NBC News: “Over several days in February before the deadline for primary candidates to withdraw, White House officials peppered Alexandra Wilson with phone calls, text messages and voicemails that she recorded and shared exclusively with NBC News.”
“In the calls, White House aides first tried to entice her to leave the race with possible job options. On another call, they later warned her about the money and attacks that would follow if she didn’t.”
“Consumer confidence plunged to a record low in April as fears mounted over rising energy prices and the broader impact of the Iran war, according to a University of Michigan survey Friday,” CNBC reports.
“The university’s headline index of consumer sentiment tumbled to 47.6, down 10.7% from March to its lowest on record. Current conditions and expectations indexes also saw double-digit monthly declines.”
President Trump posted this on Truth Social this morning: “WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!”
Washington Post: “The Trump administration intends to request the release of Americans detained in Iran as part of upcoming negotiations aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war there.”
New York Times: “Google the price of oil, and you’ll most likely find two widely quoted prices for the commodity, one in the United States, the other in Europe.”
“These prices, which are constantly changing on electronic markets, suggest that although the war with Iran has made energy a lot more expensive, things are not nearly as bad as they were four years ago, after Russia invaded Ukraine.”
“But if you needed an actual tanker full of oil — and quickly — it would cost you dearly.”
CNBC: “Consumer prices spiked in March as the Iran war sent energy costs soaring and took the Federal Reserve further from its inflation target, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Underlying inflation, however, was relatively tame.”
“The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.3%, pushed by a 10.9% surge in energy costs.”
President Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone may have saved National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard from dismissal, after the president polled advisers on whether he should replace her, Axios reports.
Said a source: “Roger sealed the deal. He saved Tulsi.”
Semafor: “Nearly six in 10 Americans think they pay too much in taxes, despite the tax bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last year.”
“The share of US adults who told Gallup that their taxes are too high has remained consistent since 2023 during Joe Biden’s presidency; just 37% now say their taxes are about right, according to the March poll. And 47% say the income tax they face this year is fair, near the record low from 1999.”
President Trump told MS NOW he was not aware of beforehand that his wife, Melania, was going to hold a press conference denying any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Hunter Biden challenged Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to a cage match, Reuters reports.
“It is unclear if or when this match would happen. The White House plans to host a similar event — but with actual UFC fighters — on June 14 as part of a series of events celebrating the semiquincentennial of the United States.”
“New Jersey and national Democrats had almost grudgingly accepted that Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the states’ most prominent Trump loyalist, was untouchable,” Politico reports.
“But with President Donald Trump’s popularity plummeting, sharp swings toward Democrats in special elections around the country and Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s landslide 2025 election — along with an unpopular new artificial intelligence data center in the heart of Van Drew’s district — that may be starting to change.”
“Iran warned they won’t attend crucial peace talks with the U.S. in Pakistan tomorrow if the ceasefire doesn’t expand to Lebanon,” Politico reports.
CBS News: “The U.S. is convening hastily arranged diplomatic talks next week in Washington, D.C., in an effort to craft a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli troops have been pounding Iranian-backed Hezbollah targets with airstrikes and also killing Lebanese civilians.”
“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”
— President Trump, on Truth Social.
Punchbowl News: “The two-term incumbent senator is at risk of not even making the primary runoff, and he’s fuming at the Senate Republican establishment for not helping him enough.”
“President Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate has been unable to convert that golden-ticket endorsement into a definitive lead.”
“And a third candidate who said he ignored entreaties to drop out from people close to Trump has emerged as a real threat to win.”
“The uncertainty and chaos within just five weeks to the May 16 primary has caught the White House, Trump allies and the Republican establishment by surprise, throwing a wrench in what was supposed to be a low-drama contest. Republicans aren’t going to lose the Louisiana Senate seat, but it’s definitely not going the way GOP power players thought it would.”
Bloomberg: “Benjamin Netanyahu, by many accounts, helped push Donald Trump and the US into war.”
“Now he may be a major obstacle to the president’s effort to get out of it.”
“Long aligned by politics and personality, Trump and Bibi have different motivations on Iran. Trump appears ready to exit a fight that has damaged him politically and shaken the world economy, while Netanyahu faces sharp criticism at home for stopping too soon.”
CNBC: “Oil prices were higher on Friday amid persistent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.”
Iran enters peace negotiations with “powerful leverage” due to its control of the Strait of Hormuz, even as its military capabilities have been degraded, Bloomberg reports.
Wall Street Journal: “Tehran has said it intends to charge ships to transit the strait, weaponizing its control over the channel far into the future. It isn’t yet clear if the U.S., its Middle East allies or those in Europe and Asia that depend on energy supplies flowing through the strait will tolerate such interference in what previously was an open waterway, or how they might stop it.”
“In exploiting the economic pinch-point off its coast, Iran is following a trail blazed by the U.S. and China, which for years have used their dominance in key areas of global commerce to pursue their foreign-policy goals.”
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.