“Their New Deal is socialism for the super-rich (and their own enrichment) even if it means increasing poverty, inequality, and illness at home and around the world. They also want to rewrite history to ignore and outright deny our past flaws while banning books that say otherwise from our libraries. And they select even our military leaders based on their version of political correctness over ability.”
— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by Deadline, in his July 4th message.
“President Trump said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him for a meeting at the White House, and that it could take place as early as next week after Trump returns from the NATO summit,” Axios reports.
Said Trump: “We get along very good. He knows who the boss is.”
New York Post: Trump, Netanyahu speak on phone, agree to meet soon.
“Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to be seen attending the funeral ceremonies for his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” NewsNation reports.
A new Cato Institute poll found that only 53% of Americans could correctly identify the adoption of the Declaration of Independence as the historical event marked by July 4.
And 46% said they did not know what the day commemorated, including 61% of Gen Z respondents.
“Democrats are preparing a hostile audit of President Trump and his inner circle, intent on exposing — and ultimately ending — the most lucrative presidency in American history,” Axios reports.
“Since winning the 2024 election, Trump has operated in a Wild West of his own making — monetizing the office to the tune of billions, while enabling family, friends and donors to cash in along the way.”
“He and the White House have denied any conflicts of interest. Republicans, who spent years investigating the Biden family’s business dealings, have shielded Trump from the same scrutiny.”
“But Democrats see the presidential gold rush as corruption personified — and plan to bury Trump’s orbit in subpoenas if they win the House in November’s midterms.”
The Guardian: Democrats will have “field day” with Trump inquiries if they win House, legal experts say.
“No matter what I do, there’s no privacy. I’ve been told for seven years, eight years now, that ‘this will go away. They’ll stop focusing on you.’ That hasn’t happened.”
— Hunter Biden, in an interview with Wired.
“Dozens of intelligence officials began receiving notice of their terminations on Thursday under Bill Pulte, the new acting director of national intelligence,” MS NOW reports.
“An intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to potential reprisal, told MS NOW that the individuals being removed by the Trump administration are officials ‘who they believe are deep state.’ Intelligence leadership alleges that the fired workers have not provided complete pictures of available intelligence.”
CNBC: Acting DNI Pulte fires dozens of intelligence officials.
“President Donald Trump will headline Independence Day celebrations on Saturday with a speech and a show that seek to place him at the center of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump has made no secret of his joy at presiding over the July 4 festivities, portraying the timing as a side benefit of winning a second term starting in 2025 — even as the Republican falsely claims he also won the previous election against Democrat Joe Biden.”
“The death of Iran’s supreme leader on the opening day of the war raised U.S. and Israeli hopes that the regime he led — and that has held the country in an Islamic vice grip since 1979 — had been pushed to the brink of collapse,” the Washington Post reports.
“Four months later, however, as Iran stages a belated state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the burial rites testify instead to the Islamic republic’s survival and mark the ascendance of a new generation of leaders that is more entrenched and hard-line.”
Jim VandeHei: “We’re alive at the single greatest moment in U.S. and human history. By a lot.”
“It’s not even close, by almost every empirical measure. We live longer, better, richer, healthier and freer than those before us.”
“Yes, we screw a lot up. Always have. Always will. But nothing bothers me more than the widespread pessimism and plummeting patriotism — when it should be a time of great hope and possibility.”
“To me, that yawning gap between our reality and how people feel about it is among the biggest macro issues facing us.”
“Triple digit temperatures in Washington, D.C. have forced organizers to cancel the annual Independence Day parade,” Deadline reports.
New York Times: “It was probably only a matter of time before voters began to use artificial intelligence to help guide their choices. The 2026 midterms may be the first American elections in which voters are using AI in meaningful numbers.”
“Voters are turning to new AI tools to serve as nonpartisan researchers, viewing them as a viable alternative to traditional news coverage, voter guides or social media. They provide an appealing and seemingly efficient way to learn about campaigns and ballot measures, allowing users to bypass the sometimes dizzying array of political literature, advertising and commentary coming their way. But some experts warn that the tools are far from foolproof: The results they produce can be marred by factual errors or shaped by flawed assumptions.”
The Economist: “Pundits often say that Trump World resembles Game of Thrones because it is a place where horrid people do horrid things in pursuit of power. Fiddlesticks. The main reason why Trump World is like a dragons-and-zombies saga is that its protagonists live in a land of make-believe.”
“Especially President Donald Trump, whose understanding of reality seems to be based on snippets he once heard and wishes were true. Regime Change, an account of his second term by two New York Times journalists, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, brims with examples.”
The Economist: “These are unsettling times, even for the rich. Many of those wealthy enough to move abroad for low taxes or their physical or political security are less sure these days about settling in Dubai or Hong Kong, even America or Britain. Dry your eyes, however, for plenty of governments remain eager to take in foreigners with money and skills. And a growing industry of trusted advisers stands ready to help the rich relocate.”
“For these consiglieri, business is booming. Last year more than 140,000 millionaires migrated, the most on record, reckons New World Wealth, a research firm; this year it expects the figure to rise to 165,000.”
Wall Street Journal: “While civilian infrastructure has long been a target in wartime, the increasingly networked world means business assets hold growing military value. In the new age of warfare, businesses are finding that the facilities they have designed for low-cost and easy maintenance need more protection—and often the kind only militaries have traditionally provided.”
“Across volatile regions, some critical infrastructure, like desalination plants and data centers, will need to be fortified with layers of reinforced concrete, duplicated to provide backups or potentially relocated underground—at significant cost. Arguments are already brewing between companies and governments over new regulations and potential costs.”
“An up-to-date tally of Trump followers turned crypto investors is in. And for them, the overall results are remarkably bad,” the New York Times reports.
“Nearly 1 million people who bought President Trump’s memecoin have lost money through the end of June, according to a report by the cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen. Their losses total $3.81 billion.”
“Pope Leo has used his first key address to his home country to praise the U.S. history of welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the Declaration of Independence,” The Guardian reports.
“In his latest implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, the first U.S. leader of the Roman Catholic church said the word ‘America’ had become a ‘byword for freedom’ across the world because of the way the country welcomed migrants.”
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.