After congressional talks broke down, Trump issued executive orders designed to provide some financial relief.
It’s reported this week that Pompeo spoke with Lavrov about Russia bounties to the Taliban.
This is the same week that Trump said in the Axios interview that he was never told about the bounties and never talked to Putin about it. Among other highlights from the Trump interview: “They are dying. That’s true. It is what it is. … It’s under control as much as you can control it.”
More on Trump-appointed USPS leader, Louis DeJoy: On Friday, he shifted top personnel, including some decades-long veterans of the Postal Service, and made changes to its organizational structure.
According to the New York Times: Russia is using a range of techniques to denigrate Joseph R. Biden Jr., American intelligence officials said Friday in their first public assessment that Moscow continues to try to interfere in the 2020 campaign to help President Trump.
The Washington Post reported on Trump’s early summer response: Under mounting pressure to improve the president’s reelection chances as his poll numbers declined, the White House had what was described as a stand-down order on engaging publicly on the virus through the month of June, part of a deliberate strategy to spotlight other issues even as the contagion spread wildly across the country. A senior administration official said there was a desire to focus on the economy in June.
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One reason for Trump’s long-standing reluctance to wear a mask — although he sported one Thursday during a factory visit in Ohio — is the concern that his prized political base, which has held steady in its approval of him, is not enthusiastic about wearing them.
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Trump’s Job Approval: 41.4%
COVID-19 Cases / Deaths: 4,920,369 / 160,220