“I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.”
— Elon Musk, in a post on X that he later deleted.
“I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.”
— Elon Musk, in a post on X that he later deleted.
Politico: “It’s not Musk’s ownership of one of the most influential social media platforms that should give the president pause. Nor is it the billionaire tech mogul’s status as the world’s richest man, with a recent history of bankrolling Republican causes.”
“It’s Musk’s stratospheric popularity with the Republican base, as revealed in the polls.”
“Musk is not about to overtake Trump himself as the dominant figure in the party, to be clear. But the jilted former “special government employee” is uniquely suited to become a chaos agent who could terrorize the GOP — potentially wreaking havoc on Trump’s legislative agenda and the party’s midterm election plans.”
“President Trump is blaming Elon Musk’s behavior on drug use as the acrimonious blowup of their partnership left both men — who lobbed online insults and threats at each other on Thursday — with a lot at risk,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump has been telling associates over the last 24 hours that Mr. Musk’s ‘crazy’ behavior is linked to his drugs.”
Politico: Trump tries to move on from feud.
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
New York Times: “The Pentagon and NASA remain intensely reliant on SpaceX, Mr. Musk’s rocket launch and space-based communications company, to get to orbit and move government data across the world.”
“But there are options available to the president that could make Mr. Musk’s relationship with the federal government much more difficult than it has been so far in Mr. Trump’s second administration.”
“Mr. Trump’s most accessible weapon to punish Mr. Musk is the ability to instruct federal regulators to intensify oversight of his business operations, reversing a slowdown in regulatory actions that benefited Mr. Musk’s businesses after Mr. Trump was elected.”
Tim Higgins: Why would Musk pick a fight with Trump?
“The Trump White House has repeatedly sounded an alarm about visitors with ties to China’s Communist Party coming to the United States, arguing that they are a potential security threat,” the New York Times reports.
“But the administration appears to have literally left the door open to a member of a Chinese government group when it went along with a plan to give the biggest purchasers of President Trump’s digital currency access to the president and the White House.”
“For once, President Donald Trump was trying to be the adult in the room,” The Atlantic reports.
“Trump and Elon Musk, two billionaires with massive egos and combustible temperaments, had forged an unlikely friendship over the past year, one built on proximity, political expediency, and, yes, a touch of genuine warmth. Relations between the president and his top benefactor had grown somewhat strained in recent weeks, as Trump began to feel that Musk had overstayed his welcome in the West Wing. Musk had suggested privately that he could stay on at the White House, an offer that Trump gently declined… But Musk was still given a gracious send-off last Friday—complete with a large golden, albeit ceremonial, key—aimed at keeping the mercurial tech baron more friend than foe.”
“The peace didn’t last even a week.”
Elon Musk floated a new political party on Friday after falling out with President Trump over the big, beautiful bill, The Hill reports.
Said Musk: “The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree. This is fate.”
He followed up with a potential name for the group, “The America Party.”
“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday suggested California consider withholding tens of billions in annual federal tax dollars amid reports Donald Trump is preparing funding cuts targeting the state,” Politico reports.
“Newsom’s suggestion came after CNN reported the president was considering a ‘full termination’ of federal grant funding for California’s universities.”
“A federal appeals court panel on Friday reinstated parts of President Donald Trump’s ban of the Associated Press from several key areas where presidential press events are typically held, including the Oval Office, Air Force One and the president’s home in Mar-A-Lago,” Politico reports.
“The Defense Department inspector general’s office is examining whether it was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or an aide, perhaps acting at his behest, who used Hegseth’s account on the unclassified chat application Signal to divulge detailed information about forthcoming air attacks on Yemen,” the Washington Post reports.
“The Supreme Court on Friday let members of the Department of Government Efficiency, formed by Elon Musk, have access to sensitive records of the Social Security Administration,” the New York Times reports.
“The court’s order was brief and unsigned, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications.”
Washington Post: “Taken together, the orders were another example of the Supreme Court granting the Trump administration’s emergency requests to lift or scale back lower court rulings blocking his initiatives while legal challenges play out.”
Three top White House officials will meet with Chinese trade representatives in London on Monday, as trade tensions seemed to cool between the two giants, Quartz reports.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, will be returned to the US, where he will face federal criminal charges, CNN reports.
“Abrego Garcia has been indicted on two criminal counts in the in the Middle District of Tennessee: conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.”
New York Times: “The stunning move, which had been quietly planned for several weeks, could provide a much-needed offramp for the Trump administration, which has bitterly opposed a series of court orders to take steps to release him following his wrongful removal on March 15.”
Wired: “While Elon Musk and Donald Trump post through their breakup, DOGE shows no signs of slowing down—and potential recruits are being told they can make up to $195,000 a year.”
“President Trump is planning to give TikTok another lifeline,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“With a mid-June deadline approaching and trade talks with China in limbo, Trump is expected to sign an executive order staving off enforcement of a law banning or forcing the sale of the app.”
“It would be the third extension since Trump took office in January.“
“Two nonpartisan groups are launching a $5 million advertising campaign urging vulnerable Republican senators to oppose the GOP’s mega budget reconciliation bill,” Axios reports.
“It’s one of the first major media campaigns against the tax and spending cut package, landing as Senate Republicans negotiate changes to the bill.”
Thirteen House Republicans are urging Senate leaders to “substantially and strategically” improve clean energy tax credit provisions in the House-passed megabill, Politico reports.
“Five leaders of the Proud Boys, four of whom were found guilty of engaging in a seditious conspiracy to keep President Donald Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021, want the government to pay them $100 million in restitution over claims their constitutional rights were violated,” the Washington Post reports.
“The lawsuit follows Trump’s decision to pardon virtually all Jan. 6. defendants in one of his opening acts as president, an extraordinary attempt to recast the official public narrative about an attack that halted a cornerstone of America democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.