“The White House and its allies are steering America’s 250th birthday toward prayer, repentance and divine guidance, with critics saying a national celebration is becoming a Christian one,” Axios reports.

“One side sees Trump politicizing a national birthday party. The other sees a long-overdue chance to restore faith to the center of America’s founding story.”

”Trump-aligned organizers are leaning into prayer events, conservative Christian partners and language about rededicating America as ‘one nation under God.’”

“Across President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House, his investment advisers made more than 21,000 securities trades, amassing sizable holdings in companies that are directly involved in deals tied to his administration,” ABC News reports.

Wall Street Journal: “Burgum is point man for Trump’s Washington makeover, tackling everything from troublesome algae blooms in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to an effort to revitalize aging golf courses in the city.”

“The portfolio has made Burgum, a former tech entrepreneur and governor of North Dakota, a constant fixture at the president’s side, giving him an unusually prominent role in Trump’s second term amid the country’s 250th birthday celebrations.”

“President Trump’s $2.2 billion in personal earnings during his presidency has been met largely with silence from his MAGA base, which has been increasingly willing to revolt against policies they view as an abandonment of his promises to put everyday Americans first,” the New York Times reports.

“Far-right members of Congress, prominent media pundits and grass-roots activists have criticized Mr. Trump’s war with Iran and openly broken ranks to demand the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. They have accused him of prioritizing his own interests over the needs of the voters who elected him to office.”

“But few far-right voices aligned with Mr. Trump have criticized him over the scale of his personal haul, reported this week, or the conflict inherent in his status as a major cryptocurrency industry operator and its top policymaker.”

President Trump “defended his family’s business and said he feels bad that the presidency creates a conflict of interest in any of his children’s investments,” CNBC reports.

Said Trump: “Anything they do, because the presidency is so powerful … if they buy a cupcake company, well, the energy to make the cupcakes, is you know, sort of like, how’s my energy policy?’ 

He added: “Almost anything they do, if they want to buy a truck … if they buy an energy efficient truck, they have insider information.”

“President Donald Trump said a bipartisan housing bill he has refused to sign was ‘fine,’ seeming to suggest it could become law even as he has withheld his signature in a bid to secure a voter identification law he sees as a bigger priority,” Bloomberg reports.

“Former special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday said that under President Donald Trump, ‘We are facing an attack on the rule of law,'” CNBC reports.

“Smith also said that a potential indictment of him by the Department of Justice ‘could happen’ given Trump’s animus toward him for prosecuting the president in two separate criminal cases before Trump returned to the White House.”