Trump mercilessly BOOED to his face

Over 4 million people have had the same lightbulb moment.

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New York did not welcome the president. As cameras cut to Trump saluting during the national anthem at Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Madison Square Garden erupted in boos — loud and sustained for more than 10 seconds, according to reporters in the building. CBS's Ed O'Keefe timestamped it. The Washington Times' pool reporter called it "thunderous."

The booing was so loud that even the New York Post couldn't ignore it.

As Hasan Piker put it, they must have thought people wouldn’t boo if they showed him during the National Anthem. They were wrong.

Trump's presence forced fans through TSA-style security screening and caused severe delays — the Knicks asked people to arrive hours early — and free watch parties outside the arena were canceled entirely.

All that so he could fall asleep at the game.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani set up an alternative watch party at Bryant Park, because of course he did.

Meanwhile, the man who made flag-hugging a signature bit couldn’t even get the National Anthem right.

But the booing didn't stop at MSG. Videos from of his motorcade and from watch parties across the city showed fans outside the arena expressing identical sentiments. Rachel Maddow’s segment was particularly enjoyable.

Trump told reporters afterward that he received "mostly cheers" and that it was "very enthusiastic."

The Knicks broke their 13-game win streak at the event. Coincidence? New York fans don’t think so.

The marquee race is Graham Platner's Democratic Senate primary in Maine — and the real story isn't the allegations, it's who's making them and why.

Platner — a progressive populist running on universal healthcare, housing affordability, and ending U.S. involvement in foreign wars — has the backing of Bernie Sanders and is the Democrats' best shot at taking Susan Collins's seat. And right on cue, the opposition research machine fired up. The lead accuser driving the New York Times story is Lyndsey Fifield — a Heritage Foundation veteran, Nikki Haley campaign staffer, and lifelong Republican operative. She's been a registered Republican since at least 2012, worked for the Heritage Foundation for years, and did a stint on Haley's 2024 presidential campaign.

The Platner campaign put it plainly: "This is a lifelong GOP operative who's dedicated her career to electing Republicans."

The double standard is glaring. Democrats built their entire MAGA coalition argument around voters who were tired of being told character matters less than outcomes. Now the same establishment types clutching their pearls over Platner's past are totally fine with Republicans who've done far worse — and those Republicans keep winning. Platner himself has been open about it: he struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, self-medicated with alcohol, and was, in his words, "a far from perfect boyfriend." He's leaned into the redemption framing directly: "A lot of Americans want to have hope that you can change and evolve — if we can't give grace and forgiveness to people, then what's the point?"

Sanders and Warren are standing by him, and it looks like he will win. Bernie's read on it: "We've got a housing crisis. People can't afford healthcare, groceries, or gas. I think it's important to focus on the issues facing working families a little more than Graham Platner's marriage." That's the progressive frame — and it's the right one.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that "I call all the shots. Netanyahu doesn't call the shots" — and within hours, the Israeli Air Force launched strikes against Iran anyway.

Trump went from "I call all the shots" to posting "Israel and Iran must immediately stop 'shooting'" on Truth Social before sunrise. Then, an hour later, he invented a new narrative: both sides were already seeking a ceasefire and "things should move quickly."

Iran's foreign minister reported "no tangible progress" in negotiations. The IAEA said talks were "approaching a preliminary framework" — which, as TNR noted, belongs in the same category as Trump's famous "concepts of a plan."

Trump, meanwhile, jetted to Wisconsin to talk to farmers, showed up more than an hour late, told reporters "the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well," and walked off before taking a follow-up question.

The Trump family corruption beat is running hot on multiple tracks simultaneously. A watchdog group filed an emergency injunction to block the UFC Freedom 250 fight night at the White House — calling it "deeply corrupt" and alleging it will benefit Trump. The Trump Organization and UFC are selling $12,000 commemorative coins to mark the occasion.

Meanwhile, Barron Trump is catching heat for hawking a $40 energy drink (and the $95 sweatshirt isn’t helping) and Sam Bankman-Fried — convicted fraudster — is reportedly angling for a presidential pardon. The cumulative picture is a family treating the presidency as a permanent revenue stream, and the lawsuit over the fight night could generate real legal news before the week is out.

Elon Musk and DOGE eliminated funding for the federal program that controlled New World screwworms — flesh-eating parasites that devastate cattle — and now the bugs are back.

Republicans, confronted with the consequences, are blaming Biden.

The program, which had kept screwworms out of the U.S. cattle supply for decades, was one of the many "wasteful" government programs DOGE gutted while looking for line items to cross off. The irony that this will raise beef prices for the exact voters who cheered the cuts is a little too on-the-nose to be funny.

That’s it for today. We’ll see you tomorrow!