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“President Trump’s trade wars have waned. The price of gas is finally falling. But inflation has a new catalyst: America’s massive artificial-intelligence build-out is beginning to push up prices on everything from smartphones to electricity,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The question now is how widely that build-out might ripple through the economy, and how long it could keep inflation elevated. The answers will have big consequences for the economy.”
“After a trio of leftists in New York City defeated establishment-backed candidates in congressional primaries, a bouquet of flowers and a sympathy card arrived at the Capitol Hill office of Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader,” the New York Times reports.
“Progressives were cheering their victories in New York on Wednesday. The only faction that appeared even happier may have been Republicans fighting to cling to power in the midterms, who are eager to attempt to define the Democratic brand by its most boisterous and socialist voices.”
Politico: Hakeem Jeffries has met his nightmare scenario: The Squad 2.0 is coming to Capitol Hill.
“All branches of the U.S. military began once again requiring their recruits to get flu vaccines earlier this month, an exception to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to lift the military’s vaccine mandate,” CBS News reports.
“The news comes as Lackland Air Force Base in Texas — home to the Air Force’s Basic Military Training program — grapples with a flu outbreak that has infected 275 people in recent weeks.”
“President Trump is making life hell for Senate Republicans, and they’re returning the favor,” Axios reports.
“To his fury, Trump is finding that senators he’s written off, alienated or even helped defeat in primaries are choosing Senate traditions over his political demands.”
NOTUS: More yelling, less signing: Trump’s day with Senate Republicans melts down.
“President Trump took credit for a Republican’s advance to the runoff for governor in California, telling supporters that he called a federal prosecutor in the state shortly after the June 2 primary election and demanded an investigation into whether the slow-moving vote count was ‘rigged,'” the New York Times reports.
New York Post: President Trump reveals insider details about pressure he put on U.S. Attorney to save California’s election.
Wall Street Journal: “The president abruptly canceled plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill that Republican leaders and senior White House officials had touted as transformational. He then went to Capitol Hill and berated Senate Republicans during a testy closed-door lunch, calling one GOP lawmaker a loser and ribbing another for voting to convict him of inciting an insurrection during his first term.”
“Back in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, he laid into European allies, declaring that the U.K. was ‘dying’ and arguing that other longtime American partners had let the U.S. down.”
“Even for a president who routinely makes unexpected moves, Wednesday was head-spinning, according to GOP lawmakers.”
“A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department that accused four New Jersey cities of having ‘sanctuary’ policies that shield undocumented immigrants and from federal immigration enforcement,” the New York Times reports.
“The Trump administration asked Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to cover costs related to the Iran war,” Axios reports.
“The request is likely to intensify debate over presidential war powers as lawmakers in both parties question whether Congress should have authorized military action against Iran.”
NewsNation: Why the Pentagon is asking for $80B to cover Iran war costs.
“Postmaster General David Steiner said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that under a new proposed rule, the Postal Service would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that decline to hand over sensitive data about voters to the federal government,” the New York Times reports.
“The Postal Service’s proposed rule was released this month and is in line with President Trump’s March executive order intended to restrict voting by mail. That order, which faces multiple court challenges, seeks to create state-by-state lists of citizens to help determine who is eligible to vote and calls on the Postal Service not to distribute mail ballots to those not on state lists.”
“Zohran Mamdani, an upstart Democratic socialist with a knack for social media and a focus on affordability, stunned the Democratic establishment last year with his victory in the New York City mayoral primary,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Tuesday’s primary results make clear that the now-mayor’s rise wasn’t a fluke, and his growing political power will be a continuing headache for Democratic leadership.”
Idrees Kahloom: “Andy Burnham will soon have a monumental task. If, as expected, he replaces Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister, he will not just be taking up an office that has chewed through six occupants in merely 10 years. He will also probably be the British establishment’s last chance to stave off a government controlled by Nigel Farage, the Brexit architect whose nationalist party, Reform UK, is currently leading in the polls.”
“Under British law, the ruling Labour Party can keep its current parliamentary majority without calling an election until 2029. That gives Burnham roughly three years to revive the moribund British economy before frustrated voters turn away from mainstream parties and opt for the radicals instead.”
Jonathan Chait: “Never in my life have I rooted so hard for algae. In fact, I’ve never rooted for algae at all. Yet the sight of those tiny green organisms floating in the Reflecting Pool, absorbing sunlight, multiplying their little hearts out and living their best (presumably very short) lives, fills me with joy.”
“Among the Trump administration’s many debacles, the greening of the Reflecting Pool is uniquely delightful. Every other Donald Trump farce contains elements of tragedy…”
“The Reflecting Pool episode captures most of Trump’s governing pathologies (corruption, incompetence, authoritarian menace, absurd lies) without any of the normal attendant consequences. It is pure, meaningless fun.”
“Meaningless to everybody, that is, except Trump.”
“As President Donald Trump prepares to launch his big America 250 celebration, the Supreme Court is about to unfurl its own annual fireworks barrage: the fusillade of decisions the justices fire off in late June before they head out of town for the summer,” Politico reports.
“Trump’s relationship with the high court has been strained in recent months, particularly in the wake of the court’s 6-3 ruling knocking out the central pillar of Trump’s signature tariff policy.”
“Now, Trump is staring down a high likelihood of defeat on another issue key to his political agenda: his attempt to end the nation’s century-long tradition of granting citizenship to almost everyone born on U.S. soil.”
“The Justice Department has announced charges in a ‘sophisticated’ criminal operation that it says used high-powered drones to deliver weapons, drugs, cell phones and escape tools into prisons in east coast states,” CNN reports.
“We saw glimpses of this during Trump’s first administration, but never in my lifetime have I seen a president so deliberately attempt to lose majorities for his own party.”
— An anonymous senior Republican Senate aide, quoted by Punchbowl News, on President Trump’s lunch with GOP senators.
“For decades, the idea that Iran’s regime represented the worst of the world’s worst stood as a pillar of Republican foreign policy,” the New York Times reports.
“But in recent months, and especially as the Trump administration has defended its preliminary peace deal, a different perspective has been taking hold in parts of the American right: Iran as a pragmatic country that the United States can, and must, learn to live with.”
Bloomberg: Trump touts Iran progress as he meets Senate GOP at Capitol.
“President Trump is pulling from a familiar Democratic playbook as he wrestles with sticky gasoline prices: blaming Big Oil,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“During the U.S. war against Iran, Trump repeatedly promised that prices at the pump would fall quickly once the conflict ended. But 10 days after he announced an agreement with Iran, the price of a gallon of gasoline still hovers around $3.93—nearly $1 higher than before the hostilities broke out.”
“Now, Trump is accusing his own oil allies of gouging consumers.”
Russell Berman: “In the weeks after he was elected mayor of New York City last fall, Zohran Mamdani worked behind the scenes to torpedo a bid by one of his allies, a charismatic young democratic socialist, to challenge the reelection of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Brooklyn. Such a high-profile primary fight, Mamdani reportedly argued at the time, could slow his agenda for the city.”
“In light of what happened last night, Mamdani’s intervention might have saved the political career of a man who could become the nation’s first Black House speaker next year.”
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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