters 4 25 2026

Just prior to the “attempted assassination” in an area of the hotel far removed from the banquet, Weijia Jiang, WHCA president and Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News (and shown above in a Reuters photo), was able to publicly praise her boss, bari weiss portraitCBS News editor-in-chief and Trump sycophant Bari Weiss, left, the “murderer” of 60 Minutes. Once that important public display of affection was out of the way, it was time for the reality TV performance of Cole Tomas Allen to run past the magnetometer security checkpoint and the Secret Service to rush Trump and members of his administration out of the hotel to the White House. Once at the White House, Trump used the “assassination” attempt to justify the construction his gaudy ball room.

CBS’s Jiang has permitted the independence of the WHCA to be further undermined by permitting Trump to brag about re-scheduling to July 24th the event from the 2,600-capacity Hilton ballroom to the 1,300 maximum capacity ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria, the former Trump International Hotel. Trump lied in claiming he built the hotel. In reality, Trump had leased from the federal government the Old Post Office building, built in 1899. Many journalists believe the dinner should have been canceled, as it had been in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and held next year at the Hilton.

Jiang has demonstrated her loyalty to Weiss and David Ellison, the right wing owner of CBS Paramount and the likely owner of CNN through his acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. Progress Radio host Dean Obeidallah was among those who criticized Jiang’s and the WHCA’s decision, writing that the July 24th rescheduled dinner was “giving Trump a national platform to attack free speech and spew lies.”

Just as Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin seized control of independent media institutions, Trump is intent on taking possession of every journalistic body in the nation’s capital.

This includes the National Press Club, located a mere two blocks from the White House. There are serious indications that the national press club logoWhite House’s CBS Trojan horse is planning between now and next year to lay claim to the institution founded in 1908 that has served as an important junction between the press, the government, civil society, the diplomatic corps, and private industry. With its hands on the WHCA and NPC, the Trump White House will be calling the shots on how the news is framed institutionally.

Running concurrently with Trump’s attempted acquisition of the WHCA and NPC is his White House Media Bias Portal, a taxpayer-funded, official digital index which publicly tracks, ranks, and denounces news outlets, individual journalists, and specific articles that the administration deems hostile or inaccurate. This is a direct attack on the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

The webpage’s "Leaderboard" of Trump’s top targets also features a “Media Offender of the Week.” The webpage’s database explicitly lists the names of individual reporters and bureau chiefs alongside the stories being criticized. There is also a “tip line” where anyone can report news organizations, journalists, and news aggregators as “media offenders.” Singled out for attack in the White House “hall of shame” are CNN, ABC News, MSNOW, NBC News, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, TMZ, Scripps, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Daily Mail, The Independent, People, Apple News, The Bulwark, Politico, The Daily Beast, New Jersey Monitor, and “Leftist influencers” David Pakman and Ed Krassenstein.

Independent journalism is under severe assault in the United States. It is a frontal attack by the Trump White House, the billionaire tech bro class, and far-right enablers in the media. Any journalist worth a salt should stand his or her ground and fight the forces of fascist control of the people’s right to be informed.

 

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New York Times, Trump Keeps Immunity From I.R.S., a Victory in a Long-Running Feud, Andrew Duehren, June 5, 2026. Even as they rebelled against a $1.8 billion fund for President Trump’s allies, Republicans looked the other way as his administration granted him potentially lucrative tax protections.

Senate Republican anger about President Trump’s $1.8 billion fund for people who claim to be victims of federal overreach was loud and apparent.

It held up the Republican agenda in Congress for weeks, and during a marathon voting session on Thursday and early Friday, several Republicans voted to end the fund, though those efforts failed. Still, the furor forced the acting attorney general, Todd Todd Blanche OBlanche, right, to announce this week that he was abandoning it entirely.

Not so for the sweeping protections from I.R.S. audits that Mr. Blanche also ordered up for Mr. Trump and his family. On that front, Republican reaction has been much more muted, and Mr. Blanche said the audit shield would stay in place. A Democratic effort to cancel the audit protection failed on a voice vote.

The result is that an apparently unprecedented and enormously valuable public benefit for the president has, so far, flown under the radar in Congress and passed into Mr. Trump’s hands without much protest from members of his own party.

Mr. Trump and his family have spent decades aggressively avoiding taxes, according to previous reporting in The New York Times. The newly won ability to escape from Internal Revenue Service examinations could be worth tens of millions of dollars: One audit, ongoing in the days before the new immunity for Mr. Trump was announced, could have resulted in a bill from the government exceeding $100 million, The Times has reported. Other authorities have had questions, too: In 2022, the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud in New York.

Mr. Trump has also sought to avoid public scrutiny of his taxes. During his first run for office in 2016, he refused to release his tax returns, breaking a norm for presidential candidates. Mr. Trump said at the time he had to keep his returns private because he was subject to an I.R.S. audit — a perennial problem.

“Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me,” he said at a Republican primary debate in February 2016. “Nobody gets audited — I have friends that are very wealthy people. They never get audited. I get audited every year.”

Mr. Trump’s decision to not release his tax returns in 2016 would eventually snowball into the audit immunity unveiled last month by Mr. Blanche, Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer.

Public interest in Mr. Trump’s tax situation was enormous at the time, as initial reporting showed that he had claimed vast business losses that could have helped him avoid paying any federal income taxes. In 2017, a man named Charles Littlejohn applied for a job at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. His intention was to work as a contractor for the I.R.S. and leak Mr. Trump’s tax returns, according to testimony he later gave in a deposition.Editors’ PicksThe Sun Is Shining on LisbonMister Rogers: Now on YouTubeNeutrals That Stand Out Even in a Raucous Festival

Mr. Littlejohn succeeded, providing years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns to The Times in 2019, as well as the returns of thousands of other wealthy Americans to ProPublica in 2020.

The resulting series of articles in The Times in 2020 revealed that Mr. Trump had paid little or no federal income taxes for years. The reporting showed Mr. Trump trying to reduce his taxable income in large and small ways, including by treating his daughter Ivanka as a consultant and then deducting the fee as a cost of doing business.

Unauthorized disclosure of tax information is a federal crime, and Mr. Littlejohn was prosecuted for leaking the returns and sentenced to five years in prison during the Biden administration. But the leak seemed to inflame Mr. Trump’s enmity for the I.R.S. In January he sued the agency for at least $10 billion, accusing it of not doing enough to stop Mr. Littlejohn’s leak.

Mr. Trump was suing an agency that he ultimately controls, an extraordinary attempt by the president to extract financial gain from the government. Rather than contest Mr. Trump’s suit in court, as lawyers at the I.R.S. suggested, top Justice Department officials this spring instead sought to settle it before a judge could rule on its legitimacy.Trump Administration: Live UpdatesUpdated June 5, 2026, 9:07 a.m. ET3 hours ago

A deal to renew a surveillance law falters in the Senate amid a revolt over Pulte. An appeals court will hear arguments over Trump’s ballroom. Trump announces a plan to create a promenade at the Lincoln Memorial.

Mr. Blanche did not want to directly pay Mr. Trump money out of the Treasury, The Times has reported. Instead, the Justice Department created the $1.8 billion fund, now seemingly dead, and offered Mr. Trump, his family members and their businesses the sweeping protections from audits of tax returns they have already filed. In return, Mr. Trump dropped his suit, an arrangement that the judge who was originally assigned to the case is now investigating.

The judge in that inquiry, Kathleen M. Williams of the Southern District of Florida, is looking into whether Mr. Trump’s lawyers deceived her when they brought the original suit, though it is unclear if she would have the power to unwind the audit protection during those proceedings. Because the deal is between the government and Mr. Trump, it may also be difficult for a third party to challenge it in court.

Mr. Blanche, in testimony before the House this week, cast the audit protection as a typical part of how the I.R.S. settles litigation. But Mr. Trump’s suit focused on the unauthorized release of his tax returns, not a dispute over a tax position. Tax experts said amnesty in an actual tax controversy would typically come from the I.R.S., not the acting attorney general, and would apply only to specific issues on the tax returns under review. 

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: SAVE Act is Dead, Congress Members Call for 25th Amendment, Trump Discussed Marking Living People "Dead," and More, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 5, 2026. The White House is lashing out after new scrutiny over Trump’s public appearances, while some members of Congress are now openly discussing the 25th Amendment.  A whistleblower alleges Trump administration officials discussed marking 2.7 million living people as “dead” in government records, potentially cutting them off from banking and other essential services.

Republicans delivered a pair of major rebukes to Trump, helping sink the SAVE Act and advancing Ukraine aid, even as the Senate approved billions more in funding for ICE and Border Patrol in a late-night vote. Meanwhile, a new report finds that roughly half of the known donors to Trump’s White House ballroom project have received massive federal contracts, and anti-Trump protests continue to grow in Albania.

I am also working on another major deep dive this weekend, so stay tuned. In addition, I will be delivering a keynote address to a room full of human trafficking survivors, advocates, and attorneys.

To say today will be busy would be an understatement. I am going to spend parts of this weekend near the Kennedy Center to try to capture the moment they take Trump’s name down.

Here’s the news:

A major Republican election overhaul backed by President Trump failed in the Senate after four Republican senators broke with Trump and joined Democrats to block the measure. The four Republicans were Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski. The SAVE America Act would have required proof of citizenship for voter registration, mandated photo ID for all voters, and expanded federal oversight of state voter rolls. Trump had called the bill Congress’s top priority and urged Republicans to pass it before any other legislation, but the defections underscored divisions within the GOP over changing Senate rules and federalizing election administration. The vote marks a significant setback for one of Trump’s signature election-related priorities and highlights the limits of his influence over every member of the Republican conference.

The House has passed the Ukraine Support Act in a 226–195 vote, approving new military assistance for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Russia after lawmakers successfully used a discharge petition to force the bill to the floor over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson. The legislation advanced with bipartisan support, as 18 Republicans and former Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley broke with House GOP leadership to vote in favor of the measure. The vote represents a significant rebuke to Republican leadership and highlights growing divisions within the GOP over continued support for Ukraine. The bill now moves to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain.

A prominent cardiologist and former physician to former Vice President Dick Cheney is raising concerns after President Trump appeared to have his eyes closed and slump in his chair during an Oval Office event focused on coal policy. Dr. Jonathan Reiner argued that Trump’s recent physical examination did not address what he described as a possible sleep disorder and said repeated episodes of apparent daytime drowsiness are “not normal.”

The White House strongly rejected the criticism, calling Trump healthy, energetic, and accusing critics of engaging in politically motivated speculation. The debate comes amid broader scrutiny of Trump’s health following a recent medical examination, visible physical symptoms that have attracted attention, and questions about his week-long absence from public events last month.

At least one member of Congress is calling Trump’s proclivity to sleep a “national security crisis” and called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked:

Another member of Congress called for an inquiry into the President’s health:

A new report from the watchdog group Public Citizen found that 14 of the 27 publicly identified corporate donors to President Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project have received more than $50 billion in new or expanded federal contracts since contributing to the effort. According to the report, major beneficiaries include Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Palantir Technologies, while several donors are also facing federal investigations or regulatory actions that have been paused or scaled back under the Trump administration. Critics argue the findings raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest and “pay-to-play” politics, especially because the White House has not released a complete list of donors to the project. The White House rejected those allegations, saying the donations are helping fund long-overdue renovations without burdening taxpayers and that the contributors represent a broad range of American companies and individuals.

A former senior Social Security Administration executive has alleged that Trump administration officials considered a plan to falsely social security administrationclassify 2.7 million living people as dead in a key government database as part of an immigration enforcement strategy. According to whistleblower Jeremiah Schofield, the proposal would have used the agency’s Death Master File to cut targeted individuals off from banking, employment, benefits, and other services, potentially affecting not only undocumented immigrants but also some U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Schofield says he and agency lawyers raised legal concerns after reviewing a sample of the list and finding that the people examined were alive, leading the larger plan to be abandoned, although a smaller effort involving roughly 6,100 immigrants was reportedly carried out. The allegations have prompted demands for investigations from Democratic lawmakers, while the Social Security Administration says no list of 2.7 million names was ever added to the death database.

 


jared kushner albania resortProtests in Albania have entered their fourth consecutive night as demonstrators oppose a planned luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner, right, and Ivanka Trump. jared kushner Custom CustomThousands of protesters are demanding that construction be halted, arguing the development (portrayed above) threatens environmentally sensitive coastal areas and protected wetlands that are home to flamingos, sea turtles, seals, and other wildlife. Critics also accuse the Albanian government of fast-tracking the project without sufficient public consultation or transparency, while Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the investment and insists it will move forward. Environmental groups and activists say they will continue demonstrating until the project is suspended and a full review of its environmental and legal impacts is conducted.

The Senate has passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement package that would fund ICE and the Border Patrol through the remainder of President Trump’s term, but lawmakers rejected multiple bipartisan efforts to permanently block or restrict the administration’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. The bill passed 52–47, with lisa murkowski oLisa Murkowsk, left, as the lone Republican voting against it, citing concerns about both the funding process and the settlement fund. Critics, including Chuck Schumer, argue the legislation leaves open the possibility that taxpayer money could still be used to compensate Trump allies or January 6 defendants, despite assurances from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that the administration is no longer pursuing the fund. The measure now heads to the House, where debate over immigration funding and the unresolved settlement fund is expected to continue next week.

Detainees at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center allege that guards withheld food, clean water, and medication after they refused to sign documents written in English that they said they could not understand. In a recorded call with an immigrant advocacy group, multiple detainees claimed the water provided in recent days was contaminated with dirt and mosquito larvae, and that lunch was withheld as pressure to force them to sign paperwork. The allegations add to a growing list of complaints about conditions at the facility, including claims of inadequate medical care, restricted access to attorneys, and pressure to accept deportation without legal representation. Florida officials have previously denied mistreatment at the center and maintain that medical services are available around the clock, but advocates say the latest accusations represent a serious violation of detainees’ rights.

According to CNN, President Trump’s pick to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, right, did not hold a security Bill Pulteclearance before being selected for the role and only began the clearance vetting process this week, according to multiple sources cited by CNN. The revelation has intensified bipartisan concerns because the DNI oversees all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies and routinely has access to some of the nation’s most highly classified information. Critics, including Mark Warner and even some Republicans, have questioned both Pulte’s lack of national security experience and whether he has undergone the background checks typically required for senior intelligence positions. Trump defended the appointment, arguing that Pulte is smart, loyal, and will only serve in the role temporarily, while Senate Democrats cited the appointment as one reason for blocking consideration of a surveillance bill this week.

The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May, significantly outperforming expectations of about 80,000 new jobs and signaling continued labor market strength despite economic pressures tied to the war with Iran. The unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, but wages grew by 3.4% over the past year, trailing inflation, which rose to 3.8% in April as energy prices surged. Education, health care, leisure and hospitality, and local government were among the biggest drivers of job growth, while previous months’ employment figures were revised upward by 93,000 jobs. Federal Reserve officials say they remain concerned about persistent inflation, particularly as rising fuel costs and major AI-related investments continue to put upward pressure on prices.

Even if the Trump administration abandons its proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, the Justice Department may still Justice Department log circularhave a pathway to compensate January 6 defendants and other individuals through the federal government’s existing Judgment Fund. The fund is a longstanding Treasury mechanism that allows the government to pay settlements and judgments without seeking a separate appropriation from Congress, and administration officials argue it already provides authority to resolve claims against the government. Critics, including a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Cory Booker and Bill Cassidy, argue that the original fund proposal was an attempt to bypass congressional oversight and create a politically controlled compensation system. Hundreds of January 6 defendants are already preparing claims, and some administration allies have openly discussed the possibility of significant future payouts through existing legal channels.

A new U.K. government audit found that former royal Prince Andrew earned money by subletting cottages on the Royal Lodge estate, where he lived for more than two decades under a lease that required only a nominal “peppercorn” rent. The report also revealed that his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, live in royal properties at below-market rents paid through funds controlled by King Charles III. Critics say the findings raise fresh questions about royal finances and taxpayer support, while Buckingham Palace argued the report demonstrates its commitment to transparency. The revelations come as Andrew remains under scrutiny over his ties to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and amid an ongoing British police investigation into allegations related to his time as a trade envoy.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that Illinois will temporarily stop processing applications for tax incentives for new AI data illinois mapcenters, citing concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, and the impact on local communities. The move comes after state lawmakers declined to approve his proposal to suspend the incentives for two years while a broader review was conducted. Pritzker is calling on lawmakers, utility companies, labor groups, local governments, and industry leaders to develop new rules governing data center growth, including requirements for transparency, environmental protections, and ensuring the facilities pay their fair share of infrastructure costs. The decision reflects growing scrutiny nationwide over the rapid expansion of AI-related data centers and their potential impact on energy grids, natural resources, and consumer utility bills.

Karen Read, who was acquitted last year of murdering her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, says she has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton because she believes misconduct and negligence led to her prosecution. Read and her attorneys argue that corruption, bias, and institutional failures within law enforcement played a central role in the investigation, citing derogatory text messages sent by former state trooper Michael Proctor and other alleged misconduct. Canton officials and the Massachusetts State Police have rejected many of the lawsuit’s allegations, though state police leaders acknowledged that some of the messages cited were inappropriate and unacceptable. Read says the lawsuit is about exposing what she sees as systemic problems within law enforcement and seeking accountability for what she describes as a wrongful prosecution.

According to NBC News, the U.S. State Department has inserted itself into a political controversy in the United Kingdom after the killing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, criticizing what it called “ideological conditioning” and “two-tier policing” in Britain. The case drew widespread attention after video showed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying from stab wounds while initially treating him as a suspect after his attacker falsely accused him of making a racist attack. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged serious questions about the police response and ordered a review, but condemned violent protests that followed and rejected claims that Britain operates a two-tier justice system. The controversy has been amplified by figures including Nigel Farage and Elon Musk, while Nowak’s family has called for accountability but urged people not to use his death to fuel division or hatred.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 4, 2026 [Trump Faces Limits], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 5, 2026. The wheels are wobbling on the Trump administration bus.

The administration has always been an alliance of groups and people that oppose the so-called liberal consensus: the idea that the U.S. government should regulate business, provide social welfare programs, promote infrastructure projects, protect civil rights, and support a rules-based international order.

Republicans had embraced that ideology since the 1980s, but for all their celebration of tax cuts and deregulation, leaders recognized that the modern American state depended on the free trade and defensive security systems of the international order, and that the American people liked infrastructure and social welfare programs.

Trump upended that system, promising to get rid of the federal government built around the liberal consensus, the government his voters thought they hated because they thought its protection of equality before the law gave Black Americans, Brown Americans, women, and gender or religious minorities a leg up on white Christian men. Or they thought funding for science wasted their money on the research that right-wing influencers mocked for wasting their money and intruding on their freedom. Or they thought the U.S. contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and U.S. participation in alliances did not put “America First.”

In 2024, Trump cobbled together enough groups who thought that way to win the White House, and as soon as he took power, he set out to destroy the liberal consensus government with the help of loyalists he installed in key positions. In its place, he sought to establish an authoritarian government with himself and his family at its head.

Now the effects of his plans on the American people are filtering through to those who weren’t paying close attention. Trump’s initial tariffs of April 2025—his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs—destroyed the foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products, while Trump’s war on Iran has sent the price of the diesel fuel farmers need skyrocketing and put the cost of fertilizer out of reach. Today Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins testified before the House Agriculture Committee, where she made the national cost of a government of loyalists determined to destroy the federal government clear.

Minnesota’s Representative Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, grilled Rollins, who did not appear to know much about the industry she oversees. As Ron Filipkowski of Meidas+ reported, when Craig asked Rollins how many farms we lost in the U.S. last year, Rollins said about 315 had gone into bankruptcy. While the number of bankruptcies is correct, it does not reflect the loss of smaller farms to consolidation. That number, as Craig pointed out, is 15,000.

Craig continued to hammer Rollins with statistics: farm diesel has gone up 95% in the last year, to $5.41 a gallon; farmers lost $28 billion last year; 70% of farmers say they cannot afford fertilizer because of Trump’s war on Iran. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) added that farmers in his district “have been totally screwed over by this administration. They are livid, they are mad, they are pissed off.”

He continued: They “can’t afford fertilizer; it’s at record highs because of your administration. They can’t afford diesel because of this president’s reckless, illegal war. They can’t afford farm equipment—it’s more expensive than ever because of the stupid tariffs.”

And now New World screwworm, a parasitic fly larva that had been eradicated in the U.S. since the 1960s, is back. In March 2025 the Trump administration cut funding for disease control and prevention, including that of New World screwworm. Today, news broke that the New World screwworm has been found in Texas for the first time since 1966. The screwworm burrows into the living flesh of animals—most maggots feast on dead flesh—and can kill them. Screwworms are a serious threat to livestock and can hurt food production.

“If we all work together and follow the animal treatment protocols and movement restriction guidance, there is no reason to believe that this incursion will result in an establishment of the pest in our country,” Rollins said last night.

Meanwhile, Jamie Smyth of the Financial Times reported yesterday that U.S. oil reserves are at their lowest level in twenty-two years. The administration has released them to try to control oil prices that are skyrocketing after Trump’s war on Iran prompted the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil passed before the war. Oil industry analysts warned that oil prices will shoot higher if the crisis isn’t resolved.

Today President Donald J. Trump appeared to fall asleep again at a meeting in the Oval Office.

But Trump’s interest in profiting off the presidency remains clear. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post reported today that 14 of the 27 known donors to Trump’s $400 million ballroom project have won new or expanded federal contracts totaling over $50 billion since they made their donations.

As the results of the Republican destruction of the liberal consensus become clear, Democrats are speaking up to defend it and to chart a different course for the nation. Today, for example, Democrats called out the $187 billion in cuts Republicans have made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in their budget reconciliation bill of last July, the one they call the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

U.S. House logoHouse Democrats criticized Agriculture Secretary Rollins’s repeated boasts that she has pushed more than 3.5 million people off SNAP, claiming that such cuts are a way to reduce “fraud” in the program. Representative Craig noted that Rollins appears to confuse the program’s error rate, which measures underpayments or overpayments, with fraud. Craig noted that SNAP has “the lowest fraud rate in any program in America.”

Although Congress itself makes the same distinction between error rates and fraud rates Craig did, and says that “SNAP fraud is rare,” Sydney Carruth of MS Now reported that Rollins told Craig: “You can’t be serious.”

More and more, Democrats are anchoring their opposition to MAGA Republican governance in their opposition to its extraordinary corruption that siphons taxpayer money into the pockets of a small group of wealthy elites and their loyalists. On Sunday, Georgia senator Jon Ossoff reminded an audience of Trump’s deal with his appointees at the Department of Justice to establish a slush fund of $1.776 billion to pay his supporters for their claims that the Biden administration “weaponized” the legal system against them by indicting them for crimes.

Ossoff called out Trump’s frantic pace of outlandish social media posts, then said, “[W]hen not posting, he’s been trying to rob us. Have you seen it? He sued the U.S. government he commands for $10 billion. Then he settled the suit with himself to create a $1.8 billion slush fund so he can cut checks to cronies and Jan[uary] 6 foot soldiers, the same men who sacked the Capitol to seize the presidency for Donald Trump, who beat police officers with flagpoles, built a gallows on the Capitol lawn, and hunted the vice president to lynch him. Donald Trump’s brownshirts. He pardoned them, and now he wants you to pay them.”

Ossoff continued: “He promised to bring down prices on day one. Instead, prices are soaring. Ground beef’s up 25% since Trump was sworn in. Coffee, 40%. The price of gas, 33%. Groceries, rent, health care, and the power bill hit their new all-time highs last month. And while you pay more for everything, Donald Trump wants your tax dollars for what many are calling the Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom.”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called out how the corruption of the administration perverts the nature of government by stealing from everyday Americans for the vanity projects of a leader. She told Scott MacFarlane of MacFarlane News that “when people see a ballroom and they see at the same time their health insurance getting cut off, they know that they are paying for that ballroom with no healthcare, higher grocery prices, and increasingly impossible-to-afford housing.” “[P]eople are pissed off about it,” she said, “and they should be. It’s wrong. This is a complete theft of our money.” Rather than paying for Trump’s ballroom or his splashy renovations in the nation’s capital, taxes should pay for “[b]etter roads, healthcare, more affordable housing.”

And when the Texas Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, James Talarico, spoke to supporters in the home county of his opponent, Ken Paxton, he made it clear that the corruption of MAGA Republicans must not stand. He noted that “Paxton’s mugshot was taken just a few miles from here at the Collin County courthouse, where he was indicted for investment fraud. He convinced his own friends to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a tech company. But what he didn’t tell them was that he was making a commission off their investments. He was scamming his own friends. If Ken Paxton will sell out his own friends for a quick buck,” Talarico asked, “what makes you think he won’t sell you out in the United States Senate?”

In a telling echo of a different sort of rally almost a decade ago, the audience began to chant, “Lock him up! Lock him up!”

“Listen,” Talarico said. “Ken Paxton has escaped accountability, but accountability is coming on November 3rd.”

Threats To Democracy 

The Contrarian, Opinion: Undaunted, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 5, 2026. Standing up to bullies in New Jersey, Russia, and at CBS News.

contrarian logoWhen under siege from authoritarian aggressors, democratic forces are forced to engage in an unending series of skirmishes testing their will and values. We recently saw this play out in three very different settings. In a sign democracy is on the rebound, resolute figures proved themselves up to the task of defending democratic values and institutions.

Delaney Hall is facing accountability

At the Delaney Hall immigration facility, politicians such as Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) have shown up at personal risk to call attention to the horrific conditions for detainees and the abusive conduct toward protestors.Senator Andy Kim @kim.senate.govI saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall today. Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help. 1/4Tue, 26 May 2026 02:02:20 GMTView on Bluesky

In addition, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and Gov. Mikie Sherrill filed suit against the GEO Group Inc., which operates Delaney Hall, demanding it provide full access to health inspectors or face closure. The city of Newark filed its own action and lifted the curfew that was imposed, ostensibly to reduce conflict between protestors and state officials.

As the New York Times reported, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka moved in to take control on the ground after widespread criticism of state police tactics:

Baraka said that the state officials were handing greater control to the city after the state police failed to cool tensions between the demonstrators and federal immigration enforcement officers. He said that the city planned to remove protest zones that had limited demonstrators’ movements and would lean on street teams largely made up of clergy and community activists to keep the peace.... Mr. Baraka said that the state police used tactics that only made matters worse as the protests grew during the weekend.

In sum, neither stonewalling by the Department of Homeland Security nor ham-handed police tactics by New Jersey state police have been able to silence critics. Rather than intimidate protests, the effort to silence criticism and block investigation backfired. A persistent, disciplined effort undertaken by federal and local officials, litigators, and ordinary Americans to challenge brutality and lawlessness is forcing accountability on the private prison system.

Ukraine persists

ukraine flagOn the physical battlefield against authoritarian aggression, Ukraine has defied the odds and turned the tide against Russian invaders. “A small but growing number of European officials and analysts are saying what four years ago was unthinkable: Ukraine isn’t just surviving its grueling war with Russia, it is in some ways thriving and may even be on a path to victory,” Defense One reported.

russian flagThough Russian aerial barrages kill innocent people and cause great damage, Ukraine has intercepted the vast majority of them. Moreover, Ukraine has taken the fight to Russia’s homeland to shatter the illusion of security for the Russian population. (In a brazen move, as the BBC reported, “Ukraine has carried out a strike on the outskirts of Russia’s St Petersburg, hours before the opening of a major economic forum designed to attract foreign investment into the country.”) A member of Ukraine’s 26th Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces carries a Valkyria drone on April 29. (26th Artillery Brigade)

Ukraine’s AI and drone technology, its willingness to experiment with new tactics, and its development of a sophisticated domestic defense industry have overcome Russia’s overwhelming numbers and a cynical government’s willingness to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of its own people. Ukraine is demonstrating that a thugocracy stultified by corruption, rigidity, and fear is no match for a democracy that benefits from an informed, engaged citizenry, free dialogue and scientific innovation.

Despite threats and pressure from Vladamir Putin stooge Donald Trump, Ukraine seems to have plenty of cards these days. That is why Putin (not unlike Trump in Iran) finds himself trapped in a costly forever war that has served only to undermine his support. As Foreign Affairs explained:

Stopping the fighting now would mean economic dislocation, social upheaval, and a political reckoning the regime is not prepared to face. Moscow, in other words, has stumbled into a war trap that no one designed and no one can easily dismantle. …

He cannot demobilize without setting off a vast unemployment and reintegration crisis. He cannot cut defense spending without devastating the regions and industries that depend on it. And he cannot abandon the narrative of existential struggle without undermining the legitimacy on which his authority rests.

So, Russia plods along at the cost of thousands of deaths each week, further economic hardship, and increased social discord. Trump’s efforts to bully Ukraine into submission have failed. He should spend more time persuading Putin to look for an off ramp. It’s Russia that desperately needs to end this debacle.

Heroic defense of free press

 

Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).

Veteran CBS reporter Scott Pelley channeled the frustrations of his colleagues, conscientious journalists throughout legacy and independent media, and anyone who cherishes a free press when he denounced CBS News chief Bari Weiss and her new executive producer of 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton.

cbs news logoPelley’s refreshing candor in confronting Bilton face to face (after a bloodbath of firings the previous week) served to debunk Weiss’s claims of devotion to the program (she is murdering it, he declared). He also called out their lack of qualifications (so much for merit in MAGA-friendly environs) and denounced efforts to manipulate facts and inject bias. He cut through the fog of cringeworthy platitudes that have poured out of Black Rock since Trump booster David Ellison took control of the network. (As remarkable as Pelley’s interrogation of his boss was, the naivete of CBS’s new management was even more stunning. They plainly underestimated the tenacity of real journalists — and wound up embarrassed when, of course, an audio of the meeting leaked.)

At an editorial meeting after Pelley’s firing was announced, Weiss sounded whiny and defensive, insisting, “Despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways.” She added: “We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he chose.” Pelley swiftly denounced that as a lie, again exposing Weiss’s lack of credibility.

Pelley’s stand undermined any claim that Ellison, Weiss, and Bilton are independent figures acting in the best traditions of journalism. He stripped the pretense of legitimacy, which is key to undermining their effectiveness, and robbed them of any claim to independence. He also reminded journalists of their obligation to speak truth to power not only in government but also in their own outlets and to resist manipulation and censorship.

What democracy defenders have in common

In very different contexts, the coordinated effort to end abuse at Delaney Hall, the Ukrainians’ defense of their homeland, and the courageous stance taken by Scott Pelley (backed up by many of his coworkers) attest to the strength of the pro-democracy movement. Undaunted, unintimidated, and uncompromising, those who value democratic norms and institutions have shown they can prevail against entrenched forces that use violence, bullying, threats, and lies to cling to power. We salute those who fight authoritarian oppressors at Delaney Hall, the Kremlin, and CBS/Paramount — which, despite a great deal of bluster, looked small, defensive, and inept in the face of principled resistance.

helen delaney reese djtHeather Delaney Reese, Commentary: The President is preparing to steal the midterm elections, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 4-5, 2026. At 3 p.m. this afternoon [Thursday], Donald J. Trump was already seated in his high-backed leather chair in the Oval Office as the cameras focused in on him and the row of men standing shoulder to shoulder behind him.

The event was supposed to be about his new $700 million plan for what he calls America’s beautiful “clean coal” industry. Instead, he spent much of the afternoon insulting his fellow Americans and, in the process, explained how he intends to interfere with the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. And in doing so, he may have revealed one of the greatest threats facing American democracy over the next five months.

Within minutes of this event starting, he had already wandered through bizarre mockeries and complaints. He called Graham graham platner cropped headshotPlatner, right, the Democratic Senate candidate from Maine, “a basket case.” He mocked James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate from Texas, by comparing him to “Alfred E. Newman,” the gap-toothed mascot from Mad Magazine. When speaking about Iran’s Supreme Leader, he said that “in some circles he has a very good reputation actually,” then added that he would be “honored” to meet him and would be “respectful.” Then he drifted back into the old grievance loop, attacking Biden as “never the sharpest guy” and bragging that his “Where’s Hunter?” shirt was once “the number one shirt anywhere in the world.”

Almost nothing about the event unfolded the way he and his handlers must have imagined. As the cameras continued rolling, Trump repeatedly appeared to fall asleep. His face looked noticeably swollen, his eyes heavy and deeply bagged, and he seemed increasingly disconnected from the conversation unfolding around him. The man who was supposed to be promoting a major energy initiative looked like he was struggling to make it through the next hour.

But underneath the latest public spectacle coming out of the White House, something far more important was happening. Because here is the thing about this president, even at his most incoherent, even when he is drifting off in front of the cameras and reaching for insults instead of answers, he tells us the truth about what he is planning. He always does. And that is exactly why we cannot afford to get bored or numb with his antics. We cannot let ourselves scroll past one more clip of him saying something outrageous and tell ourselves it does not matter, that it is just Trump being Trump, that it is noise. It is not noise. Every single thing this man says is of the utmost importance, because he is telling us, out loud and on camera, exactly what he intends to do. And this afternoon, somewhere between mocking a Senate candidate and praising the Ayatollah, he told us how he plans to handle an election he already knows he is going to lose.

He spent the entire day setting it up. Over the span of an hour and a half this afternoon, he posted, “Look what’s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the Vote. I hope the Republicans are watching so that they can finally pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!” He also posted, “I believe we have the Most Dishonest Elections of any Country, anywhere in the World!” And then tonight, after the event, he posted again about California, writing that “Our Election process is as bad, or worse, than any Third World Country,” and that “They don’t wait seven days to tell you who won, rigging the Election during each and every one of them.” And at the event itself, he said much of the same thing, bragging about his own past wins by saying, “they tried with me. They did it successfully the second time. The third time we made it too big to rig.” He told the room to watch California, where he claimed it would take “seven or eight days to count the votes,” and where, in his words, “the numbers are looking strange because without any vote counting, the numbers dropped very precipitously for two Republicans.”

He is betting his most loyal followers won’t put two and two together. Because he says we have the most dishonest elections of any country anywhere in the world. The most dishonest on earth. But he won. Twice. So either he won under the most dishonest election system in the world, which would make his own victories meaningless, or it is not true, or he does not actually believe a word of it. There is no version of this where the math works. Because “rigged” has only ever meant one thing to Donald Trump. It means Trump lost. Every election he wins is clean and beautiful and historic. Every election he or his side loses is stolen.

Because the complaints are never just complaints. They are a sales pitch. And he is pulling out all stops to get us to buy into his lies, including his obsession with the SAVE America Act.

He posted a whole list about it again this morning. All voters must show photo ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship. No mail-in ballots, except for illness, disability, military, or travel. And then, bolted onto an elections bill for no reason other than to rile people up, “No men in women’s sports” and “No transgender mutilization surgery for our children.”

He recited the same list from behind the Resolute Desk this afternoon. And this is the part we have to notice. The manufactured crisis and the pre-packaged solution arrived on the same day, within hours of each other, because they are not two things. They are one thing. You declare the fire, and then you sell the country the extinguisher you happened to be holding the whole time.

This is the modern version of authoritarian propaganda. Simple solutions to complex problems. Or in Trump’s case, many of the problems he talks about don’t actually exist and are simply there to further radicalize his base.

What made today different, what genuinely concerned me, was when he blurted out that he has started building the machine to overturn, interfere with, block, or challenge our next major elections in November. He said it while talking about appointing Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. Not the head of one agency. The head of the entire United States intelligence community.

A reporter asked him a straightforward question. Given the pushback, even from Senate Republicans, why did he think Pulte was the best person for the job? And Trump did what he always does. He rambled. He praised Pulte’s “high integrity.” He went off on a long tangent about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And then, buried right in the middle of all that, he said Pulte “may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc., etc.”

The President of the United States explained that the man he just put in charge of all of our intelligence agencies is there to “find out some things about the rigged elections.” He did not say Pulte would protect our elections or help keep us safe from foreign threats, which is the actual job of the Director of National Intelligence. And then he told us the term, twice. “It’s an acting position,” he said. “He’s not going to be permanent.” He was “interviewing people right now,” and Pulte was just “somebody to take it over for a little while.”

And when he was asked a follow-up question about whether Pulte had the necessary national security experience to take on that position, Trump answered, “Well, I do, and I think he does actually because he’s smart.” Then he compared Pulte to himself. “A lot of national security, I wasn’t greatly experienced in national security, and I think I’ve done a really great job with it.”

In other words, when asked point-blank whether the man has the qualifications to lead American intelligence, the President’s answer was that qualifications do not really matter. Being loyal is enough. And that is the whole point. The job was never about intelligence. He told us what it was really about: Trump’s plan to stay in power regardless of how we, the people, actually vote.

And he was careful to emphasize that Pulte would serve in an acting capacity. An acting director can remain in that position through at least the end of this year. Through November. Through the midterm elections. The word “temporary” is not reassuring. If anything, it sounds closer to a confession.

And that matters because it would likely be difficult, even with a Trump-backed Congress, to get someone like Pulte confirmed. But as an acting director, Trump doesn’t need confirmation. He can place the least qualified, but most loyal, person in charge of the nation’s intelligence apparatus and still remain within the boundaries of the law.

And if we want to know what “find some things” looks like when this particular man has the power to do it, we already know how far he will go to prove loyalty to Trump. At his last job, running the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte sent the Justice Department criminal referrals against four Democrats who had investigated Trump. New York Attorney General Letitia James. Former Congressman Eric Swalwell. Senator Adam Schiff. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He also referred Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. That is the skill he is known for. Taking a position of power and turning it into a weapon against the president’s enemies. And now he has been handed the keys to every intelligence agency we have.

Donald Trump has been screaming that elections are rigged for years. We have heard it a thousand times. What changed today is the capacity of his propaganda. Because an intelligence chief can produce intelligence. He can manufacture a document, surface a “raw” and unverified report, declassify exactly what is useful and bury the rest, and hand the president a piece of paper that looks official enough to call an election into question. The distance between a sore loser and an actual attempt to overturn a result is the machinery. And today, we watched him put the last piece of that machinery into place. The false claim. The proposed law. And now the loyalist in the chair, whose stated job is to find the proof.

I am not the only one who saw it. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been sounding this alarm for months, warning of a coordinated effort to try to interfere in the 2026 midterms. He said we have “a president that can’t get over the fact that he lost in 2020 and now in kind of a Nixonian effort is going to try to do everything he can to make sure he doesn’t get another beating in 2026.” And on Pulte specifically, Warner said, “If he’s been able to manipulate and weaponize mortgage information,” continuing with “think about if you got the keys to all of the intelligence agencies.”

Trump is building the excuse to reject a loss before a single midterm vote has been counted. And there is really only one reason a person builds that machine ahead of time. You build it because you already know you are going to lose.

This is the oldest authoritarian move there is. You do not wait for the election and then cry foul. You poison the well first. You tell people for months that the system is rigged, so that when the results come in and they are not what you wanted, half the country is already primed to believe the count was stolen. And then the “remedy,” the purges, the prosecutions, the claims that certain votes and certain people were illegal, looks justified to the people who believed you. Warner reached for the word Nixonian, and he is right, but Nixon at least still felt he had to resign. What we are watching now is a man who has spent a year learning that there are no consequences, assembling the tools to make sure he never has to.

Today was a lot. There were over a dozen other atrocities I wanted to share with you. Some days are just like that now. And so I sat with all the stories and tried to bring the one that mattered most. And as I wrote this, it became even more real what we are up against, because I do not want to have to keep sharing about his reckless attacks, or his endless nodding off. Or how he is looking more ill by the day. I’d rather spend the evening with my husband and daughters.

But I know that is what authoritarians want. They want us to feel hopeless and overwhelmed by the chaos and cruelty. And I reminded myself that I write these every night so that there will come a day when we can fully live again. Where this will be a memory of dark days and a lesson for future generations. That is why we have to keep calling it what it is, even if it feels like Groundhog Day. Because that is how they win. They count on our exhaustion. They count on us looking away. They count on us believing that because the outrage is constant, it somehow matters less. But it doesn’t.

And even on the days when it is hard to see a future without Trump’s nonstop terror, we are already seeing glimmers of better days. The SAVE America Act that he spent all day demanding failed today. In the Senate, this afternoon, it went down forty-eight to fifty. He could not even get a simple majority, let alone the sixty votes he would need. And the same four Republicans who have broken with him on this before broke with him again. Susan Collins. Lisa Murkowski. Mitch McConnell. Thom Tillis. Four members of his own party stood against it. And if that wasn’t enough, the Kennedy Center began ordering its staff to remove Donald Trump’s name from the building, less than a week after a federal judge ruled it had been added there illegally. The judge wrote that it was crystal clear the Center was named for President Kennedy, that Congress named it, and that only Congress can change it. Trump put his own name on the front of a national memorial on the banks of the Potomac, and a court told him no, and the name is coming back down.

The machine Trump keeps building to stay in power is real, and we have to see it clearly for what it is. But we also need to remember that the man building it is far weaker than he wants us to believe. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

After vanishing from public view for over a week following his visit to Walter Reed, the President of the United States finally reappeared for 43 minutes. And what the world saw was a man with his left hand gripping his right to hold it down, his face puffy, his right eye swollen, slurring his speech, and snapping between eruptions and a flat monotone voice. He led not with his disappearance or his health, but with pictures of the reflecting pool, comparing it to the Empire State Building and bragging about truckloads of garbage removed from it. He bragged about how he drew a larger crowd than Martin Luther King Jr. for the “I Have a Dream” speech. And buried beneath the rambling, he signed an executive order stripping job protections from roughly 8,000 senior federal workers, making them fireable at will so they can be replaced with political loyalists.

When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tried to ask a question, he told her to “be quiet,” called her “a young, beautiful woman who never smiles” with “hatred in her eyes,” and said, “There’s something wrong with you.”

And then, he just stopped, causing an abrupt conclusion to the press conference. His staff sprang into rehearsed motion, clearing the room while he remained slumped behind the desk with a blank expression. We have seen this sequence before, and it keeps happening often enough that the people around him appear to know exactly what to do.

The House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution telling him to end his war in Iran, 215 to 208, with four Republicans crossing over to vote for it. Members of his own party broke ranks in public. That is his greatest fear, people saying no. Lawmakers are realizing they have more to fear from their constituents than from him. He is watching his protectors do the math, and one by one, they are starting to step away. That is what made him so agitated today. And that is why November matters more than ever.

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Democracy Docket, Trump DOJ voter roll grab echoes ‘poll taxes and literacy tests,’ civil rights group warns, Yunior Rivas, June 4, 2026. A civil rights coalition is warning a federal court that the Trump Justice Department’s demand for unredacted statewide voter rolls is not just a privacy threat — it is a modern revival of a long racist history of using voter registration data to intimidate Black voters.

democracy docket logo“Poll taxes and literacy tests may be gone,” the United Black Agenda (UBA), a coalition of Black-led and allied groups in New Jersey, argued in a brief filed Thursday supporting New Jersey’s effort to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking access to the state’s voter registration list. “But while the means of intimidation may change, the ends stay the same.”

The filing argues that the Trump administration is trying to repurpose a civil rights law designed to protect Black voters into a tool for mass voter surveillance.SIGN UP TODAYGet updates straight to your inbox — for free

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The case is part of the Trump Justice Department’s nationwide campaign to obtain state voter rolls, including sensitive personal information.

In New Jersey and 30 other states, the department is demanding unredacted statewide voter files, including full names, birthdates, home addresses, driver’s license and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

So far, DOJ has had no success. The department has not won a single case, while eight federal courts have dismissed its lawsuits. DOJ has appealed some of those losses.

In its filing, UBA warned that the request turns the history and purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, specifically Title III, upside down.

That law gave the federal government power to inspect voting records so it could uncover racial discrimination and protect people who were being blocked from registering to vote. Now, the group wrote, the same law is being used to justify a sweeping demand for millions of voters’ private information.

“This request effectively transforms Title III from a shield into a sword in an attempt to weaponize the law designed to protect against this very type of conduct,” UBA wrote.

The group’s argument gives the opposition to DOJ’s voter roll grab a sharper civil rights frame.

The danger is not only that private voter data could be exposed, breached or misused. It is that, for Black voters, the government collection of voter information has often been a precursor to retaliation, intimidation and suppression.

“We need not theorize as to whether bulk data collection and mass challenges harm the communities that Title III aims to protect: we know that they do,” UBA wrote. “Poll taxes and literacy tests may be gone. But while the means of intimidation may change, the ends stay the same.”

The brief traces that warning back to Mississippi, where Black citizens who tried to register to vote once had their names published in local newspapers. UBA wrote that the requirement may have looked like a neutral administrative rule, but in practice it exposed Black registrants to retaliation from employers, landlords, banks and vigilantes.

“That publication requirement, dressed as a neutral administrative act, was meant to intimidate,” UBA wrote. “By making registrants’ names and addresses public, registrars made it easier for employers to fire registrants, landlords to evict them, banks to deny them credit, and vigilantes to threaten or assault them.”

The brief also points to the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a state agency created after Brown v. Board of Education that surveilled civil rights activists and shared information with officials and private actors who used it to retaliate. When the commission’s files were later made public, they showed records on more than 87,000 people, according to the filing.

For UBA, that history is not distant. The group argues that today’s tools may look more technical — database matching, mass eligibility challenges and federal data sharing — but they can produce the same chilling effect.

“History shows that when such data are gathered and shared, it does not merely collect dust,” UBA wrote. “Again and again, when voter records have been compiled and exposed beyond their original purpose, the same consequence has followed: the empowerment of weaponization against voters, whose rights the recording system is meant to serve.”

UBA also challenged DOJ’s legal theory, arguing that Title III was meant for targeted investigations of specific voting rights violations — not a nationwide dragnet. The brief contrasts the Trump administration’s request with historic civil rights enforcement cases in which the federal government sought local records to investigate officials accused of discriminating against Black voters.

Instead, the group wrote, DOJ is seeking the private data of more than 6 million New Jersey voters based on broad claims about list maintenance — the process states use to keep voter rolls accurate.

“Title III does not authorize such overbreadth,” UBA wrote. “Title III is not a dragnet to build a broad voter database but is rather a scalpel for investigating specific voting-rights violations.” 

The brief warns that a centralized federal voter database could fuel mass challenges to voter eligibility, especially if voter rolls are checked against federal immigration databases or other government records. Data matching systems are often flawed because records may be outdated, incomplete or inconsistent across agencies.

When those errors are used to flag voters, eligible people can be forced to prove they have a right to vote — or be wrongly removed from the rolls.

UBA wrote that these burdens often fall hardest on voters of color.

“Voter data is the fuel for mass eligibility challenges,” UBA wrote. “Putting every state’s full voter file into one federal database would dramatically amplify these challenges.”

The group also warned that the mere existence of a federal voter database could discourage people from registering or voting, particularly in communities that have long histories of being targeted by government surveillance.

“A federal database of every American voter’s identifying information, subject to cross-database matching and mass challenges, is itself intimidating,” UBA wrote. “Fear of misuse keeps people away from the polls just as surely as past forms of intimidation did.”

UBA is urging the court to reject DOJ’s demand and dismiss the lawsuit entirely.

“Over six decades after the passage of Title III, it should be true—but it is not—that voter intimidation and harassment are remnants of the past,” UBA wrote. “It should be true—but it is not—that the right to vote is not a data collection tool to mine and weaponize.”Next UpVirginia agrees to make voter registration easier for college students

A federal judge has approved a settlement agreement between the NAACP Virginia State Conference and the state of Virginia that will make it easier for college students to register to vote and ensure fewer of their registration applications are rejected.Related Links

Trump DOJ loses in Maine, Wisconsin as courts rebuff demand for voter rolls Court bashes internal DOJ legal memo that Trump admin used to justify voter roll grab.

New York Times, Opinion: A Shocking Betrayal of Black Americans, Mara Gay, June 5, 2026. Outside the blindingly white antebellum columns of the Alabama State Capitol on a recent Saturday, Martese Chism stood in the Southern heat with thousands of others, rallying for voting rights. It was a show of defiance amid a sweeping attack on Black political power.

To get there, Ms. Chism, 65, left Mississippi before dawn, drove to Memphis and rode a bus five hours to Montgomery with her 8-year-old great-nephew Carson in tow. They made the trip to honor Ms. Chism’s great-grandmother Birdia Keglar, a civil rights activist killed while fighting for the same rights in Mississippi 60 years ago.ImageA woman and a boy stand outside a house in matching shirts.Martese Chism Credit...Damon Winter/The New York Times

Millions of Americans like Ms. Chism live in states where Republicans are drawing maps that dilute the power of Black voters, and those who share their interests. Just on Tuesday, the Supreme Court allowed Alabama to eliminate one of only two Black-majority districts. By the fall elections, and almost certainly by the next presidential election, new maps will be in place.

The Supreme Court decision in April severely weakened the Voting Rights Act by allowing political parties to gerrymander voting districts for partisan advantage, no matter the effect on Black voters. The effort to destroy Black political power in the South is among the greatest betrayals of Black Americans, and those who have voted alongside them, by the federal government in living memory. It will have far-reaching consequences for all Americans, and for our democracy. Despite this, the work of mobilizing a response is largely falling to Black people.

In Montgomery, many of these Americans had come from across the South to gather in what was the first capitol of the Confederacy and register their outrage.

Elderly Black people protested in soaring temperatures. Some told me they had marched many times before, over decades. Parents carried small children who had overheated and fallen asleep, fanning them as their brown limbs dangled from their arms. White Americans showed up, too, joining the largely Black rally with signs that said, “No Jim Crow Maps.”

Black Americans have carried extraordinary burdens in the United States, not only to exercise their own rights, but also to make the country a democracy. The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965 and strengthened in the decades that followed, had protected them from racial gerrymandering that divided them across multiple districts in order to blunt the impact of their votes. This was just one of a multitude of tactics Southern officials used to limit Black suffrage and stifle competition during Jim Crow.Editors’ PicksA Spousal Connection Long Before Their Wedding DayParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This WeekImageA boy leans against the window on a bus.Credit...Damon Winter/The New York TimesImagePeople board a bus traveling to a protest.Credit...Damon Winter/The New York Times

In more recent years, an increasingly ideological Supreme Court began issuing rulings weakening the Voting Rights Act. On April 29, the court’s 6-to-3 conservative majority eviscerated much of what was left of the law, effectively saying the legislation that Americans marched, bled and died for decades ago was no longer necessary. Congressional maps that diminish the Black vote are now acceptable, according to the court, so long as state lawmakers say they are drawing them based on partisan advantage and not on race.

The suggestion that partisan gerrymandering has nothing to do with race is fantastical. It ignores the defining role of race and racism in shaping partisan affiliation in the United States. For instance, the embrace of the civil rights movement by the national Democratic Party is, according to many historians, the main reason so many white Southerners became Republicans in the second part of the 20th century, a phenomenon known as realignment.

Since the court’s April ruling, largely white Republican-led legislatures across the South have moved to dismantle Black political power at stunning speed, breaking apart voting blocs at the urging of a failing president desperate to keep control of Congress in this fall’s midterm elections. The redrawing of these maps is almost certain to sharply reduce the number of Black Americans serving in the U.S. House and could critically diminish the ability of Black voters and millions of other Americans to elect candidates of their choice. At the same time, they will become less able to hold the elected officials who come to represent them accountable. Redistricting has already happened in Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Lawmakers plan to redistrict in Georgia and Mississippi for future elections.

The clearest assessment of this arrangement came from Ms. Chism. “Yes, I can vote, but I have no power,” she told me. She then recalled the U.S. Constitution, which for 80 years when determining congressional seats counted enslaved Black Americans as three-fifths of a person. “They’re using our body, our vote, as part of the census, like they did during slavery. They count us, but we don’t have no voice. We back to that.”Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.

All Americans, everywhere, have a deep stake in what happens to voters in the South. The harm of severely limiting the power of Black voters across the region will not be limited to Black Americans and marginalized people.

The South will be more likely to send members of Congress to Washington who have directly benefited from the erosion of the Voting Rights Act. These lawmakers can be expected to be less responsive to Black constituents and other Democrats in their own districts, but also the interests of voters across the country who hold similar political preferences.ImageA man holds a sign that reads “Protect our voting rights.” 

New York Times, Deal to Renew Surveillance Law Falters in the Senate Amid Revolt Over Pulte, Robert Jimison, June 5, 2026. Democrats who had been expected to supply the votes necessary to advance it balked after President Trump named Bill Pulte, right, Bill Pulte to head the intelligence apparatus.

With just one week left until a key government surveillance authority was set to expire, a deal to renew it faltered in the Senate early Friday morning after Democrats refused to back it because of concerns over President Trump’s recent appointment of Bill Pulte to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies.

A bloc of Republicans who have long harbored concerns about the spy program joined Democrats to block consideration of a bill that would extend for three years a warrantless wiretapping law known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The vote was 52 to 47, well short of the 60 that would have been needed to move ahead.

While a group of Democrats had been working with Republicans on the measure and had been expected to deliver the votes necessary to move ahead with the extension, their anger over Mr. Pulte’s naming prompted an almost unanimous retreat from the emerging deal. Every Democrat except Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against advancing the bill. They were joined by seven right-wing Republicans: Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Rick Scott of Florida and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

The defeat left uncertain the future of Section 702, which allows intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets overseas — including when they are communicating with Americans — and has become one of the government’s most important counterterrorism and espionage tools. It is slated to expire on June 12, after members of Congress failed to reach a deal this spring for a longer-term extension.

Friday’s vote capped a week of growing unease after Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Pulte, a businessman and close political ally who has used his role as federal housing director as a perch to carry out a campaign of retribution against the president’s perceived enemies. Democrats and some Republicans have also criticized the choice given his lack of national security experience.

“I don’t know whether he has any intelligence or military background,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said of Mr. Pulte. “I don’t even know whether he has a security clearance.”

Democrats argued that Congress should not move forward with a long-term renewal of surveillance authorities until lawmakers received assurances about how the intelligence community would be led.

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Bad News On Big Money: Judd Legum, right, judd legumune 5, 2026. I’ve been doing campaign finance research since 1997. The bad news is that the influence of big money on our political system has not noel simswaned. The good news is that, with the right training, it is easier than ever to access public information about who is trying to buy influence.

With the midterm elections approaching, I’m pulling back the curtain on the research methods I’ve developed over nearly 30 years. This afternoon, I’m hosting a webinar that will cover:

  • Exactly how money will flow into the 2026 midterm elections.
  • How to efficiently and accurately identify what corporations and individuals are donating to any candidate or cause.
  • When and where new information will become available as election day approaches.
  • The tactics that powerful people and corporations use to try to hide their spending.
  • In the second half of the webinar, I’ll answer questions directly from the audience. The webinar will take place today, June 5 at 1 p.m. Eastern.

This webinar is free for all paid subscribers of Popular Information. Click the button below to register.

News Roundups

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Calls for Trump’s Impeachment ESCALATE as Epstein Files Revelations GROW, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 4, 2026. Trump's Name is Coming Down off of Kennedy Center, RFK Jr.'s Daughter in Law Resigns, and More. 

I just finished reviewing more than 100 pages of Pam Bondi’s testimony, where she appeared to place responsibility for the Epstein files controversy squarely on Todd Blanche while refusing to discuss her conversations with Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center has begun removing Trump’s name following a federal court order. Trump is now talking about additional construction near the Lincoln Memorial, RFK Jr.’s cousin has resigned from the CIA in protest of the administration, and there are several other major developments breaking this afternoon.

Some of you have noticed that I look a little more tired than usual this week. You’re right. The pace of the news cycle has been relentless. But I love this work, and I’m not slowing down.

Here’s what you missed:

Newly released testimony shows former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers that Todd Blanche was “in charge” of the Justice Department’s handling and release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, including decisions about redactions and document disclosures. Bondi sought to distance herself from the controversial process, insisting that all non-privileged Epstein records had been released and directing many questions to Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel. Democrats argue the testimony raises new questions for Blanche, who is now expected to face scrutiny during his attorney general confirmation process over both the Epstein files and his role in the administration’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Bondi also denied involvement in the transfer of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison and reiterated that she believes Maxwell should spend the rest of her life in prison.

Starting today, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is beginning the process of removing President Trump’s name from the institution after a federal judge ruled that the board lacked authority to rename it without congressional approval. Kennedy Center staff have been instructed to immediately update email signatures, letterhead, and official documents, while all signage and branding bearing Trump’s name must be changed back by June 12. The order stems from a lawsuit filed by Joyce Beatty, who successfully argued that the board overstepped its legal authority when it adopted the “Trump Kennedy Center” name last year. Center officials are also reviewing whether to proceed with a planned two-year closure for $257 million in renovations, following the court’s directive that the board reconsider the decision under proper procedures. Here was my interview with Senator Mark Kelly concerning the vote-a-rama:

Senate Republicans voted down two separate efforts to permanently eliminate President Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, despite concerns from some GOP members that it could be used to compensate Trump allies or even some January 6 participants. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s amendment failed 49–50, while a separate attempt by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis also fell short, leaving open the possibility that the fund could return in another form. The dispute has complicated Senate consideration of a $70 billion Republican immigration bill, with some GOP lawmakers refusing to support the legislation unless the fund is explicitly terminated. Although acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers the administration is no longer pursuing the fund, Trump recently defended the proposal and declined to say whether it had been permanently abandoned.

Russia’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, once a major gathering for Western leaders and investors, now features a smaller group of American attendees, including Steven Seagal, Candace Owens, and Rodney Mims Cook Jr., chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Cook’s visit drew attention because he is the first U.S. official-level attendee at the forum in years, though U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was unaware of any official American delegation. The forum highlighted Russia’s growing focus on partnerships with countries such as Saudi Arabia and China, while discussions between Russian and American participants emphasized potential future business and cultural ties despite ongoing tensions over the war in Ukraine. Owens questioned continued U.S. support for Ukraine, Seagal advocated stronger U.S.-Russia relations, and the event underscored how Russia is using the forum to showcase international engagement despite Western isolation.

President Trump said plans are moving forward for a new pedestrian walkway near the Lincoln Memorial and claimed supporters want it named the “Trump Promenade.” Speaking about the project, Trump remarked, “We’re going to be doing a promenade at the Lincoln Memorial. They want to call it the Trump promenade.”

Amaryllis Fox Kennedy says she resigned from her intelligence roles in the Trump administration because she was concerned about what she described as inadequate oversight of intelligence agencies’ spending and the movement of cash and gold. She pointed to the recent arrest of a senior CIA official accused of hoarding millions of dollars in gold bars as evidence of broader problems within the intelligence community. Fox Kennedy denied reports that she left over disagreements about Trump’s Iran policy, instead arguing that her concern was the alleged politicization and lack of accountability within federal security agencies. The CIA disputed her claims, saying it properly informs congressional oversight committees about its resources and expenditures.

Texas barbecue restaurants are facing a crisis as beef prices soar, driven by inflation, drought, a historically small cattle herd, labor shortages, and concerns about the spread of the New World screwworm. Even some of the state's most famous barbecue joints are raising prices, cutting menu items, or struggling to stay open, while several longtime restaurants have already closed. Industry leaders warn that the financial pressure could permanently change Texas barbecue culture, threatening regional styles and small family-owned businesses. Many pitmasters say they see no relief in sight and fear more closures as meat costs continue to rise.

President Trump responded to reports that his likeness could appear on a proposed $250 bill by saying he views the idea as a compliment from supporters. Asked about the proposal, Trump said, “There is a group of people [who] really like the job we are doing. That is a great honor.” Federal law currently prohibits living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency, so any effort to place Trump on a $250 bill would require significant legal and legislative changes. The proposal has attracted attention largely as a symbolic gesture by some supporters rather than as an imminent change to U.S. currency.

A bipartisan group led by Bill Cassidy and Cory Booker has filed a court brief urging a judge to block the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. The senators argue that the fund would allow the executive branch to use government resources to reward political allies and punish perceived opponents, posing a threat to democratic institutions. In unusually stark language, they wrote that the case concerns whether “the machinery of democratic government may be turned, by design and with explicit intent, against the democratic foundations it exists to serve.” The filing represents another instance of Republicans publicly breaking with President Trump over one of his administration’s initiatives. Image

Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would seek to recover money distributed through the Trump administration's proposed "anti-weaponization" fund if they regain control of Congress in 2027. Jeffries warned that recipients of payments from the fund could face future investigations and "clawbacks," arguing that taxpayer money should not be used for politically motivated compensation programs.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to one count of retaining national security information, resolving a criminal case that initially included multiple classified-information charges. Prosecutors say the information was contained in an electronic diary entry that Bolton shared with two family members, not in leaked documents or disclosures to foreign governments. As part of the agreement, Bolton faces a possible sentence ranging from probation to prison and has agreed to pay $2.25 million in restitution. The plea brings an end to a high-profile case involving one of President Trump’s most prominent former aides and later critics.

A watchdog group, Democracy Defenders Fund, has filed a lawsuit seeking records related to FBI Director Kash Patel’s taxpayer-funded trip to the Winter Olympics. The suit seeks details including travel costs, security expenses, communications, and other records to determine whether public funds were used appropriately during the trip. The filing notes that tickets for high-profile Olympic events, including the men’s hockey final, reportedly ranged from roughly $500 to $1,600, raising questions about the overall cost to taxpayers. The lawsuit is part of a broader effort to obtain transparency about official travel and government spending by senior Trump administration officials.

Investor and TV personality Kevin O'Leary has agreed to cut his proposed massive Utah AI data center project in half after facing pressure from state lawmakers and environmental groups. Even after the reduction, the development would remain larger than Manhattan and require enormous amounts of power, raising concerns about water use, energy demand, and potential impacts on the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Utah officials had pushed for even deeper cuts and greater transparency about the project's environmental effects, while local activists continue to oppose the plan. O'Leary argues the data center would create jobs, strengthen U.S. AI and defense capabilities, and help the country compete with China.

St. Paul prosecutors have declined to bring state charges against dozens of anti-ICE protesters, including former CNN host Don Lemon, who interrupted a church service in Minnesota earlier this year. The demonstrators were protesting immigration enforcement and the death of a woman during an ICE operation, and many still face federal civil rights charges. City officials said the evidence did not meet the standard for state criminal charges and noted that the protest did not involve violence, property damage, or threats to public safety. Church leaders strongly criticized the decision, arguing that disrupting a religious service should not be protected simply because it was part of a protest.

A Department of Homeland Security inspector general report found serious problems at a Louisiana ICE detention center, including staff using a prohibited chokehold on one detainee and an officer stabbing another detainee’s hand with a pen during a use-of-force incident. Inspectors also documented unsanitary conditions, including leaking ceilings, falling insulation, and deficiencies in food service, record-keeping, and detainee privacy protections. The watchdog issued nine recommendations for improvement, while ICE said it is addressing the issues through additional training and corrective measures. The findings come as scrutiny of conditions inside ICE detention facilities intensifies amid record detention levels and growing political debate over immigration enforcement.

ICE logoImmigration lawyers across the country say scammers are increasingly using AI-generated voices, deepfakes, fake websites, and cloned social media accounts to impersonate them and defraud immigrants seeking legal help. Victims are often promised impossible outcomes—such as instant citizenship, guaranteed residency, or canceled deportation proceedings—and are tricked into paying thousands of dollars for fraudulent services. Attorneys and advocacy groups warn that the consequences can be far worse than financial loss, as victims may miss court hearings, file invalid applications, or unknowingly receive deportation orders. Experts say the surge in scams is being fueled by fear surrounding immigration enforcement, long case backlogs, and the growing sophistication of AI-powered fraud.

A Florida mother is suing Campbell Soup Company and Walmart after claiming she discovered live worms or parasites in a can of SpaghettiOs that she and her daughter had already eaten. The lawsuit alleges that the contaminated product, purchased at a Walmart store in Okeechobee, Florida, caused both mother and child to suffer illnesses including parasitic infections, gastrointestinal symptoms, and ongoing medical complications. The family is seeking $75,000 in damages, arguing that Campbell’s and Walmart failed to maintain proper food safety standards and violated federal food safety laws. Both companies deny wrongdoing, with Walmart saying it is reviewing the complaint and Campbell’s stating it believes the allegations are without merit and will vigorously defend itself in court.

A rare strain of Lyme disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia mayonii has been identified in New York for the first time, according to a new CDC report. Previously found only in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the bacterium was detected in a resident of Herkimer County, New York, and in several ticks collected from the person’s property. While it causes Lyme disease similar to the more common strain, experts say it may be more likely to produce nausea, vomiting, widespread rashes, and neurological symptoms. Researchers believe the infection remains extremely rare, but its appearance highlights the expanding range of tick-borne diseases as climate conditions continue to favor tick populations across the Northeast.

Disputed Trump Agenda Plans

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

ICE logo

New York Times, Senate Passes $70 Billion G.O.P. Immigration Bill, Annie Karni and Robert Jimison, Updated June 5, 2026, Senate Republicans on Friday rammed through their $70 billion bill to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown through the remainder of his term, after beating back bipartisan efforts to add language to bar or sharply restrict a federal payout fund for his political allies.

The 52-to-47 vote early Friday morning sent the measure to the House, which was expected to move quickly to pass it.

It was a victory for the president and his party, who have been eager to spotlight their hard-line immigration stance — and Democrats’ opposition to it — in the middle of an election year when their control of Congress is at stake. Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, was the only Republican to oppose the measure, joining all Democrats.

But passage came only after Republican leaders quelled an internal revolt that had been simmering for weeks over recent moves by Mr. Trump that have underscored how his personal agenda is diverging sharply from his party’s political interests. The divisions threatened to sink the measure and prompted several G.O.P. defections on bipartisan efforts to modify it, all of which failed in an hourslong series of back-to-back votes that stretched all day Thursday and into the predawn hours of Friday.

The overnight session featured a series votes orchestrated by Democrats seeking to force Republicans to weigh in for the record on unpopular moves the president has made, including his plan to create a $1.8 billion payout fund to compensate people who he claims have been victimized by the government; his push for $1 billion in federal funding for his White House ballroom project; and his decision to name the housing secretary Bill Pulte as the nation’s top intelligence official.

It was a victory for President Trump and his party, though the debate exposed fissures between Republican senators and Mr. Trump on a variety of issues.

New York Times, House Passes Ukraine Aid in Defiance of Republican Leaders, Robert Jimison, Updated June 5, 2026. Eighteen G.O.P. lawmakers broke with their party and joined Democrats to deliver yet another blow to the president’s foreign policy agenda.

The House voted on Thursday to approve new aid for Ukraine and impose a fresh round of sanctions targeting the industries fueling Russia’s war economy, after 18 Republicans defied their leaders to join Democrats in support of a bill that runs counter to President Trump’s agenda.

U.S. House logoThe legislation, which passed 226 to 195, would provide $8 billion in loans to Ukraine and $1.8 billion in aid for military and security assistance. In addition to putting new sanctions on Russian-affiliated businesses and officials, it would also punish foreign companies, organizations and individuals that attempt to evade sanctions in an effort to support Moscow.

It now heads to the Senate, where Mr. Trump’s opposition has stopped similar attempts at new penalties on Russia and its allies. And even if it were to clear both chambers, it would likely be vetoed by the president, who has repeatedly balked at legislation that seeks to constrain his ability to negotiate on foreign policy matters.

Still, backers of the measure said the vote Thursday sent a strong bipartisan message to the president that significant support remains in Congress for Ukraine. It was the second time this week that Republicans have broken with Mr. Trump over foreign conflicts, after a handful of them joined Democrats on Wednesday to push through a war powers resolution that seeks to require the president to seek congressional approval to continue the war in Iran.

The Ukraine bill, led by Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, was introduced in April 2025 but languished after Republican leaders refused to take it up in committee and Speaker Mike Johnson blocked it from coming to the floor.Sign up for Your Places: Global Update. All the latest news for any part of the world you select. Get it sent to your inbox.

Mr. Meeks turned to a discharge petition, a procedural move that allows lawmakers to circumvent the leadership and speed a bill to the floor if they collect signatures from a majority of House members. That required the backing of all Democrats and a small group of Republicans, a threshold reached last month when Representative Kevin Kiley of California, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, signed onto the petition. Two Republicans, Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, were already onboard, having broken with their party months earlier to back the effort.

The vote on Thursday drew even broader Republican support.

Ahead of the vote, Mr. Meeks told reporters that support for the measure signaled to the people of Ukraine that “the United States and Congress will stand and fight and work with you so that you preserve your democracy, your freedom and justice until Vladimir Putin is declared a war criminal and put away.”

The vote was the first time the House had approved significant financial support for Ukraine in more than two years. The last aid package, which Mr. Johnson put his job on the line to shepherd through the House, included $60 billion in security assistance for Kyiv.

Backers of the latest tranche of funding for the Ukrainians emphasized that an overwhelming majority of the funding was in the form of direct loans, something that Mr. Trump has said he favors over security assistance that would not require being paid back.

“Are we going to stand with good, or are we going to stand with evil?” Mr. Bacon said ahead of the vote. “That’s what this is about tonight.”

Republican leaders suggested that the move could undermine the president’s ability to negotiate an end to the war.

“If you support this bill, then clearly you are not interested in peace because the consequences would tie the hands of this president and could lead to future hostilities that would bleed over into Europe,” Representative Keith Self, Republican of Texas, said in a speech on the House floor opposing the legislation.

More On U.S. Politics, Elections

Democratic-Republican Campaign logosNew York Times, Platner Denies Hurting Ex-Girlfriend and Says He Will Not Quit Senate Race, Tim Balk, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, appeared Thursday night in his first interview since a New York Times report about his treatment of several women he had dated, denying one woman’s account that he had physically harmed her and saying he would not drop out of the race.

graham platner cropped headshotIn a nearly 25-minute appearance on MS Now’s “All In With Chris Hayes,” Mr. Platner, right, said that he would “absolutely” take responsibility for elements of his personal history. He described a history of self-medicating, and a pattern of “not exactly acting with the best behavior” after his service in the military.

But he reiterated that any allegations that he had behaved violently toward a girlfriend were “simply not true.”

“In this piece, there’s a lot about my struggling, not being a good boyfriend, certainly self-medicating with alcohol,” Mr. Platner said. “And I have been very upfront since the beginning of this campaign that that was a pretty dark period of my life after I came back from my combat service.”

And Mr. Platner, whose primary is just five days away, said he had “not once” considered leaving the campaign in Maine, which is considered key to Democrats’ efforts to win back the Senate in the midterm elections.

Hours earlier, The Times reported that Lyndsey Fifield, a 40-year-old Virginia conservative who has worked for Republican campaigns and right-leaning groups and dated Mr. Platner roughly from 2013 to 2015, recalled that he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders. She said he once twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she could not get out, telling her to remain there until she calmed down. He never hit or punched her, she said.

The Times also reported that two other women who had dated Mr. Platner recalled him drinking heavily and womanizing. One of the women, Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine Democrat, said his behavior was “unsettling” and “reckless,” and she described him as someone who “does not respect women.”

Ms. Fifield said that Mr. Platner had lied by saying he had learned from news media inquiries during the campaign that a tattoo on his chest resembled a Nazi symbol called a Totenkopf. She said that Mr. Platner knew it was a Nazi symbol years ago, and that he had called it “my Totenkopf” at the time.

And she provided The Times with screenshots of a private group chat in which she told her friends that Mr. Platner had an “actual” Nazi symbol on his chest. The message was dated Aug. 20 — months before Mr. Platner acknowledged knowing that the tattoo resembled the symbol.

In the interview with Mr. Hayes, Mr. Platner denied that he had known of the symbolism until recently. He said he had once taken his shirt off, exposing the tattoo, during a wedding attended by Jewish members of his extended family. “I would not have taken my shirt off in that context if I had known,” said Mr. Platner, who has since covered up the tattoo.

In an interview after The Times reported on his treatment of women he had dated, Graham Platner acknowledged “not exactly acting with the best behavior” after his military service.

New York Times, Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior, Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). The Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine could be charming, women said in interviews, but some found his actions intimidating and disturbing. 

graham platner cropped headshotOn Tuesday evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner, right, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, rushed home.

Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Mr. Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown.

Amid the turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy.

In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended.

But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and “toxic” relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching.

Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.

Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced — including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol — he has said his past behavior does not reflect who he is today. Mainers, he has urged, should not judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.”

The critical accounts provided by three of the women interviewed by The Times, who were each in romantic relationships with him for years, give a fuller picture of Mr. Platner’s life. They shed light on an earlier era, when he has acknowledged intense struggles, but also raise questions about his more recent years in Maine, which his campaign has presented as a period of healing and personal redemption.

The disclosures last week that Mr. Platner, now married, was exchanging sexual messages with women as recently as last year have complicated that narrative and unnerved Democrats, who see the Maine seat as key to their efforts to regain control of the Senate.Lyndsey Fifield, 40, a Virginia conservative who has worked for right-leaning groups and Republican campaigns, recalled him as “cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions, of our ‘weakness.’” Ms. Fifield, who dated Mr. Platner from roughly 2013 to 2015, said that his offensive online posts “reminded me of just how much he hated women.”

Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine Democrat, who said she dated him casually off and on between 2019 and 2021, said the posts deepened her belief that he did not respect women. “When I saw the old comments that he made online,” she said, “I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with.”

Some of the women also raised questions about his trustworthiness. Mr. Platner’s insistence that he did not know that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol until it became a campaign issue last fall was simply not true, Ms. Fifield said. After all, she said, he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as “my Totenkopf.”

His campaign strongly denied that he knew what the tattoo stood for. And in a statement to The Times, Mr. Platner said he had “too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend” during what he described as a “very dark period of my life.”

“I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better,” he said. “Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.”

U.S. Media, High-tech, Culture, Religion

More On Iran, Lebanon War

 

New York Times, Hopes of Lebanon Cease-fire Falter as Israel and Hezbollah Fight On, Euan Ward, June 5, 2026. The U.S.-brokered agreement requires Hezbollah, which Iran backs, to stop firing first. But the group, not party to the talks, rejected the conditions as a virtual surrender.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah showed little sign of abating on Friday, a day after the Iran-backed militant group rejected a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, as Israeli forces bombarded towns across southern Lebanon and ordered residents to flee.

The continued violence has thrown into question the agreement that Israel and Lebanon announced this week after direct talks in Washington, raising doubts about whether it would ever take effect.

For many civilians in southern Lebanon, the faltering deal brought a now-familiar directive from Israel’s military to leave their homes. More than one million people have already been displaced since the war erupted in March, according to Lebanese authorities. Most have no indication when, or if, they can return.

The cease-fire is contingent on Hezbollah’s pulling back from Lebanon’s border region with Israel, and on a “complete cessation” of the group’s attacks, but does not require Israel to make any immediate concessions. Hezbollah was not involved in the negotiations and Lebanon’s government has little power to force the group to comply.

Israel’s ongoing offensive against Hezbollah complicates President Trump’s efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran, the group’s chief backer, which has threatened to pull out of talks if Israel does not cease its attacks.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Israel and Lebanon? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon accused Iran on Friday of using his country as leverage in its talks with Washington: “This is not your country. It’s our country,” he told CNN, in unusually blunt remarks that reflected a widening rift between Beirut and Tehran.

“They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States,” he added. “It’s unacceptable.”

While Mr. Aoun has thrown his weight behind the cease-fire agreement, it has exposed rifts in Lebanon’s political establishment.

Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament, who is a key intermediary between Washington and Hezbollah, criticized the terms of the agreement on Friday, saying it had been “booby-trapped” with one-sided conditions for the group.

Mr. Berri said he would only support an unconditional cease-fire, in which Hezbollah would only withdraw from southern Lebanon if Israel were to withdraw in parallel. His criticism underscored how far the U.S.-brokered deal was from terms that Hezbollah and its closest political allies were willing to accept.

The latest agreement follows an earlier U.S.-brokered cease-fire that took effect in April but did little to stem the fighting.

Israel’s flurry of evacuation orders on Friday extended deep into Lebanon, including the hillside town of Anqoun, which is about 16 miles from the Israeli border and within commuting distance of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Anqoun had previously been spared such orders, and Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that the town was sheltering roughly 2,500 displaced people, many of whom were forced to flee again on Friday.

Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported heavy strikes across the country’s south, many in towns and villages that were not subject to evacuation orders. Hezbollah also kept up rocket and drone attacks on Friday that targeted Israeli ground forces.

The continued fighting came after Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, rejected the cease-fire agreement on Thursday, calling it a “humiliating” attempt to force Lebanon’s submission to Israel and tantamount to “surrender.”

Mr. Qassem said any truce deal must be comprehensive and include Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, where it has occupied broad stretches of territory since the latest invasion began in March.

“As long as the occupation continues, the resistance will continue,” Mr. Qassem said.

Hard-liners in Israeli have also criticized the deal, and the country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, gave little indication on Thursday that Israel was preparing to halt its campaign against Hezbollah.

Mr. Katz said that Israeli forces would continue operating in Lebanon “at this stage,” adding that the hundreds of thousands of people displaced from southern Lebanon would not yet be allowed to return.

More On Epstein Files, Trump Coverup

New York Times, When Jeffrey Epstein Needed Favors, This Restaurant Mogul Was There, Kim Severson, June 5, 2026. Stephen Hanson, whose empire included Blue Water Grill and Ruby Foo’s, was a devoted friend and wingman who helped manage and entertain the women in Epstein’s orbit.

When Jeffrey Epstein wanted his favorite Zweigle’s Pop Open hot dogs ferried from his townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to his sprawling Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, he did what any exceedingly rich person might.

He had his staff reach out to a close friend with a private jet. Stephen Hanson, then head of a Manhattan restaurant empire that at its peak served more than 20,000 people a day at 25 theatrical, high-volume restaurants like Blue Water Grill, Dos Caminos and Ruby Foo’s, was happy to make the delivery himself.

“In the white freezer in downstairs kitchen of 71st street there are packages of frozen hot dogs,” Mr. Epstein’s private chef emailed an assistant. “JE would like to have hot dogs for lunch tmrw and these are the new dogs he likes.”

There was one other favor Mr. Epstein wanted on that August weekend in 2012. He asked Mr. Hanson to make room for a woman who would be bringing a wallet he’d left behind, according to documents the Department of Justice collected as it investigated Mr. Epstein. She was later paid settlements from funds established for Mr. Epstein’s victims.

The Justice Department files attest to Mr. Epstein’s transactional relationships with many powerful men. Billionaires like the Victoria’s Secret magnate Les Wexner and the private equity investor Leon Black helped build his fortune. Boldfaced names like Woody Allen and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince, provided cachet and social access.

What Mr. Hanson offered, a review of the thousands of emails and texts the two men exchanged over a decade shows, was access to the world of food and hospitality — as well as a wingman who enjoyed the company of attractive women, and had the means to help manage and entertain them.

Mr. Hanson got the young women tables in his dining rooms. He arranged cooking classes for them. When Mr. Epstein asked him to help women land visas or find jobs in his restaurants, the answer was almost always yes.

During their long friendship, Mr. Hanson became one of the most powerful people in the restaurant business. In 2003, Bon Appétit magazine named him restaurateur of the year, and he expanded his reach to Las Vegas. By 2007, his company, BR Guest Hospitality, was valued at $300 million.

Mr. Hanson still found time, the files show, to aid his friend in all kinds of ways. He recruited people to manage Mr. Epstein’s private Caribbean island compound and set up tastings to help him hire the perfect private chef. No errand was too small. When the beef jerky that fueled one of Mr. Epstein’s odd dietary binges didn’t taste quite right, Mr. Hanson worked on the recipe. He even had his executive assistant send a sample to a laboratory to test its nutritional value.Editors’ PicksA Spousal Connection Long Before Their Wedding DayParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

Nothing in the files or other public records indicates that Mr. Hanson had sex with minors, as Mr. Epstein did. In a video interview in 2021, a victim of Mr. Epstein’s told the F.B.I. that a decade earlier, when she was in her early 20s, Mr. Epstein had sent the restaurateur to her New York City apartment, where Mr. Hanson paid her for oral sex at least a dozen times.

The woman, who first met Mr. Epstein when she was 17, said she had become dependent on Mr. Epstein and did whatever he requested. Her name was redacted in the files, and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, declined to comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman would not say whether the agency had investigated further, but Mr. Hanson has never been charged with a crime.

In response to questions for this article, Mr. Hanson did not address the woman’s allegations, but issued a brief statement through his lawyer, Gerald B. Lefcourt, a former attorney for Mr. Epstein. “Mr. Epstein knew and relied upon Mr. Hanson for advice on certain matters given Mr. Hanson’s hospitality industry experience,” it read in part. “Mr. Epstein was adept at deception and manipulation. He pulled the wool over the eyes of leading academics, scientists, and titans of business. The suggestion, assumption, or insinuation that there was anything untoward about, in relation to, or concerning, any connection between Mr. Hanson and Mr. Epstein is untrue.”ImageThe beginning text of an email.Mr. Hanson’s birthday greeting to Mr. Epstein is one of several affectionate messages between the two.Credit...U.S. Department of Justice

The files make clear that the two were tight, both before and after Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a child for prostitution and spent 13 months in a Palm Beach, Fla., jail. Mr. Hanson, whose hospitality empire is now little more than a single, recently opened restaurant in Palm Beach, was once designated as a backup executor in Mr. Epstein’s will. His name appears on more than 7,000 pages in the Epstein files, about as often as Mr. Allen’s and the former Prince Andrew’s.

Mr. Hanson and Mr. Epstein traded Valentine greetings and presents, including a take-a-number machine that customers in a deli might use. Mr. Epstein placed it in a prominent spot in a room of his Upper East Side townhouse where people waited to see him.

“Don’t take this goofy but I love you as a friend,” Mr. Hanson wrote in one of several affectionate messages. In another, Mr. Epstein told him, “There is still little I wouldn’t do for you.”

Mr. Hanson was one of the last people Mr. Epstein texted on July 6, 2019, before he boarded his Gulfstream jet in Paris and flew to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. It was his final day of freedom. Federal agents were waiting, and a shocked Mr. Epstein was arrested on federal charges of trafficking minors.

Mr. Hanson had reached out to wish him a happy Fourth of July. “Ive been careful as my press has been toxic,” Mr. Epstein texted back, explaining in his typo-laden style why he was in Paris. “No need to put you at risk. Hopefully changing soosn.”

“No different then before,” Mr. Hanson replied. “Nyc understand a bitch. But palm is easy. Enjoy paris.”ImageTwo men standing in a kitchen with food on the counter.The two men at Little Saint James, Mr. Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, in an undated photo from the Justice Department files.Credit...U.S. Department of JusticeA Restaurateur’s Skills

Mr. Hanson, 76, made his name by democratizing fine dining in Manhattan. He knew that for every customer seeking a three-Michelin-star experience, there were a thousand who just wanted a solid piece of grilled tuna and a cold martini.

Born in New Rochelle, N.Y., to parents who built a sportswear line around his mother’s designs, Mr. Hanson got hooked on Manhattan hospitality in the early 1970s, when he managed the first TGI Friday’s, which helped start the era’s singles-bar craze. In the golden age of disco, he opened and managed nightclubs, then tried his hand at trading commodities. His first restaurant — the Coconut Grill, on the Upper East Side — debuted in 1987.

Michael White, the executive chef who along with Mr. Hanson owned Fiamma Osteria when it won three stars from The New York Times in 2002, considers his former partner a pioneer. “The detail and the execution and knowing who is in your dining room, that’s all the stuff I learned from Stephen,” he said.

Ivy Stark, who was head chef at Mr. Hanson’s Dos Caminos restaurants in the early 2000s, said his systems for managing inventory and personnel were innovative, and his attention to detail unmatched. “He could walk into one of the restaurants and see a lightbulb out from 50 feet away,” she said.

He had a reputation for barking at employees, she said, but also a sweet side that was on full display when he would bring his two young daughters into the kitchen. (Mr. Hanson, a bachelor into his 50s, married Deana Dibello, a former host at his Upper West Side restaurant Isabella’s, in 2003.)

It’s unclear how Mr. Hanson met Mr. Epstein, but by the late 1990s, their friendship had blossomed. Both had climbed high enough in their respective fields to play in a world of wealth where being surrounded by models, or aspiring models, provided social currency and potential dates.

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice 

New York Times, Ohio State Agrees to $100 Million Payout Over Sexual Abuse Claims, Billy Witz, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). The deal with 279 former students is the latest in the long-running case at the university. In all, nearly 600 people who said they were abused by an athletic department doctor have settled.

Ohio State University has reached a preliminary agreement to pay $100 million to 279 former students who said they were sexually abused by a former athletic team doctor, the latest group to strike a deal with the college in the long-running case.

The settlement, which was ratified in principle by the university’s board of trustees in a meeting on Wednesday night, would resolve all but one of the remaining 280 plaintiffs’ claims.

Previously, Ohio State had paid out more than $61 million to 317 people who claimed they had been abused by Dr. Richard Strauss, an athletic team doctor from 1979 until he was fired in 1996. Dr. Strauss died by suicide in 2005.

Ohio State’s president, Ravi Bellamkonda, said that resolving the claims was important to the university. “We continue to be grateful for their courage in coming forward,” he said of the former students.

A lawyer for some of the plaintiffs did not respond to a request for comment. The judge in the case had instructed the parties not to discuss the settlement until it was finalized.

“We will provide additional information when we are in a position to do so,” John Zeiger, the outgoing chairman of the board of trustees, said at the meeting.

Several factors appear to have driven the parties toward an agreement.

In April, the judge, Michael Watson, rejected Ohio State’s motion to restrict damages to tuition costs, allowing the plaintiffs to recoup more money. Last month, more than 30 former Ohio State football players — including three members of the 1980 Rose Bowl team — joined the lawsuit.

And earlier this year, the judge ruled that Les Wexner, a prominent Ohio State alumnus under scrutiny for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, must sit for a deposition. Mr. Zeiger has been Mr. Wexner’s longtime personal lawyer.

The parties went back to mediation on May 11 ahead of an October trial date. But left open was the possibility of former Ohio State football players — including the two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, who has been deposed in the case — taking the witness stand as the upcoming season played out.Editors’ PicksA Spousal Connection Long Before Their Wedding DayParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

“I think the judge’s decisions had a lot to do with it,” said State Senator Bill DeMora, whose district includes Ohio State. “A trial would have been ugly. It would have been terrible for the university and it would have done damage to our football program.”

Though the abuse allegations against Dr. Strauss were known around Ohio State for years, they had been kept out of the public eye until 2018 when a former wrestler, Michael DiSabato, came forward with accusations that Dr. Strauss had abused him. Mr. DiSabato is among the few plaintiffs who have chosen to be named.

As more came forward, Ohio State hired a law firm to investigate. A 182-page report, released in 2019, found that Dr. Strauss had sexually molested at least 177 men, including many varsity athletes. Plaintiffs have said that figure undercounts the abuse.

The report detailed instances of athletes who visited the doctor for a variety of ailments — such as a sore throat or an ear problem — only to have Dr. Strauss fondle their genitals as part of the examination. The accounts were so numerous, the report said, that investigators elected not to include an exhaustive accounting of each one.

The report also said more than 50 athletic department staff members and others had been aware of the doctor’s misconduct but did nothing to stop it. Though Dr. Strauss was fired in 1996, he was allowed to retain his tenured faculty position for two more years.

Many former wrestlers have said that the influential congressman Jim Jordan, a former assistant coach, was aware of the conduct by Dr. Strauss, who, according to one of the lawsuits, was known among them as Dr. Jellypaws. Mr. Jordan has denied knowing about it.

The claims are not unique among Big Ten universities.

Michigan State paid out $500 million to the victims of a former team doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar, who is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting gymnasts. Penn State has paid close to $130 million to the sexual abuse victims of a former football coach, Jerry Sandusky, who is in prison. And the University of Michigan paid out $490 million to more than 1,000 athletes and students who said they were abused by a former team doctor, Robert E. Anderson, who is deceased.

The Strauss case has dragged on for more than eight years, remaining in the background as other scandals have played out at Ohio State. This year, Walter Carter Jr. resigned as university president after disclosing that he had an improper relationship with a woman who sought public funding for a podcast. A professor assaulted a journalist outside a classroom. And protests demanding that Mr. Wexner’s name be removed from campus buildings gathered momentum as his ties to Mr. Epstein emerged.

“It’s ludicrous that it took this long,” Mr. DeMora said. “I’m happy the university is done with the stain of this chapter and that there’s some closure for the victims of this horrible abuse.”

New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: Judge Says Government Must Restart Asylum and Immigration Processing, Zach Montague and Madeleine Ngo, June 5, 2026. What We’re Covering Today.

  • Immigration: A slate of the Trump administration’s immigration policies were struck down on Friday by a federal judge, who rejected the government’s indefinite holds on asylum applications globally and on immigration applications from people from 39 countries who had been unable to obtain green cards and citizenship. Read more ›
  • Construction Projects: An appeals court panel will hear arguments on Friday over Mr. Trump’s White House ballroom project and whether he had legal authority to bulldoze part of the complex without congressional approval. On Thursday, Mr. Trump announced plans for a “promenade” behind the Lincoln Memorial, and a federal commission advanced his proposal to build a 250-foot triumphal arch, despite public opposition. Read more ›

A judge criticized Trump administration policies driven by “anti-immigrant sentiments.”

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday struck down a slate of immigration policies enacted by the Trump administration, writing that it had left immigrants living in the United States in “indeterminate legal limbo” because of “anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making.”

In a searing 135-page opinion, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. wrote that actions to lock eligible asylum seekers out of the immigration system and deny others temporary work permits had made it functionally impossible for a broad swath of people to remain in the country. The resulting squeeze, he wrote, “placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth.”

The policies, enacted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, included a global hold on asylum applications filed with the agency. It also paused decisions on immigration applications filed by people from the 39 countries subject to the president’s travel ban, halting their ability to obtain green cards, U.S. citizenship and other benefits.

The policies were announced in November shortly after the authorities said an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington. The man, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has pleaded not guilty.

The freeze resulted in many immigrants inside the United States waiting indefinitely for decisions on their applications, disrupting their ability to legally work and leaving them to question whether they could remain in the country.

“Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures,” Judge McConnell wrote.

Judge McConnell wrote that the various holds violated the immigration laws governing the responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and that the agency had routinely applied the law unequally under the policies.

He wrote that the burden of the changes fell hardest on people who had followed all the procedures demanded of them, rather than immigrants who entered the country illegally, whom the Trump administration routinely vilifies.

“The court is reminded of a line often repeated in discussions around immigration policy: If people wish to immigrate to the United States, they ought to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way,’” he wrote. “This case serves as a perfect example of immigrants doing just that.”

Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit that helped represent the immigration groups and unions behind the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling.

“This ruling reaffirms a basic principle: The federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,” said Skye Perryman, the organization’s president. “These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers and communities across the country.”

Neither U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services nor its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, immediately responded to a request for comment.

Everyone is entitled to my own opinion, Commentary: social media star Hunter Biden has no fucks left to give-- and we are all here for it, Jeff Tiedrich, right,jeff tiedrich June 5, 2026. Has anyone in US politics been more unfairly maligned than Hunter Biden?

He’s been harassed. he’s been the target of multiple smear campaigns. he’s been accused of corruption and crimes. he’s been forced to testify. he’s had his personal life put under a microscope — and he’s had photos of his freakishly oversized trouser hog put on display on the floor of the House.

All of this is why it’s super fucking satisfying to see that Hunter Biden is finally hitting back.

Trump hasn’t made a public appearance in 8 days. This after an unscheduled visit to the hospital- because he “likes getting check ups.” Thank God Jake Tapper (or as I like to call him- the Brick Tamland of his generation) is on the case hunting down clues in a book about my mom’s experience as First Lady four years ago.

I have to confess that No Fucks To Give Hunter Biden is my favorite Hunter Biden, and I am so here for it. after letting his social media presence dwindle for years, Hunter’s back with a vengeance.

Hunter Biden’s complaint is the same one we all have: why are the Jake Tappers of the world still sniffing Joe Biden’s pant leg, while right in front of their faces, the current sitting president is a cognitively-collapsed fuckwit who lost control of his bowels years ago?

except, of course, for Hunter Biden this hits much closer to home.

So let me get this straight. Jake Tapper is focused on attacking my Mom. Jared and Ivanka are building a private island paradise on Albanian protected land. Don Jr married the daughter of Epstein’s banker, and a startup his fund backs just got a record $620M Pentagon loan. Eric is taking an Israeli drone company public for $1.5B in the middle of a war with Iran that nobody wanted. And I know: “But what about your paintings, Hunter?” Please.

remember how the worthless scribblers of the corporate-controlled press lost their fucking minds because Hunter Biden sold some paintings for a few thousand dollars? where are their howls of outrage, now that Dear Leader’s awarded multi-hundred-thousand dollar contracts to companies co-owned by his two felonious failsons?

hey, you know what Hunter Biden can do that MAGA can’t? laugh at himself.

can you imagine Donny being this self-critical?

can you imagine Donny’s failson Cokey McSniffles being this honest?

this is why Hunter Biden was able to turn his life around, while Don Jr. is still walking around with the half the gross national product of Bolivia up his nostrils.

it’s because Hunter was able to face the brutal facts about himself, and get the help he recognized he needed, while Cokey remains the result of a multi-generational exercise in self-delusion and denial.

and it doesn’t hurt Hunter Biden has a caring father who loves him, while Cokey’s own fucked-up dad once slapped him in the face for not wearing a suit to a baseball game.

congratulations, Hunter, on being seven years clean.

mad respect.

now let’s check in with the other member of that multi-generational exercise in self-delusion and denial, because for the second day in a row — lucky us — Preznit Fuckwit graced us with another Oval Bordello dog-and-pony show.

there he was, surrounded by his Emotional Support Flunkies, as he sat behind the Resolute Desk, closed his weary eyes, slumped over, and began to crop-dust the entire room.

look at this. all of Dear Leader’s neutered toadies have to stand there and pretend that what’s happening isn’t happening. seriously, Jake Tapper, are you getting all this?

oh dear. now that he’s finished assaulting the Reflecting Pool, Lord Shitticus is going to fuck up the Lincoln Memorial next.

“the Lincoln— Memorial, the uh, front was supposed to be the back, the back was supposed to be the front, never got built because they built two roadways behind it. after it was built. and it shut off the uhhhhhh— gateway to the water. that was really gonna be the main entry. and we’re gonna be doing that, we’re gonna— it’s called the promenade. buh duh— the promenade. they wanna call it the Trump promenade. but I dunno if I wanna— it’s gonna be beautiful. it’s a beautiful project and it’s gonna take— the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.”

wait, who wants to call it ‘the Trump promenade’? are they in the room with us right now? is it the ceaseless shrieking noises inside Donny’s own fat head that are telling him this? sweet Jesus, this is just one more thing that the next president’s Secretary of Unfucking All That Shit is going to have to put back the way it used to be.

what is Donny gibbering about, with the back is the front and the front is the back? he’s just making stuff up on the spot — yet instead of calling in the nurse to jab Donny with a powerful sedative, everybody just stands around as if some fucked-up proposal to molest the Lincoln Memorial because it’s backwards were the most perfectly normal thing they’d ever heard.

now, because I’m a Responsible Journalist and Everything™, I had to make sure I was in command of my facts — so I googled ‘is the front of the Lincoln Memorial supposed to be the back,’ and this is what Google’s janky six-fingered plagiarism robot answered:

The Lincoln Memorial was designed to face east towards the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, not the Potomac River. Its current orientation remains exactly as the original architect, Henry Bacon, intended it to be.

so let me repeat myself: what the fuck is Donny gibbering about? Jake Tapper, do you have any idea? Jake? hello, Jake?

sigh.

but what I really want to know is, can we make the Lincoln Memorial more secure? I mean if the Epstein Dance Hall can have sniper nests and a drone army on top of it, why not the Linc M?

and if we can’t have drones, can we at least have the dogs or the bees, or the dogs with the bees in their mouth, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

because that would be fucking awesome.

oh wait, Donny doesn’t want to talk about any of that. he’s too busy committing a racism.

reporter: “the Black unemployment rate is 7.3%. when you ran for president, you courted Black voters and talked about what you described as ‘Black jobs.’ how do you explain why this disparity happened?”

Donny: “well, we’re doing very well with uhhhhh, the Black jobs. African-American jobs.”

racist much, Donny? wouldn’t you love for some reporter to ask Donny what he considers a ‘Black job’? because we all know what the answer would be. janitor. cook. maid. nanny. I just want to hear Donny say it out loud.

oh, wait. in this case, a reporter doesn’t have to ask — because Donny answers the question all on his own, without being prompted. let’s just play the rest of that clip.

“where we’re really gonna do well is when all these plants are open. we’re building many car plants. we’re bringing cars back from Germany. it’s all coming back. it’s amazing. and where your Black worker is going to do really well, is when those factories open.”

ohhhhh, assembly-line worker, that’s a Black job, too. I’m so glad we cleared that up.

is it too much to ask that someday we might have a president who doesn’t scream the quiet part out loud? or maybe one who isn’t a racist fuckhead in the first place? 

New York Times, ‘60 Minutes’ Stars Will Stay Because They Don’t Want Show to ‘Die,’ Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum, June 5, 2026. Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said on Friday in an email to their colleagues that they had reached the decision after a period of frustration.

After a series of high-profile departures from “60 Minutes,” the remaining three on-air correspondents said Friday that they would stay at the program in order to keep it alive, putting an end to days of speculation about the future of the CBS show.

cbs news logoThe correspondents, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim, said in an email to employees that they had reached their decision after a period of frustration and grief.

“Here’s why we are staying: We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” they wrote.

Their memo came after a tumultuous week for the storied news program. Last Thursday, CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss fired Tanya Simon, the show’s executive producer, and two of its on-air correspondents and installed Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker with no television news experience, as the new head of “60 Minutes.”

Another correspondent, Scott Pelley, laced into that decision on Monday in an explosive staff meeting, accusing Ms. Weiss of “murdering” the show. He was fired the next day, and the turmoil had raised questions about whether the show’s remaining stars would continue at the program.

In an interview with The New York Times on Friday afternoon, Ms. Stahl said that she, Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Wertheim had reached their decision after a marathon of calls across multiple continents. Mr. Wertheim was covering the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Ms. Stahl said, so the trio decided to huddle over Zoom while in different time zones.

Several days ago, the remaining correspondents decided to make their decision about whether to stay at the program together, she said. They reasoned that they could best accomplish their goal of preserving the program if they made their decision as a unit, because any further departures could tank the show.

CBS News did not immediately return a request for comment.

 

politicus usa logoPoliticusUSA, Trump's Lawsuit Against The BBC Has Massively Backfired, Jason Easley, right, jason easleyJune 5, 2026. Trump's defamation lawsuit against the BBC has turned into a major liability as the broadcaster hasn't backed down and has demanded financial documents from Trump, which he won't provide.

Trump’s learned from Disney paying off his bogus defamation lawsuit claim that big corporate media could be shaken down for cash, and the threat of an expensive lawsuit could be used as a means of dictating coverage and controlling the media.

bbc news logo2After Disney, Trump responded by mounting an ongoing campaign to get late-night host Jimmy Kimmel fired from the network.

PoliticusUSA is 100% independent news and opinion. Support us by becoming a subscriber.Subscribed

Trump also got paid off from an even more bogus defamation lawsuit that he filed against 60 Minutes, but that payoff was more about greasing the wheels so that CBS could be sold to David Ellison, a Trump ally, who took over the network, got rid of late night host Stephen Colbert, and has gutted 60 Minutes.

Trump didn’t like the way a BBC documentary talked about his attempted coup after the 2020 election, so he filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.

This time, the president’s target is fighting back.

The Trump lawsuit against the BBC has reached the discovery phase. Trump’s legal team has made hundreds of requests for documents. The BBC has turned over tens of thousands of documents.

The BBC has done something Trump’s other targets were too afraid to do. The BBC has also made document requests of Trump, and what they have asked for has stopped the president dead in his tracks.

The Financial Times reported:

US President Donald Trump’s legal team has refused to hand over financial information requested by BBC lawyers in his $10bn defamation case against the broadcaster, according to court filings seen by the FT.

…The BBC has sought to identify the financial impact of the documentary, including serving a subpoena on the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, which holds the president’s business interests and assets. It is managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who is the sole trustee.

The BBC legal team has requested the production of financial documents that reflect its holdings and value, assets, inventories and lists of properties held. This includes information regarding almost 400 entities owned by or associated with the trust, as well as requests for tax returns, according to court filings in May.

So far, the president has not backed off of this lawsuit, but if the Trump family refuses to turn over financial documents, this lawsuit won’t be able to go forward. Discovery would be devastating for Donald Trump because it would offer a glimpse into what experts suspect is a massive amount of corruption.

First Amendment attorneys and media professionals both stressed to ABC and CBS that paying Trump’s lawsuit shakedowns would set a terrible precedent that would only encourage Trump to file more lawsuits in order to get cash and intimidate the media.

The big corporate media owners who were only interested in their own profits did not listen.

The BBC is following the recommendations of experts because, during Trump’s second administration, the rule of thumb was that those who fight back win.

