Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she could win either the Georgia governor’s race or Senate primary if she chooses to run, NewsNation reports.
Said Greene: “The polling shows I can win the governor’s primary or I can win the Senate primary. That’s a choice that I can make, and I’ll give it some thought.”
“SpaceX has been granted permission by the Federal Aviation Administration to launch and land its massive Starship rockets and Super Heavy boosters up to 25 times per year from the company’s Starbase spaceport in Texas,” CNBC reports.
The Guardian: Trump to stop research into space pollution, in boon to Elon Musk.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg roasted Education Secretary Linda McMahon for confusing artificial intelligence development as “A1” as he torched President Donald Trump’s cabinet as incompetent, Mediaite reports.
McMahon repeatedly referred to AI as “A1” multiple times while speaking at an education summit in San Diego.
Said Buttigieg: “Like I love A1 Steak Sauce, but A1 steak sauce is not one of the most important things confronting humanity right now. Artificial intelligence is. And somebody who doesn’t understand that probably should not be leading an important federal agency.”
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“I was going to be in Switzerland to negotiate with the Swiss. Turns out the Chinese team is traveling through Europe, and they will be in Switzerland also. So we will meet on Saturday and Sunday.”
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, quoted by Politico, attempting to portray a high-level meeting with the Chinese on trade as coincidence.
“There has been a mantra spreading among weary corporate executives who are becoming resigned to President Trump’s tariffs while still hoping to avoid the worst of their effects: Ten percent is the new zero,” the New York Times reports.
“The statement refers to the 10 percent tariff that Mr. Trump put in place on most U.S. imports one month ago. Such a significant increase in U.S. tariffs would have been unthinkable a few years ago. But it no longer seems like such a big deal, compared with the truly large tariffs that Mr. Trump has already imposed or threatened elsewhere.”
“The conclave to choose the next pope is set to begin Wednesday, with cardinals from around the world gathering in the Vatican to partake in the centuries-old tradition,” the Washington Post reports.
“Cardinal electors will withdraw in the afternoon to the Sistine Chapel to pray, deliberate and cast votes in a secret ballot. They will remain sequestered until the new leader of the Catholic Church is selected.”
“When a successor to Pope Francis is chosen by at least a two-thirds majority, a billow of white smoke from a purpose-built chimney will announce the moment to crowds amassed in St. Peter’s Square and more than a billion Catholics around the world.”
Playbook: “Gloriously, it takes as long as it takes. Could be a couple of days; could be a couple of years. And every ballot paper is burned, and every cardinal sworn to secrecy. Can you imagine the conversations happening inside that room?”
CNN: Here’s how it will unfold.
“The U.S. DOGE Service is racing to build a single centralized database with vast troves of personal information about millions of U.S. citizens and residents, a campaign that often violates or disregards core privacy and security protections meant to keep such information safe,” the Washington Post reports.
“Andy Beshear isn’t just saying he ‘would consider’ running for president. He’s actively laying the tracks for a potential 2028 campaign,” Politico reports.
“He’s meeting privately with donors, recording a podcast and regularly popping up at national events. A former Kamala Harris communications staffer is consulting for him, and he’s speaking at the Future Forward donor summit this weekend in California.“
“The selling point for Beshear, the popular, two-term governor of Kentucky, is his proven ability to win in Trump country while still running as an unapologetic Democrat. But he’s also done that by flying under the national radar, leaving him in a relative obscurity that he must now overcome.”
Joe Biden told the BBC that pressure from the Trump administration on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia is “modern-day appeasement.”
He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin believed Ukraine was part of Russia and “anybody that thinks he’s going to stop” if some territory is conceded as part of a peace deal “is just foolish.”
Biden also hit out against Trump’s aggressive rhetoric toward Panama, Greenland and Canada: “What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity — not about confiscation.”
“The nation’s most influential anti-abortion groups have a new plan to roll back access to the procedure for millions of Americans in what they’re calling the ‘biggest opportunity for the pro-life movement’ since toppling Roe v. Wade,” Politico reports.
“The effort, which the groups have privately named ‘Rolling Thunder,’ is the movement’s first concerted attempt under the second Trump administration to target abortion pills, and aims to convince the FDA, Congress and courts to crack down on their use.”
“President Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the U.S. will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia,“ the AP reports.
“Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf.”
“The Trump administration is planning to transport a group of immigrants to Libya on a U.S. military plane, another sharp escalation in a deportation program that has sparked widespread legal challenges and intense political debate,” the New York Times reports.
“The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately clear, but a flight to Libya carrying the deportees could leave as soon as Wednesday.”
“Members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet said Tuesday that while they look forward to the United States’ co-hosting next year’s FIFA World Cup, they want to make sure foreign visitors don’t stay longer than they’re allowed,” NBC News reports.
“The quadrennial tournament, which the United States will host alongside Mexico and Canada, is expected to attract millions of fans from dozens of countries. The Department of Homeland Security has indicated it’s ready to handle the influx of international travelers.”
“Former president George W. Bush is not expected to attend a Thursday event at the White House honoring his late mother,” the Washington Post reports.
“First lady Melania Trump is hosting the event in the East Room, where she will unveil a postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, the wife of President George H.W. Bush. Other Bush family members and friends are expected to attend.”
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week to discuss economic and trade matters,“ CNBC reports.
“The meetings appear to be a major step toward Washington and Beijing beginning negotiations to potentially resolve an ongoing trade war ignited by President Donald Trump.”
Bloomberg: “It will be the first confirmed trade talks between the countries since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs, led by punishing levies on China.”
“The U.S. is stepping up its intelligence-gathering efforts regarding Greenland, drawing America’s spying apparatus into President Trump’s campaign to take over the island,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Several high-ranking officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a ‘collection emphasis message’ to intelligence-agency heads last week. They were directed to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and attitudes on American resource extraction on the island.”
“Everyone says ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?’ We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now if we wanted to. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want our market. We don’t want a piece of their market. We don’t care about their market.”
— President Trump, quoted by the New York Times, on trade deals his administration is supposedly negotiating.
CNBC: “58 wallets have made over $10 million each from President Donald Trump’s meme coin, totaling $1.1 billion in profits, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said.”
“764,000 wallets of mostly small holders have lost money on $TRUMP.”
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.
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