Today in Politics, Bulletin 392. 6/2/26

… Trump announced today an executive order to attempt to seize bank accounts and other assets from migrants:

• “Access to our Nation’s Financial Systems must be limited to those who have a Legal Right to be here, and who are engaged in Lawful and Legitimate Commerce. Bank Accounts being used to enable Illegal Immigration, or to store the Welfare received by Illegal Aliens, will be shut down, and funds will ultimately face Impoundment and Seizure so they can to be returned to Taxpayers.”

• “This also sends a clear message to the anti-ICE rioters that your violent disruptions are only strengthening our resolve. My Executive Order will also allow us to stop Billions in leaving our Country in all manner of criminal activity. It has been said this measure we are taking is the most effective means of reversing Biden’s Border Invasion. We shall soon find out!”

… Trump also posted that he was appointing federal housing finance director Bill Pulte as the DNI. Pulte has no military experience, no experience in the intelligence community, and no prior govt experience before Trump appointed him last year to the housing finance job. He did, however, inherit his wealthy grandfather’s home construction company and was a Trump mega-donor during the campaign.

… Trump: “I am appointing William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting DNI. William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.”

… Pulte is a Trump loyalist who has used his position in the past to bring criminal referrals for mortgage and insurance fraud against Trump’s political enemies, including NY AG Leticia James and Sen. Adam Schiff, and was the driving force behind the DOJ investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over renovations at the Fed’s headquarters that Trump said were illegal. The DOJ dropped the probe in April.

… Sen Intel Committee ranking member Mark Warner: “This appointment speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation’s top intelligence official. Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution.

… “Americans have already seen Pulte use the powers of his office at the FHFA to pursue the president’s grievances and lend credibility to dubious prosecutions of Trump’s perceived political opponents. Elevating him to oversee the Intel Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people.”

… “Americans have every reason to worry about what happens when the official charged with overseeing everything from counterterrorism to foreign election threats is chosen for his willingness to advance the president’s political agenda rather than his experience. That is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.”

… Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) to Meidas: “He knows nothing about intelligence. His number one qualification is that he is totally devoted to Trump, and he will do whatever Trump wants. Does that mean intelligence will be by the book and on the level, or will it suit what Trump wants? I’m convinced it will be the latter.”

… Sen. John Thune who was with Intel Committee Chair Tom Cotton to CNN: Q - “Do you think Bill Pulte has experience to be acting DNI? Thune: I'll defer to Chairman Cotton. Cotton: I have no observations on the matter.”

… Profiles in courage.

… Former CIA agent Marc Polymeropolous: “I thought this was a joke at first. Wow. Obviously wildly unqualified, zero national security chops. By law, I believe the DNI is required to have such. But, nothing matters anymore, so ok. A worrisome message the DNI will be used for further partisan moves, which soils the intel community, who just want normalcy post Tulsi. All huge red flags. I mean, normie GOP folks, hello?”

… “The deputy Aaron Lukas would have been just fine and was in fact well received as potential future boss, as a former agency officer who had experience, but nope, Trump had to go to crazy town. Our allies will not laugh but be horrified by this. Further distrust in America as a professional intel partner will grow.

… “Perhaps this is ultimately designed to get rid of ODNI entirely. Just shut it all down. It’s that insane a choice, and may be the only explanation that does not go down a dark road.”

… Sen. Susan Collins to Punchbowl: “I do not know Mr. Pulte at all. I don’t know whether he has any intelligence or military background. I don’t even know whether he has a security clearance. Q - Does that concern you? Not yet because maybe there’s a lot in his background that is relevant to this important decision.”

… Axios: “Trump lashed out at Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon in an expletive-laden call. Earlier on Monday, Iran threatened to abandon the negotiations with the US over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. On the call, Trump called Netanyahu ‘crazy’ and accused him of ingratitude. He also put the brakes on Israel’s plan to strike Beirut.”

… Summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, a US official said: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” A second source briefed on the call said Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the fuck are you doing?”