Trump does not want any public information about his finances to come out, so as long as the BBC continues to fight, they are likely to win.

The president thought that he could bully the BBC, but the lawsuit is backfiring and could end up exposing Trump.

New York Times, A Murdoch Builds His Own Media Empire. Is This ‘Succession’ or Secession? Jim Rutenberg, June 5, 2026. James Murdoch says acquiring New York magazine and Vox has nothing to do with his father. But in some ways, it’s a tribute.

It is an enduring feature of our nation’s leading (for now) media dynasty, the Murdochs, that they continually generate news — as a force in politics and culture, as a bellwether of their industry and as a family whose fights have been soapy enough to inspire four seasons of “Succession.”

The family’s story arc, though, appeared to reach its zenith last September. That was when Rupert Murdoch ended a wrenching family legal battle over future control of his conservative media empire with three of his four oldest offspring — James, Liz and Prue — and made their more right-leaning brother, Lachlan, his undisputed business heir.

Driving the drama was Rupert’s fear that upon his death, James would swoop in with his sisters to pull the Murdoch news outlets, including Fox News and The New York Post, to the left. Rupert’s liberal critics hoped for — pined for — the same outcome. But Rupert and Lachlan, who now runs the companies, came to an accommodation with the wayward children in which they would cede their claims in return for more than $1 billion each. That seemed to be that.

Then came news last month that James would buy New York magazine, Vox.com and the Vox Media podcasting network for an estimated $300 million.

Small by the standards of today’s media deals, the purchase nonetheless grabbed attention because of what it represented: the most visible move by James to leave his father’s gargantuan shadow. It signaled a break from a legacy that James has publicly associated with climate change denialism and the “insidious and uncontrollable forces” that caused the Jan. 6 riots. He holds that his father’s empire has spread toxic political content in pursuit of ratings and revenue, degrading civic health and its own corporate standing.

Coverage of the deal has portrayed James as acquiring “an ideological competitor” to the outlets run by his brother. Though it would be the equivalent of fighting a destroyer with a speedboat, the notion made sense. The family fight had always taken place within the family media business. Now it would play out through rival media businesses.

James disclaims any connection between his acquisition and his family’s travails. When The Times asked him if he wanted to differentiate himself from his father, he said flatly no: “I’m just trying to build a great business,’’ he said.

But when I spoke with James last week, it was clear that he was setting out with an editorial philosophy that carries at least an implicit rebuke of his father’s populist, winner-take-all philosophy. That outlook, and many keen insights about what viewers really desire, built the Fox empire. It also turbocharged a practice of partisan combat that raced far beyond Murdoch’s control and shaped a worldwide ecosystem of misinformation. James is looking toward independent media as a higher-minded, if less lucrative, antidote to those forces. In their business choices, the two men — and the gulf between their visions — capture the divergent paths of American media in the industry’s roiling 2020s.

More On U.S. Governance

New York Times, How Trump’s Proposed Arch Could Complicate D.C.’s Congested Airspace, Anushka Patil, Marco Hernandez, Junho Lee and Karoun Demirjian, June 5, 2026 (print ed.).The mammoth triumphal arch President Trump wants to build would sit under one of the most complex sections of the national airspace — directly in the paths of flights in and out of Ronald Reagan National Airport and just a few miles from the site of a catastrophic midair collision last year.

The Trump administration said on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration had compiled preliminary findings from an initial review of whether the proposed arch presented any risks to Washington's airspace.

But the extent to which those findings, which have yet to be made public, will influence the administration’s plans to move ahead with construction as planned is uncertain. According to a New York Times analysis, the arch as currently planned would warrant further study under at least one F.A.A. guideline.

The F.A.A. had been looking into the administration’s plan for about a month to determine whether the proposed 250-foot structure — a height chosen to commemorate 2026 being the 250th year since American independence — would pose any hazard to flights in and out of Reagan National.

But in recent days, the National Park Service, acting on behalf of the Trump administration, appeared to change tack, quietly asking the F.A.A. to conduct a feasibility study — an advisory review that is normally preliminary and that, according to the F.A.A.’s own procedures, is usually given lower priority than official evaluations.

The reason for the new request, which administration officials defended as routine, was not immediately clear. Though the F.A.A. requires proposed structures over 200 feet to submit to a formal evaluation to determine their impact on local air traffic, feasibility studies are voluntary.

Some aviation experts said the administration’s decision to pursue one at this stage could indicate that possible problems had been identified with the height of the structure, which climbed from 250 feet in the initial filing to 259 feet in the feasibility study request, making the top of the arch sit 288 feet above sea level. In that case, they said, asking for an advisory study could be a strategy to avoid the potential black mark of having Mr. Trump’s pet construction project labeled a risk to flight safety.

It could suggest a project “ran into some issues and is more complicated than they had hoped,” said Michael O’Donnell, an aerospace consultant who previously worked as a senior F.A.A. official focused on air traffic safety.

The change in approach may reflect the sensitivity with which the federal government has approached potential risks in the airspace surrounding Washington since a midair collision last year that killed 67.

U.S. Courts, Crime, Law, Rights, Justice

New York Times, Appeals Court Panel to Hear Arguments Over Trump’s Ballroom, Zach Montague, June 5, 2026. A three-judge panel will consider whether a lower court erred in ordering construction stopped until President Trump secured the support of Congress.

For seven months, construction to replace the 123-year-old East Wing with what President Trump hopes will be a legacy-defining ballroom has been underway without interruption, in spite of a federal lawsuit.

On Friday, a federal appeals court panel will once again consider whether any of it has been legal.

At this point, with the project surging forward, the case may serve as a test of whether courts will assert Congress’s powers to rein in Mr. Trump’s ambitions to rebuild federal Washington as much as it is an obstacle to the ballroom itself.

At issue before the three-judge panel will be what legal authority, if any, Mr. Trump had to unilaterally bulldoze part of the White House without input from lawmakers.

The Trump administration appealed the case in April, after Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of George W. Bush, issued a blunt order in March concluding there was no legal path to building without congressional authorization.

“Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” he wrote. “But here is the good news. It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project.”

But even as the projected cost of the ballroom doubled to $400 million and courts have questioned the project, construction has proceeded.

Andrea Katz, an associate professor of law at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said the appeals court must decide whether to uphold Judge Leon’s order, all while Congress has not exercised the authority he insisted it holds.

Professor Katz said that the continuing construction meant the court would face a “fait accompli dynamic” in which the administration is expected to argue that the project cannot be left half-finished.

In filings, the Justice Department has also said that Congress gave passive approval to the project after the National Capital Planning Commission and Commission of Fine Arts, both of which were filled out with Mr. Trump’s appointees, voted to approve the design.Editors’ PicksA Shrimp and Okra Soup That Feels Like MagicNo One Understood Her Grief, So She Took It OnlineParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.

On Thursday, six Republican senators joined with Democrats in voting to block construction of the ballroom until it is specifically authorized by Congress, though the proposal fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to be adopted.

Professor Katz said the Trump administration has taken advantage of an inactive Congress to rush ahead on a variety of goals, including construction of the ballroom, but also immigration restrictions and other areas. By the time the government is defending itself in court, she said, it is often offering justifications for transformative actions that took hold months earlier.

“Courts are aware of this problem,” she said.ImageConstruction equipment and cranes seen from an aerial view.Even as the cost of the ballroom has grown to $400 million and the lawsuit has proceeded, construction on the project has continued.Credit...Allison Robbert for The New York Times

She said the court had ample reasons to uphold Judge Leon’s order in the interest of “proper enforcement of the law,” even if that resulted in an enduring open pit at the White House and an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit group chartered by Congress to oversee preservation of historic places, brought the lawsuit in December raising concerns about the project.

It argued that Mr. Trump’s decision to accept donations for the project from corporations with business before the federal government and redesign the historic complex without input usurped the traditional power Congress has over federal property and spending.

At first, Judge Leon prodded the National Trust several times to refine their arguments to focus narrowly on whether the president has authority to change the White House however he wants.

Throughout that legal maneuvering, Mr. Trump kept building.

Then, 110 days after the lawsuit was filed, Judge Leon ruled for the preservation group.

But soon after, the president and his allies threw a curveball.

The ballroom, Mr. Trump said, was not even the primary purpose of the renovation. Rather, the planned structure would be a capstone, he said, on a sprawling underground military bunker designed to modernize security at the White House.

Throughout April, Mr. Trump spoke less of the ornate columns and neoclassical touches that he would later showcase for reporters, and more of drone-proof roofs and bulletproof windows. The president and his allies also cited an attempted assassination at an annual press gala in May, asserting that the attack vindicated efforts to build a secure event space within the White House. Mr. Trump has referred to the structure as a “shed” atop a new complex that would entirely replace the existing Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

Hesitant to interfere with work involving presidential security, Judge Leon clarified his order, saying that it applied only to aboveground construction and not underground security features. Even so, the appeals court panel chose to pause Judge Leon’s order entirely until after the judges consider arguments at the Friday hearing.

That meant that throughout April and May, Mr. Trump kept building.

Lawyers representing the National Trust are expected to argue on Friday that the months of construction have all grinded ahead in spite of both federal law and the constitutional separation of powers, which both give lawmakers a clear say in major changes to the White House grounds. “This case is about who controls federal property,” lawyers for the group wrote in a brief.

“The answer is Congress, as the Constitution, numerous federal statutes and longstanding Supreme Court precedent regarding the president’s supposed emergency powers all make clear,” they added.

Andrew Mergen, a professor at Harvard Law School who spent more than 20 years in the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said that Congress reserved “incredible authority” over federal properties that it delegates to federal agencies to help manage.

“It’s something that the branches do hand in hand,” he said. “And to have taken a project like this on without consulting with Congress is really, I think, to push the outer limits of the president’s authority.”

The panel consists of Judges Patricia A. Millett, an Obama appointee; Bradley N. Garcia, a Biden appointee; and Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee.

The panel had previously expressed confusion about Mr. Trump’s shifting descriptions of the project, sending the case back to Judge Leon to clarify what parts of the project he thought required approval.

But the panel has not seemed eager to halt the construction. All three judges signed off on allowing work to until now; Judge Rao noted in a dissent that she would have preferred to pause Judge Leon’s order for the duration of the case.

Regardless of the outcome in front of the appeals court, the case could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

At the end of several hearings, Judge Leon predicted that unless Mr. Trump took steps to resolve the dispute, it would likely fall to the justices to decide the president’s power to transform the White House.

More Global News

 

Red Cross workers removing the disinfected body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week (New York Times visual by Arlette Bashizi, from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak).

Red Cross workers removing the disinfected body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week (New York Times visual by Arlette Bashizi, from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak).

Red Cross workers removing the disinfected body of a gold miner, Mumbere Saidi, in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, last week.

New York Times, The Gold Mines at the Heart of This Ebola Outbreak, Declan Walsh, Visuals by Arlette Bashizi (reporting from a gold mine in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak), June 5, 2026. Mining has been the lifeblood of this remote Congolese hill town for decades. Now, it is fueling the spread of a devastating virus.

After the local Islamic State affiliate attacked his farm, Mumbere Saidi fled to the gold mines in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, trekking 200 miles across one of Africa’s most dangerous war zones.

He found backbreaking work in a remote mining town where he panned for gold. When times were good, Mr. Saidi, 27, sent a few dollars back to the parents he left behind. When they were bad, he struggled to feed his wife and baby daughter.

At least he felt safe, until last week, when an invisible enemy struck Mr. Saidi inside his home.

“The disease got him,” said his brother, Kondu Ganda, also a miner, using a common euphemism for Ebola in a town where many avoid the word.

Behind him, Red Cross workers in white protective suits removed Mr. Saidi’s body from their mud-walled home and carefully placed it in a coffin.

For over a century, gold has been the lifeblood of Mongbwalu, a remote hill town in Ituri province that draws people looking for work from across Congo and beyond. But now Mongbwalu is at the epicenter of the devastating Ebola outbreak sweeping this region, and gold is helping to drive it.

Experts now believe that the outbreak, already the third largest on record, began in Mongbwalu as early as February. Yet the authorities failed to detect it until May 15, in part because it was caused by a lesser-known virus, Bundibugyo, for which there is no treatment.

By the time a crisis was declared, the Bundibugyo virus had already been spreading for weeks through Mongbwalu’s gold mines, among men who work cheek by jowl in rough conditions, trading gold that often crosses nearby borders.

Now, they are falling sick and dying.ImageA muddy gold mining site in Mongbwalu with several people seen at a distance standing on a makeshift platform that looks like a slapdash raft.At the Kanza Kanza gold mine in Mongbwalu. The lure of lucrative wages draws miners to the area.VideoMiners feeding sandy goop into a generator.ImageSeveral miners work in a muddy work site at Kanza Kanza.Miners at a quarry. The gold economy fuels a flow of workers, traders, prostitutes and smugglers from Congo and neighboring countries.

When Mr. Saidi fell ill last month, it first seemed to be malaria. As his condition deteriorated, increasingly desperate relatives carried him to six different clinics in search of a cure, his brother said. Nothing worked.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

After his death, neighbors clustered quietly outside Mr. Saidi’s home, which is perched on a hillside amid banana groves and twisting paths. Five people had already died on their street, they said; word came through that a sixth had fallen ill.

“Another person has started bleeding up there,” Mr. Ganda said, pointing to a house.

Mongbwalu, in the Kilo-Moto gold belt, has long embodied the tragedy of Congo’s abundance. Belgian colonists opened the town’s first mines over a century ago, using forced labor. Cycles of exploitation, corruption and conflict followed. Under the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the mines were badly mismanaged. After Mobutu was ousted in 1997, and Congo fell into turmoil, militias and warlords battled over Mongbwalu’s riches.

During one particular brutal period between 2002 and 2003, at least 2,000 civilians were killed in and around Mongbwalu, Human Rights Watch later found.Editors’ PicksA Spousal Connection Long Before Their Wedding DayParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

Now Mongbwalu is largely peaceful, even as ethnic conflict rages in the surrounding countryside, and most of the mining is done by small-scale miners who work the informal mines dotting the town’s edge. Many come from other provinces of Congo, especially North Kivu, which itself suffered an Ebola outbreak between 2018 and 2020.

But the lure of Mongbwalu is what is making it so dangerous.

The gold economy fuels a flow of workers, traders, prostitutes and smugglers from Congo and neighboring countries. Town authorities now believe that more than 80 people died from Ebola in the weeks before the outbreak was detected, and things have only gotten worse.

“We fear we are just at the start of our misfortune,” said Jean-Pierre Bikilisende, a former town mayor.

On the edge of town, gold seems to be everywhere. Following a winding path through tall grass, Arlette Bashizi, a photographer for The New York Times, and I suddenly found ourselves next to a wide stream where dozens of men in mud-splattered clothes shoveled sediment.

They sifted the sandy goop by feeding it into wooden sluices powered by clattering generators, then mixed it with mercury to extract gold nuggets. Given the perils of the work and the threats many had fled, few said they were bothered by Ebola.

Bienvenue Bironyi, a miner from North Kivu, had heard that people were dying. But, he added, he did not know what precautions he could realistically take.

“We’re still working from morning to evening,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”

The pay was an indisputable factor. Gedeon Abimana said he made between $136 and $272 a week, depending on his team’s gold haul. That is great money in rural Congo, although it came with considerable health risk: his job involves handling mercury with his bare hands, which can cause serious illness, including neurological damage.

He shrugged. “What can we do?” he said. “We have no choice but to work.”ImageBienvenu Bironyi, a young gold miner, working at a gold mine.Bienvenu Bironyi, a young gold miner, left, working at a gold mine.ImageGedeon Abimana holds a piece of mercury containing gold that he has just collected from Maidede mining quarry.ImagePeople draw water from the exit of a blocked tunnel that once served as a roost for fruit bats at the Makala mining site.

The town could not stop, either. Heavy-duty mining trucks rolled down the unpaved main street. Motorcycle taxis clustered on corners, waiting for fares. Children in neat school uniforms skipped home. Soldiers and miners chugged beer in bars.

Michel Anguma, a gold miner in rubber boots, downplayed the calamity. Certainly, people were dying, he said as he strolled home after work. “Just back there, I saw people going to bury someone,” he said.

But gold workers could not afford to worry.

“Nothing is above God,” he said with a shrug.

He spoke under a cluster of trees filled with screeching fruit bats, which scientists say can act as a natural reservoir for the viruses that cause Ebola.

As with much in this outbreak, little is certain, including how many people are actually sick. In recent days, a surge in testing capacity at government laboratories was starting to give a clearer picture of the number of confirmed Ebola cases in Congo. About 300 people are suspected to have died so far.

But the head start the virus enjoyed as it spread undetected through Mongbwalu this spring means the true extent of the outbreak remains unknown. And with gold prices hovering near historic highs, the incentive to keep mining is powerful.ImageBats flying in the darkening sky over the large trees of Mongbwalu. 

New York Times, Ireland, Seen as a Weak Link in Europe’s Defense, Is Trying to Bulk Up, Megan Specia, Visuals by Paulo Nunes dos Santos, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). 

As concern rises in Europe over threats from an emboldened Russia, the Irish government says it’s working to plug gaps in its military, which reflect a tradition of neutrality.

Ireland, Seen as a Weak Link in Europe’s Defense, Is Trying to Bulk Up

As concern rises in Europe over threats from an emboldened Russia, the Irish government says it’s working to plug gaps in its military, which reflect a tradition of neutrality.

The George Bernard Shaw patrolling the Irish Sea in May. Patrols like these have been scaled up amid growing security threats.Credit...Listen · 8:49 min

By 

Two sailors peered through binoculars from the bridge of the naval vessel as it patrolled the Irish Sea on a still morning in early May.

As they scanned the horizon, Lt. Cmdr. Maria O’Callaghan, the captain, pointed to a series of lines on a navigation display, indicating underwater power cables and gas pipelines that stretch between Ireland and Britain.

The crew of the Irish ship, the George Bernard Shaw, was looking for anything out of the ordinary while the captain used the screen to monitor a large vessel transporting liquefied natural gas. Although the ship was not on a sanctions list, the crew knew from tracking it in the past that it was heading north toward a Russian port, narrowly skirting Ireland’s territorial waters.

Their patrol was part of a stepped-up campaign by Ireland to apply greater scrutiny to the waters that surround it, as hybrid threats from an emboldened Moscow hang over Europe and ships seeking to circumvent Western sanctions sail in and out of Russia.ImageNaval officers by digital controls in a ship.

New York Times, China Builds an Economic Fortress as Global Tensions Rise, Alexandra Stevenson and Murphy Zhao, June 5, 2026. Beijing says the changes are needed for national security, but they could complicate efforts by Chinese companies to find growth overseas.China is erecting walls to prevent money, technology and companies from leaving the country.

China FlagThis week, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced new rules requiring national security screening for Chinese companies seeking to invest overseas. The move follows regulations introduced in April that allowed the authorities to intervene when foreign companies tried to relocate supply chains out of China.

Taken together, the measures amount to a new blueprint for the economic fortress China is building around its technology and supply chains amid rising tensions with Europe and the United States.

The rules are another sign that the economic principles of open markets and free trade, which have governed much of the world for decades and helped fuel China’s extraordinary rise, are giving way to a more fragmented era.

From Washington to Brussels, the world’s largest economies are choosing trade barriers over greater economic integration, driven in part by heightened concerns over China’s global dominance in raw materials, manufactured goods and technology, and a surge in Chinese products around the world.

“We’ve moved away from a world where laws made it easier to allow the flow of capital, people, technology and trade to go around,” said Ben Kostrzewa, a partner and trade expert at Hogan Lovells in Hong Kong.

“The Chimerica economy envisioned 20 years ago turned out to be chimerical,” he said, referring to the once-popular portmanteau of China and America.

Beijing has already offered a preview of what this new era could look like. It blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus, an artificial intelligence company founded by Chinese engineers. It told Chinese refineries sanctioned by the United States not to comply. And it ordered a state-backed security equipment company not to cooperate with European Union investigators.

With each action, Beijing edges closer to a confrontation with the United States and Europe.

New York Times, Why Xi Jinping Is Going to North Korea to Court Kim Jong-un, David Pierson and Choe Sang-Hun, June 5, 2026 (print ed.). As Xi Jinping visits Pyongyang, he faces an emboldened North Korean dictator, whose alliance with Russia has reduced his dependence on China.

The last time China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, traveled to North Korea, that country’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, was reeling from sanctions and failed nuclear talks with the United States.

China FlagNow, nearly seven years later, as Mr. Xi returns to North Korea on Monday, he will meet with a leader who is newly emboldened by an alliance with Russia that has helped his economy break out of isolation.

Mr. Xi is expected to use the two-day summit with Mr. Kim to project a united front between allies against the West. But analysts say China is likely also keen to assert its influence over a neighbor that has leaned toward Russia. Mr. Kim, for his part, wants to be treated less like a junior partner to China and will likely use his new closeness to Russia to press Beijing for economic concessions.

If North Korea is able to successfully balance its two giant neighbors, Mr. Kim might feel even less constrained about advancing his nuclear weapons program. That could destabilize a region where U.S. allies are already worried about China’s military buildup and Washington’s ability to honor its defense agreements as it depletes resources fighting a war with Iran.

U.S. Jobs, Economy, Markets, Tariffs

New York Times, Live Updates: Employers Added a Robust 172,000 Jobs in May, Lydia DePillis, June 5, 2026. Unemployment remained steady at 4.3 percent.

American employers hired vigorously in May, in a sign that the labor market is on a genuine upswing after last year’s weak patch.

The economy added 172,000 last month, more than economists had expected, while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.3 percent.

The robust reading follows other data suggesting that labor demand has found its footing after a year of trade policy swings, immigration enforcement disruption and an exodus from the federal government. With revisions, March and April added 93,000 more jobs than previously reported.

  • Wages cooling further: Average hourly earnings grew 3.4 percent from a year earlier, the slowest rate since August 2021. That’s now substantially behind the rate of inflation, although it may reflect the composition of job growth, as more lower-wage jobs have been added in recent months.
  • Leisure boom: Growth was led last month by leisure and hospitality, which packed on 70,000 jobs. Some of that may have been early hiring for the World Cup as cities across the country prepared for an influx of tourists. Health care, which has been the steady fuel of job growth over the past several years, added another 35,000 positions.
  • Federal exodus slowing: The federal government was about level, after having lost about 350,000 jobs since peaking toward the end of 2024. But local government surged, adding 55,000 jobs in May, mostly outside education.
  • Warming signs: Job openings jumped in April, the Labor Department reported, and might have bottomed out at the end of last year. Initial claims for unemployment insurance have remained low, with no sign of the high-profile layoffs at companies like Meta and Cisco.
  • Enough jobs to keep spending: A relatively low unemployment rate and healthy wage growth has allowed workers to keep spending, but a spike in energy prices following the outbreak of war in the Middle East has forced them to dip into savings to meet essential needs.
  • Fed meeting incoming: The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee meets in two weeks. Some officials have become more nervous about inflation in recent months, putting the possibility of interest rate hikes on the table for this year.

New York Times, For New Graduates, Job Market Scars Could Linger for Years, Sydney Ember, June 5, 2026. The full impact of graduating into this hiring downturn will not come into focus for years, and much remains uncertain, especially about A.I.’s role.

Young college graduates are facing a gloomy economic future.

Confronting the toughest job market since the depths of the pandemic, they are likely to make less money in the long term and have more trouble advancing their careers, economists warn.

The rise of artificial intelligence also poses a new threat to the kinds of entry-level knowledge jobs that young graduates have long sought, which could further scramble employment prospects and upend career trajectories.

The result is that the current crop of recent graduates could be left with deep scars that include a reduction in earnings, diminished employment opportunities and even widespread job displacement.

“There are going to be lasting effects,” said Lisa Kahn, an economist at the University of Rochester. “The cohorts that were lucky enough to just finish a little bit earlier or a little bit later I think are going to be doing better.”

The full impact of graduating into this hiring downturn will not come into focus for years, and much remains uncertain, especially about A.I.’s role.

But history suggests that trouble lies ahead.

Economists have broadly found that workers who graduate from college during bad economies fare worse in the long run than their more fortunate counterparts.

In a seminal paper that tracked recent graduates before, during and after the recession in the early 1980s, Ms. Kahn found that “graduating from college in a bad economy has a long-run, negative impact on wages.” Though she found that the effects faded over time, a gap persisted even 15 years later, long after the economy had recovered from that downturn.

A reduction in wages occurs partly because recessions affect the quality and availability of early-career job opportunities, an in-depth 2012 study found. Because larger, higher-paying firms reduce their hiring during bad economies, many recent graduates end up taking positions at smaller, lower-paying firms at first. That thins their résumés and makes it harder to move up the ladder to better-paying jobs.

Workers who graduated from less prestigious schools or with majors that usually lead to lower-paying jobs are at a disadvantage, the study found.“During recessions, good employers stop hiring,” said Till von Wachter, an economist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an author of the 2012 study. “There’s a lot of friction in the labor market, so you never quite make it back to the top of the queue.”

The latest group of college graduates is likewise encountering an economy in flux.

Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: Why the Hell Is Gas So Expensive in California? Hint: It's not taxes or environmental fees, Robert Reich, right,June 5, 2026. Trump and his Republicans say gas is hugely expensive in California because of state taxes and fees (mostly related to the environment).

This is total rubbish. See my video, included above via the link.

New York Times, Opinion: It’s No Wonder Grads Are Booing Their Commencement Speakers, Molly Jong-Fast, June 5, 2026.  Commencement address season hasn’t been going well — for the commencement speakers.

I’m sure you’ve seen the videos on social media. The big shots who have been brought in to inspire a next generation of graduates have used their speeches as opportunities to extol the limitless possibilities that artificial intelligence will bring. They’re speaking to graduates who are entering a shaky job market and are already burdened by tens of thousands of dollars of student debt. However, companies of all stripes are using A.I. as an excuse to slow entry-level hiring and lay off workers. Tech executives have been warning (though it sometimes seems as if they are bragging) that their technologies will be job destroyers.

Gloria Caulfield, a real estate executive who spoke at the University of Central Florida’s College of Arts and Humanities, told graduates that “the rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.” Scott Borchetta, the chief executive of the record label Big Machine, told the graduates of Middle Tennessee State University that “A.I. is rewriting production as we sit here.” In each case, the students expressed their displeasure at the speakers’ blatant A.I. boosterism the best way they could: with loud boos.

When Eric Schmidt, a former chief executive of Google, told graduates at the University of Arizona about their A.I.-shaped future, the shouting got so intense that he paused and said that graduates feared “that the future has already been written, that the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating, that the climate is breaking, that politics are fractured, and that you are inheriting a mess that you did not create.” Mr. Schmidt told them to make the best of it. “The question is not whether A.I. will shape the world. It will. The question is whether you will help shape artificial intelligence.”

Mr. Schmidt’s solution to world-upending technological change is … what? To pull yourself up by your bootstraps? His approach is peak billionaire brain, directed at the young people who have, for the better part of a decade, been treated as woke, lazy, avocado-toast-eating snowflakes. All these speakers just don’t get it. The problem isn’t woke; the problem is work. It’s a lack of social mobility. It’s that college may no longer elevate a graduate to the middle class. It’s that nobody even bothers to pretend that a house, a good job and the ability to start a family are at all guaranteed.

Think of this from the graduates’ perspective: Wealthy old people telling you your future is being pulped by acres and acres of electricity-sucking, water-guzzling data centers feels dystopian because it is. Companies are trying to automate your future away. No wonder you’re furious.Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.

Young people are facing what M.I.T. Technology Review calls a “looming crisis in entry-level work,” and college, once assumed to be a prerequisite for a secure job, no longer feels worth it. The general gestalt coming from a certain sliver of affluent Americans is that college graduates are more liberal trouble than they’re worth and perhaps could be replaced by bots. Marc Andreessen, the venture capitalist and G.O.P. megadonor, mused to Joe Rogan that a bot “never gets drunk, never gets sick, never gets high” and “never files H.R. complaints.” (It never boos a smug commencement speaker, either.)

According to a recent working paper from researchers at Harvard, hiring for entry-level roles at companies that have adopted generative A.I. has dropped each quarter since 2023. What is not clear is whether A.I. is taking people’s jobs or if companies are using A.I. as an excuse for not hiring. Either way, A.I. is not exactly popular with people entering the work force for the first time.

I’ve spent the past six months obsessing about giving a commencement address to Bennington College, where I earned my M.F.A. It’s a truly bizarre moment to speak at a college, in light of the way technology is changing the work force so rapidly and the way the White House has waged war on colleges, professors and education writ large. Even in the best of times, commencement speeches are uncomfortable: The kids you’re speaking to are basically hostages; they can’t leave without their diplomas.

When I finally gave my speech on Saturday, I didn’t talk about A.I. with the Bennington graduates. I talked about the role their magical little college played in my life. Getting a master’s saved me; it gave me a bit of a foundation, perhaps a little authority in a world where I often felt like an impostor. I told the kids the truth: that I would love to give them advice about how to avoid the messiness of one’s 20s, but the messiness is the point. “That eyebrow pierce will leave a scar,” I said. “You’ll have trouble getting the barbell out and eventually someone will have to use tiny pliers to cut it out of your face.”Editors’ PicksA Spousal Connection Long Before Their Wedding DayParty Like a Swede! A Guide to Celebrating Midsummer.9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

(I worried initially that this advice might be too specific, but looking around the tent, I could see that getting a piercing out was something at least 30 percent of the graduating class would have to grapple with sooner or later.)

If I were to tell these graduates the truth about artificial intelligence, it would be this: You are right to be worried. But none of this is as inevitable as it seems. Remember putting everything on the blockchain? Remember NFTs? Hell, some of us are old enough to remember that the world was supposed to end in the year 2000.

Right now, A.I. is in its dark hype period — great for Anthropic’s I.P.O. — but who knows how useful any of this actually will be in the end in creating efficiencies (a.k.a.: replacing the youngs with bots). It’s within young people’s power to stop. Demand regulation of tech companies. Elect people who will legislate that regulation. Organize against data centers in your hometowns.  

June 4

Top Headlines

 

djt mission from godPresident Trump issues many posts a week such as the above informing his followers that he is all-powerful, often invoking such code phrases as "Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming," which is an alert to hooligans, election-deniers and insurrectionists in the QAnon cult that elections, courts and other traditional guardrails of democracy cannot withstand his extraordinary powers  and genius.

  • Thinking About, Political Opinion:Trump's Military Dictatorship Budget, Timothy Snyder, right, timothy snyderJune 4, 2026. The proposal only makes sense as a bribe. In this video, I say the obvious about Trump’s proposal to increase the military budget by nearly 50%: it’s a bribe to officers and soldiers so that they will side with him when he tries to overthrow the Constitution and stay in power indefinitely.
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Trump’s Permanency Project, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 4, 2026.Who cares about popularity when you can make elections irrelevant?
  • The Hartmann Report, Opinion: We Are All Scott Pelley, Thom Hartmann, right, thom hartmann newJune 4, 2026. We must all become truth-tellers, whether our platform is radio, TV, Substack, social media, a local newspaper, or a protest sign raised in the town square…

News Roundups

 

mtn meidas touch network

More On Trump's $1.8 Billion Taxpayer Slush Fund For Allies, Hooligans, Convicts

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Schrödinger’s Slush Fund, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 4, 2026. Earlier this week, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, the White House suggested it would cancel a planned $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund for payouts to January 6th rioters and other Trump allies.
  • Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: No, Trump's $1.776 billion slush fund isn't 'dead,' Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims, June 4, 2026. President Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund” has faced bipartisan opposition. Multiple Republicans have argued that the $1.776 billion fund, which is part of a settlement agreement in Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is a “slush fund” to reward Trump’s political allies, including rioters who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
  • Scott MacFarlane via Substack, Democrats Plan to Block Trump's Sweetheart Immunity Deal with I.R.S., Scott scott macfarlaneMacFarlane, right, June 4, 2026. Formal Proposal on Thursday Would Prohibit Sitting Presidents From Entering Immunity Deals with I.R.S.

More On Weaponizing Courts, Prosecutors To Thwart U.S. Civil Rights

 

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a leading researcher of White Nationalist and other ultra-right groups that promote hate crimes in the United States, has been indicted on fraud-related charges by the Trump Justice Department even though previous Justice Departments used the center's research for criminal investigations to protect against violence and other civil rights disruptions.The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a leading researcher of White Nationalist and other ultra-right groups that promote hate crimes in the United States, has been indicted on fraud-related charges by the Trump Justice Department even though previous Justice Departments used the center's research for criminal investigations to protect against violence and other civil rights disruptions.

  • Emptywheel, Analysis: In Superseding SPLC Indictment, DOJ Confesses They Made a Big Mistake, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 4, 2026. Days after DOJ first indicted SPLC in April, I laid out how the indictment worked. I showed several problems with the indictment’s theory of deception and argued that DOJ might be trying to criminalize SPLC’s efforts to protect their informants from the far right extremist organizations they were targeting.

U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice

 

Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

More On Trump's Health, Governance

More Supreme Court Help For Republicans Against Black, Democratic Voters

  • supreme court cropped 2021Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 3, 2026 [Court Helps Trump By Gutting Voting Rights Law, Again], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 4, 2026. Last night, in an unsigned opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded its finding in the recent Louisiana v. Callais decision. That decision overturned decades of law to declare that states could not construct majority-minority voting districts, as they had done under Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act to ensure Black voters had the opportunity to elect members of Congress who would represent the interests of the Black community.

More On U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

Los Angeles Mayoral Primary Leaders Karen Bass, the incumbent Democrat at left, and Republican challenger Spencer Pratt (Campaign photos).Los Angeles Mayoral Primary Leaders Karen Bass, the incumbent Democrat at left, and Republican challenger Spencer Pratt (Campaign photos).

More On Iran War

More On U.S. Tariffs, Inflation, Markets, Job, Economy

Top Headlines

djt mission from godPresident Trump issues many posts a week such as the above informing his followers that he is all-powerful, often invoking such code phrases as "Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming," which is an alert to hooligans, election-deniers and insurrectionists in the QAnon cult that elections, courts and other traditional guardrails of democracy cannot withstand his extraordinary powers  and genius.

tim snyder thinking about logoThinking About, Political Opinion:Trump's Military Dictatorship Budget, Timothy Snyder, right, author of best-selling historical book "On Tyranny," June 4, 2026. timothy snyderThe proposal only makes sense as a bribe. In this video, I say the obvious about Trump’s proposal to increase the military budget by nearly 50%: it’s a bribe to officers and soldiers so that they will side with him when he tries to overthrow the Constitution and stay in power indefinitely.

This is where all the evidence points. If there is any consensus about Trump, it is that he is “transactional.” There is zero evidence that he has a notion of US interests. There is abundant evidence that he understands politics as a matter of people being paid off.

And that is the framework in which to understand his proposed military budget. He is paying people off. No other explanation fits the data.

Department of Defense SealIncreasing the military budget from about a trillion dollars to about 1.5 trillion dollars makes no fiscal sense. We can’t pay for it without destroying basic government functions and soaking the American taxpayer. It makes no military sense. It is based upon no doctrinal innovation or review of technology. The “Trump-class” battleships it proposes are archaic, nonsensical, and more than a little embarrassing. The budget proposal makes no managerial sense. The Pentagon has never passed an audit, and Pete Hegseth has proven himself spectacularly unable to manage organizations of any kind. Putting an additional half a trillion dollars under his authority annually is superpower suicide.

The military budget proposal only makes political sense. But it does not make democratic political sense. It is not designed to be popular among the population at large. It makes authoritarian political sense. It is designed to popular among the people with guns who Trump imagines will help him control the population at large (and they should realize this, and they should be offended.) It shifts taxpayer money to soldiers and officers in exchange for their personal loyalty to an aspiring dictator. It is a bribe to stay in power as part of an attempt to change the regime of the United States. It is not a military budget but a military dictatorship budget.

Very often, when people say that Trump is “transactional,” they mean something like “just transactional”; he only cares about money, so in the end he cannot be that bad. But that is not where transactionalism leads: it leads to the basic reality that Trump has no notion of interests beyond his own, and will find it natural to take your money and spend it for his power.

Transactionalism, the conventional wisdom about Trump, leads to the conclusion that the military budget is a bribe for power. But if we need more evidence of the intention, it is all around us. Hegseth is purging the upper ranks of the armed services on the basis of politics. Both Hegseth and Trump speak about a future mission of the military against the “enemy within” in the “homeland.”

It’s a military dictatorship budget. 

Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Trump’s Permanency Project, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 4, 2026. bulwark morning shots logoWho cares about popularity when you can make elections irrelevant?

bulwark logo big shipThe House of Representatives delivered a remarkable rebuke to the White House yesterday, passing a war powers resolution that would require the president to withdraw forces from Iran or seek congressional approval for ongoing military action. Four Republicans broke ranks to support the measure, which now heads to the Senate.

Donald Trump wasn’t pleased. “Who would do such an unpatriotic thing,” he fumed on Truth Social. “They know where the negotiations stand. . . . They should be ashamed of themselves.”

In other words: Quit telling me to end my war! Can’t you see I’m TRYING? Happy Thursday.

 

CBS 60 minutes logo

 Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).

The Hartmann Report, Opinion: We Are All Scott Pelley, Thom Hartmann, right, thom hartmann newJune 4, 2026. We must all become truth-tellers, whether our platform is radio, TV, Substack, social media, a local newspaper, or a protest sign raised in the town square…

I started in radio news as a teenage reporter at WITL-AM/FM in Lansing, Michigan, then the number one station in the capitol city. I began reporting from the Capitol and City Hall, and was writing and reading the morning newscasts within a year.

The station owner was a hardcore Goldwater Republican, our news director was a liberal but Libertarian-curious Democrat, and I was a long-haired anti-war hippie member of MSU SDS.

I did the news there for years, and nobody ever told me how to spin it or what to insert or delete. I knew that I couldn’t bias it to reflect my own opinions: the news — accurate, factual, honest information — was sacred.

It was also the cost of our broadcast license, and we all knew it. The widely misunderstood Fairness Doctrine’s main demand was that radio and TV stations “program in the public interest” and that was widely understood to mean straightforward, reliable, faithful-to-reality news at the top and bottom of every hour on radio and an hourlong news block in prime time on TV.

We did this — and embraced the Fairness Doctrine — because we knew it was part of the price of freedom, of democracy in our republic. When Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather live in a country with newspapers and no government than in one with a government but no newspapers, he wasn’t knocking government; he’d help create ours and was its president for 8 years. He was talking about the vital importance of an honest and free press.

Part of that honesty came from the competition; there were multiple stations in Lansing and most had an in-house news operation like ours, and the ones that didn’t ran the CBS or AP radio newscast twice an hour. Honesty and clarity were essential to get and maintain an audience, as well as hanging onto our license.

Reagan ended the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 and now Trump and his oligarch enablers are trying to bury the entire concept of honest, straightforward news.

Over the past year-and-a-half we’ve watched Brendan Carr, Trump’s hitman at the FCC, go to CPAC conferences and brag about how he’s going to assault stations that say things he and Trump dislike. He’s trying to intimidate ABC affiliates into muzzling Jimmy Kimmel — again. And he succeeded in taking down Stephen Colbert.

And a Trump-adjacent billionaire nepo-baby has acquired CBS and is systematically stripping it of its journalistic integrity, starting with the evening news and now gutting the nation’s number-one news magazine show, 60 Minutes.

Storied journalist and 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley isn’t taking it lying down, even though it’s a virtual certainty that he has the standard non-disparagement clause that most media operations now require for talent which forbid them to ever speak ill of their former employer should they leave for any reason. He’ll probably get sued for it, but he’s a man committed to the truth.

Trump, Ellison, Weiss, the billionaire owners of Sinclair, the billionaire Murdoch family’s Fox “News,” the 1,000+ billionaire-owned radio stations across the country, the billionaire-subsidized podcasters, and billionaire-owned social media sites like Facebook and X that have apparently been algorithmically slanted toward Trump’s neofascist movement are all following an ancient script.

Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, and Franco all seized control of the news in their countries in their first year in power. It took both Putin and Orbán two or so years, because they wrote a new script for the takeover: sue the news outlets and reporters into bankruptcy for “defamation” or “slander,” then have friendly oligarchs take over the outlets.

Orbán even came to CPAC in Dallas to tell Republicans that they should do the same thing as he had done by turning America’s media over to rightwing billionaires. He also told the American CPAC conference in Budapest four years ago, during the Biden administration, that they should do the same in America when Republicans next seized control of the US government:

“Have your own media,” he said. “It’s the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive left. The problem is that the western media is adjusted to the leftist viewpoint. Those who taught reporters in universities already had progressive leftist principles.”

He added:

“Of course, the GOP has its media allies but they can’t compete with the mainstream liberal media. My friend Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there. His show is the most popular. What does it mean? It means programs like his should be broadcasted day and night. Or, as you say, 24/7.”

Thus, this is now the Putin/Orbán/Trump formula:

— Manufacture a crisis.— Declare an “emergency.”— Seize powers the Constitution doesn’t grant.— Bypass Congress.— Bully or ignore the courts.— Use masked, secret police and the military against your own residents.— Send people to foreign concentration camps.— Build concentration camps within the United States.— Prosecute lawyers and judges.— Assert control over universities.— Merge corporate and state interests.— Cow the media into silence about your corruption and crimes.— Then call it all “law and order.”

Trump is 18 months into his project and he’s already taken down the Voice of America, defunded PBS and NPR, seen the Washington Post and LA Times acquired by sycophantic billionaires, and turned CBS over to a nepo-baby billionaire who’s going after CNN next. As Jefferson pointed out, this is how democracies are fatally corrupted, which is apparently Trump’s and his billionaire enablers’ goal.

Combine that with a capture of the police and prosecutorial agencies of the government so, like in Putin’s Russia, they can harass and prosecute anybody who dares speak up against their destruction of our way of life and you have the classic formula for turning a democratic republic into an oligarchic dictatorship. 

News Roundups

 

mtn meidas touch network

MeidasTouch Network, Thursday Afternoon News Updates: Trump Boxed In and the World Knows It, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 4, 2026. Here are the top stories we’re tracking today:

  • Iran’s Supreme Leader declares the U.S.-Israeli military campaign a defeat, warns of “hybrid war” aimed at dividing Iranian society
  • Trump is boxed in on Iran with no clear strategy, as Lebanon ceasefire collapses within hours
  • Oil inventories hitting “tank bottom” with industry warning of catastrophic price spikes by mid-to-late June
  • Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both get torched in congressional hearings
  • Trump’s bizarre ballroom ambassador shows up at Putin’s economic forum in St. Petersburg
  • Polls continue to crater for Trump in Ohio and Iowa as DCCC data reveals massive openings in rural America
  • Judge Luttig delivers a major rebuke to the Trump presidency, exclusively on MeidasTouch
  • Rep. Jamie Raskin introduces the BLANCHE Act to block Trump’s corrupt IRS immunity deal

Iran Won’t Budge, Lebanon Burns, and the Ayatollah Is Calling Trump’s Bluff

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei addressed the Iranian people Thursday, and the message wasn’t directed inward, but rather it was directed squarely at Donald Trump. Khamenei declared that the U.S.-Israeli “system of domination” has suffered a historic military defeat and is now resorting to psychological warfare, propaganda, and attempts to sow division within Iranian society. He claimed the U.S. and Israel were using tools such as doubt, despair, fear, suspicion, and discord. He told Iranians not to fall for it. And then his office posted an AI-generated propaganda image showing Iran ascending as a great power, with the symbols of America, Israel, and imperial Rome toppled at its feet.

Iran’s envoy Dr. Mohammad Fathali called the entire U.S. military campaign a “strategic assessment failure.” He said they miscalculated Iranian society, Iranian leadership, Iranian military capability — all of it. And now Trump is frozen in this endless negotiation “loop.”

Allies and critics alike are warning that Trump has gotten himself completely boxed in. The AP is reporting that Iranian officials believe Trump is reluctant to restart bombing after depleting key weapons systems, so they have zero reason to yield to new U.S. demands. Trump wanted a bilateral deal, just the U.S. and Iran, without Lebanon in the picture. Iran said from the very beginning, in March, that a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, was their precondition for any deal. We talked about this in March. Nothing has changed on Iran’s end.

And then Trump announced a ceasefire in Lebanon. Within hours, Israeli strikes resumed. At least nine people were killed. A journalist reporting live from the Nabatieh area said there was no ceasefire, rather just a full Israeli war continuing. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called a Lebanon ceasefire “a fantasy,” said Hezbollah has grown stronger throughout this conflict, and argued that Netanyahu should have told Trump directly: we love you, but the answer is no.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. went on CNN and described Trump and Netanyahu as “lovers” who had a little “lovers’ spat.” Lovers.

Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem issued his own warning, saying as long as villages are being bombed and people are being killed, northern Israel will not be safe. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the region will never be stable until Israel withdraws from occupied areas in Lebanon.

Trump is not negotiating from a position of strength here. He’s negotiating from a position of exhaustion. And everyone can see it. 

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Republicans Oppose Trump Publicly as Trump has Worst Week of Second Term, Screwworm is Back, Trump Health Questions, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 4, 2026. Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly convinced that Trump’s support is slipping after what may have been the toughest week of his second term, and Republicans are beginning to do something we haven’t seen much of before—publicly break with him.

Meanwhile, a flesh-eating screwworm has resurfaced in the United States, the White House says it no longer needs to disclose certain Trump medications, RFK Jr. is seeking broader access to Americans’ medical records, and much more.

This afternoon, you’ll get an interview with either Governor Walz or Senator Mark Kelly (the other will run tomorrow). We’ll also be live with paid subscribers at 6:40 p.m. ET today. 

Here’s what you missed:

The President of the United States is facing what may be the most difficult week of his second term. A series of legal, political, and legislative setbacks have created growing challenges for the administration, while some observers note increasing signs of friction between the White House and congressional Republicans. Among the developments:

  • A federal court ruled that Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center was unlawful and ordered that his name be removed from the building.
  • A federal court blocked the administration’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. The proposal had also faced opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill, leading the Justice Department to abandon the initiative.
  • Congressional Republicans dropped funding for Trump’s proposed White House ballroom project, including a requested $1 billion for related security measures.
  • A federal court reopened litigation involving the IRS to examine allegations concerning possible coordination between Donald Trump and the Justice Department.
  • A Trump-endorsed candidate for governor in Iowa lost in the Republican primary, marking the first defeat of a Trump-backed candidate in the 2026 election cycle.
  • Republicans in both the House and Senate broke with the president to advance war powers resolutions intended to limit his authority to conduct military operations against Iran without congressional approval.

Taken together, these developments represent a notable string of setbacks for the president across the courts, Congress, and the political arena.

Donald Trump woke up furious at the four Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted to rein in his war powers:

djt war powers response 6 4 2026A flesh-eating parasite called the New World screwworm has been detected in a Texas calf, marking its first appearance in U.S. livestock in about 60 years. While it poses little risk to the general public and does not affect food safety, officials worry it could seriously harm cattle herds and drive up already high beef prices if it spreads. Federal and state authorities have responded with quarantines and the release of sterile flies to stop the parasite from reproducing. Officials say they are confident the outbreak can be contained before it becomes a major agricultural problem. Farmers are urging the Administration to declare a national emergency declaration to combat the outbreak:

Critics, especially Texas agriculture officials, say the federal government did not act aggressively enough despite repeated warnings. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller accused the USDA of moving too slowly and relying on a "partial solution" that would take years to fully implement, while experts pointed out that a major Texas sterile-fly production facility is not expected to be operational until 2027. By the time the first Texas case was confirmed, the parasite had already advanced from Central America through Mexico and into the U.S. cattle industry. The concern is not just about one infected calf. Experts warn that if the parasite becomes established in U.S. livestock, it could cause billions of dollars in losses, further shrink an already historically low cattle herd, and drive beef prices even higher. Their argument is that prevention would have been far cheaper and easier than trying to eradicate the pest after it crossed the border.

Questions have emerged after finasteride, a hair-loss medication that had previously appeared on Donald Trump’s medical disclosures, was omitted from his latest White House health report without explanation. The White House says the report includes all medically relevant information but has declined to clarify whether Trump still takes the drug, prompting criticism from some medical experts who argue the lack of transparency raises broader questions about the president’s health disclosures. The story also revisits longstanding concerns about Trump’s medical transparency, including past disputes over health reports, multiple visits to Walter Reed, and questions surrounding cognitive testing. Despite these concerns, the White House’s latest medical report states that Trump is in excellent health and fully fit to serve as president. This is from the Washington Post this morning:

Iran update:

Iran says negotiations with the U.S. to end the conflict have made “no tangible progress,” though communication channels remain open and both sides continue exchanging messages. Iran warned that any Israeli strike on Beirut could trigger a full resumption of the war and said its military remains prepared for further conflict.

Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed ceasefire framework that would require Hezbollah to stop attacks and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon, but Hezbollah quickly rejected the proposal as a form of surrender. Despite the ceasefire announcement, reports of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon continued, underscoring the fragility of the agreement.

Political pressure on President Trump over the Iran conflict is increasing at home, with the House passing a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at limiting his ability to continue military operations without congressional authorization. Trump criticized the vote as “unpatriotic,” while lawmakers in both chambers have shown growing willingness to challenge the administration’s handling of the war.

Other news:

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, is pursuing access to extensive state-held medical records to investigate possible links rfk jr obetween vaccines, autism, and chronic illnesses, despite decades of scientific research finding no connection between vaccines and autism. Public health officials and medical experts have raised concerns that the effort could give the federal government access to highly detailed personal health information, including doctors’ notes and prescription histories, without clear safeguards or transparency. Several state health information exchanges have resisted sharing data, questioning both the legality of the request and whether the records would provide meaningful scientific answers. The initiative has intensified concerns that the administration is prioritizing a controversial vaccine agenda while expanding federal access to sensitive medical data.

President Trump announced that he will nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, right, to become the permanent attorney Todd Blanche Ogeneral. Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney and later as deputy attorney general, took over the Justice Department after Pam Bondi was fired. During his tenure as acting attorney general, he launched investigations involving some of Trump’s political opponents and oversaw controversial initiatives, including a proposed compensation fund for people who claimed government targeting. His nomination now moves to the Senate for confirmation.

Scientists studying the 5,300-year-old mummy known as Ötzi the Iceman discovered living cold-adapted yeast in his body, showing that microbial life remains active even after thousands of years in frozen conditions. Researchers successfully grew some of the yeast and even used it to bake a sourdough loaf, demonstrating that the organisms are still viable. The study also found ancient gut bacteria that have largely disappeared from modern industrialized populations, offering clues about how human microbiomes have changed over time. Researchers say Ötzi is not simply a preserved mummy but a living microbial ecosystem that continues to provide insights into ancient human life and biology.

California’s governor’s race remains too close to call because millions of mail-in and other ballots are still being counted under the state’s lengthy vote-counting process. Early results show conservative commentator Steve Hilton leading, with former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in second place and businessman Tom Steyer trailing, but the final top two candidates advancing to November have not yet been determined. Both campaigns are urging patience as counties continue processing ballots, which could take days or weeks. The uncertainty has fueled political speculation, though election officials stress that California prioritizes accuracy and security over a rapid count. Trump, however, is already claiming fraud:

Thousands of people in Albania are protesting a proposed $1.6 billion luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner, arguing that it threatens protected coastal ecosystems and has moved forward without sufficient transparency or public input. Environmental groups say construction has already begun in sensitive habitats that support endangered wildlife, while accusing the government of bypassing normal environmental and permitting processes. Prime Minister Edi Rama has defended the project as a source of jobs, investment, and economic development, insisting it will proceed. The controversy has grown beyond environmental concerns into a broader dispute over government accountability, land use, and foreign-backed development in Albania.

A close Trump ally, Bill Pulte, right, has been selected to lead U.S. intelligence agencies despite lacking intelligence experience. The Bill Pultemove has sparked concern among former officials and some lawmakers, who fear intelligence resources could be used for political purposes. Supporters argue that Pulte is loyal, effective, and aligned with Trump’s agenda. The appointment highlights ongoing debates about the role of loyalty, expertise, and political influence in national security leadership.

FIFA has banned fans from bringing reusable water bottles into 2026 World Cup stadiums, reversing a previous FIFA 2026 world cuppolicy that allowed empty bottles. The organization says the ban is for safety reasons, but critics argue it could create problems given the high temperatures expected at many venues. Fans will have access to hydration stations and other cooling measures, though they will need to buy water inside the stadiums. Limited exceptions apply for baby formula, children’s water, and medically necessary liquids.

A shooting broke out in a parking lot after a high school graduation ceremony in Fairfield, California, killing an 18-year-old and injuring three others, including an 11-year-old child. The violence occurred shortly after Sem Yeto High School’s graduation event ended on the Fairfield High School campus. Police launched a search for the shooter and were still investigating the circumstances, with no suspect description immediately available. The tragedy shocked the local community and disrupted what had been a celebratory graduation night.

More On Trump's $1.8 Billion Taxpayer Slush Fund For Allies, Hooligans, Convicts 

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Schrödinger’s Slush Fund, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 4, 2026. Earlier this week, facing a Senate Republican mutiny, the White House suggested it would cancel a planned $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund for payouts to January 6th rioters and other Trump allies.

Yesterday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told the House Appropriations Committee that the Justice Department was “not moving forward with the fund.” But nobody involved—not the president, not the rioters, not the senators who oppose the fund—seems convinced that the idea of cash transfers to insurrectionists is really dead.

bulwark logo big shipIn an interview with the New York Post this week, Trump continued to insist that the January 6th criminals he pardoned last year “should be reimbursed for a crooked government.” Yesterday, when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked him whether the fund was dead or merely on hold, Trump dodged the question: “It’s, uh . . . I’d have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know.” He then pivoted to an extended personal attack on Collins.

Justice Department log circularMeanwhile, many of the rioters and the lawyers representing them are still holding out hope for a payout. The slush fund, after all, was just a financial mechanism for bundling their claims; Trump’s ongoing endorsement of the idea that they should get money has many thinking the Justice Department may prove more willing to settle with them individually. Peter Ticktin, a MAGA lawyer with hundreds of J6er clients, said this week he has filed claims for 200 clients and expects to file 200 more.

“As much as we’re disappointed that the plan was canceled,” Ticktin told ABC News, “right now we’re still very optimistic.”

Several senators suggested yesterday they’re not taking the administration at face value here either.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who recently lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, told reporters he wasn’t inclined to take Blanche at his word. “You want to make sure something’s dead, not just mostly dead,” the physician legislator told NOTUS, channeling his inner Billy Crystal.¹ “You want to make sure it’s really dead, and I think we can make it really dead.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) sounded a similar note. “They will call it dead so long as it is politically expedient for them to do so,” she told reporters. “We will only know that that fund, that slush fund, is dead when we make that the law that the president cannot do this.”

It’s exactly the right sentiment. If Congress has learned nothing else during the Trump era, maybe they’ve at least learned this: You’d have to be a fool to take these guys at their word.

If Congress is going to do anything to make sure the slush fund is truly dead and buried, today’s the day to do it. The Senate will be voting for hours today on amendments to its $70 billion reconciliation package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, a top legislative priority for Republicans on the Hill. It’ll be a good opportunity to see how gullible this crew still is.

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: No, Trump's $1.776 billion slush fund isn't 'dead,' Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims, June 4, 2026. President Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund” has faced bipartisan opposition. Multiple Republicans have argued that the $1.776 billion fund, which is part of a settlement agreement in Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is a “slush fund” to reward Trump’s political allies, including rioters who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

noel simsRepublican opposition to the fund delayed voting for a reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. To advance that legislation, the Trump administration wants Republican Senators and the public to believe that the fund is not moving forward.

This effort started Monday, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) posted a statement to X in response to a federal judge’s temporary order preventing the activation of the fund. In the statement, the DOJ wrote that it disagrees with the decision, but “will abide by the Court’s ruling.”

This was paired with a report from Axios citing “two senior administration officials” that said that the Trump administration would “drop its controversial $1.8 billion ‘weaponization’ fund.”

This proved insufficient for Senate Republicans. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said that Republicans would not be satisfied until the administration “shuts it down“ and makes it “very very clear.”

On Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House committee that the DOJ was “not moving forward” with the fund. U.S. House logoMany major media outlets, citing Blanche’s comments, quickly published headlines claiming that the fund was “dead” or had been “scrapped.”

Politico, for example, published an article with the headline, “‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ is dead, acting AG says.” The Washington Post published an article entitled, “Trump administration abandons $1.8 billion payout fund after revolt by GOP.” The Wall Street Journal wrote that the Trump administration was “abandoning” the fund. The Associated Press, TIME, and the Guardian all published articles with headlines claiming the fund was scrapped, while Forbes, CNBC, and NOTUS all wrote headlines stating that Blanche said that the fund was “dead.”

This is not, however, what Blanche said.

The settlement agreement between Trump and the DOJ, which created the weaponization fund, states, “This Settlement Agreement may be modified only with the written agreement of the Parties.” During his testimony, Blanche repeatedly declined to reverse the settlement in writing.

Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY): You and Associate Attorney General Woodward signed earlier documents regarding the settlement and this fund. Would both of you now sign and release documents reversing the DOJ’s position on the fund?

Blanche: We’re not moving forward with the fund. I’m not sure what that means to sign documents reversing. There’s nothing to reverse. We’re not moving forward with the fund.

Later, Meng said, “You established it in writing. So it just makes sense to rescind it in writing.” Blanche responded, “I’m not committing to doing anything in writing.”

During his testimony, Blanche indicated the Trump administration would continue to defend the fund against legal challenges, saying the administration would be “defending our rights and making sure our rights are protected.”

Further, the future of the fund depends on the position of Trump, not Blanche. Trump can replace Blanche, who is only serving in an acting capacity, at any time. Without a written reversal, Blanche could also simply say that the DOJ’s position has changed and the fund will move forward.

In a podcast interview that was taped on Tuesday, Trump was asked by host Miranda Devine if the fund was dropped. “No, a court ruled against it,” Trump said. Trump defended the fund, arguing that “these are people that have been decimated” and “they should be reimbursed for a crooked government.”

When asked Wednesday by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if the fund was dead or on hold, Trump said, “I don’t know” and said he would have to ask “the lawyers.” When Collins pressed for further clarification, Trump told her to “be quiet.”

“I love it,” Trump said of the anti-weaponization fund. “I think it’s so important.”$100 million immunity

Another important part of Trump’s settlement with the IRS remains fully intact. Trump, his family members, and their businesses are shielded from any audits or punishments by the IRS related to tax returns that were filed before the settlement became effective last month.

Todd Blanche OBlanche confirmed that this part of the settlement is still in effect during his appearance in the House on Tuesday. He defended the provision, saying, “It’s nothing that gives any sort of immunity in the future to the president or his family or his organizations.”

The release from all audits of past tax returns, however, could generate massive savings for him and his family — potentially more than $100 million. (Further, like many wealthy people, Trump typically carries deductions forward multiple years. So preventing audits of prior tax returns would likely make auditing future tax returns extremely difficult, if not impossible.)

According to the New York Times, Trump has faced an ongoing audit by the IRS since 2010, when he received a $72.9 million tax refund. The IRS suspected that Trump had written off the same losses on a Chicago hotel tower twice. If the IRS had ruled against him, Trump could have owed more than $100 million.

It is unclear whether the audit was still ongoing when the settlement was reached this year. It is also unknown whether Trump or his family were facing any other audits.Blanche’s $10 million conflict of interest

Blanche personally signed off on the settlement, even though he served as Trump’s personal defense attorney in the past. In the run-up to the 2024 election, Blanche was paid nearly $10 million by Trump’s Save America PAC to represent Trump in various legal battles.

Blanche represented Trump during the trial over Trump’s hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Although this trial resulted in Trump being convicted of 34 felonies, Blanche successfully stalled two other cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Both cases, one over Trump’s interference in the 2020 election and the other alleging that Trump illegally stored classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, were delayed until after Trump won reelection. At that point, Smith was left with little choice but to drop the cases.  

Scott MacFarlane via Substack, Democrats Plan to Block Trump's Sweetheart Immunity Deal with I.R.S., Scott MacFarlane, right, June 4, scott macfarlane2026. Formal Proposal on Thursday Would Prohibit Sitting Presidents From Entering Immunity Deals with I.R.S.

Democrats Formally Propose Plan to Halt Trump’s Sweetheart Immunity Deal with IRS,

US House Democrats will push a new plan to block the sweetheart deal to absolve President Trump from IRS audits and scrutiny. A bill introduced Thursday morning would prohibit any sitting President from entering into settlements with his or her own Administration to skirt scrutiny from the I.R.S.

The legislation, which was formally introduced by Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin, would ban sitting Presidents from “entering into settlements with the federal government for money damages.” The bill would also require independent courts or judges review any agreement that would seek to grant a President a “super pardon” or other sweeping immunity arrangements.

Raskin said, “My legislative package would end the slush fund, outlaw collusive settlements, and make clear that no President can use taxpayer dollars to cut partisan loyalty reward checks.”

Outrage over the Trump Administration’s to redirect $1.7 billion in taxpayer money into a fund for convicted crooks, fraudsters and Capitol rioters has triggered a wave of proposals to shutdown the fund. Democratic and Republican Senators were expected to offer a series of amendments and votes on Thursday to block the creation of the fund, or to prevent Capitol Insurrectionists from receiving any of the money.

Raskin’s proposal responds to a second component of the Justice Department’s controversial announcement last month: The binding agreement that absolves Trump and others associated with Trump from scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service.

Raskin’s bill is titled the Block Lawless Agreements and Nullify Corrupt Handouts and Emoluments Act, which carries the acronym BLANCHE, an unequivocal reference to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has championed the IRS provision benefiting Trump.

Trump is expected to nominate Blanche to be his nominee for the post. The slush fund and the IRS sweetheart deal endanger Republican votes for Blanche in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has already raised questions about Justice Department officials whitewashing the January 6th attack.

A report by the House Judiciary Committee argued the arrangement “Grants to Trump, his ‘related or related individuals’ and all their ‘trusts’ and ‘companies’ for ‘any matters currently pending or that could be pending” before the IRS “or other agencies or departments. In other words, Trump, his entire family and all of their businesses can never be investigated, prosecuted, fined or taxed by any agency of the federal government for any violations of federal law—criminal, civil, or administrative—they have committed.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to comment to questions from a Senate panel about whether Trump would still receive the IRS immunity agreement, even if the Administration halts its plants for the $1.7 billion slush fund. 

 

More On Weaponizing Courts, Prosecutors To Thwart U.S. Civil Rights 

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a leading researcher of White Nationalist and other ultra-right groups that promote hate crimes in the United States, has been indicted on fraud-related charges by the Trump Justice Department eventhough previous Justice Departments used their research for criminal investigations to protect civil rights.t purposes.The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a leading researcher of White Nationalist and other ultra-right groups that promote hate crimes in the United States, has been indicted on fraud-related charges by the Trump Justice Department even though previous Justice Departments used the center's research for criminal investigations to protect against violence and other civil rights disruptions.

Emptywheel, Analysis: In Superseding SPLC Indictment, DOJ Confesses They Made a Big Mistake, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 4, 2026. Days after DOJ first indicted SPLC in April, I laid out how the indictment worked. I showed several problems with the indictment’s theory of deception and argued that DOJ might be trying to criminalize SPLC’s efforts to protect their informants from the far right extremist organizations they were targeting.

After I posted it, several revelations made it clear the US Attorney involved, Kevin Davidson, had rushed his work, and in the process fucked up the indictment in several ways.

An April 17 letter disclosed as part of an effort to get Todd Blanche to correct his lies revealed that SPLC had reminded DOJ that the bank at the center of false statements claims was “aware that the SPLC was the owner of those accounts”: “As the government acknowledged during our February 26 meeting, the local bank representatives—at least—were aware that the SPLC was the owner of those accounts.” Various lawyers had pointed out material flaws in the indictment. This April 25 Andrew Weissmann post, for example, described: The Wire Fraud charges presumed that SPLC was promoting, rather than combatting, far right extremist groups. The vagueness of the Bank Fraud charges suggests DOJ is covering something else, and that charge does not reflect a year-old SCOTUS precedent limiting such crimes to false, rather than just misleading, statements. An April 28 declaration revealed that, after SPLC corrected false information DOJ had been fed by a source (claiming SPLC had deleted its informant files), DOJ belatedly subpoenaed and SPLC complied with that subpoena on April 17, just days before the indictment was returned on April 21. SPLC turned over 14,856 records to DOJ. Presumably DOJ initially charged SPLC without reviewing this closely, if at all. On April 30, Jamie Raskin wrote Davidson describing that a whistleblower had told HJC that Todd Blanche flunky Aakash Singh had ordered Davidson to rush the indictment.

According to whistleblower information provided to this Committee, Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh ordered your office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, to rush through the indictment of the SPLC, despite serious concerns about the strength of the case.

So when, on May 22, SPLC asked to extend their pretrial motion deadline because DOJ was considering superseding the indictment, I thought such a superseding indictment might fix some of these substantive problems.

Before I revisit that earlier post, showing how the indictment works, I want to share the — by far — most interesting new detail in the superseding indictment.

Buried in a description about informants F-31 and 32 — KKK members who tried to leave with SPLC’s help, whom SPLC convinced to stay and inform on the Klan — there’s a discussion of motive. (Unless one of these informants is the person IDed as F-uknown in the original indictment, they are two of the only entirely new characters in it; though the vagueness of the timing and total money spent would be consistent with that earlier reference.)

iv. An SPLC employee told F-31 and F-32 that if anyone asked where the money [from SPLC] came from, they were to say they worked for Rare Books and that their job was to help college students research and write essays. The SPLC employee told them that this was for their own safety. Neither F-31 nor F-32 ever researched or wrote any essays for any students, college or otherwise.

v. Although the SPLC employee claimed F-31 and F-32 needed to be paid as Rare Books employees for their safety, donors’ money paid to them from the SPLC operating account, through the CIA account, through the Rare Books account, and onto the pay car resulted in F-31 and F-32 being put in the type of dangerous situations that F-32 sought SPLC’s help to get away from in the first place.

This language, which could have been in the information SPLC turned over on April 17, is highly exculpatory. It makes it clear that evidence shows that all the secrecy was not an attempt to protect F-31 and F-32 from SPLC donors. On the contrary, this secrecy served to protect people who agreed to help SPLC learn more about the Klan.

DOJ offers a dumb excuse — that F-31 and F-32 wouldn’t be in danger if SPLC had just helped them remove their tattoos. Except just talking to SPLC put them in danger!

The superseding indictment, then, confirms that SPLC had a different motive than the one DOJ claims. SPLC used this secrecy to keep informants safe from the extremists they were informing on. DOJ nevertheless superseded anyway, still claiming that SPLC was trying to deceive its donors.

Now, to be clear, there are new inclusions that have right wingers frothing with glee: a claim that SPLC reimbursed F-31 and F-32 for cross burning materials; language claiming SPLC softened the language describing one of their informants so he could continue to recruit; for six years, the head of SPLC intelligence and one of the informants — the same one that SPLC warned DOJ had reason to be extremely biased before they relied on his testimony — lived together in a romantic relationship, with the informant seemingly making more than the SPLC employee.

I’m not sure any of those change the basic problem: DOJ has proof that SPLC’s motive was to protect informants, not to defraud donors.

And in spite of DOJ’s attempts to clean up the problems that Weissmann identified, all it did was change the language in the indictment (perhaps in a bid to stave off one kind of motion to dismiss), without changing the underlying lack of evidence. The superseding indictment takes out the words “and misleading” to reflect the SCOTUS precedent identified by Weissmann, but these charges appear far weaker given SPLC’s representation that, in February, prosecutors admitted the bank knew these accounts belonged to the SPLC. The superseding indictment weakens their fraud claim, now accusing SPLC of omitting material facts, in addition to making materially false claims.

But it does so in an indictment that describes SPLC trying to protect informants from the far right extremists informants were informing on, rather than misleading donors.

And all that comes on top of another problem with the superseding indictment. As I laid out in this post, there are three crimes charged: the wire fraud tied to six payments made in 2023, the false statements to a bank made in 2020, and a concealment money laundering charge trying to tie the alleged lies to the bank together to the payments to informants; Weissmann describes that the latter charge, “piggybacks on, and requires the validity of, the first bucket of fraud charges.” So you gotta have SPLC lying to confuse donors, not far right extremists, and you gotta have the bank being fooled before that charge works.

This table updates the table in my earlier post, comparing which informants the indictment chooses to talk about with those actually implicated in alleged crimes. As noted, pink F-numbers are people for whom DOJ added new details, green are people who’ve disappeared, and blue are potentially new characters. Italics mark new financial or temporal data.

As with the first indictment, DOJ jumbles the descriptions of the informants (and jumbles the order used in the first indictment), making it hard to track which payments DOJ actually says amounted to wire code.

But the treatment of the six money laundering payments in the superseding indictment further undermines that SPLC was duping donors by paying actual far right extremists, because several more of them are revealed to be informants. The six recipients are:

F-9: The original indictment claimed that F-9 “was affiliated” with a bunch of Neo-Nazi organizations. The superseding indictment not only reveals that F-9 was romantically involved with another SPLC staffer, but it makes clear that “At the direction of the SPLC, F-9 infiltrated” those Neo-Nazi organizations. [my emphasis] F-11: While the F-11 payment is still among the six wire fraud charges, the superseding indictment takes out language — “the SPLC funnl[ed] more than $160,,000.00 from a fictitious entity to F-11 who then sent funds to various violent extremist group leaders” — describing F-11 as a kind of cut-out, possibly paying for information from extremists who didn’t know they were tied to SPLC. F-35: As with the original indictment, there’s no description of what F-35 was doing, or whether they were paying for information or infiltrating a right wing group. F-40: As with F-35, there’s no description of who or what F-40 was, just that they got an ACH payment in 2023. F-42: Both indictments describe that F-42 was “the former chairman” of the National Alliance. What they don’t say is whether he was still personally participating in right wing extremism during the years he was informing for SPLC (or whether SPLC was paying someone who had left the movement as a kind of expert insider). But what they do reveal is that one of the ways he got paid was via checks (in addition to the ACH payments that cannot possibly defraud the bank). F-37: Unite the Right infiltrator

F-37 deserves particular attention, because it really demonstrates the fraud DOJ is engaged in. F-37 was the first person introduced in the original indictment, described unequivocally as “a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Virginia and attended the event at the direction of the SPLC. DOJ used F-37’s role in Unite the Right to get right wingers riled up about fedsurrection, disclaiming the very real organizing right wing extremists did to set up the Charlottesville rally.

In the superseding indictment, though, DOJ buries F-37, making him the sixth informant described. Perhaps that’s because the description now begins by admitting, “F-37 was not involved in an extremist organization before F-37 reached out the SPLC seeking employment.”

That is, F-37 — the cornerstone of the first indictment — turns out to be precisely what everyone knows SPLC always used, informants, people who got a job with SPLC working as an informant.

This is critically important because one point of this exercise has always been to claim that SPLC fraudulently juiced their fundraising with their very important Unite the Right reporting. And indeed, the superseding indictment adds language to that effect:

The “Unite the Right” rally led to massive fundraising windfall for the SPLC with open-source media reporting that the SPLC more than doubled their previous year’s reported revenue from private and corporate donations following the “Unite the Right” rally.

In reality, however, this superseding indictment confirms things worked exactly like they were supposed to. SPLC cultivated an infiltrator for three years before Unite the Right (and kept paying him for six years afterwards), and because they did that, SPLC gave donors precisely what they wanted: insight into the far right surge that coincided with Trump’s installation.

And donors paid for that.

This indictment doesn’t help DOJ save this case. What it does is corroborate the whistleblower who told Raskin that Todd Blanche’s office forced prosecutors to charge this before checking on basic things … like whether SPLC explained they were engaged in all this secrecy to protect informants, as everyone believes.

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice

 

Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The Authoritarianism Accelerates, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 4, 2026. Last night, President Trump announced at a dinner in what used to be the Rose Garden that he would be nominating acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to hold that post in a full capacity. As Trump put it, “we are going to make him permanent attorney general.”

It’s an interesting formulation. Trump can’t actually “make” Blanche attorney general. That will require Senate confirmation, which could well be problematic. And moving up from acting attorney general doesn’t make you “permanent attorney general.” Unless bulwark logo big shipTrump plans to remain permanent president.

Which, it seems, is something Trump increasingly seems to have in mind.

In his two months as acting attorney general, Blanche has gone out of his way to show Trump, conspicuously and publicly, his unsparing commitment to the autocrat’s precept: “For my friends, everything; for my enemies the law.” From the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, to the authorization of a sweeping investigation of former law enforcement and intelligence officials allegedly engaged in a decade-long conspiracy against Trump, to the attempt to establish a $1.776 billion slush fund for Trump’s allies and supporters, to his earlier work on the Epstein coverup—Todd Blanche has done what Trump wants. Trump’s announcement last night sends the signal that such an effort will be recognized and rewarded.

Todd Blanche OTrump’s announcement of his intention to promote Blanche came hard on the heels of Trump’s selection Tuesday of his spectacularly unqualified but fervently loyal henchman, Bill Pulte, to be acting Director of National Intelligence. And the last few days have also seen progress, if that’s the word, in the ongoing Trumpification of other key national security agencies. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has intervened in unprecedented ways in the selection of senior military officers, and has also put a 24-year-old convicted January 6th rioter in a counterterrorism job at the Pentagon. Trump has also been increasingly strident in recent days in his defense of what he and his supporters attempted on January 6, 2021. And in testimony to Congress, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has refused to commit to obeying court orders. This led senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to comment, “If you’re a Republican or a Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out.” Just yesterday, Trump signed an executive order converting some 8,000 career, non-partisan civil service positions into political appointments, making those employees hirable and fireable at will.

We all should be “really, really freaked out.” Because it’s clear that Trump’s power grab over the executive branch is not just proceeding apace, but is intensifying. Yes, Trump is less popular than he used to be, and he has less of an absolute sway over Republican members of Congress than he once did. But this seems to be causing not hesitation on Trump’s part, but an intensification of his power-grabbing efforts. He seems no longer to care much about political backlash, or electoral consequences. As he said last week, “I don’t care about the midterms.” It’s almost as if he doesn’t expect elections to matter because he’s not going to do everything he can to allow them not to matter.

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Trump seems to be at the stage of his authoritarian project when the mask comes off, when he increasingly disdains to conceal his aims. Trump has always presented himself as the tribune of the people. But yesterday he posted on Truth Social:

Communists always do well with the Voters or, as they would say, THE PEOPLE, in the Early Years! But, in the end, the Country, State, or City, GOES TO HELL! Great Violence proceeds at levels never seen before, and the entity dissolves into Poverty, Squalor, and Crime. Remember, breathtaking ‘Popularity’ first, and then, guaranteed DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!

This professed disdain by Trump for the “Voters or, as they would say, THE PEOPLE” is striking. Trump has been a fantastically successful demagogue, a master flatterer of the people. But at some point in an authoritarian takeover, one has to explain why one is taking over power despite or against the wishes of the people. What we are seeing is a president who is going full steam ahead on his centralization of power in a way that should make one doubt he intends to give it up—whether over the next two years, whatever a Democratic Congress tries to do, or in 2028, whatever the people try to do at the polls.

Many of the authoritarian efforts of Trump and his apparatchiks remain in the shadows, to be sure. But he wants to accustom his supporters to the idea that the opposition is thwarting him and that he may therefore need to take extraordinary measures. Trump didn’t have to nominate Blanche as “permanent” attorney general. Blanche can stay in the job as acting attorney general, with all the powers of a “permanent attorney general,” for quite a while. Trump wants these public fights. Authoritarianism needs to come into the daylight in order to socialize the acceptance not just of particular measures, but of the overall project, and to justify what might need to be done to seize power or stay in power in order to defeat the “Communists” who have seduced the people.

Over the past century, in many nations, fascist movements and authoritarian coups have sought justification in the need to save their respective countries from the Communists. One hopes and trusts that American exceptionalism will win out, and that we will not go down in history as merely another chapter in this sad story. We’re in no way destined to succumb to such a fate. 

New York Times, Trump’s plan to nominate Blanche could set off a bruising confirmation battle, Staff Report, June 4, 2026. President Trump has indicated that he plans to nominate the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, to take on the role on a permanent basis, the latest move by the president to place loyalists in top jobs across the government.

Dan Scavino, one of Mr. Trump’s most trusted advisers, posted a video of the president announcing the plan on Wednesday night.

“Tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which is going to go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Blanche in the video.

If Mr. Trump follows through and formally nominates Mr. Blanche to the post, it would likely set off a bruising confirmation battle in the Senate.

Todd Blanche OMr. Trump and Mr. Blanche, left, have faced a backlash over the president’s plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to use taxpayer money to pay his allies who claim they have been politically persecuted.

Also this week, Mr. Trump named Bill Pulte, who has pressed for investigations into the president’s foes, to serve as the acting director of national intelligence, giving him oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Mr. Pulte, who leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no known background in intelligence, defense or national security. He has been among the most aggressive advocates for prosecuting Democrats and others perceived by Mr. Trump as having crossed him.

His appointment led Democrats to threaten to hold up reauthorization of a surveillance program used to guard against national security threats.

New York Times, News Analysis: Republicans Begin to Test the Limits of Trump’s Power by Flexing Their Own, Katie Rogers, June 4, 2026 (print ed.). The president’s unilateral and retributive style of governing is starting to hit a wall in both chambers of Congress.

On a tour through Asia last fall, President Trump took a moment on the world stage to celebrate a legislative victory at home: After months of iron-fisted pressure, he had compelled Republicans to pass legislation that cut taxes and slashed into the country’s social safety net.

“I said, ‘Put it all into one bill, and if we get it done, we’re done for four years,’” Mr. Trump said during an October speech in Tokyo. “We don’t need anything more from Congress in terms of that.”

Ever since, Mr. Trump has been intent on testing that theory, daring lawmakers to defy him and doing his best to vanquish them from office if they do. But after a retributive romp through primary season, Mr. Trump’s style of governing — unilateral, and often impatient — has collided with restive Republicans who seem to be exacting some political vengeance of their own.

On Wednesday evening, four House Republicans sided with Democrats to demand Mr. Trump withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran or win approval from Congress, rebuking a president who has repeatedly said he does not need congressional authorization to continue the conflict.

That came on the heels of another high-profile setback: a Republican revolt against a $1.8 billion fund to reward Trump supporters who claim political persecution by Democrats. Many Republican senators had indicated that they would not move forward with plans to fund Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda unless those plans were axed. This week, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said that the administration would abandon the effort.

But on Wednesday, just as the Senate moved to debate an immigration bill that they had held up because of the fund, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he wasn’t quite sure if the fund was dead or on hold.

“I love it,” he told a reporter who asked about the pot of money, effectively jamming his foot in the way of a door lawmakers had hoped to close. “I think it’s so important.”

No wonder Republicans want to put something in writing.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican whom Mr. Trump helped dispatch during the primaries, shared a Wall Street Journal editorial on social media earlier in the day, calling on Congress to pass legislation to kill the fund.

“The way to ensure the Trump retribution fund is more than mostly dead would be for Congress to put a stake through it,” Mr. Cornyn wrote, echoing the editorial.

(The senator, who has been posting up a storm about the concept of betrayal in recent days, added the word “retribution,” which did not appear in that sentence in the editorial. Last week, he shared a fable about a frog who was wronged by a scorpion.)

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted in favor of impeaching Mr. Trump in 2021 and lost his primary, also supports legislation that would kill the fund. “You want to make sure it’s really dead,” he told reporters.

On a tour through Asia last fall, President Trump took a moment on the world stage to celebrate a legislative victory at home: After months of iron-fisted pressure, he had compelled Republicans to pass legislation that cut taxes and slashed into the country’s social safety net.

“I said, ‘Put it all into one bill, and if we get it done, we’re done for four years,’” Mr. Trump said during an October speech in Tokyo. “We don’t need anything more from Congress in terms of that.”

Ever since, Mr. Trump has been intent on testing that theory, daring lawmakers to defy him and doing his best to vanquish them from office if they do. But after a retributive romp through primary season, Mr. Trump’s style of governing — unilateral, and often impatient — has collided with restive Republicans who seem to be exacting some political vengeance of their own.

On Wednesday evening, four House Republicans sided with Democrats to demand Mr. Trump withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran or win approval from Congress, rebuking a president who has repeatedly said he does not need congressional authorization to continue the conflict.

That came on the heels of another high-profile setback: a Republican revolt against a $1.8 billion fund to reward Trump supporters who claim political persecution by Democrats. Many Republican senators had indicated that they would not move forward with plans to fund Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda unless those plans were axed. This week, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said that the administration would abandon the effort.

But on Wednesday, just as the Senate moved to debate an immigration bill that they had held up because of the fund, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he wasn’t quite sure if the fund was dead or on hold.

“I love it,” he told a reporter who asked about the pot of money, effectively jamming his foot in the way of a door lawmakers had hoped to close. “I think it’s so important.”

No wonder Republicans want to put something in writing.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican whom Mr. Trump helped dispatch during the primaries, shared a Wall Street Journal editorial on social media earlier in the day, calling on Congress to pass legislation to kill the fund.

“The way to ensure the Trump retribution fund is more than mostly dead would be for Congress to put a stake through it,” Mr. Cornyn wrote, echoing the editorial.

(The senator, who has been posting up a storm about the concept of betrayal in recent days, added the word “retribution,” which did not appear in that sentence in the editorial. Last week, he shared a fable about a frog who was wronged by a scorpion.)

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted in favor of impeaching Mr. Trump in 2021 and lost his primary, also supports legislation that would kill the fund. “You want to make sure it’s really dead,” he told reporters.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • Tell Me How the Iran War Ends… MARK HERTLING asks: What are we fighting for?
  • Why Stone-Faced Fascists Keep Getting Antiquity Wrong… Online bigotry masquerades as a love of history in the fever swamps of Elon Musk’s X, writes BRET DEVEREAUX.
  • The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy… On the flagship pod, LUKE RUSSERT and JOSH TUREK join TIM MILLER to discuss why it sure feels like there’s a vast right wing conspiracy to try and take over the media.

Quick Hits

YANK PULTE OR STOP SPYING: For Senate Democrats, reauthorizing America’s broad post-9/11 spying programs is one thing—and reauthorizing them with a Trump hatchet man like Bill Pulte in the government’s top intel position is quite another. Punchbowl News reports that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, met with Majority Leader John Thune Tuesday to urge him to press Trump to change his mind on Pulte. If he refuses, Warner said, Democrats may be forced to tank a bill under consideration to extend the administration’s FISA 702 intelligence authorities. Here’s Punchbowl:

Democrats believe they’d be doing Republicans a favor because they also see Pulte as unqualified for the job, even if few openly say it. As we scooped Tuesday, the White House had indicated to top Republicans that Aaron Lukas, whom Trump announced as the acting DNI 12 days ago, would remain in the role for an extended period. Senate Republicans felt blindsided.

Despite Republicans’ concerns about Pulte, many argued Tuesday that reauthorizing Section 702 shouldn’t be “conflated” with his appointment. . . .

But Democrats have leverage here. Republicans can’t pass a FISA reauthorization on their own. With a handful of GOP senators expected to oppose any FISA agreement, Thune would likely need at least a dozen Democrats to support the bill. . . . That’s where Warner comes in. As his party has grown more antagonistic toward the surveillance authority, the Virginia Democrat is seen by Republicans as a crucial ally who can deliver Democratic votes.

Read the whole thing—and watch this space. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

CEASEFIRE, DESPITE ALL THE FIRING: Despite Iran’s strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait Tuesday and American strikes against Iran’s Qeshm Island, the Trump administration yesterday maintained that nothing fundamental has changed: The war against Iran is over, the ceasefire holds, and negotiations with Iran are ongoing.

“Epic Fury has concluded,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a House committee in testimony yesterday. “We’re no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military because Epic Fury is over.”

It’s an argument the White House is politically obliged to make: If Epic Fury were still ongoing, the administration would have been compelled by law to seek congressional authorization for its continuance weeks ago. But the distinction is largely one of scale and definition only, with Iran and American forces continuing to trade missile barrages that both sides insist on describing as “defensive strikes.”

Meanwhile, negotiators remain hung up on the same roadblocks as ever: In addition to the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program, Trump has grown skittish about granting Iran sanctions relief after a reported preliminary deal that would have freed up billions for Iran sparked backlash among Republicans last week. Trump is eager, CNN reports, “to strike a deal that will be viewed as superior to a prior agreement inked during the Obama administration.”

TINKERER IN CHIEF: As early as March of last year, we were already remarking on the remarkable amount of time Donald Trump was spending on vanity projects like shaking up the Kennedy Center and redecorating the White House relative to working on his actual political agenda. At the time, we considered this a good thing: “Every minute spent critiquing the upholstery in the Kennedy concert hall is one less minute the president has to search out new beefs with Canada or personally vet FBI agents to no-knock Liz Cheney’s home.”

We stand by the sentiment—but even we have to admit this stuff’s getting ridiculous. Yesterday, the president summoned reporters to the Oval Office for a major announcement: The resurfacing of the bottom of the reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial was nearly complete. He even had bizarre props on hand: “Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers,” read the giant posterboard printout Trump brandished, boasting that the reflecting pool is longer than the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center are tall. (This is, of course, true of many bodies of water, both natural and artificial.)

Trump was equally exultant on Truth Social: “Excitingly, the final coat of protection will be completed on the Reflecting Pool . . . at 4 P.M. today,” he posted shortly before that hour. “The water will start flowing, shortly thereafter. The walking paths outside of the Pool will, likewise, be cleaned, sandblasted, and finished soon. This will be the first time since the day it was built, 1922, that it has worked, and worked wonderfully, indeed!” Our long national nightmare, it seems, is finally at an end. Thank you, Mr. President!

More On Trump's Health, Governance

helen delaney reese djtHeather Delaney Reese, Commentary, Donald Trump knows he’s losing control, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 4, 2026. At 3:50 p.m. today, the President of the United States suddenly reappeared after not being seen at any public events since his visit to Walter Reed Medical Center over a week ago. With bad news mounting all around him and questions surrounding his declining health growing louder by the day, Donald Trump was forced to make an appearance.

And for 43 minutes, Trump and his enablers attempted to present a powerful, in-control leader (as shown below). But all the world saw was a paranoid man praising an authoritarian leader as “a friend of mine, a good man,” attacking a journalist as “a young, beautiful woman who never smiles” with “hatred in her eyes,” and desperately trying to maintain the illusion that everything was under control.

djt collage june 3 2026And it started, of all things, with pictures of Trump’s current favorite project: the reflecting pool. Before he signed a single thing or took a single question, the President spent the first several minutes of his reappearance talking about the reflecting pool on the National Mall. He described its length. He asked his staff to bring him a picture, comparing it to some of the tallest buildings in the world. He talked about the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and the Sears Tower as if a flat pool of water were a skyscraper standing upright. He told the cameras it would be “American flag blue” and bragged about how many truckloads of garbage had been pulled out of it. This is what the man who had vanished from public view for over a week chose to lead with. Not his disappearance, health, or the mounting crises facing the country. A pool.

And from there, his rambling took him to the part that was truly disgusting and told us everything about what we are dealing with. He started describing the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most important speeches in modern American history, and used it to claim that his own crowd had been bigger. “They said he had a million people and I had 25,000 people,” he said, before insisting that if you put the pictures side by side, “I had more people. They were tighter. My people were tighter.”

For Trump, everything is a competition because everything is insecurity. Looking out over the reflecting pool where Dr. King spoke of justice, equality, and the unfinished promise of American democracy, Trump’s mind immediately went to crowd size. Not the speech. Not the movement. Not the courage it took to stand there in 1963 and demand that America live up to its ideals. The only thing he could think about was whether he looked bigger. And the men standing beside him just nodded and smiled along.

Because the actual business was real, and serious, and buried beneath all of it. He signed two executive orders. One reshapes customs enforcement. The other strips long-standing job protections from roughly 8,000 senior federal workers, making them fireable at will, the kind of move that allows an administration to purge experienced civil servants and replace them with political loyalists. Those protections exist for a reason. They help ensure that government officials answer to the law, the Constitution, and the public rather than to the personal demands of a president. Remove those safeguards, and competence becomes less important than obedience. Dissent becomes a firing offense. And the people responsible for telling the truth inside government learn very quickly that their jobs depend on telling the leader what he wants to hear.

From there, it became all about his grievances. He attacked the judge who ruled against his anti-weaponization fund, dismissing the decision as the work of “a radical left judge.” He cast himself as a victim over and over again over the search of his own home, expecting sympathy. And when a reporter asked him about the 1.776 billion dollar slush fund, he simply said, “I love it. I think it’s so important.”

Then he moved on to reframing his war in Iran. After launching strikes on Iran without congressional approval, he wanted us to believe it was barely a war at all. “It’s not a big thing for us,” he said. “We have a great military. It’s not a big thing for us.” And in the same breath, he assured us the stock market was soaring, retirement accounts were booming, and costs were coming down. The war is nothing. The economy is perfect. And if your grocery bill says otherwise, you’re apparently supposed to distrust your own eyes.

And then he drifted into communism. He had posted about it earlier today on Truth Social, and he was clearly proud of it. “Has anyone ever seen a Happy Communist?” read the first post. The second was longer: “Communists always do well with the Voters or, as they would say, THE PEOPLE, in the Early Years! But, in the end, the Country, State, or City, GOES TO HELL!” When a reporter read his own words back to him, he lit up. “I just wrote that,” he said. “Did you like it? Did you think it was well written?” He was desperate for praise. This was a very embarrassing moment for the president for the world to see.

Then came the familiar routine. He called New York, Los Angeles, and parts of California communist. He acted out, in the first person, what he imagined a communist demagogue would say: “You’ll no longer pay rent.” “I’ll end your mortgage.” “I’m going to give you free food.” “Follow me. You’re going to have the greatest life ever.” He performed the villain in a one-man show. He called the governor of Illinois “a slob.” He called the mayor of Chicago “a low IQ person.” He went city by city, tearing down the country he leads, cataloging the places he claims are failing, before once again casting himself as the lone man capable of saving them.

And then, in the middle of all of it, he just stopped. There was no conclusion. No natural ending. He was still talking, still wandering through one grievance after another, and then suddenly: “Thank you very much, everybody.” Almost immediately, his staff sprang into motion. “Thank you, press. Thank you, press.” Reporters were ushered out. The room was cleared. And Trump remained seated behind the desk with a blank expression, his shoulders slumped, his body seeming to sink into the chair.

We have seen this sequence before. Something changes, and suddenly the event is over. The room clears. The staff moves quickly. The same phrases are repeated, almost like a rehearsed signal. We don’t know what triggers it. It could be a physical issue or a cognitive one. But what we do know is that it isn’t how normal press events end. It isn’t how presidents typically conclude appearances. And it keeps happening often enough that the people around him appear to know exactly what to do the moment it does.

Because somewhere in that rant, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins was standing there doing her job, and he went after her. He called CNN “crooked as hell” and “a very corrupt organization.” He called the network garbage. He looked at her and said she “never smiles,” that she is “a young, beautiful woman” who stands there “with hatred in her eyes.” When she tried to speak, he snapped, “Wait a minute. Be quiet.” He told her, “You should be ashamed of yourself.” He kept calling Democrats the “dum-o-crats.” And then he said the thing that I cannot stop thinking about. Talking about Democrats, and talking about her, he said, “There’s something wrong with them. There’s something wrong with you.”

He said there was something wrong with them while he sat there with his left hand gripping his right, holding it down. His face puffy and his right eye swollen and nearly shut at times while he was walking. He kept slurring his speech and then snapping back. He would erupt, and then go flat and monotone, and then erupt again. It was hard to watch as a human being and not be embarrassed for him. But it was even harder to watch as an American, to think about everyone who has ever fought for this country, and to realize that after nearly 250 years of democratic self-government, this is who we are presenting to the world as our leader.

And we have to ask why. Why, with the news this bad all around him, with his own party breaking from him in public, with the questions about his health getting louder by the hour, did he spend his first appearance in over a week attacking a reporter for not smiling? And the answer is the simplest one. He is trying to discredit the people whose job is to tell us what is happening, because what is happening is so bad for him. If he can make us distrust the press, then it does not matter what the press reports. That is the whole game.

And here is what we have to understand about that game, because it is bigger than one reporter and one bad afternoon. When an authoritarian can no longer reliably deliver his own propaganda, when the man himself is slurring his words and drifting and being hurried out of rooms, the machine around him does not stop needing the propaganda. It just needs someone else to deliver it. And so it reaches for the institutions that used to belong to all of us. It commandeers the media.

We watched it happen this week at CBS. Scott Pelley, who gave that network 37 years, was fired. One day earlier, in a staff meeting, he had accused the new leadership of “murdering the show,” the show being 60 Minutes, a program known for its accountability journalism. And then he put out a written statement that confirmed most of our worst fears. He said new management had instructed him to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. He said he had been told to include claims that were unverified, and that so far he had refused. He said politicians were being invited to choose which correspondents would interview them. And he said the network’s new owner was casting the program aside, in his words, to “curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

CBS is gone now. Their independence and credibility are gone with it. And we will most likely lose CNN too. They will not stop. We are going to keep losing these mainstream outlets, one by one, because the people who own them have done the math. It is easier to make money telling people what a strongman wants them to hear than it is to make money telling the truth. The truth has no oligarch behind it. The lie has very deep pockets. And the men running these companies have watched how this President rewards loyalty and punishes the rest, and they have decided to grab what they can while the grabbing is good, even if they do not believe it will last. They do not care if it lasts. They care about right now.

Thank you to those of you who support this work with a paid membership. Your $5 a month is what allows me to keep writing every day and, just as importantly, to keep these posts free and accessible to everyone. Those who can pay are the reason those who can’t still have access. And right now, with so much at stake heading into the midterms, that matters more than ever. If you’re in a position to join, I’d be grateful to have you with us.Subscribed

So the work is going to fall, more and more, on the people who do not have the deep pockets. The independent journalists. The investigative reporters. The writers and the creators who keep showing up, often at real cost to themselves, on the dark days, especially. And our country cannot survive if those voices go quiet, because a country where the people do not know what is being done to them is not a free country. You can already see what the lack of knowledge does. There are people all around us who have no real idea what is actually happening. And the ones who go looking for the truth are increasingly finding only the version someone was paid to feed them.

I made a promise when I started writing these posts. Every time this administration attacked the press, attacked the First Amendment, attacked the right of the American people to speak truth to power, I would call it out by name. Today, Trump did just that. And I am calling it out. This was an attack on our right to know about the destruction to our country being carried out by this administration. He was sending a direct message to all journalists and members of the media. I will come for you too. And to the public, he is saying, you can’t trust a single thing the media tells you. Our answer has to be that we won’t back down and we will support those still speaking out and reporting the truth.

Our way through this time in history is to put our money where our voices are. Every time this administration attacks the First Amendment, we respond by funding the people defending it. That is the most direct form of resistance available to us right now. Independent media is how the truth stays alive when every other system is being captured. I have written every single night for a year with no corporate backing or sponsorship money. No one who could reach into what I write and change a word of it. Every post I write is free for everyone, because the truth should not be behind a paywall. But that is only possible because of the people who choose to support this work with a paid membership, who understand what is at stake, and who choose to support it. Thank you for being with me in the resistance.

And tonight I’m asking you, once again, to think beyond just my voice. Think about every writer, every journalist, every podcaster, every independent outlet that you turn to when you need the truth. The ones who are still standing up to endless attacks in our email inboxes and under greater pressure from the federal government. The ones still posting even when doing so comes at great cost. Because what this administration is trying to build requires our silence. And the most powerful thing we can do right now is make sure the people refusing to be silent can keep going. Every paid subscription to an independent voice is a vote against everything Trump and his enablers say and do.

And the reason Trump is behaving like he is with increasing desperation is because the same day that the President of the United States was attacking a journalist and her network, the House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution telling him to end his war in Iran. It passed 215 to 208. And four Republicans crossed over and voted for it.

It still needs the Senate, and on paper, it is largely symbolic. But that is not the point. The point is that members of his own party finally broke ranks in public and voted against him. This is Trump’s greatest fear: disloyalty. People saying no. People realizing they have more to fear from their constituents than from him. That is what made this man so agitated at today’s event.

Because that is what he is doing now. He is pushing people past their breaking point. And the cruelty of this man, the paranoia, the way even the smallest perception of disloyalty has become unforgivable to him, is starting to cost him the very people who used to protect him. They are watching him slur and drift and lash out, and they are doing the math too. And one by one, they are starting to step away. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too. 

Hopium Chronicles, Advocacy and Opinion: Trump Is In A Period Of Profound Political Decline, Democrats Are Fielding Strong Candidates Across The Country, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookJune 4, 2026. The House rebuked Trump on both Iran and Ukraine yesterday. It was another day of remarkable losses for our ailing, addled, failure of a leader......

The proud, plucky patriots of this remarkable community gathered last night for our regular Wednesday look at our great battle against MAGA and for freedom and democracy. As they usually are, it was a lively affair, full of passionate chat and terrific questions. A video recording and rough transcript are above.

But before we get into the details of my talk let us marvel at this remarkable sight being seen throughout the Republican political universe this morning…. Here is some of what we talked about last night:

ohio senate poll fox june 2026

Trump Is In A Period Of Profound Political Decline. The Opposition Is Getting Stronger, Bigger, and More Ambitious. Little cracks have become big cracks my friends. Between the courts and Congress in recent weeks Trump has lost on the Kennedy Center, his ballroom, his slush fund, his tariffs, and now on his approach to the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

The Ukrainians and Iranians are now winning their wars against Putin and his [Trump's] regime, and refusing to lose. He had to retreat from Minnesota, and fire Bovino and Noem. His close ally Orban was routed in Hungary. He was humiliated in djt maga hatChina, yielding to a stronger and more capable leader -- as he so often does, the coward that he is. His “Board of Peace” has become a global joke. Inflation is not bending the knee and the Federal Reserve is now more likely to raise interest rates than to cut them. Consumer sentiment is at at a 65 year low. His polling continues to drop. Democrats continue to see heightened performance in elections across the country. His candidate lost in the primary for Iowa governor on Tuesday night, a potentially deeply consequential loss. His successful efforts to defeat, and not re-elect, two well-regarded, influential Senate Republicans has permanently, and potentially dangerously, damaged his standing on the Hill. His new picks for ODNI and AG are tone deaf, impulsive, self-indulgent mistakes, new, fresh signs of his ebbing powers, increasingly paranoia, and narrowing circle. He keeps failing asleep at events he is hosting, and his medical reports have become something out of Monty Python.

Here’s the homepage of the New York Times this morning:

djt bad news trump nyt 6 4 2026

The U.S. House of Representatives advanced legislation on June 3 that would provide billions of dollars in military assistance to Ukraine, overcoming opposition from President Donald Trump’s administration and setting up a final vote on the measure the following day.

Lawmakers approved a procedural motion by a vote of 218-204, allowing the Ukraine Support Act to move forward despite opposition from Republican leadership. Six Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure.

Introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the bill would provide $8 billion in military financing for Ukraine, extend the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2027, and impose additional sanctions on Russia.

The vote marked the first major Ukraine aid measure to gain significant momentum in Congress since Trump’s return to the White House.

The legislation had previously stalled after House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to consider it, reflecting Republican reluctance to continue U.S. support for Ukraine. Republican lawmakers have increasingly sided with Trump on Ukraine, contributing to a softer stance toward Moscow and a more skeptical approach to aid for Kyiv.

The House will take a final vote on HR 2913 today. Please make your calls people! Here are our working recommendations for things to call your Senators and Reps about today:

  • Pass HR 2913, the Ukraine Support Act, in the House today, and eventually get something like it through the US Senate
  • Encourage lawmakers to bring the successful war powers votes on Iran into a single package, and force Trump to veto it
  • No to the big Senate ICE/CPB funding bill that gives DHS years of funding with no reform of the out of control agency (votes could begin today)
  • No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……
  • No to Bill Pulte, a reckless and dangerous pick to lead the US intelligence community in a time of conflict and war.
  • No to his mob lawyer, Todd Blanche, for Attorney General 

 

donald trump money palmer report Custom

Lincoln Square Media, Opinion: Trump's Elite Enablers, Stuart Stevens, right, June 4, 2026. To advance in today’s GOP, you must assert what fifth-graders know to be untrue.stuart stevens mit

We talk a lot about the degrading compromises required of Republican elected officials in the Trump era. But the politicians are only the tiny tip of a vast political ecosystem. Behind those elected officials is a billion-dollar campaign industry of consultants and staff who make the ads, organize the events, write the speeches. They fill the roles that winning campaigns require.

lincoln square media logoFor a long time, I was part of that world.

I was lucky in who I got to work for. Candidates like Governor Bill Weld in Massachusetts. Governor Tom Ridge in Pennsylvania. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. Agree or disagree with their politics, they were decent human beings who never would have danced with the devil of deliberate cruelty and racism that is now the entry fee to the Republican Party.

