1/ Trump mocked the #MeToo movement in a speech in Montana on Thursday, repeatedly attacked Elizabeth Warren over her heritage, suggested Maxine Waters had an I.Q. in the “mid-60s,� derided both John McCain and George H.W. Bush, and vouched for Putin. “You know what? Putin’s fine,� Trump told the crowd, referring to his upcoming meeting with the Russian leader. “He’s fine. We’re all fine. We’re people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared. I’ve been preparing for this stuff my whole life.� (New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)

Trump challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren to take a DNA test to prove that she has Native American ancestors, reviving his “Pocahontas� nickname for the Massachusetts Democrat, who has claimed Native American ancestry. Trump taunted Warren with an imaginary presidential debate, telling the crowd that he would toss her a DNA kit, “but we have to do it gently because we’re in the #MeToo generation, so we have to be very gentle.� He made a throwing motion and said: “We will very gently take that kit, and we will slowly toss it, hoping it doesn’t hit her and injure her arm.� (NBC News)

The 11 most dangerous things Donald Trump said in his Montana speech. (CNN)

2/ The U.S. and China each levied $34 billion in tariffs on each other’s exports as Trump’s trade war with China officially began today at 12:01 a.m. China’s Ministry of Commerce accused the U.S. of “typical trade bullying� for having “launched the biggest trade war in economic history so far.� Trump has threatened to target another $400 billion in Chinese products with tariffs if Beijing retaliates further. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Politico)

3/ The U.S. Army started discharging some immigrant recruits who were promised a path to citizenship in exchange for enlisting. Some were labeled a security risk and discharged because they have relatives abroad. Others have been told they are being discharged because the Department of Defense had not completed their background checks. The number of soldiers who have been discharged is unclear, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40. It’s also unclear whether there have been policy changes in any of the military branches. (Associated Press)

The Trump administration created a task force to revoke the citizenship of some naturalized immigrants and then eventually deport them. T...

1/ Scott Pruitt resigned from the EPA following months of controversies regarding his spending, ethics and management at the agency. Andrew Wheeler will take over as acting administrator. In his resignation letter, Pruitt blamed “unrelenting attacks� on himself and his family. (New York Times / Washington Post / The Hill / Vox)

I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright! –TRUMP

I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will...

...on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!

BREAKING: @EPAScottPruitt resignation letter to @realDonaldTrump. Obtained by @johnrobertsFox: pic.twitter.com/A3ErO84hLQ

One of Scott Pruitt’s aides was fired last summer for questioning the practice of retroactively deleting meetings from the official calendar. Madeline Morris was Pruitt’s senior scheduler and was fired after she raised objections about the deletions, which she believed were illegal. (New York Times)

How Andrew Wheeler differs from Scott Pruitt. Wheeler is viewed as a Washington insider who avoids the limelight and has spent years effectively navigating the rules. Wheeler is also a veteran coal lobbyist for Murray Energy, whose chief executive, Robert Murray, has been a supporter and adviser of Trump’s. (

1/ The Trump administration will rescind Obama-era guidelines that encourage college admissions to consider race as a factor in order to diversify their student bodies. Trump administration officials contend the current policies “mislead schools to believe that legal forms of affirmative action are simpler to achieve than the law allows.� The reversal would restore George W. Bush’s policy that “strongly encourages the use of race-neutral methods� for student admissions. Jeff Sessions said Justice Department prosecutors will investigate and sue universities over discriminatory admissions policies. Schools that don’t follow the new policy could also lose federal funding. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Reuters)

2/ Leaked copies of Michael Cohen’s shredded documents were reconstructed by the FBI and appear to confirm Cohen’s $62,500 payment to a former Playboy model on behalf of Republican fundraiser Elliot Broidy. The documents were seized during a raid by the FBI on Cohen’s home and office in April and include handwritten notes about a taxi business, as well as insurance papers, correspondence from a woman described as a “vexatious litigant,� who claims she is under government surveillance, and other documents that prosecutors already had in their possession. (BuzzFeed News)

