The stress on Trump's machine  —  It's hard to overstate the extremity and variety of pressures bearing down on President Trump and his understaffed White House.  —  The bottom line: Taken together, it's a jaw-dropping list of problems, and Trump's “fine-tuned machine” is creaking under this stress.

GOP candidate for Fla. governor spoke at racially charged events  —  Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a gubernatorial nominee who recently was accused of using racially tinged language, spoke four times at conferences organized by a conservative activist who has said that African Americans owe …

Les Moonves Admits to Unwanted Kissing of His Doctor 19 Years Ago  —  Another wrinkle emerges in Moonves's negotiated exit from CBS, and within one of the more head-spinning #MeToo storylines yet.  —  BY - WILLIAM D. COHANSeptember 9, 2018,  —  The career arc of Les Moonves …

The Urgent Question of Trump and Money Laundering  —  How Bruce Ohr, President Trump's latest Twitter target, fits a suspicious pattern of behavior on Russia.  —  Donald Trump has a long history of doing what he thinks is best for Donald Trump.  If he needs to discard friends, allies or wives along the way, so be it.

Dirty Politics in New York  —  A last-minute mailer from Democrats wrongly describing Cynthia Nixon as anti-Semitic is a disgrace.  —  The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.  It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Trump Administration to Close Palestine Liberation Organization Office in Washington  —  The Trump administration is expected to announce Monday it will close the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington, widening a campaign of pressure amid stalled Middle East peace efforts.

Inside the GOP's rescue mission for Ted Cruz  —  With a string of polls showing GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's lead slipping, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick showed up in Washington on July 25 to deliver an urgent plea to White House officials: Send President Donald Trump.  —  Patrick, who chaired Trump's …

Another Problem for Trump: A 2020 Primary Challenge Is Growing More Likely  —  Republican pros have, in recent weeks, quietly settled on new conventional wisdom: If Donald Trump is not impeached first, he is likely to face a primary challenge — of some sort — in 2020.

Scary signs for Republicans  —  My colleague Mike Allen, who's covered a few midterm elections in his time, says it's rare to see so much evidence of a trend accumulate so many months out, only for all the signals to be proven wrong.  —  The big picture: Yes, the punditocracy is being cautious …

How WhatsApp Destroyed A Village  —  In July, residents of a rural Indian town saw rumors of child kidnappers on WhatsApp.  Then they beat five strangers to death.  —  Reporting From  —  New Delhi  —  Hours after a mob of villagers beat five strangers to death over a rumor on WhatsApp …

Whining Serena Williams is tennis's Hillary Clinton … No one expected Naomi Osaka to win the US Open yesterday.  Everyone favoured her opponent.  The crowd was solidly with Serena Williams, as were the bookies.  But the 20-year-old Japanese-Haitian, who became the first player representing Japan …

The Deceptive Contrast Between Trump and Kavanaugh  —  Last week, the impetuous President and the thoughtful Supreme Court nominee seemed very different, but they share an agenda for the country.  —  The past week in Washington offered what appeared to be a startling contrast: on the one hand …

White House expected to warn of sanctions, other penalties if international court moves against Americans  —  The United States will threaten Monday to punish individuals that cooperate with the International Criminal Court in a potential investigation of U.S. wartime actions in Afghanistan …

Establishment survives far-right surge in Swedish election  —  Sweden's incumbent Social Democratic Party received the most votes in Sunday's pivotal election, batting off a challenge from the nationalist far-right Sweden Democrats, who had their best-ever performance but finished in third place, per SVT.

Twitter suspended Benghazi hero Kris Paronto but the account he allegedly offended never even reported him.  What gives?  —  Benghazi hero Kris Paronto was suspended by Twitter and forced to delete a tweet where he tagged and mocked the anti-Trump account @itmustend_ for that account's tweet …

Three Miami Dolphins players protest during national anthem  —  Three Miami Dolphins players protested during the national anthem before their season opener against Tennessee on Sunday.  —  Wide receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson knelt during the anthem while defensive end Robert Quinn raised …

Nike, I love your gear, but your Colin Kaepernick ad exhausts my spirit  —  Nike is a business, and their decision to make Colin Kaepernick the star of their new ad campaign wasn't just a political move, it was a business move.  But is it paying off?  Sales surged in the days immediately …