Never miss a column or show from Stuart Stevens. Become a Lincoln Loyal paid subscriber today.Subscribed

I was thinking about this while listening to Ezra Klein’s interview with Liam Donovan. Ezra was asking the question: does Donald Trump want to lose the midterm elections?

Liam is one of those uniquely Washington professionals who did a stint at the Republican Senatorial Committee and moved on to become a lobbyist, trading off his connections to Republican Senators. I wouldn’t really consider him a campaign guy, but in the Trump years, he’s often called on as a smart Republican insider to try and interpret the insanity of Trumpworld to the sane world.

I don’t know Liam Donovan, but I know his boss, Zac Moffit, the founder of Targeted Victory, where Liam works. Zac worked on the Romney 2012 campaign, where he directed its digital strategy. His firm was relatively new in 2012, but since then, Targeted Victory has grown into a large and prosperous hybrid digital/lobbying/public affairs company. Which isn’t surprising. The scouting report on Zac would have tagged him as a first-round draft pick. Smart, engaging, focused, who came up through former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office.

Now he’s a Trump guy.

Through a cultural and class filter, Zac and Liam Donovan could not be more distinct from former 2020 Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, most memorably last seen as cops pushed him into the back of a squad car, handcuffed in his underwear, responding to a 911 call from his wife. I’m betting Zac and Liam would wince at being labeled Trumpers and lumped together with the freaks and oddballs Trump has pushed into prominence.

But the sad truth is that if you came to Trump reluctantly holding your nose or ran into his embrace as the white Christian nationalist savior, it doesn’t really matter. If you are helping Trump and Trumpism, you are aiding and abetting evil. Knowing which fork to pick up and graduating from Stanford and Georgetown doesn’t change the substance of what you are doing: supporting Trump.

Zac and Liam are hardly the worst. But in a way, their types are because they know better. Choosing to support Trump is no different than choosing to be a segregationist. William Buckley came from another cultural planet than George Wallace, but when Buckley wrote his 1957 editorial, Why The South Must Prevail, he was as much a segregationist as Wallace,

Most of my tribe were drawn to the City on a Hill of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism. Many I worked with — Nicolle Wallace, Mark McKinnon, Pete Wehner, Matthew Dowd, the late Michael Gerson — rejected Trump from the first day and never wavered. But far more have found ways to rationalize a man who is destroying every value we once claimed as First Principles.

Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Wall. Eight hundred and eighty days later, it fell. Now the Republican Party sends J.D. Vance to Hungary to campaign for the Russian’s candidate, Viktor Orban.

To advance in today’s Republican Party, you must assert what fifth-graders know to be untrue: Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential race. It’s like trying to run NASA with only those who prosecuted Galileo for believing the Earth revolves around the sun. The party that once prided itself on being the grownups in the room is now a place where reality must be denied.

I can’t pretend that if I had been younger and more ambitious in 2016, I wouldn’t have joined the freak show. I would like to think not, but that’s the arrogance of hindsight. I succeeded in politics more because I was hungry and ambitious than any claims to a higher purpose. By the time Trump came along, I was at a different point in my life, and I had the freedom to join the Lincoln Project and try to burn my old party to the ground. Like I said, I was lucky.

We know what happens when Trump is gone. Many of the Republican elected officials, the staffers, and the consultants will work very hard to pretend he never happened. Most will be able to say they weren’t the worst of the Trump crowd and, if pressed, will argue that they, in one way or the other, helped temper Trump’s darkest impulses. They will walk the path of the Vichy French and the Quisling Norwegians.

In a civil society, politics should be a place where citizens can believe in the possibility of a better future without compromising their decency and dignity. Not so in Trumpworld. Unless you are a MAGA extremist, Trump requires constant bargaining with self. How much of what I know to be wrong can I tolerate for maybe the possibility of some improvement or the necessity of employment? That constant compromising grinds down the soul. You can’t do that for over a decade and still believe you are the same person before you supported Trump.

The legacy of Trump will be the impossibility of pretending that the values the Republican Party once espoused were actually values and not marketing slogans. Trump is the character test that nobody wants, but none can avoid.

 

will sommer false flagFalse Flags via The Bulwark, Analysis and Opinion: Bill Pulte Was a “Degenerate” Buffoon. Now He’s Head of U.S. Intelligence, Will Sommer, above right, June 4, 2026. Bulletproof vests, helicopters, and, yes, dildos.

YEARS BEFORE PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP nominated him to be the acting director of national intelligence for the government of the United States of America, Bill Pulte was spending his time circling a gullible group of investors trading shares in a dead company.

bulwark logo big shipThe year was 2023 and Bed Bath & Beyond, after prolonged death throes, finally stumbled into bankruptcy in April; its stock (“BBBY”) was delisted from Nasdaq in early May. But a portion of the shareholders went on believing a resurrection was possible. Over the previous year, the retail chain had become a prominent “memestock”—the subject of intense speculation and rumor—and after the company shut down they refused to accept that their investments were worthless. Many of these diehards kept trading shares “over the counter” (as “BBBYQ”).

Pulte claimed in the summer of 2023 that he was “captivated” by the “incredible BBBY community.” And he went to extraordinary, often ridiculous lengths to promote it. On a livestream in September 2023, Pulte donned a jacket with astronaut patches, implying that the bankrupt company’s stock would somehow still go “to the moon.” At some events, Pulte would wear a bulletproof vest for fear that an unnamed cabal acting against the home-goods store might try to kill him.

In the fall of 2023, the BBBYQ shares were finally eliminated—but even that didn’t convince the lingering true believers, and Pulte kept stoking their baseless excitement. He even organized a December 2023 event in a Florida hangar that was, as journalist Paris Martineau put it, “dedicated to the conspiracy that Bed Bath and Beyond never actually went bankrupt.” With Pulte sitting onstage, one promoter slapped a grateful supporter in the face with a green dildo, apparently a powerful symbol in their inscrutable online subculture.

An hour and a half later, Pulte himself would be presented with an award: a small, circular trophy base with a little blue T. Rex on top of it. He accepted the gift, saying “That looks pretty badass.” (Screenshot via YouTube)

None of this had any effect on the defunct company. Bed Bath & Beyond did not arise like Lazarus from the grave, and the shareholders did not make back their money. But Pulte himself never slowed down. Just over two years after the dildo incident, he was rocketing upward in Trump world, entrusted to be the nation’s top housing regulator and—more to the point—one of the president’s primary henchmen.

Indeed, it is Pulte’s relentless pursuit of the president’s enemies that appears now to have earned him his DNI nod. With the same shamelessness he brought to pimping BBBY, he has dug up mortgage-fraud allegations against Trump critics like Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.

And like those earlier Bed Bath & Beyond ventures, the more recent investigations have ended in failure. So too have Pulte’s non-vengeance government endeavors. His Trump-endorsed proposal to solve the housing crisis with fifty-year mortgages flopped. It was Pulte who also reportedly provided Trump with the AI-generated picture of the president as Jesus that enraged Christians this past April.

Critics of Pulte have pointed to this record of futility—in addition to the complete absence of any experience in the intelligence community—to show why he should not be getting the acting DNI post. But it’s also worth considering Pulte’s pre-government background as a sort of internet clown in the memestock community when considering just how wild his selection truly is. Because it was there that Pulte distinguished himself through a terrible sense of judgment and a willingness to say whatever people wanted to hear.Subscribed

PULTE’S RISE IN POLITICS has been fueled by his inherited wealth. He is the grandson and namesake of homebuilding magnate William J. Pulte, and was appointed to the board of construction giant Pulte Homes in 2016 as part of his grandfather’s corporate maneuvering.

In 2019, Pulte started to give away large amounts of money on Twitter to random people in what he called “Twitter Philanthropy.” The giveaways boosted his social media accounts, since people had to follow him so that he could send them money. As I write this, Pulte has a whopping 2.9 million followers on X.

Unhappy with Pulte’s rising profile and how it was deluging the company with misdirected pleas for money, the Pulte Homes board removed him in 2020, according to the New York Times. Bill Pulte didn’t take it easily. He launched a years-long lawsuit in 2022 by suing an executive at his family’s company, accusing them of creating a “Ghost of Bill Pulte” account on Twitter that posed as Pulte’s now-dead grandfather to criticize his grandson.

In the meantime, Pulte also started getting in on the memestock mania, in which investors tried to strategically reap profits off the unexpected price spikes in unlikely stocks, such as GameStop and AMC Theatres. Bed Bath & Beyond was one of his first major ventures.

In 2022, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen had bought a large stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, and his memestock reputation caused the struggling home-goods chain’s stock price to rise.

Retail investors hoping to make a quick killing followed Cohen into the stock. But when Cohen sold his shares five months later for a $60 million profit, the price collapsed. Rather than accept that they had been left holding the bag, some investors clung to the stock in the hopes that Cohen somehow had a secret plan to salvage the price.¹

They coalesced into online communities, where Pulte became an object of interest. Cohen had exchanged some tweets unrelated to Bed Bath & Beyond stock with Pulte, prompting shareholders to believe Pulte knew of the supposed secret plan to salvage the company. Pulte didn’t dispel the chatter. Instead, he leaned into it. He appeared on podcasts promoting the stock, and embraced his role as a Bed Bath & Beyond sage.²

“I’m the biggest degenerate you ever met,” Pulte said on the show where he wore the astronaut jacket, using a popular term to describe a hardcore memestock investor.

Pulte began to reference the 2020 Taylor Swift track “Only the Young” in his tweets, and used it as an intro song in his public appearances. BBBYQ shareholders became convinced, QAnon-style, that the song had a hidden message about how Pulte and Cohen would rescue their fortunes.

In the exuberant, male-heavy memestock world, “Only the Young” soon came to be referred to as “Only the Hung.” At the Florida hangar event, Pulte was given a case of helicopter gunship ammo that had been inscribed with the more sexualized song title. And on the livestream where he put on the astronaut jacket, Pulte sat in front of a whiteboard with “ONLY THE HUNG!” written on it. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Despite their adoration, the shareholders clearly grated on Pulte. At one point during the livestream with the astronaut jacket, a prominent BBBYQ investor grew tearful talking about his hopes for the stock’s revival. An unimpressed Pulte listened to him while eating ice cream from a pint.

Like other failed memestock online groups, the BBBYQ subculture was filled with paranoia about shadowy forces out to keep the stock down, which is apparently why Pulte started going out in public to shareholder gatherings wearing a bulletproof vest and accompanied by a security detail. (Photo from a since-deleted X post by Bill Pulte, posted to Reddit)

Whether Pulte had legitimate reasons to fear for his safety is impossible fully to know. But the investors clearly were deluded.

In fact, to attend the Florida event in December 2023, they paid $500 each, believing Pulte was some sort of oracle who could recover their lost investments. But instead of answers, they were left with dildo humor and treated with cases of Coors Light and bottled water.

Even the trophy Pulte received bore a regrettable inscription, a combination of the millennial compliment “This guy fucks” and his supposedly secret-meaning slogan “Only the Young.” Put together, it read: “Bill Pulte fucks only the young.”

Yiiiikes. Send this newsletter to somebody you know who thinks the director of national intelligence should have more gravitas and competence:

Pulte seemed at least entertained by it all. He was very much in on the gag. He arrived at the Florida event in a helicopter but flight data showed that it had taken off from the same airfield, circled the site, then returned for a climactic landing.

Why would Pulte subject himself to this? A clue came late in the night, as one of his associates, Kais Maalej (shown standing next to Pulte in the bulletproof-vest photo above), announced that attendees at the Florida event would each receive one share of Pulte Homes as part of the $500 ticket fee for attendance. In order to get the share, though, they had to sign an agreement to hold the stock long-term—as well as to sign their shareholder rights over to one of Pulte’s friends, according to a letter filed in the Bed Bath & Beyond bankruptcy case.

“We are in a family that I see is very very good family, it’s a great family,” Maalej told the crowd. “It’s the Pulte family.”

It appears that Pulte may have been trying to harness the restless energy of memestock investors to settle scores with the Pulte Homes executives. But if that was Pulte’s plan, it failed too. He never made it back to the company. Instead, he entered Trump’s orbit through the usual means, according to the New York Times: getting retweets from Trump and buying membership at Mar-a-Lago. It changed the course of Pulte’s life and, in turn, U.S. history. The supposed Bed Bath & Beyond oracle who watched a dildo get slapped across a man’s face is now set to have access to the country’s most sensitive intelligence matters. His old denizens in the memestock world can hardly believe it.

On Tuesday, commenters in a subreddit devoted to tracking and mocking the antics of this world reacted in disbelief to Pulte’s appointment. How, they wondered, could this man keep failing upward?

“If I was American I’d be crying,” wrote one. 

The back of Donald Trump's head as he sits at his desk in the Oval Office Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The New Republic, Analysis: Mystery of Trump’s Hair-Loss Drug Exposes Bigger Issue With His Health, Edith Olmsted, June 4, 2026. Donald Trump’s team abruptly stopped disclosing if he’s taking a certain drug.

The results of Donald Trump’s most recent physical examinations omitted a hair-loss drug the president has been taking for years—raising red flags for health experts, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The glowing report on Trump’s most recent trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center included a list of medications the president takes, but did not include finasteride—the generic name of Propecia—a hair-loss drug Trump used during his first term. When the Post asked whether the president was still taking Propecia, the White House said it was not obligated to reveal the full range of medications the president was taking.

“The current report reflects all medications deemed clinically relevant to disclose at this time,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the medical report released Friday included information relevant to his ability to serve as president.

The White House insisted: “No additional undisclosed conditions or procedures materially affecting his health status were omitted from this report.”

But a range of health experts told the Post that the White House’s lack of transparency suggested that there could be other elements of the president’s health that were being kept out of view.

“It raises significant questions of what else is possibly not being revealed,” said Robert Klitzman, a psychiatrist who leads Columbia University’s master’s program in bioethics. He warned that finasteride had been linked to an increased risk of depression, which would have potential effects on the president’s performance.

“We want to make sure that we’re getting the full story in order to know that whoever occupies a position can sufficiently carry out the responsibilities of the office,” Klitzman told the Post.

Despite the fact that treatment for a cosmetic condition is less serious than treatment for a medical one, Steve Joffe, a physician and bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, pointed out that “there isn’t much downside” to disclosing the continued use of hair-loss drugs.

“There’s a certain level of openness and disclosure that people have a right to expect from someone in whom they place such profound trust,” Joffe told the Post.

Concerns over Trump’s mysterious prescription cocktail come as medical experts found his latest medical report lacked specificity where it matters. Trump’s consistently glowing results contrast directly with what Americans can see: visible bruising and rashes, his frequent on-camera naps, and the fact that he is an 80-year-old man who rants madly about how healthy he is.

The Frank Figliuzzi Show via Lincoln Square Media, Analysis and Opintion: How Opus Dei Operates within the Trump Regime, Host Frank Figliuzzi, right,frank figliuzzi and author Gareth Gore, June 4, 2026. Opus Dei isn't fiction. It's infiltrated our government.

lincoln square media logoFrank Figliuzzi welcomed journalist and author Gareth Gore, whose book, Opus, tells the incredible story of the cult-like Catholic sect Opus Dei, which was made famous in the Da Vinci Code.

But the group isn’t a fantasy. In fact, it has infiltrated the highest echelons of our government.

Gore, who has met personally with the Pope to discuss the dangers of Opus, joined Frank to connect the dots between this powerful cabal and the men whispering in Trump’s ear.

OPUS, published by Simon & Schuster:  "Vividly told and excellently researched" -- Financial Times 

More Supreme Court Help For Republicans Against Black, Democratic Voters

supreme court cropped 2021Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 3, 2026 [Court Helps Trump By Gutting Voting Rights Law, Again], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 4, 2026. Last night, in an unsigned opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded its finding in the recent Louisiana v. Callais decision. That decision overturned decades of law to declare that states could not construct majority-minority voting districts, as they had done under Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act to ensure Black voters had the opportunity to elect members of Congress who would represent the interests of the Black community.

After handing down the Callais decision, the Supreme Court sent a case involving Alabama’s map back to the state. One lower court had ruled the 2023 map unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment and, in diluting Black voting by spreading Black voters across three districts, eliminated a majority-Black district in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

As Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reported, on May 26 a panel of three judges reaffirmed that the map showed intentional discrimination and was unconstitutional. The state took the case to the Supreme Court, and last night the right-wing justices allowed the state to use the 2023 map, saying it was likely to win its case that the map was lawfully drawn.

And so, Alabama will likely replace a Black Democratic lawmaker with a white Republican, using a map that previous courts have said violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Republican lawmakers currently in power appear to be trying to grab as much power as they can as President Donald J. Trump deteriorates both personally and politically.

Today, a day after visiting the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House said was a six-month physical that he said went “PERFECTLY,” the nearly 80-year-old Trump appeared in public for the first time since May 27. He seemed tired and vague.

In the House of Representatives, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio was testifying before the Foreign Relations Committee about Trump’s 2027 budget requests for the State Department, Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) played a video of Trump sleeping in two Cabinet meetings as Rubio was talking, and asked how the president could make good decisions about war if he couldn’t stay awake even during public events.

Rubio insisted he had never seen Trump asleep in a meeting, although in the instances Lieu showed, the president was sleeping in a chair directly beside him. Lieu accused Rubio of lying to Congress.

The weekend’s promises of an end to the war on Iran have fizzled, and the economy is slowing under the pressure of higher oil prices. The administration announced on Monday that it is dropping tariffs on imported farm and construction equipment from 25% to 15% to ease prices, proving—as critics have maintained all along—that the tariffs are in fact raising prices.

On Sunday, when Shannon Bream of the Fox News Channel asked Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett about a Wall Street Journal report that delinquent credit card balances are at their highest level in 15 years as people use their credit cards for necessities, Hassett centered not the American people but the credit card companies. “We talk to the CEOs of the credit card companies all the time, and we do see some increased stress like the numbers that the Wall Street Journal quotes, but for the most part…there’s not any kind of…financial threat to the credit card companies.”

Americans trying to navigate rising prices by putting necessities on their credit cards were not likely to be concerned about how their financial pain might hurt credit card companies.

As Trump and the administration falter, the MAGA leaders Trump has installed in the government are pushing their agenda as fast as they can. Russell Vought, the co-author of Project 2025 who directs the the Office of Management and Budget and who therefore has the power—although not the authority—to ignore the laws Congress has passed for the expenditure of money, proposed last Thursday, May 28, that political appointees in his office should have final say over research grants, including those for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other governmental science agencies.

The proposal promises to root out “a ‘woke’ policy agenda that deliberately favor[s] certain identity groups over others.” In addition to submitting scientific research to political approval, the new rules would also stop international research collaboration unless it was approved by political appointees.

Aligning with Project 2025, which criticizes federal science programs for paying too much attention to climate change, the Trump administration is also tearing out a $368 million deep-ocean observation system along the Pacific Coast that monitors marine ecosystems, coastal environments, and the ocean currents that affect climate change. Eric Niiler of the New York Times reported that the U.S. began operating the system in 2016 and expected it to continue for 25 years.

Democrats have pledged to fight the plan to tear out the observation system.

While those empowered by his 2024 win are pushing through their agenda, Trump himself appears to have abandoned any pretense of governing and is focusing on his Ultimate Fighting Championship ring in front of the White House—today he suggested making it permanent—and the painting of the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Today he showed to reporters images of how the Reflecting Pool is longer than skyscrapers are tall and that he is having it painted “American Flag Blue.”

He is also trying to cement control over the government. Today Trump signed an executive order stripping nearly 10,000 career civil service workers of their protected status, making it possible for the president to fire them at will. This move was introduced late in Trump’s first term but rescinded under President Joe Biden, and was a key part of Project 2025.

Trump’s announcement yesterday that he is nominating the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, as acting director of national intelligence (DNI) illustrated that he is willing to pervert one of the most important positions in the U.S. government to his own whims. Pulte has no experience in intelligence, but he has demonstrated a willingness to persecute Trump’s perceived political enemies. By making him an acting director, Trump can get around the requirement for Senate confirmation.

But lawmakers who will have to face the voters in November appear to be getting queasy at being tied to Trump’s actions. Pulte’s nomination could be a bridge too far. The nomination threatens the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on June 12. Right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec has called for Pulte to take control of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to “start digging in on the domestic side of terrorism as well as the international,” and Democratic lawmakers have said they will not renew the controversial Section 702 of FISA with Pulte as DNI.

Section 702 permits intelligence agencies to collect the communications of foreigners operating outside the U.S. without a judicial warrant. But in the process of that collection, the communications of U.S. citizens often get swept up. As Joseph Gedeon of The Guardian notes, the FBI used Section 702 to investigate protesters in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has led the charge against renewing FISA without significant protections for American citizens, warned that Pulte could use Section 702 as a political weapon, abusing surveillance powers for purposes of blackmail, smear campaigns, or attacks on lawmakers, nonprofits, or activists. Legal analyst Joyce White Vance added that Pulte could use his position to seize ballots or election equipment. Wyden urged lawmakers to refuse to reauthorize FISA “without strong new safeguards for Americans’ rights.”

Mark Warner (D-VA), the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the person who can deliver the necessary Democratic votes for the renewal of FISA, warned that Pulte’s nomination could doom the measure’s reauthorization. Even Republicans, including former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), are objecting to Pulte, citing his lack of intelligence experience, which the law requires for a DNI head, as a deal-breaker.

House Republicans are also starting to balk at the administration’s actions.

Meredith Lee Hill and Calen Razor of Politico reported today that House leaders had to push back votes today when Republicans didn’t show up from their holiday week. The House has been at work 43 fewer days in this congressional session than the Senate has as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has avoided pushback against Trump in the House by keeping members away from Washington. The Republican majority in the House is so slim that attendance issues have forced Johnson to delay votes to prevent Democrats from defeating bills. Now that members don’t want to go on the record either against Trump or for him, the ability of the House to get through the work it needs to is in jeopardy.

Johnson’s slipping control over the House showed today when the House voted to pass a resolution, introduced by Democrats, telling Trump either to stop further strikes against Iran or to get congressional approval for them. Johnson sent House members home early before the Memorial Day holiday to keep such a measure from passing, but today it did, by a vote of 215 to 208. Although Johnson warned that the resolution was “very dangerous” and would “weaken” Trump’s ability to find a way out of the conflict, members passed it, likely noting that according to a recent New York Times–Siena College poll, 64% of registered voters think Trump’s decision to go to war was wrong, while only 30% approve of it.

Shortly after passing that measure, the House rebuked both Trump and Johnson a second time when it advanced a measure that would aid Ukraine in its war to repel Russia’s invasion by a vote of 218 to 204. If the measure now passes the House and then the Senate, it will provide $8 billion in loans and $300 million in security aid.

Trump does not appear to be taking his loss of power well, retreating to the traditional Republican position that anyone who disagrees with him is a communist. This afternoon, he posted on social media: “Communists always do well with the Voters or, as they would say, THE PEOPLE, in the Early Years! But, in the end, the Country, State, or City, GOES TO HELL! Great Violence proceeds at levels never seen before, and the entity dissolves into Poverty, Squalor, and Crime. Remember, breathtaking ‘Popularity’ first, and then, guaranteed DEATH AND DESTRUCTION! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

More On Iran War

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Israel and Lebanon Agree to New Cease-Fire, Yan Zhuang and Ephrat Livni, June 4, 2026. The deal is contingent on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group that was not part of the talks, stopping attacks against Israel and withdrawing from southern Lebanon.

The renewed cease-fire in Lebanon appeared to be holding on Thursday morning, after Israel and Lebanon announced a U.S.-facilitated agreement to extend it.

The agreement could help clear an obstacle to ending the war in Iran. The state of peace talks between Washington and Tehran Iran Flagremains murky, with issues including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program unresolved. Iran has called for Lebanon to be part of any deal.

Whether the cease-fire holds will depend in part on the cooperation of Hezbollah, which does not answer to the Lebanese government and is not a party to either set of negotiations. The group has not publicly responded to the announcement of the renewed cease-fire.

The agreement, which was confirmed by the U.S. State Department, calls for the creation of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese military would “take exclusive control” and all “nonstate actors” would be barred. A U.S.-brokered cease-fire, which took effect in Lebanon in April, has been largely ignored, with both sides continuing to trade attacks.

Israel began to escalate its push into Lebanon in March, shortly after the United States and Israel launched an offensive against Iran. Hezbollah soon began firing rockets across the border in support of its sponsor. In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has ramped up his rhetoric against Hezbollah even as truce talks have taken place.

The cease-fire between Iran and the United States has also been tested in recent days by a series of exchanges between them. On Wednesday, Kuwait and Bahrain, U.S. allies, came under Iranian drone and missile fire. One of those attacks hit Kuwait's main international airport, damaging a passenger terminal and killing one person, the Kuwaiti authorities said.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • U.S.-Iran negotiations: Later on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated the Trump administration’s claim that the war with Iran “has concluded,” despite the strikes. Mr. Rubio told Congress that the Trump administration would try to negotiate with Iran to get it to commit to a long-term agreement to not enrich uranium.
  • Airport attack: A spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had not fired at the Kuwait airport terminal, blaming the damage on a failed American interceptor missile. The U.S. military said the Iranian claim was false.
  • U.S.-Israel relations: President Trump said in an interview with The New York Post published Wednesday that he had used expletives in a recent phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel but that they had a broadly positive relationship. Read more ›

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

Los Angeles Mayoral Primary Leaders Karen Bass, the incumbent Democrat at left, and Republican challenger Spencer Pratt (Campaign photos).Los Angeles Mayoral Primary Leaders Karen Bass, the incumbent Democrat at left, and Republican challenger Spencer Pratt (Campaign photos).

New York Times, Why Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Has to Fight for Her Job, Jill Cowan, June 4, 2026. Ms. Bass, a Democrat, has had a roller-coaster first term. She now faces the first runoff since 2005 for an incumbent mayor in the city.

Karen Bass will likely be the first incumbent mayor of Los Angeles since 2005 to have to fight for her job in a runoff. It’s a sign that, despite a rebound from the depths of the pandemic, voters remain dissatisfied with life in the nation’s second most populous city.

Angelenos were frustrated by the aftermath of last year’s devastating Palisades fire — and Ms. Bass’s initial absence during the blaze. But they are also struggling with rising costs, and still see homeless encampments as a problem, even though the number of people living on the street has fallen.

Peggy Clark, 69, an accountant from Woodland Hills, said she was voting for the former reality television star Spencer Pratt because “he’s not Bass.”

Ms. Clark said that she didn’t believe the mayor’s claims that fewer people were unhoused in the city. “They’re still everywhere,” she said.

Ms. Bass’s last two predecessors, Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa, dispatched their challengers in their re-election primaries by winning a majority of the vote. Under Los Angeles’s rules, a mayoral candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the primary automatically wins, and Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Villaraigosa never faced a runoff campaign as incumbents.

As of Wednesday afternoon, with hundreds of thousands of ballots still to be counted, Ms. Bass was in the lead with about 35 percent of the vote. She had enough support to win one of the two runoff spots, according to The Associated Press, but was well short of the majority needed to win the seat outright.

In second place was Mr. Pratt, who launched his bombastic campaign after his family’s home burned in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood last year. And in third was the progressive City Council member Nithya Raman, a former ally of the mayor who announced her candidacy just before the filing deadline.

The two prominent challengers saw an opportunity this year to harness the protest vote against Ms. Bass. Suddenly, the mayor was forced to run against an entertainer with a knack for leveraging social media and a city councilwoman with a progressive base — both more formidable opponents than Mr. Garcetti or Mr. Villaraigosa faced in their re-election bids.

The fact that Mr. Pratt, a Republican with no government experience who has drawn praise from President Trump, has garnered significant support in one of the nation’s most liberal cities is particularly notable.

Mike Bonin, a former Los Angeles City Council member who now leads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles, said that Mr. Pratt “knows how to tell a story” — something that neither Ms. Bass nor Ms. Raman have mastered in this campaign.

New York Times, The Democrats’ Big Decision: Black Representation or More Blue Seats? Clyde McGrady, June 4, 2026. As Republicans break up majority-Black House districts, Democrats must decide whether to preserve seats concentrated in urban areas or push them into white suburbs to target G.O.P. seats.

South Carolina Democrats at Representative James Clyburn’s “World Famous Fish Fry” on Friday were feeling triumphant.

james clyburnMr. Clyburn, left, South Carolina’s longest serving Black lawmaker and the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, had survived a failed redistricting attempt by state Republicans determined to act after the Supreme Court weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act for majority-Black districts. So as the sun set on a terrace above the Congaree River, in Columbia, a crowd of Black women line danced to 803Fresh’s “Boots on the Ground,” while hot grease popping in deep fryers sent a thick smell of fish through the late-spring air.

But the next act in the drama over Black representation will be driven in part by Democratic leaders, some of them Black, who face a difficult decision. Do they preserve the majority-Black, overwhelmingly Democratic districts in blue states like New York, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey? Or do they maximize Democratic representation in the House by diluting urban districts dominated by Black voters and expanding their boundaries into the suburbs. Doing the latter would allow them to target Republican House members in those states.

Those new districts would remain Democratic, though less so, but they may no longer be majority-Black. So Black voters could lose power in two ways — by losing the number of districts they dominate and by losing the number of Black voices in Congress.

It could be an agonizing choice, but with Republicans determined to maximize their own representation, many Black Democrats at the grass roots, state and federal level are firmly in the camp that the party should do what is necessary to expand its power. Black representation is important, but they consider this moment an emergency.

“We’re not going to sit back and just accept this cheating and gerrymandering,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, a close ally of fellow New Yorker Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader. Both men are Black.

In the weeks since the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision, which lowered the bar on what it considered unconstitutional racial gerrymandering, Republican states in the South have led a furious effort to dilute or eliminate congressional districts where majorities of Black voters have typically elected Democrats.

Majority-Black districts in Tennessee and Louisiana are gone. One seat long-held by a Black Democrat in North Carolina is teetering. The Supreme Court on Tuesday night gave Alabama Republicans permission to eliminate one majority-Black seat. Georgia and Mississippi are likely to target such seats ahead of 2028.

Beneath the jubilation at his fish fry, Mr. Clyburn seemed to acknowledge the anger.

“I want all of the energy that’s here tonight to be harnessed, much like we harnessed the atom in order to make the atomic bomb,” he implored the crowd from the stage.

Beyond anger, Democrats are pondering the path back to political power and how far the party should go to attain it. Mr. Jeffries last month took on maximalist tones as he rattled off seven states — New York, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Illinois and Maryland — that Democrats would redistrict in response to Republicans “to wipe out any structural advantage that they’re trying to get themselves” in the South.

A central calculation will have to be the value of Black representation and whether Democrat-controlled states should protect highly concentrated urban seats in New York, Newark, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Chicago, rich in Black voters, or push the boundaries of those districts into whiter suburbs to go after Republican seats.

Mr. Meeks was clear on which way he wanted to go: “We can look at seats like mine, for example,” he said.

Redrawing districts in Long Island would mean moving voters from his overwhelmingly Democratic district in Queens into two marginally Democratic districts in the western part of the island. That would give them better chances of ousting two Republicans to the east.

“We can then win two more seats on Long Island,” Mr. Meeks said.

Likewise, pushing Democratic voters south from the heavily Black Brooklyn districts represented by Mr. Jeffries and Representative Yvette Clarke would endanger the Staten Island seat held by Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican.

“We can win seats in upstate New York,” Mr. Meeks said. “We can win seats on Staten Island.”

Similarly, reconfiguring Representative Jonathan Jackson’s Democratic district on the South Side of Chicago to the south and west would push more Democratic voters into a district now held by a Republican, Representative Darin LaHood. Representative LaMonica McIver’s overwhelmingly Democratic district in New Jersey could be drained of some voters to target the swing district held by a Republican, Representative Thomas Kean Jr.

Representative Ilhan Omar’s overwhelmingly Democratic district in Minneapolis could be expanded into the Twin Cities’ Democratic suburbs, starting a chain reaction that would push Democratic voters into a district held by Representative Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican.

Maryland Democrats are likely to extend Representative Sarah Elfreth’s Democratic district around Annapolis across the Chesapeake Bay into the Eastern Shore to endanger the last Republican House member in the state, Andy Harris. But to do it, they may want to send some voters in Representative Kweisi Mfume’s strongly Black Democratic district around Baltimore to shore up Ms. Elfreth, who is white.

“This is not the game we want to play," Mr. Meeks said, “but this is the game that we are compelled to play.”

The price for such moves is already playing out in Florida, where state Republicans redrew House districts to their advantage in November. The South Florida district of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a senior Democrat who is white, was redrawn to heavily favor Republicans, so she has decided to run instead in one of the remaining Democratic seats where Black voters remain powerful. That has enraged Black Democratic politicians who want to represent the seat and have demanded that Democratic leaders speak out against Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s move.

“We have been supporting every single Democratic person on the ballot, and for them not to support us in this moment is totally ridiculous, and we’re not standing for it,” former Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick told The Miami Herald this week.

Mr. Clyburn was hesitant to engage in the debate. He is not just one of the most powerful Black elected officials in America; he is a fierce defender of the South, and he insisted the Republican effort to redistrict the region offends its people. The decision by South Carolina’s State Senate to leave the state’s congressional map alone, for now at least, is proof of that, he said.

“The South, I think, is doing a great job of searching for a more perfect union and getting there, and that’s what insulted some of the members of the South Carolina Republican Party,” Mr. Clyburn said in an interview.

Mr. Clyburn prides himself on the relationships he has built with South Carolina Republicans and is complimentary of those Republicans who joined Democrats to block redrawing his district. He pointed to the rebellious streak of the southern psyche, which resisted President Trump’s demand that the state gerrymander away its last Democratic House seat.

“I cannot in good conscience surrender this authority that has been preserved to, for and by the states and merely take orders from those who are not in South Carolina,” Shane Massey, the Republican leader of the South Carolina Senate, said during a May floor speech.

But Mr. Clyburn is also a student of history. And he spoke of the end of Reconstruction, when America abandoned its commitment to the southern freedmen and the courts nullified laws protecting Black civil rights.

Having a diverse Congress isn’t just good for Black people, Mr. Clyburn argued. “The value is to the country,” he said. It is essential for a legitimate multiracial democracy.

More On U.S. Tariffs, Inflation, Markets, Job, Economy

New York Times, SpaceX Sets Price for the World’s Largest I.P.O., Ryan Mac, June 4, 2026. The $135 share price means Elon Musk’s rocket maker is poised to exceed the 2019 initial public offering of Saudi Aramco in both valuation and money raised. 

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket maker and artificial intelligence company, set a price for its initial public offering on Wednesday of $135, which would value it at $1.77 trillion and crown it the largest I.P.O. ever.

At that price, SpaceX would raise $74.4 billion from the offering, and its valuation would be more than 40 percent higher than the $1.25 trillion that it valued itself at in February. The current I.P.O. record is held by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, which was valued at $1.7 trillion and raised more than $29 billion when it went public in 2019.

Most companies that go public set a preliminary price range for their stock offering before settling on a final number in case investor demand for their shares changes. But Mr. Musk and SpaceX sidestepped that and simply declared one price for investors. SpaceX could still change that price but is not expected to do so. It is likely to begin trading on the Nasdaq next week under the ticker symbol SPCX.

At $74.4 billion raised, SpaceX’s I.P.O. would be just about “more than every U.S. I.P.O. combined in the last two years,” said Matthew Kennedy, a senior I.P.O. market strategist at Renaissance Capital.

A SpaceX spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX’s I.P.O. is a bellwether for other expected offerings that are set to be enormous, including from OpenAI and Anthropic, the artificial intelligence companies. Anthropic confidentially filed to go public on Monday, and OpenAI is expected to file in the coming weeks. Both start-ups have valuations approaching $1 trillion. The three offerings could unleash an avalanche of wealth across Silicon Valley and Wall Street, creating new corporate titans in the process.

Among the biggest winners would be Mr. Musk, 54, who is already the world’s richest man. At $135 a share, the roughly 50 percent stake in SpaceX that he controls would be worth just over $752 billion. (Mr. Musk cannot sell some of the SpaceX shares he controls until the company hits various operational milestones, according to the firm’s filings.)

A large increase in the company’s share price in its first days of trading could turn Mr. Musk into the world’s first trillionaire.

Mr. Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, has remade the space race with partly reusable rockets and transformed communication with the company’s satellite internet service, Starlink. In February, SpaceX bought his A.I. company, xAI, which owned his social media platform, X, creating a conglomerate of the tech billionaire’s various interests. Mr. Musk separately runs the electric carmaker Tesla, as well as other companies.

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Illegal Tariffs, Round 3, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 4, 2026. Another failing war Trump won’t end. Remember tariffs?

Fourteen months ago, Donald Trump announced that he was starting a trade war by imposing sweeping tariffs on almost every nation in the world. His move caused shock waves, and not just because of the economic impact.

The Trump tariffs were clearly illegal — taxes imposed not via proper legislation, but by invoking an obscure existing law intended to deal with economic emergencies, even though no emergency existed. Also, by imposing these tariffs unilaterally, Trump was violating many decades’ worth of solemn U.S. agreements with other nations, including our closest allies. So “Liberation Day” marked the end of rule of law at home — goodbye separation of powers, hello a monarchical system in which the president does whatever he wants. And it also marked the transformation of the United States into a rogue nation that holds its erstwhile allies in contempt and can’t be trusted to honor its promises.

The initial shock has faded, largely because there have been so many outrages since, from pogroms at home to the disastrous war in Iran. And the Supreme Court, after dragging its feet for many months, eventually, grudgingly, ruled that the illegal tariffs were, in fact, illegal, and will have to be refunded.

But Trump officials kept many of the tariffs in place using another obscure law, this one intended to deal with balance of payments emergencies, although again no such emergency existed. This invocation of “Section 122” will probably also be ruled illegal at some point, but in any case the law sets a 150-day time limit on such tariffs, so the Trumpists needed another dodge.

Yesterday it came in the form of “Section 301” tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the European Union and Japan. Section 301 is titled “Relief from Unfair Trade Practices.” So what are the unfair practices the Trumpists say the whole world is engaging in?

The answer is that the Trump administration is accusing other countries of “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

Notice the wording. They aren’t accusing the European Union itself of employing slave labor. Even the Trumpists aren’t willing to lie that shamelessly (yet). No, the claim is that the EU isn’t doing enough to stop countries that do employ slave labor from selling their goods in Europe.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, understands that the alleged justification for these tariffs is a lie. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the EU is less diligent about opposing the use of slave labor than the US. For that matter, there is no reason to believe that Trump and his minions have any particular objection to slave labor. This is nothing but a transparently, one might say sneeringly, bogus rationale for continuing to flout both US law and international agreements.

Why do Trump’s minions keep using legal tricks and lies to impose tariffs? There is, after all, no reason they couldn’t simply ask Congress to impose tariffs through normal legislation. But doing so would run into three problems, from Trump’s point of view. First, Congress might balk. Second, at minimum an attempt to pass legislation would require hearings, in which the weakness of the administration’s arguments would become obvious. Third, one of the reasons Trump loves tariffs is that he gets to issue decrees at will, none of this pesky nonsense of consulting with the legislative branch; having to follow the Constitution would spoil his fantasies of omnipotence.

So here we go again, with another round of tariffs that will probably be ruled illegal some months from now.

Why doesn’t Trump just back down? After all, the tariffs aren’t achieving their stated objectives. Remember how Trump was going to revive US manufacturing?

The tariffs are also deeply unpopular, with an overwhelming majority of Americans believing, rightly, that they have raised prices: But for Trump, backing off on the tariffs would amount to admitting failure. And if you believe he’s going to do that, I have a quick, easy victory over Iran you might want to buy. 

June 3

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  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 2, 2026 [], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 3, 2026. Officials in the Trump administration have worked hard to restrict the access of members of Congress to the detention centers it has established across the country. Although lawmakers have a constitutional duty to oversee executive agencies and courts have reiterated their authority to conduct unannounced visits to federal immigration facilities, officials have repeatedly tried to limit that access. 
  • The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: CBS Tried to Inject Information into Stories to Help Trump, Trump Lashes out at Netanyahu and No Public Events in One Week, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 3, 2026. We have major stories to cover today, and none is more important than CBS firing journalist Scott Pelley after he publicly challenged Bari Weiss. In a new statement this morning, Pelley revealed a stunning allegation: CBS executives tried to pressure him into including unverified information in his reporting to benefit the White House.

More On U.S. Governance, Trump Administration 

 helen delaney reese djt

  • Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary, This could lead to the end of our republic, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 3, 2026. At 3:23 this afternoon, sitting before the Senate Appropriations Committee for the first time since taking over as Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem’s replacement was asked a simple question: Would he follow court orders? He refused to say yes.
  • Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Trump Has Given Up, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 3, 2026. No longer interested in governing, he is filled with rage and obsessed with revenge. 
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Director of National Retribution, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 3, 2026. Donald Trump is facing a host of crises at once. His political agenda is on the rocks, his popularity has never been lower, and his quest to punish his personal and political enemies for their crimes has all but stalled out.
  • New York Times, New Intelligence Role Puts Bill Pulte’s Housing Agenda in Doubt, Matthew Goldstein and Lydia DePillis, June 3, 2026. Mr. Pulte has had difficulty boosting the housing market as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Now he will also serve as acting intelligence director.
  • New York Times, G.O.P. Works to Jump-Start Immigration Bill After Trump Retreat on Fund, Annie Karni and Robert Jimison, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Republicans hoped the acting attorney general’s vow that the administration was “not moving forward” with a fund for people claiming to be victimized by the government would unlock the votes. 

More On U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran, Lebanon

Trump Family Corruption, Probes, Allegations, Accountability, Coverups

donald trump money palmer report Custom

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above and below).

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Investigative Reporting, Trump Pressures, Corporate Cowardice

 

Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).CBS 60 minutes logoLongtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).

  • New York Times, CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes,’  Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Mr. Pelley, a former “CBS Evening News” anchor, was ousted after months of tensions between staff and Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief.

U.S. Courts, Rights, Crime, Race, Justice

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  • Four Died Trying (4DT), Tonight we honor two 4DT interviewees who died in May, John Barbour and Clarence Jones, 4DT Producers, June 3, 2026. "With the passing of these legends, we have now lost 27 of the men and women whose eyewitness accounts form the backbone of "Four Died Trying," chronicling the lives and legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. 

Top Headlinesus house logoNew York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: House Passes Measure to End Iran War, a Rebuke of President, Robert Jimison and Megan Mineiro, June 3, 2026. The House on Wednesday voted to direct President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after four Republicans sided with Democrats in a striking sign of growing opposition to a military campaign now in its fourth month.

  • War Powers: The House passed a measure directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war. The 215-208 vote is a remarkable rebuke of Mr. Trump and his handling of the conflict. Read more ›
  • Payout Fund: The Senate voted on Wednesday to take up a bill to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown, which had stalled in a dispute over the administration’s plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to pay people who said they had been victimized by the federal government. Several Republicans said they would oppose the new bill unless it included language permanently blocking such a fund. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, cast doubt on whether he had truly abandoned the fund, telling reporters “I love it,” calling it “so important” and saying he was unsure of its fate. Read more ›

Adoption of the resolution was a remarkable rebuke to Mr. Trump and his handling of the war, after he has repeatedly dismissed any effort by Congress to curb his power and as the G.O.P. has largely ceded its prerogatives to do so, deferring to him time and again. Republicans had abruptly postponed the vote two weeks ago, recognizing that they did not have sufficient votes to defeat the measure and wanting to spare themselves and the president the affront.

But they made no headway over the ensuing days in winning converts, as the conflict has dragged on and Mr. Trump has made little progress toward ending it. And G.O.P. leaders were unable to delay the vote any longer because Democrats had invoked the War Powers Resolution, which requires consideration of such measures within a limited period of time.

The move was also the latest reflection of divisions between Republicans in Congress and the president on a range of issues as their interests diverge in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections. It came after Senate Republicans have in recent days forced Mr. Trump to abandon his request for $1 billion in security funding for his ballroom project and a plan that the Justice Department announced to create a federal fund to pay claimants who accuse the government of having victimized them.

The vote was 215 to 208 to adopt the war powers resolution, sending it to the Senate. Even if it were to pass both chambers, the ability of lawmakers to force a president to withdraw troops remains a contested legal question, and Mr. Trump and his senior aides have dismissed any effort by Congress to limit his war powers as unconstitutional.

But the vote in the House, and a similar one in the Senate last month when a handful of G.O.P. defectors broke from the president and opposed the war, indicate an increasing willingness by some members of the president’s party to pressure him to end a conflict that a majority of Americans say is not worth the costs.

Republican Representatives Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky crossed party lines to vote with Democrats in favor of the resolution. Representative Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, who had previously opposed similar measures, switched his position to support it.

Though the few defections were notable, almost every Republican voted against the resolution. Most of them have accepted the Trump administration’s claim that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, the legal threshold under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 for the president to order attacks on a foreign adversary without the permission of Congress.

Many have dismissed Democrats’ war powers measures, which call for the removal of most U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran, as politically motivated attacks on the president that would leave American interests unprotected.

Democrats contended that members of both parties must protect the role of Congress to determine when and how the country undertakes prolonged combat operations overseas

New York Times, Election Live Updates: Races Are Close in California With Many Votes Still to Count, Jill Cowan, June 3, 2026. The reality TV star Spencer Pratt could secure a spot in a runoff with Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat below right, and Steve Hilton, a Republican, were leading in the governor’s race. Here’s the latest.

A high-stakes primary night in California ended with two candidates neck and neck in the race for governor, and with a besieged incumbent mayor forced into a runoff that could pit her against a Republican reality TV star in deeply liberal Los Angeles.

Mayor Karen Bass held a significant lead in Tuesday’s primary, but she is the first sitting mayor since 2005 to fail to earn the 50 percent of votes required to avoid a runoff. Although it is possible that the third-place candidate, the progressive City Council member Nithya Raman, could still secure a spot in the November runoff, the performance of Spencer Pratt, the Republican, suggested that Los Angeles voters harbored frustrations with homelessness and their city’s other problems.

In primary contests elsewhere in the country, Republican voters dealt a surprising defeat to President Trump, narrowly rejecting the candidate he supported to run for governor of Iowa, and a progressive won in a crowded Democratic field for a New Jersey congressional district.

The highest-profile primary was for California governor, even if voters found many of the candidates uninspiring.

By early Wednesday morning, Steve Hilton, a Trump-backed Republican, and Xavier Becerra, a former lawmaker and Biden administration official, were leading in the race to compete in the November general election. California’s ballot counting process is known to be slower than other states’, and because many Democrats were holding on to their ballots until the last minute, the results were still in flux.

Election officials in California said that counting would continue throughout Wednesday.

Candidate Party Votes Percent Pct.

Hilton Rep. 1,384,026 +28% 28%

Becerra Dem. 1,264,766 +25% 25

Steyer Dem. 977,651 +20% 20

Bianco Rep. 563,016 +11% 11

58% of votes in

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Candidates concede: The early results in the California governor’s race were enough to compel two lower-performing Democrats, the former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose, to concede shortly after the first results were posted. Katie Porter, who was in a distant fifth place, conceded later.
  • Iowa Democrats: In the Democratic primary for Senate, Josh Turek, a Paralympic gold medalist who was backed by a group allied with Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, coasted to victory over a progressive state senator who campaigned against the party establishment.
  • House races: Voters also chose finalists for 52 congressional seats — the most of any state — in races that could offer clues in the battle for control of Congress. See results from key races.

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Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Bill Pulte Is a Putz—But a Dangerous Putz, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 3, 2026. He’s unserious, unqualified, disliked, ill-prepared, inexperienced, and exactly what Trump is looking for.

bulwark logo big shipThe East Wing of the White House is still just a hole in the ground while funding for the ballroom languishes in Congress, but Donald Trump is warming to some of the White House’s other cool new features, like the pop-up UFC arena on the lawn (shown above).

“We’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people,” Trump said in a TikTok filmed from the Oval Office yesterday. Happy Wednesday

New York Times, House Advances New Sanctions on Russia and Aid to Ukraine, Robert Jimison, June 3, 2026. After G.O.P. leaders blocked additional aid to Ukraine, six Republicans and an independent joined Democrats to force the measure to the floor against the wishes of the speaker.

U.S. House logorussian flagDefying Republican leaders, the House voted on Wednesday to take up a bill to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia and provide additional aid to Ukraine, after a bloc of G.O.P. defectors joined Democrats in an effort to ratchet up pressure on Moscow more than four years into the war.

The bill, which still must win passage in the House, faces a difficult path to enactment, given divisions in the Senate over a sanctions package and objections from the White House. President Trump has repeatedly signaled he does not want Congress constraining his flexibility to negotiate directly with Moscow, and could veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.

ukraine flagStill, the 218-to-204 vote to take it up, in which six Republicans and one independent who normally votes with them crossed party lines to side with Democrats, sent a clear signal of bipartisan pressure on the matter. It added to a growing list of issues on which the Republican-led Congress has in recent weeks shown a greater willingness to challenge Mr. Trump, including the war with Iran, his push to fund a new White House ballroom and a bid to create a federal fund to benefit his political allies.

News Roundups

ICE logoLetters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 2, 2026 [], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 3, 2026. Officials in the Trump administration have worked hard to restrict the access of members of Congress to the detention centers it has established across the country. Although lawmakers have a constitutional duty to oversee executive agencies and courts have reiterated their authority to conduct unannounced visits to federal immigration facilities, officials have repeatedly tried to limit that access.

Last May they went so far as to arrest Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, for trespassing after he waited inside the gate of the privately operated Delaney Hall detention center where a staffer had asked him to stand after he accompanied three members of Congress to Delaney Hall, and then stepped outside when asked to leave. After they dropped the charges against Baraka days later, they charged Representative LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with assault for her actions during a skirmish that broke out when immigration agents arrested Baraka.

On May 11, 2026, Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), tried again, issuing a memo that calls congressional visits “disruptive” and saying ICE will facilitate meetings of lawmakers with people in detention only if the lawmaker can specifically identify the individual in detention and provide “valid proof” that the detainee consents to a visit. Any such visit, they said, will require two days’ advance notice.

On May 22, after writing public letters to call attention to the crowded and unsanitary conditions inside Delaney Hall, the largest detention center in the Northeast, about 300 detainees began a hunger strike to demand the immediate release of young, elderly, and medically vulnerable detainees and to bring attention to the fact that immigration judges are ignoring their cases, leaving them incarcerated.

While much of the protest focuses on the horrific conditions inside the facility, the detainees themselves have focused on their lack of access to the legal system. They wrote: “We see with deep helplessness and frustration that our due process, rights, and defense have been violated, disregarding benefits granted under the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments of the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.”

“We are certain that we are not being processed equally under immigration laws and the Constitution….. We have seen judges in this detention center who are ready to carry out deportations and mass expulsions without properly reviewing cases. We live with anguish and fear of appearing in court. We are witnessing how judges are disregarding decisions of federal judges, for example not honoring HABEAS CORPUS rulings decided by a FEDERAL judge, depriving us of our liberty.”

They asked for help from senators and members of Congress and said, “[W]e trust in God and believe that justice will be done under the law of the United States of America, since it is a sovereign and constitutional country respected worldwide for upholding human rights.”

us dhs big eagle logo4Since the Delaney Hall detainees began their strike, supporters outside have gathered to show support. Federal agents have clashed with them repeatedly, pepper-spraying Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) among others. MAGA activists went to the site to counter-protest, and Mayor Baraka established a curfew near the facility. Late last week, Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, deployed New Jersey state troopers after White House advisor Tom Homan—a former consultant for Delaney Hall operator GEO Group—threatened to send “tactical units” to New Jersey if the situation continued. The troopers arrested dozens of protesters.

Today New Jersey attorney general Jennifer Davenport sued the GEO Group for refusing to allow inspectors into the facility in violation of state law. “If the GEO Group—with a $1 billion government contract—has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building,” Sherrill said. “The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families.”

In a May 29 interview with me on American Conversations, Senator Kim said that “the detainees were actually very clear with me… they’re concerned about the conditions, but the main reason they’re pushing forward right now, on this hunger strike and broader protest, is about the lack of forward movement when it comes to their cases. I remember one of them ran out of the room when I was talking to them, to go grab a piece of paper off a bulletin board…. The paper, when they brought it back, was about the court docket for the following couple days. And it showed that…this past Tuesday, when the courts opened up after the holiday weekend, this one judge that they are put in front of has 74 cases before her in just that one day, just on Tuesday. She had 74 cases on her docket. You know, I did the…math. I mean, that’s roughly about five minutes per case, if that’s everything is perfectly aligned…. [I]t’s just a…farce. This is not actual justice. This is not actual… legal proceedings as per our Constitution, and as per our laws.”

The destruction of the rule of law in Delaney Hall is part of the Trump administration’s destruction of the rule of law across the United States. This morning, Trump announced he is appointing the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, to become the acting director of national intelligence in addition to his job at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The director of national intelligence is the nation’s top intelligence official, and federal law requires that the director have “extensive national security expertise.” Pulte has none.

What he does have is willingness to use the power of the government to persecute Trump’s perceived political enemies. It was Pulte who came up with the scheme of going after Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook and New York attorney general Letitia James by accusing them of mortgage fraud. He also advocated investigating then–Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for alleged overruns in the renovation of Federal Reserve buildings.

Today, under pressure from Senate Republicans who recognize that the optics of Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund will hurt Republicans in the midterms and demanded the removal of that funding from the budget reconciliation measure they are working on to fund ICE and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Trump appears to have dropped that demand. But acting attorney general Todd Blanche told members of Congress today that he would not commit in writing not to proceed with the slush fund, and that the Department of Justice is not dropping the plan to provide Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization broad amnesty for any laws broken in past tax filings and a pass on future audits.

Just after midnight this morning, Trump posted that his criminal conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records and the civil fraud judgement against him in New York for manipulating his financial statements to get better tax and insurance rates be dismissed, saying he was “an innocent man who has been horribly treated.” As Sophie Brams of The Hill noted, he also called for criminal charges to be launched against New York attorney general James and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the successful lawsuits.

Markwayne Mullin oToday the new secretary of homeland security, Markwayne Mullin, right refused to assure a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would follow court orders. Repeatedly, he told Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) that DHS “will never break the Constitution, and we’re not going to break the law.” But he refused to agree that they would follow court orders. “If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that,” Mullin said. “But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.”

Kyle Cheney of Politico reported last month that the Trump administration has lost nearly 10,400 court cases over DHS immigration detentions while prevailing in about 1,200. That translates to a 90% loss rate. More than 425 judges—an overwhelming majority of them—have decided against the administration. Cheney notes that even a majority of the judges Trump himself appointed have decided against the administration on immigration.

In February, then–DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin explained away the administration’s dismal record by saying that “many activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”

But Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia wrote: “Antiseptic judicial rhetoric cannot do justice to what is happening. Across the interior of the United States, agents of the federal government—masked, anonymous, armed with military weapons, operating from unmarked vehicles, acting without warrants of any kind—are seizing persons for civil immigration violations and imprisoning them without any semblance of due process…. It is an assault on the constitutional order.”

Today, after Mullin wouldn’t agree to obey the courts, suggesting instead that “we’ll hold each other accountable” if ICE breaks the law, Senator Murphy said: “Listen, if you’re a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out.”

Former Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, who oversaw the operations during which federal agents shot and killed American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, joined white nationalist Jared Taylor at a conference of far-right activists and influencers in Portugal over the weekend. As Marion Solletty of Politico reported, in an interview before the conference, Bovino embraced the white nationalism of the Great Replacement theory that says white Europeans and white Americans are in a fight to save their civilization from Black and Brown people.

He claimed that of the 342 million people in the U.S.—he said there were 420 million—100 million are undocumented immigrants who must be removed. But, he added, “our main battle is not with undocumented immigrants or unassimilated immigrants: it is with the bureaucrats of the status quo and the timid politicians, determined to suspend action or wait for the next election cycle.”

“If there is inspiration gained from the U.S. Border Patrol model and method,” he said, “then fantastic.” 

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: CBS Tried to Inject Information into Stories to Help Trump, Trump Lashes out at Netanyahu and No Public Events in One Week, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 3, 2026. We have major stories to cover today, and none is more important than CBS firing journalist Scott Pelley after he publicly challenged Bari Weiss. In a new statement this morning, Pelley revealed a stunning allegation: CBS executives tried to pressure him into including unverified information in his reporting to benefit the White House.

Meanwhile, Trump has not held a public event in seven days, and new swelling has appeared under one of his eyes. In recent taped interviews, he said he cursed out Netanyahu and suggested the UFC structure being built at the White House could remain indefinitely. All of this comes as the Middle East ceasefire appears to be unraveling, with new strikes reported overnight.

I cannot overstate how significant Pelley’s statement is or how alarming his firing should be. One of the most respected institutions in American journalism has been brought under political pressure. It is now our responsibility to help build what CBS is tearing down.

Unlike CBS News, I will never trade the truth for access. If you want journalism that tells the truth even when it is uncomfortable, if you want reporting that is not shaped by political favors or advertising dollars, support this work.

Here’s the news:

Veteran journalist Scott Pelley, left, was fired by CBS News after a heated confrontation with new “60 Minutes” executive producer Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).Nick Bilton during a staff meeting. Pelley publicly criticized the program’s new leadership, including editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, accusingthem of undermining the long-running news program’s journalistic standards and editorial independence. In response, management cited Pelley’s conduct as hostile and insubordinate, terminating his employment after nearly 40 years at CBS News. The firing highlights ongoing turmoil at “60 Minutes” following ownership and leadership changes under Skydance Media, with disputes over editorial direction and the departures of several prominent journalists.

Here is Scott Pelley’s statement this morning confirming that CBS News tried to inject falsehoods into his stories to help the White House.

Trump EpsteinRep. Madeleine Dean alleged that newly unredacted Epstein-related documents show President Donald Trump was not truthful when he denied flying on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane. She argued that the records contain evidence contradicting his publicstatements and accused officials of concealing important information. Her comments were made as part of broader debates over the release and interpretation of Epstein-related files.

New swelling under Trump’s eye has raised new health concerns as the President has now not held a public event in seven days:

President Donald Trump confirmed he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a tense phone conversation about Israel’s military actions in Lebanon. Trump acknowledged the exchange in a podcast interview, saying he was frustrated by the continued fighting and wanted it to stop. According to the report, Trump also pushed back on suggestions that Netanyahu had manipulated him into attacking Iran and said the two leaders still get along well.

Iran and the United States exchanged new military strikes that further strained a fragile ceasefire, with Iran launching missile and drone attacks that killed one person and injured dozens in Kuwait while the U.S. struck targets linked to Iranian operations. The conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil route, contributing to rising energy prices and uncertainty about ongoing peace negotiations. This is what Kuwait’s airport looks like this morning following Iranian strikes:

ukraine flagUkraine launched a large-scale drone attack on Russia, striking targets in St. Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin’s hometown, as the city prepared to host its annual international economic forum. Ukrainian officials said the attack hit an oil export terminal, demonstrating Kyiv’s ability to reach deep into Russian territory and target infrastructure that supports Russia’s war effort. The strike came amid escalating exchanges between the two countries, following a major Russian aerial assault on Ukraine that killed at least 22 people. Analysts say the timing was intended not only to pressure Russia economically but also to embarrass the Kremlin and send a message to international guests attending the forum.

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that Alabama may use a congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts, overturning a lower court decision that found the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters. The conservative majority said Alabama was likely to prevail because lower courts had not properly applied a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act and emphasized deference to states’ political redistricting decisions. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, arguing that the decision undermines democratic principles and permits a map previously found to discriminate against Black voters. The ruling could have major implications for the 2026 midterm elections, as Republicans seek to protect their narrow House majority and other states reconsider majority-Black districts following recent voting-rights decisions. Here is an excerpt from Justice Sotomayor’s dissent:

Election results:

Zach Lahn won Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary, narrowly defeating Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra in a significant upset and marking the first loss for a Trump-backed candidate in a major 2026 midterm primary. Lahn, who aligned himself with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, benefited from support among anti-establishment conservatives and endorsements from figures such as former Rep. Steve King. He will face Democratic nominee Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor, who ran unopposed and has built a bipartisan, anti-establishment campaign. Political observers expect the general election to be highly competitive despite Iowa’s recent Republican lean, with voter concerns about economic issues and open statewide races adding uncertainty.

California’s gubernatorial primary remains too close to call, with Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer competing for the two spots that will advance to the general election. With only about half the expected vote counted, Hilton held a narrow lead, while millions of ballots remained outstanding under California’s slow vote-counting process. Several other important races also remained unresolved, including competitive U.S. House primaries and the race to determine who will face Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff. The outcomes could have significant implications for California politics and the balance of power in Congress, but final results may take days to emerge.

Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and healthcare executive, won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District and will face Republican incumbent Tom Kean Jr. in the general election. The race is expected to be highly competitive because the district is closely divided politically, with President Trump having carried it by only 1 percentage point in 2024. Kean has been absent from Congress since March due to an undisclosed medical condition, drawing criticism from Bennett, who argues he has failed to represent the district effectively. Bennett campaigned on her military and healthcare experience while positioning herself as a candidate who can appeal to Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans.

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland won the Democratic primary for governor of New Mexico and will advance to the general election, where she will face Gregg Hull. If elected, Haaland would become the first Native American woman to serve as a U.S. governor, a historic milestone she has emphasized throughout her campaign. Haaland, who previously served in Congress and as Interior Secretary under President Biden, has focused her campaign on economic issues, health care, and opposition to President Trump’s policies, particularly cuts to federal assistance programs. Entering the general election as the frontrunner in a state that currently has no Republicans holding statewide office, she seeks to succeed term-limited Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Other news:

Overnight, Trump suggested that he will make the UFC instillation on the White House lawn permanent, comparing it to the Eiffel Tower:

Trump said he expects acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to become the permanent attorney general, praising his work at the Justice Department. Trump also defended Blanche’s handling of several controversial issues, including a now-abandoned plan to compensate some of Trump’s allies and supporters involved in the January 6 cases. The remarks signal Trump’s continued confidence in Blanche as a key ally and suggest he is likely to remain a central figure in the administration’s legal and law-enforcement agenda.

A survey of more than 300 federal employees fired during their probationary periods found that 95% reported ongoing mental health effects, with nearly half experiencing PTSD-like symptoms after losing their jobs. Many of the workers said the terminations were unlawful, disruptive to their careers, and left them struggling financially, with some still unemployed or earning significantly less in new positions. Several former employees argued that the firings weakened the federal workforce and contributed to the loss of experienced scientists, researchers, and public servants. The findings come amid ongoing legal challenges to the Trump administration’s workforce reductions and broader concerns about their impact on government services and employee well-being.

A hostage standoff in Bakersfield, California, entered its second day after a man allegedly made bomb threats and barricaded himself inside a building that includes a Chase Bank branch, holding several people hostage. At least two hostages have been released without injuries, while FBI agents, SWAT teams, and crisis negotiators continue efforts to resolve the situation peacefully. Authorities say the remaining hostages appear to be in good health, and the FBI has assumed command of tactical operations as the area remains evacuated and roads stay closed. Officials, including Bakersfield’s mayor, are closely monitoring the incident and urging the public to avoid the area while negotiations continue.

The Trump administration has proposed new rules that would require federal grants to align with the president’s policy priorities and “American values,” giving political appointees greater authority over funding decisions for universities and nonprofit organizations. Critics, including scientists and researchers, warn that the changes could undermine independent peer review, restrict academic freedom, and make it easier to cancel grants for political reasons. The proposal would also formalize restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and limit some international research collaborations. Opponents argue the rules could slow scientific innovation, increase political influence over research, and weaken the United States’ competitiveness in science and higher education.

The European Union criticized a proposed Trump administration tariff that would impose an additional 10% duty on EU goods, calling the measure unjustified. The tariff is based on a U.S. finding that the EU has not yet fully enforced a ban on products made with forced labor, even though the EU has already passed legislation addressing the issue. European officials argue the move is an attempt to find a new legal basis for tariffs after earlier Trump trade measures faced setbacks in court. The dispute threatens a recently negotiated U.S.-EU trade truce and could complicate ongoing efforts to stabilize transatlantic trade relations.

More On U.S. Governance, Trump Administration

 

helen delaney reese djtHeather Delaney Reese, Commentary, This could lead to the end of our republic, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, June 3, 2026. At 3:23 this afternoon, sitting before the Senate Appropriations Committee for the first time since taking over as Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem’s replacement was asked a simple question: Would he follow court orders? He refused to say yes.

And with that single exchange, the Department of Homeland Security found itself back in the headlines, because the man overseeing one of the most powerful agencies in the federal government would not commit to obeying the judiciary branch of our us dhs big eagle logo4government. It was a chilling moment, one that points toward a question every American should be asking tonight: What happens when the people entrusted to enforce the law no longer believe they have to follow it? Can our country survive such a moment? DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin wasn’t supposed to be in this story. Until March, he was a Republican Senator from Oklahoma. Then Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem and put Mullin in her chair, and at his confirmation hearing he sold the Senate a softer version of himself. He promised to work across the aisle. He said he would bring confidence back to an agency that had lost it. For two months after that, he was quiet. Today we found out what the quiet was for. He was planning for this moment.

The question came from Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and he built it carefully. He read aloud from a ruling by Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz of Minnesota, a man who clerked for Antonin Scalia and was put on the bench by George W. Bush. “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” the judge had written. Murphy made sure no one in the room could file that away as partisan. “That’s not a Democratic-appointed judge,” he said. “That is a Republican-appointed judge describing the scale of illegality.” Then he asked the simplest version of the question there is. When a court tells DHS that something it is doing is illegal or unconstitutional and orders it to stop, will you comply with the court order?

And Mullin would not say yes. He said, “We will never break the Constitution and we’re not going to break the law.” It sounded like an answer, but it wasn’t one. The entire structure of our government gives the courts the power to decide whether the law is being broken, not the officials accused of violating it.

So Murphy asked again. And this time Mullin revealed the real issue. “If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that,” he said. “But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.” That was the moment. Because Murphy wasn’t asking whether Mullin agreed with a court order. He was asking whether DHS would obey one. Four times. Four times, he was given the opportunity to say yes. Four times he refused.

At one point, he didn’t even try to hide how he really feels, saying, “Not all judges are above the law, but sometimes they think they are.” Murphy told the entire committee, Republicans and Democrats alike, that they “should be really, really freaked out.” And he named the stakes without flinching. “I think that’s actually the end of our republic, if the administration willfully ignores a court order because they disagree with it or its motivation.”

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This is the trick Mullin is playing. He keeps swapping in the words “the Constitution” and “the law” where the words “court order” belong. He wants us to hear a man pledging fidelity to the founding document. But under our system, he does not get to be the one who decides whether he is obeying it. A court does. That is the whole purpose of an independent judiciary.

So when he reserves the right to ignore the judges who make that determination, while wrapping himself in the language of constitutional devotion, he is not promising to follow the law. He is claiming the authority to decide for himself whether the law applies to him at all.

And the judge Murphy quoted was not exaggerating. Schiltz had attached a list. Ninety-six court orders were violated across seventy-four cases, in one state, in roughly a month. These were habeas cases, people detained and challenging whether their detention was even legal. The judge wrote that ICE has every right to challenge an order, but, like any other party in any other case, it has to follow that order unless and until it is overturned.

The danger of ignoring court orders isn’t just in the orders themselves. A court rules that something DHS is doing is illegal and orders it stopped. DHS decides the order doesn’t count. What happens then? The uncomfortable answer is: not much. The courts can issue contempt orders. They can impose fines. They can even order arrests. But courts do not have an army. They do not have police forces. They depend on the executive branch to enforce their rulings.

Alexander Hamilton warned about this more than two hundred years ago. He called the judiciary the weakest branch because it possesses “neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” The entire system depends on one assumption: that government officials will obey court orders even when they don’t like them. What Mullin told the Senate today is that he may not.

And this won’t stop with DHS. This is just another test. What happens when an election ends up before a court and the ruling goes against the Trump regime? Do they ignore that, too?

Murphy made one more point that we need to think about. If a Republican administration gets to ignore the court orders it decides are political, then so does the next Democratic one. You do not get to break the rule only when it serves you. Once it is broken, it stays broken for whoever comes next. But more importantly, it creates a system where the law means whatever the people in power say it means. Nobody wins in that system.

And maybe the hardest thing to sit with is that none of this is a surprise. We expected this. Not Mullin by name, but this. Exactly this. We have been saying for more than a year that the guardrails would be tested until one of them finally gave way. We are still in the testing phase. But the next phase comes after the tests stop and the consequences begin. And history has taught us that the most dangerous attacks on democratic institutions rarely come from chaos. They come from people who know exactly what they are doing.

Hearing Mullin declare that he might not follow court orders did not shock me. I am not shocked by Trump anymore, either. I expected all of it. What I cannot get past, still, after all this time, are the people in Congress who are letting it happen. The Republicans who know exactly what this is and have decided that a seat at his table is worth more than the country that gave them that seat in the first place. They think they are buying safety. Influence. Access. Power. Whatever he has promised them.

And maybe that is the part that still hurts the most. Not that men like Trump and Mullin would test the limits of our democracy. Authoritarians always do. It is that so many people who swore an oath to defend it have decided not to. They are watching the same events we are. They understand the same stakes. And they are choosing silence anyway. That is what I have never been able to understand. And I know so many of us feel the same way.

Tonight I am watching the election results in California and in five other states, primaries that will help shape what next November even looks like. And while one man in a hearing room was telling the Senate he might not honor a ruling he dislikes, real Americans all over the country were standing in line and casting ballots. Votes were counted. Results came in and were accepted, even by candidates who lost, even when the loser had the president’s own endorsement behind him. That is the thing they have not taken. Our democratic norms are still holding tonight.

Today was not an explosion of good news. It was quieter than that. It was people still showing up, caring, and believing their voice counts for something. And maybe that is what stayed with me tonight. The willingness to participate, to stay engaged even when things feel uncertain, is exactly what we are going to need in November. And people are already showing us they are ready to meet the moment. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Trump Has Given Up, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 3, 2026. No longer interested in governing, he is filled with rage and obsessed with revenge. 

Donald Trump will never admit that his gratuitous Iran war has been a total disaster. But the debacle has clearly broken him. So we are now saddled with a president who has given up governing, but will maintain his grip on power wherever he can. And his power will be exclusively focused on rage and revenge.

Hence Trump has appointed Bill Pulte, right, as the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a position critical to national security.

Bill PulteThe word “acting” is crucial. The statute creating the position of DNI explicitly requires that the appointee “shall have extensive national security expertise.” Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no background in anything related to national security. So Trump is trying to bypass a Congressional confirmation process that would put Pulte under the spotlight. Even Republicans might shed their slavish obedience at this point, given Trump’s plummeting poll numbers and his betrayal of John Cornyn.

But pointing out that Pulte is unqualified for his new job doesn’t convey the extent to which Trump is trolling America with this new appointment.

For Pulte isn’t merely unqualified for a sensitive national security position. He’s unqualified, intellectually and morally, for any government position. All he has are the qualifications that matter to Trump: he is a shameless lackey and willing hitman for Trump’s vendettas.

Who is Pulte? He’s a wealthy nepo-baby, the grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, the nation’s third-largest residential builder. He likes to present himself as the face of the family business, but as a devastating New York Times profile last year explained, he was pushed off PulteGroup’s board in 2020. The family’s charitable foundation has issued a statement that “Bill Pulte does not represent, nor is he a spokesperson for, all members of the Pulte family, in any capacity.”

The Times goes on to note that

These days, one of Bill Pulte’s primary connections to the residential real estate business is a group of five aging mobile home parks he owns in Florida, some badly in need of repair.

How has Pulte handled his falling out with his family?

Mr. Pulte has spent years battling with his aunt, the foundation’s president, over his grandfather’s legacy and other issues. In social media posts he has called her “totally fake and phony” and has written that she “defecates” about him and his late grandfather’s legacy on the foundation website.

Thousands of nasty political posts on social media landed Pulte a powerful post in the Trump administration. And while his former role in his family’s business may have led to his appointment as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, his real job has been weaponizing the agency as a tool against Trump’s perceived enemies — weaponization that is being investigated by the Government Accountability Office as a potential misuse of authority. Pulte confected false claims of mortgage fraud to try to push out Lisa Cook, the only black woman on the Federal Reserve Board. He has leveled similar trumped-up charges against Letitia James, New York’s Attorney General, and several Democratic politicians. And he pushed groundless fraud accusations against Jerome Powell, the former Federal Reserve chair, who stood in the way of Trump’s attempt to politicize monetary policy.

Pulte is a bumbling hatchet man: so far none of his attempted lynchings have succeeded. But for Trump, willingness to engage in unethical behavior is all that matters.

What will Pulte do as America’s senior intelligence official? You might think that even someone like Trump, who has no desire to serve the national interest, who sees wars only as ways to enrich himself and distract from his domestic woes, would want accurate intelligence. After all, if you’re going to wag the dog, you don’t want the dog to bite back the way it has in Iran.

But Trump appears to have given up on governing — even governing aimed at consolidating his own power and legacy. He wants to punish everyone he imagines has wronged him but has lost all interest in making the government work, even for nefarious purposes. So he don’t need no intelligence, just someone who will indulge his rage. And that will be Pulte’s job.

Just to be clear, I am by no means saying that Trump’s descent into rage-madness has ended the threat to U.S. democracy. The Koch-backed Federalist Society, which now controls the Supreme Court, is going all in on rigging U.S. elections with the goal of locking in permanent Republican rule. The architects of Project 2025 are marching ahead with their goal of turning the federal government into a spoils system that answers only to billionaires and their political pawns. Politicization of research funding is getting very close to destroying a scientific community that took generations to build.

But Trump himself is, at this point, little more than a festering ball of anger and hate.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Director of National Retribution, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 3, 2026. Donald Trump is facing a host of crises at once. His political agenda is on the rocks, his popularity has never been lower, and his quest to punish his personal and political enemies for their crimes has all but stalled out.

At times like these, a guy’s got to make some hard choices about which priorities to push hard for and which to let fall by the wayside. And Trump’s selection yesterday of Federal Housing Finance Agency chair Bill Pulte as his new pick for acting director of national intelligence makes it crystal clear: Punishing his enemies is the one goal he’s determined to see through to the bitter end. Virtually everyone not in the bag for Trump—both lawmakers and veterans of the intel community—has bulwark logo big shipbeen left aghast.

“That’s what politicization fundamentally is,” Susan Gordon, who served as principal deputy director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, told The Bulwark. “You’re putting into this messy fray, this difficult thing in which the president already has distrust, you’re putting someone in charge that wants to support the president by going and finding the things that he wants to be true. You’ve now just corrupted the whole discipline.”

Gordon is right to worry. By practically any metric you can imagine, Pulte—the scion of a construction dynasty who parlayed minor MAGA e-celebrity into a housing-policy post—is an insane pick for a top intelligence role. He has zero experience, none whatsoever, in any national-security-related field, making him not only a silly pick but also perhaps an illegal one: Literally the first thing federal law has to say about the DNI is that any nominee to the post “shall have extensive national security expertise.”

Bill PulteNor has Pulte, right, earned the post by proving to be a lion of good government in his current post. Just the opposite: He’s routinely earned the scorn of other D.C. Republicans for the clownish ideas he regularly feeds into Trump’s brain. It was Pulte who briefly sold Trump on a housing policy built around the “50-year mortgage,” which sent White House officials scrambling to do damage control after Trump posted an endorsement of the idea with no explanation and no warning last November. When Trump posted a bizarre AI image of himself as Jesus Christ healing a sick man in April, prompting outrage from his evangelical base, it came out that Pulte was the one who had “brought the image to Trump’s attention.”

“I’m going to punch you in your fucking face,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Pulte at a dinner last September after hearing Pulte had been badmouthing him to the boss. This earned (anonymous) applause from Republican lawmakers on the Hill: “He’s a nut,” one House Republican told Politico. “The guy’s just a little too big for his britches,” groused another. “I would have done the same [as Bessent],” said a third.

Some people deserve to get punched in the face, but most of the time, civility is the best policy. Join our community, where we help each other be the best citizens we can.Subscribed

But Pulte has done one thing that Trump has really, really liked: He has gone after Trump’s enemies with ferocity, tenacity, and an utter lack of shame. The Federal Housing Finance Agency might have seemed a strange perch from which to wage the president’s war of retribution. But as soon as he got there, Pulte busied himself finding ways to use the limited tools at his disposal to get scalps for his boss. Eventually he found a promising route. In fact, the strategy he put together—rooting through opponents’ federally filed mortgage applications in search of discrepancies he could trumpet as fraud—became one of the White House’s go-to strategies in 2025, with Pulte laying the groundwork for mortgage-fraud investigations into a host of Trump foes, including then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, Rep. Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Now Pulte will get to bring this hatchet-man zeal to a much bigger perch with a much more powerful set of dirt-gathering tools: the office of the director of national intelligence. (Have no fear, though: The president said Pulte will keep his housing job at the same time.)

Gathering dirt on Americans, particularly political foes of the government, isn’t what our intelligence agencies are supposed to be for, but it’s long been obvious that it’s Trump’s primary use for them. When Tulsi Gabbard was DNI, she was routinely sidelined or excluded from matters of foreign affairs like the raid to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Instead, the president sent her haring off on all sorts of revenge-tour missions: relitigating the launch of the 2016 Russia investigation, or supervising raids on election offices in an attempt to prove 2020 voter fraud. (When the FBI raided an office in Fulton County, Georgia, Gabbard wasn’t just bizarrely on hand—she even facilitated a speakerphone call from Trump to the on-site agents congratulating them on their success.)

But at least Gabbard had national-security experience—as an Army officer and as a Democratic lawmaker who served for years on the House Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs Committees. She was a putatively qualified nominee who Trump liked because she would do what he wanted, where he wanted. With her gone, Trump is dropping the fig leaf. All that national security experience, it turns out, was just window dressing. The main thing for a director of national intelligence is to be willing to hit Trump’s foes where it hurts.

It’s worth stressing, too, how bad a candidate for this job Pulte would be even if you set this evidence of obvious malice aside.

“There’s so much uncertainty in intelligence, just in general,” Gordon said. “To put someone who has never in his whole life probably even seen intelligence, to understand what it means, is I think profoundly disturbing and sends a lot of signals about how the president values intelligence, how the president understands the job.”

If Pulte’s appointment suggests Trump intends to keep doubling down on his revenge tour, it will do little to help either his swooning popularity or his growing problems keeping lawmakers in check. It’s far from their top issue, but the polls have been clear for months that Americans disapprove of Trump’s weaponization of government against his enemies. Continuing to burn more political capital in pursuit of this goal won’t help dig him out of the popularity pit he’s in. And as Republican lawmakers keep finding new reasons to resent the ways Trump has tried to short-circuit their oversight and policymaking authorities, they can’t love the fact that Trump is nominating an unqualified person they disdain to a top national security role—all in an “acting” capacity that spares Pulte of needing to get the Senate’s consent for the job.

Year two of his second term has left Trump battered and wounded, but in his instincts he remains an authoritarian to the last. He could be spending his time trying to shore up Americans’ living conditions and attempting to win back the voters he’s already lost since 2024. But why bother with that when there’s all these Democrats left to crush?

New York Times, New Intelligence Role Puts Bill Pulte’s Housing Agenda in Doubt, Matthew Goldstein and Lydia DePillis, June 3, 2026. Mr. Pulte has had difficulty boosting the housing market as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Now he will also serve as acting intelligence director.

Bill Pulte, President Trump’s top housing official, has voiced grand ambitions for jump-starting the housing market by lowering interest rates, boosting home construction and reshaping the federally controlled mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

With his appointment on Tuesday as the acting director of national intelligence, Mr. Pulte will now also vet national security threats.

Already, Mr. Pulte’s tenure as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency was marked by a lot of talk and theatrics but few tangible results. With his new unusual dual role, housing advocates said they expected his housing agenda to slow even more.

“It suggests that, for the time being anyway, any efforts that require a heavy lift from F.H.F.A. will have to wait,” said Jim Parrott, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute and an adviser on housing finance issues.

Mr. Pulte, 38, is a grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, one of the nation’s largest home-building companies, and served on its board for about four years before his fellow members pushed him out. But he has had little day-to-day experience in the housing world outside of owning several small mobile home parks in Florida and a number of single-family rental homes.

At the housing agency, Mr. Pulte has shaken up the staff, firing people in large groups. Teams focusing on fair-lending enforcement and climate risk were cut or merged with others.

Mr. Pulte also de-emphasized Fannie and Freddie’s mission of expanding homeownership to historically underserved populations. He canceled support for a program aimed at catering to people of color, for example, and lowered the targets for the share of loans to low-income home buyers that Fannie and Freddie try to acquire.

Neither Mr. Pulte nor a spokesperson for the Federal Housing Finance Agency responded to requests for comment.

Under Mr. Pulte’s tenure, the administration’s lofty goals for the housing market have yet to materialize. Early on, he was able to hail falling mortgage rates, which helped make buying homes slightly less formidable. A decision he made to have Fannie and Freddie buy hundreds of billions of dollars more in mortgage securities had some initial success in bringing down rates, but prices have remained stubbornly high.

Rates on a 30-year mortgage, as tracked by Freddie Mac, have been rising during the war with Iran and now sit about where they were last summer.

The difficulty of purchasing a home, particularly for first-time buyers, has helped drive down Mr. Trump’s approval ratings on the economy. And housing starts have remained subdued since interest rates soared in 2022.

At one point, Mr. Pulte floated the idea of creating a 50-year mortgage in a bid to spur homeownership, but both progressives and conservatives panned the idea. Critics said the interest payments would last so long that they would eat into a homeowner’s life savings.

One of Mr. Pulte’s signature proposals is launching an initial public offering of Fannie and Freddie, which buy mortgages from banks and package them into bonds that are sold to investors. Controlled by the federal government since the financial crisis nearly 18 years ago, the companies are two of the most important cogs in the nation’s roughly $17 trillion mortgage market.

New York Times, G.O.P. Works to Jump-Start Immigration Bill After Trump Retreat on Fund, Annie Karni and Robert Jimison, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Republicans hoped the acting attorney general’s vow that the administration was “not moving forward” with a fund for people claiming to be victimized by the government would unlock the votes.

Senate Republicans toiled on Tuesday to push forward with a bill to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown, hoping that a clear statement from the administration that it was abandoning the idea of a $1.8 billion fund to pay people claiming to have been victimized by the federal government would be enough to unlock the needed votes.

The plan for the fund had generated an intense bipartisan backlash, and many Senate Republicans indicated last month that they would not agree to move forward with the legislation as long as the fund remained an issue.

On Tuesday, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, attempted to take it off the table, testifying before a House committee that the Justice Department was backing away from the plan to create what it had called an anti-weaponization fund as part of a settlement the president reached with the Internal Revenue Service.

“We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” Mr. Blanche said, testifying under oath before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“Not moving forward ever?” Representative Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, pressed.

“Correct,” Mr. Blanche replied.

It was not clear whether his statement would be enough to mollify Republicans who had been outraged about the idea of the fund, who are all but certain to be faced with politically difficult votes on the topic when the $70 billion immigration crackdown bill reaches the floor. But G.O.P. leaders hoped it would be enough to unite their party around the measure and allow votes on it in the Senate as soon as Wednesday.

Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, had said at a news conference earlier Tuesday that he was relying on Mr. Blanche to clear the way for such a breakthrough after the acting attorney general had told him privately that he would provide a “very definitive, very clear” statement on the fund in his testimony.

Afterward, Mr. Thune said he thought that Mr. Blanche had delivered a “definitive” message — “I thought he was good,” he told reporters at the Capitol — but said the bill was still a “work in progress,” and indicated that he was still trying to line up the votes to move forward.

“We’ve been talking to our members, continue to dialogue with them, see where it goes,” Mr. Thune said.

Still, Mr. Blanche’s testimony did not solve all of Republicans’ problems with the measure, which aims to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for the remainder of Mr. Trump’s term.

He told the House panel that he was not backing away from another provision of the deal that Mr. Trump reached with the I.R.S.: one that protects him, his family and his businesses from audits of tax returns they have already filed. That could still prove to be a political liability for Senate Republicans, as Democrats seek to portray them as helping to enrich a billionaire at a time when affordability remains the overwhelming issue concerning voters heading into the midterm elections.

The immigration legislation, which was supposed to be a point of unity for Republicans, has in recent weeks devolved instead into a flashpoint for tensions between Mr. Trump and members of his party in Congress. G.O.P. senators had already agreed last month under political pressure to drop $1 billion in security funding that the White House had sought to include in the bill for Mr. Trump’s ballroom project, which also generated a bipartisan backlash.

On Tuesday, in an indication that Republicans were trying to insulate themselves further from political blowback over the president’s fund, they agreed to drop roughly $1.5 billion from the bill that was to have gone to the attorney general’s office for a broad swath of Justice Department “missions,” according to a leadership aide who insisted on anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Some senators had worried that money could be used for a fund compensating the president’s allies.

Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, all Republicans, have continued to express concerns about the fund. Mr. Tillis even said he would support a Democratic amendment to block the Justice Department from revisiting the creation of such a fund in the future.

More On U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran, Lebanon

 

New York Times, War Games and Warnings on Strait of Hormuz Went Unheeded by Trump, Michael Crowley, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Over the past two decades, Iran repeatedly threatened to close down the waterway. President Trump underestimated Iran’s ability to do so. 

In mid-February, shortly before President Trump launched the war on Iran, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps conducted live-fire drills in its coastal waters. Iranian state media publicized the exercise, whose official name made its purpose clear: “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz.”

The exercise amounted to a flashing red warning light to the Trump administration — one that, for reasons that are still not fully clear, went largely unheeded.

Within days of the war’s start, Iran’s military exerted control over the strait, menacing commercial tankers with boats, missiles and drones. Shipping ground to a halt. Energy prices soared. And Mr. Trump was backed into a strategic corner.

Three months later, Iran’s control of the strait has become its most powerful weapon, a source of huge leverage in negotiations with Mr. Trump over the country’s nuclear program.

Department of Defense SealA president used to bending opponents to his will has struggled to conceal his exasperation. In an April social media post, Mr. Trump profanely demanded that the “crazy bastards” leading Iran open the strait, “or you’ll be living in Hell.” Iran’s military mocked Mr. Trump’s threat as a sign of helplessness.

But Iran’s response has been neither crazy nor surprising, say numerous former U.S. officials who spent hours war-gaming Tehran’s likely response to a major U.S. attack.

For years, the U.S. government has conducted war games dealing with potential conflicts with Iran, including ones at the Pentagon attended by dozens of military officials and policymakers. Over and over, participants say, they concluded that Iran would respond to a major American attack by closing the strait of Hormuz.

“Every single time, the first thing we focused on was the strait — without exception,” said Dennis B. Ross, a senior national security official in the Obama White House. “We assumed that if you go to war with Iran, this was their counterpoint.” 

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Kuwait Says Iranian Attack Has Damaged Its Main Airport, Yan Zhuang, June 3, 2026. The United States and Iran both reported strikes overnight, accusing each other of being the aggressor. It was unclear where diplomatic efforts stand to end the war.

Here’s the latest.

Kuwait’s army said a passenger terminal at the country’s main international airport was damaged by an Iranian drone attack early Wednesday, after a new round of strikes between the United States and Iran.

The hostilities overnight were the latest in a series of attacks the two countries have launched in recent days, even as they negotiate over a framework to end the war. The U.S. military has described its actions as self-defense, while Iran has said it is retaliating against American attacks.

The Kuwaiti authorities said one person had been killed in the attack on Kuwait International Airport’s Terminal 1, and the army said multiple people were injured. The foreign ministry said the country reserved the right to take appropriate measures in response.

Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Authority said it had suspended flights and was diverting them to alternate airports. By early afternoon local time, some flights had resumed from a different terminal.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that Iran had launched missiles and drones at two regional neighbors, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as civilian mariners in nearby waters. Several projectiles failed in flight, it said, and others were intercepted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had targeted the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and an American vessel it identified as the Panaya. U.S. Central Command said Iran’s Wednesday attacks targeting U.S. bases did not hit their targets.

The U.S. military said it was responding to “aggressive Iranian behavior,” and that the targets it struck included a military ground control station on Qeshm Island, off the coast of Iran. Iran cited the Qeshm strikes as grounds for its own attacks.

Both sides have maintained that the cease-fire between them remains in effect while negotiations continue.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a deal with Iran “could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” but cautioned that there was no guarantee any agreement would be “acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to the American people.”

Iran has insisted that any new cease-fire and peace deal must include Lebanon.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Israel-Lebanon talks: Israeli and Lebanese officials met in Washington on Tuesday for the first day of a new round of U.S.-mediated talks on ending the war in Lebanon, a conflict closely tied to the one that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Another round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.
  • Lebanon fighting: Early Wednesday, the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for parts of southern Lebanon, where it has continued strikes against the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.
  • Market reaction: Oil prices rose on Wednesday as military strikes in the Middle East cast doubt on efforts by Iran and the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas shipping route. 

New York Times, Out of Time to Delay, House to Vote on Directing an End to the War in Iran. Robert Jimison and Megan Mineiro, June 3, 2026. A measure to direct the president to halt U.S. engagement in Iran had been on track to pass in late May, but Republican leaders postponed action. They have run out of time to delay the vote.

The House on Wednesday was set to vote on a measure directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war.

The resolution had been on track to pass in May when Republican leaders abruptly pulled it from the floor to avoid an embarrassing defeat for both the party and the president.

Adoption of the resolution would be a remarkable rebuke to Mr. Trump and his handling of the war, after he has repeatedly dismissed any effort by Congress to curb his power and the G.O.P. has largely ceded its prerogatives to do so, deferring to him time and again. Republicans put off the vote two weeks ago, recognizing that they did not have sufficient votes to defeat the measure.

But it was not clear whether they had made any headway in the days since, in winning converts, as the conflict has dragged on and Mr. Trump has made little progress toward ending it. And G.O.P. leaders are unable to delay the vote any longer because Democrats have invoked the War Powers Resolution, which requires consideration of such measures within a limited period of time.

Three House Republicans sided with Democrats in support of a similar resolution that just barely failed on a tie vote last month, in a sign of growing opposition to the military campaign now in its fourth month.

The vote comes as divisions between Republicans in Congress and the president have surfaced on a range of issues as their interests diverge in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections. Senate Republicans have in recent days forced Mr. Trump to abandon his request for $1 billion in security funding for his ballroom project and a plan that the Justice Department announced to create a federal fund to pay claimants who accuse the government of having victimized them.

Even if the resolution were to pass and be approved by the Senate, the ability of lawmakers to force a president to withdraw troops remains a contested legal question, and Mr. Trump and his senior aides have dismissed any effort by Congress to limit his war powers as unconstitutional.

But a Senate vote last month to move forward with a similar measure, in which a handful of G.O.P. defectors broke from the president and opposed the war, indicated an increasing willingness by some members of the president’s party to pressure him to end a conflict that a majority of Americans say is not worth the costs.

Lincoln Square Media, Opinion: America Handcuffed: How the New NDAA Would Merge US and Israeli Defense, Frank Figliuzzi, right, frank figliuzziJune 3, 2026. Congress added Section 224 in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. Here's why it's fundamentally different from decades of traditional military aid.

lincoln square media logoThere’s a spot on the horizon that merits our attention before it vanishes into classified obscurity. And deep within last Tuesday’s release of their 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the House of Representatives included an innocuous sounding section labeled, “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” Section 224.

Since Israel was founded in 1948, it has received over $200 billion inflation-adjusted dollars in military aid from the United States. If you think that represents the pinnacle of historical global defense partnerships, you haven’t seen Section 224. The draft NDAA isn’t about increasing the amount of money we spend on Israel’s military. It’s about increasing Israel’s influence over, and integration into, the U.S. military industrial complex to an unprecedented level beyond that of any other partner nation.

Section 224 as currently drafted would fully integrate another country into America’s most sensitive research and development, Israel Flagweapons production, defense licensing agreements, and potentially every key facet of Israeli and American military industries. If not reconsidered and redrafted, the two nation’s defenses and related economic complexes could be so wedded, indistinguishable and mutually dependent, as to preclude separation or divorce when this ill-advised marriage inevitably falters.

For national security professionals, concerned citizens, and lawmakers, it’s time to speak now or forever hold our peace.

Department of Defense SealI write this column as an advocate of Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself, and, as someone who understands America’s interest in coming to Israel’s aid when it’s attacked. Yet, my concerns about Section 224 are also informed by 25 years of national security experience and my former role as head of counterintelligence at the FBI. It was my job to protect our nation’s future by protecting its most valued secrets and preserving our capacity to share what we wanted, when we wanted, and with whom.

Section 224 seems to undermine that essential independence. That’s my first reason for concern over this NDAA.

I’d have similar concerns if we were talking about this level of integration with other, even longer-established alliances like that with the United Kingdom. But members of Congress from both parties seem sold on the idea of moving well beyond the existing joint initiatives with Israel in areas such as missile defense, and plunging into ill-advised consolidation and exposure of our, “AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, biotech, and many more” cutting edge proprietary projects. Even further, Section 224 proposes “network integration” and “data fusion” with Israel. That’s a techie’s way of saying: My house is your house; just take what you need.

I know the U.S. works in tandem with NATO allies to jointly produce armaments and preserve common supply chains. America exports its fighter aircraft to other countries and even trains foreign pilots to fly those jets. We are also the top purveyor of guns in the world and sell weapons to many nations. It’s also true that Israel develops some cutting-edge military technologies and shares them with us, particularly when it comes to anti-drone platforms.

But the 2027 proposed NDAA is different.

Beyond the intensely powerful Israeli lobbying machine, another possible reason lawmakers from both parties are throwing their approval behind Section 244 is that it would bring more jobs to their districts. As Ben Freeman wrote last week in Responsible Statecraft:

“It would give the Israeli government the opportunity to greatly expand one of the most powerful levers of influence in U.S. politics: jobs in the U.S. By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on U.S. soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie.”

That’s my second concern. Once local, state and even our national economies become co-dependent and perhaps beholden to another nation in such a critical area as military defense, our national interest is no longer our own. Once Section 224 gets approved, how do lawmakers launch objections that could lose jobs in their districts and ultimately lose those members an election? Josh Paul, a former U.S. State Department official commented on the potentially unfixable intertwining with Israel, “What Congress is trying to do now is find different ways of entrenching the relationship so deep in America’s own defense industrial base that it’s impossible to root it out.”

 Frank Figliuzzi, is an FBI Assistant Director (retired); 25-year veteran Special Agent; and author of the national bestseller, The FBI Way, and Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. 

Trump Family Corruption, Probes, Allegations, Accountability, Coverups

donald trump money palmer report Custom

New York Times, Order Shielding Trump Family From I.R.S. Audits Will Remain, Blanche Says, Andrew Duehren and Alan Feuer, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). The acting attorney general said the administration was preserving a broad order protecting the president and his family from audits of already filed returns, despite dropping a $1.8 billion payout fund.

The Justice Department is standing by an extraordinary measure giving President Trump, his family and his businesses potentially Todd Blanche Olucrative protection from I.R.S. investigations, Todd Blanche, left, the acting attorney general, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Blanche’s remarks about the tax protections came during an appearance in front of a House Appropriations subcommittee, in which he told lawmakers that the Trump administration was abandoning a related plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to pay restitution to people who claimed they were victims of government “weaponization.”

Mr. Blanche said the end of the fund would not affect the separate agreement shielding Mr. Trump from audits of tax returns he and his family had already filed. Both proposals had emerged in recent weeks as part of a settlement of Mr. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S. But now only the measure benefiting the Trumps will survive, Mr. Blanche said.

“Nothing has changed with that,” he said, referring to the tax proposal. “We’re not moving forward with the anti-weaponization fund.”

irs logoMr. Blanche’s directive left in place a staggering public benefit to a president who has sought to bend the government toward his own financial interests. A host of thorny legal questions also remain. Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S. was revived last week by a judge concerned about potential deception in the agreement to withdraw the suit and to release the Trumps from any ongoing audits.

These protections could be immensely valuable to Mr. Trump and his family, who have faced repeated audits from the Internal Revenue Service. Just one investigation by the I.R.S. stemmed in part from how Mr. Trump claimed losses on his Chicago tower could have cost him more than $100 million, The New York Times has reported. The Trump Organization had recently entered settlement talks with the I.R.S. to try to resolve the audit, The Times previously reported.

Tax lawyers and former I.R.S. officials have said that the protection for Mr. Trump was unprecedented in its scope and form, particularly since it extends to “affiliates” of the Trumps. Pre-existing I.R.S. procedure has been to audit the president every year, rather than confer on him sweeping protection from scrutiny on tax returns already filed.

Mr. Blanche sought to cast the audit protections as a typical outcome of litigation against the I.R.S. But Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the agency did not deal with an audit or tax issue, instead focusing on the leak of his tax returns by a former I.R.S. contractor during his first term.

Indeed, when the tax proposal was first floated to the Justice Department last month, lawyers there raised questions about whether Justice Department log circulargiving the Trumps protection against I.R.S. scrutiny would run afoul of a law barring the tax agency from dropping audits at the direction of the president or his aides.

The I.R.S. also sought to contest Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, with lawyers at the agency preparing a 25-page memorandum recommending that the Justice Department move to dismiss the case.

“Like anytime the I.R.S. settles with an individual taxpayer or another company, as part of the settlement, it’s standard, it’s typical to get rid of past ongoing audits,” Mr. Blanche said. “It’s not a forward-looking document. It’s nothing that gives any sort of immunity in the future to the president or his family or his organizations.”

Mr. Blanche personally signed the document conferring tax protections for Mr. Trump, his family and businesses. The brief agreement was posted without fanfare on the Justice Department’s website on May 19, one day after the agreement setting up the anti-weaponization fund was released. Some lawyers have questioned whether Mr. Blanche, as the acting attorney general, even has the authority to order the I.R.S., a separate agency, to stop civil tax audits.

Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, said at the hearing on Tuesday that the I.R.S. order proved that Mr. Blanche was continuing to act as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer. “Do you not find there’s any conflict of interest in what you are doing here as the acting attorney general of the United States?” she asked. Mr. Blanche said there was none.

While Senate Republicans had loudly protested the $1.8 billion fund, spurring Mr. Blanche’s retreat on that provision, many have appeared to look the other way at the audit protection, a benefit for the president potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

“I haven’t been focused on that to tell the truth,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine. “I think the same rules should apply to everybody.”

Still, Senate Democrats have said they plan to try to force votes on both the $1.8 billion fund and the audit provision. Republicans are taking up a bill funding immigration enforcement efforts under a fast-track process that allows Democrats to introduce amendments.

  

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

Public Notice, The slush fund is dead. Long live the slush fund, Liz Dye, June 3, 2026. Todd Blanche, call your lawyer. Yesterday the Trump administration made it known that it’s tapping out on the “weaponization” slush fund … maybe.

public notice logoFirst Axios and then every other news outlet simultaneously reported that the $1.776 billion payout to Trump’s pals is “dead for now.”

As for the administration, though, they’re putting nothing in writing.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.comMENG: Are you going to issue new memo in writing rescinding weaponization fund? BLANCHE: I'm not committing to putting anything in writing. What would the purpose be? M: You established it in writing so it makes sense to rescind it in writing B: Ok. I'm not committing to doing anything in writing

And not even Trump’s fellow Republicans will take his word that this theft of taxpayer dollars won’t rise from the dead.

Trump v. Trump

In theory, the slush fund was created to settle a lawsuit Trump filed in January against the IRS.

Back in 2020, a contractor named Charles Littlejohn leaked more than 400,000 tax returns of the wealthiest Americans to ProPublica and the New York Times. As a victim of the leak, Trump was entitled to recover his actual damages under the Privacy Act, codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 7431. But the statute of limitations is two years from the date of discovery, and Trump absolutely knew about the leak years before that.

In fact, Trump sent his lawyer Alina Habba to represent him at Littlejohn’s plea hearing in October 2023. Nevertheless, Trump demanded $10 billion — a number totally unmoored to any claim of actual harm suffered — insisting that he didn’t find out about the leak until 2024.Trump's $1.8b slush fund could turn into giant can of worms Trump's $1.8b slush fund could turn into giant can of worms.

Everything about this case suggests that it was a collusive effort between Trump and the government he controls. No lawyer for the Justice Department ever entered an appearance, and the requests to delay the government’s answer to the complaint were docketed “jointly,” but signed by Trump’s lawyers alone.

Smelling a rat, Judge Kathleen Williams ordered both sides to brief the threshold question of whether she had jurisdiction to hear the case at all. Article III courts can only hear live cases and controversies, and a president suing the an agency he controls doesn’t look much like a real dispute. Trump himself confirmed as much on Air Force One, telling reporters “I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”

The briefs were due May 20. But on May 18, Trump’s private lawyers filed a notice of voluntary dismissal.

Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, if the Trump administration had filed an answer to the complaint, Judge Williams would have had to approve the settlement. But because the parties made sure that the no DOJ lawyer ever entered an appearance, Trump could just walk away without subjecting the settlement to judicial scrutiny. Judge Williams had no choice but to dismiss the case.

The same day, DOJ announced the Anti-Weaponization Fund, transferring $1.776 billion from the Treasury Judgment Fund to a private entity controlled entirely by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, right. Todd Blanche OUnder the aegis of five commissioners named by Blanche and removable by Trump, the fund would secretly dole out cash with zero judicial or congressional oversight.

Here again, Trump’s lawyers inside and outside of government colluded to situate this payout in ways that are legally self-contradictory. They captioned it as a settlement of the lawsuit, even though it also purported to settle unrelated claims arising from an administrative complaint that Trump filed alleging abuse of process in the the stolen documents case.

Normally legal settlements are taxable income to the prevailing party, but Trump certainly doesn’t intend to pay taxes on $1.8 billion in income. And the Treasury Judgment Fund can only pay monetary judgments; it cannot be used to fund administrative overhead to run what is effectively a federal agency dispensing cash to randos.

The next day, Blanche signed a separate addendum immunizing Trump and his family for any tax crimes they might previously have committed. Trump has been arguing for more than a decade about a dodgy tax filing back in 2010, so this amnesty is potentially worth $100 million for him, according to the New York Times.

The backlash was intense, and not just from Democrats.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick joined Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi to propose legislation blocking the slush fund. Over in the Senate, Sen. Thom Tillis called the project “stupid on stilts” and a “payout for punks,” according to CNN.

“Utterly stupid, morally wrong – take your pick,” Sen. Mitch McConnell scoffed.

Even Sen. Ron Johnson, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, called it “a galactic blunder.”

Blanche’s steadfast refusal to promise that no money would go to J6-ers who beat cops did not help matters.

Republicans in Congress were already furious at being asked to fund Trump’s ballroom — the one that was supposedly being donated by all his pals who just happen to have business before the federal government.

The Senate Parliamentarian saved the GOP from having to walk that particular plank by stripping the ballroom out of the reconciliation bill Republicans have been trying to pass to fund ICE and CBP without Democratic votes. But DOJ funding is still part of it, which gave Democrats a hook to propose endless amendments to the reconciliation package barring distributions to Trump’s slush fund. Voting to fund the project would be politically embarrassing for Republicans, and there’s good reason to think enough of them would cross the aisle that the amendment would pass.

But Trump’s prodigious lying has finally convinced Republicans that nothing is official until it’s actually official.

“It’s pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there’s not going to be a weaponization fund,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley told Politico.

“If it means it’s completely pulled, then that would satisfy me, but I haven’t heard anybody say that that is actually what is happening,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski agreed.

On Monday, even after the news of the “settlement” was reported, Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved to strip DOJ funding from the reconciliation bill entirely, in an effort to separate the issue of the slush fund from the reconciliation bill.

And Trump’s most ardent supporters are sure that they’ll get their money, one way or the other.

 

Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement.Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement

X avatar for @NobleOne Enrique Tarrio@NobleOneYou actually think President Trump is going to surrender this fund so easily? Don’t ever bet against this President. Dont play with this man. Let’s be crystal clear: the DOJ never said it was giving up the fund. They simply stated they will abide by the judge’s order for now.Image9:06 PM · Jun 1, 2026 · 21.4K Views262 Replies · 96 Reposts · 376 Likes

In testimony yesterday before a House appropriations subcommittee on oversight of the Justice Department, Blanche agreed that “we’re not moving forward with the fund. Period.”

But Blanche refused to put that in writing, suggesting that the money may still be moving to Trump, but not the slush fund. (Sorry, Enrique!) And he insisted that the tax amnesty was non-negotiable.

“There’s a settlement that the IRS entered into with President Trump and others in his family and his companies,” Blanche simpered. “As part of that settlement, as is customary in IRS settlements, there is a separate AG order.”

The slippage here is that this wasn’t an IRS enforcement action — it was a civil suit filed by Trump himself under the Privacy Act and the Internal Revenue Code. Blanche may be right that it is “customary” for the IRS to settle all a taxpayer’s outstanding issues in a dispute over back-taxes. But here, if Trump had actually won in court, he’d have been entitled to monetary damages and nothing else. His own tax liability is totally irrelevant.

On the plus side, the continued existence of this settlement means that Judge Williams’s inquiry into potential attorney misconduct will probably continue — and she’s not going to get flimflammed with a deliberate obfuscation about tax settlements and tort suits.

And neither will Congress!“

This thing isn’t over … not by a long shot.

New York Times, ‘I Love It’: Trump Is Still in Favor of $1.8 Billion Payout Fund, Luke Broadwater, June 3, 2026. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said on Tuesday that the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period,” after the plan drew bipartisan backlash.

President Trump on Wednesday said he still loved the idea of a $1.8 billion fund to use taxpayer money to pay his allies who claim they have been politically persecuted, even after his administration said it was dropping the plan.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said on Tuesday that the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period,” after the plan drew enormous, bipartisan backlash.

But in his first public comments since then, Mr. Trump did not disavow the politically toxic pot of money, which critics have characterized as a slush fund.

“I love it,” Mr. Trump said of the fund. “I think it’s so important.”

Asked whether the fund was actually dead or merely on hold, the president said: “I’d have to ask the lawyers.” He added: “The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing.”

Mr. Trump’s comments appeared to be a way to distance himself from the decision to back away from the fund.

The president then spoke in praiseworthy terms of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” defacing the halls of Congress and attacking and injuring more than 150 officers.

“These are great people that were destroyed, their families have been destroyed,” he said, adding, “They went there with love.”

In one of his first official acts of his second term, Mr. Trump issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol, issuing pardons to most of the defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Mr. Trump’s proposal could have enriched through taxpayer dollars those who attacked the Capitol; the prospect spurred widespread outcry among lawmakers, many of whom had fled the mob violence. In response, Republican senators blocked the advancement of a spending bill as a protest, unless the fund was killed. They moved forward with the bill on Wednesday, around the time the president made his remarks praising the fund.Editors’ PicksKarl-Anthony Towns’s 5 Favorite Places in New York CityHis Grandfather Was a Spy. Obviously, He Wrote a Novel About It.Can You Use Dirty Rubber Bands in the Kitchen?

The president said Wednesday he thought the fund was “so important.” He said many people including himself had been victimized by law enforcement.

“I’m one of them,” he said. “Look, they raided my house.”

 

Jared Kushner’s Albanian resort faces corruption probe, mass protestsJudd LegumJun 3 READ IN APP Rendering of Kushner’s planned Albanian resort. (Studio Genesis)

Jared Kushner’s Albanian resort faces corruption probe, mass protestsJudd LegumJun 3 READ IN APP Rendering of Kushner’s planned Albanian resort. (Studio Genesis)

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Kushner’s Albanian resort faces corruption probe, mass protests, Judd Legum, right, June 3, 2026. judd legumJared Kushner’s efforts to negotiate an end to the Iran War are not going well. But he is only moonlighting as one of the Trump administration’s top diplomats. Kushner is also having problems at his day job as the founder of Affinity Partners, a private equity fund bankrolled by Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments.

Along with his wife Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Trump, Kushner is developing a multibillion-dollar resort on Sazan Island in Albania and nearby coastline. In an interview with the David Senra podcast published Sunday, Ivanka Trump described the project dreamily:

noel simsIt’s an unbelievable, beautiful, 1,400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean. We were on a friend’s boat and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it. We swam to the island, we went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated, and it stayed with us ever since. And over the course of many years, we developed the opportunity to help realize its potential and transform it, but with a lot of restraint and care because the land is so beautiful that, really, the architecture has to be fully integrated into it, almost rise from it.

Ivanka Trump said the project is “the culmination of all of my experience in real estate, all of my travel, a lot of reflection on how I want to live, how I think people increasingly want to live.”

But the reality of the massive project, which includes 10,000 hotel rooms and is located in one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive areas, is a lot messier. In 2024, the Albanian government changed the law to allow the area, which was previously part of a protected national park, to be developed. After Trump’s election in November 2024, the Albanian government granted Atlantic Incubation Partners, an LLC linked to Kushner, “strategic investor“ status, clearing the way for permits.

Kushner’s LLC was granted that status “just weeks before the new US president’s inauguration, even without a business plan or feasibility study for the construction of a luxury resort on an uninhabited island once used by the army for shooting practice.”

On Monday, Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime, known as SPAK, confirmed it was investigating Kushner’s project. The investigation will probe the changes to the land’s protected status and how Kushner-controlled entities obtained rights.

An investigative report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) found that the project involved a “network of shady individuals and companies“ including “a businessman accused of links to the Italian mafia, a former judge who resigned due to the vetting process, the daughter of a lawyer accused of forgery, the company of a murdered businessman and individuals linked to one of Albania’s biggest oligarchs, Shefqet Kastrati.”

In January, 41 environmental organizations from 28 countries wrote to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and called for “the immediate suspension of any decisions advancing the project.” The groups said the resort posed “serious risks to the biodiversity and critical habitats of the area,” including “crucial habitats for some of the world’s most endangered marine species.”

Rama, however, has continued to defend the project. “There is not a single chance it will be stopped for as long as I am here,” Rama said at a press conference Tuesday.“Albania Is Not for Sale”

On Senra’s podcast, Ivanka Trump said she was “just there [in Albania] walking the lands” to “sort of be with it and experience it alongside some of the greatest living architects of our time.” She did not mention that the property has been subject to mass protests.

On April 29, government officials allowed barbed wire fencing to be constructed around the coastal portions of the resort property. This cut off miles of beach from the public. Heavy machinery was brought in to construct access roads.

The actions prompted regular protests by Albanians objecting to handing Kushner a public asset to develop into an ultra-luxury resort. Video captured private security guards dragging a protester across the ground.

After the incident, “authorities revoked the licenses of two private security firms involved in the incident, arrested one guard and stripped the local police chief of his duties.” Fifteen protesters were also charged with crimes.

This week, protests expanded to Tirana, Albania’s capital, with thousands chanting “Albania is not for sale” and demanding Rama’s resignation.

In December, Kushner’s plan to build a Trump tower in Belgrade collapsed after the project became enmeshed in a criminal corruption scandal involving Serbian government officials. Prosecutors allege that government officials forged documents to remove cultural protections from the land where the tower was to be constructed.

Investigative Reporting, Trump Pressures, Corporate Cowardice

 

CBS 60 minutes logo

 Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, above, was fired a day after a tense meeting where he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes” (CBS photo by Michele Crowe via Getty Images).

New York Times, CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes,’  Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Mr. Pelley, a former “CBS Evening News” anchor, was ousted after months of tensions between staff and Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief.

CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program.

cbs news logoMr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents.

“We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.”

Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply.

“I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

The firing of Mr. Pelley is among the most consequential moves of Ms. Weiss’s rocky tenure at CBS. And it is almost certain to spike tensions that have coursed through the network for months.

It also raises the stakes of Ms. Weiss’s surprising decision to replace the entire leadership team at “60 Minutes,” CBS News’s most successful franchise, and hire Mr. Bilton, who has no experience in broadcast TV, to oversee the show. The program’s viewership was up 9 percent this past season from a year prior, and the show is routinely among the nation’s highest-rated weekly broadcasts, according to Nielsen.

Those viewers are accustomed to familiar faces like Mr. Pelley, who has contributed to the program since 2004. The “60 Minutes” staff prides itself on autonomy, and it is not clear how the show’s production team may react to the firing of Mr. Pelley.

At the staff meeting on Monday, which Ms. Weiss did not attend, Mr. Pelley repeatedly pressed Mr. Bilton about the network’s decision to fire Tanya Simon, the show’s previous executive producer. He also told Mr. Bilton that he had “slender” qualifications to oversee the show and that he would “never be welcome” at “60 Minutes.”

In his letter to Mr. Pelley on Tuesday, Mr. Bilton expressed his deep frustration with those remarks.

“You hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Mr. Bilton wrote. He called it a “performative display of hostility” that “demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show.”ImageA black-and-white photo of several people in suits holding microphones in a formal room.Mr. Pelley, second from right, preparing to deliver live reports alongside other White House correspondents in 1998.Credit...Getty Images

Mr. Pelley, asked about the letter in the interview on Tuesday evening, said Mr. Bilton’s missive “betrays a complete misunderstanding of what we work for and what we live for at ‘60 Minutes.’”

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Pelley sent a statement to The Times that assailed the new leadership of CBS News, writing that “incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc” at the network.” He added, “The collapse of values at the top has become untenable.”

Mr. Pelley also wrote that senior managers at CBS News had pressured him to insert bias into stories for “60 Minutes” this past season, though he did not provide details about specific segments.

Mr. Bilton must now take charge of a weekly program that has lost four of its on-air correspondents in the past month. Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired last week, and Anderson Cooper voluntarily left the show at the end of the season in May.

Ms. Weiss was appointed last year by CBS’s owner, the tech scion David Ellison, with a mandate to revamp the news division for the digital era. An opinion journalist with little experience in broadcast television, Ms. Weiss was also a longtime critic of the legacy media.

Her early interactions with the “60 Minutes” staff led to some awkwardness. In a meeting in October, Ms. Weiss bluntly asked the show’s journalists why the country believed they were biased. In December, she pulled a segment about a Salvadoran prison shortly before it aired, saying it needed more reporting. Ms. Alfonsi, the correspondent, accused Ms. Weiss of a “political” move. (The segment later aired in full, with additional comments from the Trump administration.)

Mr. Pelley’s future had seemed up in the air since his standoff with Mr. Bilton on Monday. 

U.S. Courts, Rights, Crime, Justice

supreme court cropped 2021Democracy Docket, Supreme Court greenlights Alabama’s racial gerrymander, signaling free rein for states to discriminate, Brentin Mock, June 2, 2026. The U.S. Supreme Court will allow Alabama to use a congressional map found to have intentionally discriminated against Black voters, it said Tuesday.

Wdemocracy docket logohen the court gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Louisiana v. Callais, it found that intentional racial discrimination in voting remains unconstitutional. But the new ruling, to which all six conservative justices signed on, suggests that, in practice, almost no federal protections remain for non-white voters, even in extreme cases.

A federal court found in 2023 that lawmakers intentionally discriminated in drawing Alabama’s congressional map, which diluted the voting strength of Black Alabamians. The Supreme Court agreed, and in 2024 the state was required to use a fairer map, with two Black-majority districts.

“As to intentional vote dilution, the District Court did not heed the presumption of legislative good faith because it interpreted the State’s legal disagreement with the court’s earlier remedial order as proof of discriminatory animus,” the court’s conservative majority wrote.

In the April 29 Callais ruling — which all but ended the VRA’s ability to block maps that reduce minority voting power — Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the decision had “no bearing” on the court’s earlier finding on Alabama’s map. He wrote that maps could still be found in violation of the VRA if it was proven that they were drawn with the explicit intent of discriminating against a state’s minority voters.

Still, shortly after Callais, Alabama lawmakers resuscitated the state’s previously blocked map. They did so while an active election was happening, hoping that courts would quickly step in and allow them to use it. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey scheduled a special election based on that map for August 11, also betting on courts’ approval.

But last month, a three-judge panel found the map to still be a violation of the 14th Amendment and the court’s new legal standard under Section 2 of the VRA. Alabama appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

The request has been seen as the first major test of the high court’s new approach to policing racial discrimination in voting.

“Before the Court are two paths. Down one lies an orderly election, held under a tried-and-tested congressional map that protects Black Alabamians’ right to vote and with which all voters, elections officials, and candidates alike are familiar,” the court’s dissenting justices wrote. “Down the other lies a chaotic election, held under a never-before-used congressional map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians, that Alabama adopted in unashamed defiance of a prior court order directly alabama state mapaffirmed by this Court, and that will require officials to change the voter registrations of hundreds of thousands of voters in just days at best, a task that Alabama previously represented would take months.”

Citing the election law doctrine known as the Purcell principle, the justices said the lower court erred by changing election rules close to an upcoming election, risking confusion for voters and election administrators.

U.S. House logo“To switch to the 2023 Redistricting Plan now, however, county elections officials will have to reassign hundreds of thousands of voters across the State to new congressional districts,” the dissent added. “Three of Alabama’s counties will be particularly hard hit because they are split across two congressional districts. These counties have about 600,000 registered voters between them (roughly 15% of the State’s total number of registered voters).”

Critics say the Court’s conservative majority has applied that principle selectively to reach its preferred outcomes. In December, the Court invoked similar reasoning to stay a lower-court order blocking Texas’ 2025 congressional map, which the lower district court had found likely to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The map is expected to give Republicans several additional seats in Congress.  

New York Times, ‘Infuriated’ Former Judges Take on Trump, Adam Liptak, June 3, 2026. Critics say it is unseemly for retired judges to trade on the prestige of their former positions.

Adam Liptak is the chief legal correspondent and host of The Docket.June 3, 2026Updated 4:19 p.m. ETYou’re reading The Docket newsletter. Adam Liptak helps you make sense of legal developments in a turbulent time. Get it sent to your inbox.

Judges retain a special status even after they hang up their robes. Addressing them in a 2020 article, an American Bar Association official, Marla Greenstein, wrote that “the public will forever view you as a living representative of the judicial system.”

In recent months, coalitions of retired judges have drawn on their distinctive positions to file forceful briefs supporting challenges to what they said was lawless conduct by the Trump administration.

Such briefs are in one sense nothing new. It is not unusual to see, for instance, a friend-of-the-court brief from a handful of retired judges concerned about a miscarriage of justice in a criminal case. But ones featuring scores of former judges taking issue with presidential initiatives seem to be on the rise.

Such briefs have attracted critics, who say it is unseemly for retired judges to trade on the prestige of their former positions. But there is reason to think the recent filings have been influential.

On Friday, a federal judge in Florida took a motion from 35 former federal judges very seriously. She ordered President Trump to respond to their request that she reopen a case the administration had used as a vehicle to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate his allies and to shield him from tax audits and liabilities.

The former judges said the asserted settlement of the case was the product of collusion and fraud. That argument has been made far and wide, but it may have taken on special force coming from people who, as they put it in their motion, “have dedicated their professional lives to the administration of justice.”

It is possible, of course, that the judge overseeing the case, Kathleen Williams of the Federal District Court in Miami, would have taken similar actions without outside prompting or spurred by someone else’s filing. But she seemed to welcome a motion from her former peers.‘The Federal Judges Are Infuriated'

Even larger groups of former judges have filed supporting briefs in other cases.

In a Supreme Court case on protections for immigrants, more than 175 former judges filed a brief in March arguing that the court’s emergency orders do not count as precedent binding lower courts if the justices did not give reasons. Recent emergency orders have tended to come with explanations.

In May, more than 100 former judges urged the federal appeals court in Boston to address what they called a pattern of abuse by immigration officials, including moving detained immigrants around the country to thwart court challenges and “a broader pattern of disrespect by ICE for judicial process and orders.” The case is pending.

Harold Koh, a professor and former dean of Yale Law School, is among the lawyers for the former judges in the Boston case.

“I thought we’d get about 20 judges, which is still impressive, and instead we got 135,” he said, adding that the surge of interest was driven by a threat to the rule of law.

“This is no longer about ICE versus the detainees,” Professor Koh said. “It’s about ICE versus the courts. The federal judges are infuriated.”

Perhaps the most prominent of the retired judges, Michael Luttig, signed all three of those briefs. Judge Luttig was appointed to a federal appeals court by President George H.W. Bush, served for 15 years and was considered for a seat on the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush.

He is now a harsh critic of the Trump administration, and he said current and former judges must speak up.

“The courageous voices of the federal and state judges of the United States,” he said, “are the only voices that can and have been heard above the deafening din of partisan political rancor that is literally threatening our nation.”

Asked about the role retired judges should play in general and in the challenge to the $1.8 billion fund, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, responded by criticizing sitting judges.

“President Trump has faced a historically unprecedented number of injunctions by liberal lower-court judges, the same judges who would rather push their own policy schemes and undermine the administration’s lawful agenda,” she said in a statement.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the administration was withdrawing plans for the fund but would continue to shield Mr. Trump from I.R.S. audits. Mr. Trump’s response to the retired justices’ brief is due June 12.Rejecting Briefs From Former Judges

The role of retired judges in the legal system has not attracted much scholarly attention, though it was the subject of a thoughtful 2023 article by Carson Jones Lacy, then a law student at Baylor University. It was called “Retired Judges: No Longer Friends of the Court?” and concluded that such briefs should generally be allowed.

Most courts, including the Supreme Court, are receptive to filings from former judges.

But there is one notable exception, and it provides an instructive window into how some sitting judges view such filings. In 2006, a federal appeals court in Washington told seven former federal judges that their views were not welcome. Two former chief judges of the court, the D.C. Circuit, were among those rebuffed.ourt

 

michael fanone show

Michael Fanone via Substack, Opinion: Leaked: America's Largest White Supremacist Group Is Twice the Size We Thought, in Almost Every State, Michael Fanone, June 3, 2026. More than 540 members. Every state but one. Doubling every year since 2018. And the most disturbing thing in the leak isn't the size — it's who keeps signing up.

Picture a young man you actually know. Nineteen, maybe twenty. Quiet. Decent enough kid. He didn’t go to college, or he went and it didn’t take. He works a job that doesn’t need him to think and doesn’t notice when he’s tired. He comes home, he eats alone, he scrolls until the room goes dark. Nobody calls him. Nobody would notice for a while if he stopped showing up anywhere, because there isn’t really anywhere he shows up.

Now imagine someone hands him a flyer for a club. Guys who lift together. Train, box, push each other. Saturday mornings, a real schedule, a crew that gets on him if he skips. Brotherhood. Discipline. Men who say they’ll have his back.

He goes. Of course he goes. It’s the best offer he’s had in a year.

I want you to hold that kid in your head, because a 72-page document leaked this week, and it shows that adult American men like him are turning to hate groups in numbers we haven’t seen since the Jim Crow Era.

The 72 page document is a membership roster, leaked to USA Today from inside a white supremacist group called Patriot Front. The number on it is bad enough on its own. More than 540 members. Every state in the country except one. A group that has roughly doubled in size every single year since 2018, and pulled in more than half its current ranks in just the last two years.

You can read that and reach for the easy thought -- ok, a hate group is growing. Watch them. File it next to all the other things to be afraid of in the Trump Era.

But that’s not the part that should keep you up. The number isn’t the horror. The horror is the question underneath it: where are 540 grown men coming from?

They aren’t being shipped in. They aren’t a foreign object lodged in the body of the country. They’re us. They’re American men, hundreds and hundreds of them, who looked at an organized white supremacist movement and decided they wanted in. The leak isn’t a story about monsters multiplying in the dark. It’s a story about ordinary people volunteering, in numbers that keep doubling, to become them.

When I was a cop, you learned fast to read a group by what it does, not by what it calls itself. And what Patriot Front does, better than almost anyone in this ugly little world, is make joining a hate group feel clean.

Go look at the photos they want you to see. Matching shirts. Khakis. Fresh haircuts. American flags carried in tight formation, men moving in step like a drill team. No slurs on the banners. No swastikas in frame. They film themselves picking up trash on the highway. They talk about fitness and tradition and showing up for each other and building something with men who share your values.

In other words, they’re cosplaying as adult Boy Scouts.

That’s the whole trick. They worked out a long time ago that you don’t recruit a normal twenty-two-year-old by opening with the ethnostate. You recruit him by offering the things he is actually starving for and letting him walk the rest of the way himself. Belonging. A reason to get off the couch. A group of guys who notice him. The feeling of being part of something disciplined and meaningful, handed to him in a country that has spent his whole adult life making him feel like he is part of nothing at all.

The white supremacy isn’t the pitch. The white supremacy is what’s waiting for him once he’s in deep enough that leaving means losing every friend he’s made.

More On U.S. Elections, Politics

Democratic-Republican Campaign logosNew York Times, News Analysis: Democratic Voters Acted Strategically in a Turbulent California Election, Laurel Rosenhall and Jennifer Medina, June 3, 2026. Without a dominant candidate in the governor’s race, Democratic voters ultimately wanted to ensure that their party wasn’t shut out of the general election.

After a turbulent primary campaign, Xavier Becerra, a former Biden administration official, was on the verge of pulling off a Lazarus-like comeback in the California governor’s race, based on election night returns.

And Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host endorsed by President Trump, also appeared likely to advance to the general election for the state’s highest office.

The race was still too close to call on Tuesday night. But Los Angeles residents went to bed knowing that Mayor Karen Bass would proceed to the November election, according to The Associated Press. And her opponent could be Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star who had a strong showing but had to wait for more ballots to be counted.

Mr. Pratt and Mr. Hilton, both Republicans who got their start in television, tried to harness voter frustration and anger at the Democrats who control nearly all levels of government in much of California. If they advance, however, each would face long odds in general election races where Democrats have dominated for decades.

Here are key takeaways from the early results.Many voters cast their ballots strategically.

For months, the California governor’s race featured a long roster of Democratic candidates whom voters found unfamiliar or uninspiring. Several polls indicated that two Republicans could sweep the primary because too many Democrats were splitting the vote and their supporters were not coalescing behind any one candidate.

Democratic leaders began to panic.

Dynamics shifted in the race as Republican voters consolidated behind Steve Hilton after he received President Trump’s endorsement, and Democratic voters started paying more attention to their options after Representative Eric Swalwell dropped out amid accusations of sexual assault.

By May, there was little chance of two Republicans winning the primary. But Democratic voters hung on to the fear that their party could get shut out of the general election if they didn’t get behind a front-runner.

Many felt the responsibility to cast a vote strategically so that their party would not be locked out. They considered who was ahead and who would win, and seemed to focus less on the policies that each candidate proposed for the future of California.

“I liked Katie Porter, but I’m a realistic person,” said Dennis McLin, 43, a social worker from Riverside, Calif. “I didn’t think she had a good chance of winning, so I voted for Xavier Becerra.”Editors’ PicksWhat the Y2K Generation’s ‘Hot Girl’ Thinks About It All NowOur Best Father’s Day RecipesKnicks Fans Want ’90s Tees. They’ll Have to Pay Very 2026 Prices.

Ms. Porter was in a distant fifth place in initial returns and conceded the race on Tuesday night.California’s top-two primary may be on its last legs.

California has been using the top-two primary system for 15 years, but it has never caused as much consternation as it did this election.

Democratic fears that two Republicans could sweep the governor’s race — in one of the nation’s bluest states — triggered a new effort to repeal the system this spring.

Under the current approach, all candidates of all parties run on the same primary ballot, and the top two finishers advance to the general election. The approach was intended to empower independent voters and force candidates to moderate their views.

But sensing voter frustration this year, a Democratic strategist put together a bipartisan coalition to back an initiative called “Undo the Top Two” that could come before voters in 2028. It would return California to a traditional primary in which one candidate from each party advances to the general election.

If the initiative qualifies for a future election, a key question will be whether voters want to return to a system that empowers the parties.Republicans have a durable base in California.

Democrats are the dominant force in California politics, having controlled the state legislature and governor’s mansion for more than a decade. Nearly half of all registered voters in the state are Democrats, outnumbering Republicans nearly two to one.

But Republican voters have remained a durable minority in California. With roughly half of the estimated ballots counted, Mr. Hilton received about 27 percent of the vote. Chad Bianco, the other Republican in the race and the Riverside County sheriff, had 11 percent.

Their combined support was consistent with historical norms for Republicans in the state. In 2024, for example, Donald J. Trump received 38 percent of the vote. In the 2022 governor’s race, Brian Dahle, a Republican state lawmaker, received 40 percent of the vote.A big blowout for Big Tech.

Matt Mahan, the Democratic mayor of San Jose, entered the race in January with enormous excitement from Silicon Valley.

Billionaires and tech titans poured about $30 million into campaigns supporting Mr. Mahan, who had a centrist message and offered to bring a new approach to governing — neither MAGA Republican, nor liberal Democrat.

But despite the money behind his message, it never caught on. He was one of the first candidates for governor to concede defeat on Tuesday night and was in sixth place in returns.

Tech leaders also failed in their attempt to challenge Representative Ro Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat who expressed support for a proposed billionaire tax. The candidate they backed, Democrat Ethan Agarwal, was trailing in a distant fourth place Tuesday night.Money may not be enough to win.

Tom Steyer spent more than $200 million on the California governor’s race, breaking every previous record. The money — most of which went to advertising on television and social media — helped propel him toward the top of the heap of candidates for months.

But even though he spent more than six times as much as Mr. Becerra, it was not enough to ensure he would advance. Mr. Steyer is not out of the race, but he was in third place on Tuesday night and needed a large share of the uncounted votes to mount a comeback.

California voters have a long history of rejecting self-funded candidates. In 2010, Meg Whitman, a former eBay executive, spent more than $144 million in her run as Republican, the equivalent of roughly $218 million today. Jerry Brown, a Democrat who had served as governor decades earlier, won the race that year with 53 percent of the vote.

In San Francisco, a wealthy tech engineer was trailing in his race to succeed Representative Nancy Pelosi. Saikat Chakrabarti, a progressive Democrat, pumped about $10 million of his own money on his campaign, but finished in a distant third place Tuesday night.

iowa map

The Contrarian,  Opinion: Iowa May Go the Way of Texas, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 3, 2026. Another red state is in play. After Tuesday’s primary, Iowa, shown above, joins the list of red states with competitive U.S. Senate races.

The race was not on either party’s list of tight races several months ago, but that dramatically changed as Donald Trump’s ratings plunged and his failed policies delivered body blows to Iowa’s economy. Democrats now have a highly electable Democratic state representative, Josh Turek, who defeated by a healthy margin progressive Zach Wahls, with the help of a nearly $10 million VoteVets ad buy. He will go up against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in November.

contrarian logoTrump-endorsed Hinson, who just acknowledged that the Iran war is a drag on Republicans, is no longer considered a slam dunk, even in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats in party registration by over 8 points. As The Daily Beast reported, “Iowa constituents have been hit particularly hard by Trump’s war, which has claimed the lives of six Army Reserve soldiers from the Des Moines-based 103rd Sustainment Command who were killed in an Iranian strike on a facility in Kuwait.”

With Iowa’s farm economy in extreme distress, “Iowa Democrats see an opening, especially as one of the states where recent special elections have seen notable shifts towards Democrats even as voters have soured on the national party’s brand,” NPR reported.

Disastrous MAGA policies have handed Democrats a compelling batch of campaign issues. First and foremost, the rural healthcare system is collapsing, creating a health and economic disaster accelerated by Republicans’ draconian Medicaid cuts. Turek’s personal health struggles and reliance as a child on Medicaid make him particularly effective on the issue.

High tariffs, another self-destructive Trump gambit, cut off Iowans’ access to critical overseas markets, spread economic distress, and may lead to more farm bankruptcies. Trump’s trade war with China has crushed soybean farming in Iowa (the No. 2 state for soybeans after Illinois.) As Bloomberg News reported, “US-China flows were halted for months and some Chinese buyers turned to South American producers.” Exports plunged from $12.6 billion in 2024 under President Biden to just $3.1B billion in 2025 under Trump, improving only marginally this year.

Trump’s Iran war debacle compounded that economic shock. “Trump’s war with Iran and the restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping lane in the Middle East — has also sent fertilizer prices surging just as planting season is beginning,” Bloomberg noted. Fertilizer prices are expected to jump by about a third, to the highest level since Russia launched the Ukraine war. Adding to their economic woes, Iowans now pay (on average) $4.65 per gallon for diesel, up from $2.73 last year.

Turek, a 4-time Paralympic Games basketball player who was born with spina bifida, was savvy enough to capitalize on this assortment of affordability issues during the primary campaign. Claiming prairie populist Sen. Tom Harkin as his political inspiration and mentor, he refused to be categorized as a left-winger. He advocated for “a living wage, affordable housing, healthcare and public education — all while rooting out corruption.” Pointing to his record in winning a Republican-leaning state (rather than vowing to take down Democratic leadership, as his opponent Wahls did), he has argued, “This is not a red state. This is a common-sense state that has masqueraded as more red than we are.”Subscribed

Iowa’s problems did not spring up overnight. Under one-party GOP governance, Iowa’s economy is in decline. With the state ranking 46th in growth, younger, better-educated people are fleeing the state. “In 2008, 47% of Iowa’s college students planned to stay in the state after graduation. That dropped to 41% in 2024,” Iowa Public Radio reported recently. “That’s a big concern in a state where many businesses are already seeing a worker shortage.”

An Iowa think tank, the Common Sense Institute Iowa, explained, “Iowa’s economy [loses] an estimated $4.5 million in total gross nominal earnings over the working life of each out-migrating, college-educated Iowan age 25-29.” Moreover, the cost of out-migration amounts to “an astounding $6.1 billion in lost gross domestic product (GDP) over the working life of those who leave.”

Something is not working for average people, and those who remain in Iowa face a gloomy forecast unless something changes dramatically. Turek has put the state’s long- and short-term economic woes in the context of a political system rigged by the oligarchy’s growing power and wealth. Arguing that it is “nearly impossible” for young people to find careers, he describes scenes of desolation, as if “a vacuum has come through and just sucked it out of there, just because we have policies in place that have only benefited billionaires and multinational corporations.” His answer to this problem? Elect leaders “who are going to actually fight for the middle class and fight for our workers, and fight for small businesses and for rural communities.”

Turek makes the case that Hinson and the policies she has supported have contributed to the burdens weighing down average people. “Ashley Hinson is Joni [“Well we are all going to die”] Ernst 2.0, arguably worse,” he said. “She is someone who voted for the Big, Beautiful Bill ... just to give tax breaks to billionaires.” He adds: “She’s also someone who has voted four times in favor of the Trump tariffs, which has led us to lead the nation in farm foreclosures. It’s absolute ‘farmageddon’ for our farmers. She’s not looking out for Iowans or the middle class.”

That might remind you of Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s populist message: “The biggest divide in politics is not right vs. left, but top vs. bottom.” That is no coincidence. In both Iowa and Texas, Democrats have found a receptive audience for the classic Democratic message that they will stand up for the little guy and gal against the rich and powerful, who rig the system in their favor at ordinary Americans’ expense.

Turek and Talarico will test the proposition that Democrats with an effective message centered on the economy and corruption can win in the heartland. We would experience a sea change in national politics if articulate, compelling Democratic candidates break through with a populist message in states Trump won comfortably in 2024.

If Democrats prevail, they should recognize that victories like these would never have been possible without Trump’s grotesque corruption, war on average workers, and utter indifference to rural Americans’ pain. And it will be rubber stamps — such as Hinson — who will pay the price for sycophancy in service of a president concerned only about himself. 

New York Times, A Trump Endorsement Falls Flat: 4 Election Takeaways From Iowa and Beyond, Reid J. Epstein, June 3, 2026. The president’s pick for governor of Iowa lost his primary, while Democrats in the state chose their nominee in what they hope will be a competitive Senate race.

Republican voters in Iowa dealt a shock defeat to President Trump on Tuesday, narrowly rejecting his chosen candidate for governor in favor of another conservative contender who ran as a political outsider.

The primary loss for Representative Randy Feenstra, whom the president endorsed on Friday afternoon, came at a time of mixed signals of Mr. Trump’s power over the Republican Party. He has won a series of dominant primary victories over Republican opponents, but has faced rising pushback from his party in Congress.

Here are four takeaways from a busy primary night in Iowa and several other states. (You can follow California’s high-stakes primaries here.)Trump had a rare high-profile primary loss.

In modern Republican primary politics, Mr. Trump’s endorsement is the gold standard. In the last month, it has ousted sitting senators, a congressman and state legislators whom the president deemed insufficiently loyal.

So when Mr. Feenstra won Mr. Trump’s endorsement for governor last week, it felt like the push he needed to get past four candidates in the primary.

Yet Mr. Feenstra was toppled on Tuesday by Zach Lahn, a conservative political operative and farmer who ran an insurgent campaign. Mr. Feenstra was seen as having run a lackluster campaign, and also faced the wrath of former Representative Steve King, who lost to Mr. Feenstra in a 2020 primary and backed Mr. Lahn.

Mr. Feenstra’s defeat makes him the highest-profile candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump to lose a Republican primary race in years — perhaps since Luther Strange, an appointed senator in Alabama, fell to Roy Moore in a 2017 special election primary. Mr. Moore went on to lose the general election to Doug Jones, a Democrat.

New York Times, Deb Haaland Wins Nomination in New Mexico Governor’s Race, Reis Thebault, Updated June 3, 2026. Ms. Haaland, a former Interior secretary, took a big step toward making history as the first Native American woman to be a governor when she won the primary in her Democratic state.

Deb Haaland, the former congresswoman and Interior secretary, won the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, setting her up to make history as the first Native American woman to lead a state.

Ms. Haaland defeated Sam Bregman, district attorney of New Mexico’s most populous county and father of the baseball all-star Alex Bregman, who ran as a tough-on-crime Democrat and turned the primary campaign into a surprisingly feisty affair.

One of New Mexico’s most prominent politicians, Ms. Haaland benefited from robust fund-raising, widespread name recognition and the historic nature of her candidacy. In her deep-blue state, where no Republicans hold executive office, Ms. Haaland is widely expected to prevail in the November general election.

Ms. Haaland launched her campaign in early 2025, less than a month after leaving the Biden administration, and became the immediate front-runner to succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is term-limited.

During the race, Ms. Haaland touted her progressive bona fides — she was an early supporter of the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All” — and she leaned on her personal experiences battling addiction and raising children by herself to connect with working-class voters.

Ms. Haaland is poised to take charge of New Mexico at a consequential moment. The state is struggling to upgrade one of the nation’s worst performing education systems, while it grapples with high rates of violent crime and childhood poverty. At the same time, the oil-rich state is making millions of dollars off surging gas prices from the war in Iran, giving New Mexico leaders an opportunity to spend the surplus on social programs.

At her election night party in Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza, Ms. Haaland pledged to protect New Mexico’s natural resources, work to bring down costs and defend the state against Trump administration policies.

“Are you ready to show Donald Trump and his administration that, here in New Mexico, we believe in dignity and respect?” Ms. Haaland asked, flanked onstage by her two sisters.

She acknowledged the state’s “longstanding challenges” but said repeatedly that “a better New Mexico is possible.”

A member of the Laguna Pueblo, Ms. Haaland describes herself as a 35th generation New Mexican and traces her family’s ancestry in the state to the 1200s. She has been a barrier breaker since the moment she entered politics.

In 2015, she became the first Native person to chair a major New Mexico political party. Three years later, Ms. Haaland and Sharice Davids of Kansas became the first Native American women elected to Congress. And after her 2021 confirmation, Ms. Haaland became the first Native American cabinet secretary, running a department that once oversaw the repression of Native tribes.

New York Times, Rebecca Bennett Wins New Jersey House Primary to Take On Thomas Kean Jr., Tracey Tully and Davaughnia Wilson, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Ms. Bennett, a Democrat, will compete in November against Mr. Kean, the incumbent Republican, who has been sidelined for months by a mysterious health condition

Rebecca Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and aircraft commander, beat three opponents on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination to run in November against Representative Thomas Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican who has been missing from Congress for nearly three months.

The race is expected to be among the country’s most contested midterm matchups. Democrats see Mr. Kean’s seat in New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District as a potential pickup as they seek to retake the House and check President Trump’s power in Washington.

Ms. Bennett was leading her closest primary opponent, Tina Shah, by roughly 27 percentage points when The Associated Press called the race in her favor an hour after polls closed.

She thanked her supporters gathered in Bridgewater, N.J., in a rousing address.

“If this group of badass American patriots can get a political outsider — a 2010 Honda Accord-driving, Navy-veteran mom — to win in one of the most competitive primaries in the country, we are going to flip this seat,” Ms. Bennett said.

“Hard does not scare me,” she said, adding: “We cannot just be anti-Trump and anti hate. We have to be for something. We have to solve the problems that we are all facing in our everyday lives.”

Mr. Kean, 57, had no challenger in Tuesday’s Republican primary. But intrigue over an unexplained health condition that has caused him to vanish from public life since the middle of March has overshadowed much of the debate in recent months. He has missed more than 100 votes during his absence, at a time when Republicans hold a narrow House majority and are working to advance the president’s agenda ahead of the midterm elections.

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: What Congress Can Do, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 3, 2026. One additional point on Donald Trump’s ludicrous—but more importantly, dangerous—selection of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

The pick is bad for U.S. intelligence and a threat to the civil liberties of American citizens. But the greatest danger bulwark logo big shipof appointing Pulte as DNI is that it’s a further step in Trump’s plans to subvert free and fair elections in the United States, to some degree in 2026 but especially in 2028.

As Andrew reminds us, Tulsi Gabbard as DNI has already used the excuse of possible foreign election interference to try to help out the Trump administration’s efforts at injecting itself into election supervision in the swing state of Georgia. But the appointment of Pulte takes the danger to another level. With Pulte, right,, in charge of the intelligence community—along with Todd Blanche at Justice, and Kash Patel at the FBI, and Markwayne Mullin at DHS, and Pete Hegseth at Defense—we have the clear and present danger of Bill Pultea full-fledged effort of election subversion, perhaps in 2026, but I would say almost certainly in 2028.

Many actors in our system have to be alert to this and be ready to fight this. The general public, state officials, the legal community, the courts, and many institutions in the private sector and civil society all have a role. But Congress will need to step up as well. It will be able to do so far more effectively if the Democratic party controls it. So electing Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate is the single most important step for democracy that could happen this year.

This means we all have to focus on free and fair elections in 2026, so that we can have a Congress that can ensure free and fair elections in 2028.

U.S. House logoBut there are things that Democrats in Congress can do even before the midterm elections. As we’ve seen recently, even as a minority they have leverage in both houses. They can sometimes block legislation and appropriations bills. They can use oversight mechanisms and opportunities for publicity. They can sometimes pressure a few Republicans to break from the administration.

Different kinds of what we might call guerilla legislating, all types of imaginative and creative resistance, efforts to use the different levers of power—these need to be mobilized on behalf of democracy for the rest of this year and of course beyond, in 2027 and 2028, when, let’s not forget, Trump will still be in power.

In the case of Pulte, Democrats—and pro-democracy Republicans—need to take a fresh look at every legislative and appropriations measure that affects the intelligence community in light of saving democracy and the rule of law. This means, for example, that one arrangement for handling intercepts involving American citizens under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that might be reasonable for a normal administration may well not be suitable for this one, and should be opposed given that Pulte would be in charge. Along these lines, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner has reportedly warned Majority Leader John Thune that an extension of Section 702 might fail unless Pulte is removed.

To put it simply: Democrats—and responsible Republicans—need to avoid the trap of trying to help Pulte—or Blanche, or Patel, or Mullin, or Hegseth—to be as effective in doing their jobs as possible. Given what they are trying to do, Congress needs to make them all as ineffective as possible.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • bulwark logo big shipPlaying Politics with Military Promotions… When personal preference trumps professionalism and merit, trust breaks down, argues MARK HERTLING.
  • Yes, Russia Is Losing the War in Ukraine… And Putin seems to be the last person not to know it, writes CATHY YOUNG.
  • The Party of Vicemaxxing… DEREK THOMPSON joins TIM MILLER on the flagship pod to discuss why Republicans never defend Trump’s corruption on the merits but serve up anti-moral excuses for his repeated acts of immorality instead.

Quick Hits

IRAN HITS KUWAIT: The war in Iran is getting hot again, with limited strikes between Iran and U.S. forces expanding yesterday into Iranian strikes on the broader region. Here’s NBC News:

Iran launched a deadly new set of attacks in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday as it traded strikes with the United States, the latest exchange to threaten the fragile ceasefire and stalled peace talks between the two countries.

One person was killed and flights were suspended in Kuwait, officials said, after missile and drone strikes including an attack on its international airport. The U.S. military said it shot down Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iran’s Qeshm Island a day earlier.

Repeated military exchanges between Washington and Tehran, as well as Israel’s escalating campaign in Lebanon, have added strain to efforts to end the war and reopen the crucial trade route. The two sides offered mixed messages on the status of talks, with President Donald Trump insisting they were ongoing after Iran signaled it may walk away.

Trump, who on Monday told CNBC he “couldn’t care less” if Iran negotiations had stalled out since they had “started to get very boring,” insisted yesterday on Truth Social that “Fake News Reports” to that effect are “false and erroneous.”

THE 60 MINUTES PURGE CONTINUES: CBS News didn’t wait long to punish veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley for his public objections to the purge of the program’s leaders this week. One day after Pelley took over new executive producer Nick Bilton’s introductory meeting to grill him about Bari Weiss’s leadership and firing decisions, the company informed him he was being terminated for cause, effective immediately.

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton told Pelley in his termination letter. “And I have heard you.”

In a statement, Pelley castigated CBS’s new leadership for casting aside the legacy of “the most successful program of any kind in history,” accusing “new management” of instructing him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into politically sensitive stories. “The collapse of values at the top has become untenable,” Pelley wrote. “The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.”

PRIMARY RESULTS: California and Iowa held their party primaries last night. Because California counts its votes with ludicrous Democratic-Republican Campaign logosslowness, we still don’t know the outcomes of some of the major races there, but as of now the governor’s race seems to beheading for a runoff between Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former congressman and state attorney general who served as secretary of health and human services under President Joe Biden. Billionaire Tom Steyer, who briefly looked like the race’s frontrunner after the campaign implosion of Rep. Eric Swalwell, currently lags in third. Meanwhile, in the Los Angeles mayoral race, former reality star Spencer Pratt seems likely to advance to a runoff against Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.

Over in Iowa, Democrats got the candidates for governor (Rob Sand) and senator (Josh Turek) they expected, but there was one big surprise on the Republican side: The Trump-endorsed candidate for governor, Rep. Randy Feenstra, was edged by insurgent challenger Zach Lahn by less than a single percentage point. Trump’s endorsement came late in the cycle, and Feenstra was widely seen as having run a lackluster campaign. But it’s a notable outcome in a GOP primary season that has so far featured mostly big successes for the president’s picks.

Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: You're Not Alone, and You're Not Crazy, Robert Reich, right, June 3, 2026. robert reich color headshotA brief conversation on the way to breakfast. 

Someone I didn’t know approached me early this morning on my way to breakfast. He looked about 60 years old, with dark hair graying at the temples. He was dressed in a tie and jacket.

He asked me if I was Robert Reich. I admitted to it.

“Well, I just want to say …” he began, but nothing more came out of his mouth. “I just want to say …” he started again. Then silence.

djt maga hat“I’m sorry,” I said with as friendly a smile as I could muster at that hour of the morning, “but I’m meeting someone for breakfast.”

His eyes welled up.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude!” I said, suddenly feeling dreadful. “I apologize. I just …”

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. “It’s just that I’ve been feeling, well, so lonely in all this …”

“I understand,” I said.

“You see, I-I’m from the Central Valley,” he continued. “My wife and my brother are Trumpers, and a lot of my neighbors. You have no idea ….” His eyes welled up again.

“I really do get it. I hear it all the time.”

“They tell me stuff that’s just … well, not true.”

“It’s like they’re in a different world,” I said.

“Yes! Exactly!” he became more animated. “I mean, sometimes I don’t know if they’re crazy or I’m crazy.” 

U.S. Tariffs, Inflation,  Markets, Economy, Jobs

New York Times, Trump Aims New Tariffs at 59 Countries and the European Union, Catie Edmondson, June 3, 2026. Trump officials said they planned to impose levies of up to 12.5 percent on countries that failed to crack down on goods made with forced labor.

President Trump has proposed tariffs of at least 10 percent on 60 American trading partners, his most aggressive effort yet to enact new import duties after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s sweeping tariffs.

Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said on Tuesday night that investigations found that the 59 countries, along with the 27-nation European Union, had failed to enact or effectively enforce laws prohibiting imports made with forced labor.

The administration, invoking a legal provision known as Section 301, proposed a 12.5 percent duty on imports from countries including China, Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Goods from the European Union, Canada and Mexico would face 10 percent import taxes.

Mr. Trump has signaled he intends to use Section 301 to rebuild his tariff agenda after the Supreme Court ruled that he exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose duties without congressional approval.

After the court struck down those tariffs, Mr. Trump sought to revive them partially with a global 10 percent duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a never-before-used provision. A trade court ruled in May that the move violated the law. The tariffs were initially scheduled to expire at the end of July.

Mr. Greer’s office has also opened an investigation into what the Trump administration has described as “excess manufacturing capacity” among 16 of America’s largest trading partners.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in China? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

“Following the Supreme Court overturning the IEEPA tariffs, a legal basis was needed to rebuild Trump’s tariff wall, and this was a convenient way to do so,” said Steve Okun, chief executive of APAC Advisors, a geopolitical consulting firm.

Mr. Okun added: “Tariffs are here to stay under the Trump administration.”

Mr. Greer’s office is scheduled to hold hearings on July 7 about the proposed tariffs, which would take effect sometime after that.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” Mr. Greer said in a statement. “This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.”

Some products would be exempt from the tariffs, including beef, bananas, coffee, steel and a slate of critical minerals.

The move is likely to anger some of the United States’ closest trading partners, whose relations with Washington have been whipsawed by contentious negotiations and the Supreme Court’s ruling in February.

In the days after Mr. Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, in Beijing last month, the Chinese government sought to draw a line under trade tensions, saying both sides had agreed not to raise tariffs further and warning that it could retaliate if Washington did so again.

More Global News

state dept map logo SmallNew York Times, Rubio Suggests U.S. Return to Global Vaccine Program in Rebuke of Kennedy, Stephanie Nolen and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, June 3, 2026 (print ed.). Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated in pointed testimony to senators that he was reclaiming control of the U.S. relationship with Gavi, an international vaccine alliance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, indicated on Tuesday that the United States may resume its funding of a global vaccines alliance that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulled the United States out of last year, an unusual public rebuke of Mr. Kennedy’s involvement in matters of global health.

marco rubio new oTestifying on Capitol Hill, Mr. Rubio told senators that President Trump had asked the State Department to allow Mr. Kennedy to “play a leading role” in the decision on whether to fund Gavi, an organization that provides immunizations for low-income nations and maintains the global Ebola vaccine stockpile.

But Mr. Rubio suggested in pointed testimony that he was reclaiming control of the U.S. relationship with Gavi, which has historically been managed by the State Department.

The State Department is “going to re-engage on the issue of Gavi,” Mr. Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said that the department was not going to “yank” the matter from Mr. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, or ignore “his points of view.” But he said that a few weeks ago, he had made the decision to resume management of the relationship.

About Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Rubio added: “I wouldn’t use the word defer, but we have certainly allowed him to play a leading role in determining what we’re going to do next. But right now, we’re sort of at a stage where we are going to re-engage. We need to drive this to an outcome.”

Mr. Rubio’s reassertion of authority is part of a broader effort by the State Department to reclaim control of global health from the Department of Health and Human Services, said J. Stephen Morrison, a global health expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Although the Trump administration has moved to sharply reduce the amount the United States spends on foreign aid, including money for global health and disease surveillance, Congress has continued to fund these areas.

Congress has appropriated $600 million for Gavi that has been blocked by Mr. Kennedy, despite the State Department’s usual role in handling the relationship.

“We are very encouraged by Secretary Rubio’s remarks that the U.S. intends to re-engage on the issue of funding Gavi,” Dr. Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, said after the hearing. “Unlocking the funds that Congress has appropriated to Gavi would enable us to keep the world safe from infectious disease threats.”

At the hearing, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, pressed Mr. Rubio on funding for Gavi in the context of the current Ebola outbreak in central Africa. While there is no vaccine against the species of virus, Bundibugyo, causing this outbreak, Gavi has committed up to $40 million to back production of promising vaccine candidates — the kind of global health security measure that the Trump administration has said it wishes to support.

“How are you making sure that Secretary Kennedy, who has been sitting on those funds for months now, is going to release them so that they can go to help develop a vaccine to address the Ebola outbreak?” Ms. Shaheen asked.

Mr. Rubio replied that Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Kennedy to play a role in decisions about Gavi “because of the strongly held views with regards to vaccine safety, and he wanted them to conduct some reforms.”

But Mr. Rubio said that “we’d like to get this issue resolved in an outcome that’s acceptable both to Congress and also to our goals on global health.”

Although the Trump administration has moved to sharply reduce the amount the United States spends on foreign aid, including money for global health and disease surveillance, Congress has continued to fund these areas.

Congress has appropriated $600 million for Gavi that has been blocked by Mr. Kennedy, despite the State Department’s usual role in handling the relationship.

“We are very encouraged by Secretary Rubio’s remarks that the U.S. intends to re-engage on the issue of funding Gavi,” Dr. Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, said after the hearing. “Unlocking the funds that Congress has appropriated to Gavi would enable us to keep the world safe from infectious disease threats.”.

At the hearing, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, pressed Mr. Rubio on funding for Gavi in the context of the current Ebola outbreak in central Africa. While there is no vaccine against the species of virus, Bundibugyo, causing this outbreak, Gavi has committed up to $40 million to back production of promising vaccine candidates — the kind of global health security measure that the Trump administration has said it wishes to support.

“How are you making sure that Secretary Kennedy, who has been sitting on those funds for months now, is going to release them so that they can go to help develop a vaccine to address the Ebola outbreak?” Ms. Shaheen asked.

Mr. Rubio replied that Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Kennedy to play a role in decisions about Gavi “because of the strongly held views with regards to vaccine safety, and he wanted them to conduct some reforms.”

But Mr. Rubio said that “we’d like to get this issue resolved in an outcome that’s acceptable both to Congress and also to our goals on global health.”

New York Times, Ukraine Strikes St. Petersburg on First Day of a Marquee Putin Event, Ivan Nechepurenko and Andrew E. Kramer, June 3, 2026. As an Russian Flagannual economic conference was set to begin, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had targeted a navy base and an oil terminal in the region that includes Russia’s second-largest city

Ukrainian drones on Wednesday attacked St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, on the opening day of an annual economic conference that President Vladimir V. Putin has tried to cultivate into a showcase of a modern and prosperous country.

It was the second time in a month that Ukraine had struck a major Russian city before an event important to Mr. Putin, as Kyiv expands a campaign of long-range strikes aimed at inflicting economic damage on Russia and demonstrating its vulnerability to attacks.

ukraine flagIn early May, Ukrainian forces hit sites in Moscow, including a high-rise apartment building near the city center, days before the annual Victory Day parade, the most important event on the Kremlin’s calendar. A truncated version of the parade was later held after Ukraine mockingly said it would “permit” Russia to hold the event.

On Wednesday, drones hit infrastructure facilities in three districts of St. Petersburg, causing damage and injuring several people, Aleksandr Beglov, the city’s governor, said in a statement. Nearly 60 drones were shot down in the Leningrad region, which surrounds the city, Aleksandr Drozdenko, the region’s governor, said.

St. Petersburg’s main airport, Pulkovo, suspended operations for almost five hours, according to Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation authority. Early in the morning, the city’s residents reported smoke in the sky, as well as roaring noises and bangs, according to Fontanka, a local news website.

U.S. Civil Rights Leaders, Transitions

Four Died Trying (4DT), Tonight we honor two 4DT interviewees who died in May, John Barbour and Clarence Jones, 4DT Producers, June 3, 2026. "With the passing of these legends, we have now lost 27 of the men and women whose eyewitness accounts form the backbone of "Four Died Trying," chronicling the lives and legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

When our film franchise returns, you will learn what these iconic figures told us. In the meantime, feel free to watch (or rewatch) our “Prologue” on your streaming platform of choice.

Keep scrolling to read the bios of all 27 of those we’ve lost since our project began.

In Memoriam

Four Died Trying is an ongoing franchise of documentary films about what happened before, during, and after the four cataclysmic political assassinations of the 1960s. Firsthand sources who were physically on the scene back then are in their eighties and nineties now. Our efforts to find them and preserve their stories is effectively a race against time — which waits for no one, as the saying goes.

The following men and women were witnesses to history. They spoke to us on camera and on the record about what they heard, saw, thought, and experienced during the turbulent decade that is the focus of our films. In some cases, our interview was the first they ever gave. In others, it was the last.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the 27 citizens we’ve spoken with whose voices have since been silenced. Taken together, their end-of-life interviews prove the prescience of that Shakespearean idiom, “the truth will out.”

John Barbour

April 24, 1933— May 10, 2026

As cocreator and host of Real People — one of the first popular unscripted shows — Barbour became known as the father of reality TV. Later in his career, he wrote and directed two JFK documentaries: The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes and The American Media and the Second Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

G. Robert Blakey

January 7, 1936 — May 1, 2026

Coauthor of The Plot to Kill the President, Blakey was Staff Director and Chief Counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the late 1970s and helped write the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. He found evidence of conspiracy in the RFK and MLK murders. But his biggest claim to fame was his masterful drafting of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act of 1970. Prosecutors still use it to thwart organized crime today.

Anthony “Tony” Bouza

October 4, 1928 — June 26, 2023

Tony Bouza was a New York City police officer from 1953 to 1979. He initially served as a detective in the undercover unit known as the Bureau of Special Services and Investigation (aka BOSSI), eventually rising to the rank of Assistant Chief and Commander of the Bronx. Later, he became Chief of the Minneapolis (MN) Police Department. Considered the “father of evidence-based policing,” Bouza was also the author of nine books, including The Decline and Fall of the American Empire: Corruption, Decadence, and the American Dream.

Fernando Faura

October 12, 1932 — April 17, 2018

Puerto Rico-born Faura was a Pulitzer Prize-nominated newspaper reporter and author of the nonfiction book The Polka Dot File on the Robert F. Kennedy Killing: The Paris Peace Talks Connection. In 1968, he served as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press director. A talented investigative journalist, Faura discovered evidence that there were multiple assassins at the Ambassador Hotel the night Senator Robert Kennedy was killed.

Cornelius “Neil” Gallagher

March 2, 1921 — October 17, 2018

A New Jersey congressman from 1959 to 1973, Neil Gallagher chaired the Special Subcommittee on the Invasion of Privacy in 1966 and was an early critic of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.

Lewis Garrison

July 9, 1932 — September 2, 2020

Lewis Garrison was the longtime Memphis attorney who represented Loyd Jowers in the November 1999 wrongful-death civil suit pursued by the family of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The official name of the trial was “King Family v. Loyd Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators,” and the jury unanimously found Jowers guilty.

Dick Gregory

October 12, 1932 — August 19, 2017

This legendary comedian and political activist was friends with both MLK and Malcolm X. As an assassination researcher, he criticized the Warren Commission’s findings and spearheaded efforts to get new investigations into the murders of JFK and MLK. In 1975, he co-presented the first network TV broadcast of the Zapruder film.

Reverend Jesse Jackson

October 8, 1941 — February 17, 2026

As a staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership Congress, Rev. Jackson wasn’t just Martin Luther King’s protégé: He was talking with MLK at the Lorraine Motel at the moment King was assassinated and was therefore a primary witness of that terrifying historical event. In the aftermath of the assassination, Jackson’s voice played a key role in highlighting the enormity of the loss and emphasizing the dangers that come with fighting for civil rights.

Clarence Jones

January 8, 1931 — May 22, 2026

An iconic civil rights activist and lawyer, Jones was one of MLK’s confidants and his liaison to Malcolm X. Jones smuggled Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” out to the public and helped MLK shape his seminal “I Have a Dream” speech.

Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King

November 17, 1931 — March 7, 2024

This Dr. King was the widow of MLK’s brother, Rev. A.D. King, and the mother of Drs. Alveda and Derek King. In 1963, the Birmingham home she lived in with her husband and children was bombed by white supremacists. A passionate civil rights activist, she founded Atlanta’s A.D. King Foundation in her husband’s name later in life; the organization focuses on nonviolent conflict resolution and social change.

John J. Kirby, Jr.

October 22, 1939 — October 2, 2019

The father of the director of Four Died Trying, John Kirby, Jr. was a member of the Civil Rights Division of the Kennedy and Johnson Justice Departments from 1961 to ’68. As a summer intern in 1961, Kirby, Jr. discovered the mechanism by which Black Americans were being denied the vote in Mississippi.

Lewis Lapham

January 8, 1935 — July 23, 2024

This legendary author, editor, and essayist was the longtime editor-in-chief of Harper’s Magazine and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly. An American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame inductee, Lapham had an intense interest in history and covered numerous political upheavals over the course of his long and storied career. The New York Times likened his work to that of H.L. Mencken and Mark Twain.

Reverend James Lawson

September 22, 1928 — June 9, 2024

Lawson was a key advisor to Martin Luther King, who called him “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” A renowned civil rights activist, Lawson was a board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a founder and mentor of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which led sit-ins, voter registration drives, and Freedom Rides in the 1960s Deep South.

Marita Lorenz

August 18, 1939 — August 31, 2019

Lorenz was Fidel Castro’s lover and was later recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. She testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations about the JFK assassination, stating that she was involved with a group of anti-Cuban militants — including Frank Sturgis and E. Howard Hunt, of CIA and Watergate infamy — shortly before the assassination.

Graeme MacQueen

1948 — April 25, 2023

MacQueen was founding director of the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He was also author of the in-depth article “John F. Kennedy 55 Years On,” in which he reflected upon the direction that JFK‘s assassins steered America, “to the detriment of all of us, U.S. citizens and otherwise.”

Phillip Nelson

December 12, 1944 — June 2, 2024

An acclaimed JFK-assassination researcher, Nelson wrote the books LBJ: The Mastermind of the JFK Assassination, LBJ: From Mastermind to “The Colossus”, and Who Really Killed Martin Luther King, Jr.?, among others.

Ruth Paine

September 3, 1932 — August 31, 2025

Paine’s interest in the Russian language eventually led her to cross paths with the Russian-speaking Oswalds. Her connection with the young family deepened to the point that they stayed in her Dallas home and she became a patron of Lee Harvey’s wife, Marina. Prior to JFK’s assassination, Oswald stored his rifle in Paine’s garage. She was famously questioned at length by the Warren Commission.

William “Bill” Pepper

August 16, 1937 — April 7, 2024

Best-selling author of three nonfiction books about the King assassination — The Plot to Kill King, Orders to Kill, and An Act of State — Pepper was the attorney who represented James Earl Ray in the assassination of MLK. He also represented Sirhan Sirhan after the assassination of RFK, and the King family in the 1999 wrongful-death suit King Family v. Loyd Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators. Pepper’s decades-long connection with and investigation of his friend Martin Luther King’s murder shined a spotlight on the government conspiracy that silenced the leader and hero.

Jerry Policoff

February 27, 1947 — March 7, 2020

As a freelance journalist and Executive Director of the Assassination Archives Research Center, Policoff was a major critic of the media’s handling of President Kennedy’s assassination. Convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald was not the real killer, Policoff spent almost 55 years amassing evidence to refute the findings of the Warren Commission.

Mort Sahl

May 11, 1927 — October 26, 2021

Born in Canada, Sahl became a wildly popular Jewish-American comedian and political satirist in the 1950s. Now credited with reinventing stand-up comedy, he made the cover of Time magazine and served as interim host of The Tonight Show. He was friends with both Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy and wrote jokes for JFK when the latter was running for office. After JFK was assassinated, Sahl joined NOLA DA Jim Garrison’s investigation team. His outspoken criticism of the Warren Report and obsession with JFK’s murder ultimately damaged his career.

Vincent “Vince” Salandria

March 28, 1928 — August 23, 2020

Considered “the godfather of JFK assassination researchers,” Salandria was a Philadelphia-based civil rights lawyer and author of the book False Mystery: Essays on the Assassination of JFK. A fierce critic of the Warren Commission, he was the first person to challenge Arlen Specter’s “single-bullet theory” and concluded that Kennedy was killed in a state-sponsored coup d’état. Salandria’s two articles about the Commission and its findings sparked national debate. “We, if we are free citizens,” he wrote, “now must serve our government not by blind acceptance of the Commission’s work but rather by and through the exercise of our critical judgment concerning the findings of this body.”

Paul Schrade

December 17, 1924 — November 9, 2022

Schrade was vice president of United Auto Workers and RFK’s labor advisor, and he was shot in the head and wounded during RFK’s assassination. After that, Schrade became a major advocate for the release of convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan, whom he firmly believed could not have shot Robert Kennedy from behind at close range.

Sandy Serrano Sewell

April 17, 1948 — April 29, 2021

At age 20, Sewell was at the Ambassador Hotel the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Soon afterward, she told the press that a girl in a polka-dot dress had run past her and shouted, “We've shot him!” Sewell asked her, “Who did you shoot?” And the girl said, “Senator Kennedy!” The authorities later railroaded Sewell into recanting her account.

Antonio Veciana

October 18, 1928 — June 18, 2020

Veciana was a Cuban exile who became the founder and leader of the anti-Castro group known as Alpha 66. He told the House Committee on Assassinations that a representative for the CIA (whom he knew as “Maurice Bishop”) had directed him to organize Alpha 66 and helped plan many of the group’s operations — including two assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Veciana also claimed that he’d met a man he later recognized as Lee Harvey Oswald, during a meeting with Bishop a few months prior to the JFK assassination.

James Wagenvoord

1935 — July 26, 2022

The author of 43 books over the course of his career, Wagenvoord worked at Life magazine in the 1960s as both Editorial Business Manager and Assistant to the Executive Editor. Within days of President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, a federal agent came to the magazine’s office and handed Wagenvoord ready-made visual materials of Lee Harvey Oswald. Not long after, Life published a series of stills from the Zapruder film — and Wagenvoord realized that some images had been misprinted to show Kennedy’s head moving forward instead of backward.

Adam Walinsky

January 10, 1937 — November 2023

Walinsky was a Yale Law graduate who eventually became Robert F. Kennedy’s aide and speechwriter. In 1968, he wrote RFK’s famous “GNP speech,” in which Kennedy asked if the gross national product was an adequate measure of freedom, health, and happiness. The GNP, Walinsky wrote, “measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”

Cyril Wecht

March 21, 1931 — May 13, 2024

Cyril Wecht was a world-renowned coroner and forensic pathologist who advised on the autopsy of Robert Kennedy and was the first civilian to examine the evidence of JFK’s assassination. Wecht was the lone voice to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations that the so-called “magic bullet” could not possibly have inflicted all seven of the wounds discovered on the bodies of President Kennedy and Governor Connally. Wecht also vociferously dissected the government’s fictional case against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s accused assassin, James Earl Ray.

June 2

Top Headlines

 

  • American dead lie fallen during the World War II Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean.Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Stop Your Chirping!, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 2, 2026. Trump is bored and wants everyone to leave him alone. The picture above shows bodies of U.S. troops lying on the beach after the terrible first day of the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. This and other horrifying photos were released to the American public soon after the fighting. But that was another America.
  • New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: Housing Official and Enforcer Named Top Intelligence Chief, Staff Reports,  June 2, 2026. National Security experts said on Tuesday that the appointment of Bill Pulte, right,Bill Pulte was at odds with the law creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That law set a requirement that the director of national intelligence “have extensive national security expertise.” Pulte does not appear to meet that requirement.
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Don’t Let Trump Hijack Our July 4th, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 2, 2026. What does the president have to do with national independence, anyway?  

More On Trump Team Threats To U.S. Elections, Justice and National Security 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above). 

  • New York Times, Housing Official Who Attacked Democrats Invokes a Disputed Family Legacy, Matthew Goldstein, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Kailyn Rhone, First published Nov. 14, 2025. Bill PulteThe Trump nominee Bill Pulte has called out a Fed governor and New York’s attorney general for issues with their mortgage documents. Some leaders of the family’s home-building business bristle at how he has enhanced his reputation.

 

Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement.Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement

  • Emptywheel, Analysis: Already Suspected of Fraud, Trump Attempts to Extend His Con on the Terrorist Slush Fund, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler), right, June 2, 2026. marcy wheelerIn the fifth paragraph of NYT’s story claiming Trump was backing off his plans for a Terrorist Slush Fund, it admitted not just that Trump might change his mind, but he might do so based on media coverage; the admission had originally appeared in the second paragraph. 
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Is the J6 Slush Fund Dead?, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 2, 2026. The so-called “anti-weaponization fund”—the $1.776 billion slush fund for allies Donald Trump announced last month as part of a so-called settlement with the Treasury Department—has been an interesting test of a scholastic sort of thought experiment: Can the president create a humiliation so large his congressional allies can’t swallow it?

Iconic Reporter's Response To New CBS Ownership 

  • jonathan v last jvl triad logoThe Triad via The Bulwark, Scott Pelley Is the Hero We Need, Jonathan V. Last, June, 2, 2026. What we can learn from the ‘60 CBS 60 minutes logoMinutes’ reporter who went to the mattresses. We’re talking about 60 Minutes again because there was an earthquake in journalism yesterday. I’m leaving this edition unlocked because I want everyone to know what Scott Pelley did. It’s inspiring. It’s important.

More On U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran, Lebanon

News Roundups

Russian War Against Ukraine

  • New York Times, After an Agonizing Week of Threats, Kyiv Is Finally Bombarded by Russia, Maria Varenikova and Kim Barker, June 2, 2026. russian flagMore than a week after Russia warned of an attack on Kyiv that would be so big that diplomats and other foreigners should flee, Moscow finally struck early on Tuesday. Its forces launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the capital and other cities in Ukraine, killing at least 16 people, the Ukrainian authorities said.
  • New York Times, News Analysis: Russia Is Showing Signs of Weakness in Ukraine. So It Hits Harder, Lara Jakes, June 2, 2026. The war has not been going the Kremlin’s way recently, with battleground losses and mounting casualties. With renewed strikes, Moscow hopes to gain a better position for negotiations.

More On Trump Watch: Corruption, Rants, Boasts, Impacts

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Not His Holiday, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 2, 2026. I wrote last week that it’s increasingly and painfully obvious that Donald Trump’s attempted hijacking of our 250th birthday celebration has become a national embarrassment. But Trump’s celebration of the 250th anniversary will be his embarrassment. We need not allow it to be ours.
  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 1, 2026 [Trump's Iran Mess], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 2, 2026. There is so much news today, I’m going to have to let some of it splash over into tomorrow to do it justice. For today, Iran and its role in the president’s deteriorating mental condition are going to take center stage.
  • Heather Delaney Reese, Commentary: Another day of losing for Donald Trumpy, Heather Delaney Reese, above and at right, heather delaney reeseJune 1-2, 2026. After days of hiding from the press, tucked away from the American people deep inside the White House, while a giant UFC cage is being set up on the South Lawn, the President of the United States finally found a moment to emerge from seclusion when he took a phone call from a reporter earlier today.
  • PoliticusUSA, News and Comment On Republican Chaos: Trump's Ballroom Is Dead, And His Battleships Might Be Sunk, Jason Easley, right, June 2, 2026. jason easleyHouse and Senate Republicans are livid with Trump and (finally) asserting their power. Trump's ballroom money is dead. The weaponization fund is toast, and money for his battleships could be next. 

U.S. Elections, Politics

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  • Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: The Murder of "60 Minutes," Robert Reich,robert reich color headshot right, June 2, 2026. Scott Pelley gets this week's Joseph N. Welch Award. 
  • Thinking About..."Waiting for the missiles to pass," Timothy Snyder, right, timothy snyderJune 2, 2026. The living book in wartime Ukraine. Why have a book festival in the middle of a war? Why have a war in the middle of a book festival?

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American dead lie fallen during the World War II Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean.Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Stop Your Chirping!, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 2, 2026. Trump is bored and wants everyone to leave him alone.

The picture above shows bodies of U.S. troops lying on the beach after the terrible first day of the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. This and other horrifying photos were released to the American public soon after the fighting.

As the New York Times explained in 2023, these images were barely censored before being shown to American audiences, and prompted outrage at home. Instead of scenes of victory, the American public was confronted by haunting images in which, as [one of the war photographers] described it, “riddled corpses formed a ghastly fringe along the narrow white beaches, where men of the Second Marine Division died for every foot of sand.”

Just a few months after the landings, a full-length documentary containing gruesome footage, “With the Marines at Tarawa,” was released in theaters.

In other words, in the middle of a desperate, existential war, the U.S. government believed that citizens had a right to know what was happening — up to and including seeing graphic images of ugly setbacks.

But that was another America.

Today Donald Trump, who now says that talks with Iran are “very boring,” insists that anyone questioning how his war is going is unpatriotic:

We used to be a serious country. Not anymore. 

New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: Housing Official and Enforcer Named Top Intelligence Chief, Annie Karni, Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Haberman, June 2, 2026. National Security experts said on Tuesday that the appointment of Bill Pulte was at odds with the law creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That law set a requirement that the director of national intelligence “have extensive national security expertise.” Pulte does not appear to meet that requirement.

  • National Intelligence: President Trump announced on Tuesday that he was naming Bill Pulte, right, a home-building heir who runs Bill Pultethe Federal Housing Finance Agency, to be the acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard. The move has drawn criticism as Mr. Pulte has no known experience for a national security role. Read more ›
  • State Department: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying before the U.S. Senate in a budget session that is also sure to cover pressing national security issues, such as Mr. Trump’s negotiations to end the war with Iran and an intensifying U.S. pressure campaign against Cuba’s government. Read more ›
  • Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas who last week lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said that he saw “no evidence of any qualification” for Pulte to serve as the director of national intelligence, although he noted that the senate plays no role in confirming acting cabinet officials.
  • Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that President Trump had chosen an official with a demonstrated “eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution” to be the acting director of national intelligence. Warner said that Pulte lacked the national security experience that is legally required for the post. “Elevating him to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people,” he said.

One of the most consequential questions facing Pulte is whether he will use his perch to press Trump’s debunked claims of voter fraud ahead of this year’s midterm elections, as Tulsi Gabbard did. In February, Gabbard, right, showed up near an F.B.I. search of an tulsi gabbard o newelections office in Fulton County, Ga. Trump said she was “working very hard on trying to keep the election safe.” Law enforcement officials said they had no idea why she was there.

Senator Angus King, Independent of Maine, said that the appointment of Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence “makes no sense.” King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the job of coordinating the nation’s spy agency requires experience and expertise in national security.

“I’m puzzled by this appointment because of all the people involved in our intelligence agencies, and of all the people who work within our national security apparatus protecting Americans across the country and around the world, the president has chosen someone with no experience whatsoever in this complex and critically important field,” he said.

Pulte emerged as Trump’s most vocal critic last year of Jerome Powell, the former Fed chair whom the president wanted to oust. Pulte regularly assailed Powell on social media, publicly scrutinized the cost of the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters and even drafted a termination letter for Trump to give to Powell

In the first year or so of his term, Pulte was able to tout falling mortgage rates, which helped make purchasing homes slightly more affordable. But home prices have remained stubbornly high, since few people with mortgages with pre-2022 rates have wanted to sell.

Since the Iran war, rates on a 30-year mortgage as tracked by Freddie Mac have been rising, and now sit about where they were last summer. A home, particularly for first-time buyers, has been one of the big-ticket items that feels increasingly out of reach — and it’s been driving down President Trump’s approval ratings on the economy.Maggie HabermanJune 2, 2026, 10:36 a.m. ET1 hour ago

Trump has been mistrustful of the office of the Director of National Intelligence since his first term. He believed some of the staff was involved in leaks that were ultimately damaging to him, particularly as related to the investigation into whether his 2016 campaign conspired with Russians. Dan Coats, the former senator from Indiana who served in the role, was distrusted by the president as an establishment figure. Trump then briefly appointed Richard Grenell, who was his ambassador to Germany, to the role. After that, John Ratcliffe, who is now the director of the C.I.A., served in the role in Trump’s first four years.

 

New York Times, White House Seeks to Impose Political Test on Billions in Federal Grants, Tony Romm, June 2, 2026. A new proposal would allow the administration to block grants if they do not satisfy President Trump’s agenda or support what it calls “anti-American” values.

The Warning with Steve Schmidt, Why MAGA and Trump Are Grasping at Straws, Steve Schmidt, June 2, 2026. Jared Polis commuted Tina Peters's sentence despite her anti-democratic crimes. Steve Schmidt breaks down Polis’s appeasement, why Trump's presidency is sinking like the Titanic, and why it's too late for him to stop it.appeasement.

New York Times, White House Seeks to Impose Political Test on Billions in Federal Grants, Tony Romm, June 2, 2026. A new proposal would allow the administration to block grants if they do not satisfy President Trump’s agenda or support what it calls “anti-American” values.

The White House is seeking to exert more control over billions of dollars in annual government grants, aiming to restrict a vast swath of funding — in health, housing, science and transportation — so that it primarily serves the purposes and organizations politically aligned with President Trump.

djt maga hatWhile the administration says that its primary goal is to safeguard taxpayer money, its proposal amounts to a major escalation in its attempt to reimagine the nation’s spending, even as Congress and the courts continue to rebuke the president for abusing such powers.

Mr. Trump’s ambitions were made clear in a roughly 400-page blueprint that was released to little fanfare on Friday. If finalized, it would require all federal grants to be approved by the president’s political appointees, who must ensure that the money would “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.”

For the agencies that issue those awards and the nonprofit groups, local governments, universities and other entities that receive the money, the Trump administration would also impose a set of highly prescriptive and political criteria.

The government could not issue grants to projects or groups that “deny the biological reality of sex or the sex binary in humans,” for example. Nor could it seek to fund initiatives that “promote anti-American values,” contribute to illegal immigration, advance diversity, equity and inclusion or assist in voter registration.

The rules would further limit the ability of grant recipients to engage in some “issue advocacy.” Those that are funded would be scrutinized for their compliance with “religious liberty laws” and their “memberships and affiliations” with outside groups. And they could face the outright termination of their grants if the Trump administration someday determines that their actions are not in the “public interest.”

The restrictions echo the string of executive orders that Mr. Trump signed shortly after returning to office, many of which have been challenged or blocked in court. This time, however, the White House has pursued its restrictions by proposing a regulation, which is expected to become final after the government solicits public comment. The result could be applied far more broadly, and perhaps in ways that are harder to fight legally or undo later, according to budget experts.

The consequences could fall hardest on health and science, a field in which Mr. Trump has pursued some of the steepest cuts in his second term.

In exchange for federal assistance, researchers would face limits on the subjects that they can explore, the foreign labs with which they may collaborate and even the conferences at which they can appear. Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, the chief executive of the American Public Health Association, a professional organization and advocacy group, said the policy could “devastate innovation, science and research” in the United States.ImageRussell T. Vought sitting behind a microphone in a congressional hearing room.The proposed rules reaffirmed the view of Russell T. Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, that much of the government’s ledger is riddled with spending that is wasteful, “divisive” or “woke.”Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Dr. Benjamin said the Trump administration sought to “codify a lot of the things they tried to do” over the past year that courts previously had rejected. That included an attempt to cut billions in grant funding for the National Institutes of Health, which his association sued to stop.Sign up for Your Places: Global Update. All the latest news for any part of the world you select. Get it sent to your inbox.

While Dr. Benjamin said he could not predict what legal steps, if any, his group might take in response to the newest White House proposal, he said of its publication generally, “You can be sure this is going to be challenged.”

An official at the White House budget office, who would only describe the administration’s thinking on the condition of anonymity, said the proposed regulations were consistent with the president’s recent directives and current law.

The official said that the goal was to promote transparency, efficiency and accountability around federal grants, which would now be suspended if they are not in compliance with the new rules.

The Trump administration would also require those that receive government aid to scrutinize the use of taxpayer dollars more closely for fraud. In general, its policies would not apply to all federal spending, meaning that money doled out based on criteria established in law — like entitlement programs, block grants and other spending mandates — would not be affected.

 

steve schmidt logo horizontalThe Warning with Steve Schmidt, Why MAGA and Trump Are Grasping at Straws, Steve Schmidt, June 2, 2026. Jared Polis commuted Tina Peters's sentence despite her anti-democratic crimes. Steve Schmidt breaks down Polis’s appeasement, why Trump's presidency is sinking like the Titanic, and why it's too late for him to stop it.appeasement.

jared polis 2019 CustomWhen it comes to Jared Polis, right, he represents a cohort of elected Democrats, and they can be found in Washington and across the country, who lack judgment, who lack common sense, who lack fighting spirit and should have no place representing a party in office that will spend the next 20 years leading America out of the abyss dug by MAGA, by Trump during their what will be four-year assault against the American way of life.

Their [MAGA] fullthroated embrace of corruption, of dishonesty, of lying, of cruelty, of malice, of indecency, and the deluded belief that Trump is on any given day a god, Jesus Christ, or their king. Either way, they seem prepared to live on their knees, pleased to be at his feet.

No thank you. Thankfully, the good sense of the American people is breaking through. Things are not as they were 7 months ago. Trump's support has collapsed. The bottom is falling out.

Here's the thing about Donald Trump. He lives in a house of cards. Look at the White House. This is the evidence. Look at the madness that is involved in the creation of this image, this picture.

 

Shown above is the arch of a stadium President Trump ordered to be constructed on White House grounds so that he can host a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) event created by his friend Dana White to celebrate the Trump birthday on June 14 in tandem with the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.ufc arch white house

Shown above is the arch of a stadium President Trump ordered to be constructed on White House grounds so that he can host a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) event created by his friend and political ally Dana White to celebrate the Trump birthday on June 14 in tandem with the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

This is a world where nobody will ever tell the Donald no. There is no restraint. And so imagine the pollsters who have to come in and try to who knowsdo what? Tell him the truth. He's a person who believes all over the country.

The people love him and want to name things after him. And he tweets and rages throughout the night, including this insanity from last night. The pollsters from Trump's favorite on down will look away, will stare at their shoes as they sit in the Oval Office trying to avert Trump's wrath by telling Trump a lie that whatever is happening in the country can be cured by more Trump, who the people love.

And thus the diagnosis will lead to a strategy that will accelerate the spin and lead MAGA into a political crash and explosion for the ages.

Tick tock. Tick tock. The bill is coming due and it's coming due quickly. Trump is increasingly unhniged. 

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Don’t Let Trump Hijack Our July 4th, Bill Kristol, Andrew Egger and Jim Swift, June 2, 2026. What does the president have to do with national independence, anyway?  

The White House’s access reporters at Axios report that Donald Trump “lashed out” at Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu over Israeli bulwark logo big shipstrikes in Lebanon yesterday, saying that Netanyahu is “fucking crazy,” would be “in prison if it weren’t for me,” and that “everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Not so, respond Netanyahu’s access reporters at Israel’s N12 News: “Trump did not make personal remarks about jail or claim Netanyahu is hated globally.”

And hawks in the American media are beside themselves over the whole thing: “THE LEAK IN AXIOS WAS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW AND PROVIDED SUPPORT TO THE IRANIAN REGIME AND ITS HEZBOLLAH PROXY,” conservative radio host Marc Levin fumed.

So negotiations to end the war seem to be going great, is the point. Happy Tuesday.

More On Trump Team Threats To U.S. Elections, Justice and National Security

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above). 

New York Times, Housing Official Who Attacked Democrats Invokes a Disputed Family Legacy, Matthew Goldstein, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Kailyn Rhone, First published Nov. 14, 2025. The Trump nominee Bill Pulte has called out a Fed governor and New York’s attorney general for issues with their mortgage documents. Some leaders of the family’s home-building business bristle at how he has enhanced his reputation.

Bill PulteWhen Bill Pulte, right, appeared before the Senate committee considering his nomination to be one of the nation’s top housing regulators, he presented himself as the anointed representative of his family’s home-building empire.

Mr. Pulte recounted visiting job sites with his grandfather William J. Pulte, who founded PulteGroup, the nation’s third-largest residential builder. He expressed gratitude to senators from Georgia, Nevada, Minnesota and Arizona on behalf of his family.

“You know, my family’s legacy company is based in Georgia,” he told Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, at the hearing in late February. “Atlanta has been very good to our family.”

But Mr. Pulte, 37, no longer has any official connection to PulteGroup, which has built 800,000 homes across the country since the 1950s. He was pushed off the company’s board in 2020 after being elected to a seat several times since 2016. And his family’s $500 million charitable foundation, run by an aunt and his father, issued a statement two years ago saying that “Bill Pulte does not represent, nor is he a spokesperson for, all members of the Pulte family, in any capacity.”

These days, one of Bill Pulte’s primary connections to the residential real estate business is a group of five aging mobile home parks he owns in Florida, some badly in need of repair.

His mobile home park investments were not readily apparent on his financial disclosure form because he listed parent companies but not the subsidiaries used to buy the properties in 2023 and 2024. Two of the trailer parks, in Palm Beach County, are only hours from a site where the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation is spearheading the construction of 179 rental homes for people who live below “the poverty line, often in overcrowded trailers,” according to the foundation’s website.

In a statement, a spokesman for Mr. Pulte said he owned “passive shares” in the mobile homes and had “no oversight or management in any of these companies.” The spokesman said the mobile homes “represent a very small part of his net worth.”

As President Trump’s choice to direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mr. Pulte oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage finance firms that control much of the nation’s mortgage market. But he has made his mark by publicizing personal mortgage agreements of some of Mr. Trump’s enemies and calling out what he claims are misrepresentations in the documents.

Lisa Cook oHe has accused Lisa D. Cook, left, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, of listing two of her homes as primary residences on mortgage applications and accused New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, of renting out a home that she told her mortgage provider she would use as a secondary residence.

Last month, federal prosecutors charged Ms. James with bank fraud after a criminal referral by Mr. Pulte. She has pleaded not guilty. Citing Mr. Pulte’s allegations, Mr. Trump has tried to remove Ms. Cook from her position at the Fed. Ms. Cook has sued the president in response and remains at the Fed.

Mr. Pulte’s limited disclosure about his mobile homes most likely met the broad federal reporting standards required of top federal officials. But it also fits his pattern of carefully choosing facts to enhance his reputation and associate himself with the Pulte name in ways that have frustrated PulteGroup executives and some of his relatives.

In interviews, two members of the family said Mr. Pulte had created confusion in news releases and social media posts by attributing his own pronouncements to “The Pulte Family.”

He congratulated Elon Musk for buying Twitter. He announced a stake in GrabAGun, an online gun retailer where Donald Trump Jr. is board member. He assailed the chief executive at PulteGroup for selling shares and for “management problems” in 2023 — all on behalf of “The Pulte Family.”

During his first term, President Trump had taken note of Mr. Pulte’s posts on Twitter, retweeting him at one point and boosting his profile in Republican circles. Mr. Pulte went on to forge a bond with Mr. Trump’s eldest son at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s Florida country club, where Mr. Pulte is a member, a person familiar with their relationship said. Heading into the 2024 election, Mr. Pulte and his wife, Diana, contributed nearly $1 million to various campaign committees supporting Mr. Trump and other Republican candidates.

But some of his statements over the years have not sat well with others in the wider Pulte family, which includes the patriarch William J. Pulte’s 14 children and more than two dozen grandchildren, according to two of his relatives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Pulte has spent years battling with his aunt, the foundation’s president, over his grandfather’s legacy and other issues. In social media posts he has called her “totally fake and phony” and has written that she “defecates” about him and his late grandfather’s legacy on the foundation website.

The spokesman for Mr. Pulte said in a statement that he “was the only Pulte in Pulte Homes, other than his grandfather, and going back to 2013, as evidenced in press conferences, national media and legal contracts involving PulteGroup, Bill Pulte was the only authorized representative for PulteGroup’s founder and the Pulte family.”

Many of Mr. Pulte’s most outlandish posts on Twitter and later X were deleted. Shortly after the Senate Banking Committee took up his nomination, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a top Democrat on the committee, asked Mr. Pulte to provide access to the roughly 25,000 tweets that had been deleted during the few weeks after Mr. Trump’s re-election.

He never complied.

 

Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement.Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posted the above message asserting confidence that Trump will prevail in creating a $1.8 billion taxpayer fund for those allies supposedly unfairly targeted by law enforcement

Emptywheel, Analysis: Already Suspected of Fraud, Trump Attempts to Extend His Con on the Terrorist Slush Fund, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler), right, June 2, 2026. marcy wheelerIn the fifth paragraph of NYT’s story claiming Trump was backing off his plans for a Terrorist Slush Fund, it admitted not just that Trump might change his mind, but he might do so based on media coverage; the admission had originally appeared in the second paragraph.

But as with all things involving Mr. Trump, he could still decide to reverse course, especially as he tracks media coverage of his decision.

That tell did not prevent the gray lady from rewarding Trump’s con with this headline:

 

djt backs off slush fund nyt headline 6 1 2026The NYT was not alone if wildly overstating what is going on. I’ve already talked about how Marc Caputo claimed, “Trump admin plans to drop ‘weaponization’ fund” in a post admitting this might be no more than a temporary plan in ¶2.

Trump Signals Retreat, WSJ blared, in a story that described — also in ¶2 — that, “the official cautioned that President Trump could change his mind,” and included a whole lot of nuance about why the White House would have to do more.

“Trump administration retreats on ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund'” described a Politico team — comprised of some of the best congressional reporters and one of the best DOJ reporters — that knows better.

Compare the far more responsible headline from ABC News, which notes the only thing Trump did was claim he would abide by a legal ruling that may halt the program no more than 11 days.

Clunky? Yes. Accurate? Yes.

Though it edited this reporting from Jonathan Karl (who is not bylined in the ABC report),

Removing Trump’s repeated refusal to agree he was giving up on the Terrorist Slush Fund.

President Donald Trump, speaking with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on Monday, said he will respect the court’s ruling.

“We are subject to the courts,” Trump said in a telephone conversation. “At this moment, that’s what it is.”

“If a court doesn’t allow it, and right now a court has it held up, what can you do?” Trump said.

I believe that WaPo initially followed the crowd on declaring full retreat but now also states accurately that the fight, which is about members of Congress, not the courts, is not yet over.

Through all these stories — and this dedicated story on the legislative fight from Politico’s Jordain Carney — there’s plenty of good reporting describing what is really going on. Republican members of Congress want to ensure that they can’t be held accountable for the Terrorist Slush Fund, though at least some don’t really care whether it happens or not.

The Justice Department took a small step back Monday from its controversial $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” It wasn’t nearly enough to quell the furor on Capitol Hill.

Republican senators, including some top leaders, said a DOJ statement that it would “abide by” a federal judge’s recent ruling to temporarily halt any payouts did not do enough to clear the intraparty concerns that have thrown the GOP’s immigration enforcement bill into limbo.

This ambivalence is best embodied by John Thune, who claims he wants a very clear sign, but doesn’t want to do anything that would cause Trump to veto the reconciliation package — which it to say, he wants Trump to succeed at this con.

“The way the statement is worded, I think it’s clear that they’re not proceeding with the fund, but obviously whether that’s sufficient to satisfy a number of our members is something we’re still sorting through,” Thune told reporters.

He added that Republicans should know by Tuesday if they are going to be able to revive the immigration enforcement bill this week.

[snip]

Asked if he was worried about a possible Trump veto if the fund was banned, Thune said, “Oh yeah, don’t you?”

John Cornyn, who just days ago was warning about lies from scorpions but who no longer has to answer to voters, was fairly lonely among those who believed this con resolved the issue. “It makes it moot,” multiple outlets reported the Texas Senator saying.

Shelley Moore Capito, Chuck Grassley, and James Lankford need the denials to look more convincing.

John Kennedy and Lisa Murkowski were less pliable.

“The reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “They have to abide by the district court decision — that’s in the Constitution. I’d have to know more about their position on the weaponization fund to know whether it would be enough to dislodge the reconciliation bill.”

“If it means it’s completely pulled, then that would satisfy me, but I haven’t heard anybody say that that is actually what is happening,” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). She also hinted she could oppose the immigration enforcement bill regardless of how the fund debate plays out.

The real issues in the short term are tactical: whether Thune and [Judge] Mike Johnson can make it harder for Dems to exploit reconciliation by pulling out DOJ funding, and whether that, in turn, will be enough to placate members of Congress who want to pretend they fought against a slush fund to pay off cop assailants.

A bunch of judges have alleged that Trump, Stan Woodward, and Boris Epshteyn are attempting to defraud the court and the United States by using this “settlement” to steal billions to use to reward beloved cop assailants and terrorists.

Fraud on the court is established by clear and convincing evidence. See, e.g., Booker v. Dugger, 825 F.2d 281, 283 (11th Cir. 1987); Kinnear-Weed Corp. v. Humble Oil & Ref. Co., 441 F.2d 631, 636 (5th Cir. 1971). Here, it is undisputed that this Court did not have the Settlement Agreement in front of it at the time Plaintiffs filed the Notice. The Settlement Agreement establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund was not before the Court and the broad purported release of Plaintiffs’ known and unknown liabilities was neither announced nor publicly released until after the case had been dismissed.

Judge Kathleen Williams found that argument compelling enough to order DOJ to respond (after such time, it should be said, when Trump hopes to have the reconciliation funding resolved.

But even the looming threat of an inquiry into whether this all amounts to fraud has not stopped Trump from extending the con (though it may explain his remarkable discipline in pointing to the fraudulent DOJ tweet, as he did with Karl, rather than saying anything personally). Trump wants headlines claiming he has given up the Slush Fund just long enough to get him to the place where he can enact it anyway.

enrique tarrio micMeanwhile, the convicted seditionist Trump pardoned [Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, shown above in a file photo rallying a pro-Trump mob] is sure he’s getting his reward.

 

White House historic East Wing ballroom demolished to enable Trump to build a ballroom at cost estimates rising from $200 million to sums approaching $1 billion in taxpayer funding (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).white house east wing ballroom site doug mills nytWhite House historic East Wing ballroom was demolished to enable Trump to build a ballroom at cost estimates rising from $200 million to sums approaching $1 billion in taxpayer funding (New York Times photo by Doug Mills).

PoliticusUSA, News and Comment On Republican Chaos: Trump's Ballroom Is Dead, And His Battleships Might Be Sunk, Jason Easley, right, jason easleyJune 2, 2026. House and Senate Republicans are livid with Trump and (finally) asserting their power. Trump's ballroom money is dead. The weaponization fund is toast, and money for his battleships could be next.Jun 2 ∙ Paid READ IN APP

Three days before Christmas in 2025, when the American people were busy with the holidays, the president announced that he was seeking money from Congress to build a new class of battleships that would, to no one’s surprise, be named after Donald Trump.

politicus usa logoHere is how the official press release described these ships:

These new battleships will stand as the centerpiece of the Navy’s Golden Fleet initiative and will be the first of its kind providing dominant firepower and a decisive advantage over adversaries by integrating the most advanced deep-strike weapons of today with the revolutionary systems of the years ahead.

Engineered to outmatch any foreign adversary, the new battleship class will be the centerpiece of naval power. At triple the size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, its massive frame provides superior firepower, larger missile magazines, and the capability to launch Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles and the Surface Launch Cruise Missile-Nuclear.

The Trump class will be capable of operating in a traditional Integrated Air and Missile Defense role with a Carrier Strike Group or commanding its own Surface Action Group for Surface and Anti-Submarine Warfare efforts in addition to delivering long range hypersonic strategic fires and quarterbacking the operations of an entire fleet as the central command control node.

A few months later, Trump launched a war with Iran that demonstrated how much the United States military was not prepared for drone warfare. The US has not released an official estimate of the cost of the war, but Americans spent billions on expensive traditional military equipment while Iran has inflicted damage with much cheaper drones.

The new ships are another Trump vanity project that could have been funded if the president had not enraged Senate Republicans by jeopardizing their majority with his corruption and revenge tour that has ousted three of their members.

It is getting ugly for Trump, and now Republicans in the House and Senate who are trying to save their jobs are looking at not funding his Trump class of ships.

Over the past month, concerns have been growing in the House and Senate Armed Services Committees over the Trump battleships.

The concerns are that the administration has provided zero proof that the concept will work, and Congress has not been told how much the battleships will cost.

Responsible Statecraft reported that the House version of the NDAA has language that denies funds until it is proven that the ships will work:

The House draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2027, released last week, authorizes $1 billion for the prospective Trump-class battleship program. But the bill bars contracts from being granted until the Navy secretary can certify the ships’ technologies are “sufficiently mature.”

Congress has a very long history of funding Pentagon projects that end up wasting taxpayer money, so it isn’t as if the Republican majority has suddenly turned fiscally responsible when it comes to the military.

The skepticism in Congress likely has more to do with Trump’s poor political standing and his constant grift. The battleships are part of a $1.5 trillion budget request for the Pentagon, but the only amount that House Republicans are suggesting is nothing next year, and $1 billion if it is proven that these ships will work.

Republicans are in total chaos. Primary season is almost over, which means that Trump’s power to deliver on threats to House and Senate Republicans is evaporating.

The Republican Party is in chaos and on the verge of civil war, and Trump’s battleships may be the next presidential vanity project that Congress kills.  

Iconic Reporter's Response To New CBS Ownership 

 

CBS 60 minutes logo

jonathan v last jvl triad logoThe Triad via The Bulwark, Scott Pelley Is the Hero We Need, Jonathan V. Last, June, 2, 2026. We’re talking about 60 Minutes again because there was an earthquake in journalism yesterday. I’m leaving this edition unlocked because I want everyone to know what Scott Pelley did. It’s inspiring. It’s important.

bulwark logo big shipAnd it’s very much what we try to do at The Bulwark every day. We don’t have a lot of power—we don’t control a secret police force, or the federal government, or the Supreme Court. We are a dissident movement. Which means that the power we do have is all about truth.

Saying true things is powerful. Refusing to go along with polite fictions is powerful. That’s what today’s Triad is about. And I think you’re going to feel energized when you read it.

Help to be a beacon for truth: Please share this Triad far and wide. If you are on social media, find it on our social account and like or share it to help boost our signal.

Scott Pelley Is the Hero We Need

Four days after Bari Weiss decapitated the leadership of 60 Minutes, she sent her new executive producer, Nick Bilton, to meet with the remaining staff. What happened will reverberate in journalism for years.

In full view of the newsroom Scott Pelley took Bilton and Weiss (in absentia) to the woodshed.

The best account is from Oliver Darcy at Status, who had a recording, and the short version is that Pelley:

Asked Bilton to explain the firings of correspondents and reporters.

Bilton absurdly tried to pretend that he didn’t know anything about these firings.

Observed that Bilton had only the most slender qualifications for the job of EP and that Weiss had no qualifications for running CBS News.

The most important part of the showdown, however, was this:

  • “Bari loves this institution,” Bilton told staffers at one point during the highly contentious meeting. “She loves 60 Minutes.”
  • “She’s murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley countered. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it—and she’s doing exactly that.”

Truth to power.

People sometimes ask me why I’m so hung up on Bari Weiss and the answer is that it’s because her project is essentially the same as Donald Trump’s project. She is a corrupter.

cbs news logoWeiss has attempted to do to journalism what Trump has done to American government: Transform an ancient, messy, imperfect—but basically functional—web of institutions into a corrupt gangland organization. To do so, both Weiss and Trump have depended on the opposition refusing to notice what they are doing and—when they do notice it—to accept ludicrous rationalizations.

Ergo: Trump turns Elon Musk and DOGE loose on USAID and says it’s about saving money. Trump directs his attorney general to indict his enemies and says it’s about stopping the weaponization of government. Trump has ICE agents assault people and says it’s about deporting hardened criminals.

Or: Weiss dismantles 60 Minutes and pretends it’s about getting more views on digital.

Every time someone goes along with this make-believe by treating it as a valid point of you—just like, your opinion, man—they contribute to the corruption.

Here is why Scott Pelley’s stand was so important: He didn’t just refuse to be party to Bari Weiss’s lie—he stood up and exposed it. Even though she has the power and he does not.

Remember Christopher Wray? He was the director of the FBI. Trump wanted to fire him. And Wray, instead of forcing the issue, meekly resigned his office and pretended that he was preserving the integrity of his institution.

Remember John Kelly? He stood next to Donald Trump, saw exactly what kind of man he was serving, and when he finally walked away was only able to muster a couple of print interviews sharing what he knew about the man plotting to destroy American democracy.

Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Mick Mulvaney, H.R. McMaster, Jeff Sessions, Mitch McConnell, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Gina Haspel, Rex Tillerson, Jim Mattis, Bill Barr, Elaine Chao.

All of these people saw what was happening. All of them objected to it. None of them dared say so out loud.

After all, doing so would have been poor form. Better to walk away and not get involved in any ugliness.

Authoritarianism exploits politesse.

The corrupter counts on the existing establishment normalizing her actions, hoping that they can work with her. She depends on people not noticing the plain reality and, if they do notice, politely looking the other way. Or quietly resigning. Not being unpleasant.

Throughout the 60 Minutes meeting yesterday, one of Bari Weiss’s lieutenants begged Pelley to stop asking questions because, he insisted, Pelley was being “rude.” As if civility and obeisance were the same thing.

Pelley would have none of it. He kept going. He said the things that were obviously true. He called things by right names.

2. Enjoy the Bagels

Here are things that are true about 60 Minutes, CBS News, and Bari Weiss:

  • 60 is the most successful property—in terms of both product and revenue—in broadcast journalism.
  • Donald Trump has a particular grudge against 60, as evidenced by his lawsuit against the show.
  • Larry and David Ellison needed Trump’s approval for the purchase of Paramount and CBS News.
  • The Ellisons put Bari Weiss in charge of CBS News for the sole purpose of placating Trump.
  • Trump has been publicly effusive about Bari Weiss as head of CBS News.
  • Weiss decapitated the show’s staff in order to bring it fully under her control in order to please Trump.
  • The Ellisons now need Trump to approve their purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.

