Zoom Out 🌎
Not having a show to do provides a moment of reflection
Dateline📍: Charleston, South Carolina
✈️Rachel and I are down south for a friend’s wedding — the day off gave me time to think rather than react on the flight down.
Local flair 📕: Erik Larson’s “The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War” is one of the best books I have read recently
Fun fact: People say General William Tecumseh Sherman told his troops not to burn Charleston because he liked the city
🙏Thanks, more than usual, to Amanda for organizing.
Watch tonight📺: Lauren Wright will be with you tonight at 9 p.m ET — there is LOTS to talk about.
About this weekend🍴: The wedding weekend gives me a great excuse to miss the White House Correspondents Dinner and weekend festivities.
Why it matters‼️: For the first time, Trump will attend as president.
Gasp🫢: Trump, who attacks the press, is now going to be at a dinner celebrating the First Amendment
Commentary🤦: Much has been written about the existential crisis of so many journalists about whether or not to attend and whether they should walk out if Trump “crosses the line” blah blah blah
More➕: Then there is the handwringing over CBS inviting Secretary Pete Hegseth as their guest.
What I am thinking💭: The pearl clutching by much of American media because of Trump and Trump’s remaking of the media landscape exposes a media elite that still doesn’t get it.
Not bad🤷: Dogged coverage is a feature of our democracy, not a bug — there is a reason the founders protected a profession many of them hated
Imagine👀: Just think for a second, if much of the media had covered Obama and Biden with the vigor they do Trump — America would be better for it.
Look back🔙: For those who say it doesn’t matter that President Obama’s roast of Trump at the 2011 dinner changed the course of history
🤷You really need to watch it — think what you want of Obama, his delivery is world class and the look on Trump’s face says everything.
Sponsored message from Center for the Environment and Welfare
📈Prices of pork and eggs are up.
⁉️Why? California passed a law called Prop. 12.
❌Now, there are new mandates on how you can raise pigs and chickens if you want to sell in California.
💰Farmers need to spend millions to be compliant, making eggs and bacon cost more.
🧑🌾This mostly impacts out-of-state farmers, who didn’t vote on the law but still need to comply.
🙏Solution: The Farm Bill has a fix to keep Prop. 12 within California’s borders.
‼️Action Item: Pass the Farm Bill. Bring down costs. Don’t let California impose higher food prices on everyone.
Visit foodpricefix.com for more
The Long Lens of History🔭
Iran watch👀: Trump is sending both another carrier battle group and negotiators to the Middle East this weekend.
What I am thinking💭: We are as skeptical as anyone of the diplomacy play — it feels desperate — but one must also make allowance for a strategic pause.
🤷Other than the ill-conceived bombing of Iran’s civilian infrastructure — there wasn’t much more Trump could do militarily with the forces he had.
Be fair⚖️: George W. Bush was right when he said historians are still writing about the first George (Washington).
Absolute truth☑️: The success or failure of Trump’s remaking of the Middle East can only be truly judged through the long lens of history
Know thy enemy‼️: The Iranians look at their war with America as a great power struggle fought over generations, if not millennia.
🗺️We would be wise to understand their world view and plan accordingly.
Way More Than Insider Trading‼️
Insider outrage‼️: You might have heard about the soldier arrested for using classified information to bet on the Maduro raid.
Spare me🤷: Any member of Congress who owns stocks should be forbidden from commenting on this story.
💰The continued refusal by Congress to ban insider trading among themselves shows just how much they all make from it.
Be fair ⚖️: Yes, betting on Polymarket based on classified information is bad — but the $400,000 he allegedly made isn’t even a rounding error in the hundreds of millions of dollars members of Congress make yearly in the markets.
The grift🚨: The continued perceived or real enrichment of the Trump World is just as bad (if not worse) and continues the problem we discussed last night.
The lack of fairness in America’s economy will boomerang back on Republicans.
Why it matters‼️: We’ve said for three plus years that creating an aristocracy will not end well for America.
What Would Be the Right Direction? ↔️
📉A new Harvard poll shows just 13% of young Americans think the country is headed in the right track; conversely, 59% think it’s heading in the wrong direction:
‼️The 13% have it right — never before have young Americans had more options or opportunities.
Hat tip👏: The intrepid Mike Allen at Axios first wrote about the study in his morning newsletter, writing:
✏️“The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, which runs the poll, says: “What once converted concern into action is becoming something more conditional — a generation still paying attention, still showing up, but increasingly unsure that their voice carries weight.”
Spare me🤷: Life is decided by those who show up — I can’t remember what movie or TV show that is from but it sounds like something Aaron Sorkin would write.
What I am thinking💭: The power of AI is scary. It is also one of life’s great equalizers because right now it’s basically free.
🤦How can one NOT be excited about the future right now?
Another side‼️: As an employer, would you want to hire those optimistic about the future or those sitting on their hands complaining?
Watch tonight📺: Lauren Wright will look at the push by some critics to get rid of AI from classrooms. But is it all too late?
Caught my eye👀:“Trust in the system is weak: Just 33% of young Americans say they trust the 2026 elections will be conducted fairly, while 43% do not and 21% are unsure, highlighting deep uncertainty about the integrity of the process,” writes the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.
Yikes😬: Who are those 43% and why don’t they think the elections will be fair?
Reality🤦: As of late, I hear a lot more from Democrats than Republicans warning about the 2026 election — last time I checked that was a threat to democracy.
Go forth‼️: Life for America’s youth is supposed to be hard — it always has been.
Never before has there been more opportunity.