Axios: “Florida bans lawmakers from intentionally creating congressional seats to give their party an advantage.”
“But Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly has launched a three-tiered power play to evade the ban — and create more GOP-friendly seats — in November.”
David Graham: “He is one of several media figures who are having second thoughts about Trump—and in some cases, receiving praise for it. But these pundits deserve no amnesty. Their second thoughts are wise, but to have erred so badly, when so many other commentators and journalists saw the truth, disqualifies them from being taken seriously on politics again.”
Jonathan Chait: “On Monday morning, CNN reported that the United States and Iran had been on the verge of striking a deal to end the war when Donald Trump made a series of comments to reporters and on social media that undermined the talks.”
Said one White House source: “The Iranians didn’t appreciate POTUS negotiating through social media and making it appear as if they had signed off on issues they hadn’t yet agreed to, and ones that aren’t popular with their people back home.”
“This was Trump’s signal to begin binge-posting about the Iran negotiations. The Iranians may not have appreciated Trump’s stream-of-consciousness messaging, and apparently their American counterparts did not either. But one very important person did.”
President Trump on Friday called for the 2020 election to be “permanently wiped from the books” if the Southern Poverty Law Center is convicted of making fraudulent payments totaling $3 million to members of white supremacist groups the organization claimed to fight, the New York Post reports.
“Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, is doing what he can, as quickly as he can, to shed the ‘acting’ label,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Blanche, who ran the day-to-day operations of the Justice Department as the top deputy to his predecessor, Pam Bondi, before her unceremonious ouster this month, has long been a target of pro-Trump influencers who accuse him of slow-walking the prosecutions of President Trump’s enemies.”
“But now Mr. Blanche is striving to silence critics on the right with a conspicuous salvo of actions to demonstrate progress on the president’s priorities, among them payback against Mr. Trump’s adversaries.”
New York Times: “The Republican Party is struggling to hold onto the support from Hispanic voters who helped propel Mr. Trump back into the White House in 2024. Yet as many party leaders have acknowledged the urgent need to stop the backsliding among Latinos, the president has enraged many of even his strongest supporters by clashing with the pope.”
“President Trump ruled out using nuclear weapons on Iran Thursday, saying there’s no need,” NewsNation reports.
Said Trump: “Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we’ve totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it?”
He called the question “stupid,” while adding: “No, I wouldn’t use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.”
President Trump’s new acting Navy secretary, Hung Cao, warned in 2023 that “witchcraft” had “taken over” the Californian city of Monterey and was threatening Christianity, Mediaite reports.
“President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the messy Republican primary to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik has set up a fresh test of his influence in a deep-red House district, with New York GOP leaders refusing to fall in line,” Politico reports.
“Trump gave his coveted endorsement this week to businessperson Anthony Constantino, the CEO of merchandising company Sticker Mule, who is waging an insurgent bid against Republican Assemblymember Robert Smullen — the establishment favorite.”
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY), “fighting to fend off a primary challenge, said on Thursday that he would begin to use his vast personal fortune in an effort to save his House seat, the New York Times reports..
“Mr. Goldman, a Levi Strauss heir and one of the richest members of Congress, put $1 million into his campaign immediately and pledged to begin matching every donation he receives in the run-up to the June primary — a dollar-for-dollar incentive that could cost him millions more.”
“The congressman framed the decision as a way to show that he was not beholden to special interests. But the cash infusion also underscored just how serious a challenge he faces from Brad Lander, a well-known former city comptroller and mayoral candidate.”
New York Times: “The Iran war has significantly drained much of the U.S. military’s global supply of munitions, and forced the Pentagon to rush bombs, missiles and other hardware to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe. The drawdowns have left these regional commands less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, and it has forced the United States to find ways to scale up production to address the depletions, Trump administration and congressional officials say.”
“The conflict has also underscored the Pentagon’s overreliance on excessively expensive missiles and munitions, especially air-defense interceptors, as well as concerns about whether the defense industry can develop cheaper arms, especially attack drones, far more quickly.”
Wall Street Journal: “Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney was caught with his pants down—and not in a figurative sense—inside town hall, on camera, during the wee hours, in the company of a female journalist.”
“The episode occurred in 2024 but is now bubbling up on multiple fronts. Three former town employees are suing Mooresville officials, alleging retaliation for their efforts to preserve the footage or investigate. Town commissioners passed a no-confidence vote this month urging Carney to quit. And a judge last week ordered the town to release video of the incident, a move the town forestalled by appealing Wednesday.”
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy laid more mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week,” Axios reports.
“The military standoff in the world’s most important oil chokepoint is escalating, with Iran laying mines and attacking commercial ships on one side and the U.S. tightening its naval blockade on the other.”
Next up on President Trump’s renovation tour of Washington, D.C.: the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which he called “filthy” and “dirty” and in need of a major upgrade, the New York Times reports.
“President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that the White House is considering a bailout package for the budget carrier Spirit Airlines that could include a loan of up to $500 million and an equity stake in the company for the U.S. government,” NOTUS reports.
“But as reports of the talks circulated, a number of prominent conservatives joined Democrats in pushing back on the idea and warned that it might prove to be a poor deal for U.S. taxpayers.”
Wall Street Journal: “John Phelan sat in the lobby of the West Wing for more than an hour Wednesday night, waiting to see if his longtime friend and neighbor, President Trump, would save his job. He would leave disappointed.”
“That afternoon, Phelan, the Navy secretary, had received a phone call from his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asking for his resignation…”
“Phelan made a round of calls, including to the president’s executive assistant, saying he needed to speak with Trump. Phelan then headed to the White House. Once the president had a spare minute Wednesday evening, Phelan asked to keep his job, but the commander in chief backed Hegseth’s decision.”
President Trump said Americans should anticipate paying higher prices at the gas pump “for a little while” as a result of the Iran war, CNBC reports.
Trump also insisted that the U.S. has “total control” in the Strait of Hormuz and that he is the one keeping it closed for now.
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.