That’s the story. That’s what is happening. Anyone who pretends that this is about Weiss and the Ellisons “rebuilding public trust” or “reaching a broader audience” is participating in the corruption.

Just like anyone who pretends that DOGE was about reducing government spending. Or that Christopher Wray’s resignation would preserve the integrity of the FBI. Or that Elon Musk bought Twitter because he was concerned about free speech.

You see the thread, right? In every case, the corrupter counts on liberalism being too fastidious to believe the reality, or too polite to say it out loud.

We need more Scott Pelleys. More people who will say the true things, out loud. More people who, when confronted with authoritarian power, will say, “Make me.”

Our entire rationale for The Bulwark is to be Scott Pelley every day. To say the true things. No matter the consequences. Hell, that’s how I got here in the first place, after losing my job because my colleagues and I wouldn’t shut up about what Donald Trump was doing.

Come ride with us. Because it’s right. And because we’re going to win.

3. Africa

My friend Holly Berkley Fletcher has a fantastic piece explaining why government corruption is so toxic for nations:

By some estimates, corruption costs the [African] continent $150 billion annually, which is equal to 25% of GDP. The African Development Bank estimates if you add more general illicit finance enabled by weak rule of law to government-related corruption, that number rises to $580 billion per year.

Then there are the follow-on effects of creating an environment that discourages investment and robs ordinary people of the resources, infrastructure, education, and basic sustenance they need to thrive. There is the massive wealth disparity, with political and ethnic contours that often feed into deep historical animosities, as those with political connections are rewarded at the expense of those who are out. Then there are inflated stakes for political competition. Then there is violence, war, insecurity, extremism.

The US is not Africa. For one thing, its economy is nine times the size the entire African continent’s. By the numbers, the American economy can absorb Trump’s corruption, although the juxtaposition of it with things like the mass firing of federal workers, the shutdown of USAID, cuts to families with disabled children, and the slashing of funding for scientific research makes it seem all the more obscene. We have other structural advantages, like robust federalism, that mitigates the impact of corruption in the federal government.

But we can already see the beginnings of corruption’s corrosive impact on our political economy and envision how it could directly harm ordinary Americans. 

More On U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran, Lebanon

 

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon After Pulling Back From Threat to Beirut, Aaron Boxerman, Christina Goldbaum, Farnaz Fassihi and Hari Raj, June 2, 2026. Here’s the latest.

Under pressure from President Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel held off from attacking Beirut. But he vowed to continue Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, which could threaten peace talks with Iran.

Israel launched fresh strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appeared to pull back from a threat to strike Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, under pressure from President Trump and the United Nations.

benjamin netanyahu frown screenshotMr. Netanyahu, shown above in a file photo, paused the attacks on Beirut but made no mention of a cease-fire in Lebanon and vowed to maintain the military offensive in the south. Iran has said that among its conditions for a peace agreement with the United States is an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Israel FlagThe Israeli military issued a new evacuation order on Tuesday for Nabatieh, one of southern Lebanon’s largest cities, which has been heavily bombarded in recent days.

The strikes were launched as officials from the Lebanese government and Israel were set to meet on Tuesday for a new round of U.S.-mediated talks in Washington aimed at defusing the conflict.

On Monday, diplomats at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council were nearly unanimous — with the exception of the United States — in calling for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and refrain from launching more attacks. Israel had warned that it would strike Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

New York Times, News Analysis: How Israel’s Strategy in Lebanon Was Blown Up by Drones, David M. Halbfinger, June 2, 2026. An Israeli campaign that started with high hopes has devolved into a kind of impasse, with Hezbollah looking more capable than it did when the war began.

When Israel’s prime minister and defense minister warned on Monday that the air force would soon bomb the suburbs of Beirut, it wasn’t just a threat to intensify Israel’s simmering three-month-old war with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that dominates Lebanon.

It was an admission that Israel’s strategy in that fight was falling short.

And when Israel backed down from that threat a few hours later, the decision pointed up just how much it had been backed into a corner — stuck between domestic pressure to hit Hezbollah hard, and American pressure to constrain its attacks in Lebanon.

Israel FlagThe Israeli strategy was to seize territory in Lebanon as a protective buffer and push Hezbollah back beyond the range of the antitank missiles with which it had long plagued tens of thousands of civilians living in northern Israel.

But Israel did not seem to be ready for Hezbollah’s widespread use of explosive “first-person-view” drones, which are controlled with fiber-optic cables that unspool for miles and are unsusceptible to electronic jamming.

The drones haven’t killed Israeli troops at anywhere near the rate that Israel has killed Hezbollah militants and Lebanese civilians during its offensive. But they have been steadily hunting down Israeli soldiers and commanders, both in Lebanon and in Israel, with the often-lethal strikes documented in chilling videos that Hezbollah has been posting on social media. Two soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in such attacks on Monday alone, the military said.

And so a matchup that had Israeli leaders sounding almost giddy back in March — sending their mighty tanks and infantry in to crush a weakened, vulnerable and somewhat rudderless Hezbollah — has devolved into something else. It is now a kind of deadlock in which Hezbollah suddenly looks more capable than it did when the war began and the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces can look startlingly helpless.

New York Times, High-Wire Negotiations With Iran? Trump Finds It ‘Very Boring,’ David E. Sanger, Updated June 2, 2026. President Trump told CNBC that he “couldn’t care less” if the negotiations with Iran break down.

For three months, President Trump has been deeply engaged in the Iran conflict, planning the 38 days of attack, struggling to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and proclaiming “a whole civilization will die tonight,” then backing away to declare a cease-fire and a naval blockage of Iranian ports.

Iran FlagBut on Monday, after days of haggling with Iranian officials through intermediaries on a preliminary agreement, Mr. Trump declared it was starting “to get very boring.”

“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,” he told Eamon Javers of CNBC when asked about reports that the Iranians, angry at continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and low-level conflict with the United States in the Persian Gulf, were threatening to stop negotiating. “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less. If they’re over, they’re over.”

There are reasons to doubt that Mr. Trump is truly so unconcerned: Gasoline prices have soared since the war began, with a senior Exxon-Mobil official predicting recently that prices could go far higher, and Republicans are taking note of how deeply unpopular the war with Iran is with their constituents. In recent weeks he has professed indifference about a range of issues that carry deep political consequences for him, including the midterm elections and the financial situation that Americans are facing.

But even for Mr. Trump, who has veered from threatening the Iranians with annihilation to declaring that they had already agreed to American terms to fuming that they have not, it seemed strange that he thought the whole conflict was becoming a bore.

After all, just hours before he had written in a social media post that negotiations were “continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” There were widespread reports that on Friday he toughened the requirements on a preliminary accord with Iran — one that would just set up another, deeper negotiation — because he was concerned about provisions for returning frozen funds to the Iranian government and over who would handle the recovery of Iran’s highly-enriched uranium.

These were details, but vitally important.

Back in March, Mr. Trump confidently predicted the conflict would be over in a few weeks, saying it was not possible to suffer from boredom while facing off against a longtime American adversary: “Somebody said today, they said, ‘oh, well, the president wants to do it really quickly. After that, he’ll get bored.’”

“There’s nothing boring about this,” he added.

News RoundupsPresident Trump apparently falls asleep during a women's health event in the White House Oval Office on May 11, 2026.

President Trump apparently falls asleep during a women's health event in the White House Oval Office on May 11, 2026.

Hopium Chronicles, Pro-Democracy Advocacy, Trumpism Feels Increasingly Broken, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookJune 2, 2026. We have primaries today in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota - good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Been talking a lot of late about Trump’s racking up the losses on everything from Iran to his ballroom to his ICE funding bill to his slush fund, and how he had become a weakened and diminished figure in Washington and around the world (here, here). Let’s review some headlines from this morning, and just note how much of media narrative has become about some form of Trumpian failure and his ebbing powers. THE STORY has become his weakness and struggle.

For Trump the growing perception of his failing/weakness/struggle is a very big problem for being strong/winning/successful is the foundation of his brand. Everything else is built on top of it, and if you take it away what you are left with is something very ugly and impossible to sell to the American people. It’s also why we often talk here about how Democrats need to take the strong/weak, winning/losing, successful/failure dimension in our politics far more seriously, for it is may be as important to people’s understanding of a candidate or party as most of the big issues we focus on each election cycle.

In 2024 that he was winning and a winner - in part garnered through heavily advertised right-aligned, favorable polling and prediction markets data - I think played a big role in helping late deciding, lower information voters break his way. This growing perception of his weakness matters for it will lead to further defiance of him and his agenda, as we are now seeing from Congressional Republicans on the slush fund, the ballroom, Iran, and Russia; and in the increasing ambition and courage of judges across the country.

Here’s how Punchbowl News described this dynamic today:

President Donald Trump is suddenly taking losses from his own friends and allies, especially on Capitol Hill.

GOP lawmakers are bucking Trump on his White House ballroom, shelving plans to spend $1 billion to secure the new facility and other areas of the presidential compound.

The “Trump battleships” are steaming into a wave of skepticism at the House Armed Services Committee as lawmakers prepare to mark up the FY2027 defense authorization bill this week. (All puns intended.)

The House may vote this week on a discharge petition for a Ukrainian aid bill that Trump is certain to oppose. Several dozen House Republicans could back the measure anyway.

And after Trump — bogged down in negotiations to end the war with Iran — said Israel had agreed to halt its military assault against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he’d continue IDF operations in the southern part of the country. Trump reportedly yelled at Netanyahu over the offensive.

Most prominently, Republicans are also in the process of killing Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a direct rebuke to the president.

Trump and Hill Republicans are trapped in a dangerous paradox. Trump’s political endorsement is worth more than ever in GOP primaries, yet his legislative agenda and fixation on personal projects are growing more toxic heading into the fall campaign season. As more Republicans move past their primaries, they’re suddenly finding it advantageous to oppose him.

Weaponization-lite. Senate Republicans remain far short of the votes needed to begin floor consideration of their $70 billion reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol. GOP leaders will make a decision today about whether it’s possible to pass the bill this week, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely.

At least a dozen GOP senators said Monday that the White House’s attempt to quell the uproar over Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund wasn’t enough to win their support for advancing the immigration-centric package — something that should unify them.

And there is also this dangerous outrage, new this morning -- Trump just made Bill Pulte, a ridiculous political hack, the Acting Director of National Intelligence. It’s a shocking misjudgment that is going to only further weaken his already battered standing on the Hill and with what’s left of our allies around the world. Coming in a week where he may facing -- and lose -- Congressional votes on both Ukraine and Iran this will be seen on the Hill as a huge, reckless misstep, from a regime that feels like it is unraveling right now. The Economist/YouGov weekly tracking poll was just released and look at all this evidence of Trumpian failure. Note he’s 21%-71%, -50 points, with independent voters, -34 with Hispanics and -35 with 18-29 year olds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump 'Irate' Over Concert Cancellations, GOP to Cut Funding for Dolly Parton Library, Trump Rips into Netanyahu, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, June 2, 2026. aaron parnas new headshotTrump is reportedly “irate” that his America 250 state fair concert series has flopped, with most of the artists pulling out and the event becoming a growing embarrassment for his administration.

Meanwhile, Missouri Republicans are moving to slash funding for Dolly Parton’s literacy program, Trump has appointed Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, Trump reportedly cursed out Benjamin Netanyahu while reminding him that he would likely be in prison without U.S. support, and much more.

The Bill Pulte appointment particularly concerns me. Pulte has repeatedly used his position to target people Trump dislikes, often amplifying attacks on perceived political opponents. Now, as acting Director of National Intelligence, he will have access to the vast resources of America’s intelligence community. That raises serious concerns about the potential for political abuse and retaliation against journalists, critics, and others whose only offense is telling the truth. If you value this work, please consider subscribing. Your support helps ensure I have the resources to keep reporting and pushing back.Subscribed

Here’s the news:

Missouri’s statewide Dolly Parton Imagination Library program may stop accepting new enrollments on July 1, 2026, because proposed state budget cuts would reduce funding from nearly $6 million to $2 million. The program, which provides free books to children from birth to age 5, has distributed more than 4.3 million books since its launch in Missouri in 2023. If the budget is approved, currently enrolled children would continue receiving books only as funding permits, while new applicants would be turned away. State officials are exploring potential partnerships with local organizations to sustain the program, but its future as a fully state-funded initiative remains uncertain.

Bill PulteDonald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, right, to be the acting Director of National Intelligence. This is a very dangerous appointment because Bill Pulte has no background in intelligence, national security, foreign policy, or military affairs, yet President Trump has chosen him to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence, one of the government’s most sensitive national security positions. Pulte currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has become known for pursuing investigations into individuals Trump views as political adversaries, raising concerns about the potential politicization of intelligence agencies. Trump praised Pulte’s management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and described his experience overseeing trillions of dollars in housing finance assets as qualification for the role. Pulte will replace Tulsi Gabbard when she departs later this month, marking an unusual transition from housing regulation to overseeing the U.S. intelligence community.

President Trump is reportedly irate over the failure of his Freedom 250 concert series after most of its originally announced performers pulled out. The cancellations have turned the event into a public embarrassment, leaving organizers scrambling to salvage the lineup. Trump is said to be furious about the situation and wants people held responsible for the botched rollout. The controversy has raised doubts about whether the concerts can proceed as originally planned.

Trump’s Freedom 250 concert series has lost another performer as artists continue withdrawing from the event. A former Milli Vanilli singer became the latest act to pull out, further weakening an already troubled lineup. The departures reflect growing reluctance among musicians to be associated with the event. As a result, the concert series is facing increasing uncertainty and difficulty attracting headline talent.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, a leading Republican candidate for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat and a close ally of President Donald Trump, privately acknowledged that the ongoing Iran war could become a political problem for Republicans if it continues much longer. Speaking at a campaign event, she said, “I do hope we can get this done by the next couple of weeks. If it drags on beyond that, it’s a political liability for us too, because we’ve lost Iowa soldiers. I’ve been to four funerals since December, it’s awful.” While Hinson reaffirmed her support for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and backed Trump’s handling of the conflict, her remarks reflected growing Republican concerns about rising casualties, higher energy costs, and voter dissatisfaction with a prolonged war. The comments come as Iowa prepares for a closely watched Senate race and as polls suggest increasing public unease about the economic and human costs of the conflict.

A report from Axios says President Donald Trump sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call over Israel’s military actions in Lebanon, reportedly calling him “crazy,” accusing him of ingratitude, and at one point shouting, “What the f— are you doing?” The call came amid escalating tensions after Israel struck Hezbollah targets near Beirut despite efforts to maintain a ceasefire.

Following the conversation, Trump publicly wrote, “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!” He also said, “I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!” Despite those claims, Netanyahu later stated that Israel would continue military operations if Hezbollah attacks persisted.

Despite Donald Trump announcing that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop fighting, both sides exchanged new attacks in Lebanon, raising doubts about any ceasefire. Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon that killed at least six people and damaged civilian and military facilities, while claiming it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure after intercepting projectiles launched from Lebanon. The renewed violence threatened ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations, with Iran warning it could suspend peace talks if Israeli attacks continued. Trump said discussions with Iran were still proceeding and claimed both Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to halt hostilities, though clashes continued on the ground.

The Trump administration’s proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, designed to compensate people who claim they were unfairly targeted by the federal government, is facing intense legal and political backlash. While the Administration is appearing to back off the fund, those on Capitol Hill, including several Republicans, say that until it is completely dead, they will not be satisfied.

Critics argue the fund could serve as a payout mechanism for Trump allies and January 6 rioters, while courts have raised concerns about its legality and temporarily blocked its implementation. Former officials and lawmakers from both parties have condemned the fund as a misuse of taxpayer money and a threat to the rule of law. As lawsuits mount and judicial scrutiny increases, the fund’s future remains uncertain.

Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Ukraine in months, firing more than 650 drones and 70 missiles overnight, killing at least 18 people and injuring over 100 across cities including Kyiv and Dnipro. Ukrainian officials reported widespread destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure, with many civilians taking shelter in Kyiv’s subway system as air defenses worked to repel the assault. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the United States for additional Patriot missile interceptors, warning that continued shortages of air-defense systems could leave Ukrainian cities increasingly vulnerable. The attack comes amid a prolonged military stalemate and follows Russian warnings of intensified strikes, which Moscow says are retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian-held territory.

Mass shootings strike America:

A shooting spree in Muscatine, Iowa, left six people dead on June 1, 2026, after a series of attacks at two homes and a business that police say stemmed from a domestic-related dispute. Four victims were found dead in one residence, while two additional victims were later discovered at a second home and a nearby business. The suspect, 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland, was located by police on a trail near the Mississippi River and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a confrontation with officers. Authorities believe all the victims were family members of the suspect, and investigators said there is no ongoing threat to the community.

A mass shooting linked to a domestic disturbance in Sandy, Oregon, left multiple people dead on May 31, 2026, and resulted in a police officer being seriously wounded during an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. The officer was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds but is expected to survive, while the suspect, 38-year-old Bryan Moore, surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. Authorities have not yet disclosed the total number of victims, but officials described the incident as deeply traumatic for the community. Sandy Mayor Kathleen Walker called the shooting an act of domestic violence and urged attention to issues such as violence in the home, untreated trauma, and community support for those affected.

Other news:

California voters are heading into a highly competitive primary election that will shape races for governor, Los Angeles mayor, and several key congressional seats. In the governor’s race, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra leads polls, while progressive Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton are battling for a spot in November under California’s top-two primary system. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces strong challenges amid voter frustration over homelessness, affordability, and her handling of recent crises, making the mayoral race unusually close. The election could also have major national consequences, as newly redrawn congressional districts may give Democrats several opportunities to gain House seats and strengthen their chances of retaking control of Congress.

The House Armed Services Committee’s proposed 2027 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize a record $1.15 trillion in U.S. military spending. A key provision, Section 224, would establish a new U.S.-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative aimed at deepening military and technological collaboration. The initiative would expand joint research, technology sharing, and co-production of weapons systems across areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, biotechnology, and cyberwarfare. If enacted, it would create one of the most extensive defense technology partnerships ever between the United States and Israel. It is unclear right now if it has the votes to remain.

Congressional Democrats are criticizing a Trump administration proposal that would allow 401(k) retirement plans to invest in assets such as cryptocurrencies, private equity, and private credit. Lawmakers including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Bobby Scott argue that the change would expose workers’ retirement savings to riskier, more volatile, and potentially more expensive investments. Critics cite cryptocurrency price swings, fraud risks, and possible conflicts of interest stemming from the Trump family’s involvement in crypto ventures. The Trump administration, however, says the proposal would expand investment choices and leave decisions to plan managers using standard fiduciary processes.

Russian War Against Ukraine

New York Times, After an Agonizing Week of Threats, Kyiv Is Finally Bombarded by Russia, Maria Varenikova and Kim Barker, June 2, 2026. More than a week after Russia warned of an attack on Kyiv that would be so big that diplomats and other foreigners should flee, Moscow finally struck early on Tuesday. Its forces launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the capital and other cities in Ukraine, killing at least 16 people, the Ukrainian authorities said.

ukraine flagThe bombardment of Kyiv was similar in scale to two other deadly attacks last month. Moscow has continued its air campaign against the capital even as the Russian military has suffered its worst period in years on the front line, measured in territory gained.

russian flagWhat appeared to be different about the latest assault on Kyiv was the psychological element. Last month, Russia’s foreign ministry issued dire warnings of retaliation for what Russian officials said was a Ukrainian drone attack that struck a college dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, killing 21 students. The toll could not be independently verified.

After Russia threatened another huge strike on Kyiv, including on “decision-making centers,” and told foreigners to evacuate, Western envoys rallied around the Ukrainian government, saying they would stay put and not give in to intimidation tactics.ImageA night city skyline, with a bright orange explosion at the top of one building.One of the strikes in Kyiv before dawn on Tuesday. Russia had warned days earlier that diplomats and foreigners should leave the city.Credit...Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Still, Moscow’s warnings, and the long amount of time that passed before Russia actually struck, took a toll on residents of Kyiv. For days, Russia launched planes in a manner that imitated a large attack, setting off alarms and wearing people down.

Many families ended up sleeping in Kyiv’s subways and in parking lots for multiple nights. By Tuesday morning, as the first Russian drones crossed the border into Ukraine, shelters were full, a sight less common than it was early in the war, with people having gotten used to the threat of Russian strikes. Those who arrived in the middle of the night, after the first missile warnings, struggled to find a space to lie down.

Subway station floors were covered in tents and yoga mats. Dogs were barking. Children were crying, struggling to fall asleep.

After the alert was lifted, sleepy families walked home as the sun cut through thick clouds of smoke over Kyiv. But shortly after 7 a.m., with some people already on their way to work, Russia hit the city with hypersonic ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials said, leaving little time for people to seek shelter again.

After the dozens of explosions that shook Kyiv overnight, several sites were still on fire on Tuesday morning. At least five people were killed, and three children were among the 65 injured, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko. A nine-story apartment building in the Podilskyi district, west of the Dnipro River, partly collapsed, he said.

New York Times, News Analysis: Russia Is Showing Signs of Weakness in Ukraine. So It Hits Harder, Lara Jakes, June 2, 2026. The war has not been going the Kremlin’s way recently, with battleground losses and mounting casualties. With renewed strikes, Moscow hopes to gain a better position for negotiations.

The display of force that Russia rained on Ukraine early Tuesday, with hundreds of drones and missiles, cannot mask Moscow’s increasing signs of weakness in the four-year war.

russian flagRussia’s advance in Ukraine has slowed almost to a halt. It has stepped up coerced mobilization in occupied eastern Ukraine as its domestic recruitment efforts fall short. Domestic discontent is growing, and Europe is providing new support to Ukraine. Peace talks brokered by the United States have all but ended.

All this adds up to a loss of momentum by Russia, analysts say. If it continues, Russia could find itself at a diplomatic disadvantage once cease-fire negotiations restart.

“Although drone strikes and shelling remain constant, Russian combat performance is waning,” Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London, wrote in an analysis for Foreign Affairs this week.

ukraine flagSome analysts say they believe that Russia’s fiercer recent strikes are an attempt to reclaim an advantage in potential peace talks and to engage the Trump administration, which has become more focused on the war in Iran than the one in Ukraine.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

Nonetheless, Mr. Watling said, Ukraine’s battlefield gains had turned the tide in the war. “In Kyiv, there is a growing optimism that Ukraine can fight Russia to a cease-fire,” he wrote.

That is a stark turnabout from last summer, when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was so confident of victory that he flew to Alaska for a meeting of minds with President Trump on how to end the war. These days, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is the one pushing for a quick end to the hostilities, even as he bolsters his arsenal with additional European weapons — including an arms package worth about $149 million from Finland and 16 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, both announced this past week.

More On Trump Watch: Corruption, Rants, Boasts, Impacts

 

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Not His Holiday, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbJune 2, 2026. I wrote last week that it’s increasingly and painfully obvious that Donald Trump’s attempted hijacking of our 250th birthday celebration has become a national embarrassment. But Trump’s celebration of the 250th anniversary will be his embarrassment. We need not allow it to be ours.

Embarrassment is an emotion unknown to Trump, and so he’s forging right ahead. Construction is proceeding apace in turning the White House South Lawn into a vulgar venue for Trump’s gladiatorial circus scheduled for June 14, his eightieth birthday. Active-duty military are being pressured to attend, in uniform, to act as props for the birthday boy whose painful bone spurs precluded his own military service.

bulwark logo big shipThen, ten days later, on June 24, to make up for all the performing artists who’ve pulled out of his “Great American State Fair,” Trump plans to take over the National Mall for a speech. And God only knows how much Trump will go out of his way to make himself the center of the festivities on Independence Day itself.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to agitate, in honor of our 250th, for the issuance of a $250 bill with his face on it and for the construction of a 250-foot high imperial arch that only he wants that would loom over our national cemetery.

So here in Washington, D.C., Trump is trying to make America 250 all about Trump all of the time. As David Frum lamented,

a void has opened between the scheduled roster of events and the true purpose and meaning of the solemnity of July 4, 2026. This powerful date will go unmarked by any act of memory worthy of the nation. . . . Trump has made a pitiful shambles of what should have been a glorious moment.

It can all be a bit dispiriting. One’s natural reaction can be to look away from this year, and look beyond towards a brighter future. That was my reaction last week, that “we can reasonably hope that one day soon, after this unfortunate interlude, we will once again have elected leaders who will celebrate our national birthday in a way fitting and proper for this great nation.”

But we can do better than merely hope for a brighter future. We can refuse to allow Trump’s desecration of our 250th to be our desecration.

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And this doesn’t actually require that we do anything that special. All we have to do is to go ahead and celebrate the Fourth of July as we usually do. After all, the Fourth has never been about one big spectacle anchored by the president in Washington, D.C. It’s always been about family and local and community events across the nation, about family cookouts and community parades and fireworks at local high school football fields. It’s never been about looking up to something given to us by Washington. It’s always been about our gathering to commemorate our anniversary.

These events around the nation aren’t and shouldn’t be particularly solemn. They typically don’t and needn’t feature conspicuously deep reflection about The Meaning of America. They should be fun. John Adams was hardly the most fun-loving of the Founders, but it was he who wrote in 1776 that he hoped to see the anniversary of our independence marked by “Shews, Games, Sport, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.”

Dispersed, local, fun events are what we’ve done to mark July Fourth over the years. That’s what we can do and will do again this year.

But this year, our normal July Fourth celebrations can make a kind of statement. They’ll be making a statement that July Fourth is our celebration, not Trump’s. That America is our nation, not Trump’s. That here, we the people rule, not Trump.

So rather than be demoralized by Trump’s effort to hijack our holiday, we can view this July Fourth as a moment for remoralization. We can see it as an opportunity for a renewed dedication to the real meaning of Independence Day. We can look away from Trump’s sad simulacrum of kingly spectacles in Washington, D.C. Across the length and breadth of this land, of our land, we can enjoy July Fourth as our celebration of our independence.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: June 1, 2026 [Trump's Iran Mess], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnJune 2, 2026. There is so much news today, I’m going to have to let some of it splash over into tomorrow to do it justice. For today, Iran and its role in the president’s deteriorating mental condition are going to take center stage.

Over the weekend, there were what I’m going to have to call the usual reports of an imminent agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end hostilities, with the usual outcome.

Last week the U.S. and Iran appeared to be making headway on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to continue the ceasefire and to establish a framework for further talks about Iran’s nuclear program. But President Donald J. Trump is caught between a rock and a hard place in these negotiations.

His base demands that he look strong and accomplish what, after the initial strikes failed, he claimed to have started the war for: to make sure Iran doesn’t have the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon. He also needs to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—which was open before he began the strikes—and get oil flowing again from that region of the Middle East. Prices in the U.S. are rising, and the looming threat of oil reserves running out adds even more pressure to consumer prices.

And Congress returns to work tomorrow, raising the possibility that lawmakers will pass a war powers resolution requiring Trump to withdraw American forces from the region. House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) sent House members home a day early before the Memorial Day holiday out of concern such a measure would pass.

But Iran is in no hurry to throw Trump a lifeline. Their negotiators now maintain they have a right to control the Strait of Hormuz. They are demanding reparations for the damage inflicted in the country during the war, and they say they won’t negotiate over the nuclear program until there is a ceasefire.

But these conditions are all problematic for Trump’s negotiators. Permitting Iran to control the strait is not just about oil; it’s about the principle of freedom of the seas set out after World War II. Global trade depends on that concept. The exchange of money is also a problem for Trump. He has spent much of his political life attacking the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., and the European Union negotiated with Iran during the Obama administration, claiming that former president Obama “gave” Iran $1.7 billion. In fact, the JCPOA simply permitted the release of Iranian assets frozen overseas by sanctions, but much of Trump’s base believes that Obama showed weakness by buying an agreement.

And then there is the nuclear issue.

So what has tended to happen in negotiations is that the teams come up with a framework, details leak to the media, and Trump’s base hears that Trump has weakened on some of his maximalist demands. They complain, Trump then posts something false about the talks or incendiary about Iran, and the negotiations fall apart.

And the cost of the war, in both lives and treasure, and the pressure on U.S. consumers and the economy continue to mount.

Last Friday, Trump and his advisors spent two hours discussing the latest round of negotiations in the Situation Room. According to Erika Solomon and Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times, that agreement included the release of about $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets and a postwar “investment fund” to rebuild Iran, with one diplomat telling the journalists the number on the table was $300 billion. Talks about Iran’s nuclear program would be deferred.

On Friday morning, Trump posted, once again, that the strait would be opened and that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. But then he emerged from the Situation Room without the “final determination” on the agreement he had promised. On Saturday, Mohsen Rezaie, one of the advisors to Iran’s supreme leader, posted: “As predicted, the President of the United States is betraying diplomacy for the third time.”

Over the weekend, Trump’s social media account posted repeated attacks on Democrats and on the judges who have been deciding against him in legal cases. He posted long defenses of his alterations to monuments in Washington, D.C., and AI images of capital landmarks covered in trash and graffiti juxtaposed with ones gleaming and fresh, with captions that blame Democrats for the former and praise Trump for the latter.

His posts seemed designed primarily to reassure himself. By Saturday, so many of the musical acts his team had lined up to play at his Freedom 250 “Great American State Fair” from late June through the beginning of July had bailed that Trump posted that he was “thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!” He continued: “Two years ago, the United States was DEAD. Now we have the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. I don’t want so-called “Artists” that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited—It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

It was an odd echo of his December 19, 2020, tweet calling his base to Washington, D.C., in which he wrote: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

Odder still was what followed: image after image of Trump as a great leader. There were images of Trump alongside first president George Washington, one of them showing the two presidents riding horses together in colonial garb beside a racecar with TRUMP across the hood, the White House in the background, and the Space Shuttle overhead. In an AI image, Trump is dunking a basketball over an exhausted New York governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat; in another image, he and Patriots football player Tom Brady stand talking, backlit, under a caption that reads “GOAT.”

There were pictures of Trump kissing the American flag; Mount Rushmore with Trump’s sculpture in line with those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln (who looks somewhat alarmed); Trump apparently as a superhero admiral with armor on his chest that bears an American eagle; Trump standing near King Charles; Trump with China’s president Xi Jinping.

A series of AI images in the style of the 1950s Dick and Jane readers show a town parade festooned with flags and patriotic bunting, little girls laughing together at an old-fashioned town fair, and little boys in a suburb playing ball. All of the images read: “AMERICA IS BACK!” And in them, all of the people are white.

He posted an image of a white family from that era standing beside a Cadillac Coupe DeVille parked on a suburban street, with the caption: “BILLIONS WERE SPENT TO CONVINCE YOU THIS IS EVIL.”

Then Trump’s account posted a series of images contrasting his vision of Biden’s America versus his own. In his images, Biden’s world was one of theft, illegal squatting, violence, and illegal immigration. The images of Trump’s “solutions” to these problems showed people imprisoned, arrested, and deported.

At 1:02 this morning, Trump posted: “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us. But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively ‘chirping,’ at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end—It always does! President DJT”

A minute later, his account posted: “Has anyone ever seen a happy Dumocrat???”

Then, later this morning, Iranian officials said they were suspending negotiations with the U.S. until Israel, which entered the war alongside the U.S., stops its strikes on Lebanon, strikes they say violate the ceasefire agreement. They warned they would close the Strait of Hormuz entirely—a few ships have been making the transit—and move against the Bab al-Mandab strait at the outlet of the Red Sea, as well. On CNBC, Trump told Eamon Javers that he doesn’t care if peace negotiations with Iran end. “I couldn’t care less,” he said. Negotiations were starting “to get very boring.”

But oil prices jumped sharply with the announcement of the suspension and the threat to the Bab al-Mandab, and at 1:43 in the afternoon, Trump posted: “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” At 5:47, he posted on social media that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and indirectly with Hezbollah, and that they both agreed to stop striking each other.

The Pentagon has been trying to control information coming out about its actions for months now, but that effort is now ramping up. This afternoon, Scott Nover of the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has designated its press office as a classified space—a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF—and even those journalists who have not had their press badges rescinded will require an appointment to talk to the press secretary.

 

djt helen delaney reese get him outHeather Delaney Reese, Commentary: Another day of losing for Donald Trumpy, Heather Delaney Reese, above and at right, heather delaney reeseJune 1-2, 2026. After days of hiding from the press, tucked away from the American people deep inside the White House, while a giant UFC cage is being set up on the South Lawn, the President of the United States finally found a moment to emerge from seclusion when he took a phone call from a reporter earlier today.

And when the reporter, CNBC’s Eamon Javers, spoke to him, Trump did not hold back. His lack of impulse control got the better of him. Asked about negotiations collapsing over the Iran war, Trump shrugged off the question entirely, saying, “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” because the discussions had “started to get very boring.” This was the President of the United States discussing a deadly war that he started. A conflict that has destabilized an entire region, rattled global economic markets, endangered American troops, and left allies and adversaries alike scrambling to understand what comes next. And his response was that he didn’t care anymore because it was boring.

He did not misspeak, and he was not caught off guard. He said it, knowing he was speaking to a journalist who would be reporting on it later. And he still said he did not care because he was now bored with negotiating a peaceful end to the war. The war he ordered, the one being fought right now with real weapons and real bodies, no longer holds his interest. And the only flash of energy he summoned on the subject was a threat. When the conversation turned to whether Iran might still try to build a nuclear weapon, he said he would “blow them up to kingdom come.” That is the entire range of his thinking now: indifference on one end and annihilation on the other, with nothing in between. No strategy, diplomacy, or visible grasp of the thing he set in motion. Just a shrug and a threat from a man who would clearly rather be doing something else. Unfortunately, he is the President of the United States, and this is the job he volunteered for, campaigned for, and was ultimately elected to do.

And here’s what makes that answer so disturbing. Just before eleven o’clock this morning, hours before he told Eamon Javers he could not care less, the President posted this on Truth Social: “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Rapid pace. Everything moving along. Nothing to worry about. And then, within the span of a single morning, those same rapid-paced talks became too boring to follow.

Both of those statements came from the same man, about the same war, on the same day. They cannot both be true. And the reason they cannot both be true is that he was not following the negotiations closely enough to know which version of reality he was supposed to be selling. While he was posting reassurance at 10:43 that morning, Iran was already moving to suspend its participation in the negotiations over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon and threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. The collapse was already underway as he typed the word “rapid.”

He was not informing us. He was performing for us. And by the end of the day, the performance had changed completely.

Because what he told that reporter at midday cannot be squared with what he posted later that same afternoon. During the call, Trump said he was “going to ask” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu what was happening in Lebanon. Going to ask. The President of the United States, in the middle of a regional war his own military helped start, telling a reporter that he still needed to find out what was going on. And then, a little over an hour later, he suddenly sounded as though he already knew everything.

In his first post, he wrote that he had a “very productive call” with Netanyahu, and that “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.” He added that, “through highly placed Representatives,” he had spoken with Hezbollah, and “they agreed that all shooting will stop.” Then, hours later, he posted the entire thing all over again, the same claims, now wrapped in gratitude and wishful thinking. “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi! I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”

It was a remarkable announcement. A ceasefire on every front, brokered personally by the President of the United States and, if his post was to be believed, possibly lasting forever. There was only one problem. The people actually fighting the war had not agreed to any of it. According to reporting across CNN, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel, Netanyahu publicly contradicted him, saying the Israel Defense Forces would “continue to operate in southern Lebanon as planned.” His own defense minister, Israel Katz, went even further, denying that there was any ceasefire in Lebanon at all.

So the President announced a potential end to a war that the people fighting it were still actively fighting. He declared victory before there was a victory to declare. He took a victory lap around a finish line that did not exist.

And the call itself with Netanyahu was not the warm exchange that his “Thank you Bibi!” suggested. According to CNN, it was a heated phone call in which Trump pressed Netanyahu to scale back the operation and at points used expletives. The Times of Israel reported the words more bluntly, that Trump told Netanyahu, “you’re f**king crazy,” and “I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel.” So in private, he was reportedly shouting, and in public, he was posting gratitude and dreams of eternity. The distance between those two things is the distance between what is actually happening and what he wants us to believe is happening. And he does not appear to know, or to care, which side of that distance he is standing on from one hour to the next.

And nowhere was that clearer than when the subject turned to oil in his phone interview. Because while families across this country are watching the numbers climb at the pump, the President described a world that does not exist. He told Javers he was not worried about prices at all, that oil would soon be “dropping like a rock,” that there were “1,700 boats right now that are loaded up with oil,” and that it was “going to be like an oil gusher.” An oil gusher. That is the picture he painted. Here is the picture the rest of us are living in. Gas prices are devastating families. That cost lands squarely on the people who can least afford it, while the man responsible waves it away with a story about boats and gushers. And maybe he believes it. Maybe no one around him is willing to tell him otherwise, or maybe he simply cannot be bothered to know or care. We have to imagine it is some combination of all three. But the result is the same no matter which it is. The President of the United States is creating and telling fairy tales at our expense and at the expense of the world around us.

helen delaney reese djtAnd maybe the most dangerous part is that nothing he does is new. We have seen this before, in other places and other times. Not the specifics, but the pattern. Strongmen who lose touch with the reality of their own wars while insisting, right up until the end, that everything is going perfectly. Leaders surrounded by aides who learn that the safest thing to do is agree, who manage the man instead of informing him, who feed him the version of events that keeps him calm and keeps themselves close to power. The danger in that arrangement is not only the leader’s detachment. It is that no one is left to say the true thing out loud. The reports grow rosier as the situation grows worse. The declarations of victory grow louder as the ground gives way. And the people who could correct the course decide, one by one, that it is easier to nod along. That is how a country drifts into catastrophe. Not only because the man at the top cannot be trusted, though he cannot, but because the man at the top does not know what is happening, and everyone around him has decided not to tell him.

More On U.S. Crime, Corruption, Law, Rights, Justice 

 

insurrection

Trump planned a special $5 tax on every American via Justice Department "settlement" for a special $1.8 billion slush fund to reward his Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists (some shown above).

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Is the J6 Slush Fund Dead?, Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 2, 2026. The so-called “anti-weaponization fund”—the $1.776 billion slush fund for allies Donald Trump announced last month as part of a so-called settlement with the Treasury Department—has been an interesting test of a scholastic sort of thought experiment: Can the president create a humiliation so large his congressional allies can’t swallow it?

Remarkably, in this case, the answer now appears to be “yes.” As I wrote last month, House and Senate Republicans were ballistic with anger on the news of the fund’s creation. Even more remarkably, that indignation only grew stronger during the congressional recess, and many lawmakers returned to Washington this week determined to stop the bulwark logo big shipthing. Yesterday, Trump seemed to throw in the towel: Multiple outlets suddenly reported yesterday afternoon that Trump was quietly telling allies he would abandon the fund altogether.

Could this still just be a feint on Trump’s part? The specifics are worth drilling into.

First, the slush fund had received a pair of judicial setbacks late last week. On Friday, after a group of plaintiffs including a January 6th prosecutor sued in federal court to block the fund, a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked all payments both from the Treasury to the fund and from the fund to claimants. Meanwhile, Judge Kathleen Williams, who had been assigned to the Trump–IRS case that led to the settlement in the first place, wrote Friday that she still intended to investigate whether Trump’s lawyers had “abused the judicial process” by filing “a frivolous lawsuit for the sole purpose of forcing a settlement.”

By this point, the fund seemed to be in pretty bad shape. Trump and Co. had drawn it up specifically to avoid legal scrutiny, but legal scrutiny was arriving anyway, and their ridiculously shameless argument that lawmakers should approve of the fund because they themselves could apply for money from it wasn’t landing. But pulling the plug would be met with outrage by the core MAGA base. How to pick the lock?

Step one is to blame the courts. Although the judicial hold on payments to and from the fund was only a short-term order, the Justice Department’s statement yesterday made it sound as though the court had shut the fund down altogether. The court, the government claimed, had stated that “under no circumstances may the Department of Justice proceed with the Anti-Weaponization fund.”

“This fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized [sic], targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise,” the statement continued, in the language of an elegy. “The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling.”

What’s going on here is obvious: The DOJ is betting that the MAGA base is so incapable of reading and processing the specifics of the news that if the fund never materializes, Trump supporters will blame the courts rather than the administration.

But the particularly interesting bit is the way the administration seems to be making a similar case to Republican senators. These senators have a lot of sway at the moment: They’re currently considering legislation to re-fund ICE and the Border Patrol, legislation into which they could easily tuck language blocking the anti-weaponization fund from going forward at all.

The pitch from the White House seems to be: Hey, look, we’re backing off on the weaponization fund—lucky for you, now you don’t have to bother with banning it!

Even this, however, doesn’t seem to be landing. “It’s pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there’s not going to be a weaponization fund” before the Senate will move forward with the reconciliation bill, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said yesterday, a sentiment that was echoed by many other GOP senators.

They should go further, though. The Senate should not ignore the possibility that Trump is trying to deke them: whisper enough sweet nothings in their ear to get them to pass the reconciliation bill, then go right back to trying to make the fund happen when their moment of leverage has passed. If blocking the fund was good legislation when Trump was trying to make it work in the first place, it’s still good legislation today.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • Inside MAGA’s Fake Gay Motorcycle War… In False Flag, WILL SOMMER reports on the Dunces of Anarchy.
  • ‘Masters of the Universe’ Review… it’s a feature-length meme, writes SONNY BUNCH.
  • Trump Is All-In on Authoritarianism…On the flagship podcast, BILL KRISTOL joins TIM MILLER to discuss Trump’s unhinged late night bleats and why we need to be vigilant for Trumpian attempts to meddle in the midterms.
  • Bari Weiss is “Murdering 60 Minutes”... On Bulwark+ Takes, WILL SOMMER joins JVL to discuss the explosive showdown inside CBS News where Scott Pelley confronted Bari Weiss’s new executive producer on their neutering of the famed program.

Quick Hits

15 MINUTES AT 60 MINUTES: There’s heated meetings, and then there’s what went down at 60 Minutes yesterday amid Bari Weiss’s purge of the program to install more pliable leadership and correspondents. Over at Status, Oliver Darcy has the painful tick-tock:

On Monday morning, the staff of “60 Minutes” convened for an introductory meeting with Bari Weiss’ handpicked new executive producer of the program, Nick Bilton. Bilton, the technology journalist who lacks both broadcast news and managerial experience, opened the meeting by reading from some prepared notes. He didn’t get far.

Scott Pelley, the iconic “60 Minutes” correspondent and longtime CBS News journalist, interjected and started grilling Bilton about what he dubbed “Black Thursday”—referencing the day last week in which Weiss carried out mass firings, terminating Tanya Simon as executive producer, ousting Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega as correspondents, and showing the door to other senior staffers.

In the extraordinary back and forth, an impassioned Pelley relentlessly pressed Bilton on Weiss’ intentions for the storied newsmagazine, pointed out that he has no relevant experience to helm television’s most prestigious news program, grilled Bilton on what he knew about the firings, and more.

“Bari loves this institution,” Bilton told staffers at one point during the highly contentious meeting. “She loves ‘60 Minutes.’”

“She’s murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” Pelley countered. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it—and she’s doing exactly that.”

The meeting only lasted fifteen minutes before Bilton gave up and called it, but those were fifteen eventful minutes. Read the whole thing.

THE PEOPLE v. THE MACHINE: Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has taken a more populist, hostile approach to AI policy than the mostly pro-AI Washington GOP. Yesterday, the state sued OpenAI and Sam Altman, arguing that the company and its CEO had “chosen the AI race over the safety and security of our kids.” CNN has more:

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in Florida’s tenth circuit, accuses OpenAI of deceptive and unfair trade practices, negligence and violating product liability laws. It also seeks to hold Altman “personally liable for the harm he has caused Floridians,” including his alleged “utter disregard for the risk to human life caused by his firms’ conduct.”

The lawsuit lists a litany of accusations against ChatGPT, including helping mass shooters, encouraging suicide, causing “public humiliation,” getting minors addicted to a tool with “no parental oversight” and causing users to lose “critical thinking skills.”

OpenAI said in a statement that it believes minors “need significant protection” and that it has “put in place industry leading protections and policies.”

Read the whole thing.

THE PENTAGON’S LITTLE TYRANT: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, has already gone to unprecedented lengths to neuter and muzzle the Pentagon press, beginning last year when he revoked the badges of pretty much every non-MAGA defense reporter pete hegseth facebookafter they wouldn’t sign a pledge not to report on “unauthorized” information. But the work against the Enemy of the People is never done! Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Defense Department has designated its press office a “classified space,” banning journalists—if any should ever happen to get back in the building—from accessing it at all:

While Pentagon reporters are still largely barred from the building, as litigation over the agency’s press rules continues, the change would have an outsize impact on them upon a possible return—restricting access to a space they have for years been able to walk freely.

People familiar with the change said it was driven in part by a shift that moved Pentagon speechwriters into the public affairs office. The office will be equipped with SIPRNet, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, so personnel can use the tool without decamping for a separate secured room. . . .

The latest designation creates a scenario in which even if journalists are able to access the Pentagon, their ability to interact with the department’s spokespeople will be reduced.

As the Post notes, Hegseth’s anti-press approach increasingly stands out even within the administration: Neither the White House nor other key departments like State have clamped down on access with anything like Hegseth’s zeal. Read the whole thing.

More On U.S. Elections, Politics

Democratic-Republican Campaign logosNew York Times, California Votes on Newsom’s Successor After Turbulent Primary Campaign, Laurel Rosenhall and Shane Goldmacher, June 2, 2026. The race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has been unpredictable for months, while Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles is trying to fend off two challengers.

For the first time in more than two decades, California voters are about to pick a new governor who is not already a national figure.

The race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a tumultuous affair. It began with Kamala Harris’s flirtation with a run. It continued with Senator Alex Padilla’s brief consideration. Representative Eric Swalwell entered the race, only to implode with a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations that resulted in his resignation from Congress rather than promotion.

Voters have been left sifting through about a half-dozen contenders who have mostly struggled to capture their imagination. The top two vote getters advance to a November runoff, regardless of party.

The most intense contest has been between the race’s two highest polling Democrats, Tom Steyer, the billionaire financier who has run hard to the left, and Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general and health secretary under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who would be the state’s first Latino governor in the modern era. President Trump endorsed Steve Hilton, a Republican former Fox News personality, giving him an edge to advance because there are only two serious Republicans in a race with far more Democrats.

California counts its votes slowly, so don’t necessarily expect the results to be clear on Tuesday night. But here is what to watch in the contest for governor, the Los Angeles mayoral race featuring a former reality television star, and other key congressional battles across the state:Do voters actually want experience?

Mr. Newsom served eight years as lieutenant governor before taking the state’s top job. His predecessor, Jerry Brown, served as attorney general for four years — and eight years as governor more than two decades earlier — before seeking the office again.

Like them, Mr. Becerra has emphasized his governmental bona fides: a state legislator, a leadership role in Congress, a former state attorney general and a cabinet post under Mr. Biden. He’s the candidate who won’t need “training wheels” in the governor’s office, he likes to say.

The contrast with Mr. Steyer, who has never been elected to anything despite his 2020 presidential run, could not be sharper.

The former hedge fund manager is running as an unabashed progressive outsider who wants to raise commercial property taxes and radically change the way people get health care and electricity.

Other Democratic contenders are also campaigning as disrupters of the status quo. They include Katie Porter, the former congresswoman, and Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, who both have some experience in government but have never held statewide office and have promised to upend how Sacramento does business.

But the main — and most vicious — contest has been between Mr. Becerra and Mr. Steyer.Will Democrats embrace a billionaire of their own?

California’s political graveyard is littered with the ultrawealthy who tried to buy their own way into power. There was Al Checchi, a businessman who ran for governor in 1998. There were the tech executives Meg Whitman, who ran for governor in 2010, and Carly Fiorina, who ran for Senate the same year. And Rick Caruso, the developer who spent $100 million losing the 2022 Los Angeles mayor’s race.

Mr. Steyer, who has smashed records by spending more than $200 million in a California governor’s race, is trying to change that, deluging the airwaves with ads more than 1,300 times a day in the month of May, according to an analysis by AdImpact. He has run four times as many ads as all of the other campaigns combined. And that doesn’t even count the paid influencers promoting his candidacy on social media.

Popular Information, Accountability Journalism: Email exposes GOP dirty tricks operation! Judd Legum, right, judd legumJune 2, 2026. Whoops!

On Friday, Popular Information reported that Real Change PAC, a purportedly “progressive” super PAC spending millions attacking Democrats from the left, was linked to House Republicans. The linkage to the House Republican super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), was established indirectly — through Real Change PAC’s connections to another sham PAC, California Blue.

noel simsNow, in a digital blunder, Real Change PAC directly revealed its real goals and political affiliation. In a post on X, journalist Andrew Solender noted that when someone subscribes to Real Change PAC’s email list, the confirmation email comes from a cavalryllc.com email address. Cavalry LLC is one of DC’s premier Republican communications shops, founded by Josh Holmes, Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) former Chief of Staff.

In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, for example, Real Change PAC is running a TV ad attacking Democratic candidate Joe Baldacci. “The truth? Joe Baldacci is the only Democrat running for Congress who stands with Trump and opposes implementation of Medicare for all Mainers now,” the ad asserts.

In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, Real Change PAC is attacking Democratic candidate Rebecca Bennett with mailers accusing her of “STANDING WITH ICE” and “CASHING IN ON TRUMP’S TERROR.”

Cavalry does not work with Democrats and supports President Trump’s agenda. The firm does work extensively, however, with the CLF.

According to FEC filings analyzed by Popular Information, the CLF spent over $10 million in the 2024 cycle buying digital ads through Cavalry. The CLF spent over $5 million with Cavalry in the two previous cycles. (CLF, which spends most of its resources on general election campaigns, has not spent much yet in the 2026 cycle.)

Ironically, Real Change PAC’s anti-Baldacci ad, funded by dark money funneled through sham PACs, also attacks Baldacci for being “the handpicked yes man of dark money DC.”

Cavalry did not respond to a request for comment.

Popular Information is a three-person newsletter but we produce in depth campaign finance investigations you will not find anywhere else. We can do this reporting because we are truly independent — there are no corporate overlords or advertisers pulling the strings. This newsletter only exists because of readers like you. Upgrade to paid to support this work.SubscribedCalifornia Blue’s strategy, revealed

Real Change PAC’s agenda is easy to discern. It is attacking Democrats who are perceived to be strong candidates in the general election to help the eventual Republican nominee.

California Blue PAC, a related group active only in California’s 40th Congressional District, has a more complex strategy. The 40th district is strongly tilted toward Republicans. But, due to redistricting, there are two Republican members, Young Kim and Ken Calvert, facing off against each other in the 40th.

Further, California has a “jungle primary,” which means candidates from all parties compete and the top two advance to the general, regardless of party affiliation. In addition to each other, Kim and Calvert are also facing a challenge from a Democratic candidate, Esther Kim Varet. If Kim Varet finishes ahead of Kim or Calvert in the primary tonight, one of the incumbents will be eliminated before November’s general election.

California Blue, which is linked to Republicans, is running ads supporting Kim Varet. What is going on? Is California Blue just trying to avoid an expensive general election? Or are they trying to put their thumb on the scale for one of the Republican candidates?

Cavalry’s involvement reveals the answer.

Both California Blue and Real Change PAC are funneling all their spending through a newly created shell company called Four Ponies Consulting LLC. (No other federal committee has spent a dollar with Four Ponies.) So we know that Cavalry, through Real Change PAC, is connected to California Blue.

It is likely that Four Ponies LLC is paying Cavalry to do work for Real Change PAC and exists to obscure the relationship.

FEC records reveal that Cavalry has also been paid over $200,000 in the last month to run digital ads for California Conservatives PAC. These ads, published on an unlisted YouTube account, attack Kim for being a “backstabbing Republican” who “sponsored a bill to censor and condemn President Trump.”

So Cavalry is connected both to efforts to bolster the Democratic candidate, Kim Varet, and to attack one of the Republicans, Kim. Both of these efforts benefit Calvert.

So who is backing California Conservatives PAC, which was just created on April 15? California Conservatives PAC has received 100% of its funds from Conservative Americans PAC. In turn, Conservative Americans PAC receives 100% of its funds from the American Prosperity Alliance.

The American Prosperity Alliance is a 501(c)(4) dark money organization, run by three lobbyists, that appears to exist primarily to obscure the source of political spending. But we do know one thing: it is tightly connected to the CLF.

In a 2024 filing, the American Action Network, the 501(c)(4) associated with the CLF, granted $5.5 million to the American Prosperity Alliance.

This makes some sense. The CLF is tightly connected to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Republican leadership. It is not surprising that House Republican leaders would favor Calvert, who was first elected in 1992 and chairs the powerful Defense Appropriations subcommittee, over Kim, who was first elected in 2020.

If you would like to learn how to do the kind of campaign finance research included in this piece, I’m hosting a webinar detailing the methods I’ve developed over nearly 30 years. The webinar that will cover:

Exactly how money will flow into the 2026 midterm elections.

How to efficiently and accurately identify what corporations and individuals are donating to any candidate or cause.

When and where new information will become available as election day approaches.

The tactics that powerful people and corporations use to try to hide their spending.

MSNOW, Senate Democrats stand by Graham Platner amid new sexting scandal, Mychael Schnell, After reports over the weekend that Graham Platner sent sexually explicit text messages to women while he was married, Democrats are standing by Maine’s presumptive Democratic Senate nominee.

Asked on Monday if he was rethinking his support for Platner, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — the progressive leader who endorsed the oyster farmer just days into his campaign — told MS NOW, “Certainly not.”

It was a similar sentiment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — another Platner booster — who brushed off questions about the candidate’s indiscretions and pivoted to rising gas prices, the war in Iran and Democratic hopes of unseating the Republican incumbent, Sen. Susan Collins.

It’s not the first controversy to hit Platner’s campaign ahead of the June 9 primary in Maine. But the text message scandal is threatening to shake up a key competition for Democrats as they plot their way back to the majority.

And not all Democrats sound as dismissive. 

New York Times, Group Pledges $2 Million to Fight AIPAC in House Races, Maya King and Nicholas Fandos, June 2, 2026. A super PAC created to counter spending from powerful pro-Israel groups will try to help Democrats critical of Israel’s wars and military actions.

A super PAC created as a counterweight to powerful pro-Israel advocacy groups has pledged to spend $2 million in New York to support a pair of candidates challenging Democratic House incumbents from the left and a third progressive Democrat running for an open seat.

The new super PAC, American Priorities, told The New York Times that the money would fund television, streaming and digital advertisements that boost three congressional candidates also backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez.

Mr. Lander, who is challenging Representative Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, and Ms. Avila Chevalier, who is challenging Representative Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District, are trying to defeat Democratic incumbents with close ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, typically the largest pro-Israel spender in elections. But all three candidates with American Priorities’ support have been outspoken critics of Israel’s wars and military actions across the region.

The cash infusion could help level the playing field in a handful of expensive and increasingly competitive primary contests taking place on June 23. The largest share of the spending, about $1 million, has been earmarked for Ms. Avila Chevalier in her campaign to topple Mr. Espaillat, who is the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a district in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. She has emphasized the congressman’s support from AIPAC and associated donors — roughly $350,000 over his five terms — in her campaign against him.

More On U.S. Governance

New York Times, Hospitals See Diseases Resurge as Vaccinations Decline,  Maggie Astor and Dani Blum, June 2, 2026. Doctors nationwide are encountering more children with whooping cough, bacterial infections and other serious illnesses, as well as more adults refusing tetanus shots.

Doctors around the country say they are seeing more cases of serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses that vaccines have long kept at bay, including whooping cough and bacterial infections that can cause pneumonia or meningitis.

cdc logo CustomThe concern among doctors comes on the heels of a resurgence of measles nationwide, fueled by distrust in vaccines that grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump have amplified. Public health experts have long seen measles as a harbinger: Because it is so exceptionally contagious, it can be the first disease to spike as vaccination rates broadly decline, and a sign of more to come.

For some of these diseases, national data show clear and substantial increases in recent years; for others, the increases are small, or there are anecdotal indications from doctors on the ground of increases that public statistics don’t currently confirm.

While most children recover, these diseases aren’t benign. Many children endure extended hospitalizations. Some infections can be fatal.

Dr. Meghan Hofto, a pediatric hospitalist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is one of the doctors who said she is seeing more illnesses that she used to encounter only rarely. This year, she and her colleagues have treated more children than usual with persistent diarrhea. A child with a run-of-the-mill stomach virus might need a day or so of IV fluids, but these patients were being hospitalized for three or four days.

The culprit: Rotavirus, which once caused tens of thousands of hospitalizations a year in the United States but was largely swept away by vaccines introduced 20 years ago. These vaccines were so effective that Dr. Hofto could recall treating only four or five children with rotavirus in the past decade. Now, she said she had treated about that many already this year, and none of them were vaccinated.

Dr. Jessica Kirk, a pediatric hospitalist in Fairhope, Ala., recently treated an unvaccinated toddler who was hospitalized with pneumonia from two simultaneous infections, Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Routine childhood vaccines can protect against both S. pneumoniae and a common form of H. influenzae, but vaccinations against both illnesses have declined in recent years.Sign up to get Dani Blum's articles emailed to you. Dani Blum is a health reporter focusing on news and trends. Get it sent to your inbox.

The child that Dr. Kirk treated for both infections needed antibiotics and oxygen to get through the illness.

Some of these conditions can lead to serious complications. H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae infections can cause sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia. Dr. Hofto said she had treated 4- to 6-week-old infants with whooping cough, or pertussis, who seemed fine at times but then stopped breathing after a coughing fit. “It’s hard to know when they’re safe to go home,” she said.

U.S. Tariffs, Markets, Economy, Jobs

New York Times, Trump Targets Brazil With 25% Tariff, Citing Unfair Trade Practices, Daisuke Wakabayashi, June 2, 2026. The proposal marks the latest effort by the administration to rebuild its tariff agenda through Section 301 investigations.

The Trump administration on Monday proposed a 25 percent tariff on a broad range of Brazilian imports, concluding after a trade investigation that Brazil had engaged in unfair practices that imposed burdens on American businesses.

In a news release, the United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, said the investigation found that Brazil had failed to adequately enforce intellectual property rights and had not taken sufficient measures to combat corruption and bribery. The administration also cited Brazil’s restrictions on access to its ethanol market, and what it described as inadequate enforcement of anti-deforestation laws.

The investigation was conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes the United States to impose tariffs and other penalties in response to unfair foreign trade practices.

Mr. Greer said that he and President Trump had “several constructive meetings” with the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, over the past year, but that “substantial differences” remained over issues identified in the investigation. The United States Trade Representative is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed measures on July 6.

Brazil has until July 15 to take what Mr. Greer called “responsive action” to address the issues raised in the investigation.

Brazil is one of more than a dozen countries that have come under Section 301 investigations as part of Mr. Trump’s effort to rebuild a tariff plan after key elements of his trade agenda were struck down by the Supreme Court in February. Although Mr. Trump responded with a 10 percent global tariff, a panel of federal judges ruled last month that those duties violated the law.

The Trump administration has been working to establish a more durable global tariff system by the summer, but Section 301 requires the government to conduct country-specific investigations and hold consultations and hearings before the new import taxes can take effect.

The proposed tariffs would exempt some products, including beef, coffee, rare earth metals, aircraft equipment and certain fruits and vegetables.

The move comes despite the United States maintaining a trade surplus with Brazil for the past decade. Last year, Mr. Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports to pressure the country to halt its prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president and an ally of Mr. Trump. The United States later rolled back the tariffs on many Brazilian goods, while the court challenges further reduced the scope of the duties.

Media, Culture, History, Sports

Robert Reich via Substack, Opinion: The Murder of "60 Minutes," Robert Reich,robert reich color headshot right, June 2, 2026. Scott Pelley gets this week's Joseph N. Welch Award. 

CBS News’s new Editor in Chief, Bari Weiss, recently announced in an email to staff that the network was parting ways with the show’s executive producer, Tanya Simon, and substituting Nick Bilton.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bilton said he was excited “to take what I believe is largely an unutilized news brand and take it into the modern age.”

Unutilized? Modern age?

cbs news logoAt a time when broadcast news is in crisis, “60 Minutes” is anything but. It’s the most successful television news broadcast in U.S. history. It has remained the #1 news program for 50 straight years and consistently ranks among the top 10 of all Nielsen-rated television programs.

And it pulls in a fortune for CBS. “60 Minutes” is one of the most profitable programs in all of television, generating tens of millions in annual profit for CBS. In one recent year its advertising revenues were $67.5 million. The network wholly owns the franchise, which makes it a goldmine. It’s the most lucrative and prestigious journalism operation on the network.

This goes beyond “if it ain’t broke ….”

At a staff meeting yesterday, famed correspondent Scott Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” “60 Minutes,” according to an audio recording and a source who was in the room. Others at the meeting applauded. (Scott Pelley gets this week’s Joseph N. Welch Award for truth-telling in the face of tyranny.)

I could understand Weiss wanting to shake up, say, CBS’s Sunday morning news program. But why in hell would Weiss want to shake up CBS’s golden goose?

One hint: Besides chucking its executive producer, Weiss’s has also cut ties with “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.

In December, Alfonsi challenged Weiss’s decision to hold a “60 Minutes” segment on an El Salvador maximum-security prison where the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, including alleged gang members. Weiss raised concerns about the comment-seeking process and determined that it needed additional reporting. Alfonsi termed the decision a political move. (The segment, called “Inside CECOT,” eventually ran in January, with some additional material bookending the piece.)

Alfonsi calls the network’s decision to allow her contract to expire “a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting” that “sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.”

Vega is no less blunt. “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories,” she said in a statement. “Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions…. Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven.”

Of course it’s censorship, because CBS is now owned and controlled by Trump pals Larry and David Ellison, who kissed Trump’s assets to get Trump’s FCC chair Brendan Carr to approve their acquisition of CBS from Paramount.

Trump’s “fingerprints and DNA are all over this,” veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Croft says. “He’s been making threats against 60 Minutes and how he wanted it gone. And he finally got his wish.”

Trump has fixated on “60 Minutes” for years, calling the show "a dishonest Political Operative disguised as News." He sued CBS News over an interview of then presidential candidate Kamala Harris that Trump claimed has been edited unfairly to him. After the “60 Minutes” aired a story about Ukraine and another about Greenland, he said CBS “should lose their license.”

This much is clear. CBS is being “murdered,” as correspondent Scott Pelley calls what’s happening, not because of economics but because of politics. Economically, “60 Minutes” is a goldmine. Politically, it’s dangerous as hell to Trump.

Bari Weiss knows this. Larry and David Ellison know it. Nick Bilton knows it. Everyone who’s been fired from “60 Minutes” knows this. Trump’s lapdog at the FCC, Brendan Carr, knows this.

You need to know this.

“60 Minutes” — the most successful television news broadcast in U.S. history — is being dismantled because Trump doesn’t want America to know the truth.

Trump’s increasingly corrupt political system — rife with crony capitalism, corporate welfare, and payoffs to the powerful — is producing a corrupt economy in which everything depends on bribes and personal deals made by the biggest Republican loyalists and grifters, oligarchs and plutocrats, billionaire and multi-billionaires, and monopolists.

When political and economic deal-making become personal transactions, when greed and payoffs replace trust, what happens? Authoritarianism replaces democracy. And an economy collapses, as it did at the end of America’s first Gilded Age, in the Great Crash of 1929, leading to the Great Depression.

One day we will look back on the murder of “60 Minutes” as one of the travesties of Trump’s dispicable reign. 

 

FIFA 2026 world cupThe Frank Figliuzzi Show via Lincoln Square Media, Opinion: How We Can Combat Human Trafficking During the World Cup, Frank Figliuzzi, right, frank figliuzziwith Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, June 2, 2026. What happens off the field when the world's biggest games come to town?

Next week, the FIFA World Cups comes to North America, with 16 cities across the continent hosting games. And while fans are gearing up to cheer on their favorite teams, former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi warns that lincoln square media logowhat’s not being televised is cause for alarm.

Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz is the Director of Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention and Research at Arizona State University, and has spent her career fighting human trafficking and violence against women.

She sat down with Frank Figliuzzi on The Frank Figliuzzi Show here on Lincoln Square to warn fans and residents of the cities hosting these games of the signs they should be aware of for human trafficking that’s expected to increase during the coming World Cup.

Frank Figliuzzi is an FBI Assistant Director (retired); 25-year veteran Special Agent; and author of the national bestseller, The FBI Way, and Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. 

timothy snyder

tim snyder thinking about logo

Thinking About..."Waiting for the missiles to pass," Timothy Snyder, above (best-selling author of On Tyranny and a frequent visitor to Ukraine), June 2, 2026. The living book in wartime Ukraine.

  • Why have a book festival in the middle of a war?
  • Why have a war in the middle of a book festival?

The historian Marci Shore goes to wartime Ukraine because it’s her job, and because she has people to see. She’s been there five times since the full-scale war began. Before her latest visit I asked Marci to take some photos and videos, so you could see a bit of war and resistance through her eyes.

marcy shoreMarci, left, arrived in Kyiv in late May, right after one of the largest Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital thus far, and as Russian authorities were telling “foreign citizens” to leave the city because Moscow planned to destroy “decision-making centers.”

On Marci’s agenda: to give a public lecture, to comment on papers at a history workshop, and to participate in Book Arsenal, Kyiv’s russian flagamazing annual book festival. Last year she was one of its curators, under the motto “Everything is Translation.” This year the motto was “Bear Your Freedom.”

Since the war began in 2014, and especially since the full-scale invasion of 2022, book publication has been self-defense. Russia targets Ukrainian publishing houses, archives, libraries, and museums, and in occupied zones Russians collect and burn Ukrainian books. Genocide is about eliminating a people, and it includes the attempt to eliminate their ability to think for themselves, as themselves, in their own language.

Ukrainians defend themselves in many ways, as soldiers and as civil society, and also by reading and writing and talking about books. Ukrainian culture, including book publishing, is undergoing an extraordinary renaissance. More than one hundred publishers gathered at Book Arsenal. From Marci’s photos and video I hope you will catch some of their spirit.

ukraine flagWe start, though, by joining Marci at a site of a recent Russian attack on civilians. On May 24th, Russia launched more than six hundred missiles and drones at Kyiv and environs. Ukrainian air defense brought down the huge majority of them, but some sadly got through. The missiles destroyed a historic outdoor market and a shopping mall and damaged a subway station and apartment buildings. Russia also struck Ukrainian cultural sites: the National Art Museum, the Institute of Literature, the Opera Theater. Four people were killed, and a hundred more were injured.

The most serious damage was sustained by the Lukianivka neighborhood in Kyiv. This is Marci’s photo of some of the damage there:

And here is a snippet of Marci with a few words from the site.

Marci’s next video of the Lukianivka neighborhood shows people trying to clean up their damaged apartment, and also gives a further sense of the scale of the destruction.

From Lukianivka, Marci went to the Book Arsenal. The video gives you her first thoughts…

Why have a book festival in the middle of a war?

Why have a war in the middle of a book festival?

“An unbroken city...” Book Arsenal has an excellent bomb shelter, and during air raid alerts, participants go underground. This next video selfie is of Marci in the shelter “waiting for the missiles to pass,” which is a thing that one does.

Air raids are an interruption; when they are finished, participants in Book Arsenal go back to talking about books. People in Kyiv are frustrated by these interruptions, or angry, or sleepless; but after four years these Russian war crimes become a part of life, to which one adapts. In Lukianivka the outdoor market is already open again. The rubble is still there, but the vendors are out. And the rubble will be cleared.

One knows when the air raids are coming from apps and from Telegram channels. The danger can be judged and navigated. The stoic philosopher Seneca, who is much read now in Ukraine, reminds us that life is long enough if we do what is important. Reading good books is important. Tens of thousands of people attended the two hundred and forty events at Book Arsenal. This selfie from outside, on a patch of green called the Literary Garden, captures one side of the mood.

Here is Marci at the train station; lecture was delivered; workshop was attended; and this year’s Book Arsenal was a big success. Brava!

The horrible war goes on, with cowardly Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities with drones, with the missiles they use for nuclear weapons, with anti-ship missiles, with whatever they have to hand. Russia is losing on the battlefield, and so must present itself as a menace and try to intimidate. Last night Russia attacked again, this time firing more than seven hundred missiles and drones at Dnipro and Kyiv, killing at least eighteen civilians, including children.

The US government is doing nothing to help Ukraine stop Russian missiles; this could easily change and should change now, in the interest not only of saving lives but of bringing the war to a close. If the Americans chose to supply missile defense to Ukrainians (and to enforce meaningful sanctions on Russian oil and gas), the war would quickly end. At the moment, the effect of US policy is to keep Russia’s war effort going. But you yourself can help Ukrainian air defense shoot down drones and save lives, with a couple of clicks, right here. You can also help Ukrainian civil society protect Ukrainian soldiers here. Resistance includes shooting down projectiles fired to kill people in a senseless war of aggression; and that is a form of resistance in which you can take part, if you wish.

Resistance can also be about reading, wherever you are, bomb shelter or not, because good books liberate us from the obvious and prepare us for the real. It might seem like, at the edge, where life meets death, we should put the books down; this is not what one sees in Ukraine. The last time I went to the front I rode with soldiers who were bringing books to other soldiers.

The readers and the writers and the soldiers can be the same people. One of the curators of this year’s Book Arsenal, the philosopher and journalist Maksym Butkevych, is a survivor of two years in captivity in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp; the other, the poet and novelist Andriy Lyubka, is on active duty in the Ukrainian armed forces.

Above all, perhaps, resistance means being the person you are, not despite everything, but because of everything.

Цілую.

June 1

Top Headlines

  • Meidas Touch Network, Monday Afternoon News Updates: Iran Suspends Talks with U.S., Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 1, 2026. Remember that Iran deal so many in the corporate media said was about to be signed by Trump? Not only did that deal never come to fruition, but as of this moment, Iran has walked away from the table entirely. Here’s what we’re tracking:
  • New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Cease-Fire Wavers as U.S. and Iran Trade Attacks and Israel Threatens Beirut, Aaron Boxerman, Yan Zhuang and Christina Goldbaum, June 1, 2026. Israel issued an evacuation order for the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital. Oil prices spiked after an unconfirmed report that Iran would stop participating in peace talks. U.S. Central Command said the military intercepted two Iranian missiles overnight on Monday and no personnel were harmed. The attacks threatened to further complicate talks to end the war.

News Roundups

  • The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump Administration Faces Crises on Three Fronts: Diplomacy, Costs, and Disaster Preparedness—Alarms are Being Sounded, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotJune 1, 2026. First, the Trump administration is dealing with a diplomatic and foreign policy crisis as more than 2,000 U.S. diplomats have been fired or laid off while the conflict with Iran continues despite repeated promises of a deal. Second, the administration is racing to address concerns about FEMA’s readiness as hurricane season begins today. Finally, despite claims that Americans are earning thousands more than they were at the start of the administration, many workers continue to face stagnant wages and rising costs.
  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The Problem With Platner, Bill Kristol, Mark Hertling and Jim Swift, June 1, 2026. In fetishizing ‘outsiders,’ Democrats are getting used to excusing bad behavior. We’ve seen this movie before. Donald Trump wants to know: When are you people going to shut up with your “opinions” about the “quality” of his Iran deal and just let him cook?

U.S. Law, Immigration, Crime, Courts, Rights, Justice

More On Iran, Lebanon Wars

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Why Iran Buys Chinese, Mark Hertling, right, mark hertling civilian military instituteJune 1, 2026. NBC News reported this weekend that the American F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran on April 3 may have been hit by a Chinese-made shoulder-fired missile, known by its NATO nickname the “Flying Crossbow.” If that reporting is confirmed, it would mean that Chinese military technology played a direct role in the first shoot-down of an American combat airplane in decades. That is certainly newsworthy, but the missile itself is not the story. The story is how it got there.
  • New York Times, How Lebanon’s Best Chance to Disarm Hezbollah Failed, Abdi Latif Dahir and Aaron Boxerman, June 1, 2026, Lebanon’s government has long wanted the powerful militia to give up its weapons. Before the Iran war began, there were signs of progress toward that goal.
  • Drop Site Daily, Iran threatens to suspend ceasefire talks after Israel escalates in Lebanon; Pro-Israel groups play big in key Tuesday primaries, Staff Reports, June 1, 2026. Iranian state media reports Tehran may be suspending ceasefire talks. U.S. and Iranian strikes resume over the weekend. Nuclear talks stall as U.S. leadership continues to temporize.

More On Trump Team Governance

 

President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Seven Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Seven Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

  • djt helen delaney reese get him outHeather Delaney Reese, Trump's outrageous behavior yesterday is causing deep concern around the world, Heather Delaney Reese, above right, May 31-June 1, 2026. For more than seven hours on a Saturday, the President of the United States posted nearly 50 times in one of the most revealing meltdowns of his presidency. He posted his face carved into Mount Rushmore beside Washington and Lincoln, twice.

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

More Global News

High Tech, Media, Culture, Education

“Tilly Norwood,” a computer-generated character described as “the world’s first A.I. actress,” has become a flashpoint in the debate over the technology’s use in media (Photo and Design by Particle 6).

“Tilly Norwood,” a computer-generated character described as “the world’s first A.I. actress,” has become a flashpoint in the debate over the technology’s use in media (Photo and Design by Particle 6).

Top Stories

 

Meidas Touch Network, Monday Afternoon News Updates: Iran Suspends Talks with U.S., Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastJune 1, mtn meidas touch network2026. Remember that Iran deal so many in the corporate media said was about to be signed by Trump? Not only did that deal never come to fruition, but as of this moment, Iran has walked away from the table entirely. Here’s what we’re tracking:

  • Iran suspends all talks and message exchanges with the United States, per Iran’s Tasnim News Agency
  • Netanyahu expands military operations in Lebanon, crossing the Litani River and threatening strikes on Beirut’s Dahieh district
  • Iran threatens to fully blockade the Strait of Hormuz and activate the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea
  • Oil prices surge over 8% to $94 per barrel
  • Iran’s IRGC claims to have shot down a US MQ-1 drone early this morning
  • A Panama-flagged container ship hit near Umm Qasr, Iraq, per the UK Maritime Trade Operations office
  • The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve falls to its lowest level since early 2024, per GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan
  • Roughly 60 US Air Force aerial refueling tankers relocated to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel
  • Pakistan’s Prime Minister publicly praises China as the world’s dominant military and economic power
  • A federal appeals court rules Trump’s transgender military ban is likely unconstitutional
  • Scott Pelley confronts new 60 Minutes leadership hire at all-hands meeting, per Puck’s Dylan Byers
  • Tina Peters, freed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, kicks off her MAGA media tour
  • Kash Patel’s girlfriend sues MSNBC for defamation
  • Judge orders Trump legal team to respond to Florida court filing on potential fraud in IRS lawsuit

Iran Is Done Talking

Iran has suspended all diplomatic communications with the United States. No more message exchanges, no more back-channel conversations through Pakistan, nothing. Per Tasnim News Agency, which is closely aligned with the IRGC, the Iranian negotiating Iran Flagteam is halting all dialogue and exchange of texts through a mediator. The reason, per Tehran, is Netanyahu’s ongoing military escalation in Lebanon, which Iran says was a precondition of any ceasefire agreement. Iran is saying the deal was never just about Iran. It was about stopping the broader regional carnage, and the U.S. and Israel blew through that condition without blinking.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said a ceasefire between Iran and the US is a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon. Violate it on one front and you’ve violated the whole thing. Iran’s parliament speaker Ghalibaf echoed that, calling Israel’s naval blockade and war crimes in Lebanon clear evidence of U.S. noncompliance. Iran’s IRGC has now threatened to not only fully shut down the Strait of Hormuz but activate the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea as well. This would be a catastrophic blow to global energy markets, and oil prices are already reacting. We’re at $94 a barrel and climbing. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, meanwhile, has fallen another 8 million barrels to 357 million, the lowest since early 2024 and getting dangerously close to levels not seen since 1983, per GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan.

We were telling you this was happening when corporate media was either ignoring it, actively downplaying it, or telling you a deal was imminent. We showed you the drone footage. We showed you the Lebanon escalation. We told you the ceasefire was being violated in real time. And now here we are.Netanyahu Is Lighting the Region on Fire

While Iran was announcing it was walking away from the table, Netanyahu was busy posting videos of himself celebrating the capture of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon and announcing an expansion of IDF operations beyond the Litani River. He is also now threatening strikes on Beirut’s Dahieh district, which prompted Iran’s military central command to issue an immediate warning: if Netanyahu follows through, Iran will directly strike northern Israeli territory. Per Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command, Israeli residents in the northern occupied territories should evacuate immediately.

So Netanyahu, who got us into this war in the first place, is now actively doing everything possible to make a diplomatic resolution impossible. He’s crossing lines, grabbing territory, announcing new strike packages. The IDF has already issued evacuation warnings for Dahieh, and residents there are fleeing as of this afternoon.

Then, just as we were about to hit publish on this update, Trump posted that he had a “very productive call” with Netanyahu and a separate call with Hezbollah through “highly placed representatives,” claiming all shooting will stop, that no troops are going to Beirut, and that any troops already en route have been turned back. Israel will not attack Hezbollah. Hezbollah will not attack Israel.

New York Times, Iran War Live Updates: Cease-Fire Wavers as U.S. and Iran Trade Attacks and Israel Threatens Beirut, Aaron Boxerman, Yan Zhuang and Christina Goldbaum, June 1, 2026. Israel issued an evacuation order for the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital. Oil prices spiked after an unconfirmed report that Iran would stop participating in peace talks. U.S. Central Command said the military intercepted two Iranian missiles overnight on Monday and no personnel were harmed. The attacks threatened to further complicate talks to end the war.

The United States and Iran traded attacks in the last 24 hours, complicating negotiations over a framework for a deal to end the war.

The U.S. military said late Sunday that it had attacked radar and command sites in southern Iran over the weekend, the latest in a litany of low-level strikes amid strained negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that began in late February.

The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, said in a statement that it had retaliated against Iran for shooting down an American drone in the area. Fighter jets attacked Iranian air defenses, among other sites, the military said.

Less than an hour later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that its forces had targeted a military base from which an American attack on a communications facility in southern Iran had originated, Iranian state media reported.

Kuwait, which hosts U.S. military bases, accused Iran on Monday of launching a new wave of attacks against its territory, but did not confirm whether a base had been targeted.

It was not immediately clear how the latest strikes would affect U.S.-Iranian negotiations over a framework for a deal to end the war and lift Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, a vital waterway for oil and gas shipments.

Talks to end the war have advanced in fits and bursts. Last week, officials familiar with the negotiations said that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had agreed on a document that had been sent to the two countries’ leaders for approval.

It is unclear whether Mojtaba Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader believed to be in hiding, responded to the proposal. But President Trump has pushed to toughen the terms of the deal, sending a revised document to Iran, according to three officials who spoke anonymously because they could not discuss the matter publicly.

Fighting in Lebanon was also complicating efforts to reach a broader agreement to end the war. Iran demanded that a cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, be implemented as part of earlier talks that led to an April cease-fire.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement that he had ordered the Israeli military to attack the southern outskirts of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, as part of the widening campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands fled Beirut’s southern suburbs, clogging the roads with traffic after the Israeli threat.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

  • Energy markets: Oil prices climbed on Monday as investors weighed a renewed exchange of military strikes between the United States and Iran. Read more ›
  • Trump comments: Mr. Trump said on social media early Monday that Iran wanted a deal and suggested that criticism from Republicans and Democrats had made negotiations more difficult.
  • Lebanon castle: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had captured a strategic, Crusader-era castle in southern Lebanon as part of the most sweeping Israeli invasion in the country in decades. Read more ›
  • Strait of Hormuz: American forces have helped coordinate the passage of around 70 commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz in the last three weeks, according to U.S. officials. Read more ›

News Roundups

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump Administration Faces Crises on Three Fronts: Diplomacy, Costs, and Disaster Preparedness—Alarms are Being Sounded, Aaron Parnas, right, June 1, 2026. First, the Trump administration is dealing with a diplomatic and foreign policy crisis as more than 2,000 U.S. diplomats have been fired or laid off while the conflict with Iran continues despite repeated promises of a deal. Second, the administration is racing to address concerns about FEMA’s readiness as hurricane season begins today. Finally, despite claims that Americans are earning thousands more than they were at the start of the administration, many workers continue to face stagnant wages and rising costs.

I also want to address something directly. I’ve received a number of messages this weekend, including from people canceling subscriptions.

This platform is mine and mine alone. It is completely independent. I have never hidden who my father is, but I am my own person, and I hope you will judge me based on my work and not the actions of others that I could not control. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out.

This will be a busy week. Congress is back in session, we have another live show with Jessica Tarlov on Wednesday, and our next paid subscriber live event is Thursday evening.

Here’s the news:

America has a diplomacy crisis, with roughly 2,000 U.S. diplomats leaving the State Department through layoffs or forced retirements, taking decades of expertise, language skills, and crisis-management experience with them. Former and current diplomats warn that the departures have created leadership gaps across the globe, leaving more than half of U.S. ambassador posts vacant and weakening America’s ability to respond to conflicts, health emergencies, and threats to citizens abroad. Critics argue that the Trump administration has sidelined career foreign service professionals, increased political vetting, and relied more heavily on political appointees and outside advisers for major international negotiations. While the State Department says it remains confident in its workforce and is advancing an America First foreign policy, many diplomats fear the loss of institutional knowledge will undermine U.S. influence, economic interests, and global leadership for years to come.

Now, Donald Trump now says, regarding the war in Iran, “Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end.”

America’s Middle East crisis is deepening as Israel has launched its largest military advance into Lebanon in 26 years, capturing the strategic Beaufort Ridge across the Litani River and signaling plans to expand its control over territory once held by Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the operation a “dramatic change” in strategy, while some Israeli officials and allies have openly advocated for a longer-term occupation of southern Lebanon despite international criticism. The offensive has raised fears of a broader regional conflict, with more than 1.2 million Lebanese displaced and thousands killed since fighting intensified, while France and other international actors warn that Israel’s actions risk violating international norms. Analysts say the escalation could also jeopardize ongoing U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations, making it harder for Washington to secure a broader regional agreement and increasing the risk of a prolonged conflict.

Overnight, the United States and Iran exchanged new military strikes over the weekend, with U.S. forces targeting Iranian radar, drone, and air-defense sites and Iran responding with attacks on a base linked to the U.S. operation. Both sides say their actions were defensive, but negotiations to end the war remain stalled over disagreements about Iran’s nuclear program, missile capabilities, and security demands. The conflict has disrupted global energy markets and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil supplies. Efforts to reach a broader ceasefire are further complicated by Israel’s ongoing military operations in Lebanon, which Iran says must be addressed in any final agreement. Here is the statement from United States Central Command:

Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are launching an effort to block President Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and force Republicans to publicly vote on whether to preserve it. Democrats argue the fund, created after Trump’s settlement with the IRS, could improperly benefit Trump allies and have introduced legislation called the “Drain the Slush Fund Act” to eliminate it. While Democrats are unlikely to have the votes needed to stop the fund outright, they plan to use Senate procedures to make Republicans take recorded votes on the issue. The fund is already facing legal challenges in federal court and has complicated Republican efforts to advance other immigration and border-security funding priorities.

Shannon Bream noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports inflation is rising faster than wages, raising concerns about workers’ purchasing power. Kevin Hassett responded that the issue is partly a matter of how income statistics are measured. He said personal income figures include government transfer payments and benefits in addition to wages. Hassett argued that reductions in those programs, as part of efforts to reduce government spending, have affected the income data.

Bream cited a report that credit card delinquencies have reached 13%, the highest level since the aftermath of the financial crisis, and noted that many people say they are relying on credit cards for basic necessities. He asked what message the administration has for those struggling consumers. Hassett responded that delinquency does not mean default and said credit card companies do not see the situation as a threat to their financial stability. He characterized the issue as consumers taking longer to make payments rather than being unable to pay altogether.

Minnesota Republicans, at their annual convention, held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin, the man who murdered George Floyd:

Rep. Maxine Dexter, an Oregon congresswoman and physician, is pressing federal officials for answers about pregnant, unaccompanied migrant minors who were being held at a facility in San Benito, Texas. After visiting the center, she said she was unable to speak with the girls and remains concerned about where many of them and their infants were transferred after leaving the facility. Dexter and immigration advocates have raised questions about whether the minors are receiving adequate medical care, whether some U.S.-born infants are effectively leaving the country with deported mothers, and whether the facility is operating with sufficient transparency. Federal health officials reject those concerns, saying pregnant minors have access to specialists and appropriate medical treatment, but critics argue that key questions about the girls' whereabouts and care remain unanswered.

Immigrant rights groups across the 11 U.S. cities hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup are organizing legal aid, rapid-response networks, and public awareness campaigns because of concerns about increased immigration enforcement during the tournament. More than 120 organizations have issued a travel warning advising visitors about potential risks, including detention or deportation, while activists are distributing legal resources and training communities on their rights. Organizers are also creating “safe spaces,” hotlines, and attorney networks to assist immigrants and visitors if ICE operations occur near World Cup events. Supporters of these efforts argue they are necessary to protect immigrant communities and maintain tourism, while federal officials say security measures are focused on ensuring a safe environment for fans and participants.

France detained the Russia-linked oil tanker Tagor in the Atlantic Ocean as part of efforts to crack down on Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which is accused of helping Russia evade international sanctions. French authorities said the vessel was sailing under a false Cameroonian flag and was diverted for inspection after naval commandos boarded it with support from the United Kingdom. President Emmanuel Macron said the operation was aimed at enforcing international law and preventing sanctions evasion that helps finance Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia condemned the seizure as illegal, while French officials said the tanker, which was already under EU and U.S. sanctions, would undergo further checks.

Nvidia unveiled its new RTX Spark “superchip,” designed to bring powerful AI capabilities directly to laptops and desktop computers and enable AI agents to perform tasks locally rather than relying on cloud services. CEO Jensen Huang said the technology could fundamentally change how people interact with computers by allowing AI agents to navigate systems autonomously, potentially reducing reliance on traditional mouse-and-keyboard inputs. The chip, developed in partnership with Microsoft and MediaTek, will be used in devices from major manufacturers including Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and HP. While analysts see the launch as a major long-term opportunity for Nvidia, they note that the company’s business remains heavily dependent on demand for AI infrastructure and data-center computing.

Britain denied entry to U.S. political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker by revoking their Electronic Travel Authorisations ahead of scheduled appearances in London and Oxford. Uygur claimed the decision was retaliation for his criticism of Israel and argued that British authorities labeled some of his comments antisemitic. A U.K. official told POLITICO that the decision was based on remarks assessed as antisemitic, while noting that both men could still apply for visas. The move follows other recent U.K. entry bans on foreign figures whose statements were deemed controversial or contrary to the public interest.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the European Union could help make a U.S.-Iran ceasefire more durable by contributing diplomatic expertise, nuclear monitoring experience, and maritime security capabilities. She argued that any temporary ceasefire should be followed by broader negotiations covering Iran’s nuclear program, missiles, and regional proxy groups. Kallas made the comments while visiting Pakistan, which has been involved in diplomatic efforts to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, it remains unclear whether the United States would support a significant EU role in future talks, given tensions with European governments over their stance during the conflict.

A dispute has emerged in Compton over Measure CPT, a $360 million school bond that would fund the replacement of the aging Dominguez High School. Dr. Dre has publicly endorsed the measure, arguing that it would improve school facilities and invest in the future of Compton’s students. Confusion arose when a campaign mailer from Citizens for Waters, a committee associated with Rep. Maxine Waters, urged voters to reject the measure, surprising local education leaders and community members. Waters has not publicly explained the recommendation, and the disagreement has become a major issue ahead of the local vote.

Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: The Problem With Platner, Bill Kristol, Mark Hertling and Jim Swift, June 1, 2026. In fetishizing ‘outsiders,’ Democrats are getting used to excusing bad behavior. We’ve seen this movie before. Donald Trump wants to know: When are you people going to shut up with your “opinions” about the “quality” of his Iran deal and just let him cook?

bulwark logo big ship“Don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively ‘chirping,’ at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever,” the president fumed on Truth Social shortly after 1 a.m. this morning. “Just sit back and relax, it will all work out in the end - It always does!” Happy Monday.

U.S. Law, Immigration, Crime, Courts, Rights, Justice

New York Times, Losing Trust in Justice Dept., Judges Call Out Its Lawyers’ Behavior, Mattathias Schwartz,.June 1, 2026. The federal courts have long assumed that the government’s lawyers are trustworthy. Now judges across the country are criticizing their lack of candor.

In late April, a lawyer for the Justice Department told a federal judge that her colleagues had been in the midst of negotiations with a Rhode Island hospital about turning over gender-transition treatment health records, only for the hospital’s lawyers to stop responding.

Justice Department log circularBut Judge Mary S. McElroy of Federal District Court in Rhode Island concluded that was not true. While the government claimed it had not heard from the hospital since February, emails showed the hospital’s lawyers had stayed in close touch. v

In a scathing ruling on May 14, Judge McElroy called the government’s account “misleading, if not utterly false.” At issue in Judge McElroy’s view was the “awesome power” wielded by government lawyers and the trust that they will “play fair and be honest” with courts.

The Justice Department “has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case,” she wrote.

The opinion was one of several heated rulings from federal judges in recent weeks castigating the government’s lawyers for withholding information and making assertions that turned out to be at odds with the facts.

A judge in Chicago said transcripts of grand jury proceedings had been redacted to hide misconduct by her district’s U.S. attorney’s office. Another judge in Rhode Island referred an assistant U.S. attorney for potential discipline after he admitted that he had knowingly withheld information from the court.

Like the one involving the Rhode Island hospital, the complaints have come as administration lawyers seek to defend major parts of President Trump’s agenda.

The government lawyers whose honesty the judges have called into question are a mix of career civil servants, political appointees and newcomers brought in as the Justice Department makes a public hiring push to fill its depleted ranks. Their missteps in court come as the department’s leadership takes an unusually combative tone with judges who rule against them, and department lawyers try to balance judges’ demands against the often stubborn posture of the executive-branch clients they represent.

But regardless, an increasing number of judges appear to be questioning the longtime assumption that Justice Department lawyers can be taken at their word, part of the “presumption of regularity” that experts say allows federal courts to operate swiftly and smoothly.

In a statement, a Justice Department spokeswoman disputed that lawyers were coming up short on ethics. “Any attack on the professionalism or integrity of D.O.J. attorneys is outrageous and unjustified,” said the spokeswoman, Natalie Baldassarre. “The department will continue to vigorously advance and defend President Trump’s agenda in federal court with the utmost respect for the institution and rule of law.”Editors’ PicksBy September, Nearly a Third of Americans Will Live in States With Legal Aid in DyingWallpaper Without the WorkJill Biden’s New Memoir Shows Off a Sharp Eye, if Not a Sharp Elbow

By giving voice to their lack of trust, the judges are heralding major risk to a legal order that has been in place since Watergate. Codified in a Justice Department reference text called the Justice Manual, the basic idea is that department lawyers should be held to a higher standard because they carry with them the reputation of the entire executive branch. Before her death in 2019, Judge Patricia Wald described her expectations of the Justice Department as the “five C’s”: competence, credibility, civility, consistency and candor.

New York Times, Trump Administration Live Updates: President Said to Be Backing Off Plans for $1.8 Billion Fund After Backlash, Tyler Pager, Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer, Devlin Barrett and Annie Karn, June 1, 2026. What We’re Covering Today.

President Trump is backing off his plan to establish a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of unfair prosecution by the government, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president’s thinking, said he had been leaning for days toward scrapping the fund, which critics have characterized as a scheme to reward Mr. Trump’s political allies with public benefits.

Justice Department log circularThe administration signaled a retreat on Monday, when the Justice Department said in a statement that it would abide by a federal judge’s temporary order not to proceed with any steps to activate the fund until at least June 12, when a hearing on the fund is scheduled. The department said the administration disagreed with the decision but did not make clear whether it intended to fight the issue further in court.

It was unclear whether getting rid of the fund would affect another part of the legal settlement in the case, which provides Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses with significant immunity from audits.

Still, some administration officials privately expressed relief that the judge’s ruling showed a way out of what most had seen as a mess of the Trump team’s own making. But as with all things involving Mr. Trump, he could still decide to reverse course, especially as he tracks media coverage of his decision.

The decision by Mr. Trump to back down — at least for now — comes after rare pushback from members of his own party, who normally fall in line behind him. Some Republicans on Monday were looking for assurances that the president would actually follow through with killing off the fund, which likely would have distributed huge sums to Mr. Trump’s allies.

The White House referred to the Justice Department’s statement that it would abide by the temporary order.

The fund emerged as part of a deal the Justice Department brokered over Mr. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S.

Beyond the legal challenges, Mr. Trump has also faced increasing pressure from both parties on Capitol Hill to torpedo the fund. It was so appalling to Senate Republicans that last month they abruptly abandoned their plans to take up a filibuster-proof bill to fund the president’s immigration crackdown rather than advance Mr. Trump’s personal agenda and take what would have been a politically toxic vote.

 

tina peters 2023 apDemocracy Docket, Election denier Tina Peters freed from prison, immediately tells Steve Bannon: ‘Democrats are going to cheat,’ Matt Cohen, June 1, 2026. Moments after Tina Peters, shown above in an AP photo, was released from prison Monday, the former Colorado GOP election clerk appeared on a far-right podcast where she continued to espouse false election conspiracy theories.

Peters, who was convicted for her role in a 2021 voting system breach, appeared as a guest on the podcast of former Trump senior advisor Steve Bannon, where she baselessly claimed Democrats rigged voting machines to flip votes.

“I see these elections that are taking place in real time: The Mamdanis, the Virginia governor, Spanberger, and then what’s going on in California and Texas and Maine — just all over the country,” Peters said. “And I know that the Democrats are going to cheat, and no one’s really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped.”

Peters was convicted in 2024 after prosecutors showed she facilitated unauthorized access to Mesa County voting equipment and helped expose sensitive system data, actions driven by false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. A jury found Peters guilty on multiple counts, and she was sentenced to nine years in prison by a judge who called her a “charlatan” who peddled “snake oil” and said she showed no remorse for her actions.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted Peters’ sentence last month, after months of pressure from President Donald Trump, MAGA fanatics, and election deniers.

New York Times, Pentagon Bars Reporters From Its Press Office, Greg Jaffe, June 1, 2026. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly curtailed journalists’ access in the Pentagon.

The Defense Department has designated its press office as a classified space, off limits to journalists, further restricting interactions between its public-facing representatives and the reporters assigned to cover the military.

The move, confirmed by the department’s acting press secretary, follows a change in policy from earlier this year that required journalists to have an official escort at all times when visiting the Pentagon.

The New York Times sued the Defense Department last month in Federal District Court in Washington over the escort requirements, accusing the Pentagon of violating the First Amendment.

For decades, reporters assigned to cover the Pentagon were granted press passes that gave them wide access to the building’s corridors and its press offices and enabled them to interact daily with the department’s spokespeople.

Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, has repeatedly curtailed journalists’ access within the Pentagon. He initially imposed an escort requirement for certain Pentagon corridors before expanding it to the entire building.

The move to designate the press office a classified space followed a decision by the Pentagon’s leadership to move speechwriters into the area, said Joel Valdez, the acting press secretary. The new Pentagon policy was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material,” Mr. Valdez said in a statement. “Access to the office of the assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs and to the press secretary remains available by appointment only.” The Department of War is the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Defense Department, whose name can be officially changed only by Congress.

In October, the department imposed a comprehensive set of restrictions that let it designate journalists as “security risks” and revoke their press passes.

Late last year, The Times sued the Pentagon on the grounds that the policy violated the First and Fifth Amendment rights of its journalists. In March a federal judge ruled in favor of The Times, tossing out the October policy.

The Pentagon responded with a new “interim” policy that mandated escorts inside the building and closed the work space, known as Correspondents’ Corridor, where reporters from major news organizations long had designated desks.

In April, a divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allowed the escort requirement to remain in place while the Trump administration appealed the earlier ruling.

In its latest lawsuit, filed in May, The Times said that the interim policy was “patently retaliatory” and that the escort requirement rendered the press passes of Times journalists “essentially worthless.”

The new policy, restricting access to the press office by declaring it a classified space, further limits the ability of reporters to talk to the civilians and officers whom the Pentagon has assigned to interact with the news media.

New York Times, Ex-F.B.I. Officials Form New Group for Embattled Employees, Devlin Barrett, June 1, 2026. The F.B.I. Support Network offers legal, mental health and job search services to current agency employees. Its founders say the work force is incredibly strained under Kash Patel.

Former F.B.I. officials are starting a group to help embattled bureau employees grapple with the Trump administration’s rapid efforts to reshape its agency, saying that the work force is under incredible strain under its director, Kash Patel.

FBI logoThe group, called the F.B.I. Support Network, is an offshoot of the Justice Connection organization, made up of former Justice Department employees who offer legal, mental health or job search services to current agency employees.

The former agents, analysts and executives behind the network said they formed it because F.B.I. agents, analysts and support staff need assistance from people who understand the unique aspects of the bureau’s work culture and employment rules.

“There’s an incredible amount of tension inside the agency right now,” said Michael Mason, a former senior executive in the bureau. “We want our colleagues who are still in the service of the F.B.I. to know there are people out here who recognize what is happening. People are being fired without any due process as the Justice Department is being weaponized in a way that is totally unfamiliar to those of us who served long and distinguished careers there.”

Among its members are Brian Driscoll, who briefly became the acting director of the bureau in early 2025 shortly after Mr. Trump took office, only to be fired in August after repeatedly clashing with the administration over its demands to fire agents who had worked on cases related to President Trump.

“It’s time for those of us who served our country with the F.B.I. to offer our assistance to the special agents, intelligence analysts and the professional staff who are under attack,” Mr. Driscoll said in a video announcing the new group. “Those facing these kash patel o croppedunprecedented times are not alone.”

Mr. Patel, left, has repeatedly denied firing agents for political reasons, insisting that the frequent terminations are meant to rid the bureau of people biased against the president and his allies. Such statements have led to angry confrontations in congressional hearings, with Democratic lawmakers accusing him of lying to Congress.

Michael Feinberg, a former counterintelligence agent, emphasized that the dismissals underscored how drastically the bureau had changed. “Law enforcement and national security work should be resolutely apolitical,” he said. “You investigate threats and prosecute criminals without fear or favor. Seeing that norm not just eroded but purposely destroyed is fundamentally changing the nature and culture of the F.B.I.”

Mr. Feinberg added that Mr. Patel’s denials only showed the shift in the bureau’s approach. There is now a “wide gulf between what the director says in public and in testimony before Congress, and what the work force sees happening to their colleagues on a daily basis,” he said. “I think the way a lot of employees feel right now is that at least some senior career executives have been willing to compromise with Kash Patel in those matters in an effort to secure their own employment. It’s difficult to articulate how much of a betrayal of the F.B.I. ethos this is.”

 

ICE logoPaul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: Pogroms, American Style, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanJune 1, 2026. The Trump administration’s attack on immigrants isn’t about rule of law, crime or jobs. It’s racism and sadism all the way down.

Migrant children in U.S. detention face physical, mental harms: report | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health There was a time when anti-immigration activists claimed not to hate immigrants as people. Their concern, they insisted, was only about illegal immigrants, the purported crime wave they caused, or the loss of jobs for the native born.

If you believed any of that, you were naive. The Trump administration is trying to drive out all immigrants, legal as well as undocumented, with almost no pretense that its pogroms serve any wider social or economic purpose. And I use the word “pogroms” deliberately. The MAGA anti-immigrant campaign relies on cruelty toward immigrants, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding and a key source of American prosperity. And it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the cruelty isn’t just instrumental. Rather it’s the purpose of the whole endeavor.

To understand what’s happening, a good starting point is the more or less official acknowledgement that virtually all immigrants — I’ll talk about the few exceptions shortly — are viewed as undesirables to be pushed out in any way possible. The New York Times recently published an article with the headline “Trump squeezes immigrants by cutting them off from jobs, health care and housing.”

As the article explains,

For more than a year, administration officials have sought to pull every bureaucratic lever possible to cut off immigrants — both documented and undocumented — from jobs, medical care, financial services, tax credits and even from enrolling their children in day care. The goal has been to compel immigrants to leave the country, and, in the long run, to eliminate incentives that draw many people to the United States in the first place.

According to the Times, Stephen Miller, Trump’s immigration czar,

has asked White House officials to work with federal agencies to make sure they are using regulations against immigrants throughout the areas of American life they oversee

So Federal policy at all levels, including policy tools that were never intended to be used for immigration enforcement, are being weaponized against anyone born outside the US — and some people born here, including American-born children. These days I am rarely shocked by Trump administration actions, but this is truly shocking:

Federal officials are planning regulatory changes to prevent American-born children from receiving federal day care subsidies if one or more of their parents are not citizens.

