'It's a hard problem': Inside Trump's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan  —  President Trump was frustrated and fuming.  Again and again, in the windowless Situation Room at the White House, he lashed out at his national security team over the Afghanistan war, and the paucity of appealing options gnawed at him.

Mnuchin's Wife Mocks Oregon Woman Over Lifestyle and Wealth  —  WASHINGTON — The wife of the Treasury secretary on Monday night took a page from President Trump's social media playbook for punching down.  —  Louise Linton, the labels-loving wife of Steven Mnuchin, replied condescendingly …

Senate Leadership Fund: “ChemtrailKelli” AZ  —  Arizonans rejected Chemtrail Kelli Ward's embarrassing behavior and dangerous ideas just one year ago.  But she's back at it again.  —  Chemtrail Kelli supported wacky conspiracy theories and even spent taxpayer money on a town-hall about chemtrails.

President Trump's list of false and misleading claims tops 1,000 … We have been tracking President Trump's false or misleading claims for more than seven months.  Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057.  (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)

Virginia voters divided on blame for Charlottesville violence  —  About half see at least equal blame for violence at the Charlottesville white nationalist rally.  Many Virginia voters (47 percent) believe the counter protesters in Charlottesville deserve at least equal blame for the violence at last week's white nationalist rally.

Is Anybody Home at HUD?  —  A long-harbored conservative dream — the “dismantling of the administrative state” — is taking place under Secretary Ben Carson.  —  In mid-May, Steve Preston, who served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the final two years …

It's High Time Barron Trump Starts Dressing Like He's In the White House  —  I've been on the Barron Trump train from the start, but it's about time the president's son starts dressing the part.  —  Barron is the youngest son of Donald Trump and the only child the president shares with Melania Trump.

Chaos Breaks Out at Charlottesville City Council Meeting  —  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — They shouted down the mayor and City Council members, took over the Council chambers for about a half-hour, and gave more than four hours of impassioned testimony about how city officials had botched the response …

Trump aides plot a big immigration deal — that breaks a campaign promise  —  Donald Trump's top aides are pushing him to protect young people brought into the country illegally as children — and then use the issue as a bargaining chip for a larger immigration deal — despite the president's campaign vow to deport so-called Dreamers.

A Woman Who Says She Had Underage Sex With R. Kelly Is Finally Telling Her Story  —  Jerhonda Pace was just 15 when she met her musical idol, R. Kelly, outside his child pornography trial.  The alleged underage sexual relationship with him that followed and subsequent payouts mirror decades of allegations against the star.

Exclusive: Sen. Schatz's new health care idea could be the Democratic Party's future  —  Democrats are ready to go on the health care offensive.  And Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) may have a new plan for them to do it.  —  In an interview with Vox, Schatz revealed that he's preparing a new bill …

‘20 seconds of burning’: Friends partly blinded after watching solar eclipse warn of dangers  —  It was a clear day when Louis Tomososki's science teacher mentioned that a partial solar eclipse would be visible from their hometown of Portland, Ore., that afternoon.

Paul Ryan: tax reform “far easier” than health care  —  At a CNN town hall Monday night, Paul Ryan said, “I believe it's going to be far easier for us to do tax reform than it was for, say, health care reform.”  —  Our thought bubble: His rationale was that Senate rules won't present the kind …

Dems prep for Pence, Kasich, Haley to run in 2020  —  The Democratic National Committee is conducting full-scale opposition research on multiple Republicans it believes could challenge President Donald Trump for reelection — or are likely to run if he does not.