Adam Serwer: “The warlords who sacked Rome did not intend to doom Western Europe to centuries of ignorance. It was not a foreseeable consequence of their actions.”
“The same cannot be said of the sweeping attack on human knowledge and progress that the Trump administration is now undertaking—a deliberate destruction of education, science, and history, conducted with a fanaticism that recalls the Dark Ages that followed Rome’s fall.”
Jonathan Chait: “A civil war has broken out among the Democratic wonks. The casus belli is a new set of ideas known as the abundance agenda. Its supporters herald it as the key to prosperity for the American people and to enduring power for the liberal coalition. Its critics decry it as a scheme to infiltrate the Democratic Party by ‘corporate-aligned interests’; ‘a gambit by center-right think tank & its libertarian donors’; ‘an anti-government manifesto for the MAGA Right’; and the historical and moral equivalent of the ‘Rockefellers and Carnegies grinding workers into dust.’”
“The factional disputes that tear apart the left tend to involve wrenching, dramatic issues where the human stakes are clear: Gaza, policing, immigration. And so it is more than a little odd that progressive activists, columnists, and academics are now ripping one another to shreds over such seemingly arcane and technical matters as zoning rules, permitting, and the Paperwork Reduction Act.”
“The intensity of the argument suggests that the participants are debating not merely the mechanical details of policy, but the very nature and purpose of the Democratic Party. And in fact, if you look closely beneath the squabbling, that is exactly what they are fighting over.”
Elon Musk says he is “disappointed” by the price tag on the domestic policy bill passed by Republicans in the House last week and heavily backed by President Trump, CBS News reports.
Said Musk: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
He added: “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”
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Tom Nichols: “Who could forget the riveting moment, during the high Cold War tensions of the early 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan strode to the White House podium and told the American people that Soviet leader Yuri Andropov had ‘gone absolutely crazy.’ Raising his voice to a yell, Reagan thundered that Andropov was bombarding thousands of people in the middle of Europe ‘for no reason whatsoever’ and warned Moscow that ‘it better stop.’”
“No one remembers this, of course, because it didn’t happen. Once upon a time, Americans expected their presidents to be steady hands. Times have changed: These quotes are from one of Donald Trump’s latest rhetorical blasts on his Truth Social site. Trump wanted to let everyone know that he is very, very upset with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continuing campaign of civilian slaughter in Ukraine.”
First Lady Melania Trump denied a viral rumor that her son, Barron Trump, was rejected from Harvard University, the New York Post reports.
Said Mrs. Trump: “Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false.”
Many have speculated that President Trump’s ongoing war on Harvard could be revenge for his youngest child being turned away from the prestigious university.
“President Donald Trump said Canada would need to pay $61 billion to join the ‘Golden Dome’ system he’s proposed to boost missile defense with space-based interceptors,” Bloomberg reports.
“But the president needled Ottawa by saying he would be willing to protect Canada for free if the nation opted to join the United States, his latest suggestion that the northern neighbor would benefit from being absorbed by the US.”
“Executives at major media outlets are reportedly instructing their newsrooms to temper their coverage of President Trump and his administration amid growing fears of political retribution,” Axios reports.
“President Trump may not have the political power to pass laws that hurt the press, but his threats of regulatory scrutiny and private lawsuits have proven just as damaging in silencing his critics.”
President Trump “is set to pardon reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, the couple famous for ‘Chrisley Knows Best,’ which followed their tightly knit family and extravagant lifestyle,” the AP reports.
“A jury in 2022 found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys were also found guilty of tax evasion.”
Trump said “he will be granting full pardons,” adding, “Trump Knows Best!”
“As President Trump’s tariffs have ratcheted up in recent months, so have the mysterious solicitations some U.S. companies have received, offering them ways to avoid the taxes,” the New York Times reports.
“Shipping companies, many of them based in China, have reached out to U.S. firms that import apparel, auto parts and jewelry, offering solutions that they say can make the tariffs go away.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened federal funding for California over its handling of a transgender athlete and said he would speak with its Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, to “find out which way he wants to go,” the Washington Post reports.
“A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that President Trump’s attempt to punish an elite law firm associated with his political opposition was unconstitutional and directed the government not to enforce an order Mr. Trump signed in March that had threatened its business,” the New York Times reports.
“Siding with WilmerHale, which sued to block the president’s order, Judge Richard Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that Mr. Trump appeared intent on coercing the firm to the bargaining table under the threat of harsh penalties.”
“The ruling was welcome news for the handful of law firms that opted to fight the White House even as several of their peers caved to the pressure campaign and made deals with Mr. Trump to avoid persecution.”
“The U.S. State Department is again advising American citizens not to travel to Venezuela, warning of ‘severe risks’ including wrongful detention, kidnapping and torture,” CBS News reports.
“President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to make it easier for his administration to deport people to South Sudan and other countries that are not their homeland, the latest in a series of controversial immigration policies the administration has put before the conservative-majority high court,” CNN reports.
“The issue involves a policy the administration adopted soon after returning to power, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to deport immigrants to nations other than their home country or one where they have legal status – without first notifying them or giving them a chance to claim they risk persecution, torture, or death in that other country.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Tuesday launched a website to campaign for governor of Alabama in 2026, ending months of speculation about his political future, AL.com reports.
Cook Political Report: “Though questions linger about the exact nature of Tuberville’s residence in the state he hopes to lead, few operatives in either party expect them to seriously halt his drive toward the end zone.”
NBC News: “Tuberville is seeking to succeed Gov. Kay Ivey, a fellow Republican who is finishing her second term and cannot run for a third consecutive term.”
“Vice President JD Vance will headline a political fundraiser in Las Vegas on Tuesday requiring a $1 million donation per attendee,” the Washington Post reports.
“The exclusive fundraiser is taking place the night before Vance is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas, a massive gathering of cryptocurrency investors.”
“Texas lawmakers voted to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, advancing a conservative priority before the end of the state legislature’s session next week,” Bloomberg reports.
“If signed by Governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, the measure would require schools to show posters or framed copies of the biblical mandates in clearly visible locations. Schools that don’t already own copies that are at least 16 by 20 inches (41 by 51 centimeters) for each classroom can use district funds to buy them.”
“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urged Poles to vote for the nationalist opposition candidate in Sunday’s presidential election, wading into a tightly-contested campaign that threatens to derail efforts to rebuild the country’s democratic institutions,” Bloomberg reports.
New York Times: “Stock markets jumped on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest gain in weeks. The index rose 2 percent in afternoon trading, which analysts attributed to President Trump’s delaying a proposed 50 percent tariff on the European Union that he had threatened only a few days earlier.”
“They also talked about tacos.”
“Or rather, the ‘TACO’ trade, which is short for Trump Always Chickens Out. The tongue-in-cheek term, coined by a Financial Times columnist, has been adopted by some to describe the pattern in which markets tumble after Mr. Trump makes tariff threats, only to rebound just as sharply when he relents and gives countries more time to negotiate deals.”
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.
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