Wednesday Reads

Posted: June 3, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Good Day!!

Trump had his 4th physical exam this term last Tuesday. The White House claims he is in excellent health, but he hasn’t been seen in public for 7 days since the checkup. He has been posting on Truth Social, but no public appearances.

President Trump has no public events on his schedule again today. That means it has now been one week since he has appeared publicly for anything besides a pre-taped interview. His last public event was his cabinet meeting last Wednesday, one day after his trip to Walter Reed.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-03T12:22:43.001Z

Tom Wrobleski at SILive, via Yahoo News: Where’s Trump? Speculation rages as president hasn’t been seen in public in 7 days.

The Mirror US reports that Trump last held a public event on May 27, when he met with his cabinet.

The meeting came a day after Trump had a medical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, an exam that the president said showed that he was in tip-top shape.

But critics aren’t buying it.

“They are lying to us about Donald Trump’s health,” one social media user said.

Said another: “Six days between public appearances feels like a long time for a president. Wonder if something is up or if this is just how his schedule works now.”

It’s been a troubling week for Trump regardless of the speculation over the medical exam.

The president in recent days has canceled a planned America 250 concert after a number of performers dropped out and he also pulled the plug on his $1.8 billion fund to compensate Americans who claimed to have had the federal government “weaponized” against them.

There have also been questions raised about Trump’s staging of a UFC match on the grounds of the White House.

But eyebrows were raised when the White House took longer than usual to release the results of the exam.

US Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, Trump’s doctor, said the president “remains in excellent health” and has “strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function.”

But some doctors said that the report was almost too good to be true for a man of Trump’s age.

There’s more at the link.

Today, Trump again has no public events on his schedule.

The Mirror, via AOL.com: Donald Trump won’t appear in public yet again as health fears soar over ‘missing president.’

Concerns over Donald Trump’s health are mounting as the president goes more than a week without making any public appearances

Trump, who turns 80 next week, has a packed schedule on Wednesday. He will start the morning by participating in “executive time,” followed by in-town pool call time, the daily arrival or briefing time for the rotating journalists covering the President.

He will then participate in a policy meeting from 11am until 2pm, before signing executive orders in the Oval Office at 3pm and having another policy meeting at 4:30pm. Finally, he will attend a dinner with his so-called Rose Garden Club at 7pm.

But there’s something unusual about the schedule for his busy day, every single event, with the exception of the in-town pool call time, is closed to members of the press. Trump has not made any public appearances since May 27, when he attended his Cabinet meeting.

Since that time, the president has only been seen in a pre-taped interview. His last public appearance came just a day after he made an hours-long visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center — his third such visit within a year.

yikes

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-03T14:26:20.999Z

On May 26, AP (via WBALTV) reported: Trump wraps up 3-hour medical visit to Walter Reed and declares ‘Everything checked out PERFECTLY.

President Donald Trump had another medical exam on Tuesday, his fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term.

The 79-year-old president spent more than three hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as preventive medical and dental checkups.

In a social media post after the visit, Trump said that he had just finished his “6 month physical” and that “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”

Trump, a Republican, turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president….

For a president of Trump’s age, a complete physical would be expected to include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, according to Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman.

“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

Several days went by before the White House released a report on Trump’s physical, and some doctors were skeptical about its contents.

look at how swollen the area under Trump's right eye is in his latest podcast appearance

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-03T13:11:59.157Z

Leigh Kimmins at the Daily Beast: Doctors Sound Alarm on Key Missing Details in Trump Physical Report.

Doctors who reviewed Donald Trump’s latest medical report say it is conspicuously short on the clinical specifics that would support its rosy conclusions.

Trump’s personal physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, wrote in a memorandum that the 79-year-old president “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function,” after a roughly three-hour examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Trump’s neck rash

The memo reported a perfect cognitive score, enviable low cholesterol levels, and a heart that an AI analysis estimated to be 14 years younger than the rest of him….

That last claim drew immediate ridicule from cardiologists.

“When I discuss [sic] this with some of my colleagues in cardiology, everyone laughed!” Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who was former Vice President Dick a cardiologist, told CNN’s Laura Coates Live.

The memo cited results from a coronary CT angiography, an echocardiogram, and the AI-enhanced electrocardiogram—but omitted the specific metrics physicians said they would expect to see from those tests. There was no calcium score, no description of arterial plaque, and no CAD-RADS score, which would assess arterial narrowing. The report simply stated there is “no arterial obstruction or structural abnormalities,” language doctors said could mean only that there is no total blockage, not that the arteries are clean.

“If I was creating a report to send to another physician, I would have mentioned a little bit more about the carotid ultrasound,” Dr. William Shutze, a Texas vascular surgeon, told The Wall Street Journal. “What amount of plaque there is going to be—because almost all of us are going to have some buildup there.”

The echocardiogram results were similarly sparse. Trump’s 2018 report included an ejection fraction, the percentage of blood the heart pumps with each contraction, but this one did not….

