Trump's latest cognitive episode goes viral

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The White House's communications shop is not having a great week. A video of Trump visibly slumping and appearing to nod off during an Oval Office briefing went viral Thursday, and the administration's response — attacking the people sharing it — drew more attention than the clip itself would have. Meanwhile, Rep. Ted Lieu cornered Marco Rubio in a congressional exchange specifically designed to force Rubio to either defend or dodge questions about Trump's mental acuity — and Rubio's performance did not help the case. At least one sitting lawmaker called for invoking the 25th Amendment. And then, in what can only be described as editorial self-parody, Trump posted a late-night Truth Social rant defending his new "ballroom" project as "desperately needed.” The president's team is very focused on making sure you know he's fine.

Three Republican senators crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats to strip language from the ICE funding bill that would have authorized Trump's $1.8 billion "settlement fund" — effectively a slush fund to pay political allies. They lost. The amendment failed on a narrow vote, preserving the fund. In a genuinely unusual move, outgoing Sen. Bill Cassidy — who lost his primary after Trump backed his opponent — announced he is pursuing legal action to kill the fund in court. Three Republican votes against the president's money machine isn't a rebellion, but it's the kind of crack that widens heading into a midterm cycle where Steve Bannon is publicly predicting the party loses the Senate anyway.

Since Trump pardoned the January 6 defendants in January, more than one in five have been re-arrested — on charges ranging from drug possession to stalking, child molestation, and reckless homicide. This is the pardon portfolio. These are the people the president of the United States personally cleared. The White House has not commented. The Republican Party has not commented. The number will keep going up.

Trump is moving to nominate Todd Blanche — his former criminal defense attorney, who kept him out of prison — as Attorney General. The timing is radioactive: Pam Bondi has claimed Blanche was "in charge" of the "entire release" of the Epstein files, which means the man who is now supposed to oversee that investigation is the man who already handled it. At least three Republican senators are signaling opposition, but given that the Senate also just narrowly blocked Democrats' attempt to kill the $1.8 billion slush fund — only three Republicans crossing over — Blanche's path may be ugly but navigable. This is what consolidation of power looks like in the third act.

AP is reporting that both allies and critics are warning Trump he is getting strategically trapped in the Iran conflict. Support for the war is cratering — CNN's Harry Enten says the numbers represent a "stunning disaster" — and a Republican senator is now predicting an electoral wipeout worse than the Democrats' 2010 catastrophe. Israel struck Lebanon again after another ceasefire announcement, and Israeli strikes killed at least nine people overnight in Gaza including children. The humanitarian toll is accelerating even as Trump's political position on the war deteriorates.

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