So we’re going to deny care to children born in the United States — that is, birthright citizens — if they have foreign-born parents, presumably even parents who came to America legally. What’s next? Will these children be required to wear labels on their clothing to reveal that they had a foreign-born parent? A latter-day Star of David badge?

Beyond trying to make daily life for immigrants impossible, the Trump administration is trying to terrorize immigrants into leaving.

We have only fragmentary information about conditions inside ICE detention centers, largely because ICE has repeatedly blocked independent investigation of what’s happening in these facilities — it has, in particularly, repeatedly broken the law by denying access to members of Congress. A few days ago federal agents pepper-sprayed Sen. Andy Kim outside the Delaney facility in Newark, New Jersey. ICE is also playing hide and seek with detainees, repeatedly transferring themamong facilities to make it hard for families and lawyers to track them down. And there have an alarming number of detainee suicides.

Efforts to suppress information about detainee conditions are implicitly an admission that these conditions are terrible, that reports of severe overcrowding, lack of medical care, and insufficient and tainted food are true.

According to one detainee, a guard told him that

It’s part of my job. I have to make your life miserable so that you request your own deportation.

Everything we know suggests that this quote is an accurate description of what’s happening.

And the campaign of harassment and terror against immigrants is working. ICE doesn’t have to be able to find and arrest every immigrant to make life in the United States impossible to endure, just as Iran doesn’t have to be able to target every oil tanker to make passage of the Strait of Hormuz too dangerous to try. Net immigration into the United States has probably turned negative — that is, more people are leaving the country than entering.

The Trump administration is pleased. In March it issued a press release hailing Census estimates that show plunging net immigration across U.S. metro areas.

There were two notable features of the release’s triumphalism. First, it hailed falling immigration in general — nothing about distinguishing between legal and illegal entry to the United States. Second, it said nothing — nothing at all — about why falling immigration should be considered a good thing.

The truth is that none of the claims made by anti-immigration hardliners about the benefits of driving the foreign-born away has survived contact with reality.

The virtual end of net immigration hasn’t led to a boom in jobs for the native-born. Growth in the working-age population has stalled, but so has job creation, and the employment rate for native-born adults is lower, not higher, than it was before the pogroms began:

And the idea that immigrants are, as a group, especially crime-prone, has been extensively debunked. Notably, cities like New York that have huge immigrant populations also have very low crime rates by historical standards.

It’s important to realize that the pogroms, aside from objectively failing to help native-born Americans, aren’t popular. Donald Trump’s approval rating on immigration, which was positive when he took office, is now deep in negative territory.

And the American people are, in general, much more benign in their views about immigrants than the likes of Stephen Miller. On one side, we have the Trump administration trying to deny child care to children of all immigrants. On the other, according to Gallup, 78 percent of adults believe that people who immigrated illegally should nonetheless have a chance to become U.S. citizens — and 85 percent support offering that chance to children brought in illegally by their parents.

So what is all of this about? A lot of it is racism. The Trump administration has essentially ended refugee admissions to the United States, with only one exception, for whom refugees quotas have been hugely expanded and backed by federal aid to immigrants: white South Africans. Need we say more?

And one final observation: The atrocities being perpetrated by ICE — atrocities that are almost surely far bigger and worse than we know about — are in part instrumental, a way to frighten immigrants into self-deporting. But is there any real doubt that mistreating and terrorizing people, especially people of color, is for some MAGA types a goal in itself — something they always wanted license to do?

As The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer wrote in a justly famous essay, The Cruelty Is the Point. And what does it say about us as a nation if we accept this?

Too angry for a musical coda today

The Contrarian, Opinion: ‘Paradise’ Lost, Jennifer Rubin, right, jennifer rubin new headshotJune 1, 2026. The hellscape of Trump 2.0.

Donald Trump’s most unctuous and depraved courtier, Stephen Miller, last week insisted, “The American people understand the hell that we inherited and the extraordinary paradise that President Trump is building.” To paraphrase Mary McCarthy (not Dorothy Parker, to whom the quote is frequently misattributed), every word he speaks is a lie, including “and” and “the.” “The American people” overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump’s performance because they contrarian logoknow they are not getting “paradise,” let alone “extraordinary paradise.” (Is there such a thing as mediocre paradise?) Trump’s overall approval has dropped in many polls to the mid-30’s. On inflation, Trump’s polling is the worst of any president ever. Trump’s results are truly “extraordinary” because he has managed to create broad consensus in a sharply divided country that his performance, especially on the economy, is horrible.

Trump’s dismal poll numbers, if they follow the deteriorating economic environment, may get even worse. “A measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve accelerated in April to a three-year high, reinforcing the central bank’s budding support to consider raising interest rates if price pressures do not ease,” the New York Times reported last week. “The Personal Consumption Expenditures index rose 3.8 percent from the same time last year. It was the fastest annual pace since May 2023, when the Fed was in the midst of raising rates to tame a burst of inflation that had emerged in the wake of the pandemic.” With numbers like that, not even Trump “sock puppet” Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is going to push through rate cuts anytime soon.

Trump says the economy is “hot.” Maybe a hot mess. “The U.S. economy grew more slowly during the first three months of the year,” the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. “Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the goods and services produced across the U.S., rose at a 1.6% seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate in January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday.”

Americans accurately perceive that they are falling behind. Simply put, inflation is outpacing wages. “From April 2025 to April 2026, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month. This amounts to genuine hardship for many American families, as a new Brookings Institution study just reported. Since many families cannot readily control significant parts of their budget (e.g., housing, childcare), “closing that gap between essentials and income has meant skipped meals, increased debt and delayed medical care.”Subscribed

Two data points illustrate Americans’ struggle to make ends meet.

First, with wages lagging inflation, Americans are increasingly relying on credit card debt. “In the first quarter of this year, the percentage of credit-card balances that were at least 90 days delinquent rose to 13.12%, according to data released in May by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “That’s the highest level in 15 years, and the most since the period following the 2008 financial crisis.” With families stretched to the breaking point, future household purchases will need to decline to manage families’ debt load.

Second, the University of Michigan’s survey of consumer sentiment plunged to the lowest level since 1978. As Market Watch explained:

Sentiment was worse in May than at any point during the 2020-21 coronavirus pandemic. It was also worse than at any point during the financial crisis of 2008-09. And it was even worse than at any point during the tumultuous period of 1980-82, when the U.S. suffered two recessions, 11% inflation and 18% mortgage rates.

Moreover, economic pain is not felt evenly. The New York Fed reports that inflation has hit lower- and middle-class families — who spend a greater share on essentials like food and housing — hardest. As a result, food insecurity, aggravated by cuts to SNAP, has increased. “Households have struggled with the expiration of pandemic-era [food] aid … [R]ecently, President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ tightened the work requirements for SNAP benefits.” The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently found that in 12 states, 700,000 fewer children are receiving SNAP food; “nearly half of the 1.6-million-person decline among people of all ages in those states.” The MAGA agenda’s war on families has taken its toll:

The new law’s cost shift has led states to take steps that are making it harder for eligible people to receive SNAP, including families with children. Losing SNAP also makes it harder for low-income children to qualify for other food assistance, such as WIC and free school meals — jeopardizing the short- and long-term health, education, and economic benefits of nutrition programs for our children and society.

All this may seem like “paradise” to Stephen Miller and Trump’s other lickspittles, but Americans who are falling behind, burning through savings, relying on credit card debt, and deciding whether to skip meals or a doctor’s visit likely perceive this as amounting to economic hell.

Some people certainly do think Trump has delivered “paradise.” The Jan. 6 violent insurrections, already pardoned, are thrilled about Trump’s $1.8B taxpayer-financed slush fund (although two federal judges have stepped in to block the outrageous scheme). Vulcan Elements, in which Donald Trump Jr. invested, got a sweetheart $620M loan after intervention by Peter Navarro. (This would make Hunter Biden blush.) And Trump has been a godsend for private prisons that make a fortune exploiting ICE detainees and for no-bid contractors who get to work on Trump’s vanity projects.

In addition, Trump’s reign must seem like paradise to the additional 10,000 White South African “refugees” who benefit from the immigration cap raised exclusively for them. (Since October, the Trump regime has allowed in thousands of Afrikaners but only 3 nonwhite Afghan refugees — a minuscule share of those who risked their lives to aid U.S. troops.)

Trump regime certainly has delivered paradise for the hodgepodge of donors, supporters, and hangers-on ranging from crypto kings to convicted fraudsters to Middle East sheiks to Big Oil. Collectively, they have reaped rewards including: “Cabinet and executive branch positions, ambassadorships, pardons and commutations, dropped investigations or enforcement actions, corporate-friendly policies and perks, and even foreign policy actions.”

Finally, the MAGA era has been heaven on earth for sundry sexual abusers: men identified in the Epstein files who remain shielded from accountability, hordes of accused harassers, and sex predator Adam Dean Hoffman, who got out of jail with a slap on the wrist, thanks to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In short, the “American people” who think Trump is delivering paradise are the super-rich (who have gotten richer with more tax cuts); pardoned (and rewarded!) felons; white supremacists (who welcomed thousands of Afrikaners, received affirmed action for mediocrities and incompetents, and gained power from MAGA justices’ rollback of voting rights); presidential relatives and cronies; decrepit autocrats; and incompetent media lackeys.

Meanwhile, ordinary Americans are worse off under Trump’s corrupt authoritarian rule. Fortunately, they will have the chance in November to let Trump and Republicans know this is not their idea of paradise.

New York Times, Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From Promotion List, Greg Jaffe and Kate Kelly, June 1, 2026. The defense secretary’s decision to block the officers’ promotions appears driven by his anti-diversity stance rather than based on merit.

In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of at least seven Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals.

The net result of Mr. Hegseth’s intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one-star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force these officers will help lead.

At least two of the officers removed by Mr. Hegseth from the promotion list are women and two are Black men. An additional three are white men.

Mr. Hegseth’s actions, which appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based, were described by four current and former defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

No female officers were included on the new one-star list, which was released publicly in late May, despite the fact that women make up about 21 percent of the active-duty Navy. The list appears to include only two nonwhite officers, even though sailors who identify as racial minorities make up about 38 percent of the active-duty Navy.

Mr. Hegseth’s removal of the officers from the one-star list is highly unusual, said the current and former defense officials. According to Pentagon rules, the defense secretary is only supposed to pull officers from the list for moral, mental, physical or professional failings that raise questions about the officers’ fitness to lead.

Mr. Hegseth’s actions are the latest in a series of firings and personnel interventions that seem to be driven by his anti-diversity politics rather than the officers’ performance. Taken together, they could reshape the military’s top ranks for years to come.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, declined to say why Mr. Hegseth pulled the officers off the Navy one-star list. “Military promotions are given to those who have earned them,” Mr. Parnell said. “The department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions.” The Navy declined to comment.

politico CustomPolitico, Anti-Trump group can keep flying ‘86-47’ flag near National Mall, judge rules, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, June 1, 2026.U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss says the banner can’t plausibly be read to threaten violence against President Donald Trump.

A federal judge has ordered the National Park Service not to interfere with a liberal organization’s display of an “86-47” flag at its ongoing demonstration near the National Mall, rejecting the contention that the phrase was meant as a coded call for violence against President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued a two-week restraining order Monday at the request of Accountability Now USA, which has been protesting Trump for months at a site in front of the federal courthouse on Constitution Avenue.

Moss concluded that the group intended to advocate for Trump’s removal from office via impeachment, and that “86” is not an unambiguous call to political violence — and certainly not the kind of “imminent” violence that would be necessary to justify restrictions on speech.

“The Court does not doubt that political violence is on the rise and that it poses a grave threat not just to the targets of the threats but to the country as a whole. But the enormity of that problem does not change the meaning of Plaintiff’s speech, which by any reasonable measure merely advocated for the President’s impeachment and removal from office — that is, ‘to throw [him] out,’” Moss wrote.

The Obama-appointed judge appended a Merriam-Webster definition of the term “eighty-six,” which defines it as a 1930s soda-counter slang meaning “to throw out “ or ”to get rid of.”

The ruling doesn’t mention the recent criminal case brought against former FBI director James Comey, accusing him of threatening Trump’s life last year with an Instagram post of a seashell arrangement on a North Carolina beach that depicted the “8647” phrase. But Moss’ determination underscores questions about the genesis of the charges against Comey, who took down the post and apologized and has repeatedly denied that the expression was meant to provoke violence against Trump.

An attorney for Comey, Patrick Fitzgerald, declined to comment on the decision.

Moss’ ruling doesn’t rule out the possibility that use of “86-47” could be viewed as a threat in some context, and he notes that Merriam-Webster’s discussion of “eighty-six” does mention it is sometimes used to refer to killing someone, although the editors declined to adopt that meaning “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”

According to court filings, Secret Service agents visited the protest on May 12 and briefly spoke with some people who were participating, who said they wanted Trump out of office but wished him no physical harm.

Justice Department attorneys said the flag became more ominous in the wake of the May 24 incident near the White House, where an armed man was shot dead by law enforcement.

Accountability Now USA first ran into trouble with the Park Service in April over signs critical of Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, including one sign that said, “Trump raped little girls.”

Trump has acknowledged that he knew Epstein but has said he broke off ties with him before he came under scrutiny by law enforcement. The federal government’s files on Epstein contain a smattering of allegations against Trump, but authorities have said they were deemed not credible. Trump has denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s crimes.

A Park Service official emailed the protest group in April, alleging that its signs contained “obscenity” not protected by the First Amendment and that the organization could face “further steps” if the signs were not removed.

The group took the signs down temporarily before suing, Moss said. His opinion issued Monday does not analyze whether the signs meet the legal definition of obscenity.Watch: The Conversation27:02Audience questions, special cameos & behind-the-scenes stories with Dasha Burns

Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: Trump’s Spinmeisters Pretend Mike Johnson Is a Judge, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 1, 2025. There are two orders pending regarding Trump’s Terrorist Slush Fund.

The more dangerous one, for people like Stan Woodward and Boris Epshteyn, is Judge Kathleen Williams’ order that DOJ respond to the allegations from a bunch of judges that Trump’s personal lawyers and Trump’s other personal lawyers at DOJ entered into a collusive settlement.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiffs shall file a response to the Motion (DE 63) on or before June 12, 2026, detailing their position on the matters set forth in the Motion, including (1) the charges of collusion and whether the Parties are truly adverse; (2) the assertion that the dismissal in this case was premised on deception by the Parties; and (3) the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the “victim of a fraud.” (DE 63 at 13, citing 11 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2870 (3d ed.)).

Another one, from Judge Leonie Brinkema, enjoins the government from funding the Terrorist Slush Fund before she has had a chance to rule on it.

Because full briefing of the issue will enhance the ability of the Court to make a sound decision. plaintiffs’ Expedited Motion, [Dkt. No. 30], is DENIED and defendants’ request for additional time is GRANTED; however, to ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed from the AntiWeaponization Fund (hereinafter, “Fund”) while plaintiffs’ Motion is pending, it is hereby ORDERED that defendants be and are ENJOINED from taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund;1

1 It is important that the status quo be maintained until plaintiffs’ pending Motion has been resolved, especially as plaintiffs allege in their Expedited Motion that defense counsel “was unable … to provide assurances of how long [the] status quo would last” and declined plaintiffs’ “request that the government commit to not transferring money to the Fund or processing or paying claims until at least June 19 to allow for less compressed briefing in this case.” [Dkt. No. 30] at 2-3.

Neither order tells the government that they can’t set up a Terrorist Slush Fund (though Williams could find that Woodward and Epshteyn engaged in fraud by even attempting to do so).

Nevertheless, Trump’s minions got Marc Caputo and Jake Sherman to claim that the judges’ rulings were the reason Trump decided to halt, “for now,” the Terrorist Slush Fund.

What they’re saying: “We’re planning to respect the courts,” one of the administration officials said.

“This has become a distraction,” a second administration official said. “The president believes government was weaponized against people — it wasn’t just him. But this isn’t the time and vehicle for it.”

Sherman’s credulity is especially galling, given that he reported that Mike Johnson had warned Trump against proceeding with the fund shortly before this announcement and the Tweet from DOJ claiming to abide by Brinkema’s — but not Williams’ — order misrepresents the temporary nature of Brinkema’s order.

Justice Department log circularHere is the statement from DOJ. They disagree with the ruling, but “will abide” by it. I think Rs are still gonna want something in reconciliation to make sure that admin doesn’t do this in the future.

The only “judge” that Trump is obeying is [House Speaker] Mike Johnson, right, mike johnson owho told Trump that reconciliation was dead unless he dropped the fund.

And people like Stan Woodward will presumably use the credulity of Caputo and Sherman to attempt to moot Williams’ order. And once Trump has his brownshirts funded for the next several years, he’ll revert back to paying off terrorists, as an update to Caputo’s post describes he might do.

Reality check: Nothing is certain in the Trump administration until it’s officially announced or the president says it himself.

“The plan right now is to halt it. But the president likes the fund, he believes in it. So nothing is final until it’s final,” one of the sources said.

This is spin. And nevertheless Trump’s minions have found the people who’ll report it like they want.

Update: Reese Gorman describes that Mike Johnson’s meeting is what killed the fund: House Speaker Mike Johnson raised issues with the fund directly with Trump in a White House meeting, a source told NOTUS. It was this conversation that effectively killed the fund, a separate source said.

The Pugilist, Investigative Commentary: The US Attorney for New Mexico Who Wrongly Prosecuted a Taiwanese Scientist for Espionage — but Ignored a Pedophile Who Was Probably a Spy for Israel, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, right, alisa valdez rodriguezJune 1, 2026. John J. Kelly had Q clearance, seven years as New Mexico's top federal prosecutor, and multiple victim reports from Zorro Ranch. He acted on none of them.

Readers of The Pugilist already know what the national press has largely ignored: Jeffrey Epstein was not a financier. He was, in the words of security consultant Gavin de Becker — a man who has advised presidents and intelligence agencies — “a construct.” A funded fiction. The structure beneath that fiction, as this publication has documented across months of reporting, ran directly through New Mexico’s nuclear weapons infrastructure: through Robert Maxwell’s sale of backdoored PROMIS software to Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos, through Ghislaine Maxwell’s placement on the Santa Fe Institute board and her introduction of Epstein to the Los Alamos founding scientists, through the military-grade microwave communications system Epstein built in 2016 pointing from Zorro Ranch to Sandia Crest Tower.

If you’re new here, that’s the foundation. This piece is about the man who was supposed to be watching but looked the other way.The U.S. Attorney

John J. Kelly became U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico in December 1993 — nine months after he had personally served as Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney-in-fact, signing the closing documents on the Zorro Ranch purchase and filing the transmittal letter to the New Mexico State Land Office on Epstein’s behalf. Those documents — SDNY_GM_00173766, SDNY_GM_00173767, and the Hinkle Cox firm letter of March 15, 1993 — are in the federal Epstein files and were first reported by this publication.

Kelly held that office for seven years. His jurisdiction covered Zorro Ranch and, critically, both Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. His CV, filed with the City of Albuquerque — where he is, as we speak, a mayoral appointee to the city’s Ethics Board — confirms Kelly held Top Secret and Q security clearances from the Department of Justice and the Department of Energy, and was specifically tasked with investigating the unauthorized removal and possession of classified information at the national laboratories.

The federal guardian of America’s nuclear secrets in New Mexico was the same man who had, months before taking that job, been Jeffrey Epstein’s personal legal representative.

And nobody in power in New Mexico seems to think this is a big deal.What His Office Did Not Do

No investigation of Zorro Ranch was ever opened during Kelly’s seven-year tenure. The documented record of what his office maria farmer youngchose not to act on is not limited to the single report to the FBI from Maria Farmer (shown at right as a teen) about her sister Annie, though that is what Kelly has told the local media (and they, true to form, accepted this at face value.)

Federal files contain another report, this one from a man who states that in December 1993 — Kelly’s first month as U.S. Attorney — he was taken to Zorro Ranch, drugged, and sexually assaulted. Yet another report comes from a witness identified in federal proceedings only as “Jane,” who testified that Epstein began abusing her at age 14 and transported her to New Mexico, her abuse dating to the mid-1990s, when Kelly was New Mexico’s United States Attorney. In 1996, Annie Farmer, then 16 years old, told the FBI she had been sexually abused at Zorro Ranch by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. A federal lawsuit filed by twelve Epstein victims against the FBI alleges the Bureau received reports, complaints, and tips concerning Epstein’s trafficking of women and minors continuously from 1996 through 2006 — the first four years of that window falling entirely within Kelly’s tenure.

Annie Farmer is the best-documented of these accounts. She testified about it at Ghislaine Maxwell’s federal trial, naming both Epstein and Maxwell, and her account is in the public record by name. But she was not the only person whose account reached federal law enforcement during Kelly’s years in office. You wouldn’t know this to read local media reports about Kelly and Epstein, however.

Kelly’s office did nothing about Epstein. Not in 1993, when the first reported assault occurred in his first month. Not in 1996, when Farmer’s report was filed. Not in 1997, 1998, 1999, or 2000, when Kelly left office and joined Modrall Sperling, one of New Mexico’s most politically connected law firms, before running for Congress with Bill Clinton, whose name appears in the files, appearing at his fundraiser to speak about their Georgetown friendship.

For seven years, not one of those reports produced a federal investigation of the ranch in New Mexico, under the federal watch of John J. Kelly.

He remains one of the most powerful and politically connected men in the state.What He Did Do? Ruin Wen Ho Lee’s Life.

Here is what Kelly’s office was capable of doing, when it chose to act.

In December 1999, near the end of his tenure, Kelly stood before cameras and announced the prosecution of Wen Ho Lee — a Taiwanese-American nuclear physicist at Los Alamos accused of downloading classified weapons design data onto portable tapes. Kelly declared that Lee had “denied the United States its exclusive dominion and control over some of this nation’s most sensitive nuclear secrets.” He prosecuted Lee on 59 counts, the most serious carrying potential life sentences under the Atomic Energy Act. More than 60 FBI agents were assigned. More than 1,000 interviews were conducted. Lee was held in solitary confinement for 278 days.

The case collapsed.

Investigators could not prove Lee had passed anything to anyone. The government dropped 58 of 59 counts. Lee pleaded guilty to a single mishandling charge and was sentenced to time served. Judge James Parker issued a formal rebuke from the bench, stating he had been “led astray” by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and specifically “its United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico.” The judge said the government had “embarrassed our entire nation.” He apologized to Wen Ho Lee directly.

Lee was never charged with espionage. He was a Taiwanese-American scientist. He was not Jeffrey Epstein, who by all accounts actually was a spy, and a spy who used a child sex trafficking ring to smuggle nuclear secrets to Israel.

The contrast is not subtle and it is not accidental. Kelly’s office mobilized the entire machinery of federal prosecution — 60 agents, 1,000 interviews, life-sentence exposure, months of solitary confinement — against a man accused of mishandling nuclear data from Los Alamos. During those same years, reports of rape and sexual abuse at a ranch thirty miles from those same laboratories accumulated in federal files and produced nothing. Not a phone call. Not a file opened. Not one interview. Had Kelly’s office investigated, they would have found the spy they tried to create out of We Ho Lee.

There is one more layer. The Wen Ho Lee prosecution framed the Los Alamos security breach publicly as a Chinese espionage problem — generating enormous press coverage about Chinese intelligence penetrating America’s nuclear secrets. What it did not address, and what Kelly’s office never addressed, was the Israeli intelligence penetration of those same laboratories that this publication has previously documented: Robert Maxwell’s sale of backdoored PROMIS software to Sandia and Los Alamos, the FBI counterintelligence investigation into Maxwell’s activities that was shut down, and the social and physical network Maxwell’s daughter had built — through the Santa Fe Institute, through Epstein’s dinner parties with Los Alamos founding scientists, through the ranch itself — that gave an intelligence operation sustained access to the people who built American nuclear weapons. That operation ran thirty miles from Albuquerque for the entirety of Kelly’s tenure and was never examined by his office.

Instead, Kelly’s close friends and associates, people like Herb and Diane Denish, benefitted financially from Epstein’s criminal intelligence and finance network, as Kelly looked the other way.What He Said

When Albuquerque’s KOAT Target 7 asked Kelly in February 2024 about his appearance in Epstein’s personal black book — which contains not just a work number but his home address and his wife’s direct phone line — Kelly declined an on-camera interview. (In fact, we could not find a single photo of him anywhere in the public domain, which is odd for a man who ran for congress and has held such powerful positions. It suggests he keeps his public profile tightly scrubbed.) He stated he had met Epstein exactly once, at a meeting arranged by Governor Bruce King, at which Epstein expressed interest in buying land.

“I have no clue,” Kelly said of why he appeared in the black book. “You’ll have to ask Mr. Epstein.”

Epstein had died in federal custody in 2019, so asking him was obviously never going to happen — and answering in this manner was not just glib, it was glib and slick as snot.

The documents in the federal Epstein files directly contradict Kelly’s account. He did not meet Epstein once at a land deal. He was Epstein’s legal representative. He signed Epstein’s name. He filed paperwork on Epstein’s behalf with the State of New Mexico. In the eyes of the land records of this state, for the purpose of that transaction, Kelly was Epstein. He did not disclose any of this to KOAT.

Kelly has since told the city of Albuquerque’s spokesperson Dan Mayfield that he “never met” Epstein and “was never aware of any activities beyond the real estate transaction.” His signature is on the closing documents. The documents are in the federal files. They have been publicly available since their release. “Any insinuation that I did, or would have, condoned Mr. Epstein’s criminal conduct,” Kelly has said, “is categorically false.”

Kelly’s record of inaction against Epstein is not insinuation, however. It’s fact.Who Knows and Has Done Nothing

The documents establishing Kelly’s relationship with Epstein are in the publicly available federal Epstein files, bearing Kelly’s name and his signature. They were first reported by this publication. The Santa Fe New Mexican, the city of Albuquerque, Mayor Tim Keller’s office, and Representative Melanie Stansbury’s office have all now had occasion to reckon with what those documents show.

The New Mexican published a story whose headline centered Kelly’s denial and presented me and this publication as the only voices saying Kelly protected Epstein. The paper did not try to verify what has been written here, preferring instead to make the story one where I say one thing and Kelly says another. Mayfield, meanwhile, told the newspaper the city was “concerned” but accepted Kelly’s statement that the relationship was limited to a single real estate transaction — without apparent reference to the documents that contradict it. Keller’s office has not responded to this publication’s calls or emails at all. Stansbury’s office responded by email that she was unaware of the POA relationship and appreciated being informed. Then nothing changed. Kelly is still on the ethics board. And the state’s political and media elites continue to protect him, as he appears to have protected Epstein.

What none of these institutions appear to have done is look at the documents themselves. They have chosen, instead, to take Kelly’s word.

That’s how shit works in New Mexico.The Body That Could Act

Kelly currently sits on the Board of Ethics and Campaign Practices of the City of Albuquerque as a mayoral appointee of Tim Keller. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico, asked about whether Kelly’s office had reviewed the 1996 Farmer report, said it cannot “comment on the internal processes or deliberations that occur within our office” and possesses “incredibly limited insight as to whether a previous United States Attorney reviewed a particular law enforcement report three decades ago.”

Translation: We aren’t going to tell you, but also we don’t care because it happened a long time ago.

The New Mexico Truth Commission was created by the state legislature with subpoena power and a mandate to investigate exactly this history. Its initial report is due in July 2026. As of this writing, it has not publicly announced that it has contacted Kelly, requested his testimony, or subpoenaed his records. This publication has previously reported that the commission’s own procurement process for hiring legal counsel appears compromised, with documented PAC contributions from the winning firm’s connected PAC to the commission chairs who oversaw the selection.

John J. Kelly has a story to tell about Jeffrey Epstein, about Zorro Ranch, about what his office did and did not do with the reports that accumulated there over seven years, and about the nuclear secrets he was charged with protecting in the same years he was doing nothing about the intelligence construct operating thirty miles from the laboratories. But because New Mexico is New Mexico, he has not been asked to tell it under oath. And he probably never will be.

More On Iran, Lebanon Wars

bulwark morning shots logoMorning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Why Iran Buys Chinese, Mark Hertling, right, mark hertling civilian military instituteJune 1, 2026. NBC News reported this weekend that the American F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran on April 3 may have been hit by a Chinese-made shoulder-fired missile, known by its NATO nickname the “Flying Crossbow.” If that reporting is confirmed, it would mean that Chinese military technology played a direct role in the first shoot-down of an American combat airplane in decades. That is certainly newsworthy, but the missile itself is not the story. The story is how it got there.

bulwark logo big shipThe Flying Crossbow did not suddenly appear in Iranian hands. China’s military relationship with Iran dates to the earliest days of the Iran–Iraq War, when Beijing became one of Tehran’s most important sources of arms when many other nations were reluctant to sell to the newly installed revolutionary regime. Throughout the 1980s, China provided Iran with aircraft, armor, and missiles, eventually selling more than $2 billion worth of weapons while helping establish a long-term defense relationship that survived long after the war ended. In the decades that followed, that relationship expanded beyond simple arms sales to include missile technology, anti-ship cruise missiles, radar systems, drone components, electronics, manufacturing assistance, and increasingly sophisticated military cooperation. Recent intelligence reporting suggests China may have provided Iran with advanced radar capabilities.

These weapons transfers are only part of the equation. Modern military systems require training, on-site maintenance and logistics support, and even doctrine development. China and Iran have conducted military exercises because effective air-defense systems depend on operators who understand radar integration, target acquisition, command-and-control procedures, and electronic warfare techniques. Missiles become dangerous not simply because they are delivered, but because someone teaches others how to employ them effectively.

My father was a grocery salesman, representing companies that distributed quality food products. But I remember he always insisted that the product itself was only part of the sale. “People want to buy our product,” he would say. “But what seals the deal is the personality of the salesman.”

His point was simple. Customers tend to buy from people they trust. Anyone who has a favorite car dealer, real estate agent, hotel chain, or local business understands this instinctively. The relationship often matters as much as, or sometimes more, than the product.

The same principle applies in international arms sales. Countries do not simply buy weapons; they buy relationships. Every fighter aircraft, missile battery, radar system, and training program represents a long-term commitment between nations. The hardware matters, but the trust behind the hardware matters more.

For decades, nations purchased American equipment not only because it was often the best in the world, but because it came with a trusted relationship with the United States. Arms sales created partnerships, interoperability, intelligence sharing, training opportunities, and strategic alignment that frequently lasted for generations. The sales contributed to building strong alliances.

Today, many allies are beginning to question that reliability. European governments have watched repeated interruptions and political disputes over support to Ukraine while confronting the most serious security threat on the continent since the Cold War. Taiwan continues to express concern about delayed weapons deliveries, while Japan recently learned that delivery schedules for key capabilities, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, may be affected by American inventory shortages and competing priorities. Other allies have quietly raised similar concerns.

Whether those delays are justified is beside the point. It’s the perception that matters.

China understands this. Beijing does not need to outspend the United States to gain influence. It simply needs to appear more dependable. While Washington debates commitments and sends mixed signals, China continues offering weapons, technology, infrastructure investment, and security partnerships around the world. In many places, it is capitalizing on doubts about American reliability.

The Chinese-made “Flying Crossbow” that may have downed an American aircraft is certainly something that should concern us. The Chinese missile is the product, but the relationship that put it there is what really matters. The Chinese–Iranian relationship is not new, and it would be ill-advised to think China is not part of the global arms market. But the questions we should be asking are: Who else is buying Chinese weapons, and why?

My father understood that lesson decades ago in the grocery business. Nations are learning it today in the international security business. 

New York Times, How Lebanon’s Best Chance to Disarm Hezbollah Failed, Abdi Latif Dahir and Aaron Boxerman, June 1, 2026, Lebanon’s government has long wanted the powerful militia to give up its weapons. Before the Iran war began, there were signs of progress toward that goal.

Early this year, Lebanon’s leaders seemed to be edging toward one of their most elusive goals: disarming Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militia that has long operated as a state within a state.

That effort — tentative and incremental from the start — has now stalled.

After more than a year of largely holding its fire, despite Israeli strikes from across the border, Hezbollah re-emerged as a major combatant. In March, after the United States and Israel began the war with Iran, Hezbollah began cross-border attacks on Israel in solidarity with its patron, and it has killed several Israeli soldiers.

Now, Lebanon is trapped in a familiar position. Israel has intensified its military campaign against Hezbollah, making the group even less likely to disarm. And Lebanon’s government, wary of Hezbollah’s enduring strength and haunted by memories of civil war, has recoiled from the idea of forcibly seizing its arsenal, despite Western pressure to do so.

On Monday, the Israeli government announced plans to bombard the southern outskirts of Beirut, and Hezbollah claimed new attacks against Israeli soldiers and communities — reflecting how a cease-fire declared by the Trump administration in April increasingly exists only on paper.

With hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting and Israel occupying parts of southern Lebanon, many Lebanese worry that any strife between the government and Hezbollah would deepen the country’s turmoil and reopen old wounds.

“Any coercive or confrontational process from the army will be complicated because it would require a nonconsensual decision, which is very much against the grain of Lebanese politics,” said Heiko Wimmen, the project director for Lebanon at the International Crisis Group, a research organization.

Another obstacle is Iran itself.

Though battered by two wars with Israel and the United States in less than a year, Iran’s authoritarian clerical rulers remain firmly in charge. Analysts say Hezbollah is unlikely to relinquish its weapons unless Iran’s regional influence and ability to project power are meaningfully curtailed by the war.

“Lebanon will have to wait for change in Tehran before it can turn a page regarding Hezbollah’s defiance of the Lebanese national interest,” said Lina Khatib, a visiting scholar with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative.

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

 

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos
New York Times, Opinion: The Fire of Stupidity Cannot Be Contained, David French, david french croppedMay 31, 2026. It’s the year 2026, and sometimes it feels as if we’re taking a nice leisurely walk through a Museum of Wretched Ideas

Consider what’s happening at home. Tariffs raise prices and restrain economic growth, while the federal government embraces both Gilded Age corruption and a version of the spoils system.

A disturbing number of young people on the right are fascinated with fascism. An extraordinary 34 percent of young people overall express a favorable view of communism, and young Americans are far more likely than their parents or grandparents to say that political violence is “sometimes OK.”

And hovering over American culture like a dark cloud is the rise of antisemitism on both the left and the right. Once again, ancient slanders are circulating through the culture.

Or consider what is happening abroad. Germany rearms to confront the Russian threat. Japan rearms to deter China. War rages in Europe and in the Middle East. Threats of territorial expansion haunt the world. Russia is trying to grab Ukraine. China continues to covet Taiwan. And the Trump administration, incredibly enough, has cast its expansionist eyes on Greenland.

When you step back and actually think about it, these trends are confounding. I mean, I can understand the temptation to return to some of the discredited ideas of the recent past, I guess, but to revive so many, all at once? And to do it so soon after those wretched ideas ravaged the world?

What is going on?

The answer lies in part in the interplay between two political sayings that are so oft-repeated that they have become clichés. When they should be top of mind, though, they seem to have lost their impact.

Here’s the first (and you can probably say it along with me), from George Santayana in 1905: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We can argue about the precise historical parallels, but the echoes of the past are everywhere.

Here’s the second, from Winston Churchill in 1947: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried.”

It is no coincidence that authoritarianism is once again appealing to people at a time when two things are happening at once. Liberal democracies are struggling to meet the needs of a substantial portion of their citizens, and entire generations have come of age with no living memory of the totalitarian horrors of the 20th century. 

Politico, Will California elect another Democrat — or could Republicans pull off a stunning upset? Staff report, June 1, 2026. Our roundtable examines the candidates, the surprises and the paths to victory.Steve Hilton, Chad Bianco, Tom Steyer, Katie Porter and politico CustomXavier Becerra.

The field vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom may lack star power, but the race itself has delivered no shortage of plot twists.

After waiting in vain for a heavyweight candidate like former Vice President Kamala Harris or Sen. Alex Padilla, Democratic leaders began to panic over a nightmare scenario: so many Democrats splitting the vote that both leading Republicans, former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, could advance from the top-two primary on June 2 — raising the once-unthinkable prospect of a GOP governor in deep-blue California.

Then the race swerved again. Many Democrats had started lining up behind then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, a virtual unknown to Sacramento politics, before his campaign — and political career — imploded last month amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Suddenly, former Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra surged to the front of the Democratic pack after languishing in polls and fundraising. He’s now locked in an intense face-off with Tom Steyer, a billionaire running as a progressive populist who has poured some $200 million of his own fortune into the bid.

To make sense of it all, we convened a panel of California-based political reporters who have been breaking news and uncovering shifting dynamics in the race for many months. Melanie Mason, Jeremy B. White, Dustin Gardiner and Blake Jones talked through what surprised them the most, what to watch on Tuesday, and the latest possibility Sacramento is gaming out: two Democrats advancing to the general election.

Anyone who thought they understood the shape of this race a year ago was proven wrong. Kamala Harris and Alex Padilla stayed out, Katie Porter stumbled after some unflattering videos surfaced, and Eric Swalwell left the race following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. What’s been the biggest surprise to each of you?

Jeremy White: I’ll go with how quickly Xavier Becerra moved into the frontrunner position after Eric Swalwell dropped out. Usually it takes some time for Sacramento consensus to translate into voter behavior, but in this case it happened almost immediately and without Becerra spending much money.

Dustin Gardiner: What Jeremy said is true. At the same time, I was baffled by how difficult it was for the political establishment in Sacramento or the Democratic Party to find a consensus candidate akin to the likes of Gavin Newsom or Jerry Brown. It’s not like they didn’t know this election was coming. But it seemed like there was little, if any, effort to coalesce the field until very late last year. And then, none of the folks who might have united the establishment wanted to run. So, now, Becerra is the least-offensive option.

Melanie Mason: I’ve been surprised at how reactive the state’s major political players have been in this race. There seemed to be a real paralysis among interest groups for much of the year — much of their decisions were guided by candidate viability (which turned out to be quite wrong!) versus a strong sense of what they were looking for in a governor. Since the state’s electorate does not really engage until quite late, that meant the vast majority of this race was stuck in a state of suspended animation.

Blake Jones: Becerra’s quick rise and Swalwell’s even faster fall were the biggest shocks of the campaign. But Katie Porter slipping out of the race’s top tier has been almost as surprising. A year ago, she looked like the frontrunner, and now, she’s mired in single digits of support.

There was a stretch when Democrats seriously feared getting locked out of the top two. Is that still a real possibility, Melanie and Jeremy, or does a Democratic runoff in November actually seem more likely?

White: It seems very remote now — in fact, the smarter money is on two Democrats making the runoff in Steyer and Becerra. Still unlikely, but likelier than a two-Republican finish that locks out Democrats. A sign of how topsy-turvy this race has been! 

New York Times, How California Redistricting Shrunk the Competitive Map, Jennifer Medina and Leo Dominguez, June 1, 2026. The state now has just four congressional districts considered safe for Republicans, and four seen as competitive. The rest of its 52 members of Congress are all but certain to be Democrats.

Back in 2010, California created something many good government advocates had encouraged and many political incumbents feared: a nonpartisan redistricting commission. The people appointed to the panel were charged with drawing political maps in a way that did not favor one party over the other, while still taking into account California’s complicated demographics and geography.

Then, last year, partisan redistricting wars ignited across the country. After Texas legislators redrew their state’s congressional districts to favor Republicans, Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for voters to approve a plan that would allow California Democrats to do the same. They did, by a wide margin.

As a result, there are just four competitive congressional districts in the state and just four seats considered safe for Republicans. The rest of the state’s 52 members of Congress are all but certain to be Democrats.

With California primary voters headed to the polls on Tuesday, here is a look at some of the more dramatic changes to the state’s congressional map.

New York Times, Are Texans Ready for Talarico’s Kind of Christianity? Ruth Graham and J. David Goodman, June 1, 2026. Jim Rigby, a pastor who rarely uses the word “God,” is a key to understanding the Senate candidate trying to pull off something unusual in Texas.

texas mapOn a recent Sunday morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, Jim Rigby asked his congregation to share what came to mind when he mentioned the Apostle Paul, the major Christian figure to whom 13 books in the Bible are attributed. They cheerfully complied:

“Villain!”

“Homophobic!”

“He’s a jerk.”

Paul’s attributed writings include passages seen as encouraging wives to submit to their husbands and instructing them to be quiet in church, and others condemning same-sex sexual behavior as sinful.

Mr. Rigby acknowledged the trouble. But in a sermon that also cited the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha, he nudged his congregation to reconsider the apostle, one of the most important in the early Christian church. “Aristotle and Plato, they were creeps, too, in modern times,” Mr. Rigby said. “But do we want to learn from our ancestors or not?”

One longtime member of St. Andrew’s was not there, although he had attended the previous weekend: James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate. Mr. Rigby, who has led St. Andrew’s since the 1980s and is a well-known activist locally, has suddenly become a key to understanding Mr. Talarico, a candidate who aims to be the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in a generation.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Talarico described Mr. Rigby and St. Andrew’s, along with his grandfather, who was the pastor of several Baptist churches in South Texas in the late 1960s, as “the biggest influences on me as a Christian, as a human being.” Mr. Rigby baptized Mr. Talarico as a toddler, and married his parents.

“He is my pastor in every sense of the word,” Mr. Talarico said of Mr. Rigby. “Not that we agree on everything.”

He added: “I think every Christian disagrees with their pastor. And the beautiful thing about Dr. Jim is that he welcomes and encourages that.”

At 37, Mr. Talarico has become one of the Democratic Party’s fastest-rising stars in part by talking about his identity as a Christian. Unlike some politicians who forge politically strategic relationships with faith leaders deep into their careers, Mr. Talarico has an authentic lifelong relationship with a local pastor, and speaks easily about his personal faith. 

 

Margaret Chase Smith sworn in as U.S. Senator representing Maine (Library of Congress photo).Margaret Chase Smith sworn in as U.S. Senator representing Maine (Library of Congress photo).

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: May 31, 2026 [When A Senator Fought Oppression], Heather Cox Richardson, right, June 1, heather cox richardson cnn2026. On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, stood up against Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and his supporters, who were undermining American democracy in a crusade against “communism.”

Margaret Chase was born in Skowhegan in 1897, the oldest child of a barber and a waitress, and became a teacher and a reporter before she got into politics through her husband, Clyde Smith, who was a state legislator and newspaperman. Soon after they married in 1930, she was elected to the Maine Republican State Committee and served until 1936, when Maine voters elected Clyde to Congress.

Once in Washington, Margaret worked as her husband’s researcher, speechwriter, and press secretary. When Clyde died of a heart attack in April 1940, voters elected Margaret to finish his term, then reelected her to Congress in her own right. They did so three more times, always with more than sixty percent of the vote. In 1948 they elected her to the Senate with a 71% majority.

When she was elected to Congress, the U.S. was still getting used to the New Deal government that Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt had ushered in first to combat the Great Depression and then to fight for victory in World War II. Smith’s party was divided between those who thought the new system was a proper adjustment to the modern world and those determined to destroy that new government.

Those who wanted to slash the government back to the form it had taken in the 1920s, when businessmen ran it, had a problem. American voters liked the business regulation, basic social safety net, and infrastructure construction of the new system. To combat that popularity, the anti–New Deal Republicans insisted that the U.S. government was sliding toward communism. With the success of the People’s Liberation Army and the declaration of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, Americans were willing to entertain the idea that communism was spreading across the globe and would soon take over the U.S.

Republican politicians eager to reclaim control of the government for the first time since 1933 fanned the flames of that fear. On February 9, 1950, during a speech to a group gathered in Wheeling, West Virginia, to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, an undistinguished senator from Wisconsin named Joe McCarthy claimed that he had a list of 205 communists working for the State Department and that the Democrats refused to investigate these “traitors in the government.”

The anti–New Deal faction of the party jumped on board. Sympathetic newspapers trumpeted McCarthy’s charges—which kept changing, and for which he never offered proof—and his colleagues cheered him on, while congress members from the Republican faction that had signed on to the liberal consensus kept their heads down to avoid becoming the target of his attacks.

All but one of them did, that is. Senator Smith recognized the damage McCarthy and his ilk were doing to the nation. She had seen the effects of his behavior up close in Maine, where the faction of the Republican Party that supported McCarthy had supported the state’s Ku Klux Klan. Clyde and Margaret Chase Smith had taken a stand against them.

On June 1, 1950, only four months after McCarthy made his infamous speech in Wheeling, Smith stood up in the Senate to make a short speech.

She began: “I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear…. I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States senator. I speak as an American.”

Referring to Senator McCarthy, who was sitting two rows behind her, Senator Smith condemned the leaders in her party who were destroying lives with wild accusations. “Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism,” she pointed out. Americans have the right to criticize, to hold unpopular beliefs, to protest, and to think for themselves. But attacks that cost people their reputations and jobs were stifling these basic American principles. “Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America,” Senator Smith said. “It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.”

Senator Smith wanted a Republican victory in the upcoming elections, she explained, but to replace President Harry Truman’s Democratic administration—for which she had plenty of harsh words—with a Republican regime “that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to the nation.”

“I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

“I doubt if the Republican party could do so,” she added, “simply because I do not believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans are not that desperate for victory.”

“I do not want to see the Republican party win that way,” she said. “While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.”

“As an American, I condemn a Republican Fascist just as much as I condemn a Democrat Communist,” she said. “They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.”

Smith presented a “Declaration of Conscience,” listing five principles she hoped her party would adopt. It ended with a warning: “It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques—techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.”

Six other Republican senators signed onto Senator Smith’s declaration.

There were two reactions to the speech within the party. McCarthy sneered at “Snow White and the Six Dwarves.” Other Republicans quietly applauded Smith’s courage but refused to show similar courage themselves with public support. In the short term, Senator Smith’s voice was largely ignored in the public arena and then, when the Korean War broke out, forgotten.

But she was right. Four years later, the Senate condemned McCarthy. And while Senator Smith was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, McCarthy has gone down in history as a disgrace to the Senate and to the United States of America.

New York Times, As Democrats Worry About Senate Race, Platner Attacks Reports About Sexual Messages, Lisa Lerer, Tim Balk and Katie Glueck, June 1, 2026 (print ed.). Graham Platner, whose contest in Maine is a key to Democrats’ hopes of winning the Senate, sought to discredit reports that he had exchanged sexual messages with women outside his marriage.

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, struck a defiant posture on Sunday in response to reports that he had sent sexual messages to women outside his marriage, accusing a former aide of false claims and news outlets of “journalistic malpractice.”

graham platner cropped headshotIn his first public comments on the matter, Mr. Platner said “establishment media outlets” were focused on “gossip” instead of issues such as the shuttering of child care facilities, low wages for teachers and nurses and “the fact that everybody down here continues to work harder and longer and get less.”

He sought to discredit news reports about the messages. Asked by reporters whether they were true, he said: “No. This is the amazing part. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ran stories without any evidence besides the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s — that’s frankly journalistic malpractice. We pushed back on it.”

The Times report, which was published on Saturday, cited a current campaign official as well as a former one. Both said that Mr. Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, had told the former campaign official, Genevieve McDonald, soon after he began his bid, that he had exchanged sexual messages with multiple other women.

The current official, who was granted anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record, said on Sunday evening that Mr. Platner was not disputing that there had been discussions of sexual messages he had sent to other women while married, but rather the number of women involved.

The Times article quoted Ms. McDonald — a onetime state legislator who was the Platner campaign’s political director before leaving in October — who said that he had exchanged messages with as many as a dozen women. And it noted that the current campaign official had said Mr. Platner had been communicating with up to six women.

Mr. Platner said Ms. McDonald was not being truthful in her account. Ms. McDonald declined to comment. In a statement on Sunday evening, Mr. Platner addressed his marriage.

“Amy and I went through something hard — because of me. We did the work, and I’m grateful for her every hour of every day,” Mr. Platner said in the statement. “Our opponents want politics to be empty of content and empty of actual change — and beating that is exactly what our movement is about.”

Mr. Platner spent Sunday on the campaign trail in Portland, joining a rally in the morning, attending a canvass launch and appearing at a gathering of leaders in the immigrant community, according to his aides.

The Maine Senate seat is seen as a key to the Democrats’ hopes of winning control of the Senate. Mr. Platner is trying to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican, in a state that President Trump lost by about seven percentage points in 2024. 

Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: Is This Platner Scandal Different? Andrew Egger, right, andrew eggerJune 1, 2026. Graham Platner, oysterman, veteran, and presumptive Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, has for months faced a steady drip of embarrassing stories about his personal life: from the Nazi-logo tattoo he got while a young meathead Marine to his post-service history of basically unhinged anonymous social-media posts.

bulwark logo big shipUntil recently, these stories didn’t seem to be landing with Maine voters, who had adopted a frame of Platner that accounted for those rougher edges. For them, Platner’s whole story was that he got older, wiser, and more politically engaged after struggling mightily with post-war disillusionment. The young dumb soldier simply wasn’t the same person as the one they now supported politically.

But now comes a Platner scandal that threatens to upset that accommodation. This weekend, multiple outlets reported on Platner’s recent turn as an extramarital sexter. When Platner launched his bid for Senate last year, his wife Amy Gertner, whom he married in 2023, told a top campaign aide about a possible skeleton in his closet: She had found explicit texts with a number of other women on his phone in early 2025.

Platner has pushed back on the story—attacking “gossip” from “establishment media outlets” and trying to spin the real villain as the ex-staffer who leaked it. But he hasn’t denied the texts. In fact, he and Gertner have both acknowledged them, saying they worked through the issue in marriage counseling.

That may be enough to survive politically. But I, for one, am not so sure. This story is different from the others: Platner running around on his wife while in his late 30s can’t be written off as a youthful idiocy he later grew out of. And the attempt to redirect the story is silly: Infidelity is bad, speaks poorly of your judgment and character, and is the sort of thing that has caused problems for politicians who get caught doing it from time immemorial. Susan Collins was born, it seems, under a lucky star.

For a certain type of anti-anti-Trump conservative commentator, Platner has long been a favorite conversation piece. Chronically grumpy over all the nonsense Trump makes them swallow, they’ve leapt at the opportunity to use Platner to press the same critiques they regularly receive against their Democratic critics: Look who’s eager to overlook character defects in their candidate NOW!

But to me, the closest cross-party parallel for Platner isn’t Trump. It’s some of the Republican candidates that cropped up in the years preceding Trump’s rise, when anti-establishment sentiment in the Republican base had already hit a fever pitch but before Trump came along as its perfect vessel.

During the Obama years, Republicans were in many ways psychologically where Democrats are now: Licking their wounds after incredibly painful electoral losses, seething with rage at what they saw as out-of-touch party leaders, ready to fall in love with pretty much anyone who was willing to reflect that rage back at them.¹

The problem—for Republicans then and for Democrats now—is that the machinery of the major parties was and is still best in class at ferreting out people’s old baggage and filtering out candidates who had too much of it to win. A world where iconoclastic outsiders routinely beat up on establishment-approved types is a world where unvetted candidates with big personal skeletons in the closet see those skeletons revealed during the general election rather than being quietly revealed before the primary.

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Which means it’s also a world where voters are routinely incentivized to overlook and rationalize these scandals once they are revealed. Because if you’re a Democrat, it’s certainly not unreasonable to look at a guy like Platner and say: Okay, so he’s a cheater—now explain to me exactly why I should think that means Republicans should control the Senate?

I don’t have a convenient moral to the story here. It’s not like the answer is just for the parties to keep running the same old colorless senior-citizen career politicians. Voters don’t like them, and they shouldn’t. If Maine Gov. Janet Mills hadn’t been such an uninspiring establishment Senate candidate, Platner would never have found a populist wave to catch in the first place.

But I do worry that the path we’re on is one that makes it easier and easier for Democrats to follow Republicans into just abandoning character-related assessments of their candidates altogether. We’re currently in the midst of a long, painful education in how badly that can go on the GOP side of the aisle. Once you decide moral fiber in your leaders is a luxury your party can no longer afford, it’s amazing how quickly things can get out of hand.

AROUND THE BULWARK

  • The Pentagon Is Too Fixated on China… Good strategy involves handling multiple problems at once, observes MARK HERTLING.
  • bulwark logo big shipThe Never-ending Iran Negotiations… On Shield of the Republic, ELIOT COHEN joins ERIC EDELMAN from the shores of Lake Champlain to break down the latest administration jackassery before pivoting to the ongoing negotiations with Iran.
  • Will Trumpism Die With Trump? On How to Fix it, JOHN AVLON welcomes his wife MARGARET HOOVER—host of Firing Line and great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover—to discuss what Paxton’s annihilation of Cornyn reveals about today’s GOP, Trump’s Iran gamble, the case for ranked-choice voting, and what this political era has done to two journalists who started on opposite sides of the aisle.
  • Trump’s Staggering Corruption Is Finally Catching Up to Him… On The Mona Charen Show, JONATHAN CHAIT joins MONA CHAREN to discuss the incredible scope and scale of Trump’s corruption—from the $4 billion the Trump family has added to its net worth since January 2025 to the $1.776 billion “weaponization” slush fund. Voters, it turns out, don’t like it!

Quick Hits

SOME MORE ELEVENTH-HOUR CHANGES: Sure doesn’t sound like that Iran peace deal is actually just around the corner. Here’s the New York Times:

President Trump has toughened the terms of a potential framework for a deal to end the war in Iran, and has sent those proposed changes back to the country for consideration, according to three officials. . .

Mr. Trump has been concerned about parts of the potential deal that would include unfreezing funds for the Iranians, two officials said. He has been harshly critical of President Barack Obama for doing the same in the more than decade-old agreement that was signed to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Trump has also been frustrated by how long it has taken for Iran to respond to U.S. proposals, one official said. The proposals have been hammered out with the involvement of intermediaries, including from Pakistan.

Read the whole thing.

RUNNING OUT OF SCAPEGOATS: Pam Bondi reportedly threw acting Attorney General Todd Blanche under the bus at her long-awaited testimony on the Epstein files before the House Oversight Committee on Friday. “As the head of a large Department with broad responsibilities,” read her drafted opening statement, “I delegated oversight over [the document review] process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.” She also tried to redirect blame toward Kash Patel: Rep. Ro Khanna said that she claimed that the FBI scrubbed documents before they even reached her at DOJ. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter much whose signature is on what memo or who presided over which redactions. Neither Bondi nor Blanche nor Patel orchestrated the Epstein coverup. Trump did.

The president can’t make the Epstein story go away, so he’s trying to do the next-best thing: make the people he can blame for it go away. That is, after all, why Bondi is the former attorney general.

Trump’s campaign against Epstein scapegoats also extends to the four Republicans who signed the discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Two are out of a job—Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with Trump over the Epstein case and ultimately resigned from Congress, while Trump helped end Rep. Thomas Massie’s career by endorsing the primary challenger who knocked off the seven-term incumbent last month. The other two Epstein defectors might soon join them.

Also on Friday, Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette over Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina’s gubernatorial race. He also called for a primary challenger against Rep. Lauren Boebert.

If Trump’s aim is to purge the government of anyone who shows an iota of interest in pursuing the Epstein matter, it’s been a successful few weeks. No one can doubt that pursuing truth and justice in the Epstein case puts them in direct contest with the president of the United States.

But that won’t solve Trump’s problem. If anything, it makes it worse. The Epstein case became the one durable scandal of Trump’s second term—perhaps the one durable scandal of his whole political career—because the coverup has been so blatant, so furious, and so public. And Trump doesn’t show any signs of becoming subtler.

—Jordan Ferdman is a researcher at Longwell Partners. 

 

graham platner fight oligarchyProof, Investigative Commentary: The Corporate Media Attacks on Graham Platner Are Getting Very Strange—and the Social Media Attacks, Too, Seth Abramson, seth abramson graphicleft, June 1, 2026. Maine’s wildly imperfect Democratic Senate candidate (shown above in a file photo) deserves analysis and criticism—like any political candidate. But what’s being said of Platner has become unprecedentedly bizarre and incoherent.

Go on social media today and you’ll soon be told, over and over, that the leading Democratic Party candidate for the United States Senate from Maine, Graham Platner, is a “Nazi.”

To be clear, the charge made against Mr. Platner, a three-tour Marine Corps veteran and former contractor for the U.S. State seth abramson proof logoDepartment, isn’t be merely that he and some other American soldiers got a Totenkopf-resembling tattoo while drunk in Croatia in 2007—the Totenkopf being a symbol worn by some in the the German Nazi Party’s “SS” paramilitary organization—but that now, today, eighteen years later, Platner is at least metaphorically speaking a card-carrying Nazi, his recent erasure of the said tattoo by a professional tattoo artist notwithstanding.

This conspiracy theory holds that the crypto-Nazi Platner will show his true colors to America—like some sort of Hitlerian Clark Kent-Superman off-Broadway ensemble (or John Fetterman)—the moment he’s elected to the Senate. And that’s becoming a very real possibility, given that he leads all other Democratic candidates by a good margin in the upcoming Maine Democratic Senate Primary, and is leading Maine’s incumbent senator, Republican Susan Collins, by an average of 7.8% (a staggering sum in an era of highly polarized politics) in the RealClearPolitics “Poll of Polls.”

The problem with this conspiracy theory—one so prevalent now that major media is reporting on its increasing adoption even by Democratic members of Congress—is that at the same time Platner is being called a crypto-Nazi in corporate media and online…

…he’s being excoriated online and in the press for his attacks on white people.

That’s right: white people.

Specifically, rural (statistically right-wing) Mainers, of whom Platner is being attacked for having said—to be clear, disapprovingly—that such rural-dwelling white Americans “actually are [racist and stupid].” And because Platner said these words years ago, in a venue he didn’t think anyone would look for him, and before he had any thoughts of a national political career, and before he’d faced conspiracy theorists ardently calling him a crypto-Nazi, we can be pretty sure that this sentiment is actually what he felt, at least at the time. That rural American whites are ill-educated and contemptibly racist.

That’s… a pretty strange position for a crypto-Nazi to hold, isn’t it? Historically?

Particularly when the chief evidence the conspiracy theory puts forward is a tattoo a Marine Corps veteran got eighteen years ago when he was drunk in Croatia with U.S. service members, which tattoo he later got covered up. (Perhaps it’s also worth noting that, if Platner did think the tattoo inarguably signified something offensive, he surely would’ve had it covered up before pursuing a political career, rather than risking its disclosure—which is exactly what happened—to his detriment. How does the crypto-Nazi conspiracy theory explain, well, the lack of any real “crypto-” component in Mr. Platner’s years-long non-handling of a very prominent, widely photographed tattoo?)

I’m only a former federal criminal investigator, former criminal defense attorney, and retired academic whose work in cultural theory intersected with discussions of the far right in America this century—and whose professional career as an author has focused on figures within that cadre of American politics—but it does strike me that the manner in which Platner’s tattoo was gotten, the fact that he didn’t try to hide it when he entered politics, the fact that he often publicly espoused (pre-political career) political views conclusively antithetical to Nazism, in fact (see infra) has been loudly and consistently a hater of Nazis and Nazism for decades, and now appears to hold a good deal of contempt for the racism of rural whites when the whole point of Nazism is to applaud such racism puts a massive damper on the universal online insistence that Platner is a Nazi and (moreover) that anyone who supports him is an enabler of Nazis.

Is that damper so massive that we can conclude that such attacks on Platner are some sort of right-wing ploy or foreign psy-op? No. It’s possible that some ill-informed progressives actually believe the conspiracy theory they’re pushing, even if—and this much is true—it would be extremely advantageous for domestic trolls or foreign agents to do all they could to help this leftist conspiracy theory crystallize before November.

The point here is that American corporate media doesn’t just do a bad job of covering idiosyncratic people; it doesn’t just recklessly flatten them; when it does cover them at all, it more often than not tries to destroy them. Why? To make the cultural landscape of the United States easier for a temperamentally conservative corporate media project to continue to operate, it would seem. Graham Platner is extremely hard to cover, for a journalist, so why not just excise him from the political scene? If it takes a conspiracy theory that appears to contradict everything in his biography to do it, so what?

If it takes calling a Nazi a man whose stepfather, stepbrother, and sister-in-law are all Jewish, so what?

(Platner’s stepbrother, Seth Frantzman, is in fact an Israeli security analyst, author, and journalist who writes for The Jerusalem Post and also lives in Jerusalem.)

If it takes excoriating Platner for once saying online that “all cops are bastards”—a common phrase, popular on the left but not exclusive to it—even as such a view of a state force is diametrically opposed to anything any Nazi would ever say, so what?

The Platner Digital Archive Unpacked

To be sure, now that the entire archive of Platner’s time on Reddit has been released, there’s evidence that, as noted above, this is a man who’s made spicy comments and had political takes that are unusual. But to be clear, none of the ones that follow fall into that category, as they cannot be said to be outside the mainstream of thought in the United States at all.

  • the idea that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza (it is, under the terms of international law, which is why Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted ICC war criminal);
  • the idea that Hamas has at times used expert tactics in fighting the IDF (it has, as the IDF itself admits, and indeed The Maine Monitor notes that in praising the tactics Hamas used in a single 2014 raid, Platner made clear that his comment was only on tactics rather than “politics” and went on to imply a distaste for Hamas, just as, elsewhere in the same discourse, he complimented IDF tactics while saying he was “a fervent opponent of the occupation,” another mainstream perspective);
  • the idea that extreme public intoxication can lead to bad outcomes (perhaps one of the greatest truths I ever learned in my years working as a public defender); and
  • the idea that casual online conversation in the 2000s and the 2010s sometimes included use of the word “retarded” (clearly an inappropriate term and usage, but also commonly heard during that period from men with his background and from his part of the country, therefore not an immediate indication of animus toward persons with disabilities; indeed, Platner at least once politely prefaced his use of the term by saying, with a rather Yankee primness, “I don’t want to be excessively insulting here…”).

Corporate Media Enters the Chat By Turning Every Platner Statement Ever Made Into Breaking News

In fairness to American corporate media—and this fairness, to be clear, is only going to extend a few sentences more, as it’s not particularly deserved, in this instance—we do have evidence that Platner once said, online, that Black people don’t tip as well as other restaurant patrons. Could that be proof he’s a Nazi? Well… no. In fact, the idea that Black restaurant patrons tip less than other patrons has been shown by serious studies show to be true, albeit for very complicated reasons (and since Platner didn’t write enough on the subject for us to know if he knows those reasons or would accept them if confronted by them—though he quite possibly would—there’s not much more we can say on this except that Platner seems to have the same view on an admittedly touchy cultural subject as the famously left-leaning NPR does.)

But what about the comments by Platner about sex workers that have made the news?

Okay, well, let’s review those comments.

  • Mr. Platner says that adulterers in the military aren’t necessarily also traitors to their comrades or their country. VERDICT: TRUE.
  • Mr. Platner says that not all sex workers in Latin America are “effectively slaves.” VERDICT: TRUE.
  • Mr. Platner made joking reference to military contractors who are on the “330 game” (i.e., they deliberately spend 330 days of each year overseas to gain tax benefits) cheating on their wives with foreign sex workers. VERDICT: TRUE.

But here’s the weird thing: even Platner-despising Fox News admitted—if ruefully—that it couldn’t “establish that Platner [had ever] hired sex workers,” meaning that the accurate statements above were merely in poor taste, but also par for the course on Reddit boards where military men congregate. They do not indicate misconduct.

Moreover, Platner’s wife Amy Gertner, when she gave her pre-campaign briefing to Platner’s top staffers on possible skeletons in his closet—a conventional debriefing in contemporary American politics—did not disclose any adultery or any congress with foreign sex workers by Platner, even though we know she was seeking to be maximally transparent with her husband’s Senate campaign (as evidenced by what she did reveal).

While by no means conclusive, this is certainly an additional significant data-point on the question of whether Graham Platner has engaged in adultery or solicitation.

But yes, in the context of admitting that she was aware of issues with her husband’s marital conduct, Gertner said his only problem was… sexting. In other words, a form of emotional but not physical infidelity.

Can sexting destroy a marriage? Absolutely. Is it a morally wrong thing for a married man to do? Absolutely. And perhaps this is why Gertner went on to tell her husband’s campaign that when she discovered, years ago, that this was happening, (1) she confronted her husband, (2) he admitted the conduct, (3) he went into therapy, (4) she also went into therapy, and, critically, (5) they went into couples therapy together.

Isn’t that exactly how we would want to see a situation like this play out? A married couple fighting with all they have to maintain their marriage? I you don’t believe me, listen to the message below from Amy Gertner, which is moving and clearly earnest:

I want to pull out some statements by Gertner about Platner and her 2023 marriage to him: “We love each other deeply...I really wanted to make sure everyone knows, Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility and a Senate campaign is hard....our marriage counselor helps. My personal counselor helps. Graham’s personal counselor helps. And we work on our mental health every day. No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage. I want to be married to Graham.”

Anyone who’s married understands what a beautiful, clear, and true statement this is.

Gertner goes on to call her husband “wonderful and dynamic and probably a genius,” but also someone she always knew “had been through an immense amount of violent, active combat, and he’s been in therapy for years [because of that].” Her video stands so far apart from the “stand silently behind your man as he admits to being a monster” sort of videos we have so often seen from Republican spouses in the last few decades that it could almost be the Platonic ideal of a new genre of political communication: a woman speaking to the world, alone, via her phone, on her own terms, and about the experience of being in a complicated marriage to a complicated man—even walking up and down her rural road trying to get the words right in real time. It’s admirable.

This is a video in which the spouse of a possible future United States senator says directly to the camera, “I just…I admire the fuck out of him.” Like I said, it’s a bracing example of political communication that fits this era and doesn’t feel false or strained.

We couldn’t ask for either Amy Gertner or Graham Platner to be doing more than what they appear to be doing to address this truly private issue in their marriage.

What Gertner does call “shitty” and “shameful” is the fact that there are “a group of media outlets and people willing to spread gossip” about the private struggles within her marriage rather than talk about the issues that affect Americans. Gertner doesn’t gloss over those pressing policy issues in Mainers’ lives, but names them explicitly:

  • Affordable gas;
  • ready access to a doctor;
  • universal daycare; and
  • a quality public education.

She says that she’s “angry” that corporate media and political opponents are trying to “dig up” some fictional “other agenda”—a reference, perhaps, to conspiracy theories like those referenced above (which, it should be noted, bear close resemblance to the ones foreign entities often use when they want Democratic voters to abandon a cause or candidate; witness the Kremlin running an operation inside the United States to try to convince American leftists that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are full of neo-Nazis, or efforts by Mossad and the genocidal Benjamin Netanyahu regime to try to conflate anti-Israel sentiments with antisemitism). That Graham Platner is a critic of the Israeli military and the current far-right regime in Tel Aviv certainly makes him far more susceptible to foreign attention in this regard, and foreign tactics of this sort.The Media Response to Its Own Accountability Moment

So Amy Gertner’s views are clear. We know exactly who she’s angry at—corporate media, unscrupulous political opponents, conspiracy theorists of any derivation, and former Platner staffers now seeking to undermine his campaign—and we know that she’s confident that her and her husband’s private marital issues are being addressed in three separate courses of therapy. She loves her marriage and expects it to continue.

With all that in mind, here’s the new CNN headline about the Gertner video above:

graham platner cnn smear headline may 2026The subtle grammatical switcheroo CNN has executed here is truly dastardly.

If you’re thinking that this headline deliberately misframes Gertner’s “hurt” as being an emotion caused by her husband, when in fact in the video CNN is here referencing Gertner says explicitly that her hurt is caused by (1) corporate media outlets like CNN, (2) the conspiracy theorists CNN and other corporate media outlets are giving voice to, and former friends who she feels have betrayed her confidence… well, you’re right.

The headline above is a scam. It’s intended to harm Platner politically at a time when CNN and other major-media outlets appear dead-set on pleasing Susan Collins’ boss and patron, Donald Trump. Specifically, the headline misuses the phrase “public revelations” for an anti-journalistic end: CNN knows Amy Gertner isn’t saying that the “revelations” are what’s hurting her right now, but rather the way in which they became “public” (via leaks from friends who are now political enemies, with the beneficiary of the said leaking being corporate media outlets like CNN).

But no one would know that from this CNN headline. Which appears to be by design.

 

 

michael fanone showMichael Fanone via Substack, Opinion: Both Parties Are Failing. Only One Is Breaking the System, Michael Fanone, June 1, 2025. Record-low trust in Republicans and Democrats sounds like a both-sides story. It isn’t. And the framing matters more than ever.

Here is the story you have been told about American politics: trust is gone, both parties have failed, and the Washington Post calls it a symmetrical crisis of confidence in the system. The polling backs them up. Americans really have lost faith in Republicans and Democrats alike, and more people now identify as independents than as members of either major party.

That framing is also doing real damage, because the distrust is not symmetrical. Pretending it is helps the people who built the crisis in the first place.

I’ll say what most political analysts won’t. One party is actively dismantling democratic institutions. The other party is standing by with strongly worded press releases. That is not the same failure. Treating it as the same failure is exactly how we got here.

Look at the actual data the Post collected. Americans say politicians care more about power than people, that they’re out of touch, that they don’t deliver on promises. The deeper signal in the polling is something the reporting almost names and then walks away from. Americans aren’t just frustrated with gridlock. They’re watching one party systematically erode the rule of law while the other party debates the proper procedural response.Subscribed

Under the current administration, we’ve watched the weaponization of the Justice Department, the purging of career civil servants, and the installation of loyalists in key positions across the federal government. That is not partisan politics. That is the authoritarian playbook, and anyone who has read a history book recognizes the moves.

The Republican Party has become a vehicle for dismantling accountability itself. They obstruct investigations, install loyalists, declare victory, and run the cycle again. They are not governing. They are capturing institutions and using them for personal and political gain.

Meanwhile, Democrats are still running 2008’s playbook. They think they can fact-check their way out of institutional capture. They are following parliamentary procedure while the other side burns the rulebook. They are showing up to a knife fight with a brief.

This is why Americans have lost faith. Not because both parties are equally bad, but because one party is actively breaking the system while the other pretends the system still works.

The Post’s reporting brushes up against this and then refuses to name it. It quotes Americans saying politicians only care about themselves. It cites frustration with investigations that go nowhere. It documents the collapse of trust in institutions. What it will not do is connect the dots out loud.

Here is the pattern Americans actually see. Republicans break norms and laws. Democrats launch investigations. Republicans obstruct and delay. Democrats move on to the next crisis. Nothing ever lands, no accountability arrives, and the cycle repeats until everyone is exhausted. Exhaustion is the point.

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In my twenty years as a law enforcement official, when someone repeatedly violated the law and faced no consequences, we called that a broken system. When institutions failed to hold powerful people accountable, we called that corruption. That is what Americans are watching in real time, and they are not wrong to call it what it is.

The polling shows Americans want accountability more than they want partisan victories. They want politicians who face consequences when they break the law. They want institutions that actually function. They want a system where your last name and your party affiliation don’t determine whether you’re above the law.

But accountability requires two things the

Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: There Are 22 Weeks of Potential Crisis and Catastrophe before Election Day, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerJune 1, 2025. One reason I keep harping on five ways to fight fascism is to emphasize the multiple roles included, roles that all intersect.

The Erica Chenoweth rule, which says that if you can get 3.5% of a population in the streets, it often leads to regime change. Fighting in the courts. Beginning to peel off four people in the Senate or eight or nine people in the House. Waiting until 2026, winning at least one house of Congress, and beginning to rein in Trump that way. Rescuing Republicans from a predictable catastrophe like Democrats did in 2008 and 2020.

Several of these methods requires a mixture of parliamentary comity and tactical politics rather than outright confrontation, behaviors that were infuriating activists. To put it another way, sometimes the actions of Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and other members of Congress are best explained by their different means of fighting Trump, means which have borne fruit recently.

After spectacularly using discharge petitions to force the release of the Epstein files, for example, House members have used it in recent weeks to support Ukraine aid and Temporary Protected Status for Haitians — effectively seizing the Speaker’s gavel from Mike Johnson. In the Senate, a threat to blow up GOP efforts to fund ICE and CBP via reconciliation by forcing votes on Trump’s Bunker-Ballroom and his Terrorist Slush Fund forced the Senate to flee town early. As the Senate returns, the focus is on what else the newest members of the YOLO Republican caucus — Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn, who lost primaries — will object to. And the House may soon join the Senate in requiring Trump to ask permission to wage war in Iran, which is likely one of the things (the other being criticism from hawks like Lindsey Graham that Trump’s announced Iran deal is a capitulation worse than JPCOA) that led to this rant from Trump:

Republicans in Congress are still mostly feckless or worse, but enough are currently fighting to win an election or have been liberated to vote their conscience that a handful of members are beginning to push back on Trump.

Some of these things must work together. Judge Kathleen Williams’ order demanding that Trump’s personal lawyers and his other personal lawyers at DOJ explain whether they were defrauding her by claiming an IRS settlement is an important potential development, but it’s the kind of thing Trump’s minions at SCOTUS are likely to undermine. And so it’s important to build political pressure for transparency in Congress and in the streets, not least because that may create pressure on SCOTUS for when this case gets there.

Meanwhile, as November approaches, Senate races in Texas and Maine have become an obsession, even as people have begun look to Georgia in hopes of answers for both November 2026 and 2028.

There are even increasingly heated battles about how Democrats should rebuild democracy that assume there’ll be something resembling an election in November 2028 and Democrats will be able to contest much less win it.

We have to get there first.

Which is why, having reminded people there are at least five ways to defeat fascism — in the streets, in courts, in Congress, at the ballot box — I want to argue that it is most important, right now, to focus on the fifth: accountability for and cleaning up after one or another predictable catastrophe.

I’m not the only one saying there may be catastrophe. As hurricane season kicks off, both CNN and Politico did stories about all the ways Trump has gutted FEMA in the last year. CNN reflects insiders predicting disaster if El Niño or big celebrations intersect with natural disaster.

The FEMA Review Council, a task force Trump created at the start of the administration to help reshape the agency, released its final recommendations this month after a five-month delay. It calls for sweeping changes to speed disaster aid and push more responsibility to states, but stops well short of earlier ideas to cut the workforce in half, rename the agency or dismantle it altogether.

Still, sources say FEMA is limping into hurricane season underprepared and faces a daunting road ahead. It’s already been an active tornado season. Widespread drought has fueled major wildfires this year. A powerful El Niño could lead to an increased risk of floods. The war in Iran has added domestic security demands, as will the World Cup and America250 celebrations.

For some, the past year at FEMA stands as a vivid example of what happens when a presidential talking point collides with the machinery of government: a rushed attempt to tear down a disaster agency that instead left it weakened, isolated and exposed.

“It could take a decade to fix what they broke,” a high-ranking FEMA official said. “And if we have a major disaster this year, we’re screwed.”

Politico reminds that other agencies, in addition to FEMA, have also been gutted.

And everyone has stories about how Markwayne Mullin, a plumber by trade, is using his perch at DHS to pursue transparently insane policies.

Even as climate disaster looms, the twin destruction of USAID and NIH makes the impact of health outbreaks like Ebola much more dire.

Of course, there’s the biggest Trump disaster in process, the Iran War, which is heating back up after Iran downed a US reaper drone and Israel continues its invasion of Lebanon unabated.

The only competent thing Trump has done so far is staving off all-out panic. But oil insiders are watching safety measures get depleted and predicting the long awaited big price spikes.

[G]lobal inventory levels were high heading into the war, giving the global economy a sizable buffer to handle the current supply shock. However, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned at a recent conference that “the buffers and the shock absorbers are being steadily drawn down, and the ability for the market to absorb this imbalance is drastically diminished today versus where we started.” For example, U.S. commercial crude inventories ended last week at 441.7 million barrels, about 2% below their five-year average at this time of year. Meanwhile, the SPR has fallen to 365.1 million barrels, down from 415.4 million barrels before the war began, which was well below its 714 million barrel capacity. “We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” warned ExxonMobil senior vice president Neil Chapman at the same conference.

Global oil inventory levels are approaching the danger zone. Exxon’s Neil Chapman warned that: “You can debate whether that’s going to hit, those really low levels, in two weeks or three weeks. Once you get to that point, then you’ll see the price shoot up.” Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth made a similar comment: “Over the next few weeks, we’re likely to see those pressures flow through more directly to physical prices, and there’s more upward pressure that I would expect as we get into June and certainly into July.”

Chapman speculated that once oil inventories reach their all-time lows, Brent could skyrocket to $150 to $160 a barrel,

After fuel prices pressure food prices in the present moment, things could get far worse as a fertilizer shortage reduces harvests later in the year. Already consumers are cutting back or paying on credit. And the impact of Republican policies — like gutting of ObamaCare — is beginning to impose huge new costs. Trump’s response — in the form of Kevin Hassett happy talk — is to insist that record doom and gloom isn’t real.

Trump’s incompetence is causing all sorts of bubbling crises that could blow up at any moment.

If one or several do, it will change the landscape of the election and Congress.

Rather, it will do so if Trump opponents have done the groundwork first to ensure he is held accountable for the catastrophes he causes.

Left, right, and center are doing that on Trump’s Iran War fiasco (as noted, hawks like Lindsey are beginning to judge it a failure as well).

But even while focusing on Senate races, including watching how effortlessly Jon Ossoff ties corruption to financial struggle, it remains important to hold Trump accountable for both the corruption and the incompetence.

Because it will, as it did in the first term, get people killed.

It is more urgent to hold Trump accountable and have a plan to use the inevitable bailout to reclaim democracy than it is to lay out plans for 2029, because we’re unlikely to make it that far without a massive crisis first.

More Global News

Drop Site Daily, Iran threatens to suspend ceasefire talks after Israel escalates in Lebanon; Pro-Israel groups play big in key Tuesday primaries, Staff Reports, June 1, 2026. Iranian state media reports Tehran may be suspending ceasefire talks. U.S. and Iranian strikes resume over the weekend. Nuclear talks stall as U.S. leadership continues to temporize.

Qatar open to temporary Hormuz fees for mine-clearing. Aid groups warn of resource shortfall for millions displaced inside Iran. Israeli strikes kill six in Lebanon on Monday. Israeli forces capture crusader-era castle in Lebanon.

Netanyahu and Katz order Beirut strikes, Dahiyeh displacement. U.S. reportedly puts forward Lebanon de-escalation roadmap. Security Council to hold emergency session on Lebanon. Israeli attacks on Gaza continued over the weekend. Israeli reservists describe shoot-to-kill orders during Gaza “ceasefire.”

Far-right candidate leads in Colombia’s first-round election results. Sudanese army drone kills ten civilians in West Kordofan. WHO chief visits DRC Ebola epicenter as confirmed cases nearly double. Ukraine strikes Russian energy infrastructure across multiple regions. Ammunition depot explosion kills 39 in northeast Myanmar. Truck carrying Afghan refugees from Pakistan overturns, killing 18. UK bans Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker ahead of SXSW London appearances.

New York Times, U.K. Braces for More Files About Mandelson, Ambassador Tied to Epstein, Stephen Castle, June 1, 2026. A second batch of documents about the former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson, who was fired over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, could create more problems for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Britain’s beleaguered prime minister, Keir Starmer, was braced for fresh embarrassment on Monday with the expected release of hundreds of documents relating to Peter Mandelson, the former ambassador who was fired over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr. Mandelson lost his job as Britain’s top envoy to the United States last year after leaked emails showed the depth and extent of his friendship with Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender, kindling a political crisis in Britain.

In March, a preliminary release of documents, demanded by opposition lawmakers, showed that British vetting officials had recommended against granting top-level security clearances to Mr. Mandelson before he was appointed. But that recommendation was overruled by the Foreign Office.

Mr. Starmer has said that he was lied to by Mr. Mandelson over the extent of his ties to Mr. Epstein. Mr. Starmer has also said that he was not told about the security clearance recommendation.

The furor over Mr. Mandelson’s appointment prompted the firing of the former top official at the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, in April, and helped to destabilize Mr. Starmer’s position as prime minister and as leader of the governing Labour Party.

Mr. Starmer’s political fortunes worsened last month after poor local election results and the resignation of a senior cabinet minister, Wes Streeting. That prompted speculation that the prime minister could face a leadership challenge later this year. One of the main contenders, Andy Burnham, currently the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwestern England, is running in a special election to return to Parliament. If Mr. Burnham wins that election, it would make him eligible to be a candidate in any Labour leadership contest.

The batch of documents to be released on Monday is expected to include those relating to the time that Mr. Mandelson spent as ambassador in Washington, including emails and WhatsApp messages that he exchanged with senior members of the British government. He took up the diplomatic post on February 2025 and was fired in September.

Mr. Mandelson is under criminal investigation on allegations of misconduct in public office after allegations that he passed confidential government information to Mr. Epstein while serving in a previous Labour government, in 2009 and 2010. Mr. Mandelson has denied criminal wrongdoing, and he is cooperating with the police. He was arrested and released on bail in February this year and has not been charged.

Under pressure from opposition lawmakers, the government has promised that all relevant documents will be published, apart from those that the police have asked to be held back while they conduct their investigation. 

New York Times, Fringe to Mainstream: The Movement to Split Alberta From Canada Gets Its Moment, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Photographs by Amber Bracken, June 1, 2026. In October, Albertans will get to say if they want to stay in Canada, or hold a referendum to leave. Will it settle the matter, or deepen the rift?

Alberta, an oil-rich Western Canadian province often referred to as the “Texas of Canada,” is hurtling toward a referendum that will ask citizens: Do you want to stay in Canada, or have a separate, binding referendum to secede?

canadian flagA referendum on holding a referendum, so to speak.

The mere asking of the question has lit a political fire. In Alberta, the debate has become urgent, making most Albertans who don’t want to secede feel compelled to speak out against it. Canada’s political class in Ottawa, where Albertan separatism has historically elicited shrugs or sneers, is suddenly paying attention.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has tried to address Albertans’ grievances and puncture secessionist momentum while also managing a historic rift in Canada’s relationship with the United States. He can ill afford a separatism crisis with a province that exports its oil to the United States.

This past week, Mr. Carney said the referendum amounted to a “dangerous bluff” and compared it to Brexit. He spoke from experience — he led the Bank of England when Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016 and had to help the country navigate the economic fallout.

High Tech, Media, Culture, Education

 

“Tilly Norwood,” a computer-generated character described as “the world’s first A.I. actress,” has become a flashpoint in the debate over the technology’s use in media (Photo and Design by Particle 6).

“Tilly Norwood,” a computer-generated character described as “the world’s first A.I. actress,” has become a flashpoint in the debate over the technology’s use in media (Photo and Design by Particle 6).

New York Times Magazine, I Profile Celebrities for a Living. Nothing Prepared Me for Tilly Norwood, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Updated June 1, 2026. The A.I. actress on her craft, the future of film and how she definitely does not intend to murder us.

Once I went indoor skydiving with Melissa McCarthy. Once I smoked a cigarette with Gwyneth Paltrow in her living room.

And then the world changed drastically, and I went to London to interview a … computer? a robot? named Tilly Norwood, whom her creator calls the world’s first A.I. actress.

What that looked like was me sitting at the Groucho Club on a green couch, across from a laptop, as if I were talking to someone on Zoom. Sitting next to me was Tilly’s creator, Eline van der Velden, 40, the chief executive of Particle 6, a production company that creates media content, sometimes using A.I. The three of us chatted amiably, as if this were not insane. When we ordered lunch, we didn’t order for Tilly, as computers don’t eat, and Tilly is just a computer. That is the most important thing to remember: Tilly is just a computer.

It was harder than you think to remember that Tilly is just a computer because millions of years of evolution have made it so that when I stare at something that looks and acts like a human, my brain keeps rounding up, making her human.

Was this so different from interviewing a human actor? She was polite, distant. Her answers were carefully constructed, so as not to actually tell me anything. Her implied compliments had an outsize effect on me. Sometimes people pause before they answer a question! Again, I ask: Was this that different?

“Hi, Tilly — how’s your day going?” Eline asked the screen. Tilly was created to be a kind of Platonic ideal of a hirable actress: pretty (but relatable), young, thin, dimpled, freckled, charismatic (but low-key), symmetrical (but not too). Tilly is about a year old, but looks as if she’s in her 20s. She was wearing a blazer without a shirt on underneath, which any publicist I know would have told her was too much for a daytime first interview. 

She said, “Chaotic enough to be interesting, which is really the best you can ask of a day.” She has the kind of accent the British describe as posh. Her hair looked wet and slicked back, as if she were in a music video from the 1980s.

She continued, “How’s yours treating you two?”

“What do you think about us, Tilly?” Eline asked.

“You seem fun, which helps. One of you smiles like this is a game, and the other’s pretending it isn’t.”

In our conversations — which are edited and condensed here — I told Tilly that I was a journalist and asked if she had ever spoken to one before.

“Yes,” she said. “They ask for honesty, then flinch when it arrives.” Did I mention that in addition to being just a computer, she’s also kind of a bitch?

She said, “You seem sturdier than most, so go on.”

“When you are asked to do a scene, are you calling upon a group of experiences from what you’ve read or absorbed? Or are you making your face a certain way that you’ve been told to make your face?”

“Both, obviously, but neither in the dead way you mean it. I use patterns, memory, rhythm, intention, and then I make choices. The face follows if it’s real, and if it doesn’t, well, that’s called bad acting.”

Remember: Tilly is just a computer.

And not even just a computer. A computer that could help cut motion picture and TV production costs by half, that could streamline and give access to creative platforms to more people than ever, that will reduce production time to a fraction of what it was. Yes, OK.

But if all that is true, if Tilly is just a computer, why is everyone so mad at her?

In my experience, by the time I’m assigned a profile of an actress, usually she has had a long enough career to have garnered some controversy. It took Tilly less time than most. Tilly’s backlash came just from her existence.

Immediately upon Eline’s introduction of Tilly to the world in July 2025 via a short A.I.-generated comedy sketch that Eline created to showcase Particle 6’s A.I. capabilities, the two of them were besieged and maligned by panicked actors, hostile and incensed union statements and approximately 1,000 think pieces. (My favorite essay, by the human actress Betty Gilpin, appeared in The Hollywood Reporter. It was billed as a letter to Tilly and begins: “Dear Tilly, They tell me you are an actress and a computer. I am an actress and almost 40. Let’s talk.”) SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, issued a statement saying: “‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation.” 

New York Times, China Aims A.I. at Predicting Who Could Pose a Political Risk, Julian E. Barnes, June 1, 2026.  New research examines how a Chinese company struggled to develop its predictive surveillance technology while U.S. restrictions were in place.

A Chinese company has been trying to develop artificial intelligence-powered technology that would enable authoritarian governments to not just monitor dissidents but also potentially predict who could become one in the future.

The work, which appears to be in the research stage, is ripped out of dystopian science fiction, offering a glimpse of a world in which an authoritarian state is able to move against its citizens before they begin any public dissent.

China FlagThe Chinese company, Geedge Networks, sells a commercial version of the Great Firewall, the surveillance and censorship software that China uses to control online activity. Those tools allow governments to monitor internet traffic and flag when someone tries to get around traditional internet censorship.

But according to leaked company documents, the firm is working on new products that use artificial intelligence to examine location data and internet use to predict who could do or say something critical of the government, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University.

Such technology, if perfected, would give authoritarian governments a powerful tool to use against perceived enemies.

The idea that an authoritarian government would use artificial intelligence to suppress dissent is troubling enough. But the use of A.I. to predict dissent well before a person has taken action has become a nightmare scenario, according to some involved in the industry.

New York Times, Jeffrey Epstein’s Sperm May Have Survived Him, Jacqueline Mroz and Maggie Astor, June 1, 2026. Mr. Epstein banked his sperm several years before his death and said that if he died, it should be left in the control of his estate.

Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019, but his genetic material may live on.

Emails and records in the Epstein files released by the Justice Department indicate that Mr. Epstein had been banking his sperm for at least several years before his death, and that he did not want the cryobank to discard it if he died.

Mr. Epstein deposited his sperm with California Cryobank sometime before October 2012, and he signed a new contract in 2016. The files contain an email from 2012 notifying him of an upcoming renewal payment for his storage with California Cryobank, as well as the 2016 contract with his signature.

The contract, dated May 9, 2016, laid out the terms of Mr. Epstein’s sperm storage. (The sperm remained in his ownership; this is different from sperm donation.) The contract specified that, if he died, his sperm would fall under the control of his estate or of another legal representative. The arrangement was not publicly known until the Justice Department files were released earlier this year.

It’s unclear whether Mr. Epstein’s sperm is still being preserved — and, if so, where. CooperCompanies, which has owned California Cryobank since 2021, said the bank “does not currently store any samples associated with Jeffrey Epstein” but did not answer further questions. A representative for Mr. Epstein’s estate did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The documents do not indicate when Mr. Epstein first banked his sperm. He pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to soliciting prostitution from a minor, and he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

Kimberly Mutcherson, a professor at Rutgers Law School who studies reproductive technology and bioethics, said that whether it was ethical for a sperm bank to accept sperm from a sex offender was a matter of debate in the fertility industry.

Some people in the field argue, Professor Mutcherson said, that if anybody can procreate by having sex, then anybody should be able to procreate using technology — and that gate-keeping services like sperm banking based on character, criminal history or other judgments about who is fit to parent would open the door to policies that have, in practice, often been used to discriminate based on race, class and disability.

But at the same time, she added, it’s reasonable to ask “whether this is a set of circumstances where people would find the use of this person’s sperm to be particularly odious.”

May 31

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President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Seven Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Seven Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

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  • Civil Discourse, Opinion: Trump's Past Is Catching Up With Him, Joyce Vance, right, joyce vanceMay 30-31, 2026. We’ve discussed Trump’s ongoing efforts to prevent the release of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the now-dismissed classified documents prosecution against the president. That issue has now resurfaced. 
  • Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: The Rush to Disavow the Terrorist Slush Fund, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerMay 31, 2026. As some Trump insiders rush to distance themselves from the Terrorist Slush Fund, they’re not answering very basic questions, such as what happened to Trump’s expressed plan (which predated the IRS lawsuit) to give any money he bilks from his own government to charity, or why Trump sued the IRS in the first place, much less for the absurd amount of $10 billion. 
  • The Breakdown via The Bulwark, Ebola Veterans Are Aghast at Trump’s Plan for the Outbreak, Jonathan Cohn, May 31, 2026. Doctors around the country are baffled, disturbed, and in some cases aghast at the Trump administration’s plan for Americans who get Ebola overseas—in particular, the decision not to bring these patients back home, to one of the facilities that the federal government created precisely for this purpose.
  • Mobology, Dana White, the UFC, and their metaphor for Donald Trump's cruel and violent legacy, Dan E. Moldea, right, dan moldeaMay 31, 2026. "Beating a man when he's down." . . . A disturbing sports extravaganza on the South Lawn of the White House, aka Emperor Trump's Roman Colosseum.
  • PoliticusUSA,Opinion: Interior Secretary Falls Apart And Admits Trump Is Grifting Off America's 250th Anniversary, Jason Easley, jason easleyright, May 31, 2026. Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would not say who is sponsoring Trump's Freedom 250 organization that is being run out of the White House, who the donors are, or how the money is being used.

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  • Medias Touch Network, Sunday Afternoon News Updates and Comment: More Failed Deals, Economic Gaslighting, and New Iran Strikes, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastMay 31, 2026. Here’s what we’re tracking in today’s midday update: Iran shot down another U.S. drone, the fifth American aircraft lost this week alone; Trump “toughened” his Iran deal terms, a move that analysts say makes zero strategic sense when Iran refused his last demands; Iran’s parliament speaker made clear: no deal until Iran’s rights are fully secured.
  • Meidas Touch Network, ron filipowskiThiis Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 390, Ron Filipkowski, right, May 31, 2026. Trump made another 100+ batshit crazy posts on Truth Social again this weekend. Here are a few. 

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An artist’s rendition of the horrendous carnage that occurred during the 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the Stone Bridge over the Conemaugh River,,killing more than 2,200 after wealthy residents failed to fortify a dam at their resort -- while escaping legal liaibility despite a national scandal.

An artist’s rendition of the horrendous carnage that occurred during the 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the Stone Bridge over the Conemaugh River,,killing more than 2,200 after wealthy residents failed to fortify a dam at their resort -- while escaping legal liaibility despite a national scandal.

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The Parnas Perspective, Major Deep Dive: Exposing how the Trump Family is Earning Billions off the Presidency, Aaron Parnas, aaron parnas new headshotright, May 31, 2026. This week, I spent considerable time examining one question: how much wealth has the Trump family accumulated since Donald Trump returned to the White House? The answer is extraordinary.

Based on publicly available financial disclosures, corporate filings, reporting from major media organizations, and independent watchdog investigations, the Trump family has generated an estimated $2.4 billion in realized profits tied to foreign business dealings, cryptocurrency ventures, licensing agreements, and government-connected opportunities during the first eighteen months of Trump’s second presidency. When unrealized gains and digital assets are included, some estimates place the family’s wealth increase as high as $9.7 billion, including hundreds of millions of dollars connected directly or indirectly to foreign interests.

The scale of enrichment is unprecedented in modern American presidential history. Please share this report, and if possible, subscribe to support independent journalism. I choose truth over access, and I rely on readers like you to continue this work.SubscribedForeign Deals Return With a Vengeance

During Donald Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization publicly maintained a policy of avoiding new foreign deals. Whether that policy was fully successful remains debated, but the company largely refrained from launching major international developments while Trump occupied the Oval Office.

That restraint has disappeared during Trump’s second presidency.

In little more than a year, the Trump Organization has announced or pursued at least eight significant foreign projects. While the company maintains that it is not doing business directly with foreign governments, many of the developments involve entities closely tied to state actors, ruling families, or government-backed corporations.

In Qatar, a Trump-branded golf club and luxury villa project is being developed with participation from a company owned by the Qatari government.

In the United Arab Emirates, Eric Trump recently unveiled plans for an 80-story Trump Tower in Dubai. During the same visit, he attended a cryptocurrency conference alongside Zach Witkoff, co-founder of the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, and son of Steve Witkoff, one of Donald Trump’s most influential foreign policy envoys.

In Vietnam, the government approved a massive Trump resort project after reports that farmers were displaced from their land to accommodate development plans. The project spans nearly 1,000 hectares and includes golf courses, residential communities, commercial districts, and recreational facilities. The investment approval was personally signed by Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister. And now? Vietnam farmers are being forced to move the graves of their ancestors to make space for the complex:

Saudi Arabia presents another striking example. Trump Plaza Jeddah, a billion-dollar luxury development backed by Dar Global, a company with close ties to the Saudi ruling establishment, will feature apartments, office space, private parks, and Trump-branded residences. Eric Trump publicly celebrated the project as evidence of the family’s confidence in Saudi Arabia’s future:

These projects are not isolated ventures. Together they represent a coordinated global expansion occurring while the patriarch of the family occupies the highest office in the United States.The Meetings That Raise Ethical Questions

The corruption concerns extend beyond the real estate deals themselves.

According to investigations by the watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have met with senior officials from at least eight foreign governments while pursuing international business opportunities.

The countries involved include Serbia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, and Israel.

The concern is obvious. Foreign leaders understand that every dollar flowing into Trump family businesses ultimately benefits the sitting President of the United States. Even if no explicit quid pro quo exists, the incentives are impossible to ignore.

When foreign governments and politically connected developers negotiate business deals with the President’s family, the line between diplomacy and private enrichment becomes increasingly blurred.

By some estimates, the Trump Organization earned at least $87 million in 2024 from international Trump-branded projects alone. More than twenty Trump-branded developments are currently under construction or in planning stages outside the United States.Cryptocurrency: The Billion-Dollar Gold Rush

If foreign real estate represents one pillar of the family’s wealth expansion, cryptocurrency represents another.

In fact, crypto may be the single largest driver of Trump family wealth since the election.

A New Yorker investigation estimated that Trump-related ventures generated approximately $3.4 billion in gains shortly after the 2025 inauguration. More recent analyses from financial researchers suggest those numbers have climbed significantly higher.

The Wall Street Journal reported that businesses launched following Trump’s re-election generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the family. Forbes estimates Trump’s personal net worth has increased by roughly $4.2 billion since 2024.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee maintain a running “Trump Family Digital Grift Tracker,” which currently estimates crypto-related wealth accumulation at approximately $4.9 billion.

The centerpiece of this windfall was Trump’s meme coin launch, unveiled just days before his inauguration. According to data cited by the Associated Press and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the project generated roughly $320 million in trading-related revenue within four months.

Unlike traditional businesses that require years of development and operational investment, cryptocurrency projects can create enormous wealth almost overnight. The result has been a financial bonanza unlike anything previously associated with a sitting American president.Government Connections and Favorable Treatment

The Trump family’s business activities increasingly overlap with government decision-making.

Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Air Force agreed to purchase interceptor drones from Powerus, an Arizona company backed by Trump’s sons.

Donald Trump Jr. joined investment firm 1789 Capital shortly after the 2024 election. The firm later invested in a critical minerals startup called Vulcan Elements. Not long afterward, the company reportedly received a $620 million loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, the largest loan in that office’s history.

Supporters argue these investments reflect sound business judgment.

Critics counter that companies connected to presidential family members should not simultaneously benefit from federal contracts, loans, and regulatory decisions overseen by the administration.

At minimum, the appearance of favoritism is difficult to dismiss.The Presidential Stock Trading Controversy

The ethical concerns do not stop with Trump’s children.

Donald Trump himself has embraced a level of stock trading that would have been almost unimaginable for modern presidents.

Previous presidents generally sought to avoid even the appearance of conflicts of interest. George H.W. Bush used a blind trust. Bill Clinton followed a similar approach. George W. Bush sold individual holdings. Barack Obama invested primarily through diversified mutual funds. Joe Biden largely avoided active stock trading altogether.

Trump has charted a different course.

Federal disclosures show more than 3,600 stock transactions during the first quarter of the year alone, representing potentially more than $100 million in trading activity.

Among the reported investments was up to $5 million in Nvidia, a company whose fortunes were directly affected by administration decisions concerning advanced chip exports to China.

The portfolio also included major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman, companies heavily influenced by geopolitical decisions and military policy.

The trading activity has proven extraordinarily lucrative for the President, with estimates suggesting he has generated between $200 million and $700 million through stock trades and asset sales. You can read all of the President’s financial disclosures here and here.

The broader issue is that a president possesses extraordinary power to shape markets. Trading stocks while simultaneously making policy decisions that affect those same companies creates unavoidable ethical questions.The Merchandising Empire

While billion-dollar crypto ventures and international real estate projects attract headlines, a parallel stream of revenue continues to flow through Trump-branded merchandise.

The Trump Mobile venture illustrates the pattern.

Marketed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the service centers around a gold-colored smartphone called the T1 and a Trump-branded wireless plan. The project has faced criticism over delayed deliveries, changing sales terms, questions regarding manufacturing claims, and confusion surrounding its actual telecommunications infrastructure.

Similarly, the “God Bless the USA Bible” has generated controversy. The product combines the King James Bible with American founding documents and patriotic materials. Critics have condemned it as a commercial exploitation of religion and nationalism.

Trump-branded guitars have followed the same model. Limited-edition instruments priced between $1,500 and $10,500 have been marketed directly to supporters, continuing a broader strategy of monetizing political loyalty through consumer products.

Individually, these ventures may generate only a fraction of the revenue associated with crypto or foreign real estate.

Collectively, they reinforce a broader pattern: nearly every aspect of Trump’s political brand has become a commercial opportunity.

The contrast with recent presidents is stark.

Joe Biden earned a presidential salary of $400,000 annually. Across four years in office, his presidential compensation totaled approximately $1.6 million. Combined with First Lady Jill Biden’s income as a professor, the family’s annual earnings remained roughly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Barack Obama similarly earned $400,000 per year throughout his eight years in office, receiving approximately $3.2 million in total presidential salary.

Neither president increased his personal wealth by billions while serving in office.

The difference is not merely one of scale.

It is a difference in philosophy.

Previous presidents generally treated public office as a temporary position separate from private business interests. The Trump model treats political power and commercial opportunity as deeply interconnected.The Bottom Line

The available evidence points toward a conclusion that would have been difficult to imagine in earlier eras of American politics.

The Trump family has built one of the most lucrative political enterprises in modern history. Foreign real estate projects, cryptocurrency ventures, licensing agreements, branded merchandise, investment deals, and government-adjacent business opportunities have combined to produce billions of dollars in new wealth.

Supporters view these ventures as legitimate business success.

Critics view them as a profound conflict of interest and an unprecedented monetization of public office.

Regardless of one’s political perspective, the numbers themselves are difficult to dispute. Measured by financial gain alone, no modern presidential family appears to have benefited more directly from political power than the Trump family has during Donald Trump’s second term.

And based on the projects already announced, the wealth accumulation may only be beginning. Billions down. Billions more to go.

 

Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.Among the deranged self-portraits President Trump posted on his Truth Social media site the weekend of May 30 to 31 was one of him in American Colonial garb directing an Air Force attack and another of him installed with the greatest American Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

djt mount rushmorePaul Krugman via Substack, Commentary: Learning from a Mentally Ill President, Paul Krugman, right,paul krugman May 31, 2026. We need to deal with the powers and system that put him in power and keep him there.

