New York Times: “A fine arts commission gave preliminary approval to President Trump’s plans for a triumphal arch in Washington, but the panel’s vice chairman suggested significant changes, including losing the statues of golden eagles and a winged angel atop the structure that account for a third of its height.”

“The Commission of Fine Arts, which is filled with Mr. Trump’s appointees, has an advisory role on the design of the project, but no enforcement power. It asked the administration to return with updated drawings before a final vote on the project.”

Washington Post: “A federal judge set new limits on President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, saying construction could proceed only on an underground portion of the project deemed necessary by the military, and not on the 90,000-square-foot above ground addition that Trump has eyed to entertain VIP guests.”

Elizabeth Bruenig: “Donald Trump’s recent outbursts at the pope— ‘WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,’ he said in one of his Truth Social posts—have renewed questions from observers about the president’s cognitive fitness and his apparently limitless capacity for blasphemy. His attacks also echoed old-fashioned fears about the Vatican as an insidious rival to American power.”

“But more than anything, Trump’s post betrayed a gross and fundamental misunderstanding of who the pope is and what Catholics believe he is empowered to do.”

“Hearing u/r in town. Wishing you would let me know. I could have made some excuses to get out and show u around. Please keep this private.”

— Richard Chavez, father of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, quoted by the New York Times in a text to a young female staff member working for his daughter.