“The fate of many of President Trump’s tariffs hangs in the balance at the Supreme Court, but he is rapidly building out a backup plan,” the New York Times reports.
“The Supreme Court is set to begin considering whether the tariffs that Mr. Trump has placed on countries including Switzerland and India earlier this year are unconstitutional. But the Trump administration has been erecting another system of tariffs that is impervious to the legal challenge.”
Timothy Snyder: “My historian colleagues might correct me, but I do not think anyone at least in recent history has done what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is about to do: put all of the American generals and admirals from around the world into a single room (next week, in Virginia) just to say something to them.”
“There is no practical reason to do this: he has easier and more secure ways to communicate with the commanders. And there are obvious risks: the entire armed forces of the United States, spread around the world, will be without its leaders. Given that the government could well shut down the next day, the separation of commanders from their command might be indefinite.”
“And if Hegseth has his way, those generals and admirals will all be in one site, announced in advance, which means that the entirety of the American command structure will be more vulnerable, physically, than in any conceivable military scenario, including nuclear war. There is no scenario other than this one in which they would all be in the same place at the same time.”
Senate Republicans will hold a second vote on a short term funding resolution on Tuesday — just hours before the deadline for shutting down the government, Politico reports.
“If I were a Democrat and Russ Vought was in charge of OMB, I would have nightmares about what Russ could do that you couldn’t undo when government reopens. Russ has waited for this moment his whole life.”
— Erick Erickson, quoted by the Boston Globe.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds only 30% of voters have a favorable view of Democrats, the lowest favorability rating for the Democratic party since the asking voters this question beginning in 2008.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals to travel on short notice from around the world to hear him make a short speech on military standards and the “warrior ethos,” the Washington Post reports.
Sinclair, one of two large local TV owners that dropped “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the late-night comedian’s remarks on the Trump administration’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, said on Friday that it would resume showing the program, the New York Times reports.
“Even though we are still being preempted in 60 American cities, on Tuesday, we had our second-highest rated show in almost 23 years on the air. Our monologue from Tuesday night has more than 21 million views just on YouTube alone. And I want to say, we couldn’t have done it without you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. We got the Trump bump, and we appreciate it.”
— Jimmy Kimmel, on his show last night.
Financial Times: “Even in the face of relatively lackluster approval ratings and a vulnerable economy, and with midterm elections little more than a year away, Trump is willing to risk the perception that he is exceeding his powers and overplaying his hand — almost on a daily basis — in order to galvanize his devoted base of rightwing and conservative voters.”
“In an era where social media and vibes are driving so much of public life, Trump seems to be betting that if he can keep dominating the nation’s attention, this will allow him to defy conventional political gravity.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Friday that president Donald Trump’s actions could “set fire” to the region, NBC News reports.
“Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released partial records from a third batch of documents they received from the Jeffrey Epstein estate earlier this week that includes notes that contain the names of current and former Trump allies Elon Musk and Steve Bannon, as well as Peter Thiel and Prince Andrew,” NOTUS reports.
President Trump posted unsupported medical advice telling pregnant women and young children not to take Tylenol, and gave unfounded recommendations on children’s vaccines.
Arizona state Rep. John Gillette (R) called for Rep. Pamila Jayapal (D-WA) to be executed, as a response to a video clip in which Jayapal discusses preparations for street protests against the Trump administration, The Guardian reports.
Said Gillette: “Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried, convicted and hanged … it will continue.”
Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday, vowing to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state and “finish the job” against Hamas following a renewed US-led push to end the war in Gaza, the Financial Times reports.
“The indictment of James Comey, the former FBI director, was just two pages long and contained so little detail that it was hard for legal experts to assess its merits,” the New York Times reports.
“Some former government lawyers, as well as prominent Democrats, said the case appeared so flimsy that it was likely to fail. Some Republicans also expressed concerns, though supporters of President Trump, who had relentlessly pushed for Mr. Comey’s prosecution, praised the fact that Mr. Comey was indicted.”
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman warned that indicting James Comey “could be career-ending.”
Said Litman: “Whoever’s signature is on the bottom of an indictment — if they somehow force one through — is going to be subject to really serious professional sanctions.”
Taegan 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.
