Posted by Matt Kiser

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1/ Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will add $3.4 trillion to the national deficit over 10 years and leave 10 million more people uninsured by 2034, according to the final score from the Congressional Budget Office. The law, passed along party lines, makes Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, adds tax breaks for tips and overtime, and cuts Medicaid, food aid, and clean energy funding. The CBO said the $1.1 trillion in spending cuts are outweighed by $4.5 trillion in lost tax revenue. Republicans argued the tax breaks should count as free since current rates are already in place and extending them doesn’t add cost. They asked the CBO to use a “current policy” baseline assuming the cuts would be made permanent; that version showed a $366 billion deficit increase. (Politico / NBC News / CNBC / CNN / Bloomberg)

2/ Affordable Care Act insurers proposed a median premium increase of 15% for 2026 across 105 filings in 20 markets — the largest since 2018 — citing rising healthcare costs and the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies that have lowered premiums since 2021. Over a quarter of insurers requested hikes of 20% or more. Without congressional action, subsidized enrollees will pay 75% more on average next year. Some insurers also cited tariffs on medical imports and uncertainty from new Trump-era rules. (Wall Street Journal / CNN / NBC News / NPR / KFF Health System Tracker)

3/ The White House removed the Wall Street Journal from the press pool for Trump’s trip to Scotland after it published a story about a sexually suggestive letter he allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the paper was excluded due to “fake and defamatory conduct” and didn’t say if it would be allowed back. The reporter pulled from the trip, however, had no role in the Epstein story. Earlier this year, the White House took over pool assignments from the White House Correspondents’ Association. (Politico / CNN)

• EARLIER:

• Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a sexually suggestive letter in 2003 typed inside a sketch of a naked woman and signed “Donald” below her waist to mimic pubic hair. The message, ending with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” was part of a birthday album Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the message, calling it a “fake thing” and said, “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.” JD Vance, meanwhile, called the the story “complete and utter bullshit.” He added: “Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?” For over a decade, Trump and Epstein socialized, attended parties, flew on Epstein’s jet, and appeared in videos and photos together, including at Mar-a-Lago. Multiple women later accused Trump of misconduct after Epstein introduced them, including groping and sexual advances; Trump has denied all the allegations. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment on whether the letter is part of their current review. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Politico)

• Trump sued the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch, and two of the paper’s reporters for defamation over an article that described a lewd birthday letter he allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, seeks at least $20 billion in damages and claims the story was “false, defamatory, unsubstantiated, and disparaging.” Dow Jones said it stands by the reporting and will “vigorously defend” against the lawsuit. (Variety / Axios / New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC / CBS News / NBC News / CNN / USA Today / Reuters)

• The Justice Department asked a Manhattan court to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The request followed Trump’s public directive to Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony.” Trump issued the order one day after the Wall Street Journal reported that he signed a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein in 2003, which he called “FAKE” and sued over. The department said it would redact victim and personal information, but confirmed it still found no “incriminating ‘client list’” or evidence to justify further investigations. Trump posted: “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” (USA Today / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NPR / New York Times / CBS News / Washington Post / CNN / Axios / Bloomberg)

• The FBI instructed personnel reviewing Jeffrey Epstein’s case files to “flag” any documents that mentioned Trump, according to Senate Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin. In letters sent Friday, Durbin said Attorney General Pam Bondi “pressured” the FBI to put 1,000 staff on 24-hour shifts in March to process about 100,000 records. “Why were personnel told to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned?” Durbin asked Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. A Durbin aide said the information came from a protected whistleblower. (NBC News / The Hill / Axios / CNBC)

• Trump said releasing Epstein grand jury records likely won’t satisfy critics, calling those demanding more information “troublemakers and radical left lunatics.” He wrote on social media that “even if the Court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough.” (ABC News / Politico / The Hill / CNBC / USA Today)

4/ A former Jeffrey Epstein employee told the FBI in 1996 and again in 2006 to investigate Trump’s ties to Epstein. Maria Farmer described an encounter in Epstein’s office where Trump stared at her legs and later said he thought she was 16, adding that Epstein told him: “She’s not here for you.” She said she had no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump, but believed authorities should have scrutinized his closeness with Epstein. The FBI didn’t confirm whether Farmer’s statements about Trump were ever investigated. (New York Times)

5/ House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will not vote on a resolution to release Jeffrey Epstein-related documents before the August recess. Johnson said the Trump administration needs “space to do what it is doing” after Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the unsealing of grand jury transcripts. Johnson said “we agree with the president” and claimed “there is no daylight” between Trump and House Republicans on “maximum transparency.” The move delays a bipartisan push led by Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna to force a vote through a discharge petition. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, meanwhile, warned that the base “will turn” if Trump doesn’t follow through. (The Hill / CBS News / Politico / Politico)

