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White House deputy chief of staff James Blair is considering a temporary leave of absence to run President Trump’s political operation during the midterms, Politico reports.
Blair would oversee the president’s entire political operation from the outside as well as midterm spending — the clearest indication yet that the White House wants a unified approach to strategy and spending in the charge toward November.
Isaac Stanley-Becker: “It may not be obvious why an election in Hungary, a landlocked European country with a population roughly the size of Michigan’s, has commanded so much international attention. It’s not a nuclear power, a global media hub, or a center of innovation. Its language is a beast to learn.”
“But Sunday’s vote may well be one of the most important elections in the history of postcommunist Europe. It will test the longevity of a regime that has deviated from principles of democracy and the rule of law that were vindicated by the peaceful revolutions of 1989 and later secured by the European Union, which incorporated Hungary as part of its eastward expansion in 2004.”
“The bloc doesn’t have a mechanism to expel a wayward member, but Western diplomats told me that brazen electoral theft would inaugurate a perilous new era. Some suggested that the prime minister, who oversees entrenched patronage networks that reach into the minutiae of municipal jobs, has too much at stake to accept defeat.”
New York Times: “Democrats seized on a report that President Trump accepted a donation of foreign steel to be used in the White House ballroom, saying it showed disrespect toward American steel workers and raised questions about possible corruption.”
“Vice President JD Vance said he expected to hold ‘positive’ talks with Iran, the Financial Times reports.
But within a few hours, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s top wartime leaders, cast doubts on the talks, saying Tehran would not participate unless Israel agreed to end its assault against Hizbollah in Lebanon and the U.S. agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets held overseas.
Washington Post: “The Trump administration on Friday unveiled new renderings for President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch, his most significant effort to remake Washington’s skyline, as officials begin the process of seeking formal approval for the controversial project.”
“Kristi Noem’s husband, Bryon, had an on-off secret online relationship with a left-wing dominatrix for more than nine years,” the Daily Mail reports.
“At times, the former homeland security secretary’s husband encouraged Shy Sotomayor as she repeatedly insulted his wife. Bryon fantasized about ‘leaving’ Kristi for the woman he worshipped as his ‘goddess’ and discussed his desire to transition his gender through surgery and hormone therapy.”
Bloomberg: “A group of small businesses and 24 mostly Democrat-led states urged a panel of US trade judges to vacate President Donald Trump’s latest global tariffs, arguing that they were issued improperly under a law that became outdated when the US ditched the gold standard decades ago.”
Punchbowl News: “It’s been a brutal run for President Donald Trump and Hill Republicans. Trump’s poll numbers on the economy are dismal, dragging down his overall approval rating. That hurts every Republican on the ballot.”
“Trump is headed to Arizona and Nevada next week to talk about the One Big Beautiful Bill, the signature legislative achievement of his second term, which also remains unpopular.”
“But for some reason, it feels like these elevated prices might be with us for some time. The Strait of Hormuz isn’t fully open yet. Its status will be the focal point of the U.S.-Iranian negotiations that begin this weekend in Islamabad.”
“Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that she might run for president in 2028, telling a gathering in New York that she is considering mounting a third bid for the White House,” CBS News reports.
New York Times: “In the six weeks since the Iran war started, the once-chummy rapport between Mr. Starmer and Mr. Trump has cratered. In the face of repeated taunts and mockery by the president, Mr. Starmer has hardened his approach, saying he will not give in to pressure from the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to join the fighting in Iran.”
Said Starmer: “I’m fed up.”
“The framers had no concept of nuclear weapons and what a president could do with them. And I don’t think they ever anticipated that somebody would act in the ways that Donald Trump has been acting in office.”
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), in an interview with Time.
Time: “Dozens of Democrats this week called for a premature end to Trump’s second term—either through impeachment or the Constitution’s 25th Amendment—as much of the party’s base expresses outrage at Democrats’ inaction. Yet there is scant appetite for such an effort before the midterms from party leadership—as well as from swing-state lawmakers and those who see it as the kind of therapy presenting as governance that risks sapping the party’s momentum.”
“Conversations with more than a dozen Democrats involved in this fast-moving internal debate paint a picture of a party out of power divided between wanting to show voters they are fighting Trump and not wanting to be viewed as chasing performative exercises in futility.”
President Trump told the New York Post that U.S. warships are being reloaded with “the best ammunition” to resume strikes on Iran if peace talks in Pakistan fail.
He added: “We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart.”
New York Times: “Europe could face shortages of jet fuel if ships are not allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz soon, an association of airports warned top European Union officials on Thursday.”
Washington Post: “Through the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, tensions between his administration and the Vatican — now with the first U.S.-born pope — had simmered.”
“Days after the one-year mark of Trump returning to office, an unusual meeting between the two sides took place that has now turned up the temperature of the public discussion about the relationship. Following expressions of concern by Pope Leo XIV and Vatican officials over the administration’s actions in Venezuela, Minneapolis and elsewhere, Pentagon officials on Jan. 22 hosted a top Vatican diplomat, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, then the Holy See’s ambassador to the United States, for a rare visit.”
“It is not typical for a church official to meet with the Defense Department instead of the State Department or White House.”
Julia Ioffe looks at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to make life difficult for Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — during the middle of a war, no less.
“Driscoll, as I’ve reported, has been Hegseth’s enemy number one at the Pentagon for almost as long as he’s been in his role. In part, that’s because Driscoll became an early fixture in coverage of the administration—getting overwhelmingly positive press as the walking embodiment of affable competence. Between his boyish looks; his aw-shucks, nice-guy attitude; and his headline-grabbing attempts to transform the Army into a futuristic force, it was easy to see why Driscoll was getting far kinder treatment than the ragey, abrasive Hegseth. (That, and his staff worked hard for it.) By the fall, much of Washington was abuzz with the rumor that Hegseth was not long for the top job and Driscoll would be taking his place.”
“This, of course, is said to have infuriated Hegseth. But Driscoll had top cover that made him unfireable: He was a close friend of J.D. Vance, his pal from Yale Law. Usha Vance occasionally swung by the Pentagon for lunch with him. So Hegseth quickly learned how to make Driscoll’s life miserable without firing him outright: He would dismantle Driscoll’s inner circle and replace them with his own people.”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel spoke to Kristen Welker of NBC News:
WELKER: Are you afraid for yourself, for your family? Or are you prepared to, as you say, make the ultimate sacrifice if you are attacked?
DIAZ-CANEL: I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the revolution. Of course, I wouldn’t like that to be the attitude of the U.S. government. I think the American people is a sensitive people. And they wouldn’t allow or they wouldn’t see with good eyes that their government, the country would invade a very small island that does not pose any concern in terms of national security for the United States.
NBC News: “Over several days in February before the deadline for primary candidates to withdraw, White House officials peppered Alexandra Wilson with phone calls, text messages and voicemails that she recorded and shared exclusively with NBC News.”
“In the calls, White House aides first tried to entice her to leave the race with possible job options. On another call, they later warned her about the money and attacks that would follow if she didn’t.”
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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