Angry Trump Grilled His Generals About Troop Increase, Then Gave In  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's skepticism about America's involvement in Afghanistan was no secret to his staff.  But his top national security officials were still taken aback at a meeting in the Situation Room on July 19 …

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 …

Fake Polls Are A Real Problem  —  Is Kid Rock leading the U.S. Senate race in Michigan?  A story like that is essentially designed to go viral, and that's exactly what happened when Delphi Analytica released a poll fielded from July 14 to July 18.  Republican Kid Rock earned 30 percent to Sen. Debbie Stabenow's 26 percent.

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.

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.

Emails: Breitbart editor pledges to do ‘dirty work’ for Bannon, smears Ivanka  —  A self-described “email prankster” seemingly fooled top editors at Breitbart over the weekend into believing he was Steve Bannon, the fired White House chief strategist who returned to the right-wing website as executive chairman on Friday.

Gawker has been gone for a year.  We've never needed it more than now.  —  Gawker wasn't perfect.  But in the age of Trump, it's hard not to miss its voice.  (Henri Grivot/AP)  —  One year ago today, Gawker shut down.  Nick Denton's legendary website is now gone, sued into oblivion …

‘My actions were despicable’: Catholic priest steps down after revealing he was a Ku Klux Klan member decades ago  —  A Catholic priest in Arlington, Va., is temporarily stepping down after revealing he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and burned crosses more than 40 years ago before becoming a clergy member.

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 …

12 Browns players kneel in prayer over racial, social injustice  —  CLEVELAND — A dozen Browns players took a knee in prayer during the national anthem before Monday night's preseason game against the New York Giants.  —  While the group knelt behind the bench, several other players placed …

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.)

Trump empowered hatred in Charlottesville, now he's doing the same in Arizona  —  Trump is throwing salt on the wounds by traveling to Arizona Tuesday amidst rumors swirling that he may pardon controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. … In times of crisis, a president's job is to bring the country together.

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.

Polls Show Trump Cratering?  Not So Fast  —  Diagnosing the state of President Donald Trump's political health should be a simple matter.  The story that the traditional metrics tell is straightforward.  —  On a good day for him, Trump's approval rating might crack 40 percent.

Time for Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal to exit gracefully  —  State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, issued a full-throated apology Sunday to President Donald Trump and his family for posting on Facebook that she hopes he'll be assassinated.  There are times when unequivocal contrition …

Yes, Democrats Have a Fundraising Problem  —  The DNC is lagging its Republican counterpart, even though the progressive base is energized to take Donald Trump down.  —  The momentum is all on the Democrats' side.  Donald Trump is historically unpopular.  The progressive base is angry and activated …

‘Some remains’ of missing 10 sailors found after collision, admiral says  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)"Some remains" of 10 missing US sailors have been found after the collision between the US destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore, US Navy Adm. Scott Swift said Tuesday.

Glenn Simpson, key figure behind million-dollar ‘dossier,’ to face questions  —  A key figure behind the so-called “dossier” featuring uncorroborated and salacious allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia will be questioned by investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee today …

Pence squirms as Matt Lauer asks if he's “putting loyalty” to Trump above what's right  —  Vice President Mike Pence still hasn't come up with a convincing answer to the question of why he defends Donald Trump's inexcusable handing of the racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia …

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 …

Pro-Trump Rallies in 36 States Canceled, Will Be Held As Online Demonstrations  —  Pro-Trump rallies that were originally being planned for roughly 37 locations across the US have been canceled.  The rallies, scheduled for September 9th, were being coordinated by ACT For America …