Europe is answering Putin’s challenge, via @shaneharris

A small scoopy nugget in this story w/@isaacstanbecker: Egypt will host a “glamorous” summit in Sharm el-Sheikh when Trump is there. At least 10 “presidents and kings” will be there, including leaders from the Arab Gulf & Turkey + some European leaders https://t.co/QApfPMo6Yc

White House response: “President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”

More from the Trump-appointed judge, calling his statements “untethered to the facts.” “Here, the protests in Portland were not ‘a rebellion’ and did not pose a ‘danger of a rebellion’” What the protests actually look like:

Trump put this judge, Karin Immergut, on the federal bench in 2019

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” federal judge writes in granting a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s deployment of troops to Portland:

https://t.co/ShGnHj45N6

Portland is ground zero for how fake and weird things have become in the US. Trump says the city is a “war zone.” It isn’t. Trump says troops are “in place.” They aren’t. Meanwhile, ppl are dancing, screaming at masked ICE agents, and trading slurs with right-wing activists.

"If the hold is long-term, it risks creating new rifts with allies, weakening their defenses at a time when Russia poses an imminent threat, and diminishing U.S. military influence across the continent." via @vmsalama

I revisited my first conversation with Charlie Kirk, which was about his legacy—why he believed he was leading a spiritual revival and not just a political movement https://t.co/ONQ3TrrlgK

Because the two grand drives for European imperial integration, by Napoleon and by Hitler, failed dramatically, at huge cost to the entire world

@shaneharris How Gabbard’s efforts to make her messaging consistent with the president’s are going over with some in the workforce.

@shaneharris Gabbard has filled the senior ranks of her office with skeptics of military intervention. One of them, Will Ruger, told associates he was worried about risking his credibility as a voice of foreign-policy restraint and wondered how long Gabbard would last in the role.

It’s been a bumpy start to Tulsi Gabbard’s tenure as director of national intelligence https://t.co/qxWdKFu4Wp w/@shaneharris

Pope Leo XIV is wearing a White Sox hat at the Vatican

Witkoff has one enormous advantage: He’s Trump’s best friend

Witkoff's role was conveived over golf, Lindsey Graham told me

Witkoff told me he thinks there could be a deal with Iran before peace between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas

Why has Witkoff met with Putin alone—no aides, no interpreter, no notetaker? Those were the Russian president's terms.

I spent time with Steve Witkoff, the real estate investor and longtime Trump friend who's now in charge of, well, world peace