“How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized in the United States is something our descendants will study in school, to the shame of our generation.”
— Christian Today editor Russell Moore, quoted by Mediaite, blasting President Trump’s comments on the murder of director Rob Reiner and his wife.
President Trump has taken action classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” as his administration escalates efforts to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the United States, USA Today reports.
Wall Street Journal: “Jared Kushner pulled out of a planned Trump-branded development in Belgrade after the project sparked protests and the indictment of a senior Serbian politician. On Monday, a special prosecutor indicted a cabinet minister and three other officials over the project, a planned trio of towers in a central Belgrade site once bombed by NATO…”
“It was an abrupt end to an increasingly controversial project that Kushner — now both a public figure and a prolific dealmaker — has worked on for more than two years.”
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“Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
— Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), on X.
Barack Obama told House Democrats at an event that as they focus on trying to win control of the House of Representatives, they should not get caught up in ideological differences within the party and can “sort through” them later, ABC News reports.
ProPublica: “For four weeks, they had been working overtime to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, freezing thousands of programs, including ones that provided food, water and medicine around the world. They’d culled USAID’s staff and abandoned its former headquarters in the stately Ronald Reagan Building, shunting the remnants of the agency to what was once an overflow space in a glass-walled commercial office above Nordstrom Rack and a bank.”
“There, the crew of newly minted political figures told the office manager to create a moat of 90 empty desks around them so no one could hear them talk. They ignored questions and advice from career staff with decades of experience in the field…”
“In a corner conference room, it was time to party. They traded congratulatory speeches and cut into a sheet cake.”
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) announced that he will seek reelection, ending months of speculation about whether he would join other GOP incumbents leaving Congress, the Detroit News reports.
Politico: “The decision keeps an incumbent in place for a competitive seat that both parties were watching closely for word from Huizenga.”
“I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the President of the United States. Can the president be presidential?”
— Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), on CNN, talking about President Trump’s reaction to the murder of filmmaker Rob Reiner.
“Two days of intense negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S. and European officials resulted in clear progress on security guarantees for Ukraine but left significant gaps on the issue of territory,” Axios reports.
“The U.S. side wants to finalize a deal with Ukraine that they can turn around and present to the Russians. The two main friction points during several weeks of talks have been the security guarantees Ukraine would receive from the U.S. and its European allies, and the location of the post-war lines of control.”
The full House will get a classified briefing late Tuesday morning on the Trump administration’s ongoing military actions in the Caribbean and Pacific, Punchbowl News reports.
The closed-door session will follow an all-senators classified briefing at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
“California Democrats have a math problem: They’ve added so many candidates in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom that two Republicans could end up winning the state’s quirky ‘jungle primary,’ shutting the Democrats out,” Politico reports.
“A Democratic wipeout is still unlikely. But the prospect of a humiliating pile-up, with no clear powerbroker to act as traffic cop, has put the state’s political class increasingly on edge with each new entrant into the field.”
“Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 House Democratic leader, will face a challenge from the left in 2026,” Politico reports.
“Jonathan Paz, an organizer and former Waltham city councilor, announced his campaign against Clark, the Democratic whip, in a video posted late Sunday night emphasizing the need to ‘rebuild’ the Democratic party.”
“Russia has indicated it’s open to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of a potential peace deal aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine, and there’s now consensus on about 90% of the U.S.-authored peace plan,” the AP reports.
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds 66% of Americans disapprove and 15% approve of the pardon of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife, who had been charged with accepting $600,000 in bribes.
And 66% disapprove and 13% approve of the pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison
Ed Kilgore: “If his current grumpiness about public opinion persists or even intensifies, Trump would not be the first leader to be undone by the sense that his country didn’t deserve him. It is, in fact, an occupational hazard for those who view themselves as world-historical figures instead of mere elected officials with limited horizons, operating within constitutional boundaries.”
“Given his famous unmanageability, it may be vain for Trump’s advisers to urge him to admit some shortcomings in his policies and show some empathy for those who believe they are suffering in this greatest of all moments in U.S. history. It’s going to be a long three years if he simply cannot adjust to adverse public opinion and grows contemptuous of the people whose adulation he believes he has earned.”
A new NBC News Decision Desk survey shows that 53% of adults have changed their grocery-buying habits to stay within budget, while 55% have cut back on entertainment and “extras” so that they can afford life’s necessities.
“Two peace agreements that President Donald Trump took credit for brokering are under severe strain,” the Washington Post reports.
“Violent clashes have intensified on the Thailand-Cambodia border and between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.”
President Trump asserted that filmmaker Rob Reiner’s very public opposition to him was the real cause of his murder.
Said Trump: “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Chris Cillizza: “Trump’s response to Rob Reiner’s death proves he is a bad, bad person.”
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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