CBS News reports: In a carefully choreographed moment, Mr. Trump descended the steps of Air Force One moments before Putin came down the steps of his plane, stepping onto U.S. soil for the first time in about a decade. Both Mr. Trump and Putin walked down their respective red carpets, with Mr. Trump waiting for Putin at the end and …

The Daily Beast reports: The Trump administration is set to spend up to $50 million on a wave of taxpayer-funded PR amid the torrent of negative coverage dogging his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. A planning forecast record posted this week by the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) pledges $20 million to $50 million as an “International Campaign Follow-on” to …

“This is truly sick, Washington Post. The media doxxed Secretary Noem’s precise apartment location as she faces daily death threats, including from the terrorist organizations, cartels and criminal rings that DHS targets. Due to the increased threats and safety concerns, she has been forced to temporarily stay in secure military housing. As the DHS officers Secretary Noem leads face a …

Politico reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott immediately called another special session to pass a new congressional map, after the first attempt failed due to Texas Democrats leaving the state to deny Republicans the ability to carve out additional GOP seats. When Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled into the second special session, which began just two hours after the first one wrapped, …

“We have to overturn Obergefell. Many people will say, ‘That ship’s sailed, man. Gay people are married. We can’t go back.’ Gay marriage does not exist in the world. It can’t, any more than a square triangle can exist. God created marriage. I had premarital counseling today, I opened up the bible to Genesis I and showed them where God …

Washington DC’s WTOP reports: Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been a vocal critic of Trump’s efforts, and on Thursday the president belittled Moore in response to the Maryland governor’s resistance to deploy the National Guard in his state. “He’s not presidential timber, at all,” Trump said. “I heard him today talking about how the National Guard or the military …

NBC News reports: A local Mexican restaurant chain in Pennsylvania is trying to forge ahead a week after a worksite immigration raid left property damage at two of its storefronts and a workforce afraid to show up to their jobs, according to two employees and a witness who spoke with NBC News. It all started Aug. 7 when immigration authorities showed …

CNBC HOST: “Cuomo has made the point that Zohran Mamdani lives in a rent-controlled department, even though he is not considered quote, unquote ‘poor,’ and that Andrew Cuomo would actually try to create a law in the state that would prevent people like Mamdani from being, from living in a rent-controlled apartment. Do you think that he should live in …

Fox News reports: President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., includes streamlining the gun permitting process for law-abiding residents looking to protect themselves, Fox News Digital has learned. The concealed carry permitting process and firearm registration process in the deep blue city have been slashed from months down to days via Trump’s Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, …

“I understand from everything I’ve read that [Trump] would very much like to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, and honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war where Putin is the aggressor, invading a neighboring country, trying to change the borders – if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had …

The Hill reports: A band of Democratic lawmakers is introducing legislation to thwart President Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police department, arguing the White House is exceeding its authority. The resolution would terminate Trump’s Monday order, something the lawmakers say comes as “the President has concocted a false narrative around the city’s crime rates” which have been declining for two …

Politico Europe reports: Several hundred people gathered for a pro-Ukraine rally in Anchorage, Alaska, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are set to meet Friday. The high-stakes summit — the first in-person meeting between an American president and Putin since the latter launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is meant to lay the …

CNN reports: Wednesday evening on the MAGA cable channel OAN, as Defense Department spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson gushed to host Matt Gaetz about an alleged year-over-year increase in female military recruits, four images of women soldiers in combat fatigues were displayed on-screen. All four images were AI fakes. The images appear to have been generated using Elon Musk’s Grok, as small …

CNN reports: Erin strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph on Friday morning more than 400 miles east of the northeastern Caribbean’s Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. Four other systems roamed the Atlantic basin before Erin – Andrea, Barry, Chantal and Dexter – but none were stronger than a tropical storm. The …

The Washington Post reports: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem is living for free in a military home typically reserved for the U.S. Coast Guard’s top admiral, officials familiar with the matter said. The highly unusual arrangement has raised concern within the agency and from some Democrats, who describe it as a waste of military resources. Noem recently …

The Washingtonian reports: The US Department of Agriculture spent $16,400 to hang two banners in May outside its headquarters on Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, government documents show. One banner honored Abraham Lincoln. The other featured the glowering face of President Trump. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted a video on X on May 15 that begins, amid stirring music, with …

Politico Europe reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared to be wearing a sweater with the letters “CCCP” — Russian for USSR — upon his arrival in Alaska. Lavrov will be part of the Kremlin’s delegation when Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet later on Friday in a hotly anticipated summit to discuss the war in …

Rolling Stone reports: A new directive signed last week by President Donald Trump gives the Pentagon authorization to use military force against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, according to administration sources. A U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed to Rolling Stone certain details regarding the Trump-signed directive, which was first reported by The New York Times. …

From the Family Research Council’s website: A group of 80 pastors — Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and more — are taking a stand against Kroger. The coalition of clergy sent a letter to interim Kroger CEO Ronald Sargent with an ultimatum: Drop the LGBT agenda or face a boycott. On the company’s website, it plainly states, “We proudly stand with …

Goldsboro’s CBS affiliate reports: According to officials, 30-year-old Shelton Kelsey Burkart was charged with 5 counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 5 counts of third degree sexual exploitation of a minor after the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation seized his electronic devices at his church. NC SBI said Burkart was the pastor at Zion Global …