Even as most congressional Republicans are avoiding their constituents, Mark Alford of Missouri bucked his party and held 15 public events last week. @elainejgodfrey reports on what the representative heard:

A legal resistance led by a patchwork coalition of lawyers, public-interest groups, Democratic state attorneys general, and unions has frustrated Trump’s ambitions. @michaelscherer reports on the one anti-Trump resistance movement that’s actually working:

RT @Mpolymer: The writing here is so good. Why @TheAtlantic is the gold standard for capturing this period of US history.

Even the men and women of the National Guard seem flummoxed, at times, over what exactly they are supposed to be doing in the nation’s capital, @AshleyRParker and @nancyayoussef write.

European officials can't tell what exactly Putin promised the White House about Ukraine—and where that leaves peace efforts, @vmsalama and @JonLemire report:

A fight over community lending represents a small but pivotal test case of the Trump administration’s willingness to cross the voters who powered the president’s 2024 victory, @ToluseO reports.

This may be remembered as the week Trump’s campaign against the “Deep State” kicked into high gear, @shaneharris reports. Intelligence professionals he spoke with told him something fundamental had shifted in their historically apolitical work.

“We need to make McCarthy great again,” Laura Loomer told @michaelscherer, when he suggested her effort to get federal employees fired for supposed disloyalty to Trump recalled the Red Scare of the early 1950s. She responded: “McCarthy was right.”

Zelensky clearly learned some lessons from his calamitous Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump back in February. That much was apparent today just from the Ukrainian leader’s outfit. But the changes didn't end there, @vmsalama and @JonLemire report.

RT @TheAtlantic: Congress just handed the Department of Homeland Security “an amount larger than the annual military budgets of every count….

In Bridge Colby's view, the only way to stop Beijing is to pivot hard away from Europe/the Mideast and toward Asia. That is, to remain superpowerful, the U.S. may need to temporarily stop superpowering. Via @nancyayoussef + @JonLemire + @missy_ryan .

SCOOP: Some Democratic members of the National Governors Association have privately fumed over the organization’s tepid reaction to President Donald Trump’s federal incursions into state matters, @michaelscherer and @AshleyRParker report:

NEW: Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration tell @giselasalimp that they were tortured during their months inside El Salvador’s megaprison.

NEW: Read @NickMiroff on the CBP chief who's taken his aggressive tactics and propaganda videos from the southern border to the streets of California.

Welcome, @ToluseO! We’re so glad you’re here.

RT @JonLemire: NEW: The White House mulled ways to quell the Epstein furor:. Appoint a special counsel. Unseal court documents. Have Bondi….

Not long ago, a consensus was emerging that markets could help save the planet. Now that consensus is crumbling. @StevenMufson + @thamburger reveal how a Leonard Leo-funded group scared corporate America into backtracking on the climate.

A must-read tale from @shaneharris involving a yellow lab, a spymaster and a president's thirst for revenge.

NEW: “The FAA is considering ‘international talent’ for highly sensitive jobs keeping planes in the air,” @isaacstanbecker reports. Apparently, Trump’s vow to “protect American workers” does not apply to at least one job.

NEW: Foreign leaders meticulously prepare for phone calls and meetings with President Trump, often war-gaming possible surprises and entanglements. @AshleyRParker and @isaacstanbecker have the scoop on how allies coordinate their management of POTUS.