@jonlemire.bsky.social
Co-host: Morning Joe, MSNBC Contributing Writer: The Atlantic Author: "The Big Lie." Ex-AP, Politico, NY Daily News. Dad, Mr. Carrie Melago, Red Sox fan
NEW: A government shutdown, weaponized
Projects slashed. Layoffs threatened. Russ Vought looming
It took President Trump fewer than 24 hours to turn a shutdown into a weapon wielded against the civil servants and opposing party he has long derided www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: The federal government seems to be hurtling toward a shutdown
If that happens, the Trump administration might use it to finish the job that DOGE started
Inside the White House’s shutdown plan - which may include permanent mass firings www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“He mocked alliances and the UN itself, outlining something of a Trump Doctrine that prioritizes individual nations’ sovereignty and a transactional approach that rewards only those nations that can do something for the United States—or him personally” www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
24.09.2025 12:33 — 👍 35 🔁 17 💬 7 📌 2
NEW: Seven years ago, the world laughed at Donald Trump
But his return to the UN underscores how dramatically his relationship with the world has changed - and how he has led a campaign to upend the global order that the U.S. built following World War II www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
NEW: Kamala Harris’ “first choice” for running mate in 2024 was Pete Buttigieg
But Harris believed “we were asking too much of America” to accept a ticket with “a Black woman married to a Jewish man” with a gay man
It was “too big of a risk,” she wrote www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“The West Wing is aware of these weak job numbers, and is warily watching inflation and looking for ways to juice the economy. Officials are discussing a sweeping deregulation effort due this fall that is meant to spark business growth” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
08.09.2025 15:25 — 👍 29 🔁 9 💬 5 📌 3
Trump remembers how Democrats wielded the majority after capturing the House in 2018
If that happens again next year, it would end whatever was left of Trump’s agenda
And it would also consume his White House in investigations - and possibly impeachment www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: Redistricting. Seizing the Fed. National Guard in U.S. cities
President Trump’s extreme moves are in part fueled by fear of losing the midterms
Because if Democrats win the House, Trump will be plagued again by investigations - and maybe impeachment www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The boat was chosen as the first target based on actionable intelligence, and followed the development of a policy and the completion of a legal review
Plans to strike were in place by last week, but the U.S. waited until it was in international waters www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
NEW: The military wasn’t built to fight crime
A missile strike in the Caribbean and National Guard deployments in U.S. cities are pushing the armed forces beyond their traditional mission
And President Trump is planning for an expansion on both fronts www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Anchorage wasn’t Helsinki. For that, Europe can be grateful. Trump didn’t give away Ukrainian land to Russia or demand that Zelensky take a bad deal, at least immediately
But Putin got a high-profile summit and, most of all, more time to continue his war www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Putin sported the better body language: He almost glowed as he spoke to the press, And, oddly, he got to speak first, even though Trump was host
Trump, in contrast, seemed subdued, only perking up when Putin suggested that their next summit be in Moscow www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: So what was that all for?
Trump emerged from his summit with Putin without a deal and without much to say
Stunningly, for a president who loves a press conference, he took no questions. Instead, he left Alaska empty-handed www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The White House announced the two men would not have a one-on-one meeting
But here, in the backseat of the Beast, Putin had his time alone with Trump
As the limousine drove off the tarmac to the summit site, Putin could be seen in a rear window laughing www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: So what was that all for?
Trump emerged from his summit with Putin without a deal and without much to say.
Stunningly, for a president who loves a press conference, he took no questions. Instead, he left Alaska empty-handed www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump has made clear that he wants peace. He also wants a Nobel Peace Prize.
The situation in Gaza is deteriorating and Trump has not stood up to Netanyahu. So, he sees an opportunity with Ukraine www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“Putin has already won. He is the leader of a rogue state, and he’ll get a picture on U.S. soil with the president of the United States”
“Trump wants a deal. And if he can’t get one now, he may walk away from it entirely” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: Vladimir Putin may be laying a trap
Trump is confident going into the Alaska summit. But Europe is worried that Putin is playing him - and will only offer a deal that Ukraine will reject
And would that then turn Trump against Zelensky again? www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“But five days is also a long time in Trump’s America, and these fragile efforts to get Trump and Putin in the same Alaskan meeting room could easily hit barriers before the delegations board their flights” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
11.08.2025 01:15 — 👍 38 🔁 11 💬 5 📌 1
NEW: Vladimir Putin is coming to America
Trump, frustrated with Putin but drawn to spectacle, believes his dealmaking can end the war. But Ukraine worries he may hand Moscow a win
Inside the backchannel talks and Moscow trip that led to Alaska invite: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
In 2017, Trump threatened “fire and fury” to intimidate North Korea—and because he was annoyed to not be the main storyline on cable news. The bellicose rhetoric succeeded: Suddenly, Trump had changed the news cycle
His efforts to do so now haven’t worked www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump’s own efforts to manage the Epstein story have only fed it. His account of why they had a falling-out years ago has shifted multiple times
And advisers have told Trump that saying he has the right to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell only raises questions www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“Donald Trump has almost certainly complained more about journalists than any of his predecessors have, maybe more than all of them combined. So when Trump deemed a query ‘the nastiest question’ he’s ever gotten from a member of the press, it was notable” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
07.08.2025 22:24 — 👍 41 🔁 10 💬 7 📌 1
“A president who, less than a year ago, staged a historic political comeback and moved to quickly conquer Washington and the world now confronts more obstacles than at any point since his inauguration” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
07.08.2025 20:40 — 👍 144 🔁 34 💬 30 📌 5
NEW: It’s Trump’s August of discontent
Wars in Gaza and Ukraine are expanding. The jobs report was poor. The new tariffs could raise prices. Republicans are being heckled at town halls. And there’s Epstein
Inside Trump’s toughest moment back in office: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump distrusts Netanyahu about the Gaza famine. But his frustration only goes so far
The president blames Hamas for scuttling recent ceasefire talks. And he backed Bibi by declaring the best way to end the humanitarian crisis is to release the hostages www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump has come to believe what many in Washington have thought for months: that Netanyahu is looking to prolong the Gaza conflict in open defiance of Trump’s wish for the war to end
But Trump’s anger hasn’t translated into any real shift in U.S. policy www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
NEW: The famine in Gaza has put a new strain on President Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu
Trump wants the war to end and is frustrated with another news cycle he can’t control
But aides downplay chances of a real break - or major Israel policy shift www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“Trump—the president, their leader, the martyr who had endured scandals and prosecution and an assassin’s bullet on their behalf—had repeatedly told them it was time to move on from Epstein and that alone should suffice” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
19.07.2025 17:06 — 👍 69 🔁 25 💬 12 📌 0
NEW: The White House mulled ways to quell the Epstein furor:
Appoint a special counsel. Unseal court documents. Have Bondi address the press. Could Trump hold *daily* news conferences à la his COVID briefings?
Then the birthday card story exploded: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
