New York Times: “President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin say they plan to meet in Hungary in the coming weeks, but a potentially major roadblock stands in the way. To get there, Mr. Putin will need to pass through airspace over European countries that belong to the International Criminal Court.”
“And that court has a warrant out for the Russian leader’s arrest.”
Andy Kroll: “Russell Vought is using the White House budget office to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy—firing workers, decimating agencies, and testing the rule of law.”
Out next week: Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America by Jonathan Karl.
“This is a story of unprecedented political plot twists, showing what happened behind the scenes as political fortunes fell and rose again, and as a new team coalesced around President Trump with the goal of creating an entirely new world order.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) “has nearly double the war chest of Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas’ Senate GOP primary after the third fundraising quarter of the year — though in the latest flare-up between the two, neither can agree on which funds count,” the Texas Tribune reports.
A new poll finds Britain’s Labour Party tied with the Greens at 15%, way behind the Reform Party at 32% and the Conservatives at 17%, the Telegraph reports.
The Economist: “It is increasingly likely that governments will… resort to inflation and financial repression to reduce the real value of their high debts, as they did in the decades after the second world war. The machinery for such a strategy is in place at central banks, which have a large footprint in bond markets. Already, populists such as Mr Trump and Nigel Farage in Britain attack their country’s central banks with proposals that would weaken the defenses against inflation.”
“Price rises are unpopular—just ask the hapless Joe Biden—but they do not need political support to get going. Nobody voted for them in the 1970s or in 2022. When governments cannot get their act together, and run economic policies that are unsustainable, bouts of inflation just happen. By the time markets wake up, it is too late.”
“This is asinine. The very people who say the administration has too much power continue to give it to them. I am over this childish behavior.”
— Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), quoted by Semafor, after another failed vote to end the government shutdown.
New York Times: “Even as Mr. Putin has pounded Ukrainian cities and waged grinding warfare in the country’s east, he has invested dozens of hours into flattering Mr. Trump, dangling the prospect of Russian-American business deals and sending the message that Russia is open to talks to end its invasion.”
“The tactic has helped Mr. Putin head off repeated deadlines and sanctions threats by the American president without curtailing Russia’s war effort.”
The new Fifty Plus One polling averages show Abigail Spanberger (D) leading the Virginia governor’s race by 10 points and has Mikie Sherrill (D) leading the New Jersey governor’s race by 6 points.
Meanwhile, G. Elliot Morris explains how partisan polls can increase the bias of these averages.
China’s second-ranked military general has become the latest in a series of top brass to come under investigation for corruption, the South China Morning Post reports.
President Trump said the government shutdown had given him license to eliminate “a $20 billion project” in Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s home state of New York, without specifying which one, Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “We’re cutting Democrat programs that we didn’t want because, I mean, they made one mistake, they didn’t realize that. That gives me the right to cut programs that Republicans never wanted, you know, giveaways, welfare programs, etc.”
“Members of Congress are growing incensed with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, claiming that necessary government contracts are being slow-walked and that her office has become difficult to communicate with,” NOTUS reports.
“This frustration among the Republican conference on the Hill has made its way to both GOP leadership and administration officials, sources told NOTUS. It’s reaching a boiling point.”
Podcaster Joe Rogan ripped into President Trump’s deployment of troops onto the streets of U.S. cities, warning that it could have serious long-term consequences, the Daily Beast reports.
He added: “The military in the street, I think, is a dangerous precedent.”
“There’s a shutdown in D.C., clashes in Chicago, and economic worries bubbling up all over the country — but at the moment, President Trump seems more focused on Gaza, Ukraine and Venezuela,” Axios reports.
“Trump’s foreign policy focus — and the peace deals he has secured — is the stuff of presidential legacy building. But the globe-trotting risks blurring his America First’ brand.”
Los Angeles Times: How Rubio is winning over Trumpworld on striking Venezuela.
“Most people think I’ve got the shittiest job in America, but I feel like I’ve got the best job in America.”
— DNC chair Ken Martin, quoted by Politico.
ProPublica: “The government doesn’t track how many citizens are held by immigration agents. We found more than 170 cases this year where citizens were detained at raids and protests.”
“More than 20 citizens have reported being held for over a day without being able to call their loved ones or a lawyer. In some cases their families couldn’t find them.”
Punchbowl News: “It’s true that there are House Republicans eager to extend the enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits. A significant number of them.”
“It’s also true that when Republicans are being honest, they’ll admit privately that if Congress fails to extend the credits and premiums skyrocket for millions of Americans, the GOP will be to blame.”
“But here’s another truth: House Republican leadership really doesn’t want to extend these tax credits. And their view is only hardening as the shutdown drags on.”
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.