President Trump said he had commuted the sentence of former Rep. George Santos, who is serving more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges, the AP reports.
Trump said Santos would be released “immediately.”
“The political director for Graham Platner’s U.S. Senate campaign resigned Friday after Platner’s past online posts featuring numerous controversial remarks resurfaced this week,” the Bangor Daily News reports.
White House budget director Russell Vought said that the Trump administration will freeze another $11 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Democratic-leaning cities due to the ongoing government shutdown.
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“The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a lower-court ruling and allow President Donald Trump to deploy troops in Illinois, ramping up federal efforts to send the National Guard into the Chicago area,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s administration has placed or attempted to place troops in several cities, including Chicago, Portland, D.C. and Los Angeles, prompting legal challenges from local and state officials. This case marks the first time Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue.”
“The Supreme Court is about to run out of money, with federal courts across the country expected to run out by early next week because of the government shutdown,” The Hill reports.
President Trump responded to reports Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered preferential access to the nation’s natural resources in exchange for lowering the temperature with the U.S., telling reporters Maduro “doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States,” CNN reports.
Washington Post: “One of Trump’s most notable quirks is his willingness to comment publicly on people’s physical appearance — women or men, heads of state or military commanders, White House reporters or his own staffers.”
“At a time when other public figures often minimize such comments to avoid appearing sexist or superficial, Trump seems to revel in such judgments.”
Politico: “A series of political missteps and policy disputes has strained Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s relationship with the White House… causing some to question how much longer he can last in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.”
“The friction, these people said, includes complaints that Wright was too slow to loop in the White House on his plans to kill tens of billions of dollars in Biden-era clean energy grants — and too willing to defend the interests of industries that want some of that funding preserved.”
“Donald Trump arrived in Alaska expecting to strike a deal with Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the Russian president rejected his proposal outright — and launched into a lengthy historical lecture,” the Financial Times reports.
“With just a handful of advisers present, Putin rejected the US offer of sanctions relief for a ceasefire, insisting the war would end only if Ukraine capitulated and ceded more territory in the Donbas.”
“The Russian president then delivered a rambling historical discursion spanning medieval princes such as Rurik of Novgorod and Yaroslav the Wise, along with the 17th century Cossack chieftain Bohdan Khmelnytsky — figures he often cites to support his claim Ukraine and Russia are one nation.”
“Taken aback, Trump raised his voice several times and at one point threatened to walk out.”
Hakeem Jeffries torched White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday, calling her “sick”, “demented,” and a “stone cold liar” over her attacks on Democrats during the government shutdown, the Daily Beast reports.
In Reddit posts from 2013, Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) asked why Black people “don’t tip” and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldn’t be inebriated around people they don’t feel comfortable with, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Platner “responded dismissively to a cartoon about sexual assault in the military.”
“The Trump administration is planning to furlough the vast majority of the civilian staff at a key agency that helps manage the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile,” Politico reports.
“Prince Andrew is set to give up all of his titles, including the Duke of York,” the Telegraph reports.
“The development follows a string of new scandals concerning his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.”
“Senate Majority Leader John Thune reiterated this morning that he’d be willing to give Senate Democrats a vote on a bill to extend the enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies in exchange for reopening the government,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Senate Democrats have rejected that offer. They want an Obamacare subsidy deal as part of any funding bill to reopen the government. And even if Democrats get a vote in the Senate, there’s no guarantee that Johnson will reciprocate. It’s become very complicated.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t seem to be planning to bring the House back into session next week,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Come Saturday, the House will have been out for an entire month, a nearly unprecedented recess in the middle of a government shutdown.”
“Powerful members of the Democratic National Committee will soon decide how states will be chosen to be among the first to vote in the 2028 presidential primaries, moving the party closer to one of the most important decisions it will make in the coming years,” CBS News 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.
