memeorandum: A Trump Victory Is a Scary Thought. A Disputed Loss Might Be Scarier. (Jamelle Bouie/Slate)

1:45 PM ET, August 3, 2016

Top Items:

Trump Allies Plot Candidate Intervention After Disastrous 48 Hours — Key Republicans close to Donald Trump's orbit are plotting an intervention with the candidate after a disastrous 48 hours led some influential voices in the party to question whether Trump can stay at the top …

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Washington Post, Hot Air, Politicus USA, Political Wire and Business Insider

Jonathan Karl / ABC News:

Senior GOP Officials Exploring Options if Trump Drops Out — Republican officials are exploring how to handle a scenario that would be unthinkable in a normal election year: What would happen if the party's presidential nominee dropped out? — ABC News has learned that senior party officials …

Discussion: Bloomberg.com, WTVR-TV, Daily Wire, FOX31 Denver and The Right Scoop

John Harwood / CNBC:

Ally of Trump staffer Paul Manafort: The staff is ‘suicidal,’ he's mailing it in — Donald Trump's behavior in recent days, from criticizing the parents of a fallen American soldier to declining to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, has strained the nerves of his campaign staff as he falls behind in the polls.

Discussion: RedState, Business Insider, Washington Post, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, CANNONFIRE, Taylor Marsh and Politicus USA

CNN:

Sources: Trump-world frustrated by their candidate — (CNN)Donald Trump aides and people close to his campaign are increasingly frustrated by his insistence on waging various fights that steer him off message. — Sources close to the campaign are describing a series of missteps that are trailing …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Post, Washington Post, Booman Tribune and Political Wire

NBC News:

GOP Reels After Unprecedented 24 Hours From Trump — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — GOP, Trump go from ‘unraveling’ to ‘break glass’ mode

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite and Slate

Washington Post:

Donald Trump transcript: The Republican nominee in his own words — Republican nominee Donald Trump sat down with The Post's Philip Rucker for an interview at Trump National Golf Club on Aug. 2 following a rally at a nearby high school. This is a lightly edited transcript of the 50-minute interview.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Daily Kos, Althouse, Mediaite, Daily Wire and Political Wire

John Harwood / CNBC:

Former top Gingrich ally calls Trump nom ‘mistake of historic proportions’ — Vin Weber, a key early lieutenant in the Newt Gingrich revolution that transformed the U.S. House of Representatives and the GOP, rejected the candidacy of Donald Trump on Wednesday as “a mistake of historic proportions” for his party.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Nick Gass / Politico:

Gingrich blasts Trump's ‘very self-destructive’ behavior — Donald Trump's behavior over the past week has been “very self-destructive” to his campaign, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday, comparing the Republican nominee to a Hall of Fame quarterback who is in the midst of an interception-throwing slump.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Meg Whitman, Calling Donald Trump a ‘Demagogue,’ Will Support Hillary Clinton for President — Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Mashable, Washington Post, TheStreet.com, The Verge, The Week, New York Magazine, CBS San Francisco, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Politico, Business Insider, NBC News, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad, Shakesville, CNN and CBS New York

Katy Tur / NBC News:
RNC Chairman Priebus ‘Apoplectic’ Over Trump's Refusal to Endorse Ryan

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Reports: Priebus ‘Apoplectic,’ Trump Aides ‘Suicidal’ After String Of Blunders

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, twitchy.com, Little Green Footballs and Raw Story

Ivan Levingston / CNBC:
What happens if a candidate—say Donald Trump—drops out of the presidential race

Discussion: RedState, BizPac Review and Talking Points Memo

Martinlongman / Washington Monthly:
With Trump, Every Day is a New Buffet

Discussion: Washington Post, Booman Tribune and NBC News

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Ignoring Advice, Donald Trump Presses Attack on Khan Family and G.O.P. Leaders

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, whorunsGov, Washington Post, Hit & Run, The Colorado Independent, New York Magazine, Slate, Politico, Guardian, Media Matters for America, USA Today, CANNONFIRE, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Trump denies asking why nukes aren't used — 's presidential campaign denied a report on Wednesday that the Republican presidential nominee had three times asked a foreign policy adviser why the U.S. could not use its vast nuclear arsenal. — “There is no truth to this,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, alan.com, AOL, Joe.My.God., Hot Air and Infowars

Media Matters for America:

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: Trump Asked “Three Times In An Hour Briefing, 'Why Can't We Use Nuclear Weapons?'” — JOE SCARBOROUGH (CO-HOST): What concerns you most about Donald Trump? — GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: How erratic he is, Joe. I can argue about this position or that position.