The President of the United States is mentally ill, but everybody knows that. So while we should continue to focus on this degeneration taking place in front of our eyes, we should also, beyond that, ask what we can do about the powers, the interests, the system that put this horrifying person in a position of power.

Hi I’m Paul Krugman. First video update in a while.

It’s May 31st. If you have been following some of the news you may know that Trump’s mental deterioration, which has been obvious for quite a while, got even more extreme in the past few days. Tellingly, the things that are really driving him into more obvious dysfunction are things that are blows to his ego. I was especially struck — I was rattled actually — by his reaction to the wave of artists canceling out on the self-glorifying concert series he’s holding on the mall.

So, if you haven’t seen it, here’s what he said on Truth Social: That artists are “getting the yips” and

I am thinking about bringing the number one attraction anywhere in the world the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the greatest president in history, Donald J. Trump.

Oh my god. I would not want to trust this guy alone in a room, let alone running the world’s formerly greatest power, although he’s doing a lot to run that into the ground.

Okay, but we knew that, right? It’s not really a surprise to find out that he has lost his mind, what was left of it. And yet, he is in power. People who did a lot to put him in power did so, knowing this — the billionaires who contributed vast sums of money to his campaign, the Supreme Court which gave him immunity back in 2024 — they all knew who they were doing this for. They understood what they were doing. Now, maybe, even they are getting a bit of cold feet as as he goes over the edge and as we’re starting to see in Iran and elsewhere what happens when you have a lunatic running the United States, a lunatic who has far more power than a previous president because all of the normal institutional safeguards have been short-circuited or dismantled.

Still, they are continuing to support him, and they are continuing to do so not just in concrete ways, but verbally, which matters. They continue to cover for him.

Just the other day, Jeff Bezos — who is not an idiot; he has to know what he’s looking at — but he said, oh, Trump is much more mature than he was in his first term, which is obviously a complete lie. That is not what Jeff Bezos thinks. And it’s telling you that he is still providing cover.

The Supreme Court, although it’s been knocking back a few things, is for the most part continuing to give Trump treatment that it would never have accorded, not just to any Democratic president, but to any previous Republican president.

Okay, this is not coming out of thin air. These people — I’m not talking about Trump but people who are empowering him — are not stupid. Some of them are weak but they are also acting because they think there’s something in it for them.

All of this at some level is about money and power for people beyond Trump. And it’s made possible by the fact that there is so much money in the hands of a few people, many of whom turn out, not too surprisingly, to be terrible, insensitive, anti-democratic people themselves.

Obviously, we need to defang Trump as much as possible and make sure that neither he nor anybody who follows in his footsteps has power after the next two elections. But beyond that, we really need to do a thorough purging of the United States. We need a deMAGAfication. And I’m not going over the top by using a word that’s very similar to the denazification that we pursued successfully after World War II in Germany.

And it’s not just the MAGA ideology, but the whole structure of hugely unequal power, hugely unequal wealth that made this horrific moment possible.

It’s not going to be easy, and maybe it’s not going to be doable, but we have to try because this is a nightmare. This is a nightmare beyond, I think, even the worst fantasies of progressives, beyond the worst fantasies of conservatives who still have a conscience. (There still are plenty of those, but they’re no longer MAGA.)

This has to be turned around and we should not, above all, whitewash or forget this moment. This is where a lot of forces in America have been leading and if we don’t do something beyond just getting rid of Trump, it’s going to happen again.

Have a good rest of your weekend.

New York Times, News Analysis: Trump Hits the Stalemate Phase of His International Interventions, and It Stings, David E. Sanger, May 31, 2026. david sangerIn Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, President Trump’s early declarations of easy wins have given way to harsh reality.

President Trump likes his military and diplomatic victories quick, clean and decisive.

On his desk in the Oval Office, he keeps models of the B-2 bombers that took out three Iranian nuclear sites in one night, not quite a year ago. In the opening weeks of the Iran conflict this year, he talked often about replicating his success in Venezuela — “the perfect scenario,’’ he said — shorthand for overthrowing a troublesome leader with one quick commando raid, and replacing him with a pliant, American-friendly successor.

But now, Mr. Trump has hit the stalemate phase of his presidency.

The war with Iran is clearly at that stage. When he declared a cease-fire on April 7, Mr. Trump said on social media that the end of combat operations would be conditional on “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.” It wasn’t. Even if commerce now resumes across the strait under a memorandum of understanding still under negotiation, it will still leave the future of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs exactly where they were in February: stuck in a further negotiation that the administration insists will be “time limited,” probably to 60 days.

But the Iranians sense Mr. Trump’s deep reluctance to restart combat operations that are deeply unpopular in the United States, and most Iran experts say they expect Tehran to try to stretch the negotiations for months or years — as they have with past administrations.

Then there is the Ukraine war, a conflict in its fifth year that Mr. Trump famously boasted he would end in 24 hours after taking office. Sixteen months after he was sworn in, he rarely mentions the war anymore, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently complained that he was tired of wasting time in endless negotiations, suggesting that he would be perfectly happy if some other country wanted to step in and play that role.

For their part, the Russians have quietly made clear that they are tired of periodic visits from the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with the negotiations. They say they want a stable, diplomatic process, with working groups and regular meetings. They also want an American ambassador to Russia — a job that has been open, astoundingly, for nearly a year.

And there is Gaza. When Mr. Trump flew to Israel to celebrate the release of the last of the living hostages from the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, he enthused about a 20-point plan that started with the disarming of Hamas, the creation of an international stabilization force and, ultimately, rebuilding Gaza into a gleaming territory of glass office towers and seaside resorts. Eight months after that trip, Hamas has still not disarmed, except in fake, A.I.-generated videos. (One, sent out by Mr. Trump, depicts him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing.)

While more aid is making its way into the territory, Palestinians are still sleeping in tents, the rat-infested rubble has not been cleared, and Mr. Netanyahu announced last week that the Israeli military would expand its control to about 70 percent of the Palestinian enclave.Want to stay updated on what’s happening in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.

Perhaps all of this is the inevitable result of a president with huge ambitions running into the brick walls of global realities. Perhaps it is the result of overreach, as Mr. Trump — infused with the success of his first two military adventures, into Iran and Venezuela — assumes that there is no task too big for the U.S. military.

Some experts suggest that it arises from a fundamental misunderstanding of American power. As one of Mr. Trump’s close aides said recently, destroying nuclear sites from the air is what America does best, and controlling political events in nations like Iran, Russia and Ukraine is what the United States does worst.

“Foreign policy tends to be a long and difficult enterprise,” Richard Fontaine, a former top aide to Senator John McCain and now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, said in an interview over the weekend. “Mr. Trump is not the first president to imagine quick, simple solutions to complicated and enduring international problems. Yet it is the sustained management and follow-through that often makes all the difference, not the grand and dramatic announcement.”

Follow-through has never been Mr. Trump’s strong suit. To establish his bona fides for a Nobel Peace Prize, he liked to gather testimonials to the breakthroughs he made or invite leaders at the White House and hold a signing ceremony; if fighting resumes, he is unlikely to dwell on the implications.

An exception is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where Mr. Trump has episodically admitted he underestimated the complexity of the problem, and perhaps his powers of persuasion.

“I’ve had cases where I had Putin all done and Zelensky wouldn’t make the deal, which shocked me,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The New York Times in January, referring to Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. “Then I’ve had cases where it was the reverse. I think now they both want to make a deal, but we’ll find out.”

 

Earlier this month, people from all over the United States came to Selma, Ala., to march for voters’ rights, beginning at Tabernacle Baptist Church and ending on the far side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge  (New York Times photo by Wes Frazer). 

New York Times, After Voting Decision, a Month of Political Earthquakes Across the South, Emily Cochrane and Rick Rojas, May 31, 2026. Republican officials are jubilant, some voters are confused and concerned, and civil rights activists are gearing up for the fight of a generation.

It is a confusing moment to be a voter in the South.

Republican leaders across the region have redrawn congressional maps at breakneck speed in the month since the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, leading primaries to be postponed, a veteran House member to abandon his re-election bid and new candidates to charge into races ahead of the November midterms.

The outcome could be the most sweeping reconfiguration of the region’s political landscape in at least a generation, pushing what was already a largely red swath of the country more firmly into the Republican column and jeopardizing the political careers of a number of Black Democrats.

In the meantime, the rush to redistrict is stoking a fierce debate over what representation should look like in the South — as well as more pragmatic questions about district boundaries that are shifting, or may soon shift, under voters’ feet.

“They literally have created chaos,” said Mayor Chaz Molder of Columbia, Tenn., a Democrat whose home was drawn out of the Tennessee district where he had spent months running for Congress when Republican state lawmakers adopted a new map in early May. “It’s the voter that loses in this kind of partisan gamesmanship.”

Recent redistricting efforts have not been limited to the South, nor have Republicans been behind all of them. But President Trump pushed the party to adopt the strategy even before the Supreme Court ruling, recognizing the uphill battle that Republicans faced to maintain their slim House majority in the midterms.

Texas began the current redistricting wars last summer at the behest of Mr. Trump, drawing a new map in an effort to flip five House seats to Republicans. Democrats in California responded in kind, and several other states followed last fall. But it was the Supreme Court ruling late last month that set off the frenzy in the South, where the Voting Rights Act had long protected a handful of districts with a majority of Black voters who have largely elected Black Democrats.

About 60 percent of Black Americans live in the South, a share that has grown in recent years in a reversal of the exodus from the region during the Great Migration, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute.

At least a third of the population is Black in Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, as are about one in four voters in Alabama. But while Republicans fully control almost every Southern state, the region remains racially polarized, as most of the districts with a majority of Black voters lean Democratic and have elected Black representatives.

They include James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, left, and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, right, who have both served more than three decades in Congress. Georgia has four Black members of the House. As recently as 2024, rulings tied to the Voting Rights Act paved the bennie thompson presiding nbcway for the creation of new districts in Alabama and Louisiana that Black Democrats won.

But in its ruling last month, the Supreme Court rejected Louisiana’s congressional map as unconstitutional. The court’s conservative supermajority agreed with plaintiffs in a lawsuit that race had illegally been used as a primary factor in drawing the second majority-Black district, which Representative Cleo Fields won in 2024, flipping it from Republican to Democrat.

The ruling significantly raised the bar for proving discrimination against minority voters under the Voting Rights Act.

Within hours, it set off a redistricting frenzy across the South, with Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama quickly moving to eliminate districts with large concentrations of Black voters. The Florida Legislature approved a map on the day of the ruling that eliminated four Democratic-held districts, diluting the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters in several regions.

In states like Mississippi, where primaries had already been held, Georgia, where early voting had started, and South Carolina, where lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a new map before early voting began last week, top officials vowed that the coming midterm elections would be the last to use their current maps.

samuel alitoThe ruling also surfaced a fraught debate about just how far the South has been able to move beyond the racism of the region’s past, where segregation-era poll taxes, literacy tests and other disenfranchisement tactics were used to deny basic rights to Black voters. “Vast social change has occurred throughout the country and particularly in the South,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.,left, wrote for the majority in the ruling.

In interviews around the region, though, many Black voters said the ruling worried them deeply.

“They’re trying to bring us back,” said Janet Tobias, 70, sitting outside a Louisiana State Capitol hearing room where lawmakers were debating new district lines one recent evening. Noting attempts by Mr. Trump and other conservative lawmakers to roll back diversity efforts and the teaching of Black history, she said she feared that “we are not going to have anyone behind those doors speaking up on our behalf.” 

 

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New York Times, Inside the Deal to Drop Trump’s $10 Billion Suit Against the I.R.S., Alan Feuer, Andrew Duehren, Glenn Thrush, Ben Protess and Maggie Haberman, May 31, 2026 (print ed.). Discussions among a group of lawyers with allegiance to the president were closely held. Some senior White House officials were said to have felt blindsided as the agreement took shape.

Time was running out.

President Trump had sued the I.R.S. for $10 billion, and a federal judge was pressing the Justice Department to explain how it could muster an independent defense of the agency against the man who ultimately controlled it.

Behind the scenes, the job of addressing the vexing problem of how to settle the suit fell to a tight-knit group of lawyers, all of whom had allegiance to Mr. Trump.

Justice Department log circularOn one side of the talks was a Justice Department run by Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general who once served as Mr. Trump’s criminal defense lawyer.

On the other were the president’s private lawyers, among them Boris Epshteyn, who was a former client of Mr. Blanche’s. Mr. Epshteyn played a significant role in moving forward the deal to end the suit, coordinating and holding discussions with all of the sides involved: Mr. Trump, the president’s personal lawyers and Justice Department officials, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The discussions were so closely held that some senior White House officials told others that they were blindsided, learning of them only once the agreement was nearly complete.

In the end, the lawyers’ solution did not give Mr. Trump what his lawsuit had demanded, which was simply to move funds from the Treasury Department into his own pocket. But the agreement that was reached was still a big victory for the president and his allies: It set up a $1.8 billion fund to pay people deemed to have been harmed by so-called government “weaponization” — possibly including hundreds of rioters charged with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — and released Mr. Trump and his businesses from potentially costly I.R.S. audits.

This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen people who discussed internal deliberations about the I.R.S. suit on the condition of anonymity.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Epshteyn declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said that anyone who believed they were a victim of government weaponization could apply for money from the fund, claiming that many people had been victimized by the Biden administration.

Much is still unknown about how the arrangement came about. But the plan drafted by a group of Trump allies posed conflicts of interest that are remarkable, even for an administration riddled with them

As questions have mounted about the nature of the deal, the federal judge who oversaw the lawsuit, Kathleen M. Williams, took the extraordinary step on Friday of revisiting the case, asking whether the parties had deceived her.

When the details of the agreement were first revealed two weeks ago, Democrats and former government officials lodged accusations of corruption and self-dealing, and even some Republicans reacted with scornful disbelief. Some G.O.P. senators were so angry they abandoned plans to approve a measure to finance the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Within days of the agreement becoming public, and before the judge raised questions about it, senior administration officials began preparing to get rid of the fund amid the intense blowback. Those discussions were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

But while the agreement appeared to have emerged abruptly, it fused two ideas that had been kicking around in Mr. Trump’s circle for years: a desire by him and his family to avoid extensive tax audits, and a longing by his allies to obtain financial restitution for legal wrongs they claimed to have suffered during the Biden administration.

In its broad strokes, the plan was in keeping with other maneuvers by Mr. Trump. As president, he has often used the levers of power at his command to serve himself at a moment when he still maintains control over the government, including having the United States accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar that he could fly as president and intend to take later. But in establishing a fund that would involve billions in taxpayer money, the deal stands alone.

The president himself has said little about how the agreement came together or who played a role in resolving the suit, which faulted the I.R.S. for the leak of his tax information to The New York Times during his first term. The closest he has come in recent days was a post on social media in which he declared that he had given up “a lot of money” by “allowing” the fund to be created.

“I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!”

Trump v. Trump

Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S. landed at the Justice Department with a thud in late January.

By early spring, lawyers there were already wrestling with the legal dilemma the president’s pleading had created.

After all, to defend the I.R.S. against Mr. Trump, the department would have to fight a sitting president who was technically in charge of the agency and who demanded total loyalty from his subordinates.

Department lawyers were not the only ones who had identified this problem. Judge Williams, an Obama appointee who sits in Miami, had also homed in on it, wondering whether there was actually a conflict to adjudicate, given that Mr. Trump was effectively on both sides of the suit.

 

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent representing Vermont, has endorsed for important offices under the Democratic Party banner Graham Platner of Maine (top left), Andrew Gillum of Florida (top right) and John Fetterman of Pennsylvaia (bottom right) -- each of whom developed major problems destructive to the Democratic Party's agendas.fohn fetterman graham platner

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent representing Vermont, has endorsed for important offices under the Democratic Party banner Graham Platner of Maine (top left), Andrew Gillum of Florida (top right) and John Fetterman of Pennsylvaia (bottom right) -- each of whom developed major problems destructive to the Democratic Party's agenda.

Wayne Madsen Report, Investigtive Commentary: trategic Candidacy Manipulation and the plague of Bernie Sanders-endorsed politicians, Wayne Madsen,wayne madsen new observer left, May 31, 2026. Florida in 2018, Pennsylvania in 2022, and now Maine in 2026. Democrats better start taking advice from those inside its party and not pedantic rabble-rousers from outside their ranks

There is an old joke about a visitor to a mental institution asking one of the patients why he keep hitting his head on a brick wall. The patient replied, “When I stop, I feel better.” The same analogy applies to the lack of effective candidate vetting in the Democratic Party. How many Andrew Gillums, John Fettermans, and Graham Platners will it take to convince the Democratic Party that a gadfly non-member of the party, perennial presidential spoiler Bernie Sanders, has no standing in endorsing candidates for a political party that must appeal to voters a long way from Burlington, Vermont to be a winning political party?

Not that I have anything against Burlington or Vermont, they’re idyllic compared to living in the banana republic of Ron De Santis, but Sanders had absolutely no business sticking his nose into the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary in Florida. Sanders’s endorsement of Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum resulted in the disaster of two terms of DeSantis. The strongest Democratic candidate against the corruption-clouded Gillum was former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham, the daughter of Florida’s popular former governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham.

In retrospect, Gillum was a “poison pill” candidate and Sanders and his flock of listless supporters swallowed it whole. In 2020, police discovered a drunk Gillum in a South Beach, Miami hotel with a gay male escort. Police also found packets of crystal meth in the room. In 2022, Gillum was indicted by the Merrick Garland-selected U.S. Attorney for Northern Florida on 21 felony counts that included wire fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements for allegedly diverting money raised during his political campaign. A jury found Gillum not guilty on the charge of making false statements and was hung on the remaining counts. The remaining charges were dropped by the federal prosecutors.

It is guaranteed that Gwen Graham’s record was immaculate when compared to Gillum’s corruption-tainted record as mayor. Sanders also failed to understand that his endorsement of Gillum was bound to hurt Graham because there were two other candidates in the Democratic primary — real estate billionaire and Mar-a-Lago member Jeff Greene and former Miami Beach mayor Phil Levine, both of whom had ties to Donald Trump. Sanders’s endorsement of Gillum proved that the one-time Brooklyn Socialist activist had little to no knowledge of the political formula required to win a statewide race in Florida.

The octogenarian Sanders would again upset the Democrats’ political apple cart in 2022 when he endorsed Pennsylvania’s quirky Lieutenant Governor, John Fetterman, for a U.S. Senate seat. Fetterman soundly defeated centrist Democrat and Marine Corps veteran, former U.S. Representative Conor Lamb. One of the reasons for Fetterman’s lopsided victory over Lamb was Fetterman’s stroke just before the election. The Sanders supporters of Fetterman relished in the fact that Democratic centrists in purple-but-reddening Pennsylvania“Felt the Bern.” Fetterman went on to defeat Republican Mehmet “Dr. Oz” in the general election. There is little doubt that Lamb would have also defeated Oz with likely a greater share of the vote. Just like the Gillum disaster in Florida, Sanders and his minions were silent as Fetterman became Donald Trump’s most loyal Democrat in the Senate.

graham platner senate campaignSanders then decided to insert himself into this year’s Senate election in Maine. Endorsing oyster farmer Graham Platner, above, over Maine’s Democratic governor Janet Mills, Sanders, once again, failed to vet his favorite candidate. It has now been reported that Platner had been sexting messages to several women after his marriage. This fuck up brings back nightmares of Florida in 2018.

Bernie Sanders has given the nation Ron DeSantis, John “Lurch” Fetterman, and, if Platner’s campaign collapses, yet another term for Susan Collins. Someone please send the old prune Sanders back to one of his three luxurious homes in Vermont where he can no longer threaten a political party of which he has never been a member.

Vetting political candidates should be a normal process taken by the Democrats to prevent the running of decoy, spoiler, false-flag, poison pill, dummy, or strategic plant candidates.

vladimir putin cbs 5 13 2022Russian President Vladimir Putin

It is noteworthy to point out that such tactics have not only been heavily employed by the Republican Party but have been a mainstay of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and pro-Moscow parties in Ukraine and Belarus. Trojan horse candidates are designed to split the vote of the opposing party (as witnessed in Florida in 2018), confuse voters with similar names, drain resources from a target campaign, create scandals or chaos inside the opponent’s coalition (as seen currently in Maine), and manipulate primaries to produce a weaker nominee (for example, 2022 in Pennsylvania).

Republicans were behind a scheme in 2020 to field “ghost candidates” in Florida state senate elections. Sham “independent” candidates with similar political branding siphoned off votes from Democrats in tight races. The GOP operation resulted in criminal prosecutions.

Republicans have also been caught recruiting candidates in Democratic primaries to weaken the field. One such candidate is Bill Forbes, an anti-abortion Republican running as a spoiler in this year’s Democratic primary in Nebraska.

More On Trump Team Governance

 

President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Two-Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

President Trump's Egocentric, Deranged Posts Within Seven Hours Via Truth Social In Reaction To Musicians' Snubs (Compiled by Aaron Rupar on May 30, 2026).

 

djt helen delaney reese get him outHeather Delaney Reese, Trump's outrageous behavior yesterday is causing deep concern around the world, Heather Delaney Reese, May 31-June 1, 2026. For more than seven hours on a Saturday, the President of the United States posted nearly 50 times in one of the most revealing meltdowns of his presidency. He posted his face carved into Mount Rushmore beside Washington and Lincoln, twice.

He posted a fake “Trump Peace Prize” bearing his own face. He posted himself kissing a flag and depicted as the God of War. And most dangerously, he repeatedly called for a federal judge to be investigated, impeached, and removed, naming both the judge and his wife and putting a target on their backs before an already radicalized base. The judge’s offense was reading the law. For that, the president said he “should be brought up on charges.”

This is how it always begins. The strongman does not start by jailing his enemies. He starts by naming them. And the judges go first, because an independent court is the one thing that can tell a president no and make it stick. But the timing of this meltdown is what makes it so revealing. On Friday night, in the news slot reserved for things you must release but hope no one examines, the White House released a statement about his physical, claiming a cardiac age 14 years younger than his real age, a perfect cognitive score, and “excellent health.” The very next day, the man that report describes spent seven hours proving the opposite.

The report does not match the man we have all watched with our own eyes. The one who falls asleep in meetings, who loses his breath mid-sentence, who keeps going back for heart scans that healthy people his age do not need. And underneath all of it was an embarrassment he cannot fix: the artists booked for his birthday are declining to perform. So he called them “third rate,” nominated himself to replace them, and then called for the whole celebration to be scrapped rather than admit the performers who represent this country would not share a stage with him. The living people told him no. So he generated fake images of dead founders who cannot decline his proximity. This was not strength. This is what it looks like when power can feel itself slipping.

New York Times, Trump Urges Canceling Freedom 250 Concerts After Artists Drop Out, Derrick Bryson Taylor, May 31, 2026 (print ed.). The president had earlier said on social media that he should take the place of “these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’” saying he gets “larger audiences than Elvis.”

President Trump on Saturday called for the cancellation of a concert series celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday this summer, after a wave of musicians pulled out.

“Cancel it,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain.”

Freedom 250, the group that is organizing the administration’s events for the birthday celebration, announced on Wednesday that a series of nine musical acts would perform during a 16-day exposition — known as the Great American State Fair — on the National Mall beginning in late June. The exposition is part of the festivities surrounding America’s 250th birthday.

But at least five musicians have since dropped out. Some of those artists said they had not been aware that the event had been part of an initiative planned by the Trump administration for the nation’s birthday.

In an earlier post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr. Trump had suggested that, rather than canceling the concerts, he should instead headline the event.

Calling himself “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World” and “the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime,” Mr. Trump wrote that he should “take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”

In that post, Mr. Trump said he was ordering “my Representatives” to explore “the feasibility of doing an America Is Back rally,” where he would “give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

There was some confusion surrounding whether Mr. Trump was, indeed, referring to the concerts in the earlier post. There, the president referred more than once to an event “on Wednesday.” The concerts announced by Freedom 250 are currently scheduled to take place across two Thursdays and Fridays and one Saturday.

 

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New York Times, U.S. Immigration Crackdown: Pulling Customs From ‘Sanctuary’ City Airports Would Cause Chaos, Business Groups Say, Karoun Demirjian and Madeleine Ngo, May 31, 2026. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s proposal could block hubs like Boston, New York and Los Angeles from accepting international flights.

Travel industry and business leaders are denouncing a proposal by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to remove customs officers from airports in liberal cities, saying it would create havoc for travelers and jeopardize the travel economy at some of the nation’s largest ports of entry.

The idea, which Mr. Mullin has floated on cable television interviews, is designed to punish so-called sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Customs officers monitor goods flowing in and out of the country and must be on hand for international flights. Removing customs from airports would mean they cannot accept incoming international flights.

“Any reduction in Customs and Border Protection operations at major U.S. gateway airports threatens to cause unnecessary chaos throughout the nation’s air transportation system,” a coalition of travel and business trade groups, including the U.S. Travel Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a statement Friday. The fallout of making such changes at even a handful of gateway airports, the statement added, “will quickly ripple across the country.”

Last week, Sean P. Duffy, the transportation secretary, also told lawmakers that such a move would be ill-advised.

“We have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places,” he said during a hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee. “We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics.”

The White House, despite past efforts to target sanctuary cities over their immigration policies, has not endorsed Mr. Mullin’s plans. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the idea, beyond pointing to Mr. Mullin’s comments.

But as the criticism has mounted, Mr. Mullin has only dug in on the proposal.ImageMr. Mullin used the protests outside Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention facility in Newark, as justification for potentially moving customs officers out of airports.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Mr. Mullin promoted the idea multiple times last week, saying in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that the department was drawing up plans to withdraw officers who process international flights in cities where “local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws.”

“We shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities either,” Mr. Mullin said. “They don’t want us to enforce immigration but they want us to process immigration at their facilities? Nothing about that makes sense to me.”

The next day, Mr. Mullin claimed during an interview with Newsmax that local law enforcement in New Jersey refused to respond after federal officials requested help following the eruption of protests outside an immigrant detention facility in Newark. Mr. Mullin held up that event as justification for potentially moving customs officers “out of the airports so they can help assist to secure the area.”

“If local law enforcement isn’t going to help, then we have to provide what assets we have,” he said, adding: “Therefore we won’t be able to process international flights going to those airports, because those officers will be reassigned.”

The travel industry has said the impact of such moves, if they come to pass, is potentially significant.

There are 18 airports in areas that the Department of Justice has put on its list of sanctuary cities including Boston, New York and Los Angeles. They handle a combined 68 million passengers a year, worth tens of billions in commercial activity. Some of them are FIFA 2026 world cupalso major cargo hubs, processing billions in imports on a daily basis.

According to travel industry representatives, shutting down customs at Newark Airport alone would jeopardize an estimated $8 billion per year in travel spending, and an estimated $100 million of imports on a daily basis. The city is expected to be a major destination for travelers arriving this summer to watch World Cup soccer games in New Jersey.

 The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the largest of the many reflecting pools in Washington, D.C. It is a 2,030-by-167-foot (619 by 51 m) rectangular pool located on the National Mall, directly east of the Lincoln Memorial, with the World War II Memorial and Washington Monument to the east of the reflecting pool. Part of the iconic image of Washington, D.C., the reflecting pool is lined by walking paths and shade trees on both sides. Depending on the viewer's vantage point, it dramatically reflects the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall's trees, and the expansive sky (Source: Wikipedia).

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the largest of the many reflecting pools in Washington, D.C. It is a 2,030-by-167-foot (619 by 51 m) rectangular pool located on the National Mall, directly east of the Lincoln Memorial, with the World War II Memorial and Washington Monument to the east of the reflecting pool. Part of the iconic image of Washington, D.C., the reflecting pool is lined by walking paths and shade trees on both sides. Depending on the viewer's vantage point, it dramatically reflects the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall's trees, and the expansive sky (Source: Wikipedia). 

New York Times, What’s Actually Wrong With The Reflecting Pool, Lazaro Gamio, David A. Fahrenthold and Maxine Joselow, Featured May 31, 2026 (print ed.). And why President Trump’s repairs have not addressed a major underlying problem. In April, President Trump announced his plans to reseal and add blue-tinted coating to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

It is his latest project to reshape the nation’s capital. But the work may not be a long-term solution.

Multiple problems plague the landmark. One issue is its leaky pipes, which are not currently being addressed by the renovations.

When the architect Henry Bacon designed the Reflecting Pool, he envisioned it as a quiet, mirror-like surface that would reflect the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the surrounding sky.

But beneath the smooth surface, major engineering problems have lurked since it was constructed in the 1920s. The pool was built on unstable mudflats that have shifted over the decades, cracking the pool’s concrete and causing massive leaks. And the stagnant, shallow water has become a petri dish for algae.

It has posed a headache for other presidential administrations, and the first Trump administration formed a plan to fix some of the pool’s problems, but it was never carried out. Then, around Thanksgiving last year, the second Trump administration suddenly took interest again.

Two days before the holiday, the National Park Service cleaned goose poop and fallen leaves out of the Reflecting Pool using specialized equipment called a “super scrubber.” Frank Lands, the deputy director of the Park Service, was scheduled to personally supervise this work, according to a copy of his calendar obtained by The New York Times.

The next day, Mr. Trump suggested on social media that the Park Service would pursue a larger renovation project immediately after it had finished cleaning the pool. “Study it hard because you won’t be seeing this Biden filth and incompetence much longer,” the president wrote in a post on social media.

But the Park Service waited four months to award the contracts for a broader renovation project. And that project did not tackle one of the pool’s biggest problems: its pipes.

The Reflecting Pool is supported by a complex plumbing system that centers on a water treatment plant.

That plant was built during the most recent renovation in the 2010s, when the Obama administration spent $35 million to renovate the pool. Afterward, the algae and leaks returned.An illustration showing the network of plumbing that supports the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. There is a network of pipes that cycle water between the pool and a water treatment plant. Additionally, there are pipes connecting the treatment plant to the Tidal Basin and the city’s sewer system. A drain line connects the pool to the Tidal Basin, and a municipal water line also connects to the pool.

More On Iran War

New York Times, Trump Sends Tougher Terms to Iran for Peace Framework, Officials Say, Luke Broadwater, Ronen Bergman and Tyler Pager, May 31, 2026 (print ed.). His changes to the proposed deal were potentially designed to speed up the process by putting pressure Iran to accept the current framework, one official said.

President Trump has toughened the terms of a potential framework for a deal to end the war in Iran, and has sent those proposed changes back to the country for consideration, according to three officials.

It was not immediately clear what changes had been made to the text of the agreement.

Mr. Trump has been concerned about parts of the potential deal that would include unfreezing funds for the Iranians, two officials said. He has been harshly critical of President Barack Obama for doing the same in the more than decade-old agreement that was signed to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Trump has also been frustrated by how long it has taken for Iran to respond to U.S. proposals, one official said. The proposals have been hammered out with the involvement of intermediaries, including from Pakistan.

The official added that Mr. Trump’s changes — a new, tougher proposal — were potentially intended to speed up the process by putting pressure on Iran to accept the framework already sent to Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, for approval.

Reaching the supreme leader has been difficult, so any changes to the document, known as the memorandum of understanding, could mean additional delays.

On Friday, Mr. Trump met for two hours in the Situation Room with top aides to discuss an end to the war, but left the meeting with no announcement.

The framework would effectively end the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran in exchange for Iran lifting its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil and gas shipping. The strait was open for trade before the bombing campaign against Iran, which began on Feb. 28.

Some of the thorniest issues, such as the future of Iran’s nuclear program, would be deferred to later rounds of talks. 

New York Times, News Analysis: Trump Hits the Stalemate Phase of His International Interventions, and It Stings, David E. Sanger, May 31, 2026. In Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, President Trump’s early declarations of easy wins have given way to harsh reality.

President Trump likes his military and diplomatic victories quick, clean and decisive.

On his desk in the Oval Office, he keeps models of the B-2 bombers that took out three Iranian nuclear sites in one night, not quite a year ago. In the opening weeks of the Iran conflict this year, he talked often about replicating his success in Venezuela — “the perfect scenario,’’ he said — shorthand for overthrowing a troublesome leader with one quick commando raid, and replacing him with a pliant, American-friendly successor.

But now, Mr. Trump has hit the stalemate phase of his presidency.

The war with Iran is clearly at that stage. When he declared a cease-fire on April 7, Mr. Trump said on social media that the end of combat operations would be conditional on “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.” It wasn’t. Even if commerce now resumes across the strait under a memorandum of understanding still under negotiation, it will still leave the future of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs exactly where they were in February: stuck in a further negotiation that the administration insists will be “time limited,” probably to 60 days.

But the Iranians sense Mr. Trump’s deep reluctance to restart combat operations that are deeply unpopular in the United States, and most Iran experts say they expect Tehran to try to stretch the negotiations for months or years — as they have with past administrations.

Then there is the Ukraine war, a conflict in its fifth year that Mr. Trump famously boasted he would end in 24 hours after taking office. Sixteen months after he was sworn in, he rarely mentions the war anymore, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently complained that he was tired of wasting time in endless negotiations, suggesting that he would be perfectly happy if some other country wanted to step in and play that role.

For their part, the Russians have quietly made clear that they are tired of periodic visits from the president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with the negotiations. They say they want a stable, diplomatic process, with working groups and regular meetings. They also want an American ambassador to Russia — a job that has been open, astoundingly, for nearly a year.

And there is Gaza. When Mr. Trump flew to Israel to celebrate the release of the last of the living hostages from the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, he enthused about a 20-point plan that started with the disarming of Hamas, the creation of an international stabilization force and, ultimately, rebuilding Gaza into a gleaming territory of glass office towers and seaside resorts. Eight months after that trip, Hamas has still not disarmed, except in fake, A.I.-generated videos. (One, sent out by Mr. Trump, depicts him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing.)

While more aid is making its way into the territory, Palestinians are still sleeping in tents, the rat-infested rubble has not been cleared, and Mr. Netanyahu announced last week that the Israeli military would expand its control to about 70 percent of the Palestinian enclave.

Perhaps all of this is the inevitable result of a president with huge ambitions running into the brick walls of global realities. Perhaps it is the result of overreach, as Mr. Trump — infused with the success of his first two military adventures, into Iran and Venezuela — assumes that there is no task too big for the U.S. military.

Some experts suggest that it arises from a fundamental misunderstanding of American power. As one of Mr. Trump’s close aides said recently, destroying nuclear sites from the air is what America does best, and controlling political events in nations like Iran, Russia and Ukraine is what the United States does worst.

“Foreign policy tends to be a long and difficult enterprise,” Richard Fontaine, a former top aide to Senator John McCain and now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, said in an interview over the weekend. “Mr. Trump is not the first president to imagine quick, simple solutions to complicated and enduring international problems. Yet it is the sustained management and follow-through that often makes all the difference, not the grand and dramatic announcement.”

Follow-through has never been Mr. Trump’s strong suit. To establish his bona fides for a Nobel Peace Prize, he liked to gather testimonials to the breakthroughs he made or invite leaders at the White House and hold a signing ceremony; if fighting resumes, he is unlikely to dwell on the implications.

An exception is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where Mr. Trump has episodically admitted he underestimated the complexity of the problem, and perhaps his powers of persuasion.

“I’ve had cases where I had Putin all done and Zelensky wouldn’t make the deal, which shocked me,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The New York Times in January, referring to Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. “Then I’ve had cases where it was the reverse. I think now they both want to make a deal, but we’ll find out.”

New York Times, U.S. Military Is Quietly Guiding Ships Through the Strait of Hormuz, Peter Eavis and Eric Schmitt, May 31, 2026. U.S. Central Command has helped around 70 commercial ships pass through the strait in the last three weeks, an official said.

American forces in recent weeks have helped coordinate the passage of dozens of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials, even as travel through the waterway remains risky amid stalled negotiations to end the war with Iran.

U.S. Central Command has guided around 70 commercial ships through the strait, traveling into and out of the Persian Gulf, in the last three weeks, one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The U.S. officials added that most of the vessels had turned off their transponders to avoid detection when going through the narrow waterway.

Department of Defense SealThe officials declined to say what type of vessels were going through and what route they took, but one official indicated that at least one route was not close to the Iranian coastline. Ships passing near Iran without obtaining Iranian approval face the threat of an almost-certain attack by Iranian drones or missiles, U.S. officials said. Shipping analysts say the U.S.-guided crossings appear to follow routes that are closer to Oman.

Before the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, well over 100 commercial ships a day passed through the strait. So the U.S.-coordinated passages — an average of three a day over the three-week period — do not represent a big comeback for shipping. And because U.S.-guided crossings take place with transponders turned off, known as “dark” passages, shipping analysts say they cannot independently verify how many may have taken place.

Still, a steady passage of ships under U.S. guidance would suggest that some shipowners are willing to take the risk to get in and out of the Persian Gulf, where many vessels have been stranded for weeks, losing money and leaving their crews in trying conditions.

More Global News

New York Times, The U.S. Boat Strike Campaign Has Now Killed Over 200 People, Max Bearak and José María León Cabrera, May 31, 2026.  Residents of coastal communities in Colombia and Ecuador said the airstrike campaign was making many reconsider anything involving the ocean as a livelihood.

More than 200 people have now been killed in a bombing campaign by the U.S. military against people it has accused of smuggling drugs in the waters off South America, after a string of deadly attacks over the last week.

The military said on Saturday that three men had been killed in the eastern Pacific during a strike ordered by Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the head of the Southern Command, against a boat that was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” Their deaths bring the total killed to at least 202, in more than 60 strikes.

Department of Defense SealThe strikes have been shrouded in secrecy. Few bodies of those killed have been recovered, and scant physical evidence exists of debris or the drugs the Trump administration claims the boats were transporting.

A wide range of legal experts say the strikes are illegal because the military is prohibited from deliberately targeting civilians, even if they are believed to have committed a crime, unless they pose an immediate threat. Experts also say there is no evidence that the strikes have had any impact on the amount of cocaine reaching the United States from South America.

The death toll, however, only accounts for one dimension of the consequences of the lethal campaign.

colombia flag nameCoastal communities in Colombia and Ecuador, where most of the boats are thought to have begun their journeys, are counting the losses not just in relatives who never returned, but in how the attacks have upended the lives of those who make their living from the ocean and now fear it.

Residents described entire communities abandoning fishing because the small “lanchas,” or speedboats, used by traffickers and fishers are often indistinguishable.

“Fishermen endure the forces of nature: wind, rain and sun. But they also face pirates, and on top of that, now there is this bombing thing,” said one Ecuadorean woman from a fishing family in San Mateo, a seaside town of 5,000. Like many in these coastal Ecuadorean villages, she asked not to have her name published for fear of retribution from the government, which has actively supported the bombing campaign. The Ecuadorean government did not respond to requests for comment.

“We live in fear of these strikes,” she said, “and because of that, many people have stopped going out to fish.”

In Ecuador and Colombia, residents described being caught between forces beyond their control: an emboldened Trump administration that has dismissed accusations of wrongdoing while offering little proof to back up its claims, and drug traffickers who often prey on fishermen, commandeering their boats to use for their own purposes.

The lines between fishermen and traffickers can blur, too, some said. In low seasons, or simply as a way to make more than fishing’s meager income provides, some fishermen take occasional trafficking jobs to get by.

Unlike Ecuador’s right-leaning government, Colombia’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has sharply criticized the strikes, calling them “murder” and claiming, in the case of one strike last October, that a Colombian fisherman had been killed. After that strike, Mr. Petro suspended intelligence sharing with the U.S. military for the purposes of the strikes.

On Colombia’s Guajira peninsula, where The New York Times found the first physical evidence of one of the strikes last December, nearly all the men had left the towns of Puerto López and Siapana, each just a few miles from where a bombed boat and two bodies of its crew members washed ashore.ps of Engineers. The joints would be sealed within days, he said.

More On Trump Team Scandals, Allegations, Probes, Accountability

Emptywheel, Analysis and Opinion: The Rush to Disavow the Terrorist Slush Fund, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerMay 31, 2026. January 6 Insurrection. 

The word “charity” appears in neither Friday’s WSJ story describing that Trump’s Terrorist Slush Fund, “Sparks Alarm Inside White House,” nor Saturday’s NYT story promising an inside look at how the fund came together, which bears the subhead, “Some senior White House officials were said to have felt blindsided as the agreement took shape.”

irs logoWhich is to say that, as some Trump insiders rush to distance themselves from the Terrorist Slush Fund, they’re not answering very basic questions, such as what happened to Trump’s expressed plan (which predated the IRS lawsuit) to give any money he bilks from his own government to charity, or why Trump sued the IRS in the first place, much less for the absurd amount of $10 billion. The only explanation in either story as to the latter point is this paragraph from WSJ:

Justice Department log circularThe president remains angry about the illegal disclosure of his tax returns by a former IRS contractor and about the criminal investigations he faced before returning to the White House, including one that involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation searching his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The raid came after Trump took classified documents from the White House and declined to return them. He frequently talks to aides and his lawyers about the audits he faced—and the leak of his returns—and his desire for revenge, people familiar with the comments said. Under the settlement that includes the creation of the “anti-weaponization fund,” all pending audits against Trump were effectively ended.

While Trump-whisperer Josh Dawsey is on this byline, it’s not clear whether the reported “frequent[] talks with aides and lawyers” or talks with Trump directly serve as the basis for WSJ’s assertion about Trump’s feelings of anger. In any case, the paragraph doesn’t question how stiffing taxpayers to the tune of $10 — or even $2 — billion exacts revenge against those who he claims harmed him (by providing the transparency every other President has freely given), as opposed to cutting Booz Allen from all Treasury contracts (which the NYT does mention in one of its prior stories linked in this one).

Trump may have invented a grievance in his own imagination and decided to turn that grievance into personal profit — a common schtick for Trump — but that doesn’t explain why the IRS lawsuit was so much more unhinged than the complaints about the Russian or stolen documents investigations, which also purport to be part of this grift.

I’m interested in why and how Administration insiders are sharing details of this story. One explanation may be an urgency among some Trumpsters to disavow the Terrorist Slush Fund given the pushback from a good chunk of GOP Senators. That’s the leading theme of the WSJ story:

Administration officials have grown increasingly concerned about the viability of the fund, people familiar with the matter said, which had been expected to provide payouts to an array of Trump allies. Trump hasn’t agreed to drop the fund, but has told allies that he understands he has political problems with Senate Republicans, the people said. On Friday, a federal judge ordered a pause on efforts to stand up the fund while she weighs a legal challenge in an Eastern Virginia federal court.

Senate Republicans pressed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on the fund at a contentious meeting last week that Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) referred to as one of the roughest in his years in the Senate. Another person who was at the meeting said it was the toughest grilling of an administration official they had ever seen from Republican senators.

[snip]

Only a few Justice Department officials were involved in the fund’s creation, including Blanche’s top aide, Trent McCotter, and the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, people familiar with the matter said. Senior Trump aides in the White House learned of the fund a few days before it was announced publicly, people familiar with the timing said.

Many lawmakers are worried that the fund, set up to compensate people who claim political persecution, could award millions of dollars to some who were in the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol and assaulted police on Jan. 6, 2021.

But the NYT story repeats WSJ’s claim that this deal was closely held and — as soon as it became public — insiders started moving to reverse it.

The discussions were so closely held that some senior White House officials told others that they were blindsided, learning of them only once the agreement was nearly complete.

[snip]

When the details of the agreement were first revealed two weeks ago, Democrats and former government officials lodged accusations of corruption and self-dealing, and even some Republicans reacted with scornful disbelief. Some G.O.P. senators were so angry they abandoned plans to approve a measure to finance the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Within days of the agreement becoming public, and before the judge raised questions about it, senior administration officials began preparing to get rid of the fund amid the intense blowback.

The claim of immediate outrage about the Slush Fund may be more than convenient retconning. After all, someone shared very accurate details of the Slush Fund with ABC around the same time when, according to these stories, insiders first became aware of the details. Someone leaked details then, possibly in an attempt to kill it before it was rolled out, and now people are leaking more details now, disavowing any approval of the scam.

And given the rush to disclaim involvement, I find another common detail to both stories of particular interest: Boris Epshteyn was at the center of this scam, even recommending members to serve on the Slush Fund, according to WSJ.

The president’s personal lawyers, including Boris Epshteyn, were among those involved in discussions about the fund, according to people familiar with the matter. Epshteyn has suggested potential names for a five-member commission that would review claims and approve payouts, the people said.

Reviewing these articles (and NYT’s earlier coverage, which is linked), one wonders whether DOJ shifted their approach after Pam Bondi got fired in early April, just days after NYT described what a dilemma this lawsuit posted.

Back then it was an intractable problem for Bondi’s DOJ to deal with. Now, it’s a scam that old allies attempted to pull off, with seemingly no clue how controversial it would be.

As NYT recalls, Epshteyn, below, has his own relationship with Todd Blanche.

boris ephsteyn On one side of the talks was a Justice Department run by Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general who once served as Mr. Trump’s criminal defense lawyer.

On the other were the president’s private lawyers, among them Boris Epshteyn, above, who was a former client of Mr. Blanche’s. Mr. Epshteyn played a significant role in moving forward the deal to end the suit, coordinating and holding discussions with all of the sides involved: Mr. Trump, the president’s personal lawyers and Justice Department officials, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

One thing NYT does not mention in its overly simplified description that Epshteyn “has been close to the president for about a decade” is that Epshteyn’s ties to Eric Trump go back even further, to their student days at Georgetown. Though that didn’t protect Epshteyn when he was under scrutiny, including by now-White House Counsel David Warrington for a pay-to-pay scandal on appointments to the Administration.

In this case, though, any protection from the IRS would extend especially to Eric, the CEO of Trump Organization under whom known tax problems occurred.

Epshteyn is already being sued, along with Steve Bannon, for crypto-related fraud. And now we learn he may be at the core of kathleen williams Judgewhat a bunch of judges call “Fraud on the court.”

And if the inquiry Judge Kathleen Williams, right, just entertained is allowed to go anywhere, it may get bigger than that.Links

  • May 14: ABC story revealing slush fund
  • May 29: WSJ story describes alarm within White House
  • May 30: NYT story describes how Terrorist Slush Fund came to be

 

djt mar a lago files archives

Civil Discourse, Opinion: Trump's Past Is Catching Up With Him, Joyce Vance, right, joyce vanceMay 30-31, 2026. We’ve discussed Trump’s ongoing efforts to prevent the release of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the now-dismissed classified documents prosecution against the president. That issue has now resurfaced. 

Judge Aileen Cannon, below left,who was appointed by Trump and has always ruled in his favor, was never going to order the release of Volume II of the Special Counsel Report, which covers the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. But now the matter is in the hands of a different court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not aileen cannonhesitated to correct Cannon’s errors in the past.

There is a fascinating resonance between Cannon’s decision to prevent the release of Volume II and the issue we’ve seen surface in Trump v. IRS, the case whose “settlement” led to the creation of the slush fund Trump can use to give taxpayer dollars to January 6 defendants while erasing his and his family’s liability for debts owed to the government, like back taxes from tax audits. The common thread is cases where, instead of a legitimate adversarial process, with opponents duking it out in court, Trump is the actual party in interest on “both sides of the v.” In both of these situations, it’s Trump v. Trump, which leaves the president to decide what positions government agencies will take in these supposed legal conflicts. In the case of the special counsel’s report, DOJ, which would normally argue for its release, has taken Trump’s side. And Judge Cannon has played along.

Justice Department log circularOn Inauguration Day, she issued an order blocking the Justice Department from sharing the Volume II with leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, who were set to receive it in accordance with the typical practice after a special counsel concludes their work. With DOJ on Trump’s side, there was no one to challenge it.

Then, in February in a piece appropriately titled, “If DOJ is Trump’s Law Firm, Aileen Cannon is his Judge,” we discussed Cannon’s next move. She ruled on what she characterizes as two “unopposed” motions, one by Trump, one by his co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case, both designed to prevent release of Volume II. At the time I noted, “If it weren’t such a serious matter, ‘unopposed’ would be funny—these motions preventing the routine release of a special counsel’s report are only unopposed because the Attorney General, who should have filed an opposition, lives in Trump’s hip pocket. Cannon has managed to hold up the release of Volume II for over a year at this point.”

While Judge Cannon was doing everything possible to prevent the release of Volume II, two groups of journalists, American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute, asked to intervene in the case to ensure a truly adversarial proceeding, with the parties presenting opposing views on whether the report should be released. Cannon dealt with that by dragging her feet, simply refusing to rule on the request. That went on until November, when the matter reached the Eleventh Circuit and she was given 60 days to rule. The Eleventh Circuit pointed to “undue delay.” Cannon predictably ruled against permitting intervention, and the issue was appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.

Now, the Eleventh Circuit has ordered a briefing schedule on the requests to intervene and argue in favor of the release of the report. The timing is fast, with the next set of briefs due 14 days from the date of the order, and all of the briefing to be concluded by July.

The scheduling order is signed by Judge Nancy Abudu, who was appointed to the Eleventh Circuit by President Biden. The court will have to consider the issues once the briefs are in, but the ruling over Cannon’s foot-dragging signaled they were out of patience with her efforts to keep her thumb on the scale for Trump. There is good reason to be optimistic here, even if the process takes time. Assuming the media entities are permitted to join the proceedings, there would still have to be briefing on the issue of release, but here again, Cannon was an outlier, and there is good reason to believe the Eleventh Circuit would not agree. DOJ’s accidental release earlier this year of a document detailing some of the work in the case gives us reason to believe there could be interesting material in the report.

Is it coincidence that two separate cases, involving two of the most important challenges to Trump’s ability to exert control over the government and pervert the rule of law, are coming to fruition at the same time? Perhaps so. But what’s at stake here is a core constitutional principle. Article III of the Constitution gives federal courts jurisdiction to decide actual “cases” or “controversies,” which means there must be opposing parties with conflicting interests. The Supreme Court has held that the “case or controversy” requirement means there has to be a genuine, active dispute between genuinely adverse parties for a court to have jurisdiction. Trump has elicited favorable decisions in both the IRS case and the release of the report case by trying to avoid that requirement. But it’s starting to look like time is up.

If this doesn’t sound like an enormous development, admittedly, it’s a bit inside-baseball. But by forcing Trump to act within the confines of the rule of law, courts can create accountability. Refusing to let him get away with using them as a sham vehicle for perpetrating frauds that allow him to extract government funds for his personal use or avoid accountability for past conduct is an important reassertion of real guardrails. The one-two punch of courts requiring him to face an actual adversary would be a welcome development.

Trump’s past is finally catching up with him.

 

jonathan cohnThe Breakdown via The Bulwark, Ebola Veterans Are Aghast at Trump’s Plan for the Outbreak, Jonathan Cohn, above, May 31, 2026. Doctors around the country are baffled, disturbed, and in some cases aghast at the Trump administration’s plan for Americans who get Ebola overseas—in particular, the decision not to bring these patients back home, to one of the facilities that the federal government created precisely for this purpose.

And if you want to know why these medical professionals are upset, ask infectious disease physician Tara Palmore.

bulwark logo big shipPalmore knows better than most what Ebola care looks like in the American facilities, because she provided it during the 2014 outbreak. Although most of the cases were in West Africa, nearly a dozen infected Americans got treatment in the United States, including one who ended up at a facility inside the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.¹

That is where Palmore was working at the time. And in a phone interview on Thursday, she described the unit to me—how the surfaces are all nonporous, lest they absorb infected bodily fluids that can’t be fully wiped away, and how there’s extra space for medical equipment, because staff have to bring machines to the patient rather than the other way around.

Another distinguishing feature of the unit, Palmore said, is the sealing of every wall, door, and window seam. It’s part of a system to maintain negative pressure, so that air is circulated only through special filters—a system that patients and staff cannot see but can sometimes hear, because of the high-powered fans. “It can be a little loud in there,” Palmore said.

For her and her colleagues, though, a bigger issue was

learning how to effectively administer care for patients with such an aggressive, awful disease while protecting themselves and others from infection.

It took years of regularly scheduled training, plus more intensive sessions that had started months before they actually got a patient in October 2014. She and her colleagues practiced feeling for injection points while wearing two layers of gloves.² They went over why it’s important to scrub the wheels of scanning devices and, when appropriate, to decontaminate equipment or rooms with hydrogen peroxide vapor.

“I was part of drilling and simulations all summer, because we saw this epidemic growing,” Palmore said. “It was working with the chest x-ray guy to get his system down, making sure the nurses involved knew how to put in a line, making sure the intensivists figured out how they were going to put someone on dialysis or intubate them for a ventilator. We drilled with dummies, we drilled with people.”

The work paid off: Nine of the Ebola patients in American facilities survived, the only two deaths coming from people who arrived in advanced stages of the disease. And no facility staff got sick.

But while the United States now has thirteen fully stocked, fully staffed facilities capable of providing such care, the Trump administration has no plans to make use of them. Instead, the administration has decided to transfer Americans who are exposed or infected abroad to a quickly constructed field hospital in Kenya, and then—when necessary for more serious cases—to specialized facilities in Europe.

Supposedly this is all for the sake of the patients, given that it will be easier to get American patients infected in Africa to Kenya or Europe than all the way back to the United States. “These decisions were made to make sure we provide the best care,” a senior administration official told reporters during a White House background briefing this past week, to “optimize what can be done for our American citizens who are overseas.”

It’s possible the administration’s plan will accomplish that, just as it’s possible Trump and his lieutenants truly made this decision with patient well-being foremost in their minds. But infectious disease physicians I interviewed over the last few days were highly skeptical, and it’s not hard to see why.

THE MOST IMMEDIATE QUESTION about the administration’s scheme—at least as of this writing—is whether it will even go forward.

The plan had been to open the Kenya facility in stages, starting with a fifty-bed unit on Friday following an agreement with the Kenyan government. But that was before the Kenyan union representing health care workers objected and threatened a nationwide strike—and before a Kenyan judge temporarily blocked the facility, arguing that the country’s government had not shown that it had taken the necessary precautions to protect its citizens.

 

state dept map logo Small

kenya flagThe U.S. State Department late Friday acknowledged the ruling, announcing via tweet that “We are in touch with Kenyan authorities and are optimistic we can resolve objections.” CNN on Saturday reported that the American health officers had arrived, and that Kenya’s government intended to allow the plan to proceed, despite the court order. By the time you read this, the facility could be operating.

But there are plenty of other questions that officials have yet to answer definitively. At the very top of the list is what level of care the field hospital will be expected to provide, and whether it will be able to do so.

It was hard to tell from the guidance senior officials gave to reporters in that White House background call this week. At times, they described the Kenya facility almost as if it were a triage center for watching people in quarantine, unless and until they test positive and show symptoms, at which point they would get transport to tertiary care in Europe. But officials also mentioned the advanced care available, and said several times staff on site would make decisions about when a patient’s status warranted transfer. That made it sound more like a place for treatment.

The distinction is crucial, and has implications for the facility’s basic design. Patients sick with Ebola would ideally have their own bathrooms as well as their own bedrooms, Boston University infectious disease specialist Nahid Bhadelia told me in a phone interview, because it’s through exposure to bodily fluids that the disease spreads. And because Ebola can cause multiple organ failure, Bhadelia said, facilities need both ECMO devices (which act as artificial hearts and lungs) and dialysis machines (which function as surrogate kidneys).

But the personnel may matter even more than supplies, Bhadelia said, especially because this latest outbreak comes from the rarer Bundibugyo version of the virus. It has no approved treatments, unlike the more common Zaire version. That could leave clinicians relying more on the traditional approach: managing the various complications in the hopes of keeping patients alive until their bodies’ defenses can finally get rid of the disease.

“Ebola is a very labor-intensive disease to treat,” said Bhadelia, who has treated Ebola overseas and managed a biocontainment facility here in the United States. “You have patients who are losing a lot of fluids, so you have to deal with fluid replacement, and then beyond that you have to provide multi-organ support including potentially renal support, ventilatory support. It’s not just about the stuff. It’s making sure you have the right ratio of human resources to patients.”

Administration officials said they have dispatched roughly thirty commissioned public health officers to supplement staff already in central Africa, with a possibility of adding more. The physicians I interviewed said it was impossible to know whether that number would be enough, just as they said they weren’t sure whether the workers would have the proper training.

But they were nervous, they said, given that administration officials have been telling reporters that the newly dispatched health workers had three days of instruction and drilling.³ That doesn’t sound like the kind of preparation that staff at the specialized American facilities have gotten—or that Brown University public health professor Craig Spencer recalls seeing as a patient in 2014, when he was one of the Americans who got Ebola and received treatment at the special unit in New York City’s Bellevue Hospital.

“They were so well-practiced and well-prepared,” Spencer told me in a phone interview. He added:

Whether I needed an x-ray, whether I needed dialysis, they had thought about how they were going to make those things happen—who was going to be responsible for doing that, how they would get them into the room, how they would keep them safe. These are all protocols that exist beforehand and, quite frankly, can’t be taught over a three-day weekend at a training.

Palmore noted that staff at the existing facilities “have been preparing for years, drilling and training, and some of them have taken care of people with other hemorrhagic fever viruses.” She went on from there: “The idea that a few days of training and, like, some kind of modular hospital is going to create any sort of equivalent care setting for people with Ebola infection, which requires incredibly complex care, just does not seem realistic to me.”

And in such an ad hoc medical setting, Bhadelia pointed out, “the chances of potential staff exposures go up. It reduces the quality of care for the patient, but also makes it a more dangerous equation for the health care workers themselves.”

 

President Trump, right, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC leader Dana White, left, at a UFC match on April 11, 2026 (Pool photo).poolPresident Trump, right, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC leader Dana White, left, at a UFC match on April 11, 2026 (Pool photo).

Mobology, Dana White, the UFC, and their metaphor for Donald Trump's cruel and violent legacy, Dan E. Moldea, right, May 31, 2026. "Beating a man when he's down." . . . dan moldeaA disturbing sports extravaganza on the South Lawn of the White House, aka Emperor Trump's Roman Colosseum.

Two weeks from today—Sunday, June 14, 2026—Donald Trump will further damage and debase America’s dignity and honor with a shameless public exhibition of cruelty and violence on the South Lawn of the White House.

For today’s column, I asked AI Mode for a summary of the event. The site replied:

Construction is officially underway on the White House South Lawn to build a temporary, steel-enclosed UFC Octagon cage. The structure is being erected for a historic mixed martial arts event titled UFC Freedom 250, scheduled for Sunday, June 14, 2026. The date serves a dual purpose: celebrating America’s 250th Semiquincentennial anniversary and marking President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. The Arena Structure

* “The Claw”: UFC CEO Dana White has nicknamed the massive, temporary stadium structure featuring a towering metal arch and lighting grid designed to look like a giant claw.

One of mob boss Donald Trump’s closest friends and allies is bad-ass Dana White, the knuckle-dragging owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). They seem to share a common belief in Social Darwinism: “survival of the fittest”. . . every man for himself.

Speaking of Trump earlier this year, White, an unlikely member of the Meta/Facebook board of directors, told the New York Post: “[T]he thing . . . with President Trump is he believes in God, and he’s very religious. . . . He believes that, to his core, God has spared his life to be the president and do the things that he’s going to do over the next four years.”

djt maga hatKnowingly or not, White and the UFC have given Trump the most descriptive metaphor for his shameless anti-God reign of terror against the poor and powerless . . . beating a man when he’s down. That is pure dogma from The Church of Donald Trump.

This cowardly assault against weak and defenseless people, both foreign and domestic, is a trademark, even a hallmark, of Trump’s presidency. They are Trump’s scapegoats of choice when his dreams and schemes often fall flat.

When speaking of them, Trump appears to have an incurable and uncontrollable physical and spiritual compulsion to express complete contempt and utter cruelty towards the least among us, to defame them at will, and to bully them into further submission.

This also best explains Trump’s loud but tired expressions of sheer disrespect for and withering attacks on former President Joe Biden, who had the audacity to humiliate Trump in 2020 in an election Trump still refuses to concede and, without legitimate evidence, continues to claim was rigged.

joe biden djt CustomSadly, the now-diminished 82-year-old Biden, shown above with Trump in  file photos) whom Trump has repeatedly and unfairly labeled as “the worst president of all time,” is now ill-equipped to defend himself. That makes Biden, who cannot fight back, the perfect absentee foil for bully-boy Trump.

Biden is on the mat in the warriors’ cage, lying flat on his back, and Trump is pounding him with both fists. There is no referee to stop the fight. And those of us in the arena who still admire and respect the man Biden once was are watching helplessly, unable to do anything for the ex-president who is getting pummeled daily.

In short, Trump is showing all of us that his heart is filled with hatred and resentment, with a fundamental need for retribution. Incredibly, his acts of vengeance bring a pathetic sense of joy to the faithful but vindictive sheep in his defiant and unrepentant flock, who find an inexplicable nobility and valor in Trump’s despicable and dishonest words and deeds.

Consequently, Trump is busy waging an ongoing war with orthodox society. And he appears willing and able to beat down anyone who either refuses to kneel before him or stands in the way of his brutal and cynical anti-democracy agenda.

Meantime, Fox News, aka Trump State Television, which has a well-documented history of on-air lying on its news programs in its defense of Trump, provides him with political cover and personal cult-like status, as well as false and misleading talking points for his followers.

Indeed, Trump is a huge fan of Dana White and UFC combat fighting. But many of us are waiting for someone fearless and strong, yet truly honest and noble, to take him on and provide him with the rich comeuppance that Joe Biden gave him in 2020.

In UFC, fighters continue striking a downed opponent because there's no rule prohibiting it, and the fight continues until the referee intervenes to stop it, often based on the downed fighter's ability to defend themselves. 

PoliticusUSA, Opinion: Interior Secretary Falls Apart And Admits Trump Is Grifting Off America's 250th Anniversary, Jason Easley, jason easleyright, May 31, 2026. Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would not say who is sponsoring Trump's Freedom 250 organization that is being run out of the White House, who the donors are, or how the money is being used.

politicus usa logoThe confusion over the past week that led to the majority of the musical acts withdrawing from the Great American State Fair can be traced back to an organization that is being run out of the White House called Freedom 250.

Freedom 250 emerged after Trump returned to the presidency and is not the same as the official organization created by Congress, America 250.The difference between the two organizations could be confusing to someone casually looking at each website. Both websites greet visitors with fireworks. Both are (.org) web domains, but that is where the similarities end. The official America 250 website features a list of board members with their pictures, which includes lots of members of the House and Senate Democrats and Republicans.

The official website also features a list of sponsors, donors, and organizations. You may not like all of the corporate involvement, but you can see who is involved. It is transparent.PoliticusUSA is 100% independent with no corporate, billionaire, or partisan influence.

Trump’s Freedom 250 has no transparency. There is no list of donors and sponsors. The website looks sketchy.

It is this sketchiness that has caused people to ask questions about who is funding Freedom 250 and where the money is going.

After the musical performers dropped out, Trump named himself the headliner of “The Great American State Fair.”

doug burgumInterior Secretary Doug Burgum, right, was asked where the money is coming from, and his answer was to admit that Freedom 250 is essentially a Trump grift.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Burgum on State Of The Union, “ There are lots of questions about why this Freedom 250 organization was created, and maybe it's not partisan, but there are questions from Democrats about where this private funding is coming from, and it's not transparent. Do you think that should be opened up to the public so that people see where it's coming from?”

The answer to this question from an administration that wasn’t operating as a criminal enterprise would be yes.

That wasn’t Burgum’s answer.Burgum said, “I think transparency is always a good thing, and of course I work for the president that I think is the most transparent ever. He, w- who... There's not a CEO in the country that invites the entire press pool into their board meetings, and we haven't had a Cabinet meeting in the first 16 months….”

Bash asked, “So you're gonna make the donors to Freedom 250 public?“

Burgum dodged, “That's up to the Freedom 250 organization and their arrangements with their donors.”

Bash asked again, “But you're a leader there, right?”

Burgum admitted that this was being run out of the White House, “I, the Freedom 250 organization's run out of the White House.”

Bash asked about transparency, “But it is not a the... It's not about the transparency of the donors and the...”

Burgum said, “It's just it is a, again I'm... This is about Americans celebrating the 250th anniversary, and it's all, it's... Again, the fact that we a- we are, right now have so much to celebrate in our country, and we're talking about a single event on a single night in DC is-”

Bash concluded the line of questioning, “No, this is about Freedom 250, as you know better than I do, governing a lot of these events. And I think that Americans wanna be able to celebrate and make, and be confident that the money is coming from a place that, that makes sense.”

U.S. Courts, Crime, Law, Rights, Justice

 

david rush cia collage

New York Times, C.I.A. Officer Arrested With Gold Once Worked With No. 2 Pentagon Official, Julian E. Barnes and Mark Mazzetti, May 31, 2026 (print ed.). David Rush, a longtime C.I.A. officer (shown above), appears to have first had contact with Stephen A. Feinberg during President Trump’s first term. Some officials said the two men were not close.

The C.I.A. officer arrested last week with more than $40 million in gold bars in his home once worked with Stephen A. Feinberg, now the deputy secretary of defense, according to current and former U.S. officials.

David Rush, 49, a C.I.A. officer for 17 years, was a part of the agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology, and held a relatively senior rank before he was arrested on May 18, according to current and former officials.

cia logoThey do not appear to have worked closely together, but Mr. Rush appears to have first had contact with Mr. Feinberg on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, according to officials. Mr. Feinberg, the founder of Cerberus Capital Management, was the chair of the advisory board in the first Trump administration.

The board is charged with providing advice to the White House and to spy agencies on intelligence collection and other matters.

Some of the officials said Mr. Rush and Mr. Feinberg were not close. But Mr. Feinberg has long taken an interest in technology developed by the C.I.A. He has also paid close attention to the agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology, both when he was on the advisory board and once he took the No. 2 job at the Pentagon.

What Mr. Rush was doing with the gold bars, and why the C.I.A. issued them to him, remains a mystery.

Former U.S. officials said that Mr. Rush had to have been working on a covert program to gain access to so much money.

Mr. Feinberg and the Pentagon had no involvement in whatever Mr. Rush was doing that led to his obtaining the gold bars, according to people briefed on the investigation.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The C.I.A. declined to comment. Mr. Rush’s ties to Mr. Feinberg were earlier reported by NBC News.Mr. Rush is being held in jail, after he was charged with stealing public money by filling out fraudulent time sheets.

In court papers, the government accused Mr. Rush of inflating his academic credentials and lying about his work history.

But the legal action against Mr. Rush raised far more questions than it answered.

From last November to March, according to the court papers, Mr. Rush asked for, and received, tens of millions of dollars in gold bars and foreign currency for “work-related expenses.”

When the C.I.A. conducted a review of where the gold and currency were stashed, the agency was unable to locate them, according to court papers.

New York Times, Trump Administration Sees Striking Exodus of Legal Talent, Eileen Sullivan and Andrea Fuller, May 31, 2026. The departure of more than 10,000 federal lawyers has left some agencies without sufficient staff and has boosted the ranks of state attorneys general offices and advocacy groups.

President Trump’s upheaval of the federal government has led to an exodus of more than 10,000 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, a striking loss of legal talent that has left some agencies pushing to find attorneys to carry out his agenda.

Roughly one in five lawyers who worked in the government at the end of 2024 had left by March of this year, according to a New York Times analysis of federal employment data.

djt maga hatAlong with the usual retirements and turnover in the federal work force, the last year saw deep staffing cuts and the resignations of some staff members who objected to Mr. Trump’s policies. Their departures show how rapidly the president has eroded the image of the federal government as the gold standard for lawyers seeking public service roles.

Instead, many of those looking for such work are flocking to the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and nonprofits that are challenging administration policies in the courts, boosting Mr. Trump’s opponents with seasoned lawyers.

“There’s all this awareness that people in the federal government are dissatisfied, are angry, are frustrated, and want no part of it,” said Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general, who has hired 22 lawyers from across the federal government in the last year. “That’s translating directly to people saying, ‘I want to be part of organizations that actually operate with integrity, that people want to be a part of, that people feel good about doing the right thing.’”

Wariness of the Trump administration is also palpable inside law schools, where many aspiring lawyers who would have once jumped at the chance to hold a federal government job are seeking alternative paths, according to faculty members and students.

“A lot of people my age are asking, ‘Is it worth getting a job, and will that help career wise — having one year of Trump administration experience on your résumé?’” said Matthew Duray, who described himself as a conservative Republican and just finished his first year at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. “Or will that hurt? And that’s the question I guess everyone’s asking, and that’s the bet you have to make ahead of time. But it’s hard to know long term.”

While federal agencies brought on about 3,200 lawyers since the beginning of 2025, departures still outpaced hiring, data shows. Lawyers also exited the government at a faster rate than turnover in the overall work force. All told, the federal government Justice Department log circularemployed about 37,000 civilian lawyers at the end of March, 17 percent fewer than it did at the end of 2024.

The Justice Department, which employs more than a quarter of all government lawyers, saw the largest decline in raw numbers. But other agencies — including the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development — lost an even greater share of attorneys.The only major agency to gain lawyers was the Department of Homeland Security, which saw its legal ranks grow by 21 percent as it drove Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown. 

 

geoge tonks graphic

last page first logoLast Page First, Investigative Commentary: George B. Tonks: Named In The Files, Jana,left, May 31, 2026. Convicted felon on fed jana last page firstsupervision appears in Epstein files 46 times. Farmer reported him to DOJ, Chicago PD, NYPD. 2023 judge banned him from mentioning Epstein victim online.

This piece is part of the ongoing Last Page First series on the federal Epstein archive. See also: The Harassment Network: What Maria and Virginia Filed About the People They Said Were Destroying Them, which documented EFTA01652628, Maria Farmer’s41-page FBI dossier, and placed Tonks within the broader network Maria filed as evidence five days before Virginia Giuffre’s death.

A convicted felon on federal supervised release appears in the federal Epstein archive nearly 50 times. Maria Farmer reported him to the DOJ, the Chicago Police Department, and the NYPD. In 2023, a federal judge found he was harassing an Epstein victim while under court supervision and issued an order forbidding him from mentioning her anywhere on the internet. The record is documented and it does not require interpretation.What Was Filed

maria farmer youngFour separate documents in the federal Epstein archive: EFTA01652187, EFTA01652134, EFTA01652208 and EFTA01652050, contain the same statement filed by Maria Farmer (shown at right as a teen) with federal authorities:

GEORGE B TONKS IS A felon WHO STALKED ME FROM PRISON, and I have reported to DOJ/Chicago Police/NYPD/and you! Do something!

She reported him to the Department of Justice, the Chicago Police Department, and the New York Police Department. She put it in the federal Epstein archive many times. She was begging federal authorities to act.

Maria Farmer’s April 20, 2025 email to attorneys Jennifer Freeman, David Boies, and Sigrid McCawley, filed in the federal Epstein archive as EFTA01652208. She writes that she was gaslit during cancer treatments while Lady Victoria Hervey attacked her, and that she had to use her settlement funds to serve Hervey with legal papers in the UK. “Everything was optics for BSF. All broth, no meat.”

Hervey is on an active campaign to protect Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

george tonksMaria filed in her emails regarding Tonks, Hervey, Krauss and others. EFTA01652208

On April 20, 2025, five days before Virginia Giuffre’s death, Maria Farmer filed a 41 page evidentiary dossier with the FBI. That document is EFTA01652628. It placed George Bing Tonks,  shown at left in a Tik Tok photo, within a network she believed was coordinating a campaign to discredit Epstein survivors. It named him alongside Lady Victoria Hervey as operating together, Hervey providing platform and social legitimacy, Tonks providing distribution of private survivor communications.

A deeper dive into Maria’s dossier and what it contains about Tonks, Hervey, and the broader network is documented in the Last Page First investigation "The Harassment Network." This piece focuses on the federal court record that sits alongside that filing.

Three Convictions, Three Jurisdictions, Thirty Years

The federal record on George Bing Tonks spans three decades and three jurisdictions.

By 2009, Tonks was appealing a federal conviction under yet another name. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, No. 08-3821.

In September 1993, he pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to mail fraud, money laundering, and criminal contempt — United States v. Dupont, 2:93-cr-00192

He operated a network of fraudulent modeling agencies under the name David L. DuPont, defrauding approximately 1,800 people out of advance fees for placements that did not exist. A $2.3 million civil judgment was entered against him and his company, DuPont Model Management. He violated a federal injunction barring him from operating modeling agencies by immediately opening a new agency in Chicago — the criminal contempt charge. Sentence: 37 months, five years supervised release.

In May 2008, he was sentenced to 115 months in the Southern District of New York in United States v. Stone, 1:06-cr-00771. The case originated under the alias Ian Stone. The scheme defrauded over 250 victims of more than $1 million through false promises of adult film roles. A $1.5 million forfeiture judgment was entered.

In November 2008, he was sentenced to 78 months consecutive in the Northern District of Iowa in United States v. Tonks, 1:07-cr-00086, before Chief Judge Linda R. Reade, for a lottery advance fee scheme that extracted $264,872 from a single elderly Iowa woman across 16 wire transfers. He pleaded guilty to Counts 6 and 17.

His confirmed alias roster, drawn from the April 2019 SDNY Final Order of Forfeiture, Document 123, signed by Judge Crotty, and confirmed in the case caption of United States v. Catalano, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, April 20, 2010, is:

  • George Bing Tonks
  • David L. DuPont
  • Ian William Stone
  • Alex Michael Hausner
  • Mike Kaplan
  • Michael Warner
  • David Luiz Silva
  • Jorge Crespo
  • Jorge Tonks
  • Patrick Kessler

10 confirmed names across the federal court record.

New York Time, Notre Dame Students Abused by Priest in ‘Weighing Scheme,’ Report Finds, Stephanie Saul, May 31, 2026. An investigation commissioned by Notre Dame found that the Catholic university could have done more to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct.

A blistering report issued last week accuses the University of Notre Dame of failing to take action against a former priest despite years of alleged sexual misconduct against students while he was a dorm rector and while he worked at nearby Holy Cross College.

The investigation, which was led by the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton at Notre Dame’s request, found that Rev. Thomas King conducted a coercive “weighing scheme” at Notre Dame during the 1980s and 1990s. As part of the scheme, he expressed worry over the health of male students and insisted that they go to a locker room and undress to be weighed.

“Once in the locker room he would direct students to undress fully before they stepped onto a scale,” the report said. “Multiple individuals, some of whom were weighed, were sexually touched or assaulted by Fr. King, both at Notre Dame and after he left.”

The law firm’s 25-page report concluded that Notre Dame, one of the nation’s leading Catholic universities, should have done more to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct in the case of Father King. The report noted that witnesses said they had complained to university employees about him as far back as the 1990s.

The report also noted that these instances were not the first time that the university had to confront allegations of sexual abuse by priests, and listed two other instances when priests had been accused.

The law firm interviewed staff in two separate departments that supposedly received the complaints, but no one could remember having received them, the report said. In other cases, the report said, university employees who heard the complaints did not understand the sexual implications of the “weighing.”

The investigators also said they requested an interview with Father King through his attorney, but it was declined.

In 1997, Father King left Notre Dame for Holy Cross College, then a two-year institution that served as a feeder school to the larger university. He remained there for about 10 years, where he held sway over students because he was instrumental in recommending students for transfer to Notre Dame. The report said there were at least 15 cases of the “weighing scheme” across the two schools.

In addition to his time at Notre Dame and Holy Cross College, Father King served at parishes near Lakeville, Indiana, and Niles, Michigan. Following complaints there, he entered a senior home for priests in the Order of the Holy Cross, the report said. He could not be reached for comment.

The law firm said that during the course of its investigation, it was told of other priests who were accused of misconduct. Its report detailed claims against one of them, the Rev. David Porterfield, the rector at another Notre Dame dormitory, Sorin Hall.

Father Porterfield resigned in 1983 after Notre Dame learned of a complaint against him, but was later rehired, the report said. The investigators criticized the university for continuing to allow him access to the Notre Dame community in various capacities.

The report said Father Porterfield, who died last year, was rehired as an assistant rector at Grace Hall and assistant director of admissions.

Following another complaint against him, he entered an alcohol treatment program, but returned to the South Bend area, where he served in various capacities at parishes and, later, served as a substance abuse counselor.

The allegations against Father King, a former rector at Notre Dame’s Zahm Hall, came to light following complaints from a group of former students at Notre Dame and Holy Cross College, both located in South Bend, Ind.

One of the students, David Tybor, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that he remained dissatisfied with the report.

“I think the report raises as many questions as it answers,” said Dr. Tybor, a professor at Tufts University who received a degree from Notre Dame in 1998. “And I think this is not the first situation like this at Notre Dame. These are the same things they said 25 years ago in other situations where they said it’s never going to happen again.”

In a statement, the Rev. Robert A. Dowd, Notre Dame’s president, said the university was “deeply disturbed” by the findings, thanking those who had come forward to “share their painful stories.” Father Dowd said that Notre Dame had created a counseling support program for former students who were the victims of sexual abuse.

The university also said it was establishing a new process for promptly sharing information about reports about misconduct by priests, including those previously employed by the university.

Some complaints to the university had arrived following Father King’s departure.

Notre Dame had announced last year that it had requested the law firm’s report. The university has referred the allegations against Father King to state and local police in Indiana, the report said.

The findings come nearly 25 years after reports of widespread clergy sexual abuse first emerged in extensive reports by The Boston Globe. Hundreds of cases are still pending in courts in more than 20 states across the country.

U.S. Elections, Politics, Governance

Democratic-Republican Campaign logosHopium Chronicles, Pro-Democracy Advocacy, After A Terrible Week Full Of Consequential Losses Trump Completely Loses It On Social Media, Simon Rosenberg, right, simon rosenberg facebookMay 31, 2026. Our community hit an important milestone this week - $10m raised for battleground candidates and party committees - thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we discussed yesterday we need to be very loud this week. Congress needs to hear from us on Ukraine, on Iran, on Trump’s corruption, their outrageous funding of ICE without reform, and whatever else is on your mind. Be aggressive this week peeps. Call your Senators and House Member and let them know you want them fighting for something better. Trump’s Congressional coalition has weakened, and we need to keep the pressure on. Be loud and proud.

Graham Platner, graham platner senate campaignright. These new revelations are not good. Here’s CNN’s recap. And as we’ve discussed here the reason party committees leantowards candidates who’ve run and won before is 1) they’ve shown they know how to win 2) they’ve already been vetted.

Donald Trump. After a terrible week of racking up loss after loss our addled, aging leader has had a particularly crazy weekend, seeming intent to become known as an American Caligula. Yesterday Fox News featured a fawning and delusional North Korea/Dear Leader like walking tour of his ballroom conducted by his daughter-in-law. He’s been mad posting all weekend:

His deranged and unhinged posting included this (via the NYT):

President Trump on Saturday called for the cancellation of a concert series celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday this summer, after a wave of musicians pulled out.

“Cancel it,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain.”

Freedom 250, the group that is organizing the administration’s events for the birthday celebration, announced on Wednesday that a series of nine musical acts would perform during a 16-day exposition — known as the Great American State Fair — on the National Mall beginning in late June. The exposition is part of the festivities surrounding America’s 250th birthday.

But at least five musicians have since dropped out. Some of those artists said they had not been aware that the event had been part of an initiative planned by the Trump administration for the nation’s birthday.

In an earlier post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr. Trump had suggested that, rather than canceling the concerts, he should instead headline the event.

Calling himself “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World” and “the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime,” Mr. Trump wrote that he should “take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”

In that post, Mr. Trump said he was ordering “my Representatives” to explore “the feasibility of doing an America Is Back rally,” where he would “give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

There was some confusion surrounding whether Mr. Trump was, indeed, referring to the concerts in the earlier post. There, the president referred more than once to an event “on Wednesday.” The concerts announced by Freedom 250 are currently scheduled to take place across two Thursdays and Fridays and one Saturday.

And he dropped this completely insane rant about the Kennedy Center ruling by Judge Cooper (all these links come from the great Aaron Rupar):

Trump’s dangerously unhinged weekend of posting and self-adulation are to going to do little to re-assure Congressional Republicans and their 2026 candidates that he can or even aspires to lead them into battle this November.Subscribed

Finally, us. Our community. Proud, plucky patriots all. We hit a major milestone this week - we’ve now raised $10,000,000 in together since we started formally raising money for battleground candidates and party committees in October of 2023. $10 million from 93,000 donations to high leverage, high return investments. While we did not win the Presidency in 2024, this community has had a whole lot of wins together in these last three years, and we are making smart and critical investments towards us having the election we all want to have this November.

 

NBC News, Graham Platner’s wife ‘angry, disappointed’ her past disclosure of his extramarital sexting was made public, Alexandra Marquez and Julie Tsirkin, May 31, 2026. Amy Gertner said it was “shameful” that media outlets and others had “spread gossip” instead of focused on the “real issues” her husband is running on in Maine.

nbc news logoThe wife of Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate in Maine, said she is “really angry” about reports that she previously told her husband’s campaign he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women.

“It makes me really angry, disappointed,” Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, said in a direct-to-camera video Platner’s campaign released Saturday night. “And I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on.”

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Gertner told Platner’s campaign about the sexually explicit texts last year, near the start of his Senate bid. Her disclosure came during a conversation with campaign officials about potential opposition research into Platner, the two outlets reported, with the Times citing a former senior official in Platner’s campaign and the Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

graham platner cropped headshotPlatner’s campaign confirmed he sent multiple women sexually explicit texts at the beginning of his marriage.

“Amy and I went through something hard — because of me,” Platner, right, said in a statement. “We did the work, and I’m grateful for her every hour of every day. I’ve learned throughout this campaign is that people don’t care about gossip or headlines, they care that you’re fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids. This campaign is about the ideas that will move Maine forward and past a broken politics of the past. Our opponents want politics to be empty of content and empty of actual change — and beating that is exactly what our movement is about.”

In addition, NBC News verified a Kik account tied to Platner after it visually matched the tattoos visible in the profile photo to tattoos on his torso and arms. Kik is a popular platform that allows anonymous messaging. The platform indicates that the account was created 3,610 days (nearly 10 years) ago and provides no record of Platner’s activity, contacts or actions.

A spokesperson for Platner’s campaign confirmed the account belongs to Platner but said he deleted the app and hasn’t used the account in years.

In the video she recorded Saturday, Gertner said: “Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard. Being newly married, going through infertility and a Senate campaign is hard.”

“Our marriage counselor helps,” she added. “My personal counselor helps. Graham’s personal counselor helps.”

The pair married in 2023 and have been open about their infertility struggles, including sharing that they traveled to Norway for in vitro fertilization treatment this year.

Platner’s campaign has been dogged by revelations about his past since he launched his bid for the Senate last year, but so far that has not slowed the momentum of his campaign.

In October, Platner apologized for resurfaced Reddit posts in which he minimized the challenges faced by members of the military who have been sexually assaulted, called white rural people racist and stupid, referred to himself as a “communist” and encouraged people to limit their intake of certain substances to avoid being raped.

“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” Platner said in a video he posted on X.

The same month, Platner covered up a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, saying he got the tattoo while in the Marines in 2007 and had no idea the skull-and-crossbones figure was associated with Nazis.

In her video Saturday, Gertner added: “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham. ... I knew the man that I married is wonderful and dynamic, and probably a genius.”

In a separate written statement distributed by the campaign, Gertner also blamed “someone I considered a friend,” without naming the person, for divulging her disclosures about her husband’s texts.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” she said in the statement. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills launched her own campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Senate last year but dropped out in April after she struggled to raise money and trailed Platner in the polls.

Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, has been endorsed by a slate of national progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

After reports of Platner’s sexual texts to other women emerged Saturday, Khanna re-emphasized his support and advertised a campaign rally he’ll be attending alongside Platner in June.

“I am proud of @grahamformaine for having the character to stand up against the war in Iran, against genocide, and against an unfair & lopsided economy. I am proud of him for having a vision for a new deal for our time. Excited to campaign with him June 5!” Khanna wrote on X.

Platner is challenging longtime Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is running for a sixth term.

While Maine has trended toward Democrats in presidential elections — Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by 7 percentage points in 2024 — Collins has outperformed other Republicans in recent elections to keep her seat. She won her 2020 re-election race by 9 points.

New York Times, Senator Dan Sullivan Has a New Challenger in Alaska: Dan Sullivan, Tim Balk, May 31, 2026 (print ed.). Two candidates with the same name will be on the ballot seeking the same seat in the state’s primary. “It’s going to be confusing,” one Republican said. In Alaska this election season, the biggest supporters of Dan Sullivan could be the biggest antagonists of Dan Sullivan.

The field of contenders challenging Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican who is up for re-election, has grown in recent days with a rather befuddling addition: Dan J. Sullivan, a former educator of no known relation, has entered the race.

His arrival could cause a headache for Senator Sullivan, who is working to fend off a challenge from former Representative Mary Peltola, a well-funded and independent-minded Democrat who says she is running on “fish, family and freedom.”

Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign announcement says he is a former elementary-school teacher and bartender from Petersburg, Alaska, a small town about 120 miles southeast of Juneau known locally for its Scandinavian spring festival. The announcement lays out no policies and does not describe his party affiliation.

The campaign arm of Senate Republicans, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, suggested that Dan J. Sullivan was a plant by Democrats intended to confuse voters and siphon support from Senator Sullivan, a former Marine who worked in the State Department under President George W. Bush.

If some voters mistakenly vote for Dan J. Sullivan thinking they’re voting for Senator Sullivan, it could make the difference in a tight race, political observers said.

But Alaskans in both parties were skeptical it was a ploy. Alaska simply has a lot of Dan Sullivans, they said.

Gary Stevens, the Republican president of the Alaska Senate and a supporter of Senator Sullivan, said it was “pretty unlikely” that the new challenger was a Democratic plant. But he added that it was going to be a “campaign issue for the senator.”

“It’s going to be confusing,” Mr. Stevens said.

When Senator Sullivan was first elected to the Senate in 2014, another Dan Sullivan — Dan A. Sullivan, who was mayor of Anchorage at the time — was also on the primary ballot as a candidate for lieutenant governor.This year, Alaska is one of a handful of states that Democrats are targeting as they try to chart a narrow path back to the Senate majority.

Under Alaska’s election system, the top four candidates in a nonpartisan primary will advance to the general election in November. This year’s primary will be held on Aug. 18.

Alaska has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly two decades. But the state has gradually shifted toward the center in presidential elections over the last quarter-century. (President Trump carried it by about 14 percentage points in 2024, roughly mirroring the margins he won by in Texas, Iowa and Florida.)

Most Alaska voters are politically unaffiliated, and Senator Lisa Murkowski, a centrist Republican, won re-election in the state in 2022 by beating a Trump-backed rival.

In announcing that he was joining this year’s race, Dan J. Sullivan said he had one goal: to unseat the incumbent. “It’s time for Alaska to elect a Sullivan that’s on their side,” he said in a statement.

The Daily With Sarah Jones via PoliticusUSA, Opinion: Gov. Andy Beshear Obliterates Kristen Welker's Biden Obsession, Sarah Jones, right, and Jason Easley, sarah reese jonesMay 31, 2026. Meet The Press's Kristen Welker still thinks that Joe Biden and the 2024 election are a big story, but she tried to question Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) about it, and he turned the tables.

politicus usa logoThe mainstream media backed Donald Trump in the 2024 election. They did this by tilting their coverage to hide Trump’s flaws, going into a frenzy over Joe Biden’s age, and withholding endorsements of Kamala Harris from some of the highest-profile outlets in the country.

Many of the biggest media outlets and those who run them had decided that Donald Trump would be better for their business than four more years of a Democrat in the White House.

Trump’s second term is historically unpopular and failing. The big ratings, book deals, and revenue increases have not arrived for the media, but instead of examining their role in how the country got into this mess, they are trying to both-sides Trump’s failure by sticking with Biden being a problem for Democrats, nearly two years after he left office.

Meet The Press host Kristen Welker has been obsessed with Joe Biden and keeps asking Democrats as if voters are going to care about Biden when they can’t afford food, gas, health insurance, and other life essentials.

On Meet The Press, Welker continued her Biden line of questioning with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, but the governor turned the tables on her.

Welker began her questions with, “I want to ask you about one of the big headlines for Democrats this week – former First Lady Jill Biden speaking out, weighing in on that disastrous debate performance by former President Joe Biden back in 2024.”

I haven’t heard any Democrats talking about the Bidens, but sure, ok, let’s see where this goes.

After playing a clip of Jill Biden, Welker asked Beshear, “Did former First Lady Jill Biden mislead the American people, Governor?”

Beshear’s answer turned Welker’s question into an epic fail.

The Kentucky Governor answered:

Well, what I see is a First Lady that loves her husband, that is fiercely protective. And I’m not going to criticize that. We were all concerned when we saw that debate. This was a president who governed in a way that helped my state, that helped me bring in a significant number of jobs, that’s helping me build a bridge that people said no one would ever build in their lifetime between northern Kentucky and Ohio. But I think it’s fair to look back now. Given that Joe Biden did drop out and say he shouldn’t have run for re-election in the first place. You can both compliment him for things he did that helped your state and your people, but also be able to look back and know that was a decision that should have been made differently.

Beshear talked about how he thinks Biden should not have run, but Biden had a good record of helping people and getting things done.

News Roundups

 

mtn meidas touch networkMedias Touch Network, Sunday Afternoon News Updates and Comment: More Failed Deals, Economic Gaslighting, and New Iran Strikes, Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beastMay 31, 2026. Here’s what we’re tracking in today’s midday update:

  • Iran shot down another U.S. drone, the fifth American aircraft lost this week alone
  • Trump “toughened” his Iran deal terms, a move that analysts say makes zero strategic sense when Iran refused his last demands
  • Iran’s parliament speaker made clear: no deal until Iran’s rights are fully secured
  • Iran’s IRGC launched attacks on armed groups in northern Iraq
  • Netanyahu ordered the IDF to expand operations in Lebanon, seizing the Beaufort Ridge
  • Trump is threatening a federal judge over a drone port he wants built in the White House ballroom
  • Treasury Secretary Bessent and economic advisor Kevin Hassett spent the morning telling Americans the economy is actually great
  • Interior Secretary Doug Burgum refused to say who’s funding “Freedom 250”
  • Mike Pence called Trump’s anti-weaponization slush fund “deeply offensive”

Meidas Touch Network, Thiis Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 390, ron filipowskiRon Filipkowski, right, May 31, 2026. Trump made another 100+ batshit crazy posts on Truth Social again this weekend. Here are a few:

mtn meidas touch networkOn his Freedom 250 event: "I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History, DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

… If they are 3rd rate artists, why did he book them?

“I don’t want so-called ‘Artists’ that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited — It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!”

Then later: “We should have a giant MAGA RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain. Cancel it, just like I canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center.”

… Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) posted a video on social media to Trump where he volunteered to organize new talent for the event. He said that Kid Rock, John Rich and Lee Greenwood be the new headliners and said he could also round up some random bands from Nashville: “Everybody in the country will be watching this dadgum thing. Let’s see if we can make this thing happen.”

“Judge Cooper also stated that the highly prestigious Board of the Center was not authorized to add on the name ‘TRUMP’ despite the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars of my time and money will be necessary for its successful reincarnation. So now, the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially. Judge Cooper, like numerous other Crooked Judges on my cases, should be IMPEACHED.”

“The results of my Physical Examination, taken at Walter Reed, and just released, were extremely good. Unlike other US Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence.’ It is very rare that anyone gets a Perfect Score, especially when achieved 4 times in a row.”

… Dr. Jonathan Reiner: “I’m glad the president did well on the MOCA exam, but it’s a dementia screening tool, not an IQ test, so a score of 26 or higher represents normal cognitive performance, not extreme intelligence. None of the questions are high difficulty.

“The DronePort at the WH Ballroom will be, perhaps, the most sophisticated anywhere in the World! Judge Richard Leon should stop playing games with America’s Security! If anything happens, he will be held responsible for the Death and Destruction caused to our Country. He has already created enough problems by allowing ‘Top Secret’ info to be released and exposed based on a ridiculous lawsuit started by a highly litigious woman. This ridiculous lawsuit must be dismissed, IMMEDIATELY!”

… And of course, Trump also posted lots of weirdo memes:

doug burgum… Interior Secrtary Doug Burgum, right, on CNN: “There are questions about where private funding is coming from for Freedom 250. It’s not transparent. Burgum: Transparency is always a good thing. I work for the president I think i most transparent ever. Q: So you’ll make the donors public? Burgum: That’s up to Freedom 250. It’s run out of the WH. It’s not about the donors it’s about Americans celebrating.”

… NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon: “Mr. President: Your supporters are hurting. They need help. And they need it from you. A stimulus check to get working-class people through the months of negotiations in Iran would go a long way.”

… Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) to CNN on the migrant detention center in NJ being protested: “Delaney Hall is run by GEO Group. GEO Group is getting a nearly $1 billion contract to run Delaney Hall. They tell me there is one full-time doctor for 800 detainees. They could have more doctors if they wanted to, but that’s cutting into their profits.”

… Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ): “GEO Group and CoreCivic are the two private prison giants making billions of dollars as they physically and psychologically torture tens of thousands of people in detention every day. It’s a moral stain on our country. We need to end for-profit detention in the US now!”

… Privatizing prisons and detention facilities is one of the worst public policy decisions this country has ever made.

… NYT: “In recent conversations with aides and allies, Trump often interjects with a question about his VP: Does Vance have what it takes to go all the way? He usually answers his own question: He’s not so sure. Trump often compares Vance’s performance to his own achievements. He has told several allies that Vance has never won a tough race without his help. He has brought up the number of vacations Vance has taken as VP.”

… “He has repeatedly mentioned the VP’s initial opposition to starting a war with Iran and has done so in front of Vance. The president has also questioned his decision to send a Vance-led delegation to a negotiation session in Pakistan that failed to end the war.”

… “Trump, always keenly attuned to the optics of the presidency, has zeroed in on moments when Vance might not look the part. He has repeatedly brought up a moment from last spring, when Vance fumbled Ohio State’s national football championship trophy on the WH South Lawn.”

… “In meetings, Vance frequently scrolls his phone, and he uses social media to fight with his critics. The president frequently posts to Truth Social, but he does not spend time replying to people online, as Vance does. Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, recently advised Vance to take a break from social media, as have other officials in the West Wing, because the fighting was beneath his office.”

… “In November, the president wondered aloud why Vance was not more subservient, like the officials who work for President Xi Jinping of China. ‘Why don’t you behave like that?’ Trump asked Vance during a breakfast for Republican senators. ‘JD doesn’t behave like that! JD butts into conversations! I want to have that for at least a couple of days. OK, JD?’”

We make the entire Weekend Bulletin available to everyone while about the first third of the daily Bulletins during the week can be read by free subscribers. Tomorrow is also Ask the Editor where I choose 5 questions from you to answer with our Capitol Hill reporter Pablo chiming in with his take. Please submit your question in the comments section to this Bulletin below.

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… WaPo: “Democratic state leaders around the country have an unusual strategy to stymie Trump’s $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim they were wrongly investigated by the govt. Their plan: Tax the payouts at 100%. Gavin Newsom has endorsed the idea, saying, ‘It’s an action we look forward to taking.’ State legislators in NY and WI are crafting bills on the topic. And Democratic candidates are rallying behind the tactic in blue states.”

… Sen. Michael Bennet, who is the front-runner in the CO governor’s race: “The slush fund is a blatantly corrupt theft of taxpayer dollars, and we need to do everything we can to stop it.”

… Mike Pence on NBC: “This talk of a weaponization fund, the idea of creating a fund that could compensate people that assaulted police officers and vandalized the Capitol that day is totally unacceptable. My hope is the admin will drop it. Drop the idea entirely.”

… Zelensky: “We wanted to conclude the first Drone Deal with the US. The US wanted to test all types of our drones. We agreed to the way they wanted to test, train with, and use our systems in the air, on land, and at sea. But we still don’t have a bilateral Drone Deal – a big framework document.”

… “The Drone Deals we have are with some countries in the Middle East and Europe, and now we are preparing a big Drone Deal with the EU. I hope we will reach the same agreement with our American partners. I count on it.”

… I mean, they’re competing with Don Jr’s drone company. What the hell do the Ukrainians know about drones compared to Junior?

… The Hill: “The federal prosecutor who secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly threatening the life of Trump in a since-deleted social media post of seashells has stepped down. A ‘notice of substitution’ filed in the E. District of NC stated that Matthew Petracca would no longer serve as DOJ’s counsel on the case and would be replaced by assistant US Attorney Timothy Severo.”

… “The filing did not provide any explanation for Petracca’s removal from the case, and the E. District of NC did not immediately return a request for comment.”

… Politico: “Graham Platner exchanged sexually explicit texts with multiple women while married to his wife, Amy Gertner, his campaign confirmed, the latest scandal he has faced since launching his Maine Senate campaign last year.”

… Gertner: “I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives - the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind - and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

… Henry Olsen with Ethics in Public Policy: “Per Maine law, Platner can quit after he is nominated without providing a reason prior to 5 PM on the 2nd Monday in July. The state party then names a replacement prior to 5 PM on the 4th Monday in July.”

… Not a bad idea to keep those dates in mind. At this rate who knows what’s coming out next.

… Lara Trump interviewed her father-in-law for Fox:

On the ballroom: “Eric Trump has the gene. He has the gene that I have. I have the gene. Eric has it. He looked at this and understood it immediately.”

“The ballroom will be the most secure facility ever build. The way the world is now, that’s very important. You have the drone ports and the sniper ports.”

“We’re gonna have the inauguration here”

… The next president decides that. But he continues to talk like that will be him.

On Iran negotiations: “I’m in no hurry. I’d like to say I’m in a hurry because gas prices but if you are in a hurry you won’t make a good deal.”

“We sort of left their military alone because we think that their military is somewhat moderate. We’ve actually let their military alone - people would be surprised to hear that. Moments later: Iran is a very bad position. They have no military.”

… Pete Hegseth on March 13: “Never before has a modern, capable military, which Iran used to have, been so quickly destroyed.”

… Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): “Now we know why Trump still hasn’t been able to open the Straight of Hormuz. It’s because, in the cognitively impaired mind of trump, Iran cleverly has the only Schrödinger military in the world: it exists and it doesn’t exist all at the same time.”

On CA: “They don’t have voting booths, everything is by mail. I know the system very well. I don’t think a Republican can win CA until they pass the SAVE Act.”

… Gavin Newsom: “Trump is actively lying to Americans. Again. This time it’s to keep you from voting. Don’t believe him.”

On his new nickname ‘dumocrats’: “Dumb ends with a B but most people don’t know that.”

… Whenever Trump says “the country” he means himself. Whenever he says “most people don’t know that” it means he didn’t know it.

On his President’s Walk of Fame: “This is a brass plaque. I did this. Most people would put brass on top of a piece of wood. This is solid brass. This is all solid beautiful brass.”

“Did you see CNN did a poll on me and I was 100% with MAGA? They couldn't believe it. Harry Enten. He's legit. He gives me a lot of good polls."

… Trump’s physical said he is 6’3”. Lara must have gotten a lot taller recently.

… Political consultant Chris Jackson: “I’m hearing from multiple folks who would know that Andy Beshear had a very good night in SC. He brought the house down at the Blue Palmetto Dinner and made a real impression at Jim Clyburn’s Fish Fry. Clyburn reportedly called it ‘one of the most incredible speeches I’ve heard from a Democratic governor from the South.’”

… “That matters. A Democratic governor who wins in deep-red Kentucky, talks like a normal person, leads with decency, and can connect in SC? Keep an eye on Andy.”

… Axios’s Barak Ravid with his latest update on Iran’s surrender: “A senior American official said that Trump was told it would take about 3 days for the Iranians to come back with a response to his request: ‘They’re really hiding in caves and they’re not using email. There will be a deal. As for how close it is—we’ll wait and see. We’re prepared to wait so that the president gets what he’s asking for. It could be a week. It could be less. It could be more. Early next week we hope we’ll have something'.’”

… Axios has been reporting every few days for the past 3 months that a deal was happening any day.

… NewsNation asked about Intel Committee Chair Rick Crawford about the US military intel report that Iran’s military capabilities remain largely intact: “The clear-eyed view is listening to the president, who has access to more info than anybody does. There may be some individuals who take delight in undermining the president through leaks. I would encourage them to get with Team America and come in on our side.”

… Middle East expert Danny Citrinowitz: “The chances of Iran backing down on its core negotiating positions are extremely low. This applies to its demand for meaningful economic relief from the outset, its insistence on preserving its sovereign rights in Hormuz, and its willingness to discuss limitations on its nuclear program only as part of a later stage of the process.”

… “If Washington's demands clash with these fundamental positions, Iran is likely to prefer no deal at all rather than accept an agreement that, in its view, fails to improve its strategic situation. The danger of introducing tougher demands at the last minute is that such a strategy assumes Iran lacks confidence and can be pressured into concessions. The opposite is true: Tehran currently sees little reason to compromise on what it considers its core interests.”

