Top Items:
Sam Dolnick / New York Times:
The Man Who Knew Too Little — The most ignorant man in America knows that Donald Trump is president — but that's about it. Living a liberal fantasy is complicated. — GLOUSTER, Ohio — At first, the experiment didn't have a name. — Right after the election, Erik Hagerman decided …
Discussion:
Althouse and CANNONFIRE
New York Times:
Trump Talks With Clinton Impeachment Lawyer About Aiding in Mueller Response — President Trump is in discussions with a veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during the impeachment process about joining the White House to help deal with the special counsel inquiry, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Cristina Alesci / CNN:
White House scolds Cabinet officials after embarrassing ethics reports — (CNN)The White House held private meetings with four Cabinet-level officials last month to scold them for embarrassing stories about questionable ethical behavior at their respective agencies, sources familiar with the sessions tell CNN.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Washington Press
Washington Post:
Trump administration studies seeking the death penalty for drug dealers — The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, a sign that the White House wants …
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
White House gearing up for Trump midterms blitz
White House gearing up for Trump midterms blitz
Discussion:
Political Wire
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Christopher Liddell Is Front-Runner to Become Trump's Top Economic Adviser
Christopher Liddell Is Front-Runner to Become Trump's Top Economic Adviser
Discussion:
Axios
Jeffrey Lewis / Foreign Policy:
The Trump-Kim Summit Won't End Well — This is no way to run nuclear diplomacy. — It's like Richard Nixon going to China, but if Nixon were a moron. — By now, you've heard that Donald Trump is meeting with Kim Jong Un by May. You've probably also seen the White House walking it back.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Mahablog, The American Conservative, Washington Post, The Diplomat and New York Times
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Trump on Kim Talks: ‘Tell Him Yes’ — U.S. officials rush to assemble a diplomatic strategy with little precedent in American history — Inside the Oval Office late Thursday, President Donald Trump interrupted a trio of South Korean officials as they analyzed an offer to meet …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Politico, Washington Post and Mediaite
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Planning Begins for Kim Jong-un Meeting Some Trump Aides Believe Will Never Happen — WASHINGTON — A day after President Trump accepted an invitation to meet Kim Jong-un of North Korea, the White House began planning on Friday a high-level diplomatic encounter so risky and seemingly far-fetched …
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Sputnik International, The Moderate Voice, Al Jazeera English and HeraldScotland
The Guardian:
Republican candidate's North Korea experience may not be all he claims
Republican candidate's North Korea experience may not be all he claims
Discussion:
Mediaite
Evan Osnos / New Yorker:
Three Key Questions About Donald Trump's Summit with Kim Jong Un
Three Key Questions About Donald Trump's Summit with Kim Jong Un
Discussion:
CNBC, Raw Story, New York Times and Vox
Alexander Smith / NBC News:
Putin on U.S. election interference: 'I couldn't care less' — Russian President Vladimir Putin has told NBC News that he “couldn't care less” if Russian citizens tried to interfere in the 2016 American presidential election because, he claims, they were not connected to the Kremlin.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, RedState, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, CNBC, RT and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Washington Post:
In a personal letter, Trump invited Putin to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant
In a personal letter, Trump invited Putin to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant
Discussion:
The Hill, Splinter, RedState, Bustle, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Washington Press, Boing Boing and Wall Street Journal
Anton Troianovski / Washington Post:
The Putin Generation — Young Russians are Vladimir Putin's biggest fans
The Putin Generation — Young Russians are Vladimir Putin's biggest fans
Discussion:
National Review
Mark Follman / Mother Jones:
Trump Spoke to a Russian Activist About Ending Sanctions—Just Weeks After Launching His Campaign
Trump Spoke to a Russian Activist About Ending Sanctions—Just Weeks After Launching His Campaign
Discussion:
Washington Press and CBS Los Angeles
Jason Horowitz / New York Times:
Steve Bannon Is Done Wrecking the American Establishment. Now He Wants to Destroy Europe's. — MILAN — Stephen K. Bannon leaned back in an armchair opposite a copy of a painting by an Italian old master and explained his modest efforts to build a vast network of European populists to demolish the Continent's political establishment.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Mediaite, CNN and Althouse
RELATED:
Morgan Winsor / ABC News:
Steve Bannon: ‘Let them call you racist ... Wear it as a badge of honor’ — Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Saturday told a crowd of far-right French politicians to let people label them as “racist,” and to consider it “a badge of honor.”
