Top Items:
The Daily Beast:
Trump Tanks His Own Putin Walk-Back During One of the ‘Worst Moments of His Presidency’ … It was approaching mid-morning on Tuesday, and Donald Trump's team had one choice: He had to clean up the mess he had left for them following his disastrous press conference abroad. If they had to beg, so be it.
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New York Post, Politico, Wall Street Journal, HeraldScotland, Fox News Insider and USA Today
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Axios:
A case study in Trump's GOP mind control — Yes, almost every elected Republican we talk to privately thinks President Trump's warm embrace of Vladimir Putin was unexplainable, unacceptable and un-American. Yes, they wish they could say this publicly. No, they won't — not now, and probably never.
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Vox, Washington Post, RedState, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Hullabaloo and Joe.My.God.
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“This Was the Nightmare Scenario”: The West Wing Revolts After Trump Embraces Putin — As Trump grappled with his error, Chief of Staff John Kelly went into overdrive to get Trump to walk it back. — As he flew home from Helsinki on Air Force One following his disastrous press conference …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Daily Wire, IJR, Splinter, Talking Points Memo, The Week, AOL, Hot Air, Deadline, Bustle and Mediaite
Financial Times:
Trump, Putin and the betrayal of America — Donald Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin this week is likely to go down as one of the signature moments of his presidency. In an appalling display, the US president refused to endorse the verdict of his own intelligence agencies …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, The Mahablog, Fox News Insider and The Atlantic
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Senator Calls For Hearing With U.S. Interpreter In Trump-Putin Meeting
Senator Calls For Hearing With U.S. Interpreter In Trump-Putin Meeting
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, Washington Times, Joe.My.God., RT, Conservative News Today, Sputnik International, LGBTQ Nation, AOL and Breitbart
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
In his prepared remarks, Trump removed a line about bringing election hackers to justice
In his prepared remarks, Trump removed a line about bringing election hackers to justice
Discussion:
MSNBC, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Contemptor, Political Wire and NBC News
Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
The Likeliest Explanation for Trump's Helsinki Fiasco
Manu Raju / CNN:
Trump Supreme Court pick: I would ‘put the nail’ in ruling upholding independent counsel — (CNN)Judge Brett Kavanaugh two years ago expressed his desire to overturn a three-decade-old Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of an independent counsel, a comment bound …
Discussion:
Latest from Crooks and Liars, Above the Law, Shareblue Media and Political Wire
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Initial Views on Kavanaugh Confirmation Divided
Initial Views on Kavanaugh Confirmation Divided
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Wire, VICE News, Shareblue Media, Outside the Beltway, MSNBC, Bustle, Hot Air and Pew Research Center
David Remnick / New Yorker:
The Unwinding of Donald Trump — In dictatorial states, a failure to applaud the Leader has often been a matter of treason. Last February, following the State of the Union address, President Trump flew to Blue Ash, Ohio, for a rally and accused the Democrats in Congress of that very crime.
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Reuters:
Majority of Americans think Trump mishandling Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Majority of Americans think Trump mishandling Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Discussion:
Fox News, CNBC, POLITICUSUSA, TheBlaze and Political Wire
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
The Memo: Trump allies hope he can turn the page from Russian fiasco
The Memo: Trump allies hope he can turn the page from Russian fiasco
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and The Atlantic
CNN:
US offers no details as Russia claims Trump and Putin reached military agreements
US offers no details as Russia claims Trump and Putin reached military agreements
Discussion:
The Resurgent, KTLA and Hullabaloo
Mikheil Saakashvili / The Federalist:
Just Like Obama, Trump's Russia Policy Speaks Louder Than His Words
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump says defending tiny NATO ally Montenegro could lead to World War III — President Trump, who rattled U.S. allies at a NATO meeting last week, voiced concern in a television interview broadcast Tuesday night that sending troops from the alliance to defend an “aggressive” Montenegro could result in World War III.
Discussion:
Politico
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Alexander Smith / NBC News:
Trump calls out ‘very aggressive’ Montenegro in latest NATO jibe
Trump calls out ‘very aggressive’ Montenegro in latest NATO jibe
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., New York Times and MSNBC
NBC News:
Trump revised one sentence from Helsinki. Here's everything else he didn't fix.
