Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A worthwhile diplomatic effort: “President Donald Trump joined a video call Wednesday with European leaders and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who implored him not to capitulate to Russia’s demands during Friday’s high-profile summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. During a press conference at the Kennedy Center in downtown Washington, D.C., Trump described the call as a ‘very good conversation.’”
* In related news: “The U.S. Treasury is temporarily lifting a very narrow set of sanctions on Russia in order to allow it to make financial transactions that are necessary for President Putin’s visit to Alaska in the coming days for his summit with President Trump.”
* Does he realize how many times he’s failed to follow through on empty threats like these: “Trump warned in his remarks with reporters that Russia will face consequences if Putin doesn’t agree to end his country’s war in Ukraine after their meeting Friday.”
* Be prepared, D.C. residents: “Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center that he’s going to submit a ‘crime bill’ to Congress and will ask lawmakers to approve an extension for his administration’s federalization of the D.C. police to address crime. … Trump’s emergency powers to take control of the D.C. police only lasts for 30 days and any extensions must be approved by Congress.”
* The skepticism was warranted: “A judge on Wednesday expressed some skepticism about an unprecedented lawsuit in which the Trump administration sued all 15 Maryland-based federal judges over a standing order related to deportation cases.” * A story worth watching: “Donald Trump’s Navy and Air Force are poised to cancel two nearly complete software projects that took 12 years and well over $800 million combined to develop, work initially aimed at overhauling antiquated human resources systems. The reason for the unusual move: officials at those departments, who have so far put the existing projects on hold, want other firms, including Salesforce and billionaire Peter Thiel’s Palantir, to have a chance to win similar projects, which could amount to a costly do-over.” * Bondi’s DOJ has the strangest priorities: “The Justice Department sent out an internal memo on Tuesday directing employees not to use preferred pronouns in their email signatures. The memo, which was sent department-wide, says the directive is to conform with President Trump’s executive order ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.’” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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