July 25, 2026

The New York Times liveblog of developments in the Iran War is here (gift link). From the pinned item at 7:15 am ET: “The fighting between the United States and Iran appeared to abate for at least one night, though tensions remained high in the region on Saturday as ... [Donald] Trump considered whether to intensify the military assault against Iran. For the first time in about two weeks, U.S. forces did not announce a wave of overnight attacks on Iran. A spokesman for Iran’s health ministry said on social media that there had been no new attacks or casualties.... Even as the bombing cooled between the U.S. and Iran, new hostilities were flaring over the Red Sea, where the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi vessels this week.... Saudi state media reported Friday that a Saudi-operated vessel had been targeted in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to its hull.” ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump met on Friday with top advisers and senior members of his cabinet to decide whether to intensify the military assault against Iran, according to four people briefed on the discussion. The meeting took place as Mr. Trump faces a potential inflection point in his approach to Iran, after the collapse of a fragile cease-fire and a memorandum of understanding that was intended to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table for a longer-term denuclearization. The White House did not divulge whether Mr. Trump determined how to proceed. But the president indicated that the military was ready to carry out heavier assaults if ordered to do so even while leaving open the door to a diplomatic solution. 'Look, we’re locked and loaded,' Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday afternoon. 'We’re ready to go, but we’re talking to them, so maybe there will be, maybe there won’t be a tipping point.' He added: 'Maybe they will cry uncle, or maybe they’ll just give up, or maybe they’ll just go into a cave and hide.'” The link is a gift link.

     ~~~ Marie: I trust it isn't lost on you that we have a POTUS* who talks about war as if he were a 10-year-old playing with toy soldiers. “Locked & loaded”? “Cry uncle”?

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump spoke on Friday at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which was rescheduled after a gunman attacked the event in April.... The meandering[, hour-long] speech he gave ... inside the Waldorf Astoria, the former site of the Trump International Hotel, was full of ad hominem attacks against his political enemies, scripted jokes that fell flat and familiar refrains about the war against Iran and the construction of the White House ballroom. At various other points he was upbeat about the news media and warm toward the hundreds of journalists sitting around him in the ballroom.... But those cordial moments were fleeting.... As the hour stretched on, his speech turned harshly political and quite vicious. He mocked the appearances and careers of individual reporters, some of whom were in the room, but much of the speech had little to do with the press. He widened the aperture to target his longtime political enemies, politicians and celebrities who had nothing to do with the dinner.... Moments of presidential self-deprecation were few and far between.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump attacked a slew of journalists and some of his favorite political foils..., comparing one female reporter to a transgender social media star, mocking politicians’ physical appearances, and bringing his audience to mostly stunned silence for more than an hour before pulling out a red Trump 2028 cap and declaring he was running for another term.... The guest list ... shrunk to fewer than 700, a stripped-down affair with attendees including mostly just the journalists who cover the president, rather than the more than 2,500 — including government officials, political operatives and mostly B-list celebrities — who attended in April.... But many of the original tensions remain.” This is an update of a story linked before the dinner took place yesterday. ~~~

~~~ Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: CNN's “panel of analysts wasted little time tearing into the president for his hour-and-four minute address at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington. Notably, [Laura] Coates and co-anchor John Berman immediately read a statement from CNN president Mark Thompson standing behind the network’s journalists — and a second statement from a network spokesperson backing Kaitlan Collins, who Trump targeted in one particularly shocking moment.... Van Jones — who, earlier in the evening, gave Trump kudos for attending the dinner — proceeded to bash his speech.... 'It just wasn’t funny. It was mean and small....'... CNN contributor Alyssa Farah Griffin — a first-term Trump administration staffer — echoed that sentiment. 'Just from a performance standpoint and comparing it to previous presidents at these events, he bombed!' Griffin said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: C'mon, people. Trump didn't intend to be funny. He intended to be mean and small. So from his POV, a perfect performance. 

What a Moron! Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Friday ordered the installation of signs outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that warn of 'inaccurate' exhibits and direct people to 'accurate information regarding America’s history.' In an executive order, Trump cited a 162-page White House report released on July 4 titled 'Saving America’s Story,' which, according to the president, 'demonstrates that the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a “prime tool” to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.' The White House said in a companion statement that the Smithsonian generally and its American history museum in particular have veered 'toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans.'” (Also linked yesterday.) A gift link to the New York Times story is here. A UPI item is here.

Marie: One of the main reasons Trump lies is to cover up his screw-ups. He is an incompetent jackass, so there are a lot of screw-ups to try to hide. It turns out the modifications to the Qatari grift 747 were among the screw-ups in the fat file of Trump screw-ups. ~~~ 

I know about my airplane, because I fly all the time. -- Donald Trump, explaining why he was qualified to supervise retrofitting the Grift Jet ~~~ 

