“President Trump said Friday that news reporters who cover his administration negatively have broken the law, a significant broadening of his attacks on journalists and their First Amendment right to critique the government,” the New York Times reports.
“A day after asserting that broadcasters should potentially lose their licenses over negative news coverage of him, Mr. Trump escalated his condemnations of the press, suggesting reporters were lawbreakers.”
“President Donald Trump on Friday rolled out a version of his administration’s long-promised gold card, a $1 million fast-track for wealthy foreigners to live and work in the United States,” Politico reports.
“The Trump administration unveiled a new crackdown Friday on journalists at the Pentagon, saying it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey,” the Washington Post reports.
“President Donald Trump said he wants the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia removed, after investigators reportedly failed to find sufficient evidence to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud,” Politico reports.
“The president pointed to endorsements from Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to justify the firing.”
Said Trump: “Yeah, I want him out. When I saw that he got approved by those two men, I said ‘pull it.’ Because he can’t be any good.”
“President Trump plans to introduce a new $100,000 application fee for H-1B worker visas, in an effort to reduce their use as part of his broader immigration crackdown,” Reuters reports.
“The H-1B program has become critical for technology and staffing companies who rely on foreign workers to fill a variety of technical roles.”
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked vaccine advisers voted Friday to nix positive recommendations for Covid shots for all Americans, and instead advised “individual decision-making,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Politico: “Democrats had telegraphed in advance of Friday’s vote that they would oppose the GOP bill because Republicans had not responded to entreaties from Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to hold a bipartisan summit meeting to discuss government funding.”
“But Republicans appear to be perfectly comfortable blaming Democrats — and particularly Schumer — for a funding lapse, as the Democratic leader faces pressure on his side of the aisle to put up a fight against Trump and congressional Republicans after caving in March.”
“The Senate on Friday confirmed Mike Waltz as President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, filling a key post days before the United Nations General Assembly kicks off in New York next week,” The Hill reports.
New York Times: “His hesitance reflects the complicated calculus of a leader facing unique political challenges of his own, including an approval rating at a 20-year low, and who is single-mindedly focused on leading his party back to the Senate majority next year — a task that will require victories in competitive states with little appetite for a democratic socialist who is deeply critical of Israel.”
“It also springs from Mr. Schumer’s sense of responsibility to Jewish voters, and the influence of donors and Democrats in New York City, particularly in the real estate industry, many of whom are vocal with their concerns about a Mamdani mayoralty.”
“Three Russian military jets on Friday violated NATO member Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes in an ‘unprecedentedly brazen’ incursion, its government said, amid rising tensions on the alliance’s eastern flank,” Reuters reports.
“Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel announced Friday he will not run for Ohio governor next year, ending months of speculation about the former star football coach’s political plans,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Tressel’s decision further cements Vivek Ramaswamy’s near-lock on the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2026.“
“The Senate rejected competing measures on Friday to fund federal agencies for a few weeks when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, increasing prospects for a partial government shutdown on that date.,” the AP reports.
“Leaders of the two parties sought to blame the other side for the standoff. Democrats accused Republicans of not negotiating with them to address some of their priorities on health care as part of the funding measure, even though they knew some Democratic votes would be needed to get a bill to the president’s desk.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) admonished FCC Chair Brendan Carr for demanding ABC suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show — calling Carr’s actions “dangerous as hell” and “right out of ‘Goodfellas,’” Politico reports.
Said Cruz: “If the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said; we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like’ — that will end up bad for conservatives.”
He added: “They will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly.”
“The chaos from the first day of a meeting of the federal vaccine committee appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bled into the second day, as the panel reversed one decision and indefinitely postponed a vote on a hepatitis B vaccine they had already deferred once,” the New York Times reports.
“In a ruling dripping with derision, a federal judge has rejected President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, asserting that the rambling 85-page suit did not follow federal rules for filing civil complaints. The president’s team has been given a month to refile,” CNN reports.
“President Trump announced Friday that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping approved an agreement for a group of investors to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations, capping off months of tense negotiations that put the video-sharing app at the center of trade talks between the two sides,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Trump said he and Xi agreed to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea this fall and that he would travel to China early next year, and that Xi would reciprocate.”
“The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to let it limit passport sex markers for transgender and nonbinary individuals, its latest effort to get the justices to intervene in a fight over restrictive policies targeting LGBTQ+ Americans,” CNN 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.
