0:03
Trump says "there are no limits" to his power in a shocking new interview
This is the audio version of my written post from 6-18-2026, which can be found HERE.
*This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information.
0:12
Trump says "there are no limits" to his power in a shocking new interview
Sitting in the White House after a long night of travel from the G7 summit, a visibly worn-down President of the United States was asked a simple question: what had he learned about the limits of his power? His answer came immediately. “There are no limits.” When the reporter looked surprised, Trump went on: “No, none. I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but you know, there are no limits.” And that contradiction, certainty followed instantly by reversal, ran through the entire interview.
0:27
Wyndham Clark carries four-shot US Open lead as big names gather in chasing pack
American’s revival continues after controversy 12 months ago
Rory McIlroy still in contention despite ‘bit of a battle’ on back nine
Everyone was chasing one man on a windswept Friday in the Hamptons as Wyndham Clark continued his extraordinary revival, posting the lowest 36-hole score ever recorded in a US Open at Shinnecock and carrying a four-shot lead into the weekend.
The 2023 champion backed up his opening-round 64 with a one-under 69 to reach seven under par, breaking the previous halfway record of six under set by Phil Mickelson and Shigeki Maruyama in 2004. Clark’s total left him four strokes clear of Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Sam Stevens and Tom Kim at three under, while Collin Morikawa hurled himself into contention with the day’s low score of 65 to sit alone at two under on a sun-splashed but blustery afternoon in Southampton.
Continue reading...
0:50
World Cup defeat offers new US friends a quick lesson and tour of the Scottish psyche
Yes there’s the party side, the buoyant side, one that makes friends everywhere it goes. But there’s the other side too
In a disconcerting development, Americans have started wearing kilts. Some of them are even doing it on the TV as they try to wrap themselves around the Tartan Army. On the local Boston news on Thursday night, things were so giddy that people were predicting victory over Morocco and a passage out of the group for the first time. It was only when the camera returned to the news anchor that she reminded everyone; actually Morocco are African champions and World Cup semi-finalists.
The US has a bit to learn about football still and maybe more to understand about the Scots. Yes there’s the party side, the buoyant side, the one that makes friends everywhere it goes. But there’s the other side too, the sceptical one (some call it realist), the one that knows you should party now because things will find a way of going wrong in a minute. The one that spies a challenge like Morocco with foreboding.
Continue reading...
1:18
Premier Smith says potential “Coal Not Water” referendum not until 2027
Author: Alex Dhaliwal
On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith said Corb Lund’s Water Not Coal petition won’t appear on the Oct. 19 ballot because Elections Alberta required all referendum questions by June 1.
“The petition can still proceed, but the earliest it could go to a provincial referendum is October 2027,” she told reporters at an unrelated press conference.
Water Not Coal organizers say they’ve collected more than 200,000 signatures for a petition opposing new coal mines in Alberta’s eastern slopes, as reported by Global News.
The petition specifically targets two proposed coal projects:
1:35
The UK’s World Cup diplomatic mullet
While Boston and Dallas have been taken over by marauding Scotland and England fans, Washington, D.C., this week welcomed a (slightly) more sedate British crowd at Duke’s Grocery, a trendy restaurant and bar in Washington’s West End neighborhood.
Call it the U.K.’s diplomatic mullet: Business in the front; party in the back.
More than a hundred England fans crowded some 10 television sets inside the bar on Wednesday, invited by the U.K. embassy to mark their team’s first game of the World Cup against Croatia.
Flags for every participant hung down from the ceiling.
1:50
In Canberra, disappointment
CANBERRA — It was disappointment from start to finish around the U.S. vs. Australia match in the Bush Capital, won comfortably by the American side.
Neither of Canberra’s Socceroos made the starting lineup and the local government failed to provide an outdoor watch site for the match, despite a heavy social media campaign from locals.
2:00
Wealth correlation with soccer ability?
POLITICO has been crunching the numbers to see how all 48 of this year’s World Cup participants rank in several other off-field categories, which we'll share more of over the weekend.
In today's item, we look at whether GDP per capita has any connection to soccer performance. As you can see, the chart does show some positive correlation — note, for example, wealthy tournament contenders such as France, the Netherlands and Germany all in the upper right corner.
But it's not a perfect indicator.
2:13
The Brazil-Haiti match that changed the world
Brazil has won a record five World Cups, but the most important match it has ever played may have been an exhibition match against Haiti that was meaningless in sporting terms but has had a long influence on each country’s politics.
On Aug. 18, 2004, Brazil’s players drove through the streets of Port-au-Prince in armored personnel carriers, World Cup champions greeted like liberators.
2:25
Lurie seeing red, white and blue
Daniel Lurie is already imagining the scene at Levi’s Stadium on July 1.
The San Francisco Democrat — who, according to at least one recent poll, is the most popular mayor in America — was circulating around his city ahead of Levi’s Stadium hosting Turkey vs. Paraguay tonight, when he began to wrap his head around his good fortune.
The venue is scheduled to host the Round of 32 match featuring the Group D winner on July 1, and that’s very likely to be the U.S. team.
“It'll be incredible,” Lurie, a no-nonsense technocrat, told POLITICO.
