Here are today's featured stories, posted by DU members and curated by the Administrators. More news items can be found in our Latest Breaking News forum, and for all the most up-to-the-minute stories that are being talked about by DU members, visit the Latest Discussions page.
August 18, 2025
Trump isn't fighting for peace in Ukraine, he's managing Russia's victory
(The Independent) Donald Trump has represented Russia’s strategic interests against Ukraine, Europe, and arguably his own country, consistently since his inauguration this year. He will be speaking the Kremlin’s mind when he meets Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval office. And he will be rehearsing Putin’s talking points when he meets the assembled European leaders later.
Go to discussionSenator Calls Trump-Putin Meeting An 'Embarrassment For The United States'
(Huff Post) Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a “disaster,” claiming that it resulted in the Russian leader getting “everything he wanted.” “That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure,” Murphy said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “Putin got everything he wanted. I mean, first of all, he wanted that photo op, right? He wanted to be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. He was invited to the United States.”
Go to discussionWhat did Leavitt and the other WH aides witness that made them so spooked about the Putin/Trump meeting?
(Daily Beast) MSNBC host Antonia Hylton has suggested that President Donald Trump’s aides, particularly Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, may have been “frightened” by what they had witnessed during the president’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday night’s episode of MSNBC’s The Weekend: Primetime, Hylton spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul—an Obama appointee—about Trump’s summit with Putin in Anchorage on Friday.
Go to discussionAs attorney general, William Barr personally investigated Jeffrey Epstein's death. Now Congress has questions.
(CBS News) In the hours after convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in a Manhattan detention cell, then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr pledged to intervene personally to lead the investigation into Epstein's death. Among the first to arrive at the Metropolitan Correctional Center soon after Epstein's death in August 2019 were members of Barr's senior staff. The visit to the federal detention center by senior members of the attorney general's staff was highly unusual, a source who was there at the time and witnessed the visit told CBS News.
Go to discussionA look at consumer prices 6 months into the second Trump administration
(Chicago Tribune) It’s been a little over six months since President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term. In that time, the economic landscape has shifted quite drastically: The new administration has implemented broad tariffs on U.S. trade partners, the stock market has both plummeted and soared to historic heights, hiring is down, fears of a recession are on the rise and, perhaps most notably for everyday Americans, consumer prices are changing.
Go to discussionRepublican civil war erupts over earmarks in funding bills
(The Hill) The return of earmarks to the annual appropriations bills has sparked a battle among Republicans on Capitol Hill, pitting fiscal hawks against members of the Appropriations Committees and their allies. It’s a serious battle and one that could scuttle the chances of passing appropriations bills ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline. Republican responsibility for the huge federal deficit has become a hot political issue after President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is projected to add $3.4 trillion to the debt over the next decade, into law.
Go to discussionWhat would happen if America started faking its economic data? Here's what happened when other countries did it
(CNN) Lying to your lenders is a bad enough idea when you’re an individual. It’s even worse when you’re a country. That’s the specter critics of President Donald Trump have raised after he fired the head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics this month after disappointing jobs data. While there’s no indication the data has been rigged (assertions from the White House aside) – or will be rigged in the future – the White House’s nomination of a partisan to lead the government’s economic data agency was enough to worry global economic and financial circles.
Go to discussionTourists greeted by National Guard patrolling DC landmarks on Thursday morning
(The Independent) President Donald Trump’s move to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., to bring an end to street crime meant that tourists and residents were met by the unusual and slightly eerie sight of U.S. military members patroling the city on Thursday morning as the sun rose. Members of the National Guard were present along the Mall as part of the administration’s show of force, which was trailed in advance by an insider who spoke to ABC News.
Go to discussionNewsom demands information from Trump after Border Patrol swarms outside governor's news conference
(LA Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a request Sunday seeking records from the Trump administration to explain why a phalanx of Border Patrol agents showed up outside a news conference held by leading California Democrats last week. Newsom filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security asking for “all documents and records” related to the Aug. 14 Border Patrol operation in downtown Los Angeles, which took place outside the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.
Go to discussionTexas Republicans Set to Resume Push for Redrawn US House Maps
(U.S. News & World Report) Texas Republicans on Monday aimed to resume pushing through redrawn U.S. House district maps that would carve out a bigger GOP advantage in the 2026 midterm elections after state Democrats indicated they were ready to end a two-week walkout. In response, California Democrats are also moving ahead with their own reshaping of congressional districts to counteract Texas, putting in motion a potentially widening and unusually timed redistricting battle nationwide.