Discussion:
One America News Network
Lucien Bruggeman / ABC News:
Former Trump aide speaks to Mueller, believes Russia probe is ‘not a witch hunt’ — Five and a half hours after testifying before a grand jury in the Russia probe, a former political adviser to Donald Trump told ABC News exclusively that he believes the investigation is “warranted.”
Discussion:
RedState, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and Politico
Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate:
Sweet Jesus, Will the NYT's Conservatives Ever Write About Anything but the “Intolerant Left” Ever Again? — David Brooks published a column in the New York Times on Friday complaining about the manner in which “[s]tudents across the country,” having become obsessed with “group identity,” …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Marshall Cohen / CNN:
How Stormy Daniels could impact the Russia investigation — (CNN)Porn star Stormy Daniels and special counsel Robert Mueller are among the most talked about figures in Washington these days. At this point, they are central figures in separate stories, but could it be long before their paths intersect?
RELATED:
Denver Nicks / Rolling Stone:
One Night with Stormy Daniels, the Hero America Needs
One Night with Stormy Daniels, the Hero America Needs
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Beast
CNN:
Gunman and victims identified in deadly standoff at California veterans home — (CNN)A gunman and three female hostages were found dead at a military veterans home in Northern California on Friday evening, officials said, a grim end to a standoff that lasted nearly eight hours.
Discussion:
FOX40, IJR, Los Angeles Times, Axios, NPR, FOX 61, The Savage Nation, CBS Miami, Bustle, fox13now.com, VICE News, KTLA, KFOR-TV, fox8.com and FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV
U.S. Department of Justice:
Department of Justice Submits Notice of Proposed Regulation Banning Bump Stocks — Today the Department of Justice submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a notice of a proposed regulation to clarify that the definition of “machinegun” in the National Firearms Act …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today, Vox, NPR, Al Jazeera English and TheBlaze
RELATED:
Luis Sanchez / The Hill:
Trump administration takes first step to ban bump stocks
Trump administration takes first step to ban bump stocks
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder
Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:
World watches as Tillerson admits he doesn't care about imploding State Dept — More than 60% of career diplomats have left in the past year, but Tillerson says he doesn't “lose a wink of sleep” over it. — One of America's top Latin American diplomats left the State Department this week …
Discussion:
CBS News
RELATED:
Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
Nun Embroiled in Katy Perry Legal Conflict Dies at 89 — Sister Catherine Rose Holzman reportedly “collapsed and died” during a court appearance related to the case. — Sister Catherine Rose Holzman of the Archidiocese of Los Angeles, one of the nuns embroiled in a legal battle over the sale …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Mike Allen / Axios:
The full Trump, unrestrained — This week, President Trump ripped the steering wheel out of John Kelly's hands and played chief of staff and communications director, all wrapped into one: — Trump kept his own senior staff on edge, with top officials uncertain from hour to hour …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
I would've aborted a fetus with Down syndome. Women need that right. … There is a new push in antiabortion circles to pass state laws aimed at barring women from terminating their pregnancies after the fetus has been determined to have Down syndrome. These laws are unconstitutional, unenforceable — and wrong.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
New York Times:
Out of Public View, Trumps and Kushners Are Talking Business — LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Jared Kushner's family company recently began construction on an oceanfront development in this Jersey Shore city, a project that has the strong backing of local officials, who agreed to support it with $20 million in bonds.
New York Times:
Ex-Model, Mob Suspect and a Murder Could Bring Down Slovakia's Government — BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — When a former Miss Universe contestant and topless model was given a plum government job as an assistant to Slovakia's prime minister despite having no discernible qualifications, journalists asked the obvious question.