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DEMOCRATS ARE GRAPPLING with internal divisions as primary season gets underway ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
David Hogg, a vice chairman at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), is facing pushback over his group Leaders We Deserve, which says it will spend $20 million to back primary challenges against Democratic incumbents it believes are either “too old” or too ineffective to take on President Trump.
On Thursday, newly-elected DNC chairman Ken Martin drew a red line, saying Hogg must either drop his primary efforts or step aside from his position with the DNC.
“No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election,” Martin told reporters on a press call.
“As I’ve said to him — if you want to challenge incumbents, you’re free to do that, just not as an officer of the DNC because our job is to be neutral arbiters,” Martin continued. “This is not about shielding incumbents or boosting challengers. It’s about voters’ trust in the party.”
Martin’s press call was ostensibly about announcing new investments the DNC will make at the state level to boost Democrats running for office. The national committee will make a $1 million investment in state parties every month as part of their “Organize Everywhere, Win Everywhere” plan.
“I’m done with Democrats myopically focusing on just a few battleground states every few years,” Martin said.
Hogg, a 25-year-old gun control advocate and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, has cut a high profile in the media as he pushes Democrats to elect more progressives.
Hogg told The Washington Post on Thursday he has a list of the Democratic lawmakers he wants to oust, but he’s not ready to name names.
“There are certainly some who are failing to meet the moment and know it’s time for them not to seek reelection,” Hogg said. “Whether that’s because they’re too old, for example, or if that’s just because they aren’t able to meet it. Because frankly, unfortunately, sucking is something that is not limited to age.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has vowed to back every member of his caucus, telling ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he’s “standing behind every single Democratic incumbent, from the most progressive to the most centrist and all points in between.”
As the minority party in both chambers, Democrats have struggled to unite on a consistent message or strategy to combat Trump in his second term.
There has been enormous frustration on the left over the Democrats’ perceived propensity to back aging establishment figures in congressional leadership fights and presidential primaries, underscored by former President Biden dropping out of the 2024 election and tapping former Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
One bright spot for Democrats in Trump’s second term has been the “anti-oligarchy” rallies held in red districts by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose brand of leftwing populism has generated enormous enthusiasm among grassroots liberals.
“She’s going to run and her message of economic populism is more powerful than people are giving her credit for,” conservative commentator Meghan McCain said of Ocasio-Cortez.
DEM RETIREMENTS IN FOCUS
Some aging Democrats are proactively stepping aside.
This week, Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the 80-year old Democratic whip in the Senate, announced his retirement.
“You want to leave when you can still walk out the door,” Durbin said.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), 80, will announce her decision on retirement early next month, according to her office.
Durbin’s retirement has set off a heated primary to be the next senator from Illinois, as well competition to be the Democratic whip in the Senate.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports on the internal Senate dynamics and jockeying that is already underway to be the next No. 2 member of Senate Democratic leadership.
💡Perspectives:
- The Liberal Patriot: What working class voters really want.
- The New Republic: Stephen A. Smith will not be president.
- Commentary: Green days of rage.
- Lee Fang: Is your favorite influencer’s opinion bought and sold?
- Washington Monthly: In defense of everything-bagel liberalism.
Read more:
- Democrats scrutinize law firms that cut deals with Trump.
- House Democrat criticizes party’s focus on Abrego Garcia.
- House set to vote on overturning California gas car ban.
CATCH UP QUICK
- The Justice Department filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to allow President Trump to enforce his ban on transgender troops serving openly in the military after a Seattle-based federal judge’s nationwide injunction blocking the policy.
- A federal judge in Maryland appointed by President Trump ordered the return of a second man deported by the administration to a Salvadoran prison, saying his removal violated a court settlement she approved in 2019.
- A judge blocked the Trump administration from enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, which included proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.
- The Department of Justice announced terrorism charges against an alleged top member of Tren de Aragua, the first charges of their kind the administration has filed against the Venezuelan gang.
NEWS THIS AFTERNOON
Trump meets with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg
President Trump says he plans to sit for an interview with The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to a group chat last month with several top administration officials who discussed an upcoming strike on terrorists in Yemen.
Trump said Goldberg and two other journalists at The Atlantic are writing a story titled “The Most Consequential President of this Century.”
“I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful,’ ” Trump posted on TruthSocial.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Goldberg, most notably for a 2020 story that quoted an anonymous source accusing the president of calling fallen soldiers “suckers and losers.”
However, Trump acknowledged Goldberg was “somewhat more successful” with his story about how he was mistakenly included on the Signal chat last month with national security adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others.
MEANWHILE…
Trump scolded Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Russia launched its deadliest attack on Kyiv in almost a year.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Russia’s missile and drone attacks killed at least nine people and wounded 70 more, including six children, according to Ukrainian officials.