~~~ Botch-up of the Vanities. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: “An investigation by The New York Times found that the president’s push to get the [Qatari Bribe-o-Jet] quickly led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features that potentially left Mr. Trump and others who travel with him on Air Force One vulnerable. Among the findings: Mr. Trump was personally engaged in making decisions about the retrofitting of the donated plane, giving the final approval on the features and security measures that would be included.... Several key security and safety features on the Boeing planes that have been used for decades as Air Force One are not visible on the upgraded jet.... The planes currently being built to serve as the permanent presidential fleet are all set to have such features.... 

“The 747-8 plane was overhauled on a compressed timeline of just about eight months. Experts said the jet would have needed several years for a full upgrade.... Some White House officials initially expected [the Qatari jet] would only be used for domestic travel or to visit allied countries with U.S. military bases. The government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase equipment needed to train pilots to fly the 747-8 plane so quickly, on top of the approximately $400 million cost of the upgrades that the administration has publicly acknowledged. The Pentagon has tried to mask the total price tag — including from Congress — by taking the funds from a classified budget for nuclear modernization.” The link is a gift link.

The people briefed on the matter spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity to discuss the information. ~~~ New York Times report

They do keep on talking, don't they? -- Marie ~~~

~~~ Times Reporters Keep Exposing Trump's Lies about the Great Winged Grift. Tyler Pager, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump abruptly switched aircraft when leaving Turkey this month after what officials judged to be a credible threat that Iranian proxy forces were targeting him and Air Force One, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. The threat emerged while Mr. Trump was attending the NATO summit. He had flown into Ankara on the new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, which lacks the same advanced defensive capabilities of the old Air Force One, as The New York Times previously reported. After the U.S. government picked up on the threat, the Secret Service urged Mr. Trump to change planes....

“Mr. Trump initially said the switch in planes was to give American service members in Britain a chance to tour the new aircraft, and he denied the decision was security related.... After The Times reported this month that federal officials had significant concerns about the security capabilities of the jet, the government launched a leak investigation seeking grand jury testimony from several Times journalists as well as their phone records and those of their relatives.” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: The link has been changed to a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The good news to come out of the Times' reporting on the government's failure to adequately secure the Flying Bribery/Vanity Jet is that the judge in the case, as well as other Times reporters, have been able to use the case to show what unlawful, corrupt, incompetent, sometimes perjurious work that top DOJ officials -- including the acting attorney general -- have done in pursuit of subverting the First Amendment guarantee of a free press in order to satisfy the vicious, vindictive impulses of a criminal, corrupt, incompetent, mendacious POTUS*. ~~~ 

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: The Justice Department's handling of its lawsuit against New York Times reporters who first revealed flaws in the Qatari gift jet's security system “raised questions about the role of not only [the prosecutor played] but also of two high-level Justice Department officials who are under consideration for leading cabinet positions. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the current U.S. attorney in New York, Jay Clayton, both testified this month that the issuance of the subpoenas had been in keeping with laws and regulations. [In a hearing earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian established that] the U.S. attorney’s office does not appear to have followed longstanding Justice Department practice.... The hearing also threatened to cast a shadow over the incoming leader of the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.... James M. McDonald, who is expected to take over from Mr. Clayton, was one of the select group of prosecutors involved in the inquiry.... The investigation has also involved Amanda Houle, the chief of the office’s criminal division, and Kevin T. Sullivan, a career prosecutor in the office’s national security unit who was also questioned fiercely by the judge on Thursday.” The link is a gift link. 

The news is that LeBron James, the NBA's “all-time leading scorer has agreed to join the Philadelphia 76ers, he announced Friday on social media, beginning the record 24th season of a career that has already redefined longevity and greatness.” (The link is a gift link.) But Donald Vicious Trump was not willing to celebrate with Philadelphia, was not willing to wish the team well, or whatever a normal sports fan or real POTUS would say in such a situation. No, this was Donald Trump's reaction. ~~~

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: Donald “Trump suggested that the N.B.A. star LeBron James was racist on Friday, the latest in a string of disparaging remarks by the president about Black athletes who have criticized him. Mr. Trump was taking questions in the Oval Office when he was asked to weigh in on the debate over who was the better player: Mr. James, the 41-year-old All Star who just announced he would sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, or the NBA legend Michael Jordan. 'LeBron is, maybe he’s a racist,' Mr. Trump said. 'Maybe he doesn’t like Trump, I don’t know. But I only like people who like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.'” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ What a Moron! Most of us probably never see or assess broad issues through the narrow lens of our own, limited experiences. But we're not Trump. ~~~

