Washington Post: “Pelosi’s allies said her taunting of Trump now is intentional, designed to get under his skin and elicit an angry reaction, according to officials close to her who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.”
“When a Democrat compared Trump to a fifth-grader, Pelosi responded that such a remark was an insult to fifth-graders, according to an individual who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the conversation.”
Said Pelosi: “Don’t say that. Children are wonderful!”
Renato Mariotti: “In the space of three days this week, two federal judges ruled decisively in favor of Congress’ right to subpoena President Donald Trump’s personal financial and business records. The speed of the decisions—unusual in complex federal litigation—demonstrates a significant flaw in the administration’s “fight all the subpoenas” strategy. More importantly, it suggests that Trump’s strategy of categorically fighting all congressional subpoenas will undermine his ability to stonewall Congress in subsequent cases.”
“Already, one of the rulings has been appealed by the Trump administration, and a three-judge panel is scheduled to hear the case in July. In the meantime, however, we are witnessing profound legal decisions in defense of congressional power. If Trump’s stonewalling strategy was intended to run out the clock by forcing Democrats into interminable court fights, it appears so far to be having the exact opposite effect—almost like a little league game that gets called early because one team is scoring too many unanswered runs.”
The Hill: Democrats claim victory as Trump gets battered in court.
“Joe Biden Jr. has built an early lead in the month since he entered the presidential campaign, confidently projecting himself as the Democratic front-runner and the candidate best positioned to defeat President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“But beneath the surface of a seemingly placid race is a much more volatile contest, as a series of primaries-within-the-primary unfold along lines that reflect some of the most animating forces in the Trump era: race, gender, age and ideology.”
“President Trump is so determined to sell his vision of peace with North Korea that he is prepared to back Kim Jong Un over his advisers, his allies and his fellow Americans,” the New York Times reports.
“At a joint news conference with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump directly contradicted his own national security adviser, John Bolton, as well as his host, by arguing that Pyongyang had not launched ballistic missiles this month nor violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
“He also again sided with North Korea over former vice president Joe Biden, after his Democratic rival was branded a ‘fool of low I.Q.’ by North Korea’s state media for calling Kim a dictator and a tyrant.”
“Business leaders and communities around the country are expressing alarm that the bitter partisan impasse in Washington is paralyzing efforts to revamp the nation’s deteriorating and outdated infrastructure,” the Washington Post reports.
“Populists and nationalists who want to chip away at the European Union’s powers increased their share in Europe’s Parliament after four days of continent-wide elections, but it was not the deluge that many traditionalists had feared,” the New York Times reports.
“When the vote counting is done, the populists are expected to get around 25 percent of the 751 seats, up from 20 percent five years ago, figures released by the European Union showed on Sunday.”
“But a higher than usual turnout suggested that pro-European voters were also more motivated than before.”
“Taken together, the results indicated that the struggle over the future direction of the bloc — more integration among European countries, or less — would only intensify.”
Axios: 6 takeaways from the European elections.
“President Trump’s tweets don’t pack the punch they did at the outset of his presidency. His Twitter interaction rate — a measure of the impact given how much he tweets and how many people follow him — has tumbled precipitously,” Axios reports.
“It’s a sign that his strongest communication tool may be losing its effectiveness and that the novelty has worn off. Trump’s interaction rate has fallen from 0.55% in the month he was elected to 0.32% in June 2017 — and down to 0.16% this month through May 25.”
Brian Stelter: “The question arises: Is Trump having to try harder and harder to get the public’s attention?”
Washington Post: Here’s former vice president Joe Biden’s agenda for the holiday weekend, according to his campaign: ‘Joe Biden has no public events scheduled.’”
“Those seven words are becoming familiar for the Biden team. Aside from a campaign swing right after announcing his candidacy, Biden has kept his head down while his rivals rush from state to state to state. Even when he has held public events, they have included only a handful of questions from voters or reporters.”
“The light public schedule reflects the unique position of his campaign, advisers say: With near universal name recognition and high favorability ratings among Democrats, the former vice president does not need to introduce himself to voters like nearly every other candidate. And as the leader in early polls, he can attract media attention without splashy events.”
So Biden is using the Clintonian method of “win by not campaigning” Coo. cool cool cool.