memeorandum: Wasserman Schultz staffer arrested trying to leave the country (John Bowden/The Hill)

2:05 PM ET, July 26, 2017

Top Items:

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

A Trump Tower of Absolute Folly — Donald Trump's campaign against his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in which he is seemingly attempting to insult and humiliate and tweet-shame Sessions into resignation, is an insanely stupid exercise. It is a multitiered tower of political idiocy …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, Breitbart and Booman Tribune

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

The standoff between Trump and Sessions escalates … The public standoff between the White House and the nation's senior law enforcement official took another strange turn Tuesday as President Trump escalated his verbal attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was urged by fellow conservatives to stand his ground.

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Fox News, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, VICE News, vice, Politico, The Daily Caller, The Resurgent, The Week, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Fox News Insider:

Tucker Carlson Blasts Donald Trump for Attacking Jeff Sessions Attorney General — Tucker Carlson criticized President Trump for repeated attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions. — Carlson said Trump is continuing a “protracted rhetorical assault” on Sessions, who he said is the one cabinet member …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT, Breitbart, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, Daily Wire and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Mike Allen / Axios:

Jeff Sessions won't take Trump's hint — Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't plan to take the hint. President Trump continues hitting him in all body parts — apparently hoping he'll resign, which could pave the way for firing special counsel Bob Mueller.

Discussion: Business Insider, Vox, Mediaite, ABC News, The White House, Right Wing Watch, IJR, Shakesville and Daily Kos

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump and Sessions locked in silent battle

Discussion: The Hill, American Prospect, RedState, The Daily Caller, Salon, PEN America, Hullabaloo, The Resurgent, Business Insider, Newsmax, Talking Points Memo and AOL

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
On Twitter, Trump continues attacks on Sessions

Discussion: RedState, Business Insider and Washington Free Beacon

Paul Beckett / Wall Street Journal:
Transcript: Donald Trump's Interview With The Wall Street Journal

Discussion: Vox, The American Conservative and The Daily Caller

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Top White House aides press Trump to pull back on Sessions criticism

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The Week and Politicus USA

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Republicans warn Trump: Don't fire Jeff Sessions

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Daily Wire and Lawfare

Washington Post: This is not okay — WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP attacked Attorney …

Bloomberg:
Trump's Focus on Leaks and Loyalty Puts Sessions in Crosshairs

Discussion: Mediaite, NBC News, IJR, Washington Times, The Week, New York Times, Daily Wire and Politicus USA

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops' medical care — On Twitter this morning, President Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military, citing “medical costs” as the primary driver of the decision.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, Business Insider and Richard Dawkins Foundation

The Hill:

Trump to ban transgender people from all military service — President Trump on Wednesday said he would ban transgender people from any military service. — Trump made the announcement, which would represent a major shift in military policy, on Twitter. He said he had made the decision …

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

Trump announces ban on transgender people in U.S. military — President Trump said he will ban transgender people from serving in the military in any capacity, a reversal of the Obama administration decision that would have allowed transgender recruits to serve, he announced Wednesday on social media.

New York Times:

Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed in the Military — WASHINGTON — President Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will no longer “accept or allow” transgender people in the United States military, saying American forces “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Above the Law, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Refinery29, Task & Purpose and Althouse

Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:

Ernst breaks with Trump on transgender military ban — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump's call to bar transgender Americans from serving in the military, telling the Des Moines Register that anyone qualified should be allowed to serve.

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, IndieWire, Business Insider and IJR

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
Donald Trump's past statements about LGBT rights

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Shareblue

Axios:
Trump will ban transgender people from U.S. military

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, Hit & Run and Daily Kos

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump to reinstate US military ban on transgender people

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
House defeats bid to block Pentagon funding transgender surgeries

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Foreign Policy, Politico, Jezebel and New York Magazine

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:

GOP senators must do whatever it takes to get to 50 votes on Obamacare repeal, says HHS secretary — Do whatever “gets us to 50 votes so that we can move forward on a health-care reform legislation,” Tom Price says. — A plan to repeal and replace Obamacare by Senate Republicans failed …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Guardian, Axios, Political Wire, VICE News, CRFB Papers and Blog Posts and NBC News

Plain Dealer: Sen. Rob Portman, you just let Ohio down: editorial

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
GOP scrapes for bare minimum on Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Vox and New York Times

New York Times:
How Each Senator Voted on Full Obamacare Repeal-and-Replace

Discussion: New Republic, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Jezebel and The Week

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Many Republicans Doubt Clinton Won Popular Vote — A plurality of Republicans say President Donald Trump received more of the popular vote in 2016 than his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. — According to a new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll …

Discussion: Business Insider and Political Wire

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Half of Trump voters say Trump won popular vote

Discussion: New York Magazine, Axios, The Week and The Daily Caller

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Voters say Mueller ouster would be inappropriate

Discussion: The Hill, Axios and RedState

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

Mr. President, Please Be Quiet — Once again, Donald Trump has tweeted himself into the center of the day's news. He does this almost every morning — even, perhaps especially, when he has nothing new to say. Upon seeing today's efforts, I sighed and muttered “there goes Wednesday.”

Timothy Gardner / Reuters:

U.S. energy secretary duped into fake interview with Russian comedians — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry optimistically discussed expanding American coal exports to Ukraine and other energy matters during a lengthy phone call this month with a Russian prankster who Perry thought was Ukraine's prime minister.

Discussion: PravdaReport, Vox, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Week and Political Wire

Ari Natter / Bloomberg:
Rick Perry Got Punked in a Fake Interview With Russian Pranksters

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, vice and Talking Points Memo

MedStar Washington Hospital Center:

Condition Report: Rep. Steve Scalise — Congressman Steve Scalise has made excellent progress in his recovery from a life-threatening gunshot wound six weeks ago. Yesterday, he was discharged from MedStar Washington Hospital Center and is now beginning a period of intensive inpatient rehabilitation.

Discussion: Axios, ABC News, WJTV, Washington Times, IJR and The Week

Emily Shapiro / ABC News:
Rep. Steve Scalise discharged from hospital 6 weeks after shooting

Discussion: Politico

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Clinton book to double down on Russia, Comey message — 's upcoming book will double down on Russia's interference and James Comey's involvement in her stunning election defeat, according to sources familiar with the memoir. — Privately, Clinton has told friends and longtime associates that she …

Discussion: Axios, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, IJR and The Week

Michael Kruse / Politico:

To America, It Looks Like Chaos. For Trump, It's Just Tuesday. — It started Monday morning with Donald Trump calling his own attorney general “beleaguered.” It continued with an Air Force One flight to West Virginia and a rambling, partisan speech to thousands of hollering Boy Scouts.

Discussion: VICE News, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today and The Week

John Bowden / The Hill:

Wasserman Schultz staffer arrested trying to leave the country — A House IT aide working for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, was arrested this week on bank fraud charges while trying to leave the country.