~~~ Kathryn Wilkens of Mediaite: “...  Donald Trump bragged on Friday to reporters at the White House that he understands the political situation in Venezuela because 'Miss Venezuela always did very well' in the Miss Universe pageant, which the president formerly owned.... 'For a long time, I’ve known their country and, you know, I own the Miss Universe pageant and Miss Venezuela always did very well in that pageant, so I know something about the country.'”

Tony Romm & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “Two small businesses sued the Trump administration on Friday over the latest tariffs it has imposed around the world, touching off another legal battle that could redefine ... [Donald] Trump’s powers to wage a global trade war. The new challenge concerned the tariffs that the government had put in place just hours earlier, covering more than 80 countries including Canada, Mexico and the 27 members of the European Union. The lawsuit, filed in a federal trade court, argued that the Trump administration had misused the law in its attempt to recreate the same system of duties that judges had already ruled illegal. The plaintiffs in the case are Burlap and Barrel, a New York spice retailer, and Collective Horology, a California watch seller. They are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a legal group that has successfully challenged Mr. Trump’s tariffs repeatedly in his second term.” The link is a gift link.

As the Mobster Goes. ~~~

Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post: “... more than two dozen experts in preservation, materials and heritage [are] arguing in district court against the Trump administration’s plan to paint the massive [Eisenhower Executive Office Building white, to match the nearby White House. It is unnecessary, costly and it could damage the stone, they say, leading to a 'taxpayers’ nightmare,' as the building would have to be regularly repainted, keeping it potentially under scaffolding in perpetuity. The case, brought by Cultural Heritage Partners and the D.C. Preservation League, was filed on Nov. 14, 2025, a few days after ... Donald Trump revealed images of what the all-white building would look like to Fox News host Laura Ingraham during an Oval Office interview. Since then, this seemingly small item on Trump’s renovation and construction list has taken on major importance. Two problems are at issue: potentially irreversible harm to the building, and Trump’s attempt to effectively remove from historic and environmental review any project he wants to expedite by transferring it to the White House Office of Administration, a part of the executive branch beyond the reach of those reviews.” (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ So Goes a Consigliere. ~~~

“Extreme Politicization.” Tony Romm & Brad Plumer of the New York Times: “When the Trump administration canceled more than $7.5 billion in Biden-era federal grants for clean energy projects in October, it framed the move as an urgent corrective to protect taxpayer funds from waste. But it wasn’t true. In little-noticed court documents, federal officials acknowledged this month that they had terminated the funding 'based solely' on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee, in the 2024 election. The admission showed how ... [Donald] Trump has weaponized the provision of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes....

“The administration’s latest concession about the grants came in a lawsuit filed by a group of California researchers challenging various federal agencies that have canceled Biden-era funding.... The Energy Department last fall created a list that recommended canceling more than 600 grants awarded by the Biden administration for a wide range of novel energy projects. That list included funding for projects in states represented by both Republicans and Democrats. But in October, the White House budget office, led by Russell T. Vought, terminated only 284 of those grants. In a social media post announcing the news, Mr. Vought pointed to the motivations: 'Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled,' he said.” Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link has been changed to a gift link.

Here's one of the low-level "soldiers" who carry out the orders of the capi. ~~

     ~~~ Department of Homeland Security? Hah! Maria Sacchetti & Silvia Foster-Frau of the Washington Post: “The U.S. immigration officer allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an immigrant in Maine told a judge in October that he was struggling to earn money because he had health issues and his driver’s license had been revoked. Maine District Court Judge Amy Dieterich declared a month later that David Brouillette’s claims were not credible, denying his request to terminate his child support payments to a former wife. Instead, she concluded, Brouillette was 'voluntarily underemployed.' State records show that Brouillette’s license was not revoked at the time of his court testimony, an official who represents Maine’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles told The Washington Post. Brouillette separately indicated in a divorce settlement that he was employed by a local police department in 2019, but that agency said it has no record of him working there.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Ted Hesson of the Washington Post: “A federal refugee resettlement office is quietly launching an effort to interview hundreds of Afghan immigrants living in the United States, raising alarms among refugee groups who worry the information they collect could be used for future immigration enforcement.... A questionnaire for the effort — called the Refugee Outreach and Wellbeing Initiative — shows the agency will gather detailed information about household members, including their names, jobs, languages spoken and immigration status. Some refugee groups expressed concern at the idea because the Trump administration has taken steps to strip Afghans in the U.S. of legal status as part of the president’s broader immigration crackdown, a dramatic reversal of President Joe Biden’s welcome of more than 88,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.”  