… Trump has repeatedly posted statements on Truth Social demanding that Israeli courts postpone Netanyahu’s corruption trial until after all his wars are over, while adding that the charges should be dropped since Netanyahu is a “war hero” according to Trump.

… “Another US official said Trump was concerned by the fact that Israel had killed so many civilians in Lebanon, and objected to the Israelis knocking down buildings to take out a single Hezbollah commander. Trump’s anger appeared to be driven by the fact that Netanyahu’s decision to escalate in Lebanon was threatening to implode his negotiations with Iran.”

… Israeli TV host/journalist Amit Segal: “A very senior source in the PM’s Office paints a completely different picture. According to the source, the conversation was significantly less dramatic—less Real Housewives and more actual strategic dialogue. The source insists Trump did not say anything personal to Netanyahu along the lines of warning him to stay out of jail, nor did he claim that Netanyahu or Israel is hated around the world.”

… “The conversation was indeed tense, but the friction came from mutual complaints over their dueling social media posts the night before, where both leaders were trying to publicly spin the outcomes of the ceasefire on their own terms. Ultimately, the discussion ended with Israel agreeing to the ceasefire conditions so long as Hezbollah upholds its obligations.”

… “The conditions in question appear to be a quid pro quo: Israel will not strike Beirut and, in exchange, Hezbollah will not strike Israel proper. Meanwhile, the grinding war in southern Lebanon continues exactly as before, with ongoing IDF ground maneuvers and Hezbollah drone strikes. In short, it is a ceasefire for the cities and a continue-fire for the rest of southern Lebanon.”

… Greg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for The Economist: “Listen I think it’s entirely plausible that Trump said this to Netanyahu. It’s almost a rite of passage for every American president since Clinton. But one thing we should remember from the Biden years is that the ‘POTUS swore at Netanyahu’ news cycle is often followed, some days or weeks later, by Netanyahu finding a way to continue doing the thing that prompted the call in the first place.”

… Punchbowl: “GOP lawmakers are bucking Trump on his WH ballroom, shelving plans to spend $1 billion to secure the new facility and other areas of the presidential compound. The ‘Trump battleships’ are steaming into a wave of skepticism at the House Armed Services Committee as lawmakers prepare to mark up the FY2027 defense authorization bill this week.”

… “The House may vote this week on a discharge petition for a Ukrainian aid bill that Trump is certain to oppose. Several dozen House Republicans could back the measure anyway. Most prominently, Republicans are also in the process of killing Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, a direct rebuke to the president.”

… Meidas Capitol Hill reporter Scott MacFarlane told CNN that he thinks the report that Trump is moving on from the slush fund is a smoke screen to get congress drop bills to block it: “Nobody thinks this fund is dead and there is nobody, and I mean nobody. Nobody on capitol hill or elsewhere outside the Trump admin thinks this thing’s a good idea.”

… Thune was asked about it today: Q - Speaker Johnson told us it's his understanding that the weaponization fund is off the table. Is that your understanding as well after speaking with the acting AG? Thune: That is correct.”

… Unlike Thune and Johnson, I don’t believe the Trump admin on this. Legislation is needed NOW to make sure this never happens.

… Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA): “Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund isn’t going away. We can’t trust the WH and the president will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. If Republicans actually wanted to stop Trump’s slush fund, they would vote with Democrats to permanently block it.”

… Acting AG Todd Blanche was asked about it today in a hearing before Congress: “We’re not moving forward with the fund. Period. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY): Not moving forward ever? Blanche: Correct. Meng: Will you put that in writing? Blanche: I’m not putting anything in writing.”

… NYT: “For the first time in more than two decades, CA voters are about to pick a new governor who is not already a national figure. The race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a tumultuous affair. It began with Kamala Harris’s flirtation with a run. It continued with Sen. Alex Padilla’s brief consideration. Rep. Eric Swalwell entered the race, only to implode with a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations that resulted in his resignation from Congress rather than promotion.”

