Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder after serving as a Marine in the Iraq War, and the experience prompted him to reveal a military mental health plan as part of his 2020 presidential campaign, Politico reports.
"I had some particular experiences or regrets from the war that I just thought about every day, and occasionally I’d have bad dreams or wake up in a cold sweat. But because these experiences weren’t debilitating — I didn’t feel suicidal or completely withdrawn, and I was doing fine in school — it took me a while to appreciate that I was dealing with post-traumatic stress and I was dealing with an experience that a lot of other veterans have."
A new Pew Research Center study found that Democrats would prefer a president between 40–60 years old, with 47% saying they think a president in their 50s would be ideal.
Why it matters: Age is playing a prominent role in the 2020 election conversation, with Democratic candidates Joe Biden (76) and Bernie Sanders (77) in the running to become the oldest president if elected. Currently, President Trump holds that record. Pete Buttigieg (37), Tulsi Gabbard (38), Eric Swalwell (38) and Seth Moulton (40) could become the youngest person elected to the Oval Office.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) objected Tuesday to the $19.1 billion aid package for areas affected by natural disasters over the last two years, becoming the second Republican to use unanimous consent to singlehandedly object to the bill's passage.
Why it matters: The package — negotiated over the past few months between congressional Democrats and Republicans — aims to provide about $900 million for Puerto Rico and reduce the risk of future floods and hurricanes in the U.S. Historic flooding and extreme weather have slammed the central U.S. over that period.
2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden released a scathing comment on Tuesday after President Trump concurred with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's critical assessment of the former vice president.
"The President's comments are beneath the dignity of the office. To be on foreign soil, on Memorial Day, and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow American and former Vice President speaks for itself. And it's part of a pattern of embracing autocrats at the expense of our institutions - whether taking Putin's word at face value in Helsinki or exchanging 'love letters' with Kim Jung Un."
— Spokesperson for Joe Biden's presidential campaign
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe designed an elaborate visit for President Trump, complete with golf, a sumo championship, warship tours and a meeting with the new emperor and empress. But the pageantry couldn’t paper over every crack between the two leaders.
The big picture: Discussions of bilateral trade and North Korea’s missile program left Abe struggling to accommodate Trump. Yet he knows how much hinges on their alliance and will do all he can to ensure Japan and the U.S. remain steady partners.
John Bercow, speaker of the U.K. House of Commons, said today that while there had been no formal request for President Trump to address Parliament, "nothing has happened since" 2017 — when Bercow cited "racism and sexism" in opposing such an invitation — to change his mind.
Why it matters: Trump will visit the U.K. next week. Bercow noted that while previous presidents had been invited to address Parliament, there was no "unbreakable norm." He said former President Obama, for example, had been "comparably popular" in Europe and the U.K., and a historic figure as America's first black president. Asked by Axios if he would have rejected a formal request from Buckingham Palace to invite Trump, Bercow said to answer would be "engaging in the odd hypothetical."
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) on Tuesday accused Attorney General Bill Barr of intentionally misrepresenting the Mueller report to help further Trump's "false narrative" about the special counsel's investigation.
Why it matters: The Michigan congressman, the only Republican in Congress to support impeachment, isn't backing down from his controversial position — even as big Republican donors like the DeVos family begin to pull their support.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' new book comes out on July 16, but it won't be a "tell-all" about President Trump, the AP reports.
Details: Random House says "Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead" will primarily be about Mattis' military career, including accounts from Afghanistan and Iraq. The book will also "touch upon events over the past couple of years," according to a Random House spokesperson who spoke to the AP.
Steven Rattner, "car czar" and counselor to the Treasury secretary in the Obama administration, cites three different modelers in his N.Y. Times commentary, "Trump’s Formidable 2020 Tailwind."
The big picture: Trump wins all three modelers. Economists predict that the tailwind is large.