The report was also notably silent on Trump’s neck rash, which appeared earlier this year and prompted a memo from Barbabella saying the president was using a preventive cream for an unspecified skin condition. Prior physicals noted sun damage and benign skin lesions in some detail, while this one didn’t mention the rash at all.

Trump’s bruised left hand without makeup. I don’t think that’s from handshaking.

The report did note bruising on Trump’s hands, which Barbabella attributed to “frequent handshaking” and aspirin therapy.

On his leg swelling, a condition diagnosed last year as chronic venous insufficiency, a common circulatory problem in older patients, the report noted “slight lower leg swelling” and “improvement from last year” without explaining why….

The cholesterol numbers were exceptional: an HDL of 70 mg/dL and an LDL of 53 mg/dL. “He’s got like the best cholesterol numbers you’ll see,” said Dr. Daniel Torrent, a Georgia vascular surgeon, who called it unusual for medication to produce such results. “We don’t usually manage people to the point where they’re that good.” [….]

Trump’s physical included a prostate-specific antigen score, reported at 1 ng/mL, elevated from prior scores but still well within a healthy range.

Taken together, the doctors said, the Trump report paints an oddly perfect picture with suspiciously little supporting evidence.

“That report is almost too good to be true for somebody of his age,” Shutze said. “This seems to be a filtered narrative.”

If Trump is in such great health, why has he disappeared from public view? I’m sure the White House is lying. There is a long history of presidents’ medical problems being covered up by their doctors. But we can’t avoid noticing the problems that can easily be seen in the photos I’ve posted.Trump is nearly 80 years old. He has observable issues–the bruised hands, the gait problems, his falling asleep in meetings, and his verbal difficulties–incoherent rambling and general inability to stay on topic or even finish a sentence. And why are they giving him a dementia test with each physical? This is the fourth one that has been reported. That suggests that they are monitoring the progress of his dementia.

Here’s a video of Trump’s gait issues.

In my opinion, the bruising on Trump’s hands is likely caused by medicine being given to him by infusion, likely for dementia. The neck rash and the bumps that periodically show up on his face I have no clue about.

I know I’ve spent a lot of time on this issue, but I think it’s important and the legacy media organizations should be covering it more.

In other news, there were primaries in several states yesterday, and Democrats generally did well. The big races California are still undecided. For now, I’ll just post this gift article from The Washington Post by Theodoric Meyer, Dan Merica, and Hannah Knowles: Nine takeaways from a big primary night in Iowa, California and more.

Here are nine takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries:

1. A Schumer critic loses in Iowa

Turek defeated state Sen. Zach Wahls, a Schumer critic, in the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat in Iowa.

Turek will face Rep. Ashley Hinson, who won the Republican primary, in November. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) decided not to run for reelection.

2. Trump’s pick for Iowa governor flames out

Trump endorsed Feenstra last week in the race to succeed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) — but Feenstra lost to Zach Lahn, a businessman and farmer whose slogan is “Iowa First.”

It marked a rare primary defeat for Trump, whose endorsement typically carries enormous weight in Republican contests.

3. Hilton, Becerra lead in California governor’s race

The race to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was rocked in April when Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of the leading Democratic candidates, was accused of sexual assault and dropped out. His exit made room for Becerra, a former congressman and state attorney general who served as President Joe Biden’s health secretary, to rise in the polls.

Hilton and Becerra were leading the wide field of candidates early Wednesday morning. Tom Steyer, a billionaire Democratic donor and former presidential candidate, trailed behind them. California is often slow to count ballots, and the results could shift as more are tallied.

4. Political newcomer advances in South Dakota governor’s race

Toby Doeden, a car salesman whose campaign pitch relied on describing himself as a “total political outsider” with fierce conservative values, advanced to a runoff in South Dakota’s gubernatorial race.

His lead has left three other Republicans vying for the second spot in the runoff. The trio includes incumbent Larry Rhoden, who became South Dakota governor when Kristi L. Noem resigned to become the homeland security secretary, Rep. Dusty Johnson and state Rep. Jon Hansen. The race has not yet been called, but Rhoden held the second-highest percentage of votes with most counted.

5. A strong night for former Biden Cabinet members

Becerra was not the only former Biden Cabinet member on primary ballots Tuesday. Deb Haaland, who served as Biden’s interior secretary, won the Democratic primary for New Mexico governor. She will face Greggory Hull, the former Rio Rancho mayor, in November but is heavily favored in the Democratic-leaning state.

6. Absent GOP congressman lands an opponent

Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, won the Democratic primary in a swing House seat in New Jersey. She will face Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has drawn attention for disappearing from public view.

Kean has not voted in Congress or appeared in public in nearly three months as he deals with what he described in April as “a personal medical issue” that he has declined to disclose. Republicans have grown increasingly worried that his absence could cost them his seat — and possibly their House majority.

7. Los Angeles mayor’s race remains uncalled

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, was facing two challengers on Tuesday: Spencer Pratt, a Republican who became famous on MTV’s reality TV show “The Hills,” and Nithya Raman, a Democratic city council member. Pratt lost his home last year in the Pacific Palisades Fire and has aggressively criticized Bass’s handling of the fire and leadership more broadly.

