Politics

The New York Times reports: President Trump has gone overseas to embark on some of the most consequential diplomatic negotiations of his tenure, threatening an all-out trade war with allies and seizing a chance to make peace with a nuclear-armed menace. But back home, he left behind a West Wing where burned-out aides are eyeing the exits, as the mood …

The Associated Press reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that he’s happy to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump once Washington is ready to hold the summit and welcomed Trump’s call to bring Moscow back into the G7 group of leading industrialized nations. “It wasn’t us who left,” he said. “Colleagues refused to come to Russia on well-known grounds. …

As you surely know, earlier this week Rudy Giuliani declared, “I don’t respect a porn star the way I respect a career women or a women of substance or a woman who has great respect for herself as a women and as a person and isn’t going to sell her body for sexual exploitation.” Media outlets leapt on Giuliani’s attack, …

Reuters reports: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, Angela Merkel has some thoughts. The German chancellor uploaded a photograph on Instagram of her and French President Emmanuel Macron seeming to stare down President Trump. The U.S. president is staring back, arms crossed, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on with his arms also crossed. National Security Adviser John …

The Birmingham Herald reports: Alabama State Rep. Ed Henry has been indicted in an ongoing federal pill mill case in Montgomery. The indictment, announced on Thursday by Middle District U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr., charges the 47-year-old lawmaker from Hartselle with one count of conspiring to pay kickbacks and to defraud the U.S., one count of conspiring to commit …

The Hill reports: An influential conservative Evangelical group is ramping up its spending on efforts to defend Republican majorities in the November midterms. The Faith and Freedom Coalition, which invested heavily during the 2016 elections, plans to spend nearly $20 million on a voter turnout effort to protect GOP majorities in the fall. “We are going to make a bigger …

Courthouse News reports: The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a citizen-initiated grand jury petition can investigate Secretary of State Kris Kobach on allegations that he intentionally failed to register qualified voters. Petitioner Steven Davis gathered enough signatures to file a petition in Douglas County Court in August 2017. The petition sought a grand jury investigation of Kobach for …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump said Friday he’d likely support a bipartisan bill that would end the federal ban on pot and defer to states’ laws on marijuana legalization — a break from Attorney General Jeff Sessions stance on cannabis enforcement. Trump told reporters he “probably will end up supporting” the bill, which Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Elizabeth …

The St. Louis Dispatch reports: A special prosecutor will not file further charges against former Gov. Eric Greitens. In a sometimes emotional press conference Friday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office did not have sufficient evidence to consider filing new charges against the former governor, who left office under a cloud of scandal last week. Baker said …

Politico reports: HUD Secretary Ben Carson is backing off plans to triple the minimum rent paid by some of the country’s poorest households, citing Congress’ move to defy the administration and boost his agency’s budget. The proposal to increase the minimum rent paid by rental assistance beneficiaries is no longer “urgent,” due to the additional resources in the HUD budget, …

CNN reports: The office of Arizona Republican Rep. Martha McSally has removed from public view a video on YouTube of her defending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. McSally is currently running in the Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake against former state senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who are …

The Associated Press reports: The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Thursday that an anti-political gerrymandering measure be placed on the November ballot, rejecting opponents’ contention that the proposed constitutional amendment is too expansive and does not list all sections that would be abrogated. The conservative group that sued vowed to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, which will have the …

The New York Times reports: President Trump called on the world’s leading economies on Friday to reinstate Russia to the Group of 7 nations four years after it was cast out for annexing Crimea, once again putting him at odds with America’s leading allies in Europe and Asia. The president made the suggestion to reporters as he headed to Canada …

The Associated Press reports: He once called Donald Trump “a con man,” but Mitt Romney now predicts that Trump would “easily” win his party’s presidential nomination in 2020 and “solidly” win a second term. Romney, the GOP’s failed 2012 presidential nominee from Massachusetts, now a Republican Senate candidate in Utah, made the prediction Thursday as he welcomed dozens of high-profile …

The Hill reports: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat is asking the State Department’s inspector general to investigate President Trump’s envoy to Germany amid accusations he is inappropriately wading into European politics. In a letter, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) raised questions about Ambassador Richard Grenell’s comments to the right-leaning Bretibart News, in which Grenell said that he hoped to …

First, a sweet dig from CNN: When Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Stormy Daniels has no credibility because she is is a porn star, he neglected to mention that his client, President Donald Trump, has appeared in three Playboy videos that feature nudity and softcore pornographic content. “So yes, I respect all human beings,” Giuliani said at a conference in …

Elle Magazine reports: It’s not very often that a participant in a major law suit against the President of America decides to expand their merchandise offering (and strengthen their case?) with a perfume launch. But then again, in times where Donald Trump is president and the person pressing charges is award-winning porn actress Stormy Daniels, anything can happen. Yup, she’s …

CBS News reports: President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are meeting at the White House and holding a joint press conference Thursday, as the date of the U.S.-North Korea summit fast approaches. Speaking to reporters alongside Abe on Thursday, Trump said that the Tuesday summit is still subject to change. “I think I’m very well prepared,” Trump said …

CBS News reports: Outspoken Trump critic Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, is lashing out against the administration’s latest tariff policy leveled against U.S. allies, calling the move “not grown-up leadership” in excerpts of remarks he delivered on the Senate floor on Thursday. The administration announced the move to impose tariffs last week after President Trump initially proposed them back in March, …

Via Mediaite: MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski said a source told her that President Donald Trump is “upset” because he can’t wait porn while in the White House. The Morning Joe co-host made the comments while discussing Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani’s attack against Stormy Daniels with Stephanie Ruhle this morning. “I know someone who spoke to Donald Trump recently about life in …