This comes as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine enter a pivotal phase.
Trump has repeatedly voiced his frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of litigating the negotiations in the press and of being obstinate for drawing a red line by declaring Ukraine would not accept a deal that recognizes Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
Trump and other senior administration officials have repeatedly said the U.S. is preparing to walk away from negotiations if a deal can’t be struck soon.
“I have my own deadline, and we want it to be fast,” Trump said Thursday in the Cabinet Room next to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
Trump was asked Thursday what concessions Russia has been asked to make.
“Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country, pretty big concession,” he responded.
Zelensky on Wednesday night posted on X, saying while “emotions have run high” he appreciates meaningful contributions from the U.S. in seeking an end to the war.
“The American side shared its vision,” Zelensky said. “Ukraine and other Europeans presented their inputs. And we hope that it is exactly such joint work that will lead to lasting peace.”
He then posted a 2018 statement from Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying the U.S. would not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
There have been media reports alleging the proposed U.S. peace deal would reward Russia for its invasion by ceding additional Ukrainian territory and through the lifting of sanctions on Russia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that the U.S. is considering lifting sanctions on Russian energy assets, rejecting a report published by Politico.
“What was put before our partners was options to discuss things it would take to end the war,” Rubio said in the Oval Office on Thursday. “This war is endable. Both sides just have to agree to it…we’ve shown them a pathway forward. We’ve discussed those ideas. It was a good meeting yesterday, there will be good meetings over the weekend. We’ve shown them the finish line. We need them to both say yes.”
Trump said last week that the minerals deal with Ukraine would be signed by today, but there have been no announcements on that front.
💡Perspectives:
• The Hill: Team Trump’s appeasement of Putin fails in London.
• Washington Examiner: Hegseth turns to reshape the military.
• The Hill: Trump’s plan to sell out Ukraine to Russia.
• The Economist: Trump is a revolutionary. Will he succeed?
• After Babel: All the conversations that kids are missing.
Read more:
• Trump’s endgame on Iran a mystery as clock ticks on nuclear talks.
• Fetterman calls on Trump to ‘strike and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities’.
• Gabbard refers intel leaks to DOJ, blames ‘deep-state criminals’.
• Musk does damage control after Tesla earnings plunge.
• Trump signs executive order targeting college accreditation process.
IN OTHER NEWS
Trump approval dips over trade war
President Trump’s approval rating is down over dissatisfaction with tariffs, as the president plans to mark his 100th day in office next week with a rally that focuses on American manufacturing in Michigan.
According to the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill polling averages, Trump’s job approval rating has gone from above 50 percent in mid-February to 44.4 percent currently.
The latest Fox News survey finds similar numbers, with Trump’s approval on the economy deep underwater due to widespread dissatisfaction over tariffs.
Trump will mark his 100th day in office on Tuesday with a rally in Michigan, a key manufacturing swing state Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020.
Trump’s tariffs and the trade war with China will be top of mind, as he seeks to make the case that the tariffs will eventually lead to a resurgence in domestic manufacturing.
The stock market was up for a third consecutive day on Thursday after Trump and senior administration officials began striking a softer tone on tariffs with a focus on winding down the trade war with China.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday he’s “very optimistic” about the potential for a trade deal with China, although he acknowledged trade talks haven’t begun yet.
“The president will announce when talks happen — if they happen,” Hassett said on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said Thursday that any “claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless” and “have no factual basis.”
China is sending back Boeing aircraft, according to CEO Kelly Ortberg.
Boeing had three airplanes in China “ready for delivery,” Ortberg said. Two of them have already been returned and a third is in the process.
Trump on Thursday knocked China for refusing to accept the Boeing aircraft.
“Boeing should default China for not taking the beautifully finished planes that China committed to purchase,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is just a small example of what China has done to the USA, for years… And, by the way, Fentanyl continues to pour into our Country from China, through Mexico and Canada, killing hundreds of thousands of our people, and it better stop, NOW!”
💡Perspectives:
- Tablet: China can’t go it alone.
- The Wall Street Journal: Poll shows the peril of Trump’s tariffs.
- The Hill: If Trump succeeds in pressuring the Fed, he will regret it.
- The Wall Street Journal: Will Dem voters go even further left?
- The Free Press: In defense of an online life.
Read more:
- Musk does damage control after Tesla earnings plunge.
- Durable goods orders skyrocketed in March ahead of Trump tariffs.
- Trump administration to fast-track fossil fuels and mining on public lands.
- Will Trump’s trade war usher in the end of dollar dominance?
- Trump calls Harvard a “threat to democracy.”
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