Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, we take a look at Donald Trump’s VP selection process, which is off to a quiet start. Plus, Andrea Mitchell, chief Washington correspondent and senior foreign affairs correspondent, recalls a trip to the Middle East with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
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In search of Trump’s ‘quiet’ VP
Dasha Burns, Henry J. Gomez, Vaughn Hillyard and Jonathan Allen
This happened almost two months As the Republican nominee, however, Donald Trump appears to be in no rush to name a candidate — someone who can maintain a constant presence on the campaign trail while spending most of his time in the courtroom.
Process: Seven sources familiar with the process said Trump’s team was still in the early stages of vetting vice-presidential prospects. The top candidates did not receive detailed surveys or other information requests to help finalize the shortlists, although there are indications that they are being assessed for their ability to raise money.
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outside of a May 15 event Scheduled with Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump is not yet listening to potential picks one by one, as he did in the weeks before he picked Mike Pence in 2016. Many of the VP candidates will join Trump this weekend in Palm Beach, Florida fundraising retreat can serve as a screening session.
Even so, “it’s going to be quiet for a while,” a Trump adviser said when asked about the search.
A source familiar with the investigation said that while Trump’s team has yet to directly contact prospects about the possibility of joining the ticket, the campaign has done preliminary in-depth research on them.
Applicants: Sens. are among those whom Trump or others have admitted to being involved in the process. Marco Rubio florida, Tim Scott South Carolina and Vance; Govs. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Kristi Noem of South Dakota; Florida representatives Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik New York; and Ben Carson, the Trump administration’s housing secretary. All but Carson are listed as “special guests” this weekend.
Time: As always, Trump’s unpredictability is a wild card, both in the timing of the announcement and the way candidates can be added or removed from the mix. Trump said Interview with Milwaukee WITI-TV he will make his VP “probably well before” the July 15-18 Republican National Convention.
Trump trial, day 11: Hope Hicks takes the stand
By Adam Reiss, Jillian Frankel, Dareh Gregorian and Lisa Rubin
Former White House communications director Hope Hicks took the podium Trump’s criminal case in New Yorka tense meeting for the former president and the woman who was once one of his closest aides.
“I’m really upset,” Hicks said before taking the stand as the ninth witness called in the case, before launching into a dramatic inside account of Trump’s reaction to the infamous Access Hollywood tape that nearly derailed him. first claim to the presidency.
She later broke down in tears when asked at the start of cross-examination by Trump’s lawyer, Emile Bove, whether the Trump family had given her the opportunity to work for their company.
Hicks joined the Trump Organization in 2014 before working on Trump’s 2016 campaign and later his administration. Another witness, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, said he attended and was present at a key meeting with Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen in 2015, where Pecker agreed to help suppress stories that could damage Trump’s campaign.
Hicks said Friday that she hasn’t spoken to Trump in almost two years.
Read more about Trump’s trial here →
Israel-Hamas war talks suffer from delusion
By Andrea Mitchell
NBC News Washington correspondent and senior foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell offers this dispatch after traveling with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the Middle East:
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has returned to the United States the latest Middle East service To find America’s campuses erupting over much conflict was there to mediate.
Although the old antagonisms of the region have been safely removed, it is sobering to see that they are being advocated by a new generation in the United States. As Blinken discovers over the course of three endless days and nights, all the players are trapped in their own stories.
Meeting in posh hotels in Riyadh, Arab leaders envision a post-war Gaza led by young Palestinian reformers funded and underwritten by wealthy Gulf states. Many Israelis, scarred and divided since October 7, envision a post-Benjamin Netanyahu homeland, guaranteed peace with Saudi recognition and a mutual defense pact against Iran.
Conversations in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel reveal a very different reality. There is political rivalry among Arab leaders. The promises made to Blinken during his January visit to the Gulf countries rebuilding Gaza prove to be false. Now the Arabs want the IMF and the World Bank to pick up the tab.
Meanwhile, Israel’s cease-fire offer, which Netanyahu hopes Hamas is too good to refuse, has yet to be accepted by Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the massacre, which Israeli intelligence believes is too ambitious for Palestine. to take out the terrorists.
In the middle is the United States, whose diplomats are increasingly frustrated by the Israeli prime minister’s threat to attack Rafah just as a ceasefire is within their grasp.
All of this comes at a time when the United States is saddled with a generational divide over a distant war that Middle East leaders say could get even bloodier if the moment is lost and current talks fail.
🗞️ The best stories of the day
- 👮 Big Trouble in Little Laredo: The Department of Justice announced an indictment against Henry Cuellar, a long-time Texas lawmaker, and his wife, accusing them of bribery and money laundering related to their ties to an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan and a bank in Mexico City. More →
- 🎤 Why now?: NBC News’ White House team investigates why President Joe Biden decided to address growing pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses after days of silence. More →
- 🏢 Corporate guarantee? Corporate consultants and fundraisers share reluctance to attend this summer’s presidential nominating conventions, worried that the politically charged climate could affect them. More →
- 🐶 South Dakota Dog Days: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has seen her vice presidential fund plummet — and not just because she admitted to killing a hunting dog, Politico reports. More →
- 💵 New assistance approach: If Trump wins, some Republicans envision a model in which U.S. foreign aid is structured not as grants, but as loans with countries pledging natural resources or other valuable assets as collateral. More →
- ☑️ One step closer: Organizers in Missouri gathered enough signatures to approve an amendment enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution on the ballot this year. More →
- 🏅 Awards season: Biden honored 19 people with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday, from politicians including Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn and Al Gore to actor Michelle Yeoh and Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky. More →
For now, that’s it from The Politics Desk. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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