3/ Scott Pruitt and his aides kept “secret� calendars and schedules to hide controversial meetings and calls with industry representatives. Staffers routinely met in Pruitt’s office to “scrub� records from Pruitt’s calendar because they might “look bad.� “We would have meetings [about] what we were going to take off on the official schedule,� said Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski. “We had at one point three different schedules. One of them was one that no one else saw except three or four of us. It was a secret … and they would decide what to nix from the public calendar.� (CNN)

4/ Two of Pruitt’s top aides told congressional investigators that he leveraged his position for personal benefit and ignored warnings about potential ethical issues. The staffers testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, sharing details about Pruitt’s spending and management decisions, his efforts to secure a six-figure job for his wife at a conservative political group, enlisting aides to perform personal tasks, and seeking high-end travel despite objections and warnings from staffers. (Washington Post)

5/ Scott Pruitt asked Trump this spring to fire Jeff Sessions and let him run the Department of Justice. Advisers shot down Pruitt’s proposal to temporarily replace Sessions for 210 days under the Vacancies Reform Act, saying he would return to Oklahoma afterward to run for office. (

1/ Michael Cohen will “put family and country first,� saying his “first loyalty� isn’t to Trump. “I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy,� Cohen said. “I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way.� Cohen, signaling his willingness to cooperate with Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, said his decision to cooperate will not be based on loyalty to Trump, but rather his attorney’s legal advice. Guy Petrillo, who is expected to take over as Cohen’s lead counsel this week, once led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which is the office currently investigating Cohen. (ABC News / Washington Post)

Paul Manafort’s personal assistant gave the FBI access to his storage locker in Virginia. The judge rejected Manafort’s argument that Robert Mueller had been improperly appointed and lacked authority to prosecute him. (Reuters)

Konstantin Kilimnik helped strategize Paul Manafort’s lobbying to clients in Russia and Ukraine. Robert Mueller’s team has alleged that Kilimnik’s ties to Russian intelligence remained active through the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, which Kilimnik has denied. Among Manafort’s clients was Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and other wealthy Russians with close ties to Putin. (Associated Press)

Robert Mueller’s team has likely already gained access to the NRA’s tax filings and so-called “dark money� donors list, who financed $21 million of the group’s $30 million-plus pro-Trump spending. The NRA’s nonprofit status allowed it to hide those donors’ names from the public, but not the IRS. Mueller’s team is reportedly looking into NRA donors with links to Russia and whether they used the organization to illegally funnel foreign money to Trump’s campaign. (McClatchy DC)

2/ Susan Collins will not support a Supreme Court nominee who has displayed “hostility� toward Roe v. Wade. “A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v. Wade would not be acceptable to me,� Collins said, “because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have.� Collins said she views Roe v. Wade as a precedent that should not be overturned. Trump, meanwhile, will not ask possible nominees for Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat whether they would overturn Roe v. Wade. (New York Times / ABC News / Reuters)

Trump wants to replace Justice Kennedy with someone who has a portfolio of academic writing — but he doesn’t want to read any of it himself. Trump also said it’s essential that his nominee be “not weak� and that they “interpret the Constitution the way the framers meant it to be.� (

1/ Trump has been privately telling top White House officials that he wants the US to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. “He’s [threatened to withdraw] 100 times,� a person who’s discussed the subject with Trump. “It would totally [screw] us as a country.� Trump’s economic advisers have pushed back when he raises the idea of withdrawing from the WTO. which regulates international trade. (Axios / CNN)

2/ The Trump administration ran a family separation “pilot program� months before the announcement of the “zero tolerance� policy. At least 1,768 children were separated from their parents between October 2016 and February 2018; it is not known how many of these separations took place after Trump took office because the Department of Homeland Security will not release month-by-month figures. An additional 2,342 children have been separated since May 5, bringing the total number of separated kids to more than 4,100. (NBC News)

3/ The Department of Justice is drafting a plan to overhaul the U.S. asylum policy, which would prevent people from getting asylum if they entered the country illegally. It would also make it extremely difficult for Central Americans to qualify for asylum, and would codify an opinion written by Jeff Sessions that restricts asylum for victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. (Vox)

