1/ Trump canceled the planned nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and accused North Korea of “tremendous anger and open hostility.” In a letter to Kim, Trump wrote: “Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.” Trump was apparently referring to North Korea’s recent statement, in which it called Mike Pence a “political dummy.” Most of the letter uses seemingly friendly language, but Trump also appeared to include a veiled threat that the U.S. might someday use its nuclear weapons against North Korea, if necessary: “You talk about your nuclear capabilities,” Trump wrote, “but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.” (CNBC / NPR)

  • The letter Trump sent to Kim Jong Un canceling the summit, annotated. (Washington Post)

  • Trump dictated ‘every word’ of the letter canceling North Korea summit. (The Hill)

  • North Korea demolished its nuclear test site just hours before Trump announced that he was canceling the proposed nuclear summit. North Korea officially closed down the site with a series of explosions that caused landslides near the tunnel entrances to the facility. The closure of the site is not irreversible, and several follow-up measures would be required in order to ensure the facility meets Trump’s demands for true denuclearization. Kim also did not invite international nuclear weapons inspectors to the demolition. (Associated Press)

2/ Trump says the U.S. military “is ready if necessary” to respond to any provocation by North Korea after Trump cancelled the proposed North Korean nuclear summit. “I’ve spoken to General Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Trump said during a press conference, “and our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world that has been greatly enhanced recently, as you all know, is ready if necessary.” Trump also said he consulted with Japan and South Korea which, according to Trump, are prepared to respond in the event that Kim Jong Un commits any “foolish or reckless acts” in response to Trump calling off the summit. (NBC News)

  • South Korean President Moon Jae-In said he was “very perplexed” by Trump’s decision to cancel the summit. Moon called the cancellation “very regrettable.” He continued: “Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace are historic tasks that can neither be abandoned nor delayed.” (NPR / Yonhap)

  • The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 250 points after Trump called off the North Korean nuclear summit. The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent as a continued drop in oil prices and bond yields dragged down energy and financials stocks, respectively. (CNBC)

  • The commemorative North Korea summit coins are now being sold at a discount. The White House Gift Shop put its commemorative coins on sale for $19.95 — down from $24.95 — after Trump announced he was canceling the proposed summit. (Daily Beast)

3/ Trump said migrant children entering the country at the southern border are “not innocent,” and warned that letting them in exposes the nation to increased gang crime. “They look so innocent,” Trump said at a roundtable meeting at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center. He added: “They’re not innocent.” (Washington Post)

4/ Trump insisted that he will not sign any immigration bill that emerges from Congress unless it includes “a real wall” on the southern border. Trump was responding to an ongoing effort in the House to force a vote on certain bills aimed at protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Factions of the House GOP are at odds over certain provisions in the various bills under consideration, including whether or not to provide permanent legal status for “Dreamers” under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Washington Post)

  • House Republicans holds last-ditch immigration talks as internal showdown looms. House GOP leaders have temporarily halted an internal rebellion to force votes next month on protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation while they negotiate with the GOP renegades to find a different path forward. (Washington Post)

  • The House broke for an 11-day recess as majority Republicans remain deadlocked over proposed legislation to protect “Dreamers” from deportation. So far, 23 House Republicans have signed a petition to force a debate and votes on a series of immigration bills as soon as next month. (Reuters)

5/ Trump called for sweeping changes to the U.S. immigration legal process and questioned why immigrants should go through the legal system at all. “Other countries have what’s called security people,” Trump said. “People who stand there and say you can’t come in. We have thousands of judges and they need thousands of more judges. The whole system is corrupt.” Trump also suggested eliminating courts and judges from the immigration process: “Whoever heard of a system where you put people through trials? Where do these judges come from?” He continued: “So it’s ridiculous, we’re going to change the system. We have no choice for the good of our country.” (CNN)

6/ Trump said athletes who refuse to stand for the national anthem shouldn’t be allowed to play and suggested that maybe they “shouldn’t be in the country.” Trump said he doesn’t like the provision in the NFL’s new policy that allows players to remain in the locker room while the anthem is played. “I don’t think people should be staying in locker rooms,” Trump said, “but still I think it’s good. You have to stand, proudly, for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there, maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.” (Washington Post / NPR / Fox News)

7/ The FBI seized control of a key server in Russia’s global botnet of 500,000 hacked routers. One of the goals of the operation was to use the information from the seized server to build a comprehensive list of victims in order to short-circuit the Kremlin’s ability to reinfect targets. The FBI went after a complicated malware program called “VPN Filter” that has been linked to the Russian hacking group responsible for the breach of the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election. (Daily Beast)

8/ Trump signed the largest rollback of federal banking regulations since the 2008 financial crisis. The legislation exempts scores of banks from strict federal regulations put in place under the Dodd-Frank Act. The bill eases restrictions on all but the largest banks and raises the standard by which banks are designated too important to fail by $250 billion, up from $50 billion. It also eases the reporting requirements for mortgage loan data for the overwhelming majority of banks. The bill was co-authored by three Senate Democrats and passed the Senate in March before clearing the House on Tuesday. (The Hill / CNN / Chicago Tribune / CNBC)


Notables.

  1. An ally of Vladimir Putin suggested that the meeting in the Seychelles with Blackwater founder Erik Prince was more than a simple chance encounter “over a beer,” as Prince told Congress. Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian fund manager who was present at the January 2017 meeting, said he had wanted to meet with Prince in order to improve relations between the U.S and Russia. (ABC News)

  2. Jared Kushner spent nearly seven hours with Mueller’s team in April for his second interview with the special counsel. Both times, Kushner met with investigators as a witness, not a target, of the investigation. The most recent interview focused on the 2016 campaign, the transition, the firing of James Comey, and other topics. Kushner’s financial dealings and family business were not discussed. (ABC News)

  3. GOP Rep. Tom Garrett may not run for reelection in November. Garrett abruptly split with his chief of staff on Tuesday and has been unable to raise as much money as his Democratic opponent in Virginia’s 5th congressional district. (Politico)

  4. Newly obtained documents and interviews provide the first public on-the-ground accounting of a battle between American forces and around 500 pro-Syrian government forces and Russian mercenaries. The incident was one of the single-bloodiest battles the American military has faced in Syria since deploying to the country to fight the Islamic State. (New York Times)

  5. Democrats will be allowed to join Republicans at today’s White House briefing on the secret FBI source who aided Mueller’s Russia probe. After a day of negotiations, the White House reversed its earlier decision to only invite Republican lawmakers the briefing. (Washington Post)

  6. Trump is considering imposing new tariffs on imported cars. Trump told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to consider an investigation into additional protections for domestic automakers, saying American auto workers have “waited long enough.” (NPR)

  7. Trump’s ban on global abortion funding has led to more abortions. Healthcare workers in Kenya say Trump’s “Mexico City” policy of cutting abortion funding has left thousands of women in Kenya without access to contraception, forcing many to rely on risky, backstreet abortions as a form of birth control. (CNN)

😨 WTF, right?