Tuesday News: “The End of the Long American Century”; “Trump and Vance Were Dead Wrong About Ukraine”; Trump Wages War on Science, American Strength; Trump’s FEMA Head “Unaware Of U.S. Hurricane Season”; Wittman (and Kiggans, etc.) “Robbed Us”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 3. Just two weeks to go until the Virginia Democratic primaries on June 17…

• The War on Trees (“How Illegal Logging Funds Cartels, Terrorists, and Rogue Regimes” Heinous.)
• ‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
• The End of the Long American Century
• Exclusive: US pushes countries for best offers by Wednesday as tariff deadline looms
• Trump Tariffs Are Hurting US and Global Economy, OECD Warns
• Ukraine and Russia agree to swap dead and wounded troops but report no progress toward ending war
• Ukraine’s drone attack on Russian warplanes was a serious blow to the Kremlin’s strategic arsenal
• Ukraine’s drone triumph opens window to the future of war
• Putin’s Whole Trump Strategy Is in Tatters After Epic Drone Humiliation (“A sneak attack on deep-lying Russian airbases could help change the course of the war with Ukraine.”)
• Putin’
• Trump and Vance Were Dead Wrong About Ukraine. There’s Still Plenty of Fight Left. (“After this weekend’s counterstrike on Russia, it’s no wonder Volodymyr Zelenskyy was so composed at the White House.”)
• s sickening statistic: 1m Russian casualties in Ukraine
• Trump, Xi likely to discuss trade soon: Bessent
• China’s New Trade Negotiator Is Ready to Play Hardball (“He Lifeng, Beijing’s economic gatekeeper, has a clear mandate from Xi Jinping: China won’t be catering to the U.S.”)
• Poland’s presidential election result is a morale boost for Maga forces in Europe
• Poland Just Sent an Ominous Signal to the World
• Millions of South Koreans vote in presidential poll triggered by martial law crisis
• Gaza officials say Israeli forces killed 27 heading to aid site. Israel says it fired near suspects (This is WILDLY unacceptable – stop this crap immediately!)
• Scoop: U.S. nuclear deal offer allows Iran to enrich uranium (So in the end, the Trump administration is going to cut a deal with Iran that’s no better, and quite possibly weaker, than the one the Obama administration reached???)
• Exclusive: Iran poised to dismiss US nuclear proposal, Iranian diplomat says
• Dutch Coalition Risks Collapse After Failure of Migration Talks
• Rubio leading negotiations with Bukele on returning migrants
• Judges in Deportation Cases Face Evasion and Delay From Trump Administration
• U.S. air quality hit as 204 wildfires burn across Canada
• Trump Administration to Open Alaska Wilderness to Drilling and Mining (“The Interior Department plans to repeal Biden-era protections across the state’s ecologically sensitive North Slope.” Bonkers.)
• F.T.C. Investigates Ad Groups and Watchdogs, Alleging Boycott Collusion (“The inquiries include the agency’s previously reported investigation of Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization that has published research on hateful and antisemitic content on X, the social media company owned by Elon Musk.”)
• All international travelers should get measles vaccinations, CDC says
• mRNA, once lauded as a scientific marvel, is now a government target
• National Weather Service adding around 125 new hires after laying off hundreds
• Exclusive: FEMA staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say (Absolute imbecile.)
• FEMA Head Said He Was Unaware Of U.S. Hurricane Season: Report
• U.S. Lit a Beacon for Science. Under Trump, Scientists Fear It’s Dimming.
• While staging a military parade, Trump wages war on real U.S. strength
• Trump threatens to eviscerate NASA (“The Presidential budget proposal is a death sentence for the space agency” Complete insanity.)
• Trump proposes major cuts to environment agencies (Evil.)
• Trump’s War With Leonard Leo Could Expose a Conservative Legal Scam (“The former Federalist Society power broker used the president to achieve judicial supremacy. Now all that work could get wrecked by the monster he turned loose.”)
• A Stephen Miller Staffer and Tough Talk: Inside Trump’s Latest Attack on Harvard (“The Justice Department opened an investigation into the student-run Harvard Law Review. The startling accusations show how the Trump administration is wielding power in pursuit of its political agenda.”)
• Trump Presses Reluctant GOP Senators to Embrace House Tax Bill
• ‘We’re not going there’: Thune vows not to overrule parliamentarian on megabill (“Senate staff are already amid talks with the chamber’s legislative referee.”)
• Even Fox & Friends can’t completely deny that the GOP’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” is set to blow up the deficit
• Defeat Trump by concentrating on consequences (“AP breaks the partisan frame by focusing on Trump policies, not Trump himself.”)
• Records of dead people show how the pro-Trump spin machine keeps going (“Supporters cite a prosaic DOGE announcement as evidence that a Social Security problem that never existed has been fixed.”)
• A 23-Year-Old Crypto Bro Is Now Vetoing NSF Grants While Staring At His Water Bottle (Americans are busy normalizing this situation, which is completely and wildly abnormal. HUGE mistake.)
