USA Today: “The very tools that helped win Trump two terms — the openness to conspiracy, the distrust of elites, the eruption of a viral moment — have now turned to bedevil him.”
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More Americans Worry About Inflation
A new poll from CBS News/YouGov finds 42 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, while 58 percent disapprove.
Playbook: “One big number to watch: 64 percent disapprove of his handling of inflation — up 10 points from March — and with more tariffs due to kick in a few weeks from now, that number may well rise as prices go up.”
Democrats Plot Their Own Redistricting
“House Democrats are actively preparing for political trench warfare against the GOP in next year’s midterm battle, with talks taking shape behind the scenes to mount a counterattack against President Donald Trump’s power play in Texas that aims to cement GOP control of Washington for the rest of his second term,” CNN reports.
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his political team have begun privately shaping a legally risky — and likely expensive — strategy to redraw House maps in several Democratic-controlled states, according to Democrats briefed on the effort. They are exploring their plans in California, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Washington state in hopes of flipping at least a handful of Republican seats next November.”
Trump Loses Ground on the Economy and Immigration
Dan Balz: “President Donald Trump spent much of last week trying to fend off a revolt in his base over the Jeffrey Epstein case, but he has more than just problems within his own MAGA followers. He has lost ground with the broader public on issues that once were among his strongest attributes.”
“A year ago, voters saw Trump as a better steward of the economy than Vice President Kamala Harris. His tough talk on immigration appealed to many voters who saw the southern border as out of control and who blamed the Biden administration for the huge influx of undocumented migrants. Now he’s getting negative reviews on both.”
GOP Push Behind Trump Has Congress in an Uproar
“Republicans’ relentless marathon to force President Trump’s agenda through Congress over objections from Democrats and some in their own ranks is taking a toll on the institution and its members, prompting tempers to boil over and relationships to fray on Capitol Hill, with potentially disastrous consequences ahead,” the New York Times reports.
“In recent days, lawmakers clashed bitterly over federal spending, presidential nominees and even broadly supported cryptocurrency bills — all while a dispute raged over releasing files in the case of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The normally staid proceedings of Congress were punctuated with shouting matches, a committee walkout, charges of abandoned deals and Democratic demands to fire the director of the Office of Management and Budget.”
Jeffrey Epstein Story Poses New Test for Trump
“Nearly two weeks after President Donald Trump and his administration announced they had nothing more to say about Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case, the topic continues to dog him, presenting a potential new political liability at the six-month mark of his presidency as Trump tries to sell more Americans on his accomplishments,” the Washington Post reports.
“At minimum, it has been a distraction at a time when Trump wants to tout his legislative victories. If it continues to grab public attention, it could pose a more significant threat at a time when Trump’s standing with the public already has been on the decline, though polling shows him steady with his own party.”
Politico: Trump acknowledges release of Epstein grand jury records may not please everyone.
Japan’s Prime Minister Faces Jeopardy in Election
“Polls open on Sunday in Japan, where half of the seats in its Upper House of Parliament will be contested in the first national election since Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office last year,” the New York Times reports.
“The emergence of right-wing populist parties that appeal to younger voters has threatened the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, with polls showing they could lose seats, and perhaps even their majority, in the chamber.”
Financial Times: “Japan’s ruling bloc led by the Liberal Democratic party is in danger of losing its majority in both houses of parliament for the first time in 15 years as a backlash led by first-time voters, inflation-strained households and savvy social media campaigners hits traditional politics.”
Trump Aides Found Most SpaceX Contracts Were Vital
Wall Street Journal: “Just days after President Trump in early June raised the prospect of cutting ties with Musk’s businesses, the Trump administration initiated a review of SpaceX’s contracts with the federal government… The review was intended to identify potential waste in the multibillion-dollar agreements the company has with the government.”
“But administration officials determined that they couldn’t eliminate most of those contracts because they are critical to the Defense Department and NASA… The early assessment underscored the company’s dominance as the world’s pre-eminent rocket launcher and a major satellite-internet provider.”
