“Lawyers for President Trump and Paramount, the parent of CBS News, are set to begin mediation on Wednesday over a lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump that accuses ‘60 Minutes’ of deceptively editing an interview with his 2024 Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris,” the New York Times reports.
“The exact dollar amounts remain unclear, but the board’s move clears a path for an out-of-court resolution.”
“Trump advisor Stephen Miller told Fox News anchor John Roberts that the network needs to ‘fire its pollster’ in a live segment on Tuesday after the latest polls showed that the president’s approval rate was only at 44%,” The Wrap reports.
“President Donald Trump announced a new series of fighter jets for Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan on Tuesday, giving credit in part to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,” NBC News reports.
“Whitmer, who is viewed as a likely presidential contender in 2028, has come under scrutiny from Democrats in recent weeks for cultivating a closer working relationship with Trump.”
Wall Street Journal: “The rally Tuesday marked a return to the campaign-style events that have helped turn Trump into a political force. He has done little domestic travel, save for weekend jaunts to his private club in Florida. He reveled in the moment, thanking auto workers for their support, heralding the tariffs and touting efforts to slash the size of government and end ‘transgender insanity.’”
Said Trump: “We’re taking back our country from a sick political class.”
“A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Tuesday to disburse congressionally approved grant money it has withheld from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a federally funded news organization that provides independent reporting in countries with limited press freedom,” the New York Times reports.
An amazing anecdote from The Atlantic:
“So at 10:45 on a Saturday morning in late March, we called him on his cellphone. (Don’t ask how we got his number. All we can say is that the White House staff have imperfect control over Trump’s personal communication devices.) The president was at the country club he owns in Bedminster, New Jersey. The number that flashed on his screen was an unfamiliar one, but he answered anyway. ‘Who’s calling?’ he asked.”
President Trump stood by his controversial trade policies in an interview with ABC News, asserting that China “probably will eat those tariffs” and trying to calm Americans’ economic anxieties.
Said Trump: “We’ve been ripped off by every country all over the world. They’re laughing at us. They thought we were stupid people, and we were. And I said, ‘That’s not going to happen. We’re not going to let that happen.'”
The Dow and S&P 500 posted their biggest losses in the first 100 days of a new presidential term since Nixon’s in 1973, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Cook Political Report: “Wisconsin’s sprawling, largely rural 3rd District voted for Trump by a seven-point margin in 2024. But Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden won reelection by less than three points against Rebecca Cooke, a 37-year-old small business owner who ran as an unabashed moderate.”
“Cooke’s early momentum, coupled with encouraging results for Democrats in this month’s state Supreme Court race, moves this race from the Lean Republican column to Toss Up.”
“President Trump has done more to target traditional media companies than any other modern U.S. president,” Axios reports.
“Even as he and his allies wage a historic trade war, they have not lost sight of their stated goal of going after the press.”
For members: What Won’t Be Mentioned During Trump’s Interview
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he will wind down a Pentagon program that boosts the participation of women in peace building and conflict prevention that President Trump signed into law in his first term, Politico reports.
Hegseth called the program “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops.”
Yet it was Trump who signed the program into law and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who wrote the House version of the legislation when she was in Congress.
“Despite promises to cut spending during the campaign and his first few months in office, President Trump’s federal government has spent about $220 billion more in his first 100 days compared to the same time period last year,” CBS News reports.
“In fact, the government is now spending more, day to day, than was spent in nine of the last 10 years. The exception: 2021, when the government was spending trillions to fight the coronavirus pandemic and prevent an economic disaster.”
“Republicans love that The Trump Organization is now selling ‘Trump 2028‘ merchandise, with some of them even arguing that the outrage is the point,” NOTUS reports.
“But many Republicans who count themselves as fans of President Donald Trump are less sure about personally wearing that slogan.”
“A lawyer for John Reid, the GOP’s nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor, sent a cease-and-desist notice to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s top political adviser Monday, escalating a political spectacle that began last week when the governor asked that Reid abandon his bid over racy social media posts that Reid says are not his,” the Washington Post reports.
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A new PRRI poll finds 52% of Americans say President Trump is a “dangerous dictator” who poses a threat to democracy and believe he’s overstepped his authority by actions such as the mass firing of federal employees.
Said pollster Melissa Deckman: “It’s only been 100 days into the Trump administration, yet we’ve really seen a pushback among most Americans to the Trump agenda.”
“Two of President Donald Trump’s biggest allies in the Senate are sharply criticizing Medicaid policy changes under consideration in the House, a sign of further Republican friction ahead over the health insurance program for low-income Americans,” Semafor reports.
“Sens. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Josh Hawley of Missouri, both warned in interviews that proposals to cut the federal government’s share of the costs in states that have expanded Medicaid, and to otherwise cap Medicaid expansion spending, could lead to coverage losses.”
Said Moreno: “We don’t need to cut benefits. And it actually really infuriates me to hear people here talking about that, because it stresses people out. This is life and death for them.”
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.