Lead Paragraph:
A White House report brands the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, especially at the National Museum of American History, as radical activists who cannot be trusted, indicating that President Donald Trump may be preparing to install his own team.
Excerpts:
To the extent the decision is up to Trump, the United States that his speech celebrated on July 4 will exist no more.
Trump is building an American future oriented toward authoritarian and corrupt states: Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia. Democratic allies are treated, at best, as subjects to be bullied and, at worst, as targets to be carved up into new American territories.
Under Donald Trump, the United States has fought military conflicts in Venezuela and Iran. It nearly fought a war with Denmark to seize Greenland. It often speaks of annexing all or part of Canada. It has waged economic war on allies and partners in violation of international trade agreements and domestic law. Soon the United States may be engaged in a war in Cuba. Already, the U.S. has cut back aid to Ukraine as that country fights for its survival and freedom. Trump has repeatedly made clear that the goal of his wars is plunder: that he wishes to seize oil and other resources. In turn, the course of his most ambitious war, with Iran, appears to have been swayed by client states, which have made payments to him and his associates.
"What separates Democracy from Monarchy, from Dictatorship, is the Fundamental Right to Vote. This is a Government for the People. Let's Go Defend It."
Excerpt:
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s wife reportedly traveled to China just three days after he received CPR following an apparent heart attack.
Elaine Chao, 73, who has been married to the 84-year-old Republican lawmaker since 1993 and formerly served as transportation secretary in the first Trump administration, traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng just days after McConnell’s hospitalization.
https://us.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zmgx/zxxx/202607/t20260702_11956191.htm
Excerpt:
The great tragedy is that many of the problems Trump identifies are real, and so many of the hurts he exploits demand serious thought and measured action—from governments, yes, but also from community leaders and individuals. Yet so long as people rely on that quick high, so long as wolves point their fingers at everyone but themselves, the nation delays a necessary reckoning. There is no self-reflection in the midst of a false euphoria. Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it.
Excerpt:
America’s two greatest presidents shared an intense conviction: that a republic depends on some measure of virtue in its citizens and some measure of integrity in its leaders. Without them, the temple of liberty will fall.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Dozens of diamonds spell out two giant letter T’s next to the Stars and Stripes and “1776” and “2026.” Dozens more frame the numbers 45 and 47 in the shape of Superman’s logo. A diamond-winged eagle carries a ruby shield and clutches an olive branch of emeralds, below a radiant “250” and atop the phrase “250 YEARS USA” etched in 18-karat gold.
All told, 321 diamonds, 56 sapphires, 13 emeralds and six rubies encrust the watch-sized gold ring presented this week to Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, to give to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Funny how the story keeps evolving. First it was, “They caused the chemical attack and put the algae there themselves.” Then it became, “There’s proof a violent leftist cut a 350-foot gash.” Now it’s, “They’re attacking all our monuments.” Last I heard, the communists were behind it.
Meanwhile, wasn’t Trump supposed to be ending a war through negotiation last week? Funny how that story disappeared from the news cycle the moment a new outrage was needed.
Amazing summary of Iran War...from a comedian.
Lead Lines:
A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.
David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington, D.C. court.
District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanor arrests.
Gifted Read:
"Throughout the city, there are government signs proclaiming, We are making DC safe and beautiful."
Being a trusted partner sells products; the opposite is also true.
Lead Lines:
The Spanish government has reportedly begun telling state-backed firms to avoid signing new contacts with US billionaire Peter Thiel’s company.
It comes amid fears that sensitive national security information could be leaked, according to Spanish publication El Confidencial.
Excerpts:
Climate-fueled heat waves, storms, fires, droughts, and floods are becoming an unavoidable reality for tens of millions across the United States.
There’s good evidence to suggest that mentioning climate change won’t kneecap Democrats politically. And as warming continues to destabilize our world, it certainly isn’t in anyone’s interest to let Republicans control the narrative. That way lies more inaction, and more deaths.
Routine installation cleanup deserves consideration alongside other hypotheses until the available evidence distinguishes among them.
Excerpt:
"It's not just his deliberate distortion and destruction of NATO and his choosing Putin over American allies or the fact that he's diminished our standing in the eyes of the world more than any president in history has," Biden said.
Lead Paragraph:
Scientists, educators, farmers and the broader public now have a new website for climate information in the United States. The site, Climate.us, launched this week and fills a void left when a government-run climate information website was shut down last year by the Trump administration.