“Buyers have poured tens of millions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s meme coin since his team advertised Wednesday that top purchasers could join Trump for an ‘intimate private dinner’ next month,” the Washington Post reports.
“Nearly two dozen crypto wallets acquired more than 100,000 $TRUMP meme coins, worth roughly $100 million.”
“Crypto wallets are generally anonymous, making it challenging to identify who the purchasers were.”
For members: Bribery, Rebranded
“Roger Stone, the longtime associate of President Trump’s, has been lobbying for a pioneering cryptocurrency investor known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ who is facing federal fraud and criminal tax charges, according to congressional filings,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Stone filed paperwork last month indicating that he had been retained by Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor who was charged last year and accused of shielding his cryptocurrency holdings from $48 million in taxes.”
Isaac Stanley-Becker: “On the priorities that matter most to the president, Waltz has less influence than Stephen Miller… Miller treats the advisory body not as a forum to weigh policy options, current and former officials told me, but as a platform to advance his own hard-line immigration agenda.”
“Meanwhile, Waltz’s authority to hire and fire his own staff has been swept out from under him.”
“The disorder at the NSC, officials told me, stems from Trump’s impatience with process, disregard for the law, and insistence on loyalty in place of expertise.”
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer,” the AP reports.
“Known as a ‘dirty’ internet line by the IT industry, it connects directly to the public internet where the user’s information and the websites accessed do not have the same security filters or protocols that the Pentagon’s secured connections maintain.”
Philip Elliot: “Don’t look now, but Donald Trump is in some of the worst polling territory of his time in power. And that’s saying something, as he’s never been on terribly firm ground.”
“For most of his first term, Trump leaned heavily on his solid footing as a steward of the economy and defender of the border to offset his erratic day-to-day antics. But his support on those twin policy pillars are showing signs of weakening in a series of new polls pegged to his first 100 days back in power. In fact, they’re dragging him down as he adopts more extreme policies.”
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was rattled,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Word had leaked that he was planning a classified briefing for Elon Musk on China, a revelation that infuriated President Trump and raised alarms inside the Pentagon given Musk’s business ties to Beijing.”
Said Hegseth to Adm. Christopher Grady: “I’ll hook you up to a fucking polygraph!”
“Grady was never subjected to a polygraph, and Hegseth would go on to accuse a number of other people for the leak, including Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, the Joint Staff director, who Hegseth also threatened with a polygraph test.”
“But for Hegseth, the episode marked a turning point in an already rocky tenure.“
“Let’s be honest. This uncertainty, this chaos, is no accident. The president of the United States has chosen. Chosen to destroy the federal government’s ability to help people.”
— Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), quoted by The Hill.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is running for governor of Alabama in 2026, Yellowhammer News reports.
“Back in state while Congress is in recess, Tuberville told a group of donors at a private event on Wednesday night that his mind is officially made up.”
“President Donald Trump has pardoned former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, a Republican who was convicted of wire fraud charges last year for using money intended for a fallen police officer’s memorial for her personal use,” the Nevada Independent reports.
“Fiore was set to be sentenced next month on her conviction of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each count would have carried a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.”
“The Federal Communications Commission has begun discussing with Paramount Global steps the company would need to take to secure the agency’s approval of its merger with Skydance Media,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“One action under discussion between the agency and Paramount is a commitment that the company continues to abstain from particular corporate diversity initiatives… FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has urged telecom and media companies to limit their diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a precondition for the agency to consider mergers and acquisitions.”
President Donald Trump said today that Russia has offered a significant concession in peace talks with Ukraine by not “taking the whole country,” CNN reports.
“Ontario Premier Doug Ford is warning that Donald Trump’s recent remarks in the Oval Office are a reminder that the U.S. president really does have designs on Canada,” Politico reports.
Said Ford: “It’s not just words. He wants to do it. He wants to destroy our auto sector. He wants to destroy our manufacturing sector. He wants to try to take over Canada.”
“President Trump on Thursday directed his sons to fire an outside ethics counsel for the family business because the lawyer also represents Harvard University, one of Mr. Trump’s targets in his crackdown on the nation’s top colleges,” the New York Times reports.
“In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the lawyer, William Burck, should go because of his ties to Harvard. The university sued the Trump administration after it threatened to slash billions in funding unless the school complied with a list of demands.”
The Trump Organization’s online store is now selling “Trump 2028” hats, suggesting the president wants to run for a third term.
“A federal judge has halted parts of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that sought to boost requirements that Americans show documents proving their citizenship when registering to vote,” CNN reports.
“Senior District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked a Trump directive in the order that the requirement be added to a federal voter registration form that is available for most Americans to use.”
The Downballot has calculated 2020 and 2024 presidential election results according to the congressional district lines used in 2024.
“Donald Trump may be the most famous person on the planet and leader of the free world, but he could be deeply disappointed when he sees the seating plan for the funeral of Pope Francis,” The Telegraph reports.
“The US president is hardly accustomed to playing second fiddle, but the arcane world of Vatican protocol suggests that he will not be in the front row of dignitaries when he arrives at St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday morning.”
“He might not even be in the second row.”
“As delegations from about 130 countries, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs, make their way to Rome for the funeral, details are emerging of the seating arrangements and Mr Trump may have to settle for row three.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) came out against a tax increase on millionaires, appearing to close the door on an idea that some Republicans have considered to pay for their massive party-line bill, NBC News reports.
Said Johnson: “I would not expect that. We have been working against that idea. I’m not in favor of raising the tax rates because our party is the group that stands against that traditionally. So there are lots of ideas thrown out on the table along this process over the last year, but I would just say for everybody, just just wait and see.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.