Members get an ad-free site, exclusive analysis, the private Trial Balloon podcast, real-time trending news and the full Political Wire experience.
Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
“A political battle in Alaska is intensifying over an issue that might seem ridiculous but could be important for control of Congress: How many Dan Sullivans can appear on the state’s ballot for Senate in November,” the New York Times reports.
“Dan J. Sullivan, a former teacher, was fighting on Friday to preserve his spot on the ballot to challenge Senator Dan S. Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican, after an elections official moved to disqualify him.”
“The Justice Department will not challenge Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a major hurdle for the $111 billion deal,” the New York Times reports.
“The merger would consolidate the ownership of two major movie studios; two major streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max; and two television news networks, CNN and CBS News, under the leadership of the tech scion David Ellison.”
“A coalition of state attorneys general has opened an investigation into OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest in a series of legal actions by states directed at artificial intelligence companies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“OpenAI was served Friday with a subpoena seeking documents related to a range of its activities and impact on users, including advertising, user engagement and retention, handling of consumer data and health data, activities related to minors and seniors, deep learning models, model sycophancy and company policies.”
“The artificial intelligence lab Anthropic said Friday it had shut down access to its newest and most powerful models after the U.S. government banned use of the technology by foreign nationals, citing national security concerns,” the Washington Post reports.
“The San Francisco-based company said it received a letter from the government at 5:21 p.m. informing it of the decision. Anthropic said the letter did not specify officials’ concerns, but that it was informed that the government believed there was a method of bypassing safeguards designed to neuter the ability of its Fable model to aid computer hackers.”
“Federal law enforcement officials on Thursday raided the offices of an Ohio organizing group that ran one of the state’s biggest 2024 voter registration efforts, seizing computers and other materials from the group’s Cleveland office,” the Washington Post reports.
Wall Street Journal: “As Trump approaches his 80th birthday on Sunday, he and his advisers have made a strategic decision to turn the president into an omnipresent figure in American life, drawing a contrast with his octogenarian predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump makes regular marathon appearances in the Oval Office, he answers reporters’ cold calls and he tees off on social media at all hours of the day and night.”
“The result is that Americans are seeing more of both the good and the bad of an aging president.”
“In question-and-answer sessions that sometimes last more than 30 minutes, the president spars with reporters, delivering one-liners that ripple across cable news and the internet.”
“But cameras often zoom in on his bruised hands, stooped posture and closed eyes. And he sometimes trips over his words and confuses details. He has referred to Greenland as Iceland. He has called the Strait of Hormuz the Strait of Iran. And he has mixed up recent conflicts in South America and the Middle East.”
“The Trump administration said on Friday that it would comply with a court order to restart processing asylum and other immigration applications filed by a broad swath of people who had been left in legal limbo for months,” the New York Times reports.
So far, just 9% of today’s news quiz takers have gotten every question right.
How will you do? Click here to test yourself.
“Independents have grown increasingly unhappy with President Donald Trump during his second term, a new AP-NORC polling analysis finds, particularly those without a college degree.”
“Research shows that while about half of independents without a college education had a positive view of Trump around the 2024 election, his approval with that group fell to about one-quarter this spring.”
“That shift has erased the large education gap that existed among independents in the months before Trump took office for his second term, with independents now holding similarly negative views of the president regardless of their level of education.”
For those interested, there is a live feed of Donald Trump’s name coming off the Kennedy Center.
Defeated Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt (R) isn’t going away quietly.
“After days of uncertainty and tit-for-tat military strikes, Pakistan’s prime minister said Friday that the United States and Iran have agreed to the terms a peace deal,” the Washington Post reports.
“President Trump promoted the 2026 World Cup as a historic opportunity to showcase the ‘beauty and greatness’ of America while boosting tourism revenues,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Instead, the kickoff of the first game on U.S. soil on Friday has coincided with airport detentions, visa denials, and global criticism that his hardline immigration policies are undermining America’s role as host of the world’s biggest sporting event.”
New York Times: “When the Republican Party of Texas held its convention in Houston four years ago, Gov. Greg Abbott did not deliver a speech. Instead, he held his own gathering nearby.”
“In 2024, he appeared remotely by video instead of speaking before thousands of the most hard-line Texas Republican activists.”
“But after years of keeping the gathering at arms length, Mr. Abbott is set to offer his full embrace on Friday, delivering a keynote speech for the first time since 2018 and, in the process, positioning the party’s hard right at the center of Texas politics.”
“A federal judge on Friday refused two Virginia residents’ request to block this weekend’s UFC event on the White House South Lawn, ruling they have no right to challenge the fight,” The Hill reports.
“A federal judge on Friday rejected a last-minute bid to block his order directing President Donald Trump’s name to be removed from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., CNBC reports.
Wall Street Journal: “Iran’s security and military circles centered on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had yet to sign off on President Trump’s preliminary deal to wind down the war, mediators said Friday, a potentially significant stumbling block amid rising hopes of a breakthrough to end the three-and-a-half-month conflict.”
New York Times: “Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday.”
“The tech mogul reached that milestone when shares of his rocket company SpaceX began trading on the stock market, opening at $150, signaling a new era of ultra-affluence and widening wealth inequality.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.