Trump Administration

The Daily Beast reports: An exclusive California golf course that has counted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin among its members is seeing plenty of the taxpayers’ green. The Riviera Country Club, located in a posh enclave of Los Angeles, received $2 million to $5 million in assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program—a multibillion-dollar initiative intended to carry small businesses and their …

The Daily Beast reports: On a call with the nation’s governors Tuesday, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos chastised local officials for doing “next to nothing” to provide academic services to students and demanded they reopen schools in the fall regardless of the state of the COVID pandemic. The issue, DeVos stressed at one point, was merely a matter of calculated …

The Associated Press reports: The White House coronavirus task force will host a news conference on Wednesday to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases across the country. States across the U.S. have been experiencing significant spikes in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, which is presumed to be related to premature reopening of economies amid the pandemic. On Tuesday Florida …

NBC News reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to give the nation’s employers more leeway in refusing to provide free birth control for their workers. The ruling was victory for the administration’s plan to greatly expand the kinds of employers who can cite religious or moral objections in declining to include contraceptives …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. reported over 60,000 new coronavirus cases, a single-day record, with infections continuing to rise rapidly in states such as Florida and Texas, while others expanded quarantine requirements on inbound travel and New York City stepped up testing. The total number of cases in the U.S. neared three million Wednesday, according to data compiled …

Deadline reports: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that she hasn’t seen Mary Trump’s new tell-all book, yet repeatedly insisted that the tome is a “book of falsehoods.” “No response, other than that it’s a book of falsehoods, and that’s about it,” McEnany said, and moved on to several other topics. But NBC News White House correspondent Peter …

Politico reports: The White House is hammering a message of reopening schools even as coronavirus cases spike throughout the country, insisting it’s OK to move ahead and that decisions last spring to close doors came from states rather than health experts at the CDC. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, wrote an op-ed for USA Today advocating liability …

The Daily Beast reports: Following months of legal drama, threats, and public controversy surrounding multiple books published by former Trumpworld insiders, yet another blockbuster Trump book is set to hit shelves this summer and contain “explosive” revelations about first lady Melania Trump, written by her once close adviser and friend of 15 years. According to people familiar with the project, …

Arizona Central reports: The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied multiple requests for a mega-COVID-19 testing site in Phoenix, according to Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. Gallego said her office asked FEMA to implement a large-scale, drive-thru testing site — as they’ve done in other cities, including Houston — multiple times since the earliest days of the novel coronavirus pandemic. She said …

The Washington Post reports: At least seven members of Congress or their spouses received loans, including lawmakers who were directly involved in shaping regulations and also benefited from a blanket waiver of ethics concerns. Among the loan recipients disclosed is KTAK Corp., a Tulsa-based operator of fast food franchises owned by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). KTAK reported receiving between $1 …

Reuters reports: The U.S. government has awarded Novavax $1.6 billion to cover testing, commercialization and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the United States, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January 2021. Shares of Novavax surged more than 35% in the premarket on the news. The award is the biggest yet from “Operation Warp Speed,” the …

CNN reports: The United States is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday. Pompeo suggested the possible move during an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, adding that “we’re taking this very seriously.” Pompeo was asked by Ingraham whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media …

The Insider reports: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended President Donald Trump’s NASCAR tweet at Monday’s briefing, delivering a series of indirect answers before saying Trump “wasn’t making a judgment one way or the other.” The tweet in question came early Monday morning. Trump said NASCAR has the “lowest ratings EVER!” because it banned the Confederate flag from its …

Billboard Magazine reports: Kanye West’s Yeezy company received more than $2 million through the Paycheck Protection Program, the Small Business Administration disclosed on Monday (July 6). Yeezy, an LLC formed by the musician and clothing designer, received a loan between $2 million and $5 million, according to the SBA. The company disclosed that it saved 160 jobs because of the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program designed to help small businesses weather fallout from the coronavirus pandemic helped a broad swath of organizations, including prominent restaurant chains, law firms and non-profits. Among the recipients the Trump administration disclosed Monday: Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the law firm headed by antitrust litigator David Boies; Newsmax Media Inc., …

The Washington Post reports: Trump’s advisers are seeking ways to reframe his response to the coronavirus — even as the president himself largely seeks to avoid the topic because he views it as a political loser. They are sending health officials to swing states, putting doctors on TV in regional markets where the virus is surging, crafting messages on an …

Axios reports: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told “Fox & Friends” Monday that there are facts and statistics — without citing any — to back up President Trump’s claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless.” The big picture: Nearly 130,000 Americans have died from the virus, and FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn declined to provide evidence to …

The New York Post reports: Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said it means “a lot” to have his father, the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, included in President Trump’s proposed national garden remembering scores of American heroes. “It would mean a lot. I didn’t see that one coming and it was really touching to hear. I hope it would …

NBC News reports: After several months of mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic, the White House is settling on a new one: Learn to live with it. Administration officials are planning to intensify what they hope is a sharper, and less conflicting, message of the pandemic next week, according to senior administration officials, after struggling to offer clear directives amid …

The New York Times reports: Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of President Trump’s eldest son and a top fund-raising official for the Trump re-election campaign, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday before a Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore, a person familiar with her condition said. Ms. Guilfoyle traveled to South Dakota with Mr. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., …