Trump revised one sentence from Helsinki. Here's everything else he didn't fix.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
Sophie Tatum / CNN:
Trump seems to question US commitment to defending all NATO allies
Trump seems to question US commitment to defending all NATO allies
Discussion:
Contemptor and Political Wire
New York Times:
Maria Butina, Suspected Secret Agent, Was in Touch With Russian Intelligence, Prosecutors Say — WASHINGTON — A woman charged with secretly acting on behalf of Russia was working as a covert agent in the United States and was recently in contact with a suspected Russian intelligence official, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Guardian and The Trace
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Tom Jackman / Washington Post:
Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina had ties to Russian intelligence agency, prosecutors say — The Russian woman arrested on charges of being a foreign agent had ties to Russian intelligence operatives and was in contact with them while in the United States, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Trace, Argus Leader and Politico
Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
Helsinki update: Russia ready ‘to charge’ US officials for financial ‘crimes’
Helsinki update: Russia ready ‘to charge’ US officials for financial ‘crimes’
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Bloomberg and Sputnik International
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Now the party of Trump, GOP's midterm pitch is protecting him — Subscribe to McClatchy's Beyond the Bubble show on iTunes here or Stitcher. — WASHINGTON — Headed into a election that's expected to favor Democrats, a top GOP Senate strategist says Republicans are counting …
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Senate Dems build huge cash edge in battlegrounds
Senate Dems build huge cash edge in battlegrounds
Discussion:
Political Wire
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed:
A Stabbing On Samish Island: The Radicalization Of Lane Davis — Lane Davis was a far-right, pro-Trump media figure looking for his big break. Then he stabbed his father to death. — Nearly everyone on Samish Island knew Chuck Davis, a bighearted retiree who lived in the handsome gray shingle house …
Joe Lieberman / Wall Street Journal:
Vote Joe Crowley, for Working Families — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hurts the party, Congress and even America. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's surprise primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley seems likely to hurt Congress, America and the Democratic Party. It doesn't have to.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, Washington Times, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and Splinter
CBS News:
Trump wrongly says queen reviewed guard for 1st time in 70 years — President Trump claimed Tuesday that during his visit to England, Queen Elizabeth II reviewed her Guard of Honor for the first time in 70 years — but she's only been queen for 65 years. And as any royal-watcher knows …
Tennessean.com:
Next Slide — The number of Tennesseans now displaying Confederate battle flag license plates is higher than at any other point in the last decade, according to state data on the controversial specialty tags. — The Sons of Confederate Veterans plate, the proceeds from which benefit …
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
The vanishing White House press briefing — Commentators slam Trump for summit performance — The “daily” White House press briefing is a thing of the past. — The White House has only held three on-camera briefings in the past 30 days, according to the administration's own records on WhiteHouse.gov.
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Kara Swisher / Recode:
Full transcript: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Recode Decode — Zuckerberg talks about everything from China to Infowars to whether he should be fired over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. — On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat …
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
Matt Egan / CNNMoney:
Texas to pass Iraq and Iran as world's No. 3 oil powerhouse — Shale exec: US will surpass Russia in oil production — Don't mess with Texas. It's a global oil superpower. — The shale oil boom has brought a gold rush mentality to the Lone Star State, which is home to not one but two massive oilfields.
Michelle Michelle Choi / KHOU-TV:
Husband shoots home invasion suspect holding wife at gunpoint — The husband managed to shoot one of the suspects in the head. This happened at a home in in southeast Houston near Scott and Airport. — HOUSTON - Police say a husband opened fire on two home invasion suspects as they tried to hold his wife at gunpoint overnight.
Brad Reed / Raw Story:
‘I want him to fix it’: Trump voters sorry now that tariffs are killing their Missouri nail factory — MSNBC's Vaughn Hillyard this week visited a nail factory in Missouri that is getting absolutely crushed by President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.
Jason Villalba / TribTalk:
It's time to impeach the president — When I was ten years old, over a plate of rice, beans and tortillas, I watched the evening news in front of an old Emerson 19-inch tube TV. On the screen was a man who looked like a grandpa, resembled the dad on “Father Knows Best,” …
Just Security:
Exclusive: Trump White House's Intelligence Chief Is Leaving — Michael Barry, the senior National Security Council director for intelligence programs, is leaving the White House, according to two government officials. — Barry's departure adds to the growing list of vacant senior NSC positions since …
Bloomberg:
DNC Loses Request to Serve Kushner With Russia Lawsuit by Mail — ‘Service is not intended to be a game,’ judge says in denial — A judge denied the Democratic National Committee's request to use U.S. Postal Service first-class mail to formally let Jared Kushner know he was sued in April …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
BuzzFeed News:
Trump Campaigned For President Attacking Immigrants. Here's All The Ways He's Done It In Office. — President Trump ran on a promise to make America great again by building a wall to keep out undocumented Mexican immigrants, whom he referred to as criminals and “rapists,” …
Dan Diamond / Politico:
Trump's migrant fiasco diverts millions from health programs — HHS is forced to prioritize migrant crisis over medical research and other goals. — The health department has quietly dipped into tens of millions of dollars to pay for the consequences of President Donald Trump's border policy …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, HuffPost, The Week, Bustle, Vox and Talking Points Memo