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Profiting from the Presidency: How the Trump Family Is Lining Its Pockets With Cash After Dismantling System for Accountability (New York Times)
Donald Trump and his family have monetized the White House more than any other occupant, normalizing activities that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations, the New York Times reports.
The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking. The Trump family and its business partners have collected $320 million in fees from a new cryptocurrency, brokered overseas real estate deals worth billions of dollars and
are opening an exclusive club in Washington called the Executive Branch charging
$500,000 apiece to join, all in the past few months alone, according to the Times.
Trump, the first convicted felon elected president, has erased ethical boundaries and dismantled the instruments of accountability that constrained his predecessors.
There will be no official investigations because Trump has made sure of it. He has fired government inspectors general and ethics watchdogs, installed partisan loyalists to run the Justice Department, F.B.I. and regulatory agencies and dominated a Republican-controlled Congress unwilling to hold hearings.
Latest on Putin’s War: Russia Defies Trump With Largest-Ever Drone-and-Missile Attack on Ukraine (Wall Street Journal)
The intensifying campaign of Russian and Ukrainian strikes comes as both sides step up production of strike drones capable of flying hundreds of miles.
Russia has been expanding its military-industrial complex, turning shopping malls into drone production facilities and expanding a factory that specializes in making Shahed strike drones with help from Iran, a Russian ally.
Big Court Move; Harvard Wins Reprieve for Foreign Students as Looming Threats Remain (Bloomberg)
Within hours of Harvard suing on Friday, Allison Burroughs, the federal judge, agreed to temporarily halt the action while she considers Harvard’s bid to overturn the ban. She’ll hold a hearing in the coming days on extending the pause.
Today in AI: Norway Wealth Fund Chief Tells Staff That Using AI Is a Must (Bloomberg)
Chief Executive Officer Nicolai Tangen sees no future at Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund for employees who resist using artificial intelligence in their jobs.
Tangen says he has been running around “like a maniac” since 2022 to convince his roughly 670 staff to use AI.
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In Memoriam: Charles Rangel, Trailblazing N.Y. Congressman Who Represented Harlem, Dies at 94 (NBC News)
Rangel was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and became the first Black chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Read Mike Bloomberg's statement here.
Tonight in Indianapolis: Knicks vs. Pacers Game 4 Predictions: Odds, Expert Picks (NBC Sports)
NYC Tip Sheet: The 32 Best Things To Do in the City This Summer (Time Out New York)
From hitting nearby beaches to catching movies outdoors under the stars, Time Out finds 32 of the best things to do during summer in New York. Their list includes The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which isn't just packed with art inside. It’s even got art on its roof. Head to the rooftop of the Met to see three, massive abstract artworks by Jennie C. Jones titled “Ensemble.”
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