“Saturday Night Live’s 51st season finale began with a blistering cold open that had host Will Ferrell as the ghost of pedophile Epstein amidst a mosaic of Trump’s administration’s worst hits and biggest fools,” Deadline reports.
Said Ferrell: “Donnie, just remember, no matter how many wars you start or how bad you tank the economy as a distraction, people will always associate you with me, and that, my dear close friend, that is a beautiful thing.”
“The Senate’s parliamentarian has found that $1 billion in federal funding related to President Trump’s White House ballroom is subject to a 60-vote threshold in the Senate rather than a simple majority, throwing into question whether Republicans will be able to fast-track a vote for the project,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Republican leaders on Capitol Hill had included the Trump administration’s $1 billion request for security-related upgrades tied to the ballroom in a $70 billion package to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for three years. Senate Republicans have been waiting for the parliamentarian to clear the entire bill before holding a vote this coming week.”
CNN: “Cassidy became the first GOP senator to lose renomination in close to a decade, a remarkable downfall that shows again how Trump dominates the party.”
“Cassidy signaled in his concession speech, without mentioning Trump, that he could spend the final months of his term being more of a thorn in Trump’s side – or at least more openly critical of his party.”
“President Trump’s push to oust Republican lawmakers who have crossed him claimed its most prominent name yet in Louisiana this weekend, reinforcing Mr. Trump’s dominance in the party, even as the G.O.P. braces for a potential backlash to his presidency in the midterm elections,” the New York Times reports.
“For the second time this month, Republican primary voters sent a message about the price of defying the president, this time by retiring Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The outcome in Louisiana on Saturday followed losses by a group of Indiana state lawmakers whom the president targeted for political payback. And it arrived just ahead of another big test on Mr. Trump’s retribution tour: a House primary in Kentucky on Tuesday.”
New York Times: “For Mr. Trump, the nation’s political and economic strains are laid bare in a series of dour reports released over the past two weeks. Consumer prices last month rose at their fastest clip in about three years, outpacing workers’ wages, while businesses saw their costs increase at a rate not seen since 2022.”
“Americans are racking up more debt. Families are saving less. And a key measure of consumer confidence dipped to an all-time low this month. The anxiety has bled into recent political polls, which have registered broad public disapproval of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy.”
New York Times: “With his generational wealth, his 20-acre Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and his lucrative family businesses around the world, President Trump has never purported to be an ordinary American.”
“Instead, he has argued that he could use his business savvy to help lift up the country’s forgotten men and women.”
“But in recent weeks, as Americans feel deep economic strain from the war he launched in Iran, Mr. Trump’s actions and words have opened him up to accusations that he is either out of touch with — or indifferent to — the lives of everyday Americans.”
“When President Trump decides to oust a Republican from office by backing a primary challenger, the most powerful man in the world draws on unusual powers to hit his mark,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s case, Trump flew to his district to call him a ‘complete and total disaster.’ Then came billionaires launching attack ads and allies going silent for fear of presidential retribution.”
“The seven-term Kentucky congressman will find out Tuesday whether his career as the House GOP’s most outspoken presidential antagonist can survive this challenge. The outcome will signal whether Republicans are willing to adopt a form of MAGA politics that embraces leaders who break with Trump.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is projected to lose his primary, finishing in third place, Bloomberg reports.
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) is projected to finish with the most votes but didn’t clear 50%, so Letlow will face off against former Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) in a runoff.
“President Trump’s quest to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) will come to a head Tuesday, as primary voters weigh whether there is room in the Republican Party for a lawmaker willing to openly defy the president,” The Hill reports.
“The race has become the most expensive House primary battle in U.S. history, according to AdImpact, drawing $25.6 million in television, radio and digital advertising, as outside groups and national Republicans flood Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District with bitter attack ads.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who is charged with assaulting federal officers outside a New Jersey immigration detention facility and could face up to 17 years in prison, told People she is pregnant.
The New York Times provides “a rare glimpse into the world of pay-for-play social media, where content creators and marketing firms are increasingly compensated to promote candidates or points of view and where there are few requirements for disclosure.”
“The paid advocacy exists outside the realm of traditional lobbying and campaigning, reaching younger, more online audiences unlikely to be swayed by television advertisements or glossy mailers.”
Ryan Nichols, who plead guilty in connection with the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and was later pardoned by President Trump, was charged with threateningly displaying a handgun to a person with whom he was arguing in a church parking lot, The Guardian reports.
“Sen. Bill Cassidy’s political career is at stake on Saturday as Louisiana voters weigh in on the Republican for the first time since he voted to convict President Donald Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial,” NBC News reports.
“Cassidy, a two-term senator, faces a primary challenge from Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming, who have both pitched themselves as more Trump-aligned alternatives. If no candidate gets majority support Saturday, the top two finishers will head to a runoff on June 27.”
Washington Post: GOP senator who defied Trump on impeachment faces voters, five years later.
“President Donald Trump returned home from China to a politically-fraught domestic policy challenge that has vexed top aides for months: sky-high beef prices,” Politico reports.
“The White House must now decide how to proceed with an executive order to temporarily ease tariffs on imported beef — a move that was delayed earlier this week amid intense backlash from farm-state lawmakers and industry allies.”
“The executive order could help lower prices for consumers, though by how much remains uncertain. Doing so would simultaneously drive up competition for American ranchers as they face a host of higher costs brought on, in part, by the Iran war.”
“As Donald Trump grew increasingly frustrated with diplomatic efforts to end the war with Iran, administration officials were closely watching whether the president’s trip to China — a nation with close ties to Tehran — would yield a significant breakthrough,” CNN reports.
“But Trump landed stateside Friday with seemingly no progress to report.”
Washington Post: Trump’s China summit shows toll of a difficult year for the president.
“Raúl Castro holds no formal office in Cuba’s government and is rarely seen in public. Yet at nearly 95 years old, the younger of the two brothers who led the Cuban revolution continues to be the man who has the final say on the country’s most important matters,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now, the Trump administration intends to prosecute the frail patriarch and former president on criminal charges, shifting the pressure campaign from broad sanctions against Cuba’s government toward accountability for a man who symbolizes the Communist regime’s power structure.”
Associated Press: Trump administration prepares to seek Raúl Castro indictment as it pressures Cuba.
“President Trump has described a potential multibillion-dollar weapons sale to Taiwan as a ‘negotiating chip’ with China, raising new doubts about the pace and scale of American military support for the island democracy,” the New York Times reports.
Axios: Trump waffles on Taiwan arms deal after Xi talks.
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.