Exclusive: CNN obtains secret Trump-Cohen tape  —  (CNN)Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model's story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording …

Spotting CNN on a TV Aboard Air Force One, Trump Rages Against Reality  —  WASHINGTON — On the first couple's recent trip overseas, Melania Trump's television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNN.  President Trump was not pleased.  —  He raged at his staff for violating a rule …

No, the White House didn't intentionally edit a question to Putin out of a video  —  MSNBC's Rachel Maddow led her show Tuesday night with an explosive allegation: The administration of President Trump had intentionally buried a question asked of Russian President Vladimir Putin during last week's news conference in Helsinki.

Trump pushes 25 percent auto tariff as top advisers scramble to stop him  —  Several of President Trump's senior economic advisers believe he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on close to $200 billion in foreign-made automobiles later this year, three people briefed on discussions said.

Exclusive: White House stops announcing calls with foreign leaders  —  Washington (CNN)The White House has suspended the practice of publishing public summaries of President Donald Trump's phone calls with world leaders, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN …

BREAKING: Ga. lawmaker who used racial slurs in TV show resigns  —  The Georgia lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series is resigning his seat in the state Legislature, according to House Speaker David Ralston's office.

Swedish student's plane protest stops man's deportation ‘to hell’  —  Elin Ersson refused to sit down on Gothenburg flight until man being sent to Afghanistan was removed  —  Play Video  —  A lone student activist on board a plane at Gothenburg airport has prevented the deportation …

These Emails Show What Happens When The White House Keeps The Pentagon Out Of The Loop  —  “The Pentagon was caught off guard” stories have become a staple of news coverage of the Trump administration.  —  It's no secret that time and time again, officials in the Defense Department …

Republicans Largely Abandon Running on Trump's Tax Cuts … Voters being inundated with television and digital ads in the upcoming Ohio special election would be excused for not having a particularly favorable view of President Trump's signature legislative achievement.

Without the Russians, Trump wouldn't have won  —  President Trump is willing, under duress, to briefly and begrudgingly admit that Russian “meddling” took place in 2016 before reverting to calling it a “big hoax.”  But he always maintains that the plot against America had no impact …

Burr breaks with Nunes: ‘Sound reasons’ for judges to approve FISA warrant  —  (CNN)Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr told CNN Tuesday he believed there were “sound reasons” for judges to approve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant on former Trump campaign …

The Big Business of Being Gwyneth Paltrow  —  Inside the growth of Goop — the most controversial brand in the wellness industry.  —  On a Monday morning in November, students at Harvard Business School convened in their classroom to find Gwyneth Paltrow.  She was sitting at one of their desks …

I reported alongside soldiers in foxholes.  The president can't take that away.  —  Martha Raddatz is chief global affairs correspondent for ABC News, co-anchor of ABC's “This Week” and author of “The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family.”  —  Like so many of my colleagues …

Amid grumbling, Republicans quietly relieved about Trump's farm aid package  —  Republicans on Tuesday quietly exhaled after President Trump announced $12 billion in subsidies to rescue farm country, fretting that a trade war could bankrupt the agriculture industry and cost the party seats in the midterm elections.

Kemp Victory Puts Contest Into the Lean Republican Column  —  Yesterday's Republican run-off in Georgia's gubernatorial contest is as good an example as there is as to why parties hate run-offs.  They are risky propositions that can produce results that change the trajectory of a general election.

Pickax-Wielding Vandal Smashes President Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star to Pieces  —  Witnesses say a man pulled a pickax from a guitar case and destroyed the star near tourist hot-spot Hollywood and Highland  —  President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame …

Democrat Senators Won't Meet With Kavanaugh  —  Press Secretary Sarah Sanders conducted a briefing yesterday.  It featured the usual anti-Trump hysteria by members of the White House press corps, but I thought the most interesting point to emerge was the one that Sanders began with:

'What You're Seeing... Is Not What's Happening.' People Are Comparing This Trump Quote to George Orwell  —  President Trump drew comparisons to George Orwell's 1984 in an attack on the media during a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention Tuesday.

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll: Americans Don't Think Trump Is Tough Enough On Russia  —  Loading...  Americans don't think President Trump has been tough enough on Russia, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted after Trump's summit in Helsinki last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Highest Court in the Land  —  A converted storage room on the top floor of the Supreme Court building has become a place for justices and their clerks to get a run in—and a source of a great many tales.  —  Karl Tilleman first encountered Michael Jordan during the 1983 Pan American Games …

Scoop: Trump fears Biden 2020, losing Pennsylvania  —  Advisers to President Trump say Joe Biden is the Democrat he most fears running against, and that Pennsylvania is the state he worries most about flipping against him.  —  Trump's calculation is based partly on how weak he sees …

New Zealand to Australia: Get Your Own Flag  —  SYDNEY, Australia — The acting prime minister of New Zealand accused Australia this week of copying his country's 116-year-old flag, and demanded that Australians come up with a new design.  —  “We had a flag that we've had for a long time …

Before her arrest as an alleged Russian agent, Maria Butina's proud defense of her homeland drew notice at American University  —  On a campus full of ambitious students aiming to land influential U.S. government and policy jobs, Maria Butina cut an unusual profile.

‘What do we think about Mick?’:  Trump narrows down chief search  —  It's not clear when John Kelly will leave his post as the president's top aide, but budget head Mick Mulvaney has emerged as a leading contender.  —  President Donald Trump loves to crowdsource staffing advice …

‘He asked me if I was American’: New Orleans man allegedly beaten by NOPD officers tells story  —  George Gomez has extensive injuries to his face after New Orleans Police Officers John Galman and Spencer Sutton, who were off-duty, allegedly beat him down the street from the Mid-City Yacht Club …

China Said to Quickly Pull Approval for New Facebook Venture  —  SHANGHAI — For Facebook, success in China was brief.  Very brief.  —  For several hours, a Chinese government database showed that Facebook had gained approval to open a subsidiary in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Toronto shooting rampage: New details emerge about gunman Faisal Hussain  —  TORONTO — Canadian investigators were digging Tuesday into the life of the 29-year-old man who opened fire on restaurants and cafes in a popular Toronto neighborhood, seeking to explain what prompted the rampage …

New bid for TRONC— Meet the CONNECTORS to the black vote — PATTI BLAGOJEVICH goes off on TRUMP's favorite network  —  Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the 400+ high schoolers from around the world who are beautifying Humboldt Park today with a $125,000 service project.

U.S. Airlines Meet Beijing Halfway on Describing Taiwan  —  American, Delta and United update their websites to comply with China's demands on Taiwan  —  SHANGHAI—American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. joined other carriers in bowing …

James Gunn should be the last victim of the outrage mob  —  The outrage mob has claimed another scalp.  Before they get another one, let's make them earn it.  —  Disney fired James Gunn, the director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, after a claque of critics dug up a series of tweets …