Idiocracy

Politico reports: A top National Security Council official was forced out this week, the latest staffing change at the White House-based group since President Donald Trump named John Bolton his national security adviser in March. Jennifer Arangio, a senior director in the NSC division that deals with international organizations, was let go Thursday, according to a former White House official …

Axios reports: President Trump wants to update the paint job on the next version of Air Force One, ditching the iconic robin’s-egg blue (which he calls a “Jackie Kennedy color”) for a bolder, “more American” look. “He can do it,” said a source, when asked about whether Trump can make the change. But the change could cause friction with the …

Mediaite reports: Donald Trump is reminding people he’s a “very stable genius.” No, seriously. The president held a surprise press conference in NATO today, during which he said Vladimir Putin is not an enemy again, shrugged off the upcoming protests against him in the United Kingdom, and claimed the summit “all came together at the end” now that America’s allies …

Politico reports: U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to break with NATO and conduct American security unilaterally — if allies do not immediately meet higher military spending targets, NATO officials and diplomats said. Trump warned of “grave consequences” if allies do not immediately meet higher spending targets, derailing a morning meeting of NATO leaders with the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump kicked off his trip to Europe with a biting critique of the United States’ longtime allies, declaring at a breakfast meeting that Germany “is captive to Russia.” Next to him, three of his senior officials seemed uncomfortable at times, pursing their lips and glancing away from the table. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remains …

Quartz reports: At today’s NATO summit in Brussels, the west’s gathered leaders turned their head in unison to watch a military flyover. But for a brief moment, US president Donald Trump’s attention drifted elsewhere. The resulting photo is an almost too perfect symbol for the tenor of the meeting. Ahead of his arrival, Trump had attacked the other members of …

The Associated Press reports: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his security detail violated both Mexican and U.S. immigration laws by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection alleges in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The mayor’s office flatly denied the allegation. De Blasio, a fierce …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump unleashed his most remarkable broadside yet against a European ally on Wednesday, accusing Germany of being “totally controlled by Russia” and of not meeting its obligations to the NATO alliance. “Germany, as far I’m concerned, is captive to Russia,” Trump said. That extraordinary rhetoric represents Trump’s strongest attack to date on NATO allies – …

We haven’t had a Florida Man story in awhile. Click Orlando reports: Cellphone video and 911 calls leading to the arrest of a Florida man who deputies said chased his neighbor on a tractor were released by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, News 6 partner WJXT-TV reported. The video, recorded by the neighbor’s wife, who also called 911, ultimately …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump is preparing to release a list of an additional $200 billion in Chinese products to be hit with tariffs, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Trump administration on July 6 imposed 25 percent duties on $34 billion in Chinese imports, the first time the president has implemented tariffs directly on Beijing after …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club has asked permission to hire 78 foreign workers to serve as cooks, waiters and housekeepers during this winter’s social season in Palm Beach, Fla., according to Labor Department data. The club — a for-profit business, which also serves as Trump’s weekend home and “Winter White House” — submitted applications to hire 21 …

Oregon Live reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday commuted the sentences of two eastern Oregon ranchers serving time in federal prison for setting fire to public land in a case that inflamed their supporters and gave rise to the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The decision will free Dwight Hammond Jr., 76, and son Steven Hammond, 49, …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump said his easiest meeting on his foreign trip to Europe during the next week may be his sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump spoke to reporters before leaving for the NATO summit in Brussels, the first stop on his trip. He then plans to travel to the United Kingdom where he will hold …

The Associated Press reports: After days of frenzied lobbying and speculation, President Donald Trump decided on his second nominee to the Supreme Court on Monday, setting up a ferocious confirmation battle with Democrats as he seeks to shift the nation’s highest court further to the right. With customary fanfare, Trump planned to unveil his choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony …

The New York Times reports: During a phone call with Mr. Putin in March, when the president was urged by aides not to congratulate the Russian president on his electoral victory, Mr. Trump did just that. He told Mr. Putin that Russia and the United States should get along better. And he commiserated with Mr. Putin over Trump administration officials …

The New York Times reports: A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate …

Vulture reports: Well, in case you were wondering if Sacha Baron Cohen’s still got it, the comedian’s new Trump-skewering Showtime series, which appears to be titled Who Is America?, just dropped a new promo in which his (still as-yet unseen) journalist character asks former vice-president Dick Cheney to sign a waterboarding kit, which Cheney does with a smile. Now why, …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump has tweeted a strange Simpsons-inspired video that portrays him as “Super Trump,” commenting that people didn’t used to “get it”—but they do now. In a Sunday night message, Trump shared the three-minute video, which features clips from cartoon The Simpsons, as well as footage from his election campaign, alongside a message aimed at his detractors. …

The New York Daily News reports: The Trump administration announced Saturday it will temporarily suspend a program meant to stabilize Obamacare markets by halting billion of dollars in payouts to insurance companies. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — known by the abbreviation CMS — will temporarily stop so-called “risk-adjustment payments” used to steady Obamacare health insurance premiums. …

The Hill reports: Alan Dershowitz said Thursday night that a woman told him he should be “stabbed through the heart” for speaking out against special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. “At a party this week on Martha’s Vineyard, a woman said,’ if Dershowitz were here tonight, I’d stab him through the heart,” Dershowitz …