Wall Street Journal: “Trump’s record inaugural fundraising of nearly $250 million totaled almost as much money as the last four combined. That was built in part on big political spending by companies that had little track record of giving outsize sums, recently released campaign finance records show.”
“Some of those companies are benefiting from favorable government actions early in Trump’s second term.”
Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) announced he’s now a registered Democrat.
Said Walsh: “After Trump’s first election, I woke up. Seven years ago, I came out publicly against Trump. Five years ago, I left the Republican Party. I’m still a conservative, but I’m not a conservative jerk.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she wished she had not voted for President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful” spending bill, explaining that she wasn’t aware of its contents, the Daily Beast reports.
Said Greene: “Full transparency, I did not know about this section on pages 278-279 of the OBBB that strips states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years. I am adamantly OPPOSED to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there.”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “The Iowa Senate race moves onto the periphery of the competitive board this week.”
“Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) was in the news recently for comments on health care, although the bigger reason for the switch is that she drew a potentially credible Democratic challenger.”
A senior official who dismantled the U.S. government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph reports.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hit back at Elon Musk after he called the House budget bill “a disgusting abomination” filled with “pork” that would lead to crushing debt.
Said Johnson: “It’s very disappointing… My friend Elon is terribly wrong.”
He added: “I know that the EV mandate — very important to him. That is going away, because the government should not be subsidizing these things as part of the Green New Deal. And I know that has an effect on his business. And I lament that.”
“A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to continue providing gender-affirming care to hundreds of transgender prison inmates, ruling that an abrupt decision to curtail their medical care was not based on any ‘reasoned’ analysis, as the law requires,” Politico reports.
Time was able to use Google’s AI tool “to create realistic videos, including a Pakistani crowd setting fire to a Hindu temple; Chinese researchers handling a bat in a wet lab; an election worker shredding ballots; and Palestinians gratefully accepting U.S. aid in Gaza.”
“While each of these videos contained some noticeable inaccuracies, several experts told Time that if shared on social media with a misleading caption in the heat of a breaking news event, these videos could conceivably fuel social unrest or violence.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Fox News Radio that the Senate was on the right track to push the budget reconciliation package through — but added the party needs “to have Trump fully engaged with senators as we go through the next few weeks.”
Elon Musk on Tuesday called President Donald Trump’s sweeping legislation making its way through Congress “outrageous,” “pork-filled” and “a disgusting abomination,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Musk, on X: “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
“Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) chief of staff will soon leave his office,” Axios reports.
“It continues a string of staff departures following reports of internal concerns about Fetterman’s mental health and job performance.”
“The U.S. Navy is considering renaming multiple naval ships named after civil rights leaders and prominent American voices,” CBS News reports.
“Among them is the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler named after the slain gay rights leader and Navy veteran.”
The White House plans to have President Trump sign another 90-day operating extension for TikTok as the future of the Chinese short-video app get enmeshed in the trade talks and will likely be used as leverage by the Chinese in crafting a deal, Fox News reports.
One caveat is that if Trump sees a strategic advantage in crafting a deal by letting it go dark, and that could happen.”
“I want to see the tax cuts made permanent, but I also want to see the $5 trillion in new debt removed from the bill. At least 4 of us in the Senate feel this way.”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), on X, suggesting that Senate Republicans don’t currently have the votes to pass the budget reconciliation bill.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) “sued government officials including Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, claiming that his arrest outside an immigration detention center last month was motivated by political malice,” the New York Times reports.
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was asked by Robert Costa if she’ll ever return to politics:
ARDERN: No, I think if you make the decision to leave, then you’ve made the decision to leave.
COSTA: Never say never.
ARDERN: In this case, say never. I think also, for me, I have such great faith in all the people that I worked with and was lucky enough to work with. They’re wonderful. They’re doing a great job, and they don’t need me.
“Lee Jae-myung of the center-left Democratic Party won the South Korean presidential election on Wednesday, riding a wave of anger against former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his People Power Party after months of political turmoil,” the New York Times 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.