Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Keeping the world in suspense: “President Trump left a two-hour meeting on a possible deal with Iran without making a decision, a senior administration official said on Friday, despite suggesting on social media that he had intended ‘to make a final determination’ during the gathering in the White House Situation Room. It was not clear why Mr. Trump did not reach a decision.”
* Former Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke to the House Oversight Committee about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, but there was apparently one line of inquiry she didn’t want to talk about: “Bondi repeatedly declined to speak about Trump, who cut ties with the late financier decades ago and has repeatedly sought to distance himself from the Epstein scandal since, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., ranking member on the committee.”
* An important arrest: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and lying about it during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in Minneapolis was arrested Friday in Texas, authorities said.”
* There’s a reason so many Europeans are worried about Putin’s regional ambitions: “Russia’s war with Ukraine spilled into Romania, a member of NATO, on Friday when the Romanian authorities said that a Russian drone had hit an apartment building in a major port city, wounding two people. It was the first known time that a Russian drone had caused damage and injuries in a major urban area on the territory of the Western military alliance.”
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* Killing civilians in international waters is easier than stopping the drug trade: “With deadly precision, the Trump administration has launched dozens of attacks on small boats in the waters off South America, killing nearly 200 people in a campaign U.S. officials say is meant to curb the flow of illicit drugs to the United States. But almost nine months into the operation, epidemiologists, addiction scientists and public health experts say cocaine, by far the top drug smuggled out of South America, is as easy to get in much of the United States as it was before the strikes began.”
* Still waiting: “The White House has yet to release any results from President Donald Trump’s most recent physical exam, a break from its own past practice that’s likely to fuel further questions about his health and fitness.”
* First, prominent artists avoided Trump’s inauguration. Now they’re avoiding his semiquincentennial party, too: “At least six artists who were slated to headline the ‘Great American State Fair’ in Washington this summer have backed out or said they never signed on for the White House-backed event to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.”
Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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