- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Trump and Vance berate Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in ugly Oval Office meeting
Instead of a cordial and respectful diplomatic gathering, Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy more closely resembled a shouting match.
- Dan Ladden-Hall @ The Daily Beast: Hegseth’s Lackey Berates Reporters for Not Cheering for Trump
The Defense Department’s new chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, held a tense meeting with reporters in which he asked if they were “rooting” for President Donald Trump and questioned why it would be unfair to expect them to cheer on the MAGA leader, according to a report.
- Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski @ ProPublica: Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor’s Secretive Influence Campaign
In 2021, Steve Berger, an evangelical pastor who has attacked the separation of church and state as “a delusional lie” and called multinational institutions “demonic,” set off on an ambitious project. His stated goal: minister to members of Congress so that what “they learn is then translated into policy.” His base of operations would be a six-bedroom, $3.7 million townhouse blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Recently, the pastor scored a remarkable coup for a political influence project that has until now managed to avoid public scrutiny. He got a new roommate.
- Christian Paz @ Vox: How Andrew Tate’s release is splintering the American right
The far-right influencer’s return to America has sparked new divisions among some of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters.
- Alanna Vagianos @ HuffPost: Andrew Tate’s Return Is A Huge Win For The Internet’s Most Influential Misogynists
The Trump administration reportedly pressed Romania to free Tate — signaling that the sexual abuse of women won’t just be brushed under the rug, but rewarded.
