Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration  —  President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession …

CNN Poll: Trump bears most blame for shutdown  —  WASHINGTON (CNN)Amid the longest government shutdown in US history, a majority say Donald Trump bears more responsibility for it than the Democrats in Congress, and the President's disapproval rating has climbed five points since last month, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

White House Sought Options to Strike Iran  —  State and Pentagon officials were rattled by the request  —  WASHINGTON—On a warm night in early September, militants fired three mortars into Baghdad's sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to the U.S. Embassy.  —  The shells—launched …

Ocasio-Cortez is driving more Twitter conversation than the top 5 news companies combined  —  Note: Kamala Harris tweets under both a private and a Senate account.  Her total is combined; Data: CrowdTangle; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios  —  A freshman congresswoman who has held office for less …

Report on the Trump FBI Investigation  —  This is the most astounding evidence of Oval Office criminality since the release of the “smoking gun” tape in 1974.  —  Deep in  —  The New York Times's latest bombshell  —  is one singularly deadly word, a lethal bit of shrapnel aimed directly …

Old, young, liberal, centrist: Democrats will have no end of choices for president in 2020 … There are fresh faces and old hands.  Thirty-somethings and senior citizens.  Billionaires and at least one person still paying off student loans.  A skateboarder, a brewery founder and a coffee magnate are all taking a look.

Nancy Pelosi Spanks the First Brat  —  WASHINGTON — Two men, sons of immigrants, rising to be the head of their own empires, powerful forces in their ethnic communities.  Both dapper and mustachioed with commanding personalities.  And both wielding a potent influence on the children …

Woman banned from Walmart after riding cart while drinking wine from Pringles can, police say  —  Police were called to a Texas Walmart after a woman was reportedly drinking wine from a Pringles can and riding an electric cart in the parking lot.  —  Officers responded to a call around 9 …

Dems fly to Puerto Rico on chartered jet, meet with lobbyists, see ‘Hamilton’ as shutdown drags on  —  Despite a partial government shutdown with no end in sight, about 30 Democratic members of Congress traveled to Puerto Rico this weekend — with their families and lobbyists …

William Barr's confirmation hearing expected to be a battle over Mueller's future  —  Two years of simmering tension between the White House, the Justice Department and Congress will culminate in Tuesday's confirmation hearing of William P. Barr to be the next attorney general …

Referenda Delenda Est  —  Brexit shows how direct democracy can be dangerous  —  “In my country the people can do as they like, although it often happens that they don't like what they have done.”  — Winston Churchill, 1946  —  During the Second World War, as U.S. power was eclipsing Britain's …

‘In the White House waiting’: Inside Trump's defiance on the longest shutdown ever  —  When President Trump made a rare journey to the U.S. Capitol last week, he was expected to strategize about how to end the government shutdown he instigated.  Instead, he spent the first 20-odd minutes delivering a monologue about “winning.”