Parks and Recreation

Today’s notice: James Talarico is talking about the “manliness” thing. The House Freedom Caucus is shrinking. And you aren’t imagining it: Trump’s face is everywhere.

The Latest

Money. Statues. Passports. Water fountains. What do all those things have in common? They are inanimate objects Donald Trump (and/or his allies) wants to put his mark on, either by adorning said objects with his literal face or beautifying them with taxpayer money.

Four bronze horse statues are getting a Trump-approved makeover with 23.75-karat gold to the tune of $5 million, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports, as part of the nearly $100 million being used (so far) to spruce up Washington ahead of America’s 250th anniversary. Other previously unreported projects include $3.6 million rehabilitating Logan Circle and more than $5 million to repave the marble around the Simón Bolivar statue near the National Mall.

The beautification of D.C. is just one part of the story. This administration has worked overtime to put Trump everywhere, NOTUS’ Tyler Spence reports. You can find the president’s face on a national park pass next to George Washington’s, on banners attached to federal buildings and on a special-edition passport.

The administration has attempted to put Trump’s face on both a gold commemorative coin for the 250th and a $1 coin with no luck, since the law says only deceased people can appear on currency (though his signature will soon appear on U.S. bills). One source familiar with the effort told Jasmine that administration officials have been pressing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to get Trump’s face on a $250 bill, as The Washington Post first reported. The administration, when asked, said it’s a question for Congress.

All of this is happening amidst a backdrop of souring poll numbers and negative headlines over Americans’ unhappiness with the Iran war and high prices. Asked yesterday whether it was appropriate to issue a bill with Trump’s face on it given the economic unease, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired back, “Do you think we should have a 250th anniversary celebration?”

Open tabs: Swallowing Concerns, G.O.P. Senators Rally Behind Paxton (NYT); Dell inks $9.7 billion Pentagon contract after Trump acquires stock (WaPo); AI sticker shock hits corporate America (Axios); Exxon warns oil inventories will hit dangerously low levels in weeks (CNBC)

From the campaign trail

Wither the House Freedom Caucus: Rep. Chip Roy’s double-digit loss this week in his bid to be Texas’ attorney general only underscores the waning influence of one of Congress’ most powerful groups of the last decade. With half a dozen of Roy’s Freedom Caucus colleagues also opting to run for statewide offices, NOTUS’ Paul Kane explores the cracks in the caucus’ already shaky foundation.

“It matters that leaders stand up and say what needs to be said no matter the consequences,” Roy wrote in a concession post — indirectly referencing the HFC’s fights with Trump on big issues like the massive domestic policy bill that passed last July. Roy, and most of his HFC colleagues, would ultimately find themselves voting for bills they hated anyway.

Trump never forgets a failed loyalty test. Despite the caucus’ close ties to the president during his first term in office, Trump has left some members like Rep. Ralph Norman hanging in their respective races. Norman endorsed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential bid in 2024, and Trump really doesn’t forget things like that.

The Big One

James Talarico is vegan and trans, according to Republican commentary this week. The Democratic Senate candidate in Texas is neither — but the new-era trolling is shadowing his campaign.

A spate of voices on the right immediately weighed in on Talarico’s masculinity at the outset of the state’s Senate general election race this week. Texas Rep. Brandon Gill said Talarico had “low T,” while Trump ally Michael Caputo said Texas should “stop growing soy,” mocking both Talarico and former Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke. Stephen Miller said state Democrats made history by “nominating their first transgender senate candidate.”

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, has already faced right-wing scrutiny for not being married. But this week’s attacks fit into a GOP campaign framework centered on traditional ideas of gender roles and anti-trans sentiment, in the same vein as the 2024 pro-Trump ads claiming Kamala Harris was “for they/them.”

Talarico is combating the vitriol, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports. He walked back some of his statements about gender — including his remark that God is “nonbinary” — in a CBS interview, and used a campaign event this week to talk up the masculine ideal as laid out by his father.

“The fact that there’s all this debate about who’s a real man — I wanted to use [my father’s] example because he showed me what being a man is all about,” Talarico told NOTUS.

Studies have found a larger share of Republican men place value on masculine traits than other groups. To win over Sen. John Cornyn’s old supporters, the Democrat’s team may have to promote his perspective on manliness as much as on policy — and pictures of Talarico eating barbecue might not be enough to close the gap.

New On NOTUS

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is the latest high-profile public official to be targeted by a “swatting” incident, NOTUS’ Jenna Monnin reports. An anonymous caller reported the sound of gunshots near Barrett’s home in Virginia on Wednesday night, but the Fairfax County Police Department determined that the report was fabricated after speaking with the justice’s security detail.

The dispatcher referred to Barrett as “a high-priority resident of the county” in police department audio released by the freelance photographer Andrew Leyden — though other details of the call were redacted to “reduce copycat incidents.”

Artists who were slated to perform at the Trump-backed “Great American State Fair” are dropping like flies, NOTUS’ Torrie Herrington reports. Five of the nine scheduled acts that were announced have pulled out of the event, which is part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration. The event’s organizer, Freedom 250, bills itself as a nonpartisan group even though the president was involved in its creation.

Country artist Martina McBride is the latest act to announce she wouldn’t be performing, saying she was misled. “In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can,” McBride wrote in an Instagram post, claiming that’s “not what is happening.”

Not Us

• ‘Both Parties Kind of Get It Wrong’: The Young Men Who May Swing the Midterms, by Kellen Browning and Emma Goldberg for The New York Times
• Is Washington Ready for Sarah McBride’s Unrelenting Grace? By Sylvie McNamara for Washingtonian
• The King of Queens, by Ashley Parker for The Atlantic
• Is Trump Really a Knicks Fan? An Investigation. By Nia Prater and Chas Danner for New York

Be Social

Good soup.

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The newsletter was produced by Kelly Poe, Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton.