Steve Bannon said Republicans have to stop shying away from town halls in order to sell President Trump’s megalaw, Politico reports.
Bannon said Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune “should cancel all overseas junkets for members and force them to have town halls, meet and greets, editorial board meetings — anything to get the word out on the BBB.”
He added: “The 2026 midterms have started, and the Republicans are letting down the president.”
“Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook is the latest target of one of the Trump administration’s new pathways to pursue its perceived enemies: alleged mortgage fraud,” Axios reports.
“Trump has waged a revenge tour from his seat in the White House, with prominent members of his grudge list now facing probes from a MAGA-aligned DOJ.”
“If the accusation against Cook evoked a sense of déjà vu, that’s because the Trump administration is also investigating Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on similar grounds.”
“Democratic Party officials are quietly battling over which state will be the first to vote in the 2028 presidential primary — a fight that’s set to break into the open next week, when the officials meet in Minneapolis,” Axios reports.
“Nevada, New Hampshire, and Michigan are currently the frontrunners to be ‘the new Iowa,’ and lead off the 2028 Democratic primary season.”
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“Israel on Wednesday approved new settlements in the West Bank and announced that it was moving ahead with plans to take over Gaza City, bucking international criticism and defying growing support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state,” the New York Times reports.
“The moves raised questions about whether a new cease-fire proposal — which officials have said is similar to terms that Israel previously endorsed — could move forward.”
“Experts said the two moves suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was bending to the ideologies of extremists in his coalition in order to remain in power — even at the cost of isolating Israel internationally.”
“Six months ago, President Trump said the European Union was formed to screw America. On Monday, he lavished praise on European leaders as they gathered around a table at the White House to discuss the war in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“He complimented German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s tan, told EU chief Ursula von der Leyen she was perhaps the most powerful of his guests at the table and described 57-year-old Finnish President Alexander Stubb as young and powerful.”
“The change in tone is the outcome of big, painful concessions Europe has made to Trump on trade and military spending. It is also the result of careful study, European officials say.”
“A close adviser to Mayor Eric Adams was suspended from his re-election campaign on Wednesday after giving a journalist cash tucked inside a potato chip bag,” the New York Times reports.
“The Justice Department is demanding that hospitals turn over a wide range of sensitive information related to medical care for young transgender patients, including billing documents, communication with drug manufacturers and data such as patient dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses,” the Washington Post reports.
“The subpoena, as well as public statements by Bondi’s chief of staff, indicate the federal government is attempting to build cases against medical providers that allege they may have violated civil and criminal statutes while providing care that was legal in their states.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones sounded the alarm on President Trump’s health, Mediaite reports.
Said Jones: “His ankles look like they’re about 15 inches around. That’s not a good sign for the heart, and the rest of the body.”
He added: “We have a crisis.”
French president Emanuel Macron said he was compelled to sue Candace Owens over her baseless claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man, the Times of London reports.
Said Macron: “It’s a matter of defending my honour.”
He added: “They advised us not to sue. But it has taken on such magnitude in the United States that we had to act.
“A former top City Hall advisor and current campaign confidante to Mayor Eric Adams attempted to give money to a reporter from The City following a campaign event in Harlem Wednesday,” The City reports.
“The failed payoff — a wad of cash in a red envelope stuffed inside an opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips — was made by Winnie Greco, a longtime Adams ally who resigned last year from her position as the mayor’s liaison to the Asian community after she was targeted in multiple investigations.“
“Less than 24 hours after the White House launched a TikTok page, its videos have been inundated with comments about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Donald Trump was emphatic on the campaign trail in 2016: If he made it into office, he would ‘drain the swamp’ with an expansive ethics package cracking down on lobbying. Most of those proposals quickly went by the wayside. On the campaign trail again almost a year ago, Trump decried Washington’s revolving door as a ‘big problem,’” CNN reports.
“Now, barely a half-year into his second administration, a handful of senior White House aides are already heading for the exits — and right through the revolving door between the federal government and K Street, where they’re lining up cushy lobbying gigs.”
“North Korea has a heavily fortified, covert military base that could house its newest long-range ballistic missiles, which are potentially capable of striking the U.S. mainland,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Republican-led Texas House on Wednesday approved a new congressional map crafted to hand five additional U.S. House seats to the GOP over fierce opposition from Democrats, who cast the plan as a racially discriminatory attempt by President Donald Trump to stack the deck in next year’s midterm election,” the Texas Tribune reports.
“The House adopted the map, 88 to 52, along party lines. A Senate panel advanced a similar map Sunday, and the full chamber was expected to send the new lines to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk later this week.”
New York Times: “The redrawing of Texas’ map was only the first battle in what is likely to be a bruising and protracted coast-to-coast clash over redistricting between states led by Republicans and those led by Democrats over the coming months.”
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson hammered the Trump administration, particularly Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, for suggesting the government take a large share of chip maker Intel, Mediaite reports.
Said Erickson: “Well, there you have it. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary. He’s the genius behind the aggressive tariffs, also now appears to be the genius behind the socialism that he wants the Trump administration to embrace.”
“Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook signaled her intention to remain at the central bank in defiance of calls for her resignation by President Donald Trump over allegations of mortgage fraud,” Bloomberg reports,
Said Cook: “I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
Ed Kilgore: “It’s possible Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to ‘federalize’ law enforcement in Washington, D.C., was just a one-off power grab, reflecting the federal government’s unique control of the capital city and Trump’s own obsession with Washington as a symbol of the American greatness he claims to be restoring. In other words, maybe he took over D.C. because he could.”
“But the exotic and rather fascistic appearance of National Guard units on the streets of Washington absent a riot or some other historically relevant pretext makes you wonder if the 47th president has something far worse in store.”
“Most citizens in Washington D.C. are Black. This is not a city that has had any safety for its Black citizens for generations, and President Trump is the one who is fixing that. So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies. They all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old.”
— White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, quoted by USA Today, on protesters angry with the federal takeover of D.C. police.
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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