Politics

CNN reports: President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN. According to the sources, …

Axios reports: President Trump has signed a commutation for Alice Johnson, currently serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense, according to a source with direct knowledge. The Washington Post first reported last night that he had been considering pardoning Johnson. Johnson’s cause was championed last week at the White House by Kim Kardashian West. White House senior adviser …

CNN reports: The White House has assembled the paperwork to pardon dozens of people, two sources with knowledge of the developments tell CNN, signaling that President Donald Trump is poised to exert his constitutional power and intervene, in some instances, where he believes the Justice Department has overstepped. The administration has prepared the pardoning paperwork for at least 30 people, …

Politico reports: Joe Manchin wants you to know he really likes Donald Trump. The West Virginia senator doesn’t put it quite that way. But more than any other Democrat in Congress, he’s positioned himself as a vocal Trump ally. In fact, the senator, up for reelection in a state Trump won by more than 40 points, told POLITICO he isn’t …

CNN reports: The Alabama congresswoman who un-endorsed Donald Trump in 2016 when the “Access Hollywood” tape went public will face a runoff election, CNN projects. Republican Rep. Martha Roby will face a July runoff to save her seat after failing to top 50% in Tuesday’s primary. Roby will face Bobby Bright — a former Democratic congressman who is now running …

The New York Daily News reports: Upstate Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney on Wednesday will formally announce he’s running for state attorney general at the same time he’s seeking re-election to Congress. Maloney said he will try to petition his way onto the Sept. 13 Democratic primary ballot for attorney general. He said if he wins the nomination, he will immediately …

San Francisco’s Fox affiliate reports: The race to see who will become San Francisco’s next mayor is still up in the air as of this morning with former state Sen. Mark Leno holding a narrow lead over Board of Supervisors president London Breed. Initial results from Tuesday’s election indicated a large margin in first-place votes for Breed. However, once San …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Tuesday’s primary could have been disastrous for Democrats in California. With the largest portion of their national House battleground in play here, there had been concern for months that the state’s primary, which advances the top two vote-getters regardless of party, would leave voters with two Republicans to choose from in several key races. Party …

The Associated Press reports: John Cox, a Republican business owner who has tried and failed for nearly two decades to win elected office, snagged a spot in the November runoff for California governor with the help of President Donald Trump, but that support could hurt him in the winner-take-all race with Democrat Gavin Newsom. Cox got about a quarter of …

The Argus Leader reports: A South Dakota lawmaker on Monday said businesses should be able to turn away customers based on race. In a Facebook comment, state Rep. Michael Clark, a Hartford Republican, said business owners should have the final say in who they serve. “He should have the opportunity to run his business the way he wants,” Clark wrote. …

CNN reports: Kelly Sadler, the White House communications aide who made a imprudent comment about Republican Sen. John McCain’s health last month, no longer works in the administration, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. In the aftermath of the comment — in which Sadler told a meeting that McCain’s opposition to CIA director nominee Gina Haspel …

CNBC reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump talk “regularly,” the Russian president told an Austrian news outlet ahead of his visit to Vienna Tuesday. The Russian leader was responding to a question about special counsel Robert Mueller’s February indictment of 13 Russians and three Russian organizations when he brought up his relationship with the American president. “Indeed, …

Bloomberg reports: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell canceled most of the chamber’s August recess, bowing to calls from GOP lawmakers to stay in Washington to finish work on nominations and undercutting election campaigning by Democrats who have more than a half dozen incumbents at risk in November. “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the …

The Hill reports: Senators are planning to introduce legislation as soon as Tuesday to require President Trump to get congressional approval for tariffs implemented for national security purposes. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is spearheading the legislation, told reporters that he will roll out the bill as early as Tuesday and wants to try to get it attached to a …

Agence France-Press reports: Leading politicians of Germany’s left-wing parties on Tuesday called for the US ambassador to be expelled, after the staunch defender of Donald Trump was accused of meddling in domestic politics and aggravating already tense ties. Richard Grenell had taken up his diplomatic posting on May 8, and immediately sparked an uproar when he tweeted on the same …

Politico reports: A judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump can be deposed in a defamation lawsuit brought last year by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice” who says Trump kissed and groped her after she appeared on the show. Zervos is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact. The …

The Washington Post reports: NASA is talking to several international companies about forming a consortium that would take over operation of the International Space Station and run it as a commercial space lab, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in an interview. “We’re in a position now where there are people out there that can do commercial management of the International …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump and one of his top aides on Monday night appealed a federal court ruling that said the president was violating the constitutional rights of individuals he has blocked from viewing his personal Twitter feed. Three Justice Department officials filed notice of their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf …

“An ambassador’s most critical responsibility is to advance our national interests by developing relationships and trust with their host country. They should not meddle in local or regional politics by backing political parties, candidates or causes. If Ambassador Grenell is unwilling to refrain from political statements, he should be recalled immediately. The United States does not accept foreign meddling in …

The Washington Post reports: Howard Schultz, who built the coffee chain into a global giant, is leaving the company, where he previously served as chief executive. He has been an outspoken leader on civic issues, and this move has reignited speculation that he might plan a run for political office. Starbucks recently has been embroiled in controversy over the arrest …