“Progressive groups, emboldened by the Democratic grassroots’ extreme dissatisfaction at their party’s older establishment, are preparing to go big in their efforts to unseat Democratic lawmakers,” Axios reports.
“Three months into the new Congress, more than half a dozen House Democrats already are facing primary challengers. That number is about to skyrocket.”
“President Donald Trump doubled down this week on his proposal to send American citizens to foreign prisons,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “I would love to do that if it were permissible by law. We’re looking into that.”
“A senior Russian general has died in a car bombing in the Russian city of Balashikha on Friday, with news of the blast breaking just before President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow,” CNN reports.
“Former President Joe Biden, who maintained a close working and personal relationship with Pope Francis dating back to the late pontiff’s visit to the United States in 2015, will attend the papal funeral Saturday in Vatican City,” CBS News reports.
Time: “If Trump is making cosmetic changes to the White House, his effect on the presidency goes much deeper. The first 100 days of his second term have been among the most destabilizing in American history, a blitz of power grabs, strategic shifts, and direct attacks that have left opponents, global counterparts, and even many supporters stunned.”
“From deportations and tariffs to remaking America’s alliances and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, Donald John Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, is carrying out pledges to radically reshape America and its role in the world. He didn’t invent most of the problems he is aggressively going after, and supporters say he is doing more than predecessors from both parties to fix them….”
“It’s possible that Trump, 100 days in, is at the peak of his power. A resistance—if not one that resembles the first-term Resistance—is stirring to life.”
Germany downgraded its economic growth forecast to zero, the Financial Times reports.
President Donald Trump said he would “absolutely” sign a bill banning congressional stock trading, saying he was concerned lawmakers could be using insider information for an advantage, Bloomberg reports.
David Frum: “No American business—no business that serves the American market—will commit to any capital expenditure under these conditions. If Trump’s tariffs last for any length of time, the result will be a vast disinvestment instead. The worst of the pain may not be felt immediately. Trump advertised the tariffs many weeks in advance, opening an opportunity for businesses to stockpile inventories. Sooner or later, however, those stockpiles will dwindle. Consumers will face higher prices or outright shortages. Businesses will suffer diminished demand. Workers will be laid off.”
“The only early hope is that the president who set the maelstrom going will panic and try to stop the wreckage. But he seems just as likely, perhaps more so, to make that damage worse.”
President Donald Trump said that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege, the AP reports.
“President Donald Trump said he expected to wrap up trade deals with U.S. partners looking for lower tariffs soon,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way.”
He added: “I’ll be finished. Now, some countries may come back and ask for an adjustment, and I’ll consider that, but I’ll basically be, with great knowledge, setting—ready.”
“The White House ousted a top customs official earlier this week primarily because of his alleged connections to the author of a 2018 opinion piece critical of President Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.
“George Bogden, who was appointed executive director of the Office of Trade Relations at Customs and Border Protection this year, was asked to step down, surprising fellow administration officials.”
“It wasn’t immediately clear how the administration connected Bogden to Miles Taylor, who had been an appointee at the Department of Homeland Security when he wrote an anonymous opinion piece in the New York Times describing internal resistance to Trump during his first term.”
“President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on immigration, relatively strong in the early weeks of his second term, have dipped into negative territory, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, a sign that his administration’s hard-line and, in some cases, legally dubious enforcement tactics are losing public support.”
“A majority of Americans, 53 percent, disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, with 46 percent approving, a reversal from February when half of the public voiced approval of his approach.”
“Elon Musk arrived in Washington as the most powerful political outsider ever, brimming with Silicon Valley swagger and bipartisan buy-in for his goal of streamlining the federal government,” Axios reports.
“He’s leaving with his reputation wounded, relationships severed, companies in crisis, fortune diminished — and little to show for DOGE but chaos and contested savings.”
Stunning takeaway: “Musk’s net worth has declined by a staggering $122 billion this year — nearly matching the $160 billion in government savings claimed by DOGE, which budget experts believe is wildly inflated.”
Steve Bannon predicted that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt would get promoted after a year or two in her current post, Politico reports.
Said Bannon: “I think she’s going to get a Cabinet position. Maybe chief of staff.”
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary said he has no plans to restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, which has emerged as a source of debate among conservatives since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Semafor reports.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that California’s economy has surpassed Japan’s, making the Golden state the fourth largest economy in the world, The Guardian reports.
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.