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Trump Plans to Attend Game 3 of NBA Finals

June 4, 2026 at 6:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump said Thursday that he is planning to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Madison Square Garden, CNN reports. 

Trump Plans Promenade from Lincoln Memorial to Potomac

June 4, 2026 at 6:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump said Thursday that a new walkway will be built connecting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, to the Potomac River, CNN reports.

Said Trump:” We’re going to call it the promenade. They want to call it the Trump Promenade. But I don’t know if I want to do that. But it’s going to be beautiful.”

Quote of the Day

June 4, 2026 at 6:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I haven’t waded into that primary.”

— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), speaking to reporters about Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D).

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The Democratic Trust Deficit

June 4, 2026 at 6:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dan Pfeiffer: “Jill Biden’s reemergence and her admission that she was lying to all of us in 2024 is emblematic of a much larger problem that still plagues the Democratic Party with implications for 2026, 2028 and beyond.”

“The broken trust that comes from the President and most of the party telling the public not to believe their eyes when it comes to Biden’s age, and that they were silly to think that an 82-year-old shouldn’t run for reelection.”

“The party’s approach to Biden’s age was part of a broader pattern. They told voters that inflation wasn’t real, that a genocide wasn’t happening in Gaza, and that they had a plan to win when they never did.”

“Working to rebuild that trust needs to be at the center of the Democratic Party’s strategy.”

The Races That Made the Senate Majority

June 4, 2026 at 5:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Kyle Kondik: “Over the course of the last three election cycles—including each of the most recent elections for all 100 Senate seats—just 29 of the 100 races were decided by less than 10 points.”

“That is still a higher percentage of at least somewhat competitive elections than we generally see each cycle in the House.”

“Despite being in the minority, Democrats have won more of the truly close races than Republicans have, and it’s something they likely will need to continue to do in both 2026 and into the future given the overall GOP skew of the Senate map.”

Some Who Dated Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior

June 4, 2026 at 4:58 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Several women who once dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) described him “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,” the New York Times reports.

“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.”

Trump Says Pulte Won’t Be Permanent

June 4, 2026 at 4:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump said that Bill Pulte will only serve as national intelligence director on an acting basis, adding that he is interviewing permanent candidates for the position, Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “He’s not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent.”

Trump Says He Could Meet Iran’s Supreme Leader

June 4, 2026 at 4:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump on Thursday said he would be “honored” to meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, CNBC reports. 

Said Trump: “If we make a deal, it’s possible that I would meet. I’d be okay with that.”

Planning Commission Votes to Advance Trump’s Arch

June 4, 2026 at 4:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “A federal planning commission on Thursday advanced President Trump’s plan to build a 250-foot arch in Washington, even after receiving overwhelming public opposition to the project.”

“The National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by allies of Mr. Trump, received nearly 1,700 public comments about the proposed triumphal arch, almost all of which opposed it. Staff at the commission also raised several issues about the plan, including whether the structure could disrupt flight patterns or violate laws restricting the height of buildings in the nation’s capital.”

Mystery People Keep Emerging From NYC Manholes

June 4, 2026 at 4:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Surveillance video from his shop shows one of the men prying open the heavy steel manhole cover, as a car that seems to be accompanying them sits nearby with its headlights pointed their direction. The trio soon slipped out of sight, into the bowels of the city.”

“That May 5 encounter marked the first in at least three recent incidents in which groups of people have been captured on camera climbing into — and out of — parts of the city’s sprawling sewer system.”

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Maine Has a Graham Platner Problem

June 4, 2026 at 3:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Shannon Mullen: “We don’t know what Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, wrote in his sexually explicit texts with women other than his wife—six, according to his campaign; a dozen, according to an ex-aide—but do we need to?”

“The glaring question that the texts pose to voters about the presumptive Democratic nominee at this point in a pivotal midterm race is: Are we really going to do this again?”

Russia’s Elite Is Souring on Ukraine War

June 4, 2026 at 3:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “Russia’s inability to break through the stalemate in Ukraine is becoming so evident that significant voices in the Russian establishment have publicly started to call for an end to the conflict.”

“The big question is whether President Vladimir Putin will acknowledge this reality and abandon his aspiration to extinguish Ukrainian independence.”

Republicans Rocked by Trump’s Midterm Approach 

June 4, 2026 at 3:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NewsNation: “Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress in a tough election year have been thrown off-balance by President Trump’s focus on foreign policy, pet projects, and statements dismissing the importance of the midterms and cost-of-living issues.”

Democrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Top Issue

June 4, 2026 at 2:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NOTUS: “After the third apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in late April and the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September, Democratic lawmakers condemned escalating political violence. But they did not call for moving any of their gun control priorities.”

“The lack of action shows how legislating on firearms has become nearly impossible on Capitol Hill, and how both parties have dug into their own rhetoric. Republicans continue to rally their base around opposition to any firearms control, while Democrats counter that steps should be taken to combat violence but have shown little appetite for that highly politicized fight ahead of the midterms.”

Kennedy Center Staff Ordered to Remove Trump’s Name

June 4, 2026 at 1:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The general counsel’s office at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts told employees in a memo on Thursday to ‘immediately’ remove President Trump’s name from the institution’s branding on official forms and other documents.”

“The mandate came days after a federal judge ruled that the board’s decision to add the president’s name to the building had been unlawful.”

DOJ Enlists Partisans to Probe Trump’s Political Foes

June 4, 2026 at 1:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News: “The team assembled by the Justice Department to ramp up investigations into President Donald Trump’s political enemies includes several lawyers and FBI special agents who backed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.”

“The investigation is looking into the actions of officials who served in the Obama and Biden administrations… One potential avenue is to seek charges under a broad federal crime that would portray Trump as the victim of government overreach…”

Senate Grinds to a Halt

June 4, 2026 at 1:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate ground to a standstill on Thursday morning as Republicans found themselves short of the votes to defeat a motion offered by Democrats that would bar President Trump from establishing a fund to compensate his political allies,” the New York Times reports.

“The proposal, offered by Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, would send the $70 billion immigration crackdown bill back to committee and prohibit the creation of the fund.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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