President Donald Trump said his physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went “PERFECTLY,” but provided no details on the results of his examination, Bloomberg reports.
Rolling Stone: Trump sure seems to be going to the hospital a lot.
Chris Cillizza: Trump is going to the doctor again. What’s going on?
Out today: Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America by Sen. Chris Murphy.
“Today, the United States is in a crisis—and it’s not just a political one: over fifty years, the pursuit of profit has undermined virtue and character, while too many of us have become convinced that happiness results from acting as good consumers, rather than as good citizens.”
Harry Litman: “The American people are being compelled to fund—and by funding to implicitly endorse—a bounty for the people who stormed the Capitol, beat police officers, and tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power.”
“All of us are, in effect, being conscripted into Trump’s campaign to rewrite the history of January 6th. The message the fund sends—that the rioters were victims, that their convictions were injustices, that the government owes them not accountability but a check—is sent in all of our names, with all of our money. We are being made, without our consent, co-signatories to the biggest lie of Trump’s presidency.”
Stat: “For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander-in-chief’s health.”
“But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn’t get to see.”
“Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general who received President Trump’s endorsement last week, has been accused of adultery by his wife of 38 years. He’s been indicted and had the charges dropped. And he’s been impeached and acquitted,” the New York Times reports.
“But none of that has stopped him from shaking up the U.S. Senate race in Texas, where he could defeat Senator John Cornyn, the four-term incumbent, in today’s runoff.”
“Mr. Paxton, 63, has, in his quarter-century of public life, never lost an election. Despite his failures and faults, and in some ways because of them, he’s won crowded primaries and make-or-break runoffs.”
Kevin Williamson: “Imagine a rich, middle-aged car salesman who ditches his wife and starts dating a 21-year-old stripper with a meth problem, and then imagine that guy is a state—that’s Texas, Anno Domini 2026.”
New York Times: “The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released its latest rendering of the octagonal cage that officials are building at the White House for a fight scheduled on President Trump’s 80th birthday.”
“It depicts a star-spangled arch over the cage on the White House South Lawn along with seating for thousands.”
“Construction for the fight on June 14, which is one of several major events planned around the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, is already underway at the White House. Mr. Trump is also planning a temporary IndyCar street circuit racing past landmarks including the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol that will take place in August.”
New York Times: “An already bitter Republican race for Attorney General of Texas intensified in its final days, fueled by after an influx of last minute campaign spending.”
“For months, Chip Roy, a hard-line congressman who has at times broken with President Trump, had been outspent by State Senator Mayes Middleton, his self-funded opponent. But in the last week of the contest, Mr. Roy reported raising more than $8 million, providing a late boost to his campaign.”
“Mr. Roy used the cash to advertise on television and in mailers, rivaling an ad blitz from Mr. Middleton. Together they deluged Republican voters with negative messaging.”
“I didn’t expect the corruption to be quite as widespread as it has been. The self-dealing, the lining of his and his family’s pockets. It’s shocking… You look across the board at the Trump family, I’ve never seen a family get so rich off the presidency.”
— Megyn Kelly, on her podcast.
“The Trump administration is planning a government-wide nondisclosure agreement that bars federal workers from sharing a wide array of ‘confidential government information,'” the Washington Post reports.
“The draft notice, which will be published Wednesday and be open for a 30-day public comment period, uses an expansive definition of privileged information, beyond typical classified and unclassified designations.”
Bloomberg: “The U.S. Supreme Court refused to let Florida file an unusual lawsuit that accused California and Washington of making it too easy for undocumented immigrants to get commercial driver’s licenses.”
“Giving no explanation, the justices on Tuesday rejected Florida’s bid to sue its fellow states directly in the Supreme Court, as states can do under some circumstances to protect their sovereign interests.”
“U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly this month as gas prices stayed high and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices that have neared record levels,” the AP reports.
“The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month.”
Wired spoke to more than a dozen election officials about the possibility of an ICE deployment to polling locations in November.
“While some officials say they are not worried, the majority said they had major concerns, especially as these statements come during a much broader attack on elections and democracy from the Trump administration. At least one has actively planned for a scenario in which he’s arrested.”
“With six months to go before the midterms, the officials said they are now scrambling to reassure voters, replace federal election resources eliminated by Trump, and try to plan for scenarios they have never had to contemplate before.”
Jonathan Chait: “Democrats are in thrall to the idea that corporate consolidation is America’s biggest, and maybe only, problem.”
“The thing I’ve seen is that… while people have been spending more money at gas stations, they’ve been spending more money on everything else, which means they’re still very very optimistic about the state of the economy.”
— White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, on Fox News.
New York Times: “Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor who is considering a Democratic campaign for president, will outline on Tuesday his plan to make higher education more affordable and accessible, part of what he calls a ‘grand bargain’ between universities, the federal government and American families.”
“Mr. Emanuel’s proposal, which he is scheduled to unveil during an event at Dartmouth College, would reward universities that provide a clear path to earn a four-year degree in three years, offer free tuition to students from households earning less than $200,000 per year and cap tuition increases for everyone else at the rate of inflation.”
New York Post: “President Trump will make a rare trip to Camp David on Wednesday to hold a cabinet meeting as peace talks with Iran near crunch time.”
“All cabinet members — including outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — are expected to join Trump at the presidential retreat in rural Maryland.”
New York Times: “A panel of federal judges on Tuesday rejected Alabama’s effort to use a new voting map for the November midterm elections, saying that the districts discriminated against Black people and could not be used so shortly before a vote.”
“The state is likely to appeal the decision. Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, has already set special primaries in August in four House districts that would be affected by a new congressional map.”
“The ruling further confuses the electoral landscape across the South, as Republican-led legislatures have raced to implement new district lines after the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also demonstrates how the ruling from the nation’s highest court has further muddled how lower courts interpret the landmark civil rights law.”
Time: “On June 14, Flag Day and Trump’s 80th birthday, the UFC is staging an event on the South Lawn of the White House, a spectacle that will also serve as the unofficial opening of a summerlong celebration of America’s 250th anniversary… It also serves as a career capstone for White, whose clout is only growing both inside and outside the Octagon…”
“Whether or not you admire White’s unfiltered, profane leadership style, or his unapologetic embrace of the masculinity now synonymous with Trump’s brand, you can’t deny he’s at the peak of his powers…brawling at the home of the President risks coming across less as a tribute to America’s fighting spirit than as a harkening back to the Roman gladiators’ fighting to the death to entertain the emperor. A celebration of sanctioned violence in this milestone moment could, to some, symbolize American crass, not class. Trump, however, has no such qualms.”
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.
