“The British royals will display their unrivalled soft power when Donald Trump visits Britain next week, seeking to mollify the U.S. President as few others can,” Reuters reports.
“Once head of the largest empire in history, the British monarch’s main diplomatic job now is to schmooze and dazzle world leaders like Trump at grand state occasions in the hope that they will look upon Britain favourably.”
President Trump’s appearance at a Yankees game yesterday and the U.S. Open last weekend is part of his effort to become a cultural figure rather than just a political figure, which he knows “will expand his legacy,” the Washington Post reports.
Former President Joe Biden is having trouble collecting donations for a potential presidential library, NBC News reports.
Democratic donors “cited a range of factors, from not wanting to make themselves a target of the White House to holding their financial firepower for the party’s future. Some cited personal interactions with Biden’s inner circle as being so distasteful they believed it would be a barrier to ever raising significant funds for the 46th president of the United States.”
“Gold has eclipsed its inflation-adjusted peak set more than 45 years ago, as growing anxiety about the U.S.’s economic trajectory takes bullion’s blistering three-year bull run deeper into uncharted territory,” Bloomberg reports.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Punchbowl News that he believes Democrats have made the decision to force a government shutdown, a stunning analysis with less than 20 days until the spending deadline.
Said Thune: “think they see it as politically advantageous to have a shutdown.”
He added: “I think their base is clamoring for that. They want a fight with the Trump administration. But they don’t have a good reason to do it. And I don’t intend to give them a good reason to do it.”
Associated Press: Schumer warns of a shutdown if Republicans don’t accept Democrats’ health care demands.
A new Texas Public Opinion Research poll finds Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) leading primary challenger Ken Paxton (R), 35% to 26%.
An additional 29% said they were undecided in the race.
President Trump told reporters that Charlie Kirk was “an advocate of nonviolence,” which he said was “the way I like to see people,” Politico reports.
And yet, Trump also said “we just have to beat the hell” out of “radical left lunatics.”
Associated Press: “Investigators obtained clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they had yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing they were treating as the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States across the ideological spectrum.”
“The photos of a person in a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt, with a backpack, as well as a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest suggested that law enforcement thought tips from the public might be needed to crack the case.”
CNN reports video captured by a house camera near the university appears to show “a person matching the description and images of the suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk walking on a residential street before the shooting.”
“Hakeem Jeffries is presenting himself as a hard-charging leader of his party, pushing a crash blue-state redistricting program to counter President Donald Trump’s moves to add Republican seats in Texas, Missouri and elsewhere,” Politico reports.
“But behind the scenes, the House minority leader is encountering the limits of his power — and the credibility of Democrats’ counterattack. Just this week, some Illinois lawmakers sent Jeffries a clear message they were not interested in pursuing a redraw that could dilute their districts with additional GOP votes. And in his home state of New York, state and party officials have all but rejected his suggestion they draw a new map, saying it’s not legally possible ahead of the midterms.”
“CBS’s new corporate owner has taken a series of concrete steps to address the concerns of the news division’s sharpest critics — particularly President Trump and his allies,” NPR reports.
CNN: “The effort by Trump’s allies to get Adams to drop his reelection bid, helping Andrew Cuomo consolidate the opposition to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, appears to have all but collapsed for now.”
Fast Company: “In a White House statement mourning Kirk’s death, many viewers focused less on the president’s words than on the video itself. The high-contrast footage was scrutinized for evidence that it had been manipulated by artificial intelligence, and some viewers claimed they found undeniable proof.”
“At one point in the clip, Trump’s left pinky finger appears to merge with the others as he clasps his hands on the desk. Conspiracy theorists have seized on this, arguing it showed the president as proof that Trump didn’t make the statement at all, or that it was highly doctored.”
“Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) is preparing for a confrontation with President Donald Trump over government funding, insisting that Democrats will not vote to avert an Oct. 1 shutdown unless Republicans agree to reverse some of Trump’s policies,” the Washington Post reports.
“Schumer declared Thursday that Democrats would reject Republicans’ proposal to fund the government unless the GOP made concessions on health care, echoing an argument that he and House Democratic leaders made publicly earlier this week.”
“America may be getting too dangerous for politics,” CNN reports.
“The assassination of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to youthful conservatives, has stirred such a sense of shock that some lawmakers are now rethinking the kind of freewheeling, outdoor campaigning that his barnstorming college tours were meant to preserve.”
“President Donald Trump’s obsession with winning the Nobel Peace Prize next month may have hit a hitch – the stubborn independence of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which insisted that it cannot be swayed,” the South China Morning Post reports.
“President Trump’s team began tightening security as shock and anger reverberated through the White House following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Trump loves to boast about his singular ability to control global events and leaders, but there are two notable exceptions: his ally Benjamin Netanyahu and his nominal adversary, Vladimir Putin,” Axios reports.
“The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have been the two dominant global crises of Trump’s second term, but despite his promises to end both wars, he’s seemed doubtful lately about his ability to influence the men prolonging them.”
“Trump has conceded to confidants that he misjudged Putin’s desire for peace, but he rejects the notion he’s being manipulated by Netanyahu.”
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.