• Musk Isn’t “Gone” — and Tech Fascism Is Running Rampant (“Musk wants us to believe he’s ‘left government’ to focus on his companies. But the broader tech fascist movement he’s enabling is moving forward at astonishing speed.”)
• The Optical Illusion of Elon Musk’s Fading Influence (“The billionaire pledged to step back from DOGE, but his days of benefiting from Trump are far from over.”)
• Elon Musk’s failure in government (“His legacy will be to make reform even harder”)
• The Secret History of Trump’s Private Cellphone (This would be a MASSIVE scandal if Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden or Kamala Harris did it. But it’s Trump, so the media’s like, “yaaawwwwn”))
• Trump Tries to Blame Biden for Colorado Attack (“The president and his administration are blaming ‘open borders’ for an attack that injured eight by a suspect accused of overstaying a tourist visa”)
• Suspect posed as a gardener in Boulder attack and planned to kill all in group he called ‘Zionist’ (Pure evil.)
• Violence Against Jews Is Tragic and Undermines the Palestinian Cause (Absolutely – it’s evil AND it’s incredibly stupid “strategy,” in air quotes…)
• After Several Attacks, Heightened Anxiety Among American Jews
• The Boulder Attack Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere (“When demonstrators wave the flags of terrorist organizations and publicly commemorate the martyrdom of terrorist leaders, they’re not throwing the bomb, but their message can light the fuse.”)
• Fifth partner leaves Paul Weiss to join new law firm (Good – NOBODY should work there anymore.)
• 2 key findings on Democrats’ brand problem from the new CNN poll (This is overwhelmingly a media problem.)
• Senator Joni Ernst Says to “Embrace” Jesus Instead of Actually Apologizing for Her Callous Behavior
• Ernst’s ‘we all are going to die’ quip underscores GOP’s Medicaid challenge (“The senator’s sarcasm-tinged response to controversy complicates Republican efforts to downplay their bill’s effects on Americans’ Medicaid coverage.”)
• Ernst draws challenger after defending GOP megabill (“State Rep. J.D. Scholten, who once challenged former Iowa Rep. Steve King, said: ‘I just felt, you know, I have to do this.'”)
• 
  Philadelphia paper warns Fetterman to take Senate job seriously – ‘or step away’
• Video, Highlights From Stella Pekarsky’s VA11 Democratic Campaign Kickoff; Vows to “stand up and be loud” Against Trump’s Assault on Our Democracy, Federal Workers, the Environment, etc. (Pekarsky says she’s “standing up against the machine in Fairfax County”; Sen. Surovell says “I’m not a big fan of coronations”)
• Was This Morning’s Politico Article About the 2025 Virginia Governor’s Race Mostly “Concern Trolling” or Did It Make Valid Points? (In the end, it’s definitely Spanberger’s race to lose, for a bunch of reasons. But how big she wins depends on multiple factors.)
• The war on woke…energy? (“Sometimes, words mean different things to different people without anyone realizing they aren’t using the same definition. That may be the case when Virginia leaders talk about the reliability of the electricity supply, writes columnist Ivy Main”)
• Editorial: Early childhood education programs deserve robust support (“Virginia’s early childhood education programs would be imperiled by changes proposed by the Trump administration.”)
• Buttigieg endorses Levar Stoney for Virginia lieutenant governor
• FACT CHECK: Virginia Republican Delegates Carrie Coyner and Kim Taylor Claim to Support Contraception—Their Voting History Says…That’s A Lie
• Grants funded by your car insurance pay for surveillance tech in Virginia
• Jason Miyares is telling on Loudoun County schools about their bathroom policies (“What’s going on here is, Jason Miyares is picking sides in a fight, and using something going on that is none of his business to score political points.”)
• Va. education department plans to launch Office of Excellence and Best Practices
• Youngkin dismisses fears over GOP bill that could strip 260,000 Virginians of health care (“irginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was one of 20 Republican governors to sign a letter endorsing the House Republican budget reconciliation bill.”)
• Homeland Security removes ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ list as Virginia cities and counties push back (“Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties were among more than 500 localities labeled as ‘obstructing immigration enforcement’ before the federal website disappeared”)
• Decades-old paper mill in Covington named nation’s top climate polluter in new report (“Environmental watchdog group slams federal loopholes, calls for industry overhaul.”)
• Va. Board of Education member also serving in Trump administration (“Virginia Board of Education member Amber Northern is now a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, sparking questions about a potential conflict of interest.”)
• Virginia capital likely has 742 unmarked graves, some of Confederate soldiers, study finds
• Richmond City Council OKs plastic bag tax, delays vote on speed cameras (“Members also received an update on the city’s water treatment plant Monday.”)
• 2 newcomers to Newport News compete in House District 70 GOP primary
• An after-school program in Trump’s backyard struggles to survive DOGE cuts (“Seven miles from the White House, a Northern Virginia nonprofit serving low-income families is in limbo after it lost funding for AmeriCorps service members.”)
• Norfolk firefighter who lost his job over medical marijuana use challenges firing after change in Virginia law
• CWG Live updates: The weather is warming up with 90 in play by Thursday (“Highs eclipse 80 today and will probably be near 90 Wednesday through Friday as humidity climbs.”)