… “Voters have been left sifting through about a half-dozen contenders who have mostly struggled to capture their imagination. The top two vote getters advance to a Nov runoff, regardless of party. The most intense contest has been between the race’s two highest polling Democrats, Tom Steyer, the billionaire financier who has run hard to the left, and Xavier Becerra, the former state AG and HHS secretary under former Biden, who would be the state’s first Latino governor in the modern era.”

… Trump: “CALIFORNIA: Vote today for Steve Hilton for Governor. He will work with me and the Federal Government, the money will flow because I have confidence in him (but not any of the others!), and we will MAKE CALIFORNIA GREAT AGAIN. Steve Hilton will NEVER let you down. VOTE NOW!”

… Same exact message Trump used the day of the elections in Hungary - I will redirect US taxpayers dollars to you if you vote for my guy. He’s also clearly referencing disaster aid in the case of CA, which he has weaponized against blue states.

… It was Dr. Oz’s turn to fill in for Karoline Leavitt at the WH press briefing during her maternity leave:

• Q - “This is the 4th checkup that the president has had. He’s supposed to have one a year. He’s had several CT heart scans. What are the doctors looking for? Oz: I think it’s just a routine exam. These records are spectacular. That amount of energy and that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum. You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the president has unique ability to just keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength.”

… Journalist Aaron Rupar: “Trump has no public events on his schedule again today. The last time he was seen publicly for something other than a pre-taped interview was 6 days ago - May 27 - for his cabinet meeting. (He went to Walter Reed the day before.)”

• Q - “If the president’s in such perfect health, why does he keep going back in for checkups? Oz: He likes the results. He does really well. Uh, he aces the test every single day.”

• On Bill Pulte’s nomination for DNI: “I don’t know anything about Bill Pulte.”

• Q: “Can you respond to any of the criticism from Republicans on Trump's decision to tap Bill Pulte, who has no intelligence experience, as acting DNI? Oz: I do trust the president's judgement. He is a very sharp and quick study of people, their emotional abilities and their ability to persevere in the face of hardship.”

• Q: “The president recently invested in the parent company of UFC. Is it a conflict of interest for him to be promoting this event when he's invested in UFC's parent company? Oz: I don't think the president sits in the Oval Office and makes individual investment decisions, but I don't know about that issue.”

… NYT: “In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of 9 Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals. The net result of Hegseth’s intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one-star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force these officers will help lead.”

… “3 of the officers removed by Hegseth from the promotion list are women and 2 are Black men. Hegseth’s actions appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based. No female officers were included on the new one-star list, despite the fact that women make up about 21% of the active-duty Navy. The list appears to include only 2 nonwhite officers, even though sailors who identify as racial minorities make up about 38% of the active-duty Navy.”

… “Hegseth’s removal of the officers from the one-star list is highly unusual. According to Pentagon rules, the defense secretary is supposed to pull officers from the list only for moral, mental, physical or professional failings that raise questions about the officers’ fitness to lead.”

… “Hegseth’s actions are the latest in a series of firings and personnel interventions that appear to be driven by his anti-diversity politics rather than the officers’ performance. Taken together, they could reshape the military’s top ranks for years to come.”

… On the left is the actual photo of Rep. Mike Rogers on the campaign trail in Michigan while running for US senate. On the right is the photo posted by one of his consultants.

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered where we do a deep dive into the top stories of the week. This seems like it’s already been a long week already and it’s only Tuesday. I feel like every day during a Trump presidency ages all of us at least 3. That’s probably a low estimate.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to CNBC on high gas prices: “I don’t think it’s gonna impact the midterms. I’ve seen no data that suggests this is having a big impact on the midterms.”

… Spoken like someone who doesn’t have to run this year.

… Republican pollster and political analyst Matt Towery on Fox: “I am concerned about Republican turnout for the midterms. In Georgia, Democrats turned out 150,000 more early voters. That’s not a good sign. I don’t think enough of Trump’s