Trump backer Tom Barrack defends Saudi Arabia  —  Real estate developer said that kingdom was misunderstood by the West  —  Dubai: America is in no moral position to criticise Saudi Arabia, according to financier and key Trump backer Tom Barrack.  —  Speaking on stage at the Milken Institute MENA Summit …

Howard Schultz and the media's unlearned lesson  —  A billionaire flirts with a run for president and gets grossly disproportionate free airtime.  We all know the punchline.  Howard Schultz, the running-but-not-yet-running former CEO of Starbucks, has attracted intense media interest …

Michael Bloomberg's $500 million anti-Trump moonshot  —  Billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is preparing to spend at least $500 million from his own pocket to deny President Trump a second term, according to Democratic operatives briefed on his plans.

Schumer recruits famed fighter pilot to challenge McConnell in 2020  —  Chuck Schumer is actively recruiting a high-profile fighter pilot to take on Mitch McConnell in 2020 — a calculated act of aggression against a leading Republican foe.  —  Schumer met with Amy McGrath …

Trump intends to sign border deal to avoid another shutdown  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump intends to sign the border security deal to avoid another partial government shutdown, according to two sources who have spoken directly with the President.

MN Jewish leaders talked with Ilhan Omar about anti-Semitism last year.  Why they remain frustrated.  —  Ilhan Omar has been talked to about this before.  —  Last year, before she was elected to the House of Representatives, before she emerged from a crowded Democratic field …

Who is Richard Burr, Really?  Why the public can't trust his voice in the Russia probe  —  On the same day that Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) officially joined the Trump campaign as a senior national security advisor, the U.S. intelligence community released a statement that the Kremlin was trying to interfere in the election.

President Trump wants the press to check out the Great Tariff Debate of 1888.  Okay!  —  On tariffs, what can 1888 tell us about 2019?  —  Many things happened at President Trump's El Paso rally on Monday night.  A BBC cameraman was violently attacked by a #MAGA supporter; you can read his colleague's account of that here.

How Team Trump keeps changing its story in the Russia investigation  —  Over the past two years, President Donald Trump and his team have offered changing accounts regarding key matters in the Russia investigation.  Their denials have been debunked, Trump has contradicted his senior aides …

House Democrats plan vast Russia probe  —  Mueller is just the beginning.  House Democrats plan a vast probe of President Trump and Russia — with a heavy focus on money laundering — that will include multiple committees and dramatic public hearings, and could last into 2020.

McCarthy blames Republican loss of House majority on GOP health care bill  —  Speaking privately to his donors, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy squarely blamed Republican losses in last year's midterm elections on the GOP push to roll back health insurance protections for people …

APNewsBreak: Howard Dean to head new Dem voter data exchange  —  Howard Dean is back.  —  The one-time presidential candidate, former Vermont governor and ex-Democratic National Committee chairman is set to return to prominence as head of a new operation that Democrats hope puts them back on par …

Trump Approval, Economic Confidence Rebound  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump's job approval rating has risen to 44% after the conclusion of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.  While views of Trump have improved, the public's heightened positivity does not extend …

Binyamin Appelbaum Joins the Editorial Board  —  Binyamin Appelbaum, a reporter in Washington who has covered the economy for nine years, will be the board's lead writer on business and economics.  Read more in this note from editorial page editor James Bennet, deputy editorial page editor Katie Kingsbury and op-ed editor Jim Dao.

Unmistakable Divide Among Women in Virginia Over Accusations Against Fairfax  —  RICHMOND, Va. — To Constance Cordovilla, the president of the Virginia National Organization for Women, the two sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax are not just grounds for him to resign …

Rachael Rollins prepared to investigate Boston-based assault allegations against Va. lieutenant governor  —  Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said Tuesday that she is ready to investigate allegations that Virginia's lieutenant governor sexually assaulted a woman at the 2004 Democratic …

Trump Is Immune From Impeachment if Mueller Can't Share His Evidence  —  Attorney General nominee William Barr sounds likely to try to keep what the special counsel finds out from Congress.  Thanks to Watergate, there's a way around him.  —  Donald Trump's next attorney general may attempt …

Brie Larson isn't letting ‘Captain Marvel’ press tour be ‘overwhelmingly’ white and male … Brie Larson is on a mission to save the world — and not just in her latest flick, superhero blockbuster “Captain Marvel.”  —  The Academy Award-winning actress might be the star …

Publishers Chafe at Apple's Terms for Subscription News Service  —  Apple plans to keep about 50% of subscription revenue from ‘Netflix for news’ service, likely won't share customer data with publishers  —  Apple Inc.'s AAPL .45% plan to create a subscription service for news is running …

Trump Proposes Fourth of July Parade in D.C., Which Already Exists  —  President Trump kicked off Tuesday's Cabinet meeting by announcing his desire to hold a “Salute to America” parade on the National Mall.  “We're thinking about doing, on the Fourth of July or thereabouts, a parade, a ‘Salute to America’ parade,” said Trump.

The official fast food French fry power rankings  —  Look, it's been a long two years for everyone.  We're tired, our brains have been melted to a thin pap by the news cycle, and we've soundly backslid into our slothful ways despite resolving to exercise off all the cookies we cry-ate over the holiday.

Pompeo shrugs off expected no-shows ahead of U.S.-hosted conference on Middle East  —  WARSAW — Arriving in Poland to host an international conference on Middle East peace and security, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that more than 30 foreign ministers would attend.

Hollywood Stars Mum on Northam, Fairfax and Omar  —  Modern Hollywood has never been so vocal.  —  Talk shows.  Social media.  Awards stages.  Marches.  Rallies.  Protests.  —  Name the venue, and a star or starlet is there, promoting a crush of causes.

Chris Christie talks his time with Trump at Manhattan soirée  —  Chris Christie told Trump stories for nearly an hour last night at the Manhattan home of hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen.  —  What he's saying: Standing in front of 10-foot-high windows on the first floor of a home …

‘Finish the wall’?  Facing failure, Trump tries rebranding … For President Trump, chants and signs saying “Build the wall” are so 2016 — “Finish the wall” is his new rallying cry.  Yet two years into his term, not one new mile of a barrier has been erected along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

‘Makes going to work look easy’: Decades before she was House speaker, Nancy Pelosi had an even harder job  —  Last month, Nancy Corinne Prowda was watching television when her mother, Nancy Pelosi, came on the screen.  Pelosi had disinvited President Trump from giving his State of the Union speech …

National debt tops $22 trillion for the first time as experts warn of ripple effects  —  President Trump is proposing a $4 trillion-plus budget that projects a $1 trillion or so federal deficit.  AP's Economic Reporter Josh Boak says the plan is like a ‘Christmas list, a wish list’ that amounts amounts to a ‘massive bet’.