The UN migration agency voted down Trump’s candidate to lead the International Organization for Migration, which is responsible for coordinating assistance to migrants worldwide. (CNN)

Pence told the leaders of three Central American countries that “this exodus must end� and to respect U.S. borders. “Our nation needs your nations to do more,� Pence added. (NBC News)

4/ Justice Anthony Kennedy’s son, Justin, worked at Deutsche Bank for more than a decade, helping loan Trump more than $1 billion at a time when other banks wouldn’t. Since 1998, Deutsche has helped loan Trump at least $2.5 billion, of which at least $130 million is still owed to the bank. In 2017, Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $425 million to New York’s banking regulator over a money laundering scheme that helped Russian investors move $10 billion out of Russia. Trump later waived the fines for the bank after Robert Mueller issued a subpoena to Deutsche for the banking records of people affiliated with him. Following Trump’s first address to Congress in February 2017, he stopped to tell Justice Kennedy: “Say hello to your boy. Special guy.� (New York Times)

poll/ 67% of Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. 53% of Republicans want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, while 81% of Democrats and 73% of indepen...

1/ Paul Manafort owed $10 million to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2018. The unsealed search warrant application from July 2017 shows that Deripaska financially backed Manafort’s consulting work in Ukraine when it started in 2005-06. Robert Mueller also indicted Konstantin Kilimnik, a political operative who served as an intermediary between Manafort and Deripaska, as well as allegedly having ties to Russian spy agencies. The search warrant also confirmed that Mueller has been investigating Manafort’s role in the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer. (Reuters)

2/ Trump and Putin will meet on July 16 in Helsinki to discuss a “range of national security issues,� as well as “further development of Russian-American relations.� Before the summit meeting was announced, Trump reported via Twitter that “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!� He added: “Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at?� The Helsinki talks will follow a NATO meeting in Brussels on July 11 and 12. Trump told leaders at the recent G7 summit in Canada that “NATO is as bad as NAFTA,� stoking fears that Trump plans to undercut the alliance’s values and commitments. (New York Times / Washington Post / Axios)

Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!

3/ Immigrant children as young as three are being ordered to appear in court for their own deportation hearings without legal representation. The children are being served with notices to appear in court, but they are not entitled to an attorney. Instead, they are given a list of legal services organizations that might help them. Requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not new, but the number of children who are affected by this process has gone up during the Trump pr...

1/ Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of July, giving Trump a second chance to fundamentally shift the court to the right for decades by creating a five-member conservative majority. Kennedy was the court’s leading champion of gay rights, who also joined the court’s liberals in cases on abortion, affirmative action and the death penalty. Kennedy’s decision to retire will impact the midterm elections, as Democrats and Republicans seek control of the Senate, which confirms Supreme Court justices. Senate Democrats currently lack the number of votes needed to deny the seat to Trump’s nominee. (CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times)

What Kennedy’s departure from the Supreme Court will mean for abortion, gay rights, and more. Kennedy has been the swing vote on many of the Court’s most ideologically charged decisions. (Vox)

Mitch McConnell promised a Senate vote on a new Supreme Court nominee by the fall. Trump added that the search for Kennedy’s successor will begin “immediately.� (The Hill / New York Times)

Charles Schumer called McConnell’s determination to vote a Supreme Court nominee before the November midterm elections the “height of hypocrisy� for Republicans. McConnell kept Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat vacant for more than a year after he died, arguing that voters should weigh in during the 2016 presidential election on the ideological balance of the high court. (The Hill)

2/ The House rejected the latest Republican immigration bill in a 301 to 121 vote despite a last-minute tweet, all caps tweet of support from Trump. Lawmakers will now leave for their 10-day Fourth of July recess with no resolution on the fate of the Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. (CNBC / New York Times / Washington Post)

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!

3/ A federal judge ordered the federal government to reunite migrant families separated under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance...

