Trump’s Ride-Along That Wasn’t

Today’s notice: Trump goes to Anacostia. Unmarked police vehicles in D.C. Some Democrats get their redistricting efforts underway; other Democrats want to. A busy day for Trump in federal courts. And: Confusion over the president’s mail-in voting moves.

THE LATEST

Hamburger helper: The White House did not reveal any details after Donald Trump told conservative radio host Todd Starnes: “I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police, and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job.”

The comment raised a lot of eyebrows. “They’ll want to keep it like he’s just a regular dude just jumping in a patrol car, but you’re not going to be anywhere near anything dangerous,” Jason Russell, a former Secret Service agent, told NOTUS’ John T. Seward before Trump’s event.

The skeptics were right. Trump appeared with White House staff and Cabinet officials at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility in D.C., where he made a speech, thanked assembled law enforcement and offered them burgers from the White House kitchen and pizzas from Wiseguy. He was joined by Pam Bondi, Jeanine Pirro and Doug Burgum, who announced Wednesday that his Interior Department had deputized Border Patrol agents to “serve alongside” Park Police at National Park Service sites.

Crime media stunts have their limits for a president. After all, he is the best-protected man on Earth and lives in a well-surveiled and incredibly secured compound. (Remember when the DEA staged a drug bust in Lafayette Park for a George H.W. Bush speech?)

Trump’s event was far from what he promised on air with Starnes. But it was more controlled than JD Vance’s hamburger hangout with law enforcement at Union Station this week, which was drowned out by protesters.

Open tabs: Appeals Court Tosses Trump’s $500M Bank Fraud Penalty (NOTUS); James Dobson dies at 89 (WaPo); F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards (NYT); Uganda will accept third-country deportees from US (Politico)

From the White House

Who polices the police? “The general public cannot tell the difference in many aspects between the good cops and the bad cops,” Diane Goldstein, a former police lieutenant and director of the nonprofit advocacy organization Law Enforcement Action Partnership, tells NOTUS’ Emily Kennard of the masked federal agents creating confusion by driving unmarked vehicles in D.C.

The White House argued to Emily that federal law enforcement officers are “highly visible and in marked uniforms.”

But also: “Oftentimes unmarked vehicles are necessary for agents to successfully complete an operation and not become a target for the criminals they are trying to arrest,” a White House official said.

From the states

Kathy Hochul wants in on redistricting, but… “The trouble she has is she’s announcing her intention to join a war she can’t actually join for another two years,” Dave Daley, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan election organization FairVote, told NOTUS’ Shifra Dayak. “Gov. Hochul’s rhetoric simply doesn’t match the reality of the situation.”

In California, the politics are truly underway. The state Legislature on Thursday passed Gavin Newsom’s redistricting bill — the first step before a planned ballot initiative can head to voters in November.

“Let’s GO,” Newsom posted. He’s not the only one declaring the start of electioneering: NOTUS reporter Mark Alfred’s family in California got its first mailer (see image) opposing the redistricting effort. “Politicians want to destroy our election reforms,” it reads. The mailer was paid for by Protect Voters First and sponsored by Republican megadonor Charles Munger Jr.

From the courts

Trump, the man, had a big win: A New York appellate court said he’s not on the hook for a half-billion dollars in fines issued by the judge in his bank fraud case last February. NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports that the appeals court panel did not overturn the ruling against Trump but concluded the monetary amount was “an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Trump, the president, handed a big loss: Jose also reports that a federal judge blocked former Trump attorney Alina Habba from serving as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, saying she has been without legal authority since July 1 to hold the job. The ruling threatens to upend dozens of indictments and cast doubt on hundreds of legal filings in the past 51 days.

THE BIG ONE

What happens if people don’t want to face climate reality? “The maps themselves are inherently political, whether you want to admit it or not,” Karl Bursa, a former floodplain manager for Monroe County, Florida, told NOTUS’ Anna Kramer.

The problem: The nation’s flood maps are outdated. There’s more flooding. But people don’t want their homes and cities designated as being in high-risk flood zones.

The politics: “The common response is, ‘Why are you putting a floodplain on me? I don’t want you to put a floodplain on me,’” said Glenn Heistand, a professor who leads flood-map updates for Illinois. When FEMA updates a map, communities frequently appeal the update.

FEMA is under-resourced, and as Anna has reported, the confusing status of the agency under the second Trump administration has made the mapping process even more uncertain.

This is dangerous, and costly. Researchers estimate that among those living in areas at risk for flooding, 88% are underinsured, both within and outside of FEMA’s mapped zones, Anna reports. The maps mean taxpayer dollars are funding increasingly frequent and expensive flood recovery efforts for communities that didn’t expect to need them.

NEW ON NOTUS

The self-own’s in the mail? “One could argue that in Arizona mail-in voting helped propel Donald Trump to victory,” Republican strategist Barrett Marson told NOTUS’ Violet Jira of Trump reescalating his ire toward mail-in ballots.

Trump’s team used to agree. “Republicans have to play the same game that Democrats play, which is early voting, legal ballot harvesting, doing everything … whether it be in-person, by mail or absentee,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in 2024 before Trump’s reelection.

She didn’t answer Violet’s questions asking if she still stood by the quote.

Not invited: When Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited Oklahoma this week, she expressly asked that the state’s superintendent, Ryan Walters, not appear at any of her stops, three sources familiar with the matter told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

One point of tension: the waiver that wasn’t. Walters publicly touted that Oklahoma had been awarded a waiver to eliminate end-of-year testing in public schools. McMahon said it hasn’t been approved.

More: CDC Shooter Likely Tried to Enter Agency Days Before Attack: Officials, by Margaret Manto

Rep. Chip Roy Makes a Bid for Texas AG, by Helen Huiskes

NC Dems Brace for More GOP Efforts to Limit Voting Access, by Tinashe Chingarande

NOT US

• Powell Is on the Cusp of Taking a Big Gamble With the U.S. Economy, by Colby Smith for The New York Times
  
• $50K bonuses, reduced age minimums and Superman: How ICE will fill its ranks, by Myah Ward for Politico
  
• L.A. may land a new congressional seat. Is it already reserved? By Julia Wick for the Los Angeles Times
  
• Eric Adams Campaign Hits New Low After Winnie Greco Cash Incident, by Nia Prater for New York magazine

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