Political Wire (original) (raw)

“Gov. Gavin Newsom is mounting a last-ditch pressure campaign to stop a proposed California billionaire tax from ever reaching voters,” Bloomberg reports.

“During a call last month, he assured a major Democratic donor the levy would be successfully negotiated away before a June 25 deadline.”

“Congressional Democrats warned the Trump administration on Monday that officials could face fines or even criminal prosecution if they push forward with building the president’s 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington without the approval of Congress,” the New York Times reports.

“In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and two National Park Service officials, Democrats who oversee national resources on Capitol Hill said that the administration would be breaking at least three laws by moving ahead with the project, and that Trump officials could be personally penalized.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) accused President Trump of ordering the Justice to investigate him and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Bloomberg reports.

Said Newsom: “Put my name on every and any enemy’s list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”

Vice President JD Vance says in his new book that his meeting last year with Vatican diplomats in Rome was “unsettling” as they uttered what he describes as “trite platitudes” and “clichés,” adding that he preferred the direct rebukes offered by Pope Francis, the Washington Post reports.

Once Iran proved it could shut the Strait of Hormuz despite American military pressure, the outcome of the Iran war became much easier to see.

Trump could keep talking tough. The Pentagon could keep moving assets into the region.

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“The moment UFC fight night attendees were fully evacuated from the White House South Lawn and the Ellipse early Monday, crews began an extensive cleanup process, breaking down a massive production setup in an effort that is slated to take more than a week,” CNN reports.

“And despite a previous suggestion from President Donald Trump that the ‘Claw’ lighting structure could become a more permanent fixture of the White House, its breakdown is among the first steps.”

“An emboldened Justice Department with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the helm is ramping up efforts to investigate and prosecute President Trump’s perceived enemies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“More than four dozen people have found themselves in the president’s crosshairs since he returned to office for a second term. While most of the threats Trump has made on social media and in public comments haven’t led to prosecutions, some have translated into criminal cases or investigations. So far these efforts have resulted in almost no convictions.”

“The case of Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, is poised to result in a conviction as part of a plea deal.”

“Anthropic executives are planning to meet with Trump administration officials on Monday to discuss an unprecedented U.S. government directive barring foreign access to the company’s most advanced artificial intelligence models,” Bloomberg reports.

“When Kevin Warsh steps to the podium Wednesday for his first press conference as chair of the Federal Reserve, he will enjoy something his predecessor Jerome Powell lacked for years: breathing room from the president,” CNBC reports.

“The new Fed chair will attempt to use that freedom to make his case internally for far-reaching change at the Fed, people who know him and closely follow the Fed said. Warsh’s reform agenda includes moving the Fed slowly toward the lower rates Warsh has endorsed as well as reducing the Fed’s multi-billion-dollar balance sheet and changing how it thinks about inflation. Making that happen will require carefully marshaling the extensive but not unlimited political capital that comes with his new position.”

Charlie Sykes: “The deal Trump announced amid the roar, glitz, and ignominy of his UFC spectacle was an American surrender in a war that leaves us with less than we had when it started. This is what defeat looks, feels, and tastes like.”

“Trump, naturally, will treat the non-deal — it is a Memorandum of Understanding to keep talking for another 60 days — as a victory. And from his point of view, it was a relief; Sunday’s surrender was the retreat he so desperately wanted, ending a war that he started, but could not figure out how to finish. And now, in the immortal words of Madmen, you will be amazed at how quickly it never happened— at least for Trump. He can now memory-hole the fiasco and replace it with new worlds to conquer and/or enshittify.”

New York Times: “The full text of the deal has not yet been released and Israel was not directly involved in the negotiations. Initial details suggest that the agreement does nothing to curb Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, or its funding of regional proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen, who have attacked Israel with their own arsenals. It could help Iran bolster those proxies by easing sanctions, which would allow billions of dollars to flow into its bank accounts.”

“The deal’s terms when it comes to constraining Iran’s nuclear program — of greatest importance to Israel, and the greatest priority of Mr. Netanyahu’s career — remain undisclosed or still to be negotiated during the agreed 60-day cease-fire to allow for further talks. Questions remain over what will become of Iran’s stock of near-bomb-grade uranium and whether the country will be able to keep enriching nuclear fuel.”

“Worse still for Mr. Netanyahu, who faces re-election in a few months and is behind in the polls, President Trump, the Israeli leader’s most valuable political asset, has publicly rebuked him multiple times in recent weeks.”

Ryan Lizza: “Trump is always the hero of his own disaster. He batters the economy with tariffs and then bails out the American farmers he bankrupted. He foments civil unrest in American cities with extremist ICE agents and then claims to restore order with the National Guard. Now, after setting the Middle East ablaze, Trump is posing as the firefighter extinguishing the flames.”

“The damage from his attack on Iran is incalculable.”

The Bulwark: “The emergency motion Trump filed last week made reference to an astonishing and apparently new Kennedy Center bylaw: All new private donations, it suggested, have been conditioned “upon the name of the Center remaining unchanged as the ‘Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.'”

“If the name were ever changed, the bylaw apparently states, the Center would be obliged to return all such donations.”

“It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place and had worked for, for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it.”

— Barack Obama, quoted by ABC News, on the reported deal President Trump says he struck with Iran.

“Almost immediately after striking a deal with Iran, President Trump appeared eager to take a victory lap,” the New York Times reports.

“He trumpeted that the agreement would open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world’s energy supplies whose stalled ship traffic has rattled the global economy. He told The New York Times that his efforts had saved Israel from nuclear extinction and made the Middle East safer. It all gave him a key win as he traveled to France for the Group of 7 summit, where he will meet with European leaders who have criticized his approach to the war.”

“Despite Mr. Trump’s grandiose claims, the agreement has not yet achieved the core goals he laid out three months ago for launching U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.”

CBS News: “The Supreme Court on Monday turned away ex-Trump campaign aide Carter Page’s attempt to revive a lawsuit against former FBI Director James Comey and other senior FBI officials over surveillance warrants obtained by the bureau during its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.”

CBS News: “Vice President JD Vance denied on Monday that Iran will receive ‘billions of dollars of assets’ as part of a the U.S.-Iran deal that was announced Sunday and is set to be signed later this week.”

Said Vance: “When people say that billions of dollars of assets will be released, that’s not true. What is true is that Iran will have a much better and much more prosperous future if they meet the obligations they make in this agreement.”

New York Times: “The long-awaited deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz brought quick relief to the oil market, sending prices to their lowest levels since early March.”

“Getting substantial amounts of oil and gas flowing, however, will take much longer.”

“It can take weeks or months, even in the best of times, to get oil and gas from wells in the Persian Gulf to buyers in China or Japan.”