Trump's top national security spokesman to leave White House  —  National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said Sunday that he plans to leave the White House — a move that will leave President Donald Trump without one of the earliest and sharpest defenders of his “America First” foreign policy.

STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON CHEMICAL ATTACK IN SYRIA  —  Washington, D.C. ­- U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on the chemical attack in Syria:  —  “President Trump last week signaled …

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he's left Facebook over data collection  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told USA TODAY he's leaving Facebook out of growing concern for the carelessness with which Facebook and other Internet companies treat the private information of users.

Art Collector and Bon Vivant Dies in Trump Tower Home He Couldn't Sell  —  Todd Brassner, who died in a fire at Trump Tower on Saturday, loved fast cars, electric guitars, expensive watches and making long, erudite pronouncements about art and art history.  He was an art dealer with health problems …

The Sam Harris debate  —  Ezra and Sam Harris debate race, IQ, identity politics, and much more.  —  There's a lot of backstory to this podcast, which is covered in more detail in this piece.  —  The short version is that Sam Harris, host of the Waking Up podcast, and I have been going back and forth …

GOP increasingly fears loss of House, focuses on saving Senate majority  —  Republicans are increasingly worried they will lose control of the House in the midterm elections, furiously directing money and resources to hold and potentially boost their narrow majority in the Senate.

De Blasio aide busted with gun in car  —  This de Blasio administration official set one heckuva bad example for the teens she was hired to keep out of jail.  —  Reagan Stevens, a deputy director in the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, and two young men were arrested for illegal weapons possession …

Russian Stocks Take Worst Hit Since Crimea on Sanctions, Syria  —  Ruble falls most globally; stocks drop most since 2014  —  Analysts warn other companies could be next for penalties  —  Russian stocks headed for their biggest drop in four years and the ruble slumped the most in the world …

Scott running for Senate in epic showdown with Nelson, test of Trump's popularity  —  TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Rick Scott makes his long-awaited Senate candidacy official Monday, setting up an epic battle against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson and testing the limits of whether a close alliance …

Horror of Being Governed by ‘Fox & Friends’  —  During the early days of the Obama administration, I did a few appearances on “Fox & Friends.”  —  The conversations were predictably shallow, tilted and exploitive.  The hosts had a particular knack for asking the idiotic with chipper earnestness …

Trump Has Lost the Confidence of Investors  —  Equities, bonds and the dollar are showing anything but trust in the president's stewardship.  —  President Donald Trump likes to equate the rally in stocks since the November 2016 elections with confidence in him and his policies.

We're in a battle to defend democracy — and Trump is on the wrong side … What if the West found itself “engaged in a fundamental contest between our free and open societies and closed and repressive systems” — and the U.S. president was on the wrong side?  —  This is not a hypothetical question.

Betsy DeVos to Oklahoma teachers: ‘Serve the students’ … Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Oklahoma teachers who walked out of their classrooms to protest school funding cuts should “keep adult disagreements and disputes in a separate place.”  —  “I think about the kids,” DeVos said Thursday, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Trump vs Putin?  Time to Be ‘Scared’  —  In an early morning tweet exactly one year and 77 days into his presidency, Donald Trump on Sunday finally criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.  —  It took a chemical weapons attack in Syria by Putin's ally ("Animal Assad," …

To hell with it: Trump increasingly weary of staff advice  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The speech was written.  A cast of relatable Americans with emotional stories was standing by to reinforce the message.  But President Donald Trump was in no mood to play along.

Exclusive: As elections near, many older, educated, white voters shift away from Trump's party  —  (Reuters) - Older, white, educated voters helped Donald Trump win the White House in 2016.  Now, they are trending toward Democrats in such numbers that their ballots could tip the scales …

Has the California backlash against liberal craziness finally begun?  —  In a state consumed by conservation and environmental issues, one highly endangered species has long gone unnoticed and unprotected - the California Conservative.  Is it still possible to rescue them from the brink of extinction?

'I know I don't need it'  —  Fabian Rodriguez was cradling his new rifle when he stopped at one of the gun-show booths to purchase a $5 chicken fajita MRE.  —  The “Meal Ready to Eat” is a mainstay for troops on combat missions.  But Rodriguez, a 28-year-old San Antonio native who sells auto paint …

The dawn of the superstar lawyer  —  Scott Barshay had just closed out the finest year of his career.  The acclaimed corporate lawyer had advised on roughly $300bn worth of transactions in 2015, most notably AB InBev's $103bn takeover of rival brewer SABMiller.

‘My son is a Masters champion’: Patrick Reed's estranged mother endures a complex mix of emotions  —  Reed's game plan preparation key to Masters win  —  Patrick Reed and his coach got granular in their approach to Augusta, and it paid off.  —  AUGUSTA, Ga. — It didn't fall on Easter …

China Installed Military Jamming Equipment on Spratly Islands, U.S. Says  —  Disclosure comes as Chinese military conducts what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in South China Sea  —  China has installed equipment on two of its fortified outposts …

Cynthia Nixon Wants to Legalize It  —  What would you say is harder: appearing in two concurrent Broadway shows when you were a full-time college student, or running for governor of New York State when most people know you only from “Sex and the City”?  I think that running for office …

Trump Trillion Dollar Budget Deficits Officially Begin This Week  —  The new U.S. normal of $1 trillion or more annual federal budget deficits will officially begin this week when the Congressional Budget Office releases its economic and budget outlook report showing that the deficit …

In John Bolton, Trump Finds a Fellow Political Blowtorch.  Will Foreign Policy Burn?  —  WASHINGTON — Shortly after Ambassador John R. Bolton was sent to represent the United States at the United Nations, an institution he had long scorned as an anti-American citadel of corruption, he hosted President George W. Bush for a visit.

The race to replace Paul Ryan is on  —  Two top members of Paul Ryan's leadership team, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, have begun angling for his job in the event the speaker calls it quits after the election.  —  They're closely monitoring the moves …

Trump Hotel to Employees: Don't Hire Relatives … Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, has presented all kinds of headaches for his White House.  Forget the multiple federal investigations into the Kushner family businesses; his manifold financial interests have presented scores …