memeorandum: Here's How the White House Shapes Foreign Affairs Coverage (Kevin Drum/Mother Jones)

4:55 PM ET, May 6, 2016

Top Items:

Alex Pareene / Gawker:

Don't Blow This — It's Trump versus Clinton. It's a well-funded mainstream Democrat against a widely reviled demagogue who will struggle to earn the support of his party's donor base. It's a man whose every public utterance is potential negative ad waiting to be cut, versus the most cautious candidate in modern memory.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and The Stranger …

Jeb Bush / Facebook:

I congratulate Donald Trump on securing his place as the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. There is no doubt that he successfully tapped into the deep sense of anger and frustration so many Americans around the country rightfully feel today. — The tremendous anger of the current U.S. electorate …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Mother Jones, alan.com, The Atlantic, NBC News, Washington Post and USA Today

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

Republicans, Apologize to Bill Clinton — Upon arrival in Washington, DC in January of 1993, Bill and Hillary Clinton found themselves in a never ending independent counsel investigation. The investigation began over a land deal that was known as Whitewater.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Tom LoBianco / CNN:

First on CNN: Cheney says he will support Trump — Washington (CNN)Former Vice President Dick Cheney will support Donald Trump, he told CNN Friday, an important move as the presumptive Republican nominee is encountering intense resistance from senior members of his own party.

New York Times:

Sheldon Adelson Says He Will Support Donald Trump — The casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson said on Thursday night that he would support Donald J. Trump now that he has become the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. — “Yes, I'm a Republican, he's a Republican,” Mr. Adelson said in a brief interview.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Taylor Marsh, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Politico, USA Today, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Guardian, JP Updates, CNN, Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Wall Street Journal, Donald J. Trump and ABC News

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Donald Trump agrees to meet with Paul Ryan ‘before we go our separate ways’ … Likely Republican nominee Donald Trump disagrees with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus's characterization of a conversation they had on Thursday about House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) not yet being ready to support Trump.

Discussion: Politico

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

‘Dismayed’ Romney says he doesn't intend to back Trump, worried about ‘demagoguery and populism’ — Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, said at a dinner in Washington on Thursday night that he had no intention of supporting presumtive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump …

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, FiveThirtyEight, Talking Points Memo, Western Journalism, The Federalist, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Independent Journal … and BizPac Review

Nick Gass / Politico:

Priebus on Trump: 'He's trying' — Reince Priebus is a man under siege. He has a presumptive nominee who has scorched the earth. He has a House speaker so far refusing to accept the GOP's new standard-bearer. And he has knee-knocking candidates across the country worried their party is being driven off a cliff.

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Althouse and The Hill

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Election analyst flips 11 states toward Democrats due to Trump — The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has shifted 11 states on its election scorecard toward Democrats since Donald Trump — became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. — “This has been an exceedingly unpredictable year,” the analyst said.

Discussion: Hot Air, NBC News, Balloon Juice and The Cook Political Report

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Graham: I won't vote for Trump … (R-S.C.) on Friday said he would not vote for Donald Trump — Graham, who was slated to appear on CNN at 2 p.m. to discuss his decision, is the highest GOP office holder so far to rule out voting for Trump. — Other Republicans, such as Sen. Ben Sasse …

Discussion: CNN and RedState

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Paul Ryan's primary opponent: I'll support Trump

Discussion: The Last Refuge

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:
Yo, Hillary: Hit Donald Where It Hurts

Discussion: TIME

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:
Reince Priebus on Donald Trump's Taco Tweet: 'He's Trying'

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Willamette Week, The Atlantic, Politico, NY1 News, Washington Post, LAist, Business Insider, Scott Adams Blog and Trail Blazers Blog

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Neither Clinton Nor Trump

Discussion: National Review

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Donald Trump Seeks Republican Unity but Finds Rejection

Discussion: Washington Post, Red Alert Politics, Chicagoist, Chicago Tribune, Western Journalism, Mashable and National Review

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump camp suggests Ryan unfit to be speaker

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, Forbes and Sky Dancing

Mary Troyan / USA Today:
Sen. Bob Corker says he'll advise Donald Trump on foreign policy

Discussion: RedState

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
What does Paul Ryan want from Donald Trump?

