“President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed aside concerns about much higher gas prices because of the Iran war, even as a new poll showed that most U.S. voters blame him for the pump price spike,” CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “Well, they are not very high.”
“A group of House Democrats is discussing plans to force a vote on an Iran war powers resolution every day until one finally passes or U.S. operations in the region end,” Axios reports.
“It’s the kind of showy flood-the-zone tactic that the Democratic grassroots is constantly trying to get the party’s lawmakers to pursue in resisting the Trump administration.”
“President Trump and his senior aides had planned to shift focus on Thursday to the kind of domestic policy plans that could excite voters ahead of the midterm elections,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Then a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered a halt to the construction of Trump’s ballroom.”
“The ruling infuriated the president, setting off a string of social-media posts that overshadowed the administration’s efforts to refocus on his marquee accomplishments, such as the ‘no tax on tips’ deduction, which is popular with many voters.”
Punchbowl News: “An audacious play by Speaker Mike Johnson to pass a five-year extension of Section 702 of FISA failed spectacularly just before 1:30 a.m., leaving House GOP leaders firmly stuck over how to address concerns from rank-and-file Republicans on the surveillance program.”
“House Republicans saved face — kind of — with a unanimous consent passage of a two-week extension of FISA authorities. But that wasn’t before the Johnson-authored compromise was rejected by a dozen Republicans.”
“An intensifying U.S. naval blockade of Iran is aimed at inflicting such severe economic pain that Tehran will be compelled to submit quickly to Washington’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and abandon its nuclear ambitions,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“With crude exports from Iranian ports effectively stopped up, the country will be deprived of a large chunk of its oil revenue. It could also be forced to start shutting down oil wells within weeks as it runs out of storage space, a costly and damaging prospect that could impair production for years to come.”
“The Trump administration is discarding its shock-and-awe publicity tactics on immigration after mass deportations were met with mass backlash,” Axios reports.
“The White House has become allergic to the edgy memes, embedded camera crews and cosplaying officials that dominated former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure.”
“Roughly seven weeks into the war with Iran, investors have shrugged off the sky-high price of oil, sending the S&P 500 this week to a fresh record high,” the New York Times reports.
“That exuberance on Wall Street has offered a sharp contrast with the hardships facing many Americans, who are feeling the financial blowback of a conflict that President Trump once promised would be brief but seems to have no end in sight.”
“Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Todd M. Lyons submitted his resignation Thursday, capping his leadership of one of the agency’s most tumultuous eras, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family,” the Washington Post reports.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) accused Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) of misconduct on Thursday, which Gallego denied, CBS News reports.
Luna did not give much detail about the allegations, but she said some of them are “sexual in nature” and some of them involve alleged campaign finance violations.
President Trump on Thursday said that “the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “It should be ending pretty soon.”
He added: “It was perfect. It’s perfect. It was the power we have. We had the most powerful military anywhere in the world.”
“Cameron Hamilton, who was ousted in May for publicly testifying against then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s desire to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is being considered to again lead the agency as its top official,” the Washington Post reports.
“Hamilton’s potential return reflects the direction that Noem’s successor, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), wants to take the nation’s emergency management and response system — probably shifting away from Noem’s efforts to undercut FEMA’s autonomy.”
Analilia Mejia (D) has won a special election for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, the New Jersey Globe projects, keeping Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s (D) old seat under Democratic control and handing a huge win to the insurgent progressive movement that powered Mejia’s campaign.
“President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has agreed to hand over ‘nuclear dust’ that was buried by last year’s U.S. airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities, a claim that, if accurate, would be a significant step in U.S. efforts to reduce Tehran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon,” the Washington Post reports.
CNN: “With Vice President JD Vance, a one-time Iran war skeptic, now tasked with brokering a deal to end it, President Donald Trump has been monitoring his progress closely and inquiring with various friends and advisers how they’d rank his performance…”
“The president has wondered aloud how they think Vance compares to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a potential rival for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.”
Earlier for members: The Problem With Being Trump’s Heir
Washington Post: “House Republicans on Thursday threw their support behind Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and lamented the recent ouster of the service’s top general, making a rare public break with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after his repeated clashes with senior Army leaders.”
“House Democrats offered some similar sentiments, but the plaudits from conservative lawmakers at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee’s panel on defense appeared intended to buttress Driscoll’s standing in the Republican Party.”
“He’s a sleazebag. Always has been. He’s a long-timer, and he’s a bad guy. I don’t know anything about the charges, but he’s a bad guy.”
— President Trump, quoted by the Daily Mail, about former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
New York Times: “In November, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California rolled out an intriguing offer to his formidable email list of supporters: Donate anything to his political group, and he would send them a copy of his forthcoming book: Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery.”
“It turned out about 67,000 supporters did just that. The books those donors received account for roughly two-thirds of the print copies of the memoir that have been sold.”
“On Wednesday, new federal records revealed that Mr. Newsom’s political action committee paid $1,561,875 to buy and distribute copies of his book through the donation program.”
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.