Discussion: Politicus USA

Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
Trump asks why US can't use nukes: MSNBC

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, War in Context, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, Slate, New York Magazine, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Media Matters for America, The Week and Instapundit

Wall Street Journal:

George W. Bush Delivers Critique of Donald Trump's Policies — Former president stops short of putting his remarks in the context of the 2016 presidential campaign — Without naming Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, former President George W. Bush delivered an incisive critique …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Federalist, AOL, The Daily Caller and RedState

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill: George W. Bush criticizes Trump's policies at GOP fundraiser: report

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

‘Boy Bye!’ CNN Panel Goes Off the Rails After Lewandowski Goes Birther on Obama — CNN contributor and former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski went full birther tonight in a panel segment that really went off the rails. — Lewandowski and Angela Rye were fighting …

Discussion: alan.com and Joe.My.God.

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Lewandowski Revives Birther Conspiracy Theory About Obama

Discussion: The Week and Washington Monthly

Nick Gass / Politico:
CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski: Was Obama a citizen when he went to Harvard?

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Daily Kos, TVNewser, driftglass, Media Matters for America, Hot Air, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Variety, more at Mediagazer »

Lauren Fox / Talking Points Memo:

Freedom Caucus Blasts House GOP Leaders For Kansas Rep's Primary Loss — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) released a scathing statement Wednesday morning blasting House GOP leaders for the primary loss of fellow Freedom caucus member Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), a fifth generation farmer who found himself without …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Elena Schneider / Politico:
Huelskamp loses GOP primary after ideological battle

Discussion: Kansas City Star, The Daily Caller, RedState, The Week, Hot Air and KSNG-TV

Curtis Tate / Wichita Eagle:
Roger Marshall upends incumbent Tim Huelskamp in Kansas' 1st District GOP primary

Discussion: Right Wing Watch and NPR

New York Times:
Tim Huelskamp, Anti-Establishment House Republican, Loses Primary in Kansas

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed — Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom — WASHINGTON—The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release …

Cortney O'Brien / Townhall.com:
Kirby: This Was Not Ransom, Just a Coincidence

Discussion: Breitbart, Power Line, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com and Israpundit

Jamelle Bouie / Slate:

A Trump Victory Is a Scary Thought. A Disputed Loss Might Be Scarier. — Why his “rigged” comments are so corrosive and dangerous. — We have a tradition in the United States. When you lose an election, you take the L, and you move on. It's what John Adams did after he lost …

Discussion: Salon, Vox, Mediaite, Media Matters for America and Guardian

David Weigel / Washington Post:
For Trump, a new ‘rigged’ system: The election itself

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Hit & Run, Media Matters for America, NPR, Daily Kos, Politico and Balkinization

Jim Galloway / Political Insider blog:

Georgia Republican says he might withhold electoral college vote from Donald Trump — I just finished a highly unusual telephone conversation with Baoky Vu, a naturalized U.S. citizen and longtime GOP activist in Georgia. — Vu will be on the November ballot as an elector …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Josh Blackman's Blog, Political Wire and The Resurgent

Evan Perez / CNN:

DC transit officer charged with aiding ISIS — Washington (CNN)In the first case of a U.S. police officer charged with aiding ISIS, a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority cop was arrested Wednesday for providing material support to ISIS, according to two law enforcement officials.

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air, The Week, Mediaite, Sputnik International, Washingtonian and The Right Scoop

Matthew Dean / Fox News:
DC Metro Transit police officer charged with aiding ISIS

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Washington Free Beacon

Michael Crowley / Politico:

Trump changed views on Ukraine after hiring Manafort — Donald Trump sounded like a supporter of Ukraine's territorial integrity last September, when he spoke by video feed to a gathering of political and business elites in Kiev. — “Our president is not strong and he is not doing …