6/ Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a report accusing Obama-era officials of staging a “treasonous conspiracy” during the 2016 election. Despite no new evidence, Gabbard claimed they manipulated intelligence to falsely suggest Russia wanted Trump to win and said she referred the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution. Democrats dismissed the report, which contained 114 pages of redacted emails, as politically motivated and contradicted by years of investigations, including a bipartisan Senate inquiry that found “irrefutable evidence” of Russian interference benefiting Trump. Senator Mark Warner said Gabbard was “trying to cook the books” and warned she was undermining trust in her own agency. Representative Jim Himes called the accusations “baseless” and said Gabbard was rehashing “decade-old false claims.” (New York Times / Bloomberg / The Hill / Politico)

7/ Trump posted a fake video showing Obama being handcuffed and arrested in the Oval Office, as “Y.M.C.A.” plays and Trump smiles in the background. The fake video, originally posted on TikTok, uses altered footage from the two men’s November 2016 White House meeting and ends with Obama in a jail cell wearing an orange jumpsuit. The post followed Gabbard’s recent claims that Obama officials carried out a “treasonous conspiracy” to damage Trump in 2016. Obama’s office declined to comment. Trump has increasingly shared fake and manipulated content while facing pressure from supporters over his handling of the Epstein files. (New York Times / The Hill / New Republic / HuffPost)

The midterm elections are in 470 days.

✏️ Notables.

1. Before she issued any ruling, Trump called the judge overseeing Harvard’s lawsuit over a $2 billion federal funding freeze “a TOTAL DISASTER” and said she was “an automatic ‘loss’ for the People of our Country.” The administration cut funding after Harvard refused to meet demands from a federal antisemitism task force, which included changes to hiring, admissions, and governance. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, who previously ruled against the administration in a separate case, questioned the legality of the cuts and whether they were tied to constitutionally protected speech. The Justice Department said Harvard “should have read the fine print” and that funding decisions reflect “agency priorities.” (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg)

2. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Trump not to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, warning it could damage markets and create lawsuits that delay the Powell’s transition as Fed chair when his term expires in May 2026. Bessent said the Fed is already likely to cut interest rates twice this year and told Trump the firing was unnecessary since the economy is strong. Trump nevertheless denied the report, saying: “Nobody had to explain that to me. I know better than anybody what’s good for the Market.” (Wall Street Journal / Variety / CNBC / The Hill)

3. CBS will cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in May 2026 – three days after Colbert called a $16 million settlement between Trump and CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, a “big fat bribe.” The payment resolved Trump’s lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris and came as Paramount seeks Trump’s approval for its $28 billion merger with Skydance Media. CBS said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” despite Colbert leading his time slot, earning an Emmy nomination days earlier, and facing no visible cost-cutting measures. “It’s not just the end of our show, it’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS,” Colbert told his audience. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” Trump, meanwhile, celebrated the move, posting: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired.” He called Colbert talentless, praised Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, and predicted Jimmy Kimmel “is next.” The Writers Guild of America accused Paramount of “sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration” and called for a state investigation. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff, and Bernie Sanders questioned the timing, with Warren calling the settlement “a deal that looks like bribery” and Sanders writing: “Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.” Paramount denied any connection between the cancellation, the merger, or Trump. (Associated Press / NPR / Bloomberg / New York Times / CNN / Washington Post / Hollywood Reporter / Axios / HuffPost / USA Today / Variety)

4. The Trump administration released over 230,000 pages of FBI and CIA files related to the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from King’s family and civil rights groups. The documents include surveillance memos, interviews, foreign intelligence, and materials tied to James Earl Ray’s alleged plot. The King family, given early access to the records, said the FBI conducted a “disinformation and surveillance campaign” against King and warned that the release could be misused “to undermine our father’s legacy.” Tulsi Gabbard called the release “unprecedented” and praised Trump for ordering it. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the move fulfills a public right to know “decades after the horrific assassination.” (ABC News / Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Axios)

5. Trump threatened to block a stadium deal in Washington unless the NFL team now called the Commanders changes its name back to Redskins – a name long criticized as a racial slur against Native Americans. “I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington” unless they drop what he called the “ridiculous moniker.” Trump also demanded Cleveland’s baseball team return to the name Indians, claiming Native Americans want the change and adding, “MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN.” Commanders owner Josh Harris and Guardians executive Chris Antonetti said they have no plans to revisit the name changes. Indigenous groups widely oppose restoring the names, calling them “offensive and dehumanizing.” (Washington Post / ABC News / NBC News / Reuters)

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