New York Times: “When Mitt Romney traveled to Europe as a presidential candidate in 2012, he created an uproar when he wondered aloud whether London was sufficiently prepared to host the Summer Olympics… When Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey went on a trade mission to Britain, he was roundly criticized for an errant comment about vaccinations amid a measles outbreak back home.”

“Those moments seem quaint when compared with Donald J. Trump’s news conference in Turnberry, Scotland, a day after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Over the course of 40 minutes, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee made pronouncements, predictions and asides that would have set off serious backlash for almost any other candidate.”

“To compete against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump has finally conceded, he needs more than the bare-bones campaign team that led him to primary success. Yet he’s finding that many of the GOP’s most experienced political aides just aren’t willing to work for him,” the AP reports.

“From Texas to New Hampshire, well-respected members of the Republican Party’s professional class say they can’t look past their deep personal and professional reservations about the presumptive presidential nominee.”

“There are exceptions, but many operatives who best understand the mechanics of presidential politics fear that taking a Trump paycheck might stain their resumes, spook other clients and even cause problems at home.”

“Politico reached out to all 112 members of the committee that will write the rules of the national GOP convention. This is the panel that anti-Trump activists hope to jam a proposal through to free convention delegates to spurn Trump and select another candidate instead.”

“What emerged from the survey, though, is a portrait of a committee with little interest in the dump Trump crowd. In fact, most members may be eager to stop them.”

James Hohmann: “Britain’s stunning vote to leave the European Union suggests that we’ve been seriously underestimating Donald Trump’s ability to win the presidential election.”

“When you consider all his controversies and self-inflicted wounds over the past month, combined with how much he’s getting outspent on the airwaves in the battleground states, it is actually quite surprising that Trump and Hillary Clinton are so close in the polls. He’s holding his own, especially in the Rust Belt.”

“The British campaign to exit the European Union… like Trump’s, was fueled by grievance. Those agitating to cut off formal ties to the continent were less organized and less funded than those who wanted to stay connected, but that deficit didn’t matter in the end, because the energy was against the status quo.”

First Read: “In what has to be one of the more surreal press conferences in U.S. presidential-campaign history, Donald Trump praised the British vote to leave the European Union in a place — Scotland — that overwhelming voted to remain; he said the falling British pound would be good for business; and he touted the opening of his new golf course in Scotland.”

Said Trump: “I love to see people to take their country back.”

“He said that Britain’s declining currency was good for business, including at his new golf course… One of Hillary Clinton’s greatest weaknesses is the perception that she has used her political standing to make money. But Trump overshadows that when he takes his presidential campaign to Scotland — the day after the Brexit vote — to christen a new resort/golf course and talk about how a falling currency is good for business.”

Washington Post: “The rapid series of payments — $730,637 over five days — made Left Hand the 10th biggest vendor to the Trump campaign for the entire election cycle. But why it was hired, and what work it provided, remains a mystery even to some top Trump aides.”

“The campaign’s use of the mysterious pop-up firm has surfaced at a time of financial tumult for the Trump operation, which began June low on funds and has come under scrutiny for making large reimbursements to his companies.”

Matt Bai: “We can derive at least three pretty relevant insights on the state of Trump’s candidacy from his political penury…First, as long as he has to rely on free exposure to compete with Clinton, Republican leaders should probably relinquish all hope of ever seeing a more responsible, electable version of their nominee… Second, Trump has just about wasted the small window he had, after the contested primaries and before the convention, to reassure Republican influencers and consolidate their support.”

“Trump’s so-called campaign is really just a small project in his business empire, populated by a handful of junior executives and based entirely on personal celebrity…my guess is he still wants to be president about as much as I want to be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’…  And that right there is the real problem for Republicans… They’ve allowed their party to become an elaborate prop in a tasteless stunt, used by a man who to this point shows very little seriousness of purpose… It’s not that Trump can’t win with a lot less money than his opponent. It’s that he’d probably have a lot more money if he were actually running to win.”

Donald Trump says he “will have a lot of things mastered” by the time the first presidential debate rolls around on Sept. 26, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “I must tell you, I think you and I have a little different mode. I watched Romney went into a log cabin or something and he came out and he wouldn’t talk to anybody for weeks, you know, and all of that, and then he got to the debates and he wasn’t able to speak so well. I’ve seen that, and to a certain extent, you have to be yourself. I do know the issues, I think much better than people understand that I know the issues. But I want to, obviously I will be practicing. But I don’t want to put so much practice in that all of a sudden you’re not who you are. Does that make sense to you?”

An interesting nugget from Politico:

The selection process, however, is colored by new uncertainty among Democratic donors and Clinton allies who are no longer convinced that Donald Trump is sure to be the GOP nominee. A big advantage of holding their convention second, Democrats said, was being able to make a final pick with full knowledge of the GOP ticket.

Brian Beutler: “I read this to imply a couple things. First, Clinton will have an heir and a spare in mind: Her ideal running mate to announce should Trump officially secure the GOP nomination, and a more defensive pick should Republicans somehow deny it to him. Second, and relatedly, we’re unlikely to know who her running mate will be until late July.”

New York Times: “Normally when presidential contenders travel abroad, they do so to burnish their foreign policy credentials, cramming their schedules with high-level meetings with foreign dignitaries and opining on the pressing international issues of the day.”

“But, to a large extent, Mr. Trump’s business interests still drive his behavior, and his schedule. He has planned two days in Scotland, with no meetings with government or political leaders scheduled.”

“And despite the fact that Mr. Trump touches down in Britain the day after its ‘Brexit’ vote on whether to leave the European Union, his itinerary — a helicopter landing at his luxury resort, a ceremonial ribbon cutting and family photo, and a news conference — reads like a public relations junket crossed with a golf vacation.”

“In a move that could signal a shift in Donald Trump’s combative strategy in handling the political press, the campaign allowed formerly blacklisted outlets and journalists into the candidate’s speech Wednesday morning,” BuzzFeed reports.