Idiocracy

Politico reports: President Donald Trump lashed out at Don McGahn late on Saturday, tweeting that he was “Never a big fan” of the former White House counsel amid an ongoing battle between House Democrats and the administration over documents and testimony related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire …

The Associated Press reports: Almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception, United Nations environmental officials said Friday. An agreement on tracking thousands of types of plastic waste emerged at the end of a two-week meeting of U.N.-backed conventions on plastic waste and …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump has effectively taken charge of the nation’s premier Fourth of July celebration in Washington, moving the gargantuan fireworks display from its usual spot on the Mall to be closer to the Potomac River and making tentative plans to address the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, according to top administration officials. The …

The Huffington Post reports: Donald Trump hit the retweet button hard on Saturday morning. The president went on yet another retweet rampage as he re-shared 60 posts in around 45 minutes that praised him, defended him or echoed his main talking points. Posts from ultra-conservative website Breitbart News, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Sen. Lindsey Graham …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump dismissed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Friday in a single sentence. “Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” the president told POLITICO in a 15-minute telephone interview, when asked what he thought of the South Bend, Ind., mayor. Neuman’s freckled, gap-toothed face and oversized ears have for decades graced the cover …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s latest tariff hike on Chinese goods took effect Friday and Beijing said it would retaliate, escalating a battle over China’s technology ambitions and other trade tensions. The Trump administration raised duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25% from 10%. China’s Commerce Ministry said it would impose “necessary countermeasures” but gave no …

CNN reports: Former FBI Director James Comey said Thursday night on CNN that it appears President Donald Trump obstructed justice and that there is “no doubt” he would have been charged with crimes if he weren’t the sitting president, which shields him from prosecution. Comey said he agrees with the more than 800 former federal prosecutors who said this week, …

The Washington Examiner reports: Former White House chief of staff John Kelly took a pass on Wednesday on the question of whether President Trump is a “stable genius.” The president has labeled himself as a “stable genius” on multiple occasions, and during an event in Las Vegas, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci asked his former boss what his …

Boston’s CBS News affiliate reports: It looks like someone on the White House staff doesn’t know much about Boston or baseball. The Boston Red Sox will meet with President Trump at the White House Thursday afternoon to celebrate their 2018 World Series championship. The event has already been clouded by issues of politics and race. Now there’s the embarrassing typo. …

Politico reports: President Trump on Wednesday joked he could stay in office for “10 or 14” years, saying it would be a good way to provoke the news media. Trump told supporters at an outdoor rally that if he suggested he might stay in office past two terms, the media would respond by saying, “See, he’s a despot.” “There’ll be …

Just in from Pew Research: Most Americans (70%) say they would not be particularly bothered if they heard people speak a language other than English in a public place, including 47% who say they would not be bothered at all. Still, a sizable share (29%) says this would bother them at least some. According to the new survey, 47 percent …

The New York Times reports: Printouts from Mr. Trump’s official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form, the 1040, for the years 1985 to 1994 — represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president’s taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump for months has griped, complained and tweeted about what he says is the unfair Russia “witch hunt” investigation that has consumed nearly half of his presidency. Now, the president has floated a possible solution: two bonus years. White House officials and others close to the president said he was joking and is not serious …

ABC News reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday praised the Arctic region — and its rapidly shrinking levels of sea ice — for its economic opportunities, despite continued warnings about the catastrophic effects of climate change. “The Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance,” Pompeo said in remarks in Rovaniemi, Finland. “It houses 13 percent of …

Roll Call reports: President Donald Trump issued an executive order today that directed the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Office of Management and Budget to create a rotational program that will “serve as a mechanism for knowledge transfer” across agencies. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of DHS, along with OMB and other agencies will also …

Fox News dutifully reports: Nancy Pelosi won’t be stockpiling this swag. President Trump’s post-Mueller-report victory lap includes new merchandise such as $30 “Collusion Delusion” T-shirts and “Witch Hunt!” mugs. Buyers are also snatching up white tees that reproduce Trump’s March 24, 1:42 p.m. tweet following Attorney General William Barr’s announcement of his summary of Mueller’s findings: “Complete and Total EXONERATION.” …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump is calling for Fox News to take one of the networks biggest critics off their air, in a Sunday morning retweet of Twitter User @HH41848213, aka “HowardH” who joined Twitter in 2016 and has roughly 235 followers until today. Donald Trump’s use of Twitter has flouted previous presidential decorum for years. But the retweeting of …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Sunday blamed “political correctness” for the decision to disqualify the Kentucky Derby’s first-place finisher, claiming that the best horse did not win. “Country House,” a horse with just 65-1 odds to win, was named the winner on Saturday in the annual event’s first-ever “inquiry ruling.” Race officials made the decision after disqualifying “Maximum Security” …

“Bill Barr is so far up Trump’s ass he bumped into Hannity. So Barr went before the Senate this week, on Wednesday, and the Democrats looked all so happy after they gave him a good grilling. But I think they missed the big picture. Trump is still President and the big gotcha was they got Barr to commit perjury, which …

The Huffington Post reports: Donald Trump went on yet another wild retweet rampage Saturday morning. He also attacked the media, shared a tweet with an Islamophobic caption and promoted a Trump Organization-owned golf course. Trump began the spree at 9 a.m. when he shared a video from far-right conspiracy-monger Alex Jones’ Infowars website, which itself has been banned or suspended …