memeorandum: Do Elite Universities Really Wish to Fight the Federal Government? (Victor Davis Hanson/American Greatness)

10:40 AM ET, April 21, 2025

Top Items:

Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat — The defense secretary sent sensitive information about strikes in Yemen to an encrypted group chat that included his wife and brother, people familiar with the matter said. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information …

John Ullyot / Politico:

Former Top Pentagon Spokesperson Details ‘Month From Hell’ Inside the Agency — The total chaos at the Department of Defense is becoming a major distraction for the Trump administration, writes John Ullyot. — It's been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon.

Discussion: Fox News, The Bulwark, The Hill, Daily Mail, Mediaite, The Independent, Raw Story, Fortune, TIME, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Alternet.org, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Paul McLeary / Politico:

Former Pentagon official warns department's dysfunction could topple Hegseth — “The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon,” John Ullyot, the former top Defense Department spokesperson, wrote in a POLITICO Magazine opinion piece. — The Pentagon is in “total chaos” …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Raw Story and The Hill

Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone: Turns Out It Wasn't Such a Great Idea to Put Pete Hegseth in Charge of the Military

CNN:
Hegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother

Discussion: Reuters, The Guardian, WBAL Baltimore News, Al Jazeera, HuffPost, CBS News, Raw Story, The Independent, The Hill, The Wrap, Clayton Cramer and Politico

Jack Blanchard / Politico: Playbook: For Pete's sake

Wall Street Journal:
Hegseth Faces Heat After New Signal Chat Emerges and Claim of Pentagon ‘Chaos’

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Deadline, The Guardian, Political Wire and Raw Story

Nicole Winfield / Associated Press:

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff who ministered with a charming, humble style, dies at 88 — Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday.

Devin Watkins / vaticannews.va:

Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88 — Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta. — At 9:45 AM, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced the death of Pope Francis from the Casa Santa Marta with these words:

Francis X. Rocca / Wall Street Journal:

Pope Francis, Advocate for Economic and Social Justice, Dies at 88 — Pontiff urged grassroots activists around the world to bridge the gap between rich and poor — VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis, who sought to refocus the Catholic Church on promoting social and economic justice rather …

Discussion: Washington Post, HotAir, Reuters, New York Times, America Magazine, Reason, WFAA-TV, Metro.co.uk, Fox News, New York Post, RNS, Al Jazeera, WBAL Baltimore News, The Hill and NPR

Jason Horowitz / New York Times:

Latest Updates: Pope Francis Dies at 88 — His groundbreaking pontificate worked to make the Catholic Church more inclusive. Cardinals will now decide whether to continue his approach or restore more doctrinaire leadership. — Buenos Aires — Jerusalem — Havana — Washington

Tom Sykes / The Daily Beast:
Pope Francis' Last Act Was to Give JD Vance a Lesson About Migrants

Joshua McElwee / Reuters:
Pope Francis has died, Vatican says

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Examiner, The Atlantic, NPR, New York Post, The Guardian, Hollywood Life, Breitbart, Fox News, Semafor, The Dispatch, Raw Story, Axios, New York Times and Al Jazeera

Jonathan Wolfe / New York Times:
Pope Francis' Calling Came as a Boy in Argentina, and It Led Him to the Vatican

Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters, NPR, CBS News, Associated Press, UnHerd, Politico, Al Jazeera and Althouse

New York Times:
Francis, the First Latin American Pope, Dies at 88

Discussion: CBS News, WBEZ Chicago, PennLive, Aleteia, Columbia Journalism Review, The 19th, The Daily Wire, WHDH-TV and Variety

Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Biden mourns Pope Francis: ‘He was unlike any who came before him’

Discussion: USA Today, CBS News and New York Daily News

Fox News:
Pope Francis dead at 88, Vatican says

Lisa Kashinsky / Politico:

House Dems travel to El Salvador to secure Maryland man's return — More Democrats are making the trip abroad to raise awareness for what they call a “constitutional crisis” surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation. — Four more Democratic lawmakers have landed in El Salvador …