Alice Callahan & Caroline Legaspi of the New York Times: “A large outbreak of cyclosporiasis associated with iceberg lettuce has been linked to another four states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 1,947 people have become ill and 98 have been hospitalized in the outbreak, which has expanded to include Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia were already part of the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration has linked the infections to iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and grown in central Mexico. On July 17, Taylor Farms recalled bagged iceberg lettuce sold in 27 states (including the nine states in the outbreak). The recalled lettuce was sent to restaurants, retail stores and food service distributors including Taco Bell and Walmart, but Taylor Farms has not provided clear information about exactly where the products were sold or served, and which specific products were affected.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Benjamin Mullin, et al., of the New York Times: “Paramount said on Friday that it had agreed to halt its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery until next June at the latest while a judge considers a lawsuit from state attorneys general who sued to block the deal. The delay is the latest curveball in a deal that would remake Hollywood. In a legal filing, Paramount and the state attorneys general said that they had reached an agreement to freeze the $111 billion merger while the case works its way through court, extending a shorter pause imposed this week by a federal judge in California. The merger agreement expires on June 4, 2027, if the deal has not closed by that date. The delay could be costly for Paramount. The company, run by the tech scion David Ellison, has agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a fee of $650 million for every quarter that the deal does not close, beginning in October. Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father, has personally guaranteed the acquisition.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Gregory Schneider of the Washington Post: “South Carolina would be the first state to hold a Democratic primary for president in 2028 under a preliminary recommendation passed Friday by a panel of the Democratic National Committee, aiming to highlight the voices of Black voters who make up a large proportion of the electorate in the state. Party officials also recommended early slots for New Hampshire, Nevada and Michigan. They then altered their bylaws to add two more states, Virginia and New Mexico, to the roster of those that can hold primaries before Super Tuesday, which is March 7.... The first primaries draw massive media and campaign attention, and the outcomes influence how the nominating process plays out.... The outcome did not sit well with New Hampshire Democrats, who hosted the nation’s first Democratic primary elections for decades until being bumped by South Carolina in 2024. The new calendar 'is wrong for Democrats, wrong for New Hampshire, and wrong for the country,' the state’s congressional delegation — all Democrats — said in a joint statement.” Politico's report is here.

Michael Kunzelman of the AP, published by KFOR (Oklahoma City) News: “Joe Biden on Friday dropped a lawsuit in which he sought block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter before the Delaware Democrat was elected president, paving the way for the material to be released to a Republican-led congressional committee. Biden’s attorneys filed the notice of voluntary dismissal less than a week after a divided panel of appeals court judges rejected his bid to block the material’s release. Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”

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Maine Senate Race. Bayliss Wagner, et al., of the New York Times: Maine Senator Susan “Collins [R] is relying on a web of deep-pocketed outside groups, funded largely by billionaire megadonors, to spend tens of millions of dollars on advertising promoting her and attacking the Democratic nominee. Her campaign, her allies and other groups aligned with Senate Republican leadership have already reserved about $60 million in airtime through the fall, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. That is far more than the roughly $24 million that Senate Democrats’ main super PAC and its affiliates have allocated to ads in Maine....” The link is a gift link.

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Gordie Howe International Bridge.

~~~ Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “When Canada and Michigan agreed to build a multibillion-dollar bridge at the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada, the relationship between the two nations was dramatically different. In 2012, President Barack Obama was admired by an overwhelming majority of Canadians in polls, and the countries were often in agreement.... To honor both countries, the bridge linking Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit was named after the Canadian hockey star Gordie Howe, who played 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. On Friday, the 6.4 billion Canadian dollar bridge (about $4.5 billion) opened, at least ceremonially, with a president in the White House who has shaken Canada’s economy with tariffs, mused about annexing the country and stalled the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The latest blow came this week when ... [Donald] Trump, who is as disliked in Canada as Mr. Obama was acclaimed, announced 50 percent tariffs on a variety of Canadian products.... For Canada, it’s all been too much. It rescinded its invitations to American officials to jointly open the bridge. And it moved the ceremony from the international border line in the center of the bridge to ... the inspection plaza of the Canada Border Services Agency.” The link is a gift link.