Discussion: Hot Air

Matea Gold / Washington Post:
Trump turns to general election — and away from past positions

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, The Week, The Daily Beast, New York Times, Raw Story, zerohedge.com/fullrss2 …, CANNONFIRE and Bloomberg

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Trump tells West Virginians not to vote in Tuesday's primary

Discussion: New York Magazine, RedState, Western Journalism and BuzzFeed

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Paul Ryan Spoils Trump's Victory by Withholding Endorsement

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Bloomberg.com:
Why GOP Strategist Mary Matalin Is Registering as a Libertarian

Discussion: Hit & Run, Western Journalism, New York Times, FOX News Radio, AOL, Liberty Unyielding, BizPac Review, Politico and Political Wire

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The ideological earthquake and the aftermath

Discussion: Power Line and Orange County Register

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Donald Trump's Idea to Cut National Debt: Get Creditors to Accept Less — One day after assuring Americans he is not running for president “to make things unstable for the country,” the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, said in a television interview Thursday that he might seek …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Hot Air, Business Insider, The Week, Zero Hedge, Vox, Western Journalism, The Hayride, rubber hose and Balloon Juice

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

This Is Astounding — So many stories in presidential politics, in all politics, are more sound and fury than substance. This one isn't. It's hard to overstate how big a deal it is. Donald Trump caught a lot of grief during the primaries for putting several of his companies through bankruptcies during his career.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Times and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Thomas E. Ricks / Foreign Policy:

A stunning profile of Ben Rhodes, the a**hole who is the president's foreign policy guru — The profile of one Ben Rhodes running in Sunday's New York Times Magazine is not unsympathetic, which makes it all the more devastating. — Perhaps the key sentence is this: “His lack …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Heat Street, Israel Matzav, Unfogged, Liberty Unyielding, Washington Free Beacon, Clayton Cramer and EconLog

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Here's How the White House Shapes Foreign Affairs Coverage

Discussion: New York Post, the daily howler, The Daily Caller and Front Page Magazine

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
White House admits it played us for fools to sell Iran deal

Discussion: The Atlantic, Rush Limbaugh, The Lid, Mediaite, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Front Page Magazine, Israel Matzav, Instapundit and New York Times

Lee Smith / Weekly Standard:
Obama's Foreign Policy Guru Boasts of How the Administration Lied to Sell the Iran Deal

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, Hot Air, Instapundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Free Beacon

Andrew Prokop / Vox:

The political scientist who saw Trump's rise coming — Norm Ornstein on why the Republican Party was ripe for a takeover, what the media missed, and whether Trump could win the presidency. — In the summer of 2015, most of the political world still thought Donald Trump's candidacy was a joke.

Discussion: New York Times and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:

One killed, others injured in shootings at Md. mall, grocery store … Three people were shot in the parking lot at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda on Friday morning and authorities are investigating whether the assailant is a man believed to have shot and killed his wife outside a Maryland school Thursday evening.

Discussion: Shakesville and Washingtonian

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Sanders accuses DNC of tipping convention toward Clinton — Bernie Sanders is accusing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of trying to tip the party convention in Hillary Clinton's favor, saying the chairwoman has packed the committees with Clinton supporters.

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, U.S. Uncut, The Week and Mediaite

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama on Trump: ‘This is not a reality show’ … President Obama on Friday urged the news media to closely scrutinize Donald Trump — 's record and past comments, and avoid coverage that highlights “the spectacle and the circus” of the campaign trail. — Obama previewed his role …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Charles Thompson / PennLive.com:

Child told Paterno of sex abuse in 1976, court papers allege — Court documents state that “in 1976, a child allegedly reported to PSU's Head Coach Joseph Paterno that he (the child) was sexually molested by Sandusky.” … A new bombshell dropped in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal Thursday.

Discussion: Daily Kos, CollegeFootballTalk, NBC News, New York Magazine, Independent Journal …, 6, The Week, Balloon Juice, WJHL, CBS New York, The Big Lead, Associated Press, Mashable, Complex, CNN and WCMH-TV

Will Fitzgibbon / The Panama Papers:

Panama Papers Source Offers Documents To Governments, Hints At More To Come — Source known only as John Doe says income inequality “one of the defining issues of our time” and calls on governments to address it. — Reading time: — The anonymous whistleblower behind the Panama Papers …