memeorandum: Truth Social merger approved, giving Trump potential source of cash (Julia Shapero/The Hill)

2:45 PM ET, March 22, 2024

Top Items:

The Publicly-Traded Presidential Candidate — We've all been focused lately on a question appropriate for Schadenfriday: How is Donald Trump going to post a $450+ million bond to cover his appeal in the New York civil fraud case? The clock is ticking, and Trump claims he doesn't have the ability to post it.

Discussion: Salon, Associated Press, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway and Wall Street Journal

Matt Egan / CNN:

Trump is about to get $3 billion richer after deal is approved to take his company public. But it won't solve his cash crunch — Investors have approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company. — The green light from shareholders clears …

Discussion: CNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Gizmodo, UPI, El País, Raw Story, Business Insider and Washington Post

Dan Primack / Axios:

Trump's Truth Social is going public after winning DWAC merger vote … - As Axios reported earlier today, this ends a multiyear saga that's included civil lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, closing extensions and vote postponements.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Raw Story, Deadline, CBS News, Rolling Stone, Wired, Fox Business, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, WBUR, Fortune, Gizmodo and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Why Trump's big Wall Street payday won't bail him out of financial trouble — The approval from investors would come as Trump faces a severe financial crunch: He's been hit with more than $500 million in civil penalties, not to mention ongoing legal fees as he appeals verdicts against him.

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, New Republic, GB News, Associated Press, Reason, Raw Story and New York Times

NBC News:
Trump claims he has $500 million in cash, undercutting lawyers' claims on bond money

Discussion: CNBC, Associated Press, Axios, New Yorker, BizPac Review, Washington Times, The Western Journal, Raw Story, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Bloomberg and Business Insider

Matthew Goldstein / New York Times:
Trump Media Merger Approved, Allowing Truth Social to Go Public

Discussion: Mediaite, Business Insider, CNBC, Raw Story, New Republic, The Verge, Associated Press, The Wrap, The Guardian, Fox Business, RedState, Althouse and Wall Street Journal

Julia Shapero / The Hill:
Truth Social merger approved, giving Trump potential source of cash

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal and The Guardian

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Trump Claims He's Scraped Together Almost $500M ‘IN CASH’ as Fraud Bond Deadline Looms

Andrew Solender / Axios:

Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson … - Johnson's predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), became the first House speaker to be ousted after hardline Republicans triggered a motion to vacate against him last year. — Greene's move came after she voiced …

Discussion: The Guardian, ABC News, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, The National Pulse, Mediaite, RedState, CBS News and MeidasTouch

The Daily Beast:

MTG Officially Launches Revolt Against Speaker Mike Johnson — On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to force a vote on Mike Johnson's removal from the speakership. — It's anarchy again in the House GOP. — On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) …

Spencer Brown / Townhall:

Here We Go Again? MTG Files Motion to Remove Speaker Johnson. — After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding package to avert a government shutdown in a bipartisan 286-134 vote on Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a motion to vacate the chair …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, HotAir, LGBTQ Nation, Washington Times, Daily Caller News Foundation, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, Mediaite, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
House Passes Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown, Prompting G.O.P. Mutiny

Discussion: NPR, Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Times, GovExec.com, The Guardian, CNN, New Jersey Globe, Mediaite, CBS News, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, abc7NY, Wonkette and Reuters

USA Today:
House passes $1.2 trillion spending package, crucial step to averting shutdown

Discussion: Business Insider, Fox News, Bloomberg, ABC News, Associated Press, Forbes, IJR, New York Post, Florida Phoenix, The Hill and The Guardian

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
House passes $1.2 trillion spending bill, sending it to Senate hours before shutdown

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, PJ Media, The Federalist, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Roll Call, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW, Washington Times, Associated Press, Punchbowl News, CNN, UPI and North Dakota Monitor

Brian Beutler / Off Message:

The Case For 2024 Optimism — Biden's got a lot of upside potential, Trump's got a lot of downside risk. — The short version is that over the past couple weeks President Biden has caught up with Donald Trump, as depicted in the Economist's polling average above.

Discussion: Fox News, Digby's Hullabaloo, Arizona Republic, The Hill, Axios, Bongino, Associated Press, Roll Call, Raw Story and Fox Business

CNN:

CNN Polls: Majority of voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania are dissatisfied with their presidential choices — Voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania - two states that flipped from red to blue in the 2020 presidential election - begin this year's general election campaign more dissatisfied …

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, New York Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Political Wire, The Western Journal, Emerson Polling and Axios

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
Trump Would Break the Budget

Discussion: CNBC and Bloomberg

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:
Trump canceled a rally in Arizona because his campaign was too broke: report

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and PoliticusUSA

James Bickerton / Newsweek:
Joe Biden Jokes About Donald Trump's Debt Problems: 'I Can't Help You'

Discussion: Mediaite, Fox News, TIME, Politico, Raw Story, New Jersey Online, Twitchy, CNN, Hopium Chronicles, PoliticusUSA and New York Times

Politico:

Johnson's margin drops to one vote as Gallagher heads for early exit — Allies of the Wisconsin Republican say he was long jaded by the antics of the House following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Discussion: Daily Kos

NBC News:

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher will resign early, leaving House majority hanging by a thread — House Republicans lost another member in Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., on Friday. Gallagher's early departure could leave Republicans with just one vote to spare on legislation.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, Axios and The Daily Caller

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Ken Buck's parting gift to GOP: Signing Democrats' Ukraine discharge petition

Discussion: New Republic, MeidasTouch, The Western Journal, The Bulwark, Fox News, Raw Story, Washington Times, The Hill and CBS News

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Ronna McDaniel, Former R.N.C. Chair, Joins NBC News — Her new role as a commentator on NBC and MSNBC programs comes shortly after she stepped down as the leader of the Republican National Committee. — Ronna McDaniel, who stepped down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee this month …

Discussion: Axios, Media Matters for America, Washington Examiner, Politico, The Daily Beast, New Republic, RedState, The National Pulse, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Wrap, Deadline and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBC News Hires Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

Discussion: New York Post and Twitchy

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill: Ronna McDaniel joins NBC News as contributor

New York Times:

Inside Garland's Effort to Prosecute Trump — In trying to avoid even the smallest mistakes, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland might have made one big one: ending up in a race against the clock. — After being sworn in as attorney general in March 2021, Merrick B. Garland gathered …

Discussion: Wonkette, No More Mister Nice Blog and Althouse

Politico:
Playbook: Inside the new Democratic politics of Israel

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Punchbowl News

The Cause:

They don't want want this miracle™ to exist — It was four years ago today. After about 34 hours inside Ann Arbor's St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and a lifetime of heroic pushing by my wife, my daughter was born. She, like every newborn, was a miracle™. That's the cliche™.

Politico:

House Dems could have Johnson's back on ouster threat — if Ukraine aid gets a vote — All Democrats had previously voted to oust McCarthy along with a group of Republicans last fall.

Discussion: Adam Kinzinger and Political Wire

Eboni Boykin-Patterson / The Daily Beast:

Candace Owens Stumped by Basic Black History Quiz — The conservative commentator missed an opportunity to score a few likability points with the Black community this week on ‘The Breakfast Club.’ — The day before Daily Wire ended their relationship with the often controversial right-wing commentator …