Trump’s Toughest Opponent Is His Own Base
Axios: “Forget resistance mounted by Democrats, moderate Republicans or even the courts. The most destabilizing opposition of Trump’s second term has come from within: an online MAGA army known for its extreme devotion.”
“After nearly two weeks of relentless discourse — fueled in large part by MAGA influencers — Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday night to seek the release of grand jury testimony in the Epstein case.”
“Though the move is a long shot to produce new evidence — and falls far short of the sweeping disclosures demanded by his base — it still marked a clear shift in posture.”
Another Pete Hegseth Aide Exits
“Another senior aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is leaving the Pentagon, officials said Saturday, marking at least the sixth departure of a top adviser in Hegseth’s first six months in office,” the Washington Post reports.
ICE Races to Build Migrant Tent Camps
“With an overnight tripling of its annual budget and intensifying pressure to increase deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is racing to expand its detention space with temporary tentlike structures, despite safety warnings,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Inside the Long Friendship Between Trump and Epstein
“In the swirl of money and sun-tanned women that was their Palm Beach-and-Manhattan set, Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein spent nearly 15 years mingling side-by-side as public friends,” the New York Times reports.
“There were lavish dinners with boldface names at Mr. Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side and raucous parties with cheerleaders and models at Mr. Trump’s private club and residence at Mar-a-Lago. In between, there were trips back and forth from Florida to New York on one of Mr. Epstein’s private jets.”
“But behind the tabloid glamour, questions have lingered about what Mr. Trump’s long association with Mr. Epstein says about his judgment and character, especially as his allies have stoked sinister claims about Mr. Epstein’s connections to Democrats. After their relationship ruptured, the disgraced financier ended up behind bars not just once, but two times, after being accused of engaging in sex with teenage girls.”
CNN: 5 big questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein.
Cuomo Threatens to Move to Florida If He Loses
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’ll pack his bags and flee to Florida if he loses the NYC mayoral race to socialist Zohran Mamdani, the New York Post reports.
Said Cuomo: “It’s all or nothing. We either win or even I will move to Florida. God forbid!”
Bessent Made Case to Trump Against Firing Fed Chair
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in recent days privately laid out his case to President Trump for why he believed Trump shouldn’t try to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Bessent’s reasons for avoiding a messy dispute over Powell’s final 10 months as Fed chair focused on a few themes: the possible effects on the economy and markets, the prospect that the Fed is already moving toward cutting interest rates later this year, and the likely political and legal obstacles that such a move would face.”
“Bessent said firing Powell was unnecessary because the economy is doing well and markets have responded positively to the president’s policies.”
The Chill in the Air
Brian Stelter: “President Trump’s libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal reads like a message to other news outlets: Don’t follow the Journal‘s lead.”
“Journalists in other newsrooms have been pursuing further reporting about Trump’s long-ago friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. His lawsuit is a warning to those news outlets; his $20 billion damages claim is a notice that ‘I will try to ruin you.’”
“It’s also an extraordinary escalation of Trump’s ongoing legal campaign against media companies he views as opponents.”
More to Come on Trump and Epstein
Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter who originally broke much of the Jeffrey Epstein story, said she’s heard the Wall Street Journal’s story from Thursday night about Donald Trump’s salacious letter to Epstein is just the tip of the iceberg.
Why Trump Is Struggling to Change the Narrative
Michael Kruse: “He has and always has had a real instinct for story — not just the ephemera of gossip, which he loves, but big, long-arc, animating sort of superstories, too. One of the most powerful stories in human history is us against them. And it’s been fuel for Trump’s electoral rise and rule — the notion he’s stoked that he’s an avenger for regular people who are the us set against elites and other assorted foes that make up the them.”
“The Epstein story isn’t going away (or at least wasn’t?) because it complicates this superstory. It suggests to the legions who’ve been partial to Trump that actually maybe that’s not right — that actually maybe he’s less one of us and more part of them.“
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