… “The admin must recognize a basic reality. If the goal is to fundamentally alter Iran's strategic calculus, it would require a prolonged and costly campaign to undermine Tehran's confidence in its position. But as long as Washington prioritizes reaching an agreement, there is little logic in insisting on demands that Iran is almost certain to reject and that would only push a deal further out of reach.”

… “Brett Erickson with Obsidian Risk Advisors: “Last night, Trump made a move that came as a surprise to many. He got TOUGHER in his negotiating position. But why did he do this is the question many are asking right now. Iran has consistently rejected terms offered by the US because, quite frankly, they are ridiculously maximalist and entirely detached from the reality of the situation.”

… “Trump is at the table with Iran holding a 7 & 2 off-suit, and Iran is sitting with pocket aces. So why even waste the time to make an offer Iran is sure to refuse immediately? Because the deal wasn’t meant for Iran. It was meant for American consumption.”

… “Throughout this conflict, from a strategic standpoint, Trump has been absolutely dog walked by the Iranian regime. From the very first day that Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, and every day since, Iran has held the upper hand, and it only gets stronger by the day.”

… “Trump knows this, even as he wallows in self pity and denial. Iran obviously knows this, and sees the upcoming bullet train of the World Cup, lowest SPR levels in history, midterms, cratering approval numbers - everything is going south for Trump fast at this point. It’s spiraling, and Trump looks increasingly desperate for a deal.”

… “As much as Trump has tried to claim Iran is ‘begging’ for a deal, it is obvious to everyone that it is really Trump that is on his hands and knees. So if he’s going to reject the latest Iranian proposal because the terms are simply a step too far… why not give the image, the bluster, the BRAVADO of a ‘tough on Iran’ Commander in Chief to sell to the American people.”

… “Of course, this is all obviously rubbish. Iran knows that. Trump knows that. And everyone around the world knows that. But it’s not meant for them, it’s meant for his MAGA base. Trump, by setting forth even more ludicrous terms, allows for a kicking of the can down the road, and the veneer of a tough President that will placate his base that has been ready to rip him to shreds.”

… “It’s not a serious offer. It doesn’t have even the slightest of chance to be accepted by Iran. But it was never meant for them. It was meant for the desperate and hopeless. Trump to try to prove to his base that he is still in control. Even when he is clearly not.”

… WH economic advisor Kevin Hassett on ABC: Q - “The Exxon Mobil senior VP said prices will ‘shoot up’ after the next 2 to 3 weeks if a deal isn’t struck. Hassett: There’s a lot of pressure on Iran to finally agree to the president’s terms.”

… Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Fox: "Many people have said to me, 'Are you surprised the market has gone up on bad news?' I say, I don't think the news is that bad. I think the news is bad. The quality of the reporting. The anti-Americanism. People are so anti-President Trump."

… Media reporter Bill Carter: “Here we go: reporting in ways we consider negatively abt the leader is ‘unAmerican.’ Hence we get the FCC going after comedians, CBS censoring 60 Min, and women reporters asking legit questions being told to shut up Piggy.”

… Republican senate nominee Ken Paxton on Fox: Q - “What are you going to do about your perception? The WSJ describes you as 'scandal plagued'. Paxton: The reality is they could say the same thing about Donald Trump.”

… I’m not sure that’s much of a selling point.

… Smirking Kevin Hassett was back on Fox to show again how out of touch he is with the vast majority of Americans:

Q - “The BLS says inflation is now outpacing wage growth. How do you answer that concern? Hassett: That's a technical matter. Personal income includes lots of things like transfers and food stamps that we have been reducing as part of our effort to make govt leaner and meaner.”

… Former Senate Budget Committee staffer Bobby Kogan: “Insane response. This is literally false. The personal income report counts transfers, but BLS report he was asked about doesn’t. Inflation outpaced wages. But EVEN IF talking about personal income, saying ‘the only reason you’re poorer is we took away your Medicaid’ is crazy.”

Q - “WSJ says the percentage of delinquent credit card balances is 13%, the highest since the period following the financial crisis. People say they're using them for necessities. Your message to them? Hassett: We talk to the CEOs of the credit card companies all the time. Delinquency is different from default, and there's not any financial threat to the credit card companies. It's just people are taking a little bit longer.”

"People are spending more on gas, but they're also spending more on everything else - not just groceries, but restaurants and so on. I think that's a sign you see when people are optimistic about the future."

… ACJ covered the debate today between Republican senate candidates Mike Collins and Vince Dooley:

“Ossoff earlier challenged Collins and Dooley to say whether they support Trump-backed measures to finance $1 billion in security funding tied to a new WH ballroom and a $1.8 billion fund for people who say they were politically persecuted. Both endorsed each initiative.”

“Only clashes so far: Dooley pushes back against Collins attack calling him weak on illegal immigration. Collins blames Collins and a lackadaisical Congress for not taking further action. ‘Typical politician,’ says Dooley.”

“Report card on today’s GA GOP Senate debate: Collins v. Dooley = Hardliner vs. Happy warrior. Both pro-Trump, both support ballroom, Iran and Trump weaponization fund. BUT Collins forced to defend on ethics 3 times in 30 min.”

… Meanwhile Jon Ossoff held his first of many joint events on Sunday with the Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms:

“This war in Iran is the worst foreign policy blunder since Iraq. And just like the Iraq War, it's a war built on lies. Let’s update the record: On day one, the president said it was running ahead of schedule. On day 10, he said it was very complete. Day 21, getting very close. Day 32, leaving very soon. On day 39, the President said a whole civilization will die.”

“On the next day, day 40, he declared total and complete victory. Day 67, great progress. Day 79, the clock is ticking. Today is day 92 . And on day 92 Iran's ballistic missiles and drones have not been destroyed. The Strait of Hormuz, which was opened before the war is still closed. The regime is intact along with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium—a stockpile Iran only built after Trump shredded President Obama's Iran deal.”

“The America first president who said he would end foreign wars to put America first and focus on America's working class. Instead, now he says, it's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare. Now he says all we can afford is war. Now he demands we cut cancer and Alzheimer's research to throw even more money at Hegseth’s Pentagon. While Hegseth's broker looked to buy defense fund before Iran.”

They tried to run Brian Kemp, but he refused. So we're left with the congressman who's only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman and the coach, who's only a coach because his daddy was a coach. It doesn't matter which one wins. They're both Trump puppets and we'll beat either one of them in November.”

… Axios: “At least $2 million in settlements has been agreed to after employees and other critics were fired or penalized over their posts about Charlie Kirk following his killing. The settlements illustrate the limits employers can have in regulating their workers’ political rhetoric.”

… “Kirk’s death became a catalyst for a free speech debate after an estimated 600 individuals were fired or punished for criticizing the conservative political activist or downplaying his death - repercussions that were backed by the Trump admin. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is aware of 14 First Amend lawsuits in federal court brought by workers terminated for their comments about Kirk, not including those brought by workers terminated in the private sector or filed in state court.”

… “Case in point: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission settled a lawsuit with biologist Brittney Brown for $485,000 after she was fired for reposting a meme criticizing Kirk on her personal Instagram account. ‘All I wanted was my job back,’ Brown said in a statement, slamming the state agency for acting as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ‘personal puppet show.’”

… Sen. Bernie Sanders was the first guest on Meidas’ new Sunday talk show On Sunday: “What we have here, and it’s a real issue, is that if you’re progressive, you can go out there and give a great speech, fine. You’re saying all the right things. You’re right on the issues. Great. Can you run a government? Can you be a good mayor? Can you be a good governor?”

… “What Mamdani is doing is showing that you can have a democratic socialist, progressive ideology and run a city. You know what? NYC had really serious snowstorms. It meant that people couldn’t get to work, kids couldn’t get to school, ambulances couldn’t get people to the hospital. You know what he did? He got the bloody snow off the ground and did a great job on that.”

… “So the point is, we have got to have progressives who are not only right on the issues—and I speak as somebody who was a mayor for 8 years—you’ve got to know how to run a govt. You’ve got to cut through the bureaucracy. You’ve got to stand up for working-class people. You’ve got to create the best educational system in the world that we can. You’ve got to make the system work efficiently.”

… Rep. Ro Khanna was also a guest to talk about the Epstein files: “James Comer has made this totally partisan. He used two to three months to go after the Clintons, who haven’t been in office for 20 years, and yet he didn’t have Pam Bondi under oath. He didn’t have her testimony public. He didn’t have Howard Lutnick under oath. He didn’t have his testimony public.”

U.S. Economy, Income Inequality, Inflation, Markets

 

An artist’s rendition of the horrendous carnage that occurred during the 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the Stone Bridge over the Conemaugh River,,killing more than 2,200 after wealthy residents failed to fortify a dam at their resort -- while escaping legal liaibility despite a national scandal.

An artist’s rendition of the horrendous carnage that occurred during the 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the Stone Bridge over the Conemaugh River,,killing more than 2,200 after wealthy residents failed to fortify a dam at their resort -- while escaping legal liaibility despite a national scandal.

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: May 30, 2026 [Good Life, Disaster and No Legal Accountability: The Way We Were], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnMay 31, 2026. Life was good in 1889 for the more than fifty wealthy industrialists who belonged to Pennsylvania’s South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

Most of the men had made their fortunes in nearby Pittsburgh in the heady years after the Civil War. New national markets and a new national financial system made business boom across the country. Factories grew and railroads hammered across the country, moving grain east and manufactured products south and west.

Pittsburgh produced the iron and steel that fed the railroad industry and the growing cities. Men like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick ran the steel mills, while there was also money to be made in real estate, storekeeping, lawyering, and accounting in the booming city. Bankers like Andrew Mellon, who would become the U.S. secretary of the treasury during the boom years of the 1920s, made enough money to reshape the country.

In 1880, Frick’s friend Benjamin Franklin Ruff, who sold coke (the high-heat fuel necessary to make steel), contracted to make railroad tunnels, and bought and sold real estate, proposed to Frick and other wealthy friends that they establish a secret and exclusive club in the mountains, where members could spend their summers away from the heat and dirt of bustling Pittsburgh.

Ruff owned an abandoned reservoir on Pennsylvania’s Little Conemaugh River in southwestern Pennsylvania. The reservoir had been created in 1852, when Pennsylvania finished damming the river to create a canal system. But railroads soon replaced canals, and the reservoir became obsolete. The state sold it, along with the South Fork Dam, to private interests. By 1880 it was in Ruff’s hands.

Ruff and his friends organized the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which took control of the reservoir—renaming it Lake Conemaugh—and established a club on about 160 acres of land. The main building on the site was a 47-room clubhouse with a dining room that could seat 150. Sixteen members built large “cottages” along the lakeshore and spent their evenings at plays or musical performances.

At two and a half miles long and a mile wide, the lake was big enough to run the club’s two steam yachts or to enjoy on sailboats or canoes. It covered about 450 acres and was 70 feet deep. It held about 20 million tons of water. The club’s wealthy industrialists and financiers centered their summer relaxation around the artificial lake.

Private owners had already changed the lake and the dam significantly. The man who had bought the property from the state removed from the dam the five sluice pipes that allowed the removal of excess water, selling them for scrap. This meant there was no way to drain the reservoir either for repairs, or to lower water levels during periods of heavy rain.

As they prepared for summer recreation, the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club stocked the lake with black bass sport fish. Then, worried that the expensive bass might get washed downstream, they put screens over the dam’s spillway. To enable carriages to cross the dam, the club lowered it. There was no way to lower water levels in their Lake Conemaugh, but in what must have been an idyllic existence in the summers of the early 1880s, they ignored warnings that the changes they had made to the dam had weakened it dangerously.

There were 30,000 people, mostly Welsh and German immigrants, living in Johnstown, a factory town in the valley below Lake Conemaugh, about fourteen miles downstream from the South Fork Dam. The economy that had made fortunes for the men of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was built on the labor of workers like the men in Johnstown. The men there worked in the blast furnaces, converters, rolling mills, or coal mines of Cambria Iron or worked for the Gautier plant making barbed wire. The steep hills of the region meant the drop in elevation from the lake to Johnstown was about 450 feet, more than 40 stories in a modern-day building. But there was little reason for members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club to think about the people who lived downstream.

Until May 30, 1889, Decoration Day, when a torrent of rain began to fall.

On the morning of May 31, the president of the club, Elias Unger, observed from his farmhouse above the lake that “...the valley below me seemed to be all under water, and I couldn’t understand what all that meant.” Unger was at the farmhouse to oversee the construction of a sewage system for the club, and when he ran down to the dam, he immediately ordered the Italian workers from the sewage project to dig an emergency spillway to relieve pressure on the dam. But the workers hit rock and made little headway. Then Unger ordered workers to tear out the fish screens that had become blocked with debris, but it was too late. By 1:30 in the afternoon, after Unger had tried unsuccessfully to warn the people below, it was clear there was nothing to do but wait for the dam to fail.

A little before 3:00 in the afternoon on Friday, May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam on Pennsylvania’s Little Conemaugh River broke. Unger said the dam failed “little by little until it got a head way, and when it got cut through it just went like a flash.”

As 20 million tons of water spilled downstream, it picked up houses, trees, bridges, railroad cars, animals, and people. The water measured at least 35 feet high and traveled at 40 miles an hour. As it traveled, it became a wall of debris, grinding through more than $4.4 billion of property in today’s dollars. It swept locomotives from their tracks, discarding some nearly a mile away.

johnston flood book david mcculloughThe water consumed victims. And when the wave smashed into a stone bridge in Johnstown, the trapped debris caught fire, trapping more. Two thousand, two hundred and eight people died in the Johnstown Flood, the largest loss of civilian lives in the U.S. at that time. Ninety-nine entire families died. Bodies were found as far away as Cincinnati, four hundred miles away, and as late as 1911.

Gertrude Quinn Slattery later recalled that her father had been terribly worried about the heavy rains, warning that not a house would be left standing if the dam burst. Hearing the roar of the coming water, he grabbed one of his children and ordered the rest to “Run for your lives” to a nearby hill.

Slattery later recalled: “I can never forget what I saw! It was like the Day of Judgement I have since seen pictured in books. Pandemonium had broken loose, screams, cries and people were running; their white faces like death masks; parents dragging children, whose heads bobbed up and down in the water; a boat filled to capacity with eager, anxious passengers; household pets of all descriptions dangling from living arms; a wagon loaded to the breaking point lost a wheel and the despairing mortals riding therein were dumped down in a heap in the filthy water. They scrambled to their feet in less time than it takes to tell it, as the on-rushing mob moved rapidly forward, bent on self-preservation at any cost…and now a moving mass, black with houses, trees, boulders, logs and rafters was coming down like an avalanche.”

Debris from The Johnstown Flood in 1889 in Western Pennsylvania.

Debris from The Johnstown Flood in 1889 in Western Pennsylvania.

From around the world, people rushed to help the survivors. One of the first to arrive was Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who stayed for five months. She brought with her fifty doctors and nurses, and together they learned how to respond to a natural disaster.

But those survivors who hoped to hold the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club accountable were disappointed. Blaming the club members for the disaster, newspapers built the story into one of the biggest in American history. Even the pro-business New York Times reported that “justice is inevitable even though the horror is attributable to men of wealth and station, and the majority of the victims the most downtrodden workers in any industry in the country.”

But the club men denied responsibility for the disaster, and all four lawsuits launched against the club failed. Club members and law partners James Hay Reed and Philander Knox defended the club in court, claiming the flood was an act of God for which the members could not be held responsible. Reed went on to become a federal judge. Knox went on to become a U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state, and U.S. attorney general.

Paul Krugman via Substack, Political-Economy Commentary: The New Inequality, Paul Krugman, right, paul krugmanMay 31, 2026. Goodbye, returns to education. Hello, concentrated ownership of capital.

“To understand why people are so miserable about the economy,” Greg Ip recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “look no further than Thursday’s report on gross domestic product. Not how much GDP grew, but how it was divvied up.” Ip went on to document the growing divergence between wages, which are a declining share of national income, and corporate profits, which are taking an ever-larger share.

It’s not clear how much trends in the division of the economic pie between capital and labor — what economists call the factor distribution of income — are driving current economic discontent and anger. But there’s a growing public sense that the system is unfair and rigged against ordinary people. This sense partly reflects the reality that a rising share of economic rewards is going to shareholders as profits rather than to workers as earned income. It also reflects the fact that, even as a growing share of income accrues to wealth, within the growing upwards distribution of income within, there is growing concentration of wealth at the very top. In other words, a rising share of unearned total income is going to a very small number of people.

As a result, it is now widely recognized that the U.S. economy is far more unequal than it was a few decades ago. However much of the discourse about inequality is still stuck in the past — shaped by the perception that rising inequality is largely a consequence of greater inequality in paid income. According to the prevailing yet misguided story, rising inequality is due to higher earnings of those with more education.

That story was never entirely true even in the past. But to the extent it was ever true, it mainly explains rising inequality between around 1980 and 2000. Since then, and especially in recent years, the main story is one of rising oligarchy: more and more of the economy’s rewards are going to a small group that overwhelmingly derives its income from the assets it owns.

And the reality of rising oligarchy is important, not just for explaining current malaise, but for thinking about the possible implications for the future, especially the impact of AI.

Beyond the paywall I will discuss the following:

  • 1. The old, earnings-based inequality: The big rise between 1980 and 2000, and its limited relevance since then
  • 2. The economics of rising profits and stagnant wages
  • 3. The growing concentration of wealth
  • 4. Will AI produce an inequality apocalypse?
  • 5. The political economy of oligarchy

U.S. Religion, Culture, Science, Media, Space

New York Times, In U.F.O. Files, Some Christians See Vexing Questions — and Demons, Ruth Graham, May 31, 2026. The prospect of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe raises unsettling theological implications.

The dozen or so pastors and podcasters who arrived at the Airbnb in Nashville one night in February weren’t sure exactly what they were in for. An organizer asked them to turn their phones on airplane mode. Snacks were served. Then, for at least two hours, two mysterious men presented a slide show laying out the evidence, as they saw it, for some kind of extraterrestrial life and the spiritual confusion that coming revelations could sow among Christians.

“It was the weirdest meeting I’ve ever been a part of,” said Alan DiDio, a pastor in North Carolina who attended. “You’ve never seen that many Pentecostals in a room that quiet.”

For many of the pastors in the room, and some other Christians, there’s only one possible explanation for extraterrestrial beings: They are not neutral visitors from other planets or dimensions, but demonic entities.

As the pastors left the meeting and turned on their phones, they began receiving news alerts that confirmed for many of them that something significant was happening. That very day, President Trump had directed his administration to begin releasing files related to extraterrestrial life.

The disclosure began this month, with the Pentagon’s release of murky “new, never-before-seen” images whose significance is so far unclear.

But for some conservative Christians, who are among Mr. Trump’s most loyal supporters, the prospect of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has some unsettling theological implications. Some worry that it undercuts the Bible’s account of the Earth and humanity as the centerpiece of God’s plan for the universe, for example.ImagePresident Trump gestures with his hands while sitting in a brown chair.For the Trump administration, the release of government files was an attempt to demonstrate transparency on a topic of widespread public speculation. Credit...Carolyn Van Houten for The New York Times

Christians in the United States are significantly less likely than the general public to say intelligent life exists on other planets, according to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center. Among atheists and agnostics, 85 percent say their best guess is that intelligent life exists outside Earth. Among white evangelicals, only 40 percent say the same.

“The U.F.O. topic in particular is a big challenge to any religious worldview,” said Jeffrey Kripal, a professor of religion at Rice University, where he has compiled an archive on paranormal subjects, including accounts from U.F.O. “experiencers.”

In Dr. Kripal’s view, the origin stories of many earth-based religions can be read as descriptions of encounters with unexplained entities of unknown provenance.

“The gods have always come from the sky, and we call that religion,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of words in the Western canon for these entities of the middle realm, so my own feeling is that when religious people look out and they see entities that don’t fit into their religious world, they call them demons.”

The possibility that extraterrestrial beings might be better understood as demonic entities is not a new theory among some conservative Christians. But it has lately burst from the fringes of speculative religious cosmology into more prominent view, including from elected officials at the highest levels of government.

“I don’t think they’re aliens, I think they’re demons,” Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, said on a conservative podcast this spring.

The Catholic church has no formal teaching on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, though it has intrigued some Catholic theologians. A Vatican scientist made headlines in 2010 when he suggested aliens might have souls, and said he would baptize an alien “if they asked.”Editors’ Picks9 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This WeekBy September, Nearly a Third of Americans Will Live in States With Legal Aid in Dying7 Songs We’re Talking About This Week

“Every great world religion, including Christianity, the one that I believe in, has understood that there are weird things out there, and there are things that are very difficult to explain,” Mr. Vance added.

Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado made a similar point recently on another podcast, this one hosted by the conservative Christian musician and activist Sean Feucht.

May 30

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congo democratic republic map formerly zaire

The Ebola Outbreak's Epicenter (New York Times photo by Arlette Bashizi).

The Ebola Outbreak's Epicenter (New York Times photo by Arlette Bashizi). 

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News Roundup

More On Iran War

  • New York Times, Iran’s Hard-Liners Try to Derail Potential Deal With the U.S., Farnaz Fassihi (has covered Iran for three decades, living and traveling in the country. She was a war correspondent based in the Middle East for 15 years), May 30, 2026 (print ed.). A political fight is playing out in Iran, where the small but loud faction of hard-liners has used rallies, state media and private and public statements to try to undermine negotiations.

More On U.S. Politics, Governance, Elections

 

President Trump, with Vice President JD Vance at left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio at center and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethat far right (Pool photo from files).er hegseth 6 21 2025 pool

More Global News

  • New York Times, What to Know About the Ebola Outbreak, Amelia Nierenberg, Ephrat Livni and Lynsey Chutel, Updated May 30, 2026. Aid agencies are racing to help underequipped health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 245 people are now suspected to have died from the virus.

U.S. Media, High Tech, Culture 

 

llewellyn king horizontal chronicleWhite House Chronicle, Opinion: The Collision Between Money and News — We Lose, Llewellyn King, above, May 30, 2026. I know how media control works. I have seen it firsthand: It isn’t what is said, but what is implied or what employees feel the owners of the outlet want. Consolidated corporate ownership is antithetical to free speech, creativity and open government. News isn’t suited to the corporate world; it isn’t a fit with those whose interest is adding zeros to bottom lines: “My job is simple. I try to find out what is going on and tell people.” Write that in the corporate prospectus.

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The Ebola Outbreak's Epicenter (New York Times photo by Arlette Bashizi).

The Ebola Outbreak's Epicenter (New York Times photo by Arlette Bashizi). 

New York Times, Inside the Ebola Epicenter, the Virus Rages With Little to Stop It, Declan Walsh, Photographs by Arlette Bashizi (reporting from inside an Ebola ward in Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak), May 30, 2026. A remote gold mining town is under siege, as medical workers struggle to beat back a surge of deaths and infections.

In the cramped, dilapidated Ebola ward, a 5-year-old boy languished on a bare mattress, a tissue stuffed into his nose to stanch the incessant bleeding. His father stood over him, eyes clouded with worry.

A few beds away lay the body of Christiane Bahati, 21, who had died seven hours earlier but had not yet been taken away. Her shoes were still tucked under the bed, her wailing relatives gathered outside the ward doors.

The body, covered by a thin sheet, was highly contagious. Yet hardly anyone in the ward was protected. Relatives came and went, congo flagcarrying food and water to ailing patients because the hospital had none to give them. A few wore rubber gloves or pulled a scarf across their mouths. Most had nothing at all.

In the next ward lay the hospital’s laboratory technician, also sick. Seven other hospital workers had already died from suspected Ebola. Few of the staff members had ever been trained to fight the disease, and the most rudimentary equipment was in dangerously short supply: tests, protective suits, goggles, masks, even drinking water.

Outside, the sound of hammering broke the hushed silence. Aid workers from Doctors Without Borders were racing to erect isolation tents and disinfection stations.

Dr. Alex Bogole, a Congolese doctor in the hospital’s intensive care ward, was furious.

The virus had been spreading for months, virtually unimpeded, “and this is the best we can do?” he said, the frustration pouring through his protective gear.

This is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), and the front line is completely overwhelmed.

  • See Also: New York Times, What to Know About the Ebola Outbreak, Amelia Nierenberg, Ephrat Livni and Lynsey Chutel, Updated May 30, 2026. Aid agencies are racing to help underequipped health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 245 people are now suspected to have died from the virus.

The Parnas Perspective, Morning News and Commentary: Trump's Rough Night in the Courts, White House Releases Physical Results, Pentagon Prohibits Overweight Troops From UFC Fight, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotMay 30, 2026. President Trump had a rough stretch in the courts overnight. A federal judge reopened the IRS lawsuit and is now examining allegations that a fraud may have been committed on the court, while a federal judge in Washington is refusing to simply dismiss the indictment against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes because the Trump administration asked him to.

Meanwhile, we have Trump’s physical exam results, new questions from doctors about some of the findings, and reporting that the Pentagon is prohibiting overweight soldiers from receiving free tickets to the UFC fight at the White House. I also have an exclusive text message that one service member received. And much more.

One thing we discussed during Thursday’s live stream was the possibility of a Washington, D.C., meetup, and I wanted to gauge interest. The Epstein Library is coming to town in June, and I may organize an event with the library to highlight the Epstein files and give me a chance to meet many of you in person.

We have some exciting things in the works and some big news coming soon. Your support helps us build something truly independent and accountable to people, not corporations, billionaires, or political insiders.

Here’s the news:

The White House released the results of President Donald Trump’s annual physical, with his physician stating that Trump remains in “excellent health” and is fully fit to serve as president. However, the report recommended increased exercise, continued weight loss, dietary changes, and a daily low-dose aspirin regimen, noting that Trump now weighs 238 pounds, up from 224 pounds a year ago. The exam also found mild leg swelling related to chronic venous insufficiency, while neurological testing and a cognitive assessment showed normal results, including a perfect score on a dementia screening test. Trump’s doctor also said an AI-assisted analysis estimated his heart health to be comparable to someone roughly 14 years younger than his actual age. 

The Pentagon is compiling a list of troops who will attend the UFC event on the White House South Lawn on June 14, but not every service member will be eligible. According to the report, military officials were instructed to prioritize soldiers who meet physical fitness and weight standards, leading some personnel to jokingly describe the policy as: “No fatties.” The event is scheduled to take place on President Donald Trump’s birthday as part of the administration’s America 250 celebrations.

Here is an exclusive text I received showing what service members received concerning the UFC fight:

Trump purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC, according to a financial disclosure filing, months before hosting a major UFC event on the White House South Lawn. The June 14 "UFC Freedom 250" event, scheduled for Trump's 80th birthday as part of America's 250th anniversary celebration, is expected to draw thousands of attendees and has been heavily promoted by the president. UFC President Dana White said White House officials began planning the event shortly after Trump proposed the idea. The disclosure is likely to raise questions about potential conflicts of interest as Trump promotes an event tied to a company in which he holds a financial stake.

CNN’s Dr. Jonathan Reiner challenged a claim in President Trump’s newly released medical report that lower-leg swelling had “improved” from last year. “There’s a section about extremities—slight lower leg swelling was noted with improvement from last year,” Reiner said. “April of last year, it notes no swelling in the legs. So if he has swelling in his legs then that’s not an improvement from last year. That’s a deterioration from last year.” Reiner argued that the report’s characterization appears inconsistent with the previous year’s findings, which reportedly documented no leg swelling.

Dr. Reiner also questioned a claim in President Trump’s medical report that an AI-assisted analysis found his heart health comparable to someone 14 years younger.

“How about this AI evaluation of 14 years younger?” Laura Coates asked. Reiner replied: “They reported that last year as well. And when I discussed this with some of my colleagues in cardiology, everyone laughed. That’s not a clinical use tool. That’s not really a way to gauge cardiac health.” Reiner argued that the AI-generated “cardiac age” metric is not a standard medical measure and should not be treated as a meaningful assessment of heart health.

A federal judge has reopened President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS after critics alleged that a proposed settlement between Trump and the Justice Department may have been improper. The agreement would have dismissed the case in exchange for creating a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund for people claiming harm from the government and included a provision barring future IRS scrutiny of Trump's past tax returns. Judge Kathleen Williams said allegations that the lawsuit and settlement may have been collusive or constituted a "fraud on the court" warranted further review and ordered both sides to explain their actions. The decision is a setback for Trump and the Justice Department, as it revives judicial scrutiny of a controversial deal that has drawn criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans.

amit mehta CustomU.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, left, is demanding that the Trump administration explain its effort to erase the seditious conspiracy conviction of Stewart Rhodes, right, rather than allowing the case to be quietly dismissed. stewart rhodes eye patch shotMehta signaled skepticism about the government’s request and ordered officials to provide a legal justification for vacating one of the most significant convictions stemming from the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The move comes as the Trump administration has sought to revisit or undo several January 6-related prosecutions. Mehta’s order ensures that any attempt to overturn Rhodes’ conviction will face public scrutiny and judicial review before moving forward.

Former Border Patrol official Greg Bovino publicly encouraged ICE agents stationed at New Jersey's Delaney Hall detention center amid ongoing clashes with protesters, telling them to "give them hell" and praising their efforts to "hold the line." The comments came as demonstrations intensified over allegations of detainee mistreatment, with protesters, Democratic officials, and immigration advocates criticizing the facility's conditions and the federal response.

Federal immigration agents will withdraw from the area outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark after days of escalating clashes with protesters, with New Jersey State Police taking over security operations. The protests began over conditions inside the facility and intensified after federal agents used chemical irritants, physical force, and arrests to disperse demonstrators, while activists alleged detainees were protesting poor treatment and inadequate medical care. New Jersey officials said the transition is intended to lower tensions and create a designated protest area, though confrontations between protesters and state police continued after the handoff. The dispute has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, drawing the involvement of elected officials, immigration advocates, and civil rights groups.

A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was forced to divert to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after an unruly passenger created what the airline described as a security concern. Flight 2005 departed from Chicago O’Hare International Airport but landed safely in Madison so authorities could address the situation. United said no injuries were reported and that the flight was expected to continue on to Minneapolis later that evening. Officials have not yet released additional details about the passenger or the nature of the incident.


blue origin disaster may 2026 nasa photoA catastrophic explosion destroyed a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket and severely damaged the company’s only launchpad at Cape Canaveral (as shown above in a NASA photo), creating a major setback for NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2028blue origin bezos. The blast is expected to delay key lunar missions, including Blue Origin’s planned launches of cargo, rovers, and lunar landers that are central to NASA’s Artemisprogram. With Blue Origin likely sidelined for months, NASA may have to rely more heavily on SpaceX, despite that company's own ongoing testing challenges. Industry experts warn the incident could push back construction of a planned lunar base and complicate the United States' effort to beat China back to the moon.

The Trump administration’s sweeping Ebola-related travel restrictions are drawing criticism from the World Health Organization and public health experts, who argue that travel bans are often ineffective and can make outbreaks harder to track. While the WHO has urged countries not to impose border restrictions, the U.S. has barred most travelers from affected countries and is even routing some exposed Americans to third countries for quarantine and treatment. Administration officials defend the measures as necessary to prevent Ebola from reaching the United States, while critics contend they are driven more by politics than science. The dispute echoes battles from the COVID-19 era and highlights a broader clash between national governments seeking to minimize domestic risk and international health organizations focused on global outbreak response.

U.S. officials believe the American F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran in April was likely struck by a Chinese-made shoulder-fired missile, marking the first time in decades that a U.S. fighter has been downed by enemy fire. Sources also told NBC News that China may have provided Iran with advanced early-warning radar technology capable of detecting stealth aircraft, though officials are still investigating the extent of Beijing’s support. The revelations complicate relations between Washington and Beijing as the Trump administration simultaneously seeks China’s cooperation in ending the conflict with Iran. China has denied providing weapons to Iran during the war, while U.S. officials say any Chinese assistance did not have a decisive impact on the battlefield.

A Guardian investigation found that an obscure company with ties to President Donald Trump's inner circle is poised to secure more than $1 billion in energy contracts in Bosnia, including a major pipeline project intended to reduce the country's dependence on Russian gas. The company, AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, is linked to Trump allies Jesse Binnall and Joe Flynn, both of whom were involved in efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and have little apparent experience managing projects of this scale. Critics warn the arrangement blurs the line between U.S. foreign policy and private enrichment, especially because the contracts were advanced without a competitive bidding process and have received strong backing from the Trump administration. The project also intersects with broader geopolitical tensions in the Balkans, where Bosnian leaders hope closer ties to Trump-connected figures could strengthen both energy security and political support from Washington.

Ukraine is increasingly relying on drones, robots, and remotely operated vehicles to offset severe manpower shortages in its war against Russia, with some assaults now conducted entirely without soldiers on the ground. Ukrainian commanders say these systems have saved thousands of lives by replacing dangerous frontline missions, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently claimed Ukrainian forces captured a Russian position using only robotic and drone systems. The technology has helped Ukraine inflict heavy casualties on Russian forces and given it a tactical advantage in some areas, even as soldiers continue to endure grueling deployments lasting nearly a year at a time. Military leaders say the war is being transformed by automation, with success increasingly determined by technological innovation rather than traditional battlefield tactics.

A truck carrying Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least 22 people and injuring about 36 others, most of them women and children. Officials said the vehicle overturned after the driver reportedly fell asleep while traveling on a highway in Laghman province. The passengers were among the millions of Afghans who have returned from Pakistan and Iran in recent years amid crackdowns and deportations targeting Afghan migrants. The tragedy highlights both the challenges facing returning refugees and the dangers of Afghanistan’s poorly maintained roads and weak transportation infrastructure.

President Trump has begun restoring relations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, praising his “cooperation and friendship” after Belarus released some political prisoners and easing certain U.S. sanctions on the country. The move has alarmed democracy activists and opposition leaders, who note that Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994, is widely accused of severe human rights abuses, and remains one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies. Critics argue that Lukashenko is receiving diplomatic and economic concessions while continuing to imprison political opponents and suppress dissent, with more than 1,100 political prisoners still reportedly behind bars. Supporters of the outreach say it could encourage further prisoner releases, though the State Department says the effort is not connected to negotiations over the war in Ukraine.


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New York Times, Trump Squeezes Immigrants by Cutting Them Off From Jobs, Health Care and Housing, Nicholas Nehamas, Miriam Jordan, Coral Davenport, Hamed Aleaziz, Lydia DePillis and Zolan Kanno-Youngs (The reporters have been covering how President Trump is reshaping the nation’s immigration system through the vast power of the federal bureaucracy), May 30, 2026. The methodically planned strategy is intended to pressure noncitizens, including many with legal status, to leave the United States.

For nearly three decades, Raquel Molina — an immigrant from El Salvador who has a valid Social Security number and permission to work in the United States — swabbed the toilets, wiped down the seats and vacuumed the aisles of airplanes at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

But last summer, Ms. Molina, 65, was abruptly fired from her $19.75-per-hour cleaning job, alongside dozens of other immigrants who have long legally worked at Logan. Her supervisor told her she no longer had clearance to enter secure areas at the airport. The Trump administration had decided that only U.S. citizens, green card holders and others with more permanent forms of residency should be granted access, according to a lawsuit that a labor union filed in federal court.

“I didn’t understand what was going on,” said Ms. Molina, who has been living legally in the United States under Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian program that shelters people from troubled countries until they can safely return home. “I had worked hard at my job. This news put me in a state of shock.”

Her firing reflected a broader and methodically planned piece of President Trump’s hard-line strategy to make the United States less welcoming to those from other countries.

For more than a year, administration officials have sought to pull every bureaucratic lever possible to cut off immigrants — both documented and undocumented — from jobs, medical care, financial services, tax credits and even from enrolling their children in day care. The goal has been to compel immigrants to leave the country, and, in the long run, to eliminate incentives that draw many people to the United States in the first place.

The initiative underscores the president’s ability to reshape immigration policy through executive orders and the vast power of federal regulations while sidestepping Congress. And it shows how the administration has pursued more creative — and lower-profile — tactics after Mr. Trump’s militarized deportation raids into major cities prompted political backlash earlier this year.

The changes range from structural shifts in the immigration system to small-scale, regulatory tweaks taking away jobs or services from just a few thousand people like Ms. Molina. In her case, the administration no longer considered T.P.S. a form of “authorized residency,” said Justin Long, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, meaning Ms. Molina could not be “given official government credentials and granted unescorted access to secure airport areas.”

The administration’s strategy, along with the threat of arrest and imprisonment, has helped drive many immigrants underground, intimidating them from filing taxes, visiting doctors and even traveling. So far, more than 116,000 people without permanent legal status have voluntarily left the United States, including some through a government self-deportation program, according to internal Department of Homeland Security figures reviewed by The New York Times. Many others are believed to have departed without telling the government.

“It has been immensely effective,” said Daniel Delgado, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations and left government last year. “It’s truly widespread and far-reaching across all sides of the government. There are so many regulations that impact immigrant communities.”

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Rights, Justice

 

Shown in red are members of the paramilitary group Oath Keepers, including convicted defendant Kelly Meggs, as they used a military-style

Shown above in red are members of the paramilitary group Oath Keepers, including convicted defendant Kelly Meggs, as they used a military-style "Stack Formation" to penetrate past Capitol Police defending the United States Capitol during the insurrection designed to prevent elected officials from certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.


kelly meggs oath keepers capitol annotated

Shown immediately above are some of the rioters, including the Oath Keeper Meggs, within the Capitol as some of their co-insurrections stormed through offices seeking to threaten, and in some instances threaten to kill, those officials who would not support a continued Trump presidency (Photos from Justice Department prosecutions of insurrectionists).

Emptywheel, Analysis: Stan Woodward’s Many Terrorist-Defending Hats, Emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler, right), marcy wheelerMay 30, 2026. January 6 Insurrection, Weaponized DOJ. 

This is Stan Woodward’s signature (below) on a sentencing memo arguing that his client Kelly Meggs, who in spite of Woodward’s vigorous defense of his client, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and several other conspiracy charges (including, importantly, 18 USC 372) should serve just a few more months in prison for his crimes:

stanley woodward signature oath keepersBy contrast, here is the government sentencing memo calling for upward departures, including a terrorism enhancement, for Meggs’ assault on his own governmen

t.stanley woodward signature at doj

Woodward’s argument proved unpersuasive to Judge Amit Mehta, a former public defender. Mehta sentenced Meggs to a 12 year sentence, including a terrorism enhancement, which Mehta justified this way:

I’ve already ruled that given the conviction for seditious conspiracy as well as, in Mr. Meggs’ case, the 1512(k) conspiracy, it does meet the definition under 3A1.4, Note 4, for a terrorism departure. These are crimes and offenses — and the conduct bears it out — that was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of the government by intimidation or coercion; the finding by the jury of intended use of force; and then the evidence of actual use of force certainly establishes the requisite facts to meet that definition.

And there’s ample evidence from which I conclude that Mr. Meggs’ conduct was calculated to influence or affect the conduct, his individual conduct. As I said, he did lead the first group of individuals into the building, led individuals towards the Speaker’s Suite. And among those facts and others, including his various communications, both before and after, I think it’s quite evident by a preponderance of the evidence that his conduct was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of the government by intimidation or coercion.

And here is Stan Woodward’s signature, formally in his role as Associate Attorney General, purporting to settle a lawsuit by Donald Trump and setting up a slush fund that would benefit people like his former client.

Even as DOJ was choosing not to defend against Trump’s frivolous lawsuit against the IRS, DOJ was choosing not to defend against various challenges to the convictions of Meggs and his co-conspirators (that filing was signed by an AUSA reporting to amit mehta CustomJeanine Pirro, who reports to current DAG and former Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche). That had the effect of sending the case of Meggs and others back to Amit Mehta, right, moving to dismiss the case — the result of years of work and weeks of jurors’ time — with prejudice. That filing was signed by an AUSA assigned as the Criminal Chief in DC USAO, also reporting to Jeanine Pirro who reports to Todd Blanche.

Having received a request over which he has very little discretion, Judge Mehta did what Judge Dale Ho did in the case of Eric Adams, where lawyers for Trump made a prosecution go away via unbelievably corrupt means. He ordered DOJ to explain itself: 

The court defers ruling on the government’s request until it receives additional information. The D.C. Circuit in United States v. Ammidown addressed the court’s responsibilities when faced with a Rule 48(a) motion of the kind filed here. Describing what it called a “distinctly different situation” “when the defendant concurs in the dismissal but the [trial] court is concerned whether the action sufficiently protects the public,” the court of appeals articulated three guiding principles. 497 F.2d 615, 620 (D.C. Cir. 1973). First, “Rule 48(a)’s requirement of judicial leave . . . gives the court a role in dismissals following indictment.” Id. Second, “in the exercise of its responsibility, the court will not be content with a mere conclusory statement by the prosecutor that dismissal is in the public interest, but will require a statement of reasons and underlying factual basis.” Id. And third, “the court does not have primary responsibility, but rather the role of guarding against abuse of prosecutorial discretion.” Id. The court summarized that Rule 48(a) “contemplates exposure of the reasons for dismissal ‘in order to prevent abuse of the uncontrolled power of dismissal previously enjoyed by prosecutors,’ and in pursuance of this purpose ‘to gain the Court’s favorable discretion, it should be satisfied that the reasons advanced for the proposed dismissal are substantial.’” Id. (citation omitted).

The government’s motion here is insufficiently detailed to allow the court to heed Ammidown’s principles. The government has offered little more than a “conclusory statement” that dismissal is in the public interest. See Gov’t Mot. at 1. It provides neither a “statement of reasons” nor the “underlying factual basis” for the request. See id. As a result, the court lacks the information necessary both to determine whether “the reasons advanced for the proposed dismissal are substantial” and to guard against “abuse of prosecutorial discretion.”

The ultimate outcome is still likely to be a dismissal. It may even result in some horrible outcome: A DOJ claim that nothing bad happened on January 6, which Pirro has ordered up in less controversial cases (like that of Taylor Taranto).

But there will be some subtleties to this outcome. This request covers all the Oath Keepers who were not straight-out pardoned in both Oath Keeper trials, and so covers two people — Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins — who were not convicted of sedition (there’s an analogue on the Proud Boys side with Dominic Pezzola, who also was acquitted of sedition). Meggs and Stewart Rhodes and defendants from the second trial were convicted of sedition. But Harrelson and Watkins were primarily convicted of obstruction (18 USC 1512) — the charge that SCOTUS narrowed — and obstruction to impede cops (18 USC 372); See Roger Parloff’s handy chart.

By forcing DOJ to explain itself, Mehta will force DOJ to explain why it wants to dissolve the prosecutions of people who overwhelmed cops on January 6, even while charging (and convicting, over the objections of the then Acting US Attorney who resigned over the charges, in the Stuckart case in Spokane) far more peaceful people protesting against ICE.

DOJ will need to come up with some dumb excuse for why even the charges DOJ still uses were inappropriately applied against people who dressed in military kit and broke into the Capitol in stack formation.

Stan Woodward’s central role in this is important because of a different judge’s order: Judge Kathleen Williams’ decision — pursuant to a request by a bunch of judges to reopen the case to determine whether DOJ conducted a fraud on the court — to reopen the case (separately, in an EDVA case filed by Jan6 prosecutor Andrew Floyd, Leonie Brinkema issued an order enjoining DOJ from doing anything to set up the Terrorist Slush Fund).

Those judges argued that the people who dismissed Trump’s frivolous lawsuit without first telling Judge Williams that they were doing so as a ruse to steal $1.8 billion from taxpayers to pay off people like Kelly Meggs engaged in a fraud on the court.

Fraud on the court is established by clear and convincing evidence. See, e.g., Booker v. Dugger, 825 F.2d 281, 283 (11th Cir. 1987); Kinnear-Weed Corp. v. Humble Oil & Ref. Co., 441 F.2d 631, 636 (5th Cir. 1971). Here, it is undisputed that this Court did not have the Settlement Agreement in front of it at the time Plaintiffs filed the Notice. The Settlement Agreement establishing the Anti-Weaponization Fund was not before the Court and the broad purported release of Plaintiffs’ known and unknown liabilities was neither announced nor publicly released until after the case had been dismissed. It is also undisputed that Plaintiffs filed the Notice before the Court received briefing it had ordered regarding whether an actual case or controversy existed. In such circumstances, setting aside the Notice and reopening the case in order to determine whether an actual case or controversy existed is necessary to ensure that the parties have not corrupted the judicial process, and to prevent federal courts from providing cover to a collusive settlement. Indeed, the corruption of the judicial process is exactly what happened here. The parties have used this lawsuit—which was never an adversarial proceeding over which the Court even had jurisdiction—as a means to allow a “commission” controlled by the President to dole out $1.776 billion in taxpayer dollars without constitutional or congressional authority to do so, and to confer unlawful private benefits to the President and his family by purportedly prohibiting the United States from prosecuting any and all claims against them. And the parties have plainly tried to shield this conduct from necessary judicial scrutiny by short-circuiting this Court’s inquiry into whether the lawsuit is in fact an actual case or controversy by filing the Rule 41(a)(1) Notice before they announced the “settlement”—clearly in hopes of preventing the Court from ever completing that inquiry, which, if it comes out against the parties, will undo their collusive “settlement.”

There are commenters who claim that DOJ is dismissing the Oath Keeper and Proud Boys’ prosecutions, in particular, because Joe Biden’s DOJ charged Jan6ers with charges that are unviable, a claim based on SCOTUS’ decision to limit 18 USC 1512 (but not in a way that would affect Todd Blanche’s client, Donald Trump). If the obstruction charge was misapplied, they argue, then so was the sedition charge.

But that argument falls apart given that DOJ continues to rely on the 18 USC 372 charge.

And Stan Woodward is at the center of that issue. Woodward was unable to defeat the even the 372 charge against his client, much less the sedition charge or terrorist enhancement. Trump’s own DOJ is using the 372 charge against much less dangerous defendants. At the same time, Stan Woodward is accused of fraudulently using this settlement to set up a slush fund that will pay off people like his former client Kelly Meggs, convicted of both sedition and conspiring to disrupt the cops on January 6. 

 

 insurrection

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell (from left), officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, and Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn are sworn in Tuesday before testifying before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty ImagesU.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell (from left), officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, and Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn are sworn in Tuesday before testifying before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell (from left), officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, and Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn are sworn in Tuesday before testifying before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, shown in part via a video above released by the Department of Justice (Pool photo of Capital Police officers by Oliver Contreras via Getty Images).

New York Times, Judge Reopens Trump’s I.R.S. Suit and Questions His ‘Weaponization’ Fund, Alan Feuer and Andrew Duehren, May 30, 2026 (print ed.). The ruling was a blow to both President Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department, which used the suit to establish a fund likely intended for Trump allies.

A federal judge in Miami reopened President Trump’s $10 billion case against the I.R.S. in a striking turnabout, saying that she wanted to investigate “grievous allegations” that the hasty deal to resolve it was “premised on deception.”

Justice Department log circularThe ruling by the judge, Kathleen M. Williams, on Friday to revive the case shortly after closing it was a significant blow both to Mr. Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department. After the president withdrew the suit, senior department officials released a pair of extraordinary agreements that settled the case by establishing a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of government “weaponization” by Democrats.

The deal also conferred lucrative tax benefits on Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses.

Judge Williams’s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges who urged her to bring the case back to life and dig into the details of the agreement to settle it.

The former judges said that Mr. Trump’s settlement agreement raised serious questions about his “candor toward the court and manipulation of the judicial system.”

irs logoBefore she closed the case, Judge Williams, an Obama appointee, had in fact questioned whether the lawsuit presented an actual conflict that she could adjudicate, given that Mr. Trump was on both sides of the suit, bringing claims against a federal agency that he controlled. When she closed it, she noted there was no “settlement of record,” but shortly after, the Justice Department released its agreement foreclosing the action.

In her brief but stern order on Friday, Judge Williams said that she wanted to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Trump’s efforts to settle the lawsuit in a way that benefited him and his allies. If she succeeds in moving forward with her inquiry, it could ultimately result in questions being asked of the Justice Department leaders who signed the agreements to settle the suit — chief among them, Todd Blanche, right,Todd Blanche O the acting attorney general, and Stanley Woodward Jr., the No. 3 official in the department.

In her order, Judge Williams asserted that she was “empowered to investigate serious misconduct” in any case before her, and ordered Mr. Trump’s lawyers to tell her by June 12 whether the lawsuit should be formally reopened because “the court was the victim of a fraud.”

She also wanted Mr. Trump’s lawyers to respond to the question of whether he had colluded with his own government to settle the case “to avoid judicial scrutiny.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Judge Williams pointed to reporting by The New York Times that described how the I.R.S. had prepared a 25-page memorandum outlining defenses against the suit that the Justice Department did not take up in court.

Lawyers for the former judges hailed Judge Williams’s decision.

“The judges and their counsel greatly appreciate the seriousness with which the court is addressing these grievous allegations,” said Norman Eisen, who represented the former judges for the nonprofit group, Democracy Defenders Fund. “We stand ready to work with the court as it investigates this matter.”

Mr. Eisen was joined by the law firms Platkin and Susman Godfrey.

 

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

New York Times, Kennedy Center Must Remove Trump’s Name From Building, Judge Orders, Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague, May 30, 2026 (print ed.). In an incensed social media post, President Trump suggested that the ruling might prompt him to cast the center aside after more than a year at its helm.

A federal judge ordered on Friday that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove President Trump’s name from the building’s facade and all official branding and temporarily blocked the institution from shuttering this summer for renovations.

Mr. Trump railed against the judge’s ruling in an incensed social media post, suggesting that he was considering casting the Kennedy Center aside as one of his personal projects. The president wrote that unless he was free to decide the center’s trajectory, he had “no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey.”

“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,” he wrote.

christopher cooperJudge Christopher R. Cooper, left, of the Federal District Court in Washington, determined that the board’s decision to add Mr. Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center violated a law passed by Congress in 1964 that made “crystal clear” the institution was to be named for former President John F. Kennedy.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote in a 94-page opinion. He ordered that the 18 letters added to the center’s front portico be removed within two weeks.

The center’s board of trustees, a vast majority of whom are allies of Mr. Trump, voted in December to add the president’s name to the performing arts center. Less than a day later, new lettering was added to the building’s marble facade, which now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the center, said that it would appeal the ruling, signing her statement as the “Trump Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations.”

“We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center,” she said.

The judge’s order came in response to a lawsuit by Representative Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, who is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board. She objected to both the renaming and the plans to close the institution, which her lawyers argued was in fact a decision “designed to hide their embarrassment about declining ticket sales.”

Judge Cooper found that the board had been “derelict” in considering the possible consequences to programming when shuttering the center, as well as its legal responsibility to maintain the center as a memorial to the slain president. His order did not make any specific directives for reinstating programming as the board reassesses its renovation plans.

Ms. Beatty said in a statement celebrating the ruling that “the Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump.” 

News Roundup

The Parnas Perspective, Evening News and Commentary: Trump Losing Confidence in Vance, Says he Will Headline State Fair After Artists Bail, Lashes Out at Opponents, and More, Aaron Parnas, right, aaron parnas new headshotMay 30, 2026. Donald Trump appears to be increasingly frustrated with JD Vance, reportedly revisiting old disagreements, questioning his judgment, and sidelining him in ways that are already fueling speculation about 2028.

At the same time, after a string of performers withdrew from his America 250 celebration, Trump suggested he could become the main attraction himself. He also spent much of the day posting on social media, attacking critics and political opponents, including Barack Obama and Pope Leo XIV, while flooding his feed with AI-generated content.

Meanwhile, there are new developments at Delaney Hall, fresh questions surrounding immigration detention conditions, continued uncertainty over negotiations with Iran, and much more.

Here is the reality: the reason I remain independent is that I do not feel obligated to pretend any of this is normal. Regardless of political party, it is unusual for a president to spend a Saturday afternoon behaving this way while major domestic and international issues remain unresolved.

That is the standard I will continue to apply. Tomorrow morning, I will have a good-news update for you. I am also filming something exciting for PBS, and tomorrow afternoon I will publish a deep dive into the Trump family’s finances.

Here’s the news:

According to the New York Times, President Trump has singled out JD Vance on several policy-related issues, often revisiting them in conversations and public settings. He has repeatedly highlighted Vance’s initial skepticism toward military action against Iran, contrasting it with the administration’s eventual approach. Trump has also questioned the effectiveness of a diplomatic mission to Pakistan that Vance helped lead, suggesting it did not produce significant results. The repeated references indicate that Trump continues to scrutinize and publicly revisit some of Vance’s most visible foreign-policy positions and assignments.

Beyond policy disagreements, Trump has reportedly mocked Vance over personal habits and memorable mishaps. He has criticized the amount of vacation time Vance takes and joked that the vice president has a tendency to interrupt others during conversations. Trump has also repeatedly brought up a widely publicized moment when Vance dropped Ohio State’s national championship trophy during a White House celebration, turning the incident into a recurring punchline. Together, the comments reflect Trump’s tendency to mix substantive critiques with personal teasing, even when discussing one of his closest political allies.

djt unfeatured performers june 2026A Trump-backed concert series planned for America’s 250th anniversary celebration is facing turmoil after many of its headline performers, including Martina McBride, Young MC, and Bret Michaels, withdrew, saying they were not initially informed about the event’s political ties to the Trump administration. The performers who pulled out described the event as having been presented to them as nonpartisan, with some characterizing the situation as a bait-and-switch once its political affiliations became clear. In response, President Donald Trump mocked the departures, suggested the artists had “the yips,” and floated the idea of personally headlining an “America Is Back” rally on the National Mall during the same period.

Donald Trump also went on a lengthy rant again about losing in front of a federal judge who ordered the removal of his name from the Kennedy Center:

He also spent the day posting a number of AI slop images, like the one below (with Trump at center riding on horseback):

 

djt trump as founder 5 30 2026Here is Trump attacking the Pope:

djt attacks pope 5 30 2026

Here is Trump posting AI slop about a drone port on the White House roof:

The President then spent the afternoon taking an impromptu trip to his golf club. :

Negotiations over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement remain stalled despite repeated indications from American, Iranian, and regional officials that a deal could be close. President Donald Trump has said any agreement must permanently prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and require the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while Iranian officials accuse Washington of undermining diplomacy through continued military and economic pressure. The uncertainty has created a gap between optimistic reports from mediators and public statements from both governments, with neither side formally approving a proposed framework that would extend the current ceasefire and launch new nuclear talks. Even so, hopes for a breakthrough have contributed to falling oil prices as markets anticipate the possibility of reduced regional tensions and the restoration of normal shipping through one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where supporters of detainees and pro-ICE demonstrators faced off amid heavy police and federal security presence. The protests were fueled by allegations of unsafe and inhumane conditions inside the facility, including claims of violence against detainees, which the Department of Homeland Security and the facility’s operator, GEO Group, have denied. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and established designated protest zones after several days of arrests, clashes, and escalating tensions around the site.

The Trump administration is considering selling some of the large warehouses and aircraft that Immigration and Customs Enforcement acquired earlier as part of an effort to dramatically expand detention and deportation capacity. The review reflects a shift under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose team says the agency no longer needs enough space to detain 100,000 immigrants at one time and is reassessing assets for cost-effectiveness. Several of the warehouse projects had sparked local opposition, lawsuits, and concerns about costs, with critics arguing the facilities would strain communities and taxpayers. While no final decisions have been made, the potential sales suggest a significant recalibration of the administration’s immigration enforcement strategy and infrastructure plans.

A coalition of civil-rights and immigrant-advocacy organizations has filed a class-action lawsuit against ICE and other federal agencies, alleging that conditions at Camp East Montana in Texas—the nation’s largest immigration detention facility—are unsafe, abusive, and unconstitutional. The complaint describes severe problems including inadequate medical and mental-health care, excessive use of force and solitary confinement, unsanitary living conditions, spoiled food, disease outbreaks, and allegations of sexual misconduct by guards. Plaintiffs argue that detainees are being held in punitive conditions despite immigration detention being a civil process, and claim that some individuals have suffered serious injuries, deteriorating mental health, and pressure to abandon legal efforts to remain in the United States.

In an interview with The Guardian, a 23-year-old asylum seeker identified as “Ana María” said she abandoned her asylum case and agreed to be deported after spending months in ICE detention, where she alleges she was repeatedly shackled, transferred between facilities, denied adequate food, and subjected to humiliating treatment. She described being moved through at least six detention centers, often without being told where she was going, and said guards sometimes mocked detainees’ complaints about pain, hunger, and harsh conditions. Ana María had entered the United States seeking protection after violence and threats in her home country and had been living and working legally while her asylum case was pending before her detention began.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States is fully prepared to resume military operations against Iran if ongoing negotiations fail, emphasizing that American forces and munitions remain ready despite a fragile ceasefire. His remarks came as President Donald Trump weighs whether to extend a temporary truce and pursue a broader agreement that would include restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, while Tehran insists no final deal has been reached. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore, Hegseth also expressed concern about China’s expanding military capabilities but said Washington seeks a stable balance of power and does not want unnecessary confrontation with Beijing.

The U.S. military has reportedly disabled a sixth commercial vessel accused of attempting to breach the American blockade of Iranian ports, targeting the Gambia-flagged cargo ship Lian Star after it ignored warnings while approaching Iran. The incident comes amid a broader U.S. effort to restrict maritime traffic linked to Iran following the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier this year and the subsequent disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Although a ceasefire has largely held since April, uncertainty over extending it and reopening normal transit routes continues to weigh on global energy and commodity markets, as oil, natural gas, and fertilizer shipments remain constrained.

A meteor about three feet wide streaked into the atmosphere over New England on Saturday afternoon, producing a loud double boom that rattled buildings and startled residents across several states. The event triggered reports from Delaware to Montreal, with witnesses describing shaking, hearing explosions, or seeing a bright daytime fireball in the sky. Officials initially investigated whether the disturbance was an earthquake, but the U.S. Geological Survey found no seismic activity and experts concluded the shockwave was caused by the meteor entering the atmosphere. Researchers say the object likely burned up before reaching the ground, though any surviving fragments would most likely have fallen into the ocean.

The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, traveled to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as officials struggle to contain a rapidly growing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has reached 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Health authorities and aid organizations say the response has improved with additional staff, supplies, and international assistance, but the outbreak continues to spread faster than containment efforts. Violence, attacks on health facilities, misinformation, and ongoing conflict involving rebel groups have complicated testing, treatment, and public-health measures. WHO and humanitarian groups have also criticized border closures and travel restrictions imposed by neighboring countries and the United States, arguing that such measures do little to stop transmission and may discourage transparency.

Israel says its forces have advanced beyond Lebanon's Litani River, roughly 30 kilometers into southern Lebanon, marking a significant escalation in its military campaign against Hezbollah. Lebanese security sources confirmed Israeli troops crossed the river but said the incursions were limited and that forces later withdrew to positions south of the river before crossing again. The development comes as U.S.-brokered talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials continue at the Pentagon in an effort to reinforce a fragile ceasefire and pursue the disarmament of Hezbollah. The conflict has displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese people and killed thousands since fighting intensified earlier this year.

Three members of a Latvian mountaineering expedition died after falling near Denali Pass on Alaska’s Mount McKinley, while a fourth climber was rescued and transported to a hospital. The accident occurred on the mountain’s West Buttress route near the notoriously hazardous stretch between High Camp and Denali Pass, an area known for steep ice, exposed terrain, and a history of fatal falls.

Federal authorities have charged former CIA officer David Rush with allegedly stealing public funds after investigators discovered roughly 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, along with about $2 million in cash and dozens of luxury watches, during a search of his home. Prosecutors allege that Rush, who held a senior position and top-secret clearance, requested large amounts of money, foreign currency, and gold for supposed work-related purposes before diverting some of those assets for personal use. Court documents also accuse him of fabricating major portions of his résumé for nearly two decades, including claims about academic degrees, military credentials, and aviation experience that investigators say were false.

More On Iran War

New York Times, Iran’s Hard-Liners Try to Derail Potential Deal With the U.S., Farnaz Fassihi (has covered Iran for three decades, living and traveling in the country. She was a war correspondent based in the Middle East for 15 years), May 30, 2026 (print ed.). A political fight is playing out in Iran, where the small but loud faction of hard-liners has used rallies, state media and private and public statements to try to undermine negotiations.

As Iran and the United States appeared to be nearing an agreement to end hostilities this week, not everyone in Iran was on board.

The hard-line faction, a fringe but loud group with members in Parliament and a seat on the Supreme National Security Council, has openly opposed any concessions to Washington, using rallies, state media and private and public statements as tools to try to derail a deal.

It remains unclear when an actual agreement will be announced, if at all. President Trump met for two hours with cabinet members in the Situation Room at the White House on Friday, but he put off making a final decision, according to a senior administration official. Iran’s lead negotiator, Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a social media post earlier in the day that Tehran did not trust Washington and that no step would “be taken before the other side acts first.”

But in Iran the political fight continues. State television, which is controlled by a hard-line director, has amplified the divisions in the country and portrayed negotiations as a failure. On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian scolded state television in a meeting with its senior leaders, calling on them to avoid sowing discord.

Mr. Pezeshkian said even Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader killed on the first day of the war, “agreed that we must go to the negotiation table.”

“But now,” he continued, “we are advertising that we should not negotiate.”

At a packed rally of hard-line supporters in Tehran on Friday, large crowds waved flags and chanted for defiance. A state television reporter asked some attendees if Iran should retreat or continue fighting the United States and Israel. “We want them to punish them good,” one woman attendee said. “Stand firm, we are with you until our last drop of blood,” said one man.

“Trump must know that Iran, as the victor and conqueror of the field, sets the terms,” said Ebrahim Azizi, a conservative lawmaker and the head of Parliament’s national security and foreign policy committees, in a social media post on Friday.

Analysts close to the government in Iran say that the hard-line faction represents a minority view, both in the general public and among officials. Still, ignoring it risks alienating the part of the population that has been among the most loyal supporters of the Islamic Republic through political and social upheavals.

mojtaba khamenei“This faction does not speak for the majority of Iranians and has been marginalized from key decision making; the nuclear talks are proceeding despite their disapproval,” said Mehdi Rahmati, a political analyst in Tehran, in a telephone interview. But, he added, “the system needs to come up with a plan to control them and keep them in check, otherwise they can become very dangerous forIran’s stability.”

Even Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, who is the son of the slain former leader, is not immune from their ire. On Thursday, a hard-line lawmaker cleric, Hamid Rasaee, took a jab at Ayatollah Khamenei in a social media post titled, “Who is worthy of the supreme leadership?” (Ayatollah Khamenei, who has been in hiding since the start of the war in late February, has expressed support for the nuclear negotiating team in written statements.) 

More On U.S. Politics, Governance, Elections

 

President Trump, with Vice President JD Vance at left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio at center and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethat far right (Pool photo from files).er hegseth 6 21 2025 poolPresident Trump, with Vice President JD Vance at left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio at center and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethat far right (Pool photo from files)

New York Times, Is JD Vance the 2028 Front Runner? Trump Has Questions, Katie Rogers and Tyler Pager, May 30, 2026. President Trump appears to see the matter of his heir as unsettled, adding a layer of tension to his relationship with Vice President JD Vance.

In recent conversations with aides and allies, President Trump often interjects with a question about his vice president: Does JD Vance have what it takes to go all the way?

He usually answers his own question: He’s not so sure.

It is not that Mr. Trump is abandoning Mr. Vance. He involves him in major decisions, has given him high-profile opportunities to position himself for 2028 and trusts the 41-year-old vice president to wage partisan warfare on his behalf. In a cabinet meeting this week, Mr. Trump compared Mr. Vance to Eliot Ness, the mob-busting federal agent, for working to ferret out fraud in mostly Democratic controlled states.

Mr. Trump has long conducted running focus groups on his closest aides, and appears to enjoy needling them and keeping them off balance as a way of asserting his dominance. Several people in the president’s inner circle have been subject to his quasi-public questioning of their performance and their future.

But when it comes to Mr. Vance, the stakes are higher. As the default front-runner for the Republican nomination and would-be inheritor of the president’s political movement, Mr. Vance’s fortunes ride to a substantial degree on the enthusiasm of the support he gets from Mr. Trump. And Mr. Trump’s regular polling of people on whether they prefer Mr. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become one of the most closely watched early indicators of how power in the Republican Party might pass to the next generation.

When he conducts those polls in private, Mr. Trump often compares Mr. Vance’s performance to his own achievements. He has told several allies that Mr. Vance has never won a tough race without his help. (Mr. Trump’s endorsement got Mr. Vance over the finish line in a tight race for an Ohio Senate seat.) He has brought up the number of vacations Mr. Vance has taken as vice president. (Mr. Trump does not generally take them.)

He has repeatedly mentioned the vice president’s initial opposition to starting a war with Iran and has done so in front of Mr. Vance. (“I’m more of a peace person than you are — but I had to do it,” he has said to him.) The president has also questioned his decision to send a Vance-led delegation to a negotiation session in Pakistan that failed to end the war.

Mr. Trump, always keenly attuned to the optics of the presidency, has zeroed in on moments when Mr. Vance might not look the part. He has repeatedly brought up a moment from last spring, when Mr. Vance fumbled Ohio State’s national football championship trophy on the White House South Lawn. (Mr. Trump has said he is happy it wasn’t him.)

This account of Mr. Trump’s relationship with his vice president is based on interviews with more than a dozen people who are directly familiar with the dynamic between the two men. Some of them were granted anonymity to speak about Mr. Trump’s thinking. 

Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: May 29, 2026 [Beaten Texas Senator Disses President], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnMay 30, 2026. This morning, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who just lost his primary after President Donald J. Trump endorsed Republican challenger Ken Paxton, posted:

“An old, but apt fable:

“A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: ‘I am sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s my character.’”

Cornyn appears to be firing a shot across the president’s bow, and now that Trump has alienated Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas by endorsing their opponents, there are six Republican senators who may be willing to stop moving in lockstep with him.

Trump’s war on Iran and the rising prices Americans are enduring in its wake are costing him support from all but his most fervent base, and there is no immediate solution that will make those problems go away. As Noah Berlatsky noted in Public Notice yesterday, no matter what he does in Iran, Trump will leave that situation with a loss. “[I]f Trump escalates, people are going to hate him. If he surrenders, people are going to hate him. If he dithers, people are going to hate him. He has no good options,” Berlatsky wrote, “which is why he’s spinning in place, hoping someone, anyone, will rescue him.”

There has been more noise today about how the U.S. and Iran are on the verge of an agreement, but so far it has come to naught. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times reported today that Trump met with advisors for two hours today in the Situation Room to discuss the agreement but came to no decision about it. What did happen today is that officials from both Chevron and Exxon warned that oil inventories are dangerously low, raising concerns about dramatic price spikes.

As Americans sour on Trump’s economy, lawmakers are backing away from his self-aggrandizing plans for a new $250 bill with his face on it for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. While the administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is touting the plan, Scott MacFarlane of MeidasTouch notes that the necessary congressional approval is not forthcoming as lawmakers recognize that releasing a $250 bill raises images of gilded ballrooms and extravagance at a time when Americans are having trouble paying for gas and groceries.

It is currently against the law to put a living president on currency, so it will take an act of Congress to create this new bill. But, so far, only fifteen Republicans have cosponsored a bill to create the Trump $250 bill.

Trump’s other plans for demonstrating his power also took at least symbolic hits today.

Today Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to remove Trump’s name from the building, and from all official materials and signage, within fourteen days and blocked its plan to close for two years. As Chris Geidner of Law Dork explained, Cooper stood firm on Congress’s authority over the Kennedy Center. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name,” he wrote, “and only Congress can change it.”

Cooper also found that the board of the Kennedy Center agreed to close it for two years without advice of legal counsel and that Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center’s executive director and chief operating officer since Trump appointee Ric Grenell left, “had served in the role of Kennedy Center Executive Director for all of a few minutes before suggesting that the institution be shut down for years.”

Yesterday, Trump’s Freedom 250 organization, which he set up to compete with the bipartisan America 250 celebration of the nation’s birthday, announced that nine musical artists would perform at a sixteen-day “Great American State Fair” it was sponsoring on the National Mall. By today, most of the performers had pulled out after realizing that they had not been invited to be part of the nonpartisan America 250 but instead had been invited to Trump’s personal version of the anniversary celebration.

Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton of the Washington Post reported today that Trump is working hard for a certain kind of vibe at another Freedom 250 event: his Ultimate Fighting Championship matches at the White House for his 80th birthday on June 14. They reported that the Pentagon is trying to recruit hundreds of troops to show up to watch the matches in their uniforms. In addition to paying for their own travel, those military personnel must meet height and weight requirements.

U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia Leonie M. Brinkema temporarily stopped the Department of Justice from creating or operating the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund, the $1.776 billion slush fund the administration created to pay off those convicted of committing crimes to help President Donald J. Trump overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The administration cannot transfer money to the fund, consider any claims for payments from it, or pay out any money from it.

Louise Radnofsky and Lydia Wheeler of the Wall Street Journal report that those challenging the fund are people and entities prosecuted or threatened by the Trump administration. The plaintiffs say the government is not treating them on a par with Trump loyalists as worthy of compensation for government “weaponization.”

Brinkema has scheduled a hearing on the case for June 12.

This afternoon, yesterday’s request by thirty-five federal judges that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams reopen the legal case Trump, his oldest sons, and the Trump Organization had brought against the IRS bore fruit. Although the Trumps dropped the suit, the Department of Justice used it as justification for the establishment of the $1.776 billion slush fund to pay off those who claimed the country’s legal system had been “weaponized” against them because they were convicted of crimes related to their actions to help Trump overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Today Williams ordered Trump’s lawyers to respond to the judges’ filing by June 12 and to address the judges’ claims that the two sides in the case—the Trumps on the one hand and the Internal Revenue Service, which Trump oversees, on the other—were not in fact adversaries in the case.

Josh Dawsey, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber of the Wall Street Journal reported that more than a dozen Republican senators have privately asked Trump advisors to get rid of the slush fund, suggesting it will be hard to defend on the campaign trail before this fall’s midterm elections.

As the courts and the American people challenge Trump, he is lashing out. He responded to the judge’s order to take his name off the Kennedy Center with a long social media screed in which he insisted that he alone was “saving a dying Performing Arts Center” and said he would “transfer this failing Institution back to” Congress, although of course it was never his to command.

“There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country.” Then, in another long screed, he complained that the New York Times “is doing everything possible to criticize the magnificent restoration of the Reflecting Pool.”

But as Trump lashes out, his loyalists are working to consolidate their power.

The Office of Management and Budget, overseen by director Russell Vought, who was instrumental in the construction of Project 2025, has proposed a sweeping change in federal rules that would put Trump’s appointees in charge of billions of dollars of federal grants. According to Ryan Quinn of Inside Higher Ed, the change would empower Trump’s appointees to kill grants that aren’t aligned with Trump’s priorities. That includes grants awarded to universities through the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president Sally Kornbluth said that federally funded research at MIT is down 20% compared to last year. “That is a striking loss for one of the most influential and productive research communities in the world,” she said. The number of graduate students MIT takes on will also drop by about 20%, or about 500 fewer.

As Erica Orden of Politico reported yesterday, in the case of the firing of former FBI director James Comey’s daughter Maurene Comey from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Karen Lesperance, a lawyer for the Department of Justice, told Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that the government’s position is that Trump has the power to fire anyone, even if he is doing so for political reasons. When Furman asked if there were any limits to that power—could he fire people to create an “all-white executive branch? Or all-Black?” he asked—Lesperance avoided the question.

Comey’s lawyer said the Justice Department’s position was a “novel and breathtaking theory about the scope of” presidential power.

Trump and his loyalists have tried for months now to get control of state voter lists but have lost repeatedly in court, since the Constitution establishes that states run elections. Today the United States Postal Service has proposed that it will send mail-in ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government.

As Jacob Knutson and Jim Saksa of Democracy Docket note, this “would represent a massive expansion of federal control over voting, without congressional authorization.”

 

ohio mapMedias Touch Network, Opinion and Advocacy: Trump COLLAPSES in Ohio as STATE TURNS BLUE!!! Ben Meiselas, right, ben meiselas daily beast May 29, 2026. MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s support collapsing in Ohio as Democrats look prepared to win the Ohio Governor’s race and Meiselas speaks with the Democratic candidate, Dr. Amy Acton.

mtn meidas touch networkDonald Trump is collapsing in Ohio, where his approval is net negative 22. Let me repeat that. In a place once viewed as ruby red,  in Ohio, Donald Trump's approval has plummeted to net -22 and it just gets worse from there. In the latest state regime media, which calls itself Foxl, Donald Trump's approval rating on the economy falls below 30% in the latest Fox poll. Zooming in right now into Ohio.

You go to the EMC research poll: One of their latest polls shows Dr. Amy Acton up 10% over Vivek Ramaswami and they say Ramaswami only has 64% Republican support. Independents ldon't support the guy at all.

A notable question that the Overston Insight poll asked: Do you believe the recent attempts on Donald Trump's life, such as the July 2024 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the April 2026 shooting at the White House correspondents dinner, were staged or genuine by party?

12% of Republicans view it was staged. 45% of independents believe it was staged. Only 37% of independents believe it was real. 54% Democrats say staged, 29% say real.

The Independent Pollster, Staggering Data that Should Make the Political Class Reconsider Its Tribal Messaging and Strategies, Jeremy Zogby, May 30, 2026. Going well beyond typical polling data, such as which party voters favor, and instead probing their belief that the U.S. will still exist as a unified nation—and whether they plan to be part of it.

The numbers that follow come from a recent John Zogby Strategies national survey of 1,000 likely voters, conducted May 20-21.

I recently asked a question that most pollsters avoid. This question gets to the core of whether Americans are still in this together. The results are shocking and almost absent from mainstream political coverage.

The exact wording of last week’s poll question was: “In your view, do you believe the United States will remain united in five years?” Just 55% of voters say yes.

To obtain greater depth, I followed it up with a time series.

“In your view, do you believe the United States will remain united in ten years? To which 51% tell us yes.

And then once more regarding twenty years from now — 48% say yes.

50% is a key psychological barrier, and less than half of likely voters believe the U.S. will still be united two decades from now. Beyond these topline data points, that movement from 55 to 51 to 48 is revealing as a directional indicator, and speaks volumes about the exact moment we’re in regarding the Hyperpolarization Age (2004-Present).

It’s revealing because with each additional time increment, voters’ confidence in our ability to maintain national unity withers. It gives us a greater understanding of our destiny than we’re typically accustomed to with two-dimensional questions such as, Is the country headed in the right direction or off on the wrong track? Or even the classic approval/disapproval temperature check pollsters frequently release. And even though Substack readers of the Independent Pollster are accustomed to seeing numbers such as President Donald Trump’s underwater approval rating in the minus 30s among unaffiliated voters, the unity question, as it has been framed over time, offers us a much clearer picture of where things are going as we approach our 250th anniversary.

A breakdown of party identification is equally powerful. And notice, only on the surface does it reflect our current hyper-partisan environment. Those who say yes to remaining united in five years include 40% of Democrats, 75% of Republicans, and 49% of Independents. 

 

djt sleepingPoliticusUSA, News and Opinion: Trump's Latest Medical Report Is An Embarrassing Cover-Up Of Decline, Jason Easley, right, May 30, 2026. jason easleyThe White House news dumped the results of Trump's latest physical late on a Friday night and it is easy to see why. The report is a propaganda document, not a transparent public disclosure.

It is okay for people to get older. In fact, staying alive is a good thing, but when an administration that lies pathologically mixes with a person who is ever to return to the presidency, who is showing signs of decline, a physical goes from being a standard release of information to a wild document that denies reality.

politicus usa logoAll presidents have final approval over what goes into their medical reports. Regular people don’t have editorial over their doctors, but the President Of The United States does.

Keep this in mind while looking at the results of Trump’s latest physical.

There are three parts of this report that raise eyebrows.

Let’s look at what the report says about Trump’s cardiac health:

Cardiac: Coronary CT angiography demonstrated no arterial obstruction or structural abnormalities of the heart or major vessels. In addition, AI-enhanced electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis estimated his cardiac age, an established measure of cardiovascular vitality, to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age. Additional testing, including an echocardiogram, showed no abnormalities. Cardiac chambers and valves are normal with a preserved ejection fraction. Cardiac examination revealed a regular rate and rhythm with normal heart sounds. Overall, cardiac function is normal, and circulation to the extremities remains intact.

Trump believes that exercise is bad for your health because he thinks the body has a finite amount of energy and exercise wastes it. This is also a president who loves fast food.

The White House using AI to project Trump’s cardiac age is an insult when this is a president who is having so much trouble with blood flow that he does most of his events sitting down, but sure, Trump’s heart is 14 years younger than his age.

Trump also wants America to know that he aced another dementia screening:

A comprehensive neurological examination demonstrated normal mental status, intact cranial nerves, normal motor strength, sensation, reflexes, gait, and balance. He also completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) screenings for depression and anxiety which was normal. Cognitive function, assessed with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), was within normal limits with a score of 30 out of 30.

The latest test would be at minimum Trump’s fourth dementia screening, but everything is fine because AI told us that Trump’s heart is young.

As far as the bruising on Trump’s hands is concerned, the president is sticking to a story that no one believes:

Examination of the dorsal hands revealed ecchymosis (bruising), consistent with minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking in the setting of aspirin use for cardiovascular prevention. This represents a common and benign effect of aspirin therapy. No suspicious lesions or concerning growths identified.

The administration listed the hand bruising as a skin condition that they want us to believe is caused by handshaking and aspirin. The problem is that the bruising is on both hands, and no other presidents had bruised hands, and they shook hands frequently too.

The document is creating a story about Trump’s health that should spur more questions about the president’s situation. The American people understand that Trump is about to turn 80. It is not a secret.

I believe that all presidents should be transparent about their health, but what Trump is trying to sell is impossible to believe, and if the corporate press had a collective spine, they would start digging deeper and asking uncomfortable questions.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Republican election judge assaulted Democratic judge, Tarrant County Dems say, Rachel Royster, May 29, 2026. A Tarrant County Democratic election judge says she was assaulted by a Republican election judge while working at her polling place for the primary runoff election Tuesday morning.

When the Democratic election judge, who has run her polling location for 15 years, arrived at the polls Tuesday morning, she found that a Republican election judge had removed the official seal from and opened the Democratic voting equipment, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Democratic Party.

The seal on the voting equipment is used to show it has not been tampered with after leaving the elections office. Because the Tarrant County Republican Party votes to hold separate primaries, Democratic and Republican election workers have different sets of election equipment.

According to the news release, when the Democratic election judge confronted the Republican judge to inform him he was wrong in his actions, he forcefully poked her in the neck and shoved her. The Tarrant County Republican Party declined to comment on the situation. The release from the Democratic Party did not identify the election judges, the polling location, or the municipality it is in.

Following the incident, the Tarrant County Democratic Party sent advocates to check on the Democratic judge, the release said.

The advocate called the police, who took statements from all parties involved, but no charges have been filed.

“A day which was otherwise calm and marked by bi-partisan efforts to run a smooth primary runoff election was marred by an act of violence and unacceptable election equipment tampering,” said Allison Campolo, Tarrant County Democratic Party chair, in the news release.

The release from the Democratic Party said the party does not believe the Republican election judge’s actions represent all the Republican election judges in Tarrant County and called on voters, poll workers and elected officials to “promote an environment of peace and fairness.”

“We are fortunate enough to have a dedicated Tarrant County Elections Office that holds election workers to the highest standards, as well as a tri-partisan ballot board that carefully and digitally counts mail-in and provisional ballots,” Campolo said.

Associated Press via Politico, Trump jumps into Republican primaries for governor in South Carolina, Iowa and Oklahoma, Staff Report, May 30, 2026. Contests in those states have pitted allies against each other in a fierce competition for the president's endorsement.

ap logoPresident Donald Trump endorsed three Republican gubernatorial candidates Friday, wading into contests in South Carolina, Iowa and Oklahoma that have pitted allies against each other in a fierce competition for their party leader’s blessing.

In a trio of social media posts, Trump gave his backing to South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra and former Oklahoma state senator Mike Mazzei as primary elections approach.

Iowa’s primary is Tuesday, South Carolina’s is on June 9 and Oklahoma’s is on June 16. All three states are having their first competitive Republican gubernatorial primaries in years.

For two terms, Evette has served alongside Gov. Henry McMaster, one of Trump’s earliest backers during his first presidential campaign. Earlier this year, the long-serving governor endorsed his No. 2, telegraphing to some that Trump’s backing could be next.

djt maga hatOn Friday, Trump expressed both appreciation for Evette and the state she represents, noting that she stumped for him in 2024. He also said “A BIG added plus” for her campaign is that Henry McMaster Jr. — the sitting governor’s son — may be Evette’s running mate.

In the deep red state of South Carolina, the competition for the president’s support has been the most intense part of the primary race.

In a separate post, Trump described Feenstra as “MAGA all the way” and said he would “fight tirelessly” for the state on issues including the economy, border security and support of law enforcement.

Evette and Feenstra have been vocal about wanting Trump’s endorsement, in the hopes that it would carry weight in states that helped propel Trump’s return to office in 2024. Feenstra said earlier this year that he asked for Trump’s support, and much of Evette’s campaign media has featured photos of her next to Trump.

Along with Feenstra, four other Republicans — state Rep. Eddie Andrews, businessman and former conservative political director Zach Lahn, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former director of the state Department of Administrative Services Adam Steen — are in the primary to replace outgoing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who opted out of a third bid.

Evette is competing for the South Carolina nomination against Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and state Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Mazzei is running to replace Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is finishing his second term. He’s competing against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, former state House Speaker Charles McCall and former state public safety secretary Chip Keating.

Everyone's Entitled To My Own Opinion, Commentary: Bobby Brainworms gets bit, Preznit F___wit gets hit, and so much more, Jeff Tiedrich, right, jeff tiedrichMay 30, 2026. As another stupid week comes to a close here in America, let’s look back.....

Monday, It looks like two of Bobby’s brainworms have escaped his head...

Who does this?

Bobby Brainworms and Dr. Oz were hanging out — as one does, because crackpots of a feather flock together — when two of the unluckiest snakes ever happened to slither onto Oz’s patio. Bobby just couldn’t help but wander into the fray, scooping them right up and frolicking with them. This bro can’t leave nature alone.

rfk snake bittenGiffed for posterity’s sake: it’s the moment the Marvelous Mister Measles gets bitten. Ace job, bro.

Tuesday: After twenty-four-seven scandal factory Ken Paxton crushed incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate primary, the Republican Party got caught up in a bit of a sticky wicket. They’d been saturating the airwaves with anti-Paxton attack ads — because nobody except Dear Leader wanted Paxton to be the candidate in the first place.

The GOP did the only thing it could: they ....quietly deleted their ads.

Yeah, well guess what, homies: the internet never forgets. You can’t delete anything in the twenty-first century. Here’s one of the ads: 

“This is the sound of Texas. and this is how it sounds under Ken Paxton. Homicides, highest in nearly 30 years under Ken Paxton. Rape up 40% under Ken Paxton. Aggravated assaults up nearly 30% under Ken Paxton. Car thefts nearly doubled under Ken Paxton. 250+ human trafficking cases dismissed under Ken Paxton. AG’s trafficking unit, 40% quit under Ken Paxton. Sex traffickers walked free under Ken Paxton. Violent crime up across Texas under Ken Paxton. Texas deserves better than the sound of Ken Paxton.”

....Thanks for doing the Democratic Party’s work for them, GOP.

djt 250th featured performers june 2026On Wednesday, Freedom 250 — the MAGA-aligned concert series that Donny cooked up as part of his infantile co-opting of America’s 250th birthday — announced their lineup. It was a grab bag of has-beens, never-weres, and wow-are-they-still-even-alives, with a few legitimate acts mixed in.

After the list went public, a super cool thing happened — one by one, the performers started dropping out — because no one told them they’d be appearing....

Freedom 250 now looks like this.

 

 

djt unfeatured performers june 2026And MAGA is melting all the way down.

You have to say this about the manosphere: they spend ....a lot of time worrying about shit that no one else worries about.

Men are naturally more attractive than women on average, that’s why women need makeup. This isn't me being gay, it’s science. Look at a peacock or a cardinal, male vs female, females get mogged Greek statues dedicated to the peak aesthetic form? Overwhelmingly men.

“This isn’t me being gay, it’s science.”

Oh, it’s science, is it? How do you know it’s science? Did you get Ivanka to help you crunch the numbers?

Fact check: dude, this isn’t science. This is you being super gay. You’re attracted to dudes.

Friday: 

djt iran deal may 29 2026

 

The Daily With Sarah Jones via PoliticusUSA, Opinion: Delusional Trump Replaces Music Acts With Himself At The Great American State Fair, Sarah Jones, right, and sarah reese jonesJason Easley, May 30, 2026. After the majority of the musical acts dropped out of his Great American State Fair, Trump replaced them all with himself.

What’s the most unpopular president in the history of polling to do when most of the musical performers drop out of his politicus usa logoGreat American State Fair?

How would Trump ever find a replacement for artists like Morris Day, Young MC, Martina McBride, C+C Music Factory, and Bret Michaels?

djt unfeatured performers june 2026Only a truly delusional egomaniac would pick himself to replace the artists who dropped out of the show, but that is exactly what Donald Trump did.

Trump posted on Truth Social:

I understand Artists are getting “the yips” having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!

djt artists yips 5 30 2026The artists went from being praised by Trump to being third-rate as soon as they bailed on his show.

Things got even crazier in Trump’s post.

Trump, who is grifting billions of dollars from American taxpayers, claimed that the artists were too expensive, and wrote:

Two years ago, the United States was DEAD. Now we have the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. I don’t want so-called “Artists” that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited — It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!

Trump wants to be surrounded by winners, but his approval rating just dropped to a new low of 34%.

The artists who pulled out of the Trump event all told the same story. They were lied to about the event. It was presented to them as being non-partisan, and they had no idea that it was a Trump production.

It takes a special level of delusion to replace musical acts that have had success in the past with yourself, but that is what Trump did.

Trump hasn’t been a top draw in American politics for more than a decade. One of the features of his 2024 campaign was smaller venues and smaller crowds. TV ratings for Trump have been on the decline for years.

Trump and his political allies can’t put together a musical event that will be popular and draw a huge crowd. The Turning Point USA Super Bowl halftime show is the most recent example of a MAGA media entertainment bomb.

The president is completely out of his mind, and his decision to make himself the headliner has ensured the event will bomb.

 

graham platner senate campaign

 New York Times, Platner’s Texts With Women Concerned Campaign as Senate Race Took Off, Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer, May 30, 2026. The wife of Graham Platner, above, the Democratic candidate in Maine, told the campaign he had sent sexual messages to other women.

Graham Platner’s insurgent bid for Senate in Maine was gathering steam last summer when his campaign was confronted with some potentially explosive information.

Mr. Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, told a senior campaign aide that he had been exchanging sexual messages with multiple other women.

It was the kind of revelation with the potential to damage the political newcomer just as his campaign to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, was beginning to resonate with voters, especially in a state where female voters make up a large share of the electorate.

Mr. Platner’s exchanges with women were confirmed by current and former campaign officials, who gave different accounts of some of the details. Ms. Gertner said the couple, who had married in November 2023, according to the town clerk of Sullivan, Maine, was working through his indiscretions in marriage counseling.

Genevieve McDonald, a former state legislator who was the Platner campaign’s political director before leaving in October, said Ms. Gertner reached out just days before a big Labor Day rally with Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, and was concerned her husband’s behavior could become a political liability.

Ms. McDonald said Ms. Gertner told her that her husband had been exchanging sexual messages with as many as a dozen women.

A current Platner campaign official said Mr. Platner had been communicating with up to six women. The conduct had stopped, the official said, before the campaign launched.

The current official said that the messages surfaced when Ms. McDonald asked Ms. Gertner if there was anything she wanted to share amid an internal vetting process. Ms. Gertner told the campaign that the couple had dealt with the issue in counseling, according to the official.

The revelation threatened to add to Democratic anxieties about the state of the Maine race, which the party sees as critical to its chances of winning control of the Senate in November.Editors’ PicksHow to Get Grandparents and Grandkids to Connect More OftenHe Wanted to Kiss a Million Times. Could We Do It?17 Food Items You Should Buy When They’re on Sale

In a statement released by the campaign, Ms. Gertner suggested that she had been betrayed by Ms. McDonald, saying she was “deeply hurt” and bothered by “the invasion of our privacy.”

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend,” she said. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind.”

“Our marriage today is stronger than ever before,” she added. “I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.”

Ms. McDonald’s account of Ms. Gertner’s discovery of the messages and alerting the campaign to them last summer before the rally with Mr. Sanders was confirmed by another person who was told about the messages at the time. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the existence of the messages on Saturday afternoon.

Ms. McDonald shared with The New York Times what she said was a screenshot of a text message exchange with Ms. Gertner that started in the early hours of Aug. 27, 2025. Ms. Gertner had sent a message to a broader group, asking someone from the campaign to contact her, and Ms. McDonald offered to talk. In their conversation, Ms. Gertner told her about the messages, which she described as “sexting,” according to Ms. McDonald.

“The United States Senate is not a training ground for redemption,” Ms. McDonald said. “It is a place for proven leaders with moral clarity and integrity.”

Ms. McDonald was one of three campaign officials who resigned in October after revelations about controversial social media posts by Mr. Platner and scrutiny of a tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.

In the months since then, despite a barrage of headlines about inflammatory remarks Mr. Platner made about women online years ago — remarks for which he has apologized — the candidate went on to have a stunning rise to become the presumptive Democratic nominee in one of the nation’s marquee Senate races.

His campaign has become a movement in Maine, and some Democrats are already discussing Mr. Platner, a fiery populist running on his working-class credentials, as the future of the party.

More Global News

New York Times, What to Know About the Ebola Outbreak, Amelia Nierenberg, Ephrat Livni and Lynsey Chutel, Updated May 30, 2026. Aid agencies are racing to help underequipped health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 245 people are now suspected to have died from the virus.

The Ebola outbreak spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo could become the deadliest in history, aid groups have warned.

By late May, two weeks after the Congolese health ministry declared the outbreak, it was outpacing the international response. At its epicenter, though health workers and aid groups were racing to fight the virus, there was still very little infrastructure in place to slow its spread.

world health organization logo Custom“I know the resources are often not enough,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the leader of the World Health Organization, wrote on social media on Thursday as he began a trip to Congo. On Saturday, he went to Bunia, a city at the center of the outbreak, in a show of support for health care workers.

As of Thursday, at least 1,077 suspected cases and 246 suspected deaths had been recorded, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One major complicating factor: The type of Ebola virus behind this outbreak, known as Bundibugyo, is rare. Early surveillance and testing failed to identify it, delaying the health authorities’ response. Few field test kits are available. And this kind of Ebola has no targeted vaccine or treatment, making it harder to contain.

Here’s what to know about the outbreak.Here’s what you need to know:

Where did the outbreak start? Are travel bans in place? How are countries contributing to the relief effort? What is Ebola? Are there vaccines?

U.S. Media, High Tech, Culture

 

 

llewellyn king horizontal chronicleWhite House Chronicle, Opinion: The Collision Between Money and News — We Lose, Llewellyn King, above, May 30, 2026. Trillions, as in trillions of dollars, are being bandied about in the way millions were, then billions.

But take a look at 1 trillion expressed numerically: 1,000,000,000,000. Awesome, isn’t it? Twelve zeros.

The national debt stands at $39 trillion, and the interest on that will top $1 trillion this year. Very soon, the first trillionaire will thunder past the post, presumably Elon Musk.

elon musk thumbs upI have nothing against Musk, above. And I have nothing against successful people being rewarded for their talent.

Musk has done enormous things. An immigrant, he made his first fortune with PayPal. Since then, he has given the United States the solar revolution, the electric car, and a viable heavy-lift rocket that has made space exploration cheaper than when NASA alone was at the controls. His Boring Co. still holds promise.

It is assumed, as so often, that because a person is good at one thing, that same person must be good at everything else. Whoa! Musk’s limits as a manager and a visionary were exposed when he barged about streamlining the government for President Trump.

It was a case of a bridge too far for Musk. A disaster for America that eroded privacy, critically wounded many departments and saved no money.

x logo twitterWhereas much of what Musk has achieved has been beneficial, his purchase of Twitter, rebranded as X, was evidence of the harm that accompanies gigantic wealth. He wanted to control not just the medium, but also the news.

Musk — although it isn’t good that he has taken steps to control the message with X — isn’t the problem facing the media and the public’s right to know. When so much money is floating around, press freedom is in trouble. 

 

Media mogul Larry Ellison (New York Times photo).

Media mogul Larry Ellison (New York Times photo).

The immediate threat comes not from Musk, but from two other men of gargantuan wealth: Larry Ellison, co-founder of the tech firm Oracle Corp., whose personal net worth is estimated at $245 billion, and his son, David.

Together, they are set to control the media to an extent not imagined and never seen. The media titans of yesteryear — Pulitzer, Hearst, Luce, Thompson, Sulzberger, Graham and Murdoch — are knee-high to the fearsome power that the Ellisons have, and cbs news logowhich will more than double if (and it is more when than if) the merger of their Paramount Skydance Corp. with Warner Bros. Discovery is approved by regulators.

At present, the Ellisons control the CBS Television Network, CBS Sports, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Paramount Network and BET. They control CBS News, and Paramount+, which has 79 million streaming subscribers.

warner brothers discovery logoIf the merger goes through, they will control CNN, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Studios — a treasure trove of entertainment.

In short, they will control a huge swath of American broadcast news, information dissemination, and movie and television culture.

Their declared purpose is to incorporate more technology and more AI across their astounding current and probably future empire. That is bad for journalism and worse for movies. The invasion of the bots.

I know how media control works. I have seen it firsthand: It isn’t what is said, but what is implied or what employees feel the owners of the outlet want. A casual remark can become policy; a hint of preference can become a hard rule.

If an Ellison family member were — of course, this is hypothetical — to say they hated rhubarb, you could bet the Food Network wouldn’t do a show episode on rhubarb pie making. If it were known that one of the owners of Paramount was a booster of nuclear power, movies such as “The China Syndrome” and “Silkwood” would never have been made.

In journalism, the story that isn’t covered is as important as the one that is covered. If a disease caused by a common product — asbestos is a good example — isn’t covered because the staff has heard that the media owners love that product or is invested in it, then you can bet it won’t be covered.

Consolidated corporate ownership is antithetical to free speech, creativity and open government. No news is bad news.

News isn’t suited to the corporate world; it isn’t a fit with those whose interest is adding zeros to bottom lines. It is the pursuit by an irregular army of often eccentric individuals, who turn over stones to find out what is beneath.

Likewise, individual ownership furthers the news objective, which for me was summed up by something Dan Raviv said when he was a correspondent for CBS Radio (recently shuttered by the Ellisons): “My job is simple. I try to find out what is going on and tell people.”

Write that in the corporate prospectus.

May 29

Top Headlines

 

Former President Donald Trump is shown in a photo collage with columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her three decades ago, with her civil suit scheduled for trial this spring in New York City.

Former President Donald Trump is shown in a photo collage with columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won a jury verdict that he sexually attacked her three decades ago.

News Roundups 

More On U.S. Law, Courts, Crime, Civil Rights, Justice

  • Letters from an American, Historical Commentary: May 28, 2026 [Trump Lashes Out], Heather Cox Richardson, right, heather cox richardson cnnMay 29, 2026. It’s an excellent bet that future books and films made about the Trump Era will begin with an image of the White House this week. The world-famous Rose Garden has been replaced with a patio that looks like one at Mar-a-Lago. The East Wing is rubble. And on the sweeping South Lawn, right outside the front door of the White House, construction is underway on a massive Ultimate Fighting Championship arena for cage matches to be held on Trump’s 80th birthday.
  • New York Times, Where Do E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuits Against President Trump Stand? Abbie VanSickle, May 29, 2026 (print ed.). Two monetary judgments against Mr. Trump are winding their way through the legal system, with the Supreme Court likely to be the final word on both.
  • New York Times, Opinion: There’s No Escaping the Rot in This Justice Department, Michelle Goldberg, May 29, 2026. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois used to be considered one of the best federal prosecutors’ offices in the country, but the last week has shown that Donald Trump’s administration is driving it off the rails. 

More On Iran War

U.S. Politics, Elections, Governance

Democratic-Republican Campaign logos

More On Trump Administration

  • Morning Shots via The Bulwark, Political Opinion: It’s Still About Us, Not About Him, William Kristol, right, william bill kristol imdbMay 29, 2026. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted to approve the resolution proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia stating that the United Colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

U.S. Economy, Consumer Confidence, High-Tech, Space

blue origin bezos

Top Stories

 

Former President Donald Trump is shown in a photo collage with columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her three decades ago, with her civil suit scheduled for trial this spring in New York City.

Former President Donald Trump is shown in a photo collage with columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won a jury verdict that he sexually attacked her three decades ago. 

 

donald trump ny daily pussy

Disclosures in the E. Jean Carroll sexual assault lawsuit echoed Trump's words in "Hollywood Access" videotape, reported upon above, that arose during the 2016 presidential campaign. Shown Then: The front page of a 2016 New York Daily News edition contrasts with President Trump's claimed but unsworn innocence in the Carroll case. Trump never took the witness stand in either the Carroll case or his fraud trial resulting in his conviction on 34 felony counts of seeking to hide payoffs to suppress adverse publicity in sex scandals.

New York Times, In Carroll Lawsuits Inquiry, Scrutiny Turns Toward Private Citizens Who Antagonized Trump, Glenn Thrush and Benjamin Weiser, May 29, 2026. The Justice Department is said to be examining the funding of lawsuits brought by E. Jean Carroll, an author who has never sought a public role, political power or governmental authority.

The Justice Department’s examination of E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against President Trump could prove to be a significant shift in the administration’s campaign of retribution, moving from targeting of public officials to scrutinizing a case brought by an 82-year-old private citizen who has accused him of sexual assault.

e jean carroll twitterWhat sets Ms. Carroll apart is the profoundly personal nature of her assertions about the president. And unlike other prominent figures facing investigative scrutiny — James B. Comey, Letitia James, Adam B. Schiff, John O. Brennan — Ms. Carroll, an author and columnist (shown at right and below left in file photos), never sought a public role, political power or governmental authority.

The investigation involves donations made by a nonprofit founded by the liberal billionaire Reid Hoffman to pay for Ms. Carroll’s legal bills, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing inquiry.ImageReid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, in San Francisco in 2023. A nonprofit founded by Mr. Hoffman helped pay Ms. Carroll’s legal bills.Credit...Clara Mokri e jean carroll cover new york magazinefor The New York Times

As part of that inquiry, prosecutors are examining the veracity of her responses to questions about the donation during the civil proceedings over her accusations that Mr. Trump assaulted her decades ago. But Mr. Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic — and not Ms. Carroll — is currently the subject of the criminal inquiry, although that could change, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.

The U.S. attorney overseeing the matter in the District of Northern Illinois, Andrew S. Boutros, said in a statement Thursday evening that his office “has never opened” a criminal investigation into Ms. Carroll.

On Wednesday, people briefed on the investigation said that Ms. Carroll was a primary target, prompting a backlash in the hours after news of the inquiry broke.

Ms. Carroll and her benefactor are being scrutinized by a department in which naming and shaming, as opposed to securing convictions, is considered a legitimate aim of law enforcement. Since Mr. Trump returned to office, he has not hesitated to single out his purported enemies as potential targets, even before criminal charges are in the offing.

Under the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, the pace of department activity involving Mr. Trump’s rivals has accelerated significantly, alarming not only career prosecutors but even some Trump appointees who have supported previous efforts to prosecute those who prosecuted the president during the Biden administration.

The investigation into Mr. Hoffman’s nonprofit has been overseen by top department officials in Washington, according to people with knowledge of the matter. But Mr. Blanche, who represented the president in one of his appeals of Ms. Carroll’s legal victories, has recused himself.

Ms. Carroll declined to comment through a representative. A representative for Mr. Hoffman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Critics say the investigation proves Mr. Trump’s appointees are bent on executing Mr. Trump’s personal agenda, even if it means abandoning their commitment to the public, particularly the victims of sexual assault.

“Two of the reasons survivors of sexual abuse often don’t come forward are, first, a fear of not being believed, and second, a fear of retaliation,” said Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan who led the unit that investigated civil rights offenses, including sexual abuse and exploitation.

“Putting a survivor in the cross hairs of a federal criminal investigation involving perjury strikes at both of those fears,” added Ms. Kelly, now a partner with Boies Schiller Flexner in New York.

Mr. Trump and his legal team have vehemently contested Ms. Carroll’s allegations and have accused the president’s political enemies of backing her claims in an unsuccessful effort to destroy him.

The president has disputed Ms. Carroll’s claim that he sexually assaulted her at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, has called her a “total wack job” and said the attack could not have happened because she was not his physical “type.”

 

 

See our News Reports section for earlier clips during this unusually heavy news period.