President Trump cast doubt on the prospects of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as part of an effort to end the war in Eastern Europe, suggesting that “maybe they have to fight a little longer,” The Hill reports.
International Student Enrollment Plummets
Associated Press: “Signs of a decline in international students have unsettled colleges around the U.S. Colleges with large numbers of foreign students and small endowments have little financial cushion to protect them from steep losses in tuition money.”
“International students represent at least 20% of enrollment at more than 100 colleges with endowments of less than $250,000 per student, according to an Associated Press analysis. Many are small Christian colleges, but the group also includes large universities such as Northeastern and Carnegie Mellon.”
“The extent of the change in enrollment will not be clear until the fall, Some groups have forecast a decline of as much as 40%, with a huge impact on college budgets and the wider U.S. economy.”
Why Some People Are Tired of Tim Walz
“These are challenging times for Tim Walz, the unsuccessful 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The two-term Minnesota governor campaigned on the national ticket for just 91 days, but that was enough to turn off some home-state voters. A poll this summer by the Minnesota Star Tribune found Walz’s approval rating dropped to 49%—only the second time it had fallen below 50% in the survey—and about half of the state’s registered voters said he shouldn’t seek a third term in 2026.”
“Men—whom Walz was supposed to help draw to the Democratic ticket because of his experience as a high-school football coach and hunter—were especially disapproving and skeptical of him running for governor again after appearing alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris in her failed White House bid.”
Quote of the Day
“If we continue to fight fire with fire and keep starting fires and creating new fires, the only thing we’re going to have left are ashes and a little piece of a nation.”
— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), talking to Missourinet about the redistricting arms race.
Burying the Bruises
Status: “On Monday, press photographers gathered in the Oval Office to capture President Donald Trump meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung when one unusual detail stood out. A large bruise on the back of Trump’s right hand.”
“It wasn’t the first time the 79-year-old president was seen with a noticeable bruise. Just days earlier, Trump was photographed with a large smear of makeup covering the same hand as he spoke to reporters at the White House about the FIFA World Cup. The images circulated widely online…”
“Yet from the country’s most powerful newsrooms, there was little more than silence. No front-page write-ups. No broadcast packages. The visible health problems of the oldest president in American history barely registered in mainstream coverage.”
Trump’s Revenge Summer Heats Up
“Welcome to Donald Trump’s summer of revenge,” Bloomberg reports.
“The president is following through with his promise to rain retribution on political opponents. But his wrath has also extended throughout nearly every corner of his government, targeting those who might dare to complicate his agenda.”
CNN: Tracking Trump’s retaliation.
The ‘Diploma Divide’ Hits Capitol Hill
“There’s a new divide on Capitol Hill over education,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a dramatic shift from 50 years ago, Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly attended nonelite universities for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. At the same time, almost half of all Democrats graduated from an Ivy League institution or some other elite university for undergraduate or postgraduate work, a slight increase from the early 1970s.”
Trump Weighs In on Virtually Everything
New York Times: “It used to be that you could switch off the so-called culture wars, or at least find a place to mute them for a little while. Cracker Barrel was actually one of those places. But now, not even something as low stakes as a company’s logo can escape the gaze of a president bent on changing — or forcing — American life to reflect his own views and tastes, which often mirror the far-right ideological movement that fueled his rise…”
“The logo debacle seems like a small thing, but really, it shows how Mr. Trump is now using his power to reshape all aspects of American culture, not just American policy. He has not hesitated to retaliate against those who disagree.”
JB Pritzker Is Slimming Down
“Gov. JB Pritzker doesn’t quite look the same on the campaign trail these days. His pants hang loose, his jacket buttons no longer strain — the Democrat known for his barrel-shaped frame cutting a noticeably trimmer silhouette in his bid for a third term,” Politico reports.
Said Pritzker: “How about, just for health.”
“Or, as just about anyone familiar with the rich history of pre-presidential pound-shedding is starting to suspect, how about for 2028.”
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Trump Starts to Turn on the People He Handpicked
“After months of pushing out career government officials and Democratic holdovers, President Trump is starting to turn on some of his own picks,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“On Wednesday, the White House said it was firing Trump’s director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a top public health agency, one month after she was confirmed by the Senate. The White House said she wasn’t aligned with the president. Several other top officials at the agency resigned in response.”
“This week’s turmoil followed ousters at other agencies. Trump replaced the head of the Internal Revenue Service less than two months into the job because the appointee, Billy Long, clashed with officials at the Treasury Department. Two top Justice Department antitrust officials were removed from their roles after clashing with senior officials at the agency who they accused of cutting deals with favored lobbyists. One of them has publicly questioned the integrity of other Justice officials. The White House also removed the acting FEMA administrator after he said the emergency management agency should continue to exist, contradicting others in the administration.”
“In recent days, Trump also pushed his Treasury secretary to fire the agency’s second-in-command and installed a second deputy at the FBI after the White House soured on the first.”
How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was losing patience with President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump had been saying — repeatedly, publicly, exuberantly — that he had “solved” the military conflict between India and Pakistan, a dispute that dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr. Trump was making it out to be.”
“During a phone call on June 17, Mr. Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation. He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr. Modi should do the same.”
“The Indian leader bristled. He told Mr. Trump that U.S. involvement had nothing to do with the recent cease-fire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.”
Israel Found a Weak Link
New York Times: “Israel was able to track the movements of key Iranian figures and assassinate them during the 12-day war this spring by following the cellphones carried by members of their security forces.”
While Trump Rattles the World
“The leaders of three of the world’s four most powerful nations will meet in China this weekend to discuss how to react to the upending of the international order wrought by the fourth: the U.S. under President Trump,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently being wooed by Washington, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose country—long cultivated by the U.S. as a centerpiece of its aspirations to contain Beijing—has just been slapped by punitive American tariffs.”
Trump Warns Tariff Ruling Will ‘Destroy the United States’
President Trump on Friday warned a ruling striking down most of his tariffs “would literally destroy the United States of America” if it stands, Axios reports.
He suggested an appeal to the Supreme Court was coming soon.
What Happens Next with Trump’s Tariffs?
Paul Krugman: “I have no idea what happens next. The Supreme Court is utterly craven, and may well rule that Trump gets to do whatever he wants. But maybe even they will balk.”
“One crucial thing to understand is that Trump is facing a completely self-inflicted disaster here. He probably could have gotten Republicans in Congress to vote for insane trade policy. But he was impatient, and wanted to start ruling as a dictator right away.”
“I see that Scott Bessent is saying that ruling that Trump’s illegal tariffs are, in fact, illegal will embarrass the United States. I’m not a lawyer, but last I heard you weren’t allowed to act illegally if obeying the law would be embarrassing. Anyway, let’s be clear: It won’t embarrass America. It will embarrass Trump and Bessent. If anything, it might reassure the rest of the world that some vestige of rule of law yet remains in this nation.”
Judge Blocks Deportations Without Due Process
“A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from rapidly deporting undocumented immigrants detained away from the border without a court hearing, a setback for its mass deportation agenda,” the Washington Post reports.
Trump Cancels $679 Million for Offshore Wind Projects
“The Transportation Department on Friday said it was terminating or withdrawing $679 million in federal funding for 12 projects around the country intended to support the development of offshore wind power, the latest of the Trump administration’s escalating attacks against the wind industry,” the New York Times reports.
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