1/ The Supreme Court upheld the third iteration of Trump’s travel ban in a 5-4 ruling along ideological lines. The ban was issued last fall and prevented travelers from eight counties – including six majority-Muslim countries – from entering the U.S. Several states challenged the ban, claiming the order constituted a “Muslim ban,� violated Trump’s executive authority and the Constitution, and harmed U.S. citizens and educational institutions. Trump seemed surprised by the decision, tweeting “SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!� (CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / CNBC)

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!

2/ The Supreme Court ruled that “crisis pregnancy centers� don’t have to provide women with information about the availability of abortions. California required that centers post notices about state-offered abortion, contraception and prenatal services available to low-income women, and to provide phone numbers for more information. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates argued that the law violated their right to free speech by forcing them to convey messages at odds with their beliefs. The Supreme Court agreed in a 5-4 vote. “Crisis pregnancy centers� are essentially anti-abortion facilities that seek to prevent abortions that are often located next to or across the street from a traditional, full-service women’s reproductive health center. (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)

3/ Robert Mueller’s team plans to produce conclusions and possible indictments related to the Trump-Russia investigation by fall. Mueller and investigators will then determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Trump attempted to obstruct justice. At least 13 people associated with Trump’s presidential campaign had suspicious contacts with Russians. (Bloomberg)

Michael Cohen wants to prevent prosecutors from reviewing 12,000 files from the more than four million seized by authorities as part of their criminal investigation. Cohen claims the documents either are covered by attorney-client privilege or are part of legal work being done in preparation for litigation. (Reuters)

A federal judge refused to dismiss charges brought against Paul Manafort by Robert Mueller. Manafort’s lawyers tried to discredit Mueller’s probe by accusing Rod Rosenstein of violating Justice Dep...

1/ Trump: “We must immediately� send immigrants who illegally enter the U.S. “back from where they came� with “no Judges or Court Cases.� Trump likened immigrants and asylum seekers to intruders trying to “break into� the country, saying “we cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came.� (Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times)

We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order. Most children come without parents...

....Our Immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years! Immigration must be based on merit - we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!

2/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that “just because you don’t see a judge doesn’t mean you don’t receive due process,� as she defended Trump’s statement that people who illegally cross the border should be removed “with no Judges or Court Cases.� Trump tweeted that “hiring manythousands [sic] of judges, and going through a long and complicated legal process, is not the way to go - will always be disfunctional [sic]. People must simply be stopped at the Border and told they cannot come into the U.S. illegally.� (The Hill / ABC News)

Hiring manythousands of judges, and going through a long and complicated legal process, is not the way to go - will always be disfunctional. People must simply be stopped at the Border and told they cannot come into the U.S. illegally. Children brought back to their country......

....If this is done, illegal immigration will be stopped in it’s tracks - and at very little, by comparison, cost. This is the only real answer - and we must continue to BUILD THE WALL!

1/ Paul Ryan abruptly delayed a vote on a “compromise� immigration package until next week, as Republicans search for a way to get 218 votes to pass the measure. The bill would provide $25 billion for Trump’s border wall, offer a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, and keep migrant families together in detention centers. It was the second time the bill has been delayed this week. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

2/ Trump told Republicans to “stop wasting their time on Immigration� until after the midterms, predicting that more Republicans will be elected to Congress, and accusing Democrats of creating “phony stories of sadness and grief� on the border. Three days ago, Trump tweeted that “now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration.� Trump’s comments came shortly after Republican House leaders postponed a vote on a broad immigration bill. (NBC News / Washington Post)

Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!

We must maintain a Strong Southern Border. We cannot allow our Country to be overrun by illegal immigrants as the Democrats tell their phony stories of sadness and grief, hoping it will help them in the elections. Obama and others had the same pictures, and did nothing about it!

3/ Trump autographed photos of Americans who were killed by undocumented immigrants. Trump autographed 11 photos, which were held up by family members during a White House event. (CNBC)

4/ About 500 of the more than 2,300 children who were separated from their parents have been reunited. The Department of Homeland Security said it has stopped referring members of detained families to the Department of Justice for prosecution. (ABC News)

5/ The Pentagon will house up to 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children at military bases “for occupancy as early as July through...