Texas officials blamed the National Weather Service—hard-hit by Donald Trump’s cuts—for failing to warn of the catastrophic floods, but a review shows forecasters issued increasingly dire messages ahead of the disaster, CNN reports.
TikTok Building New Version of App
TikTok is building a U.S. version of the platform ahead of an expected sale, The Information reports.
Trump Says Musk Has Gone ‘Off the Rails’
President Trump said Elon Musk was “essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK,” while expressing disappointment that his formerly loyal supporter has decided to form a political party, Politico reports.
Said Trump, on Truth Social: “He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States.”
He added: “The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds! Republicans, on the other hand, are a smooth running ‘machine,’ that just passed the biggest Bill of its kind in the History of our Country.”
Daily Beast: Trump goes nuclear on ‘“train wreck” Elon.
Jeffrey Epstein Had No ‘Client List’
“President Trump’s Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a ‘client list’ or was murdered,” Axios reports.
“The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and ‘enhanced’ versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.”
The Mamdani Millionaires Supporting the Socialist
Wall Street Journal: “Mamdani’s shocking win in the Democratic primary last month has polarized the business community of the U.S.’s most economically critical city. Inside investment banks and during breakfast meetings, the very mention of Mayor Eric Adams’s potential left-wing successor has set off rancor and fear among the business elite, some of whom say they are considering leaving the city altogether.”
“And then there are the Mamdani millionaires. Voting data show a little less than a third of the city’s wealthiest supported Mamdani, and interviews with CEOs, traders, investors, and corporate lawyers pulling for him show they are willing to trade a cut of their one-percenter earnings to fund his more equitable vision of the Big Apple’s future. They believe years of widening income inequality has harmed the city’s ability to attract talent and think a stronger social safety net is needed to reverse the decline.”
Advertisers Spend Big Just to Reach Trump
Wall Street Journal: “Since the inauguration, more than a dozen national issues-oriented groups bought broadcast and cable ads solely in Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach, according to data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And others with large national campaigns have set aside money to air ads there.”
“The activity since Trump took office has ranked West Palm Beach third among markets for national-focused issues spending on broadcast and cable TV, ahead of much-larger markets such as Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, according to AdImpact.”
Is This Really How We’re Legislating Now?
Brendan Buck: “The process was marred by dynamics that have increasingly undermined Congress’s status as a dominant and deliberative institution: The bill lacked a clear and inspired purpose, it supplanted the expertise of congressional committees for the whims of holdouts and the president, and it relied on the make-or-break reconciliation mechanism that limits the ability to write sound policy.”
“Congress is no longer in the business of thoughtful legislating. Its role has been reduced to putting political points on the board for the president.”
Quote of the Day
“They wouldn’t vote only because they hate Trump, but I hate them, too, you know? I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country.”
— President Trump, quoted by the Daily Beast, on Democrats.
Lawmakers Now Vote in Lockstep
Ron Brownstein: “For most of the 20th century, it was common for members of Congress to break from their party’s dominant position on key votes — even when that placed them in opposition to a president from their own side. That tendency was visible for years among Republicans from the East and West Coasts, and even more pronounced among the Southern and rural Democrats who became known as ‘blue dogs.’”
“But tolerance for defection on big congressional votes has waned over the past generation. The engine of the change has been the ideological re-sorting of the electorate, which has left each party with a voter base that holds more uniform views on major issues.”
“In both parties and in both chambers, that has encouraged a transition toward a quasi-parliamentary system, with legislators from each party voting more in lockstep with their own side, and in opposition to the other.”
Khamenei Appears for First Time Since War Began
“Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appeared publicly on Saturday night for the first time since the 12-day war with Israel began last month, Iran’s state media and his official website reported,” the New York Times reports.
“After weeks of sheltering in a bunker, Mr. Khamenei on Saturday night attended an annual Shiite religious ceremony for Ashura, which was held at his compound.”
Trump to Re-Escalate Trade War
“President Trump said the U.S. will begin sending letters Monday to other countries setting a tariff rate on their imports,” Axios reports.
“After months of threats, Trump is abruptly re-escalating the trade war.”
Can Democrats Find Their Way on Immigration?
“The Democrats onstage saw themselves as morally courageous. American voters, it turned out, saw a group of politicians hopelessly out of touch,” the New York Times reports.
“Standing side by side at a primary debate in June 2019, nine of the party’s candidates for president were asked to raise their hand if they wanted to decriminalize illegal border crossings. Only one of them held still.”
“Six years later, the party remains haunted by that tableau. It stands both as a vivid demonstration of a leftward policy shift on immigration that many prominent Democratic lawmakers and strategists now say they deeply regret, and as a marker of how sharply the country was moving in the other direction.”
Trump Insider Says Tariff Deadline Is ‘Fake’
“The White House has little to show as President Donald Trump’s self-imposed deadline to reach trade deals with dozens of countries arrives in four days. Trump bragged he would rapidly secure dozens of trade deals, but his administration has claimed just three — and the details are thin,” Politico reports.
Said a person close to the White House: “Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation. I find it hard to believe he’s going to surrender it that easily. It’s all fake. There’s no deadline. It’s a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that’s where we are.”
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Musk Declares ‘America Party’ Formed
“Elon Musk said a new political party he has been threatening to start up ‘is formed,’ a day after President Donald Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill that the Tesla Inc. billionaire chief executive officer has denounced,” Bloomberg reports.
CNBC: “Musk is the world’s richest man, so his involvement in any close political races could prove to be decisive.”
Trump Will Start Talks With China on TikTok Deal
President Trump late Friday said that the U.S. “pretty much has a deal” for an American company to acquire the U.S. branch of TikTok, adding that he intended to restart talks next week with China to approve the deal, the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “We’re going to start Monday or Tuesday talking to China. We think we probably have to get it approved by China. Not definitely, but probably.”
He added: “I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us. It’s money, it’s a lot of money.”
The Next Megabill Congress Needs to Worry About
“Thursday’s historic vote passing President Donald Trump’s megabill ended a monthslong process of negotiation, infighting and compromise. It also started a countdown until Congress has to do it all over again,” Politico reports.
“That’s because the super-sized domestic policy legislation includes a sharp cliff for tax cuts and deep safety-net restrictions — teeing them up to be the subject of fierce political battles in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.”
Warning Signs for Russia’s Economy Are Flashing Red
“Russia’s sanctions-defying economy, propelled higher by the Ukraine war, is suddenly coming back down to earth,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Fueled by massive military spending and steady oil exports, Russia recorded some of the highest growth rates among major economies over the past two years. But in recent weeks economic indicators have been flashing red: Manufacturing activity is declining, consumers are tightening their belts, inflation remains high and the budget is strained.”
“Russian officials are now openly warning of the risks of a recession, and companies from tractor producers to furniture makers are reducing output. The central bank said Thursday that it would debate cutting its benchmark interest rate later this month after lowering it in June.”
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