Axios

The White House leveled a harsh rebuke Sunday against "disgruntled former" former Trump adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman:

“The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room, shows a blatant disregard for our national security – and then to brag about it on national television further proves the lack of character and integrity of this disgruntled former White House employee,”

Why it matters: As Axios‘ Jonathan Swan reports, "It's extraordinary enough to secretly record a White House colleague and then play the tape on television. But it's even more stunning that the conversation happened in the Situation Room — the most secure area in the West Wing, reserved for the most sensitive conversations, many of them dealing with highly classified intelligence."

At first, White House officials thought the idea of Space Force was just a lark. A former senior official told me that through most of last year Trump was generally interested in space.

Behind the scenes: He would ask random questions about rocket ships and marvel to hear about satellites and the junk floating around in space. His questions were unfocused, like a student trying to learn about a new subject. "It was just one of those subjects that piqued his interest," the source said.

Want to know the secret behind Omarosa's wild, largely unchallenged, run in the White House, during which she would swan in and out of the Oval Office, secretly recording the president and his chief of staff?

It’s simple: Some of the most powerful men in government were terrified of her.

Migrants fleeing civil wars and insecurity at home in unseaworthy boats are being refused assistance from ships passing them in the Mediterranean Sea, an European humanitarian group said Sunday, per the AP.

The details: SOS Mediterranee, which had rescued 141 migrants on Friday in waters off Libya, said Italy’s and Malta’s recent refusal to allow vessels from docking on their shores could be the reason why ship operators are unwilling to get involved amid fear that they would be stranded at sea with migrants on board. The group found itself in the middle of a diplomatic standoff in June when one of its rescue ships was allowed to dock by Spain's government after being refused by other nations.

"Americans’ perceptions of the economy’s prospects increasingly depend more on their political identity than statistics on output or stock markets," points out Patricia Cohen, who covers the national economy for the N.Y. Times:

Why it matters: "The same gauges that illustrate this administration’s economic successes also make clear that they are built on the achievements of the previous one, and that the economy is following the upward trajectory begun under President Barack Obama."

Here's how busy the Trump news cycle has been in just the first half of 2018, as seen in Google News Lab's data on the googling trends of the public. It shows when and how much people searched about 30 of the biggest news events.

Between the lines: This doesn't even account for all of the policy changes, media attacks and tweets coming from President Trump and his administration. It's clear we've been jumping from one four-alarm news fire to the next, with China, Russia and Robert Mueller receiving steady interest all year. If anyone thought the pace would slow after Trump's first year, they were wrong.

We made a chart of some of the biggest events of the Trump presidency in the first half of 2018. Here's what didn't make the cut.

Why it matters: Sometimes it's good to take a step back and realize we all deserve an August vacation.

Speaking to the press pool following an event with supporters at his New Jersey resort, President Trump was asked to respond to former White House aide, Omarosa Manigault's new book, whispering to the cameras "she's a lowlife."

The backstory: In her book out next week, Omarosa claims Trump is a "racist," has repeatedly used the "N-word," and there are tapes from the filming of The Apprentice to prove it. The White House responded to these claims explaining, "this book is riddled with lies and false accusations." Go deeper: The juiciest claims from Omarosa’s upcoming book

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced to supporters on Saturday "If the U.S. is turning its back on us...choosing a pastor instead, sorry...we continue our path with decisive steps... This treatment by America of its strategic partner has annoyed us, it has upset us," Reuters reports.

The big picture: Erdoğan's remarks come in response to recent sanctions the U.S. has slapped on Turkey for not releasing American pastor Andrew Brunson who remains on house arrest on terrorism charges. The lira dropped to an all-time low Friday as geopolitical tensions between NATO allies, Turkey and the United States continued to escalate.

One day before people gather in the nation's capital for the second "Unite the Right" rally, President Trump tweeted that he condemns "all types of racism and acts of violence."

Why it matters: Trump stirred controversy following last year's rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, arguing that "both sides" were to blame for the destructive riots that resulted in a woman's death.

Go deeper: Democrats outperformed in every special election this cycle