Monday News Executive Summary

Above the Fold

Late on Friday, The Daily Caller reported, “The Trump administration will shortly resume funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), but it will be at the same level as China, according to a Fox News report released Friday on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’” But Axios subsequently revealed that “President Trump is leaning toward preserving his total funding cut for the World Health Organization after being on the brink of announcing he’d restore partial funding to the global health agency.” Whatever the case, WHO funding won’t be returning to the status quo — nor should it.
Gallup polling indicates that, 1,209 days into his presidency, Trump’s approval rating is at 49%. The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard explains the polling’s significance: “Despite a wave of critical news coverage and Democratic catcalls, President Trump sits at his ‘highest’ approval in the latest Gallup survey, and above where four of the last six presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, were at this point of the first term.” Some 48% of respondents to a McLaughlin & Associates survey opined that the media has behaved unfairly toward the Trump administration, whereas 42% say the media has been fair-minded. So, not only has coronavirus failed to blemish Trump’s approval rating due to his overall satisfactory response, but the media’s biased coverage — bias it claims doesn’t exist — is backfiring.

Government & Politics

House passes massive $3 trillion bill chock-full of socialist policies (The Hill)
It’s a work from home Congress as House approves proxy vote (AP)
Trump fires State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, an Obama appointee who briefed Congress on Biden-Ukraine ties (Fox News)
DOJ and state attorneys general to sue Google for antitrust violations (National Review)

Business & Economy

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says GDP could shrink more than 30%, but he doesn’t see another Depression (CNBC)
Retail sales plunge a record 16.4% in April, far worse than predicted (CNBC)
Manufacturing output in the United States dropped by a record 13.7% in April (The Daily Caller)
100,000 businesses have permanently collapsed under pandemic lockdowns (The Federalist)

National Security

“COVID-19 should be a wake-up call”: Border wall construction has sped up amid coronavirus crisis, CBP chief says (Fox News)
The president strikes back: Trump blocks shipments of semiconductors to China’s Huawei (The Washington Times)

Culture & Heartland

Who’d a thunk it? Over 100 inmates released from Rikers Island busted for new offenses (Bearing Arms)
Arlington National Cemetery will be closed to the public this Memorial Day due to coronavirus restrictions (Fox News)

Other Notables

Trump receives flag of new Space Force for Oval Office (The Washington Times)
Italy — one of the nations hit hardest by COVID-19 — looks to reopen borders next month as lockdown measures ease (Reuters)
Chinese official confirms the ChiComs ordered labs to destroy coronavirus samples (The Daily Caller)

Closing Arguments

Policy: On reopening decisions, look at data, not models (Washington Examiner)
Policy: This is the most desperate hour for small businesses (Issues & Insights)
Humor: Biden fires his speech writer, Jar Jar Binks (Genesius Times)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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