Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's White House visitwas catnip for the Trump campaign. Campaign officials tell Axios they plan to use some of his comments to try to court Hispanic voters.
Behind the scenes: A source familiar with the campaign's plans specifically said they will likely use one quote from López Obrador in TV ads aimed at Hispanic voters later this year. "I'm here to express to the people of the United States that their President has behaved with us with kindness and respect. You have treated us just as what we are: a country and a dignified people; a free, democratic, and sovereign people."
President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told several White House staffers he's fed specific nuggets of information to suspected leakers to see if they pass them on to reporters — a trap that would confirm his suspicions. "Meadows told me he was doing that," said one former White House official. "I don't know if it ever worked."
Why it matters: Thishunt for leakers has put some White House staffers on edge, with multiple officials telling Axios that Meadows has been unusually vocal about his tactics. So far, he's caught only one person, for a minor leak.
Eight polls released publicly and rated by FiveThirtyEight since the beginning of June indicate that President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are in a dead heat in Texas, with Biden up by an average of 0.3% with 114 days to go until the election, CNN reports.
Why it matters: The once-Republican stronghold has become more competitive in recent years and is likely to be a presidential swing state in November. A Democratic candidate for president has not won Texas since 1976.
At least 11 Republican congressional nominees have publicly supported or defended the QAnon conspiracy theory movement or some of its tenets — and more aligned with the movement may still find a way onto ballots this year.
Why it matters: Their progress shows how a fringe online forum built on unsubstantiated claims and flagged as a threat by the FBI is seeking a foothold in the U.S. political mainstream.
Advisers to the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans that has produced a number of the election cycle's most viral political attack ads, tell the Washington Post that it has raised $16.8 million this quarter.
Why it matters: The group, along with Republican Voters Against Trump, has launched a campaign against Trump with a "particular emphasis on persuading white suburban voters who consider themselves true Republicans to break from the president," the Post writes.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted Sunday that he will grant Democrats' request to call former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his committee.
The big picture: The announcement comes on the heels of Mueller publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post that defended the Russia investigation and conviction of Roger Stone, whose sentence was commuted by President Trump on Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' aggressive push to fully reopen schools this fall is "malfeasance and dereliction of duty," accusing the Trump administration of "messing with the health of our children."
Why it matters: Trump has demanded that schools reopen as part of his efforts to juice the economy by allowing parents to return to work, despite caution from health officials that little is known about how the virus impacts children.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "Fox News Sunday" that public schools that don't reopen in the fall should not get federal funds, and that the money should be redirected to families who can use it to find another option for their children.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is engaged in a full-court press to reopen schools this fall, despite warnings from some public health officials that the coronavirus outbreak is out of control in many states and that it will be difficult for many schools to reopen safely.
House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) criticized Republicans for not speaking out against President Trump's commutation of Roger Stone's prison sentence, pointing out on ABC's "This Week" that Stone was convicted for lying to a GOP-led committee.
The big picture: Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) are the only Republican senators who have condemned the move, with Romney calling it "unprecedented, historic corruption" and Toomey noting that Stone was "duly convicted" by a jury.
Native Americans are pushing for the removal of statues memorializing conquistadors, particularly in the Southwest, as the country continues to reckon with systemic racism in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.
The big picture: Native Americans have long claimed the statues honor colonizers who ravaged their communities, enslaved their people and committed other atrocities, AP reports. Some Hispanic and Latino communities argue against removing the statues, however, claiming that doing so erases history and expunges Hispanic culture, The Guardian reports.
ESPN has suspended star NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski after he sent a profane email to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Outkick first reported. The New York Post reports that the suspension is without pay.
Catch up fast: Hawleysent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver criticizing the league for allowing players to wear pre-approved social justice messages on their uniforms, without allowing criticism of the Chinese Communist Party or support for Hong Kong. Wojnarowski, one of ESPN's most prominent reporters, responded with an email that read “F–k you.”
Foreign policy will look drastically different if Joe Biden defeats President Trump in November, advisers tell Axios — starting with a Day One announcement that the U.S. is re-entering the Paris Climate Agreement and new global coordination of the coronavirus response.
The big picture: If Trump's presidency started the "America First" era of withdrawal from global alliances, Biden's team says his presidency would be the opposite: a re-engagement with the world and an effort to rebuild those alliances — fast.
