Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The White House probably won’t go for this: “Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear program would come in a later phase, two regional officials said Monday.”
* The suspect in court: “The suspect in the security breach at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, appeared at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., for his initial court appearance, less than 48 hours after he was accused of rushing a Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel.”
* The 53rd such attack: “The U.S. military attacked a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing two people and raising the death toll to at least 182 in the campaign against people the United States accuses of smuggling drugs at sea.”
* An amazing report from The New York Times: “Every year, the United States Mint sells more than $1 billion of investment-grade gold coins. Each is stamped with an icon like the bald eagle, signifying the government’s guarantee, required by law, that the gold is 100 percent American. … But a New York Times investigation has found that the government’s program of gold sales is based on a lie. The Mint is actually the last link in a chain that launders foreign gold, much of it illegally mined, for an insatiable market.”
* The war on science persists: “The Trump administration on Friday dismissed members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation, which finances much of the public scientific research in the United States. On Friday afternoon, National Science Board members received a terse email ‘on behalf of President Donald J. Trump’ that said their position was ‘terminated, effective immediately.’”
* Quite a change: “For decades, immigrants who have followed the rules and have not broken the law have had hopes of earning a green card, a document that allows them to live legally in the United States and gain a path to citizenship. But under new guidance issued by the Trump administration, immigrants can now be denied a green card for expressing political opinions, such as participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests, posting criticism of Israel on social media and desecrating the American flag, according to internal Department of Homeland Security training materials reviewed by The New York Times.”
* Remember, a four-day tenure is less than half a Scaramucci: “An artificial intelligence researcher hired by the Commerce Department to run a key federal technology center lasted just four days on the job before being replaced, according to four people familiar with the situation. Collin Burns, who previously worked at the AI firm Anthropic, started work Monday at the Center for AI Standards and Innovation but was pushed out Thursday by the White House, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.”
See you tomorrow.
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