Discussion: Townhall, Twitchy and Washington Times

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Four House Dems travel to El Salvador despite GOP refusal

Discussion: Washington Post and Reuters

Luke Garrett / NPR:
House Democrats land in El Salvador, demand Abrego Garcia's return

Discussion: Bloomberg, Associated Press, New York Times and Los Angeles Times

Minho Kim / New York Times:
After Meeting Wrongly Deported Man, Van Hollen Accuses Trump of Defying Courts

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Breitbart, Politico, Rolling Stone, Grabien and CNN

Split Ticket:

How Democrats Won Wisconsin In 2025: Turnout. — Democrats swelled with confidence after their victory in the State Supreme Court race in Trump-won Wisconsin. It seemed that public opinion swung sharply against Donald Trump and the GOP despite Elon Musk's eight-figure investment in the state.

CNN:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's bag, including $3,000 in cash, is stolen from DC restaurant — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fell victim to a thief while eating dinner at a downtown Washington, DC, restaurant Sunday night, two sources familiar with the incident …

Leika Kihara / Reuters:

Japan to voice concern over US trade deal inconsistency, PM Ishiba says — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday Tokyo has no plan to terminate a trade deal struck with the U.S. in 2019, but will keep voicing “grave concern” over inconsistency between the deal and President Donald Trump's latest automobile tariffs.

Discussion: Axios and Associated Press

Associated Press:
China warns countries against making trade deals with the US unfavorable to Beijing

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, UPI, Reuters, New York Times, Fortune and Al Jazeera

Ashley Mowreader / Inside Higher Ed:

What We've Learned So Far From Tracking Student Visa Data — More than 1,500 students from nearly 250 colleges have had their visas revoked, but who they are—and why they've been targeted—is still largely unknown. … Our goal was to understand the scope of the federal government's involvement …

Discussion: The Harvard Crimson

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:
Do Elite Universities Really Wish to Fight the Federal Government?

Discussion: The Atlantic

Anthony Clark / The Last Campaign:

Trump's Surgeon General Pick Distorted Key Parts of Her Résumé — Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, an urgent-care physician and former Fox News medical contributor 1 who is President Donald Trump's nominee for surgeon general of the United States, has over at least the last 15 years falsely represented …

The Free Press:

Is Donald Trump Breaking the Law? Seven Experts Weigh In. — Trump critics say we are in a constitutional crisis. The White House says that's hysterical. What do our top legal minds say? — The first 90 days of President Trump's second term have been marked by a series of aggressive legal maneuvers.

Discussion: Reason

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration Irate at Harvard, Plans to Pull Additional $1 Billion in Funding — The university publicized a government demand letter that asked for federal oversight of the campus — The Trump administration has grown so furious with Harvard University after a week …

Discussion: The Hill, The Harvard Crimson, New York Post, The Washington Free Beacon and Fox News

Janna Brancolini / The Daily Beast:

Diplomats Are Freaking Out About Trump's Leaked Executive Order — STATE OF PANIC — One official said monkeys with a typewriter could have come up with a more logical plan for the State Department. — American diplomats spent the weekend panicking about a possible plan to radically reshape …

Discussion: The Independent, Rough Draft Atlanta, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Politico, CNBC, Rolling Stone, Fortune, UPI and Raw Story

Caroline Kitchener / New York Times:

Baby Bonuses, Fertility Planning: Trump Aides Assess Ideas to Boost Birthrate … “We need to channel the MAHA spirit and really dive deep into infertility,” said Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, referring to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again campaign.Rebecca Kiger for The New York Times

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP lawmakers running out of options to pay for Trump's costly agenda — Republican leaders are rapidly running out of ways to pay for President Trump's agenda as GOP lawmakers shoot down various proposals to cut spending or increase revenues. — Without finding some new ideas …

Discussion: Punchbowl News

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court rejects Minnesota effort to revive ban on young adults from carrying guns — The measure struck down by lower courts bars 18-to-20-year-olds from applying for licenses to carry firearms in public. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a blow to Minnesota's attempt …

Discussion: USA Today