Bass was leading Pratt early Wednesday morning with nearly half of ballots counted, with Raman trailing in third. If no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote, which appears likely, the top two finishers face off in November.

8. An unusual three-way Senate race in Montana

Alani Bankhead, an Air Force veteran, won the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat in Montana — and now the biggest question about the race is whether she will drop out.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana), who was expected to run for reelection, withdrew in March minutes before the filing deadline, denying Democrats the opportunity to recruit a well-known candidate. Kurt Alme, a former U.S. attorney, filed to run for the seat right before the filing deadline after coordinating with Daines and easily won the Republican primary on Tuesday.

Alme and Bankhead will face an independent candidate, Seth Bodnar, former president of the University of Montana who has raised more than $2 million — far more than Bankhead. Bodnar’s strength has fueled speculation that Bankhead could drop out so Democrats could unite behind Bodnar, which she has repeatedly denied.

9. Another Israel critic is likely to join New Jersey’s delegation

Adam Hamawy, an Army veteran, won the crowded Democratic primary race in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D). Hamawy will face Republican Gregg Mele, a perennial candidate, in the general election, but the district is reliably Democratic.

This means the New Jersey delegation will probably gain another vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza. Like Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-New Jersey) — who recently won a special election and secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday for a full term — Hamawy has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

You can read more details at the gift link above, if you’re interested.

Yesterday, Trump named his chosen successor to Tulsi Gabbard–someone even less qualified than she was.

NBC News: Housing official who targeted Trump’s enemies is named director of intelligence.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday named an ally with no background in intelligence to oversee the nation’s spy agencies, taking the helm as the U.S. remains at war with Iran after a fresh round of peace talks stalled.

Bill Pulte is the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and in that position, he has helped the Trump administration compile information to fuel investigations into the president’s perceived political enemies.

Bill Pulte

As acting director of national intelligence, Pulte will be the highest-ranking intelligence official, overseeing a vast network of 18 agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency. He will also be the president’s principal adviser on intelligence issues and will manage the daily intelligence briefing for the president.

Trump announced on social media that Pulte will remain as director of the housing finance agency, as well as chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored enterprises created by Congress to support the mortgage market.

With the appointment, the president is further shrinking his circle of top leadership. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also serves as national security adviser, Sean Duffy serves as transportation secretary and previously served as the acting administrator of NASA, and Todd Blanche is the acting attorney general and the acting librarian of Congress….

The director of national intelligence was created after 9/11 and is a Cabinet-level role that requires Senate confirmation, but naming Pulte in an acting capacity allows the president to bypass that process for now. It was not immediately clear if Pulte will be Trump’s permanent pick for the job.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, slammed the decision, saying in a statement that Pulte was not only unqualified, but that he was chosen “precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need,” Warner said.

A reaction from Hayes Brown at MSNOW: Bill Pulte is Trump’s most dangerously sycophantic promotion yet.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte would become acting director of national intelligence. Pulte is stepping in to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned from her post last month. Though Trump claimed his appointee “has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,” he’ll take the position with literally zero relevant experience for coordinating 17 American intelligence agencies’ work.

But Pulte’s appointment makes slightly more sense when you consider his place in Trump’s orbit. The 38-year-old heir to his family’s massive home construction company shares the president’s love of social media bullying, golf and abusing power for personal gain. In currying Trump’s favor, he’s become the boy who cried “fraud,” using his limited portfolio to find leverage against the president’s enemies. With the broader remit his new perch provides, Pulte could do much more harm that he already has, opening the door to threats both foreign and domestic….

Before Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would have been the slam-dunk pick for most dangerous sycophant Trump has installed. Pulte’s new appointment challenges that claim. Since stepping into his role at the FHFA — which he will still hold while overseeing America’s intelligence operation — he has acted as though he is part of the president’s law enforcement team.

Over the past year, Pulte has referred at least four members of Trump’s enemies list — New York Attorney General Letitia James, then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, Sen. Adam Schiff of California and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — to the Justice Department for investigation for alleged mortgage fraud.

In all but one of the cases he has passed on to prosecutors, no charges have come about — a testament to the flimsiness of the evidence Pulte provided in his. A federal grand jury handed up charges against James in Virginia, but they were later thrown out and two subsequent grand juries refused to indict her. Undeterred, Pulte pushed a new criminal referral against James for alleged insurance fraud earlier this year.

It should be obvious that drawing predetermined conclusions, then searching for evidence, isn’t ideal when dealing with the life-and-death stakes of foreign intelligence. Pulte appears to have done just that from his position overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, prompting concerns from internal watchdogs about just how he gathered the mortgage documents he then passed on to prosecutors. Last year, the Government Accountability Office opened an investigation into Pulte’s actions and a federal grand jury began investigating whether he illegally shared grand jury information, though neither have issued any conclusion.

Pulte has also stretched beyond the confines of his remit in the name of pleasing Trump. Last year, Pulte inserted himself into the president’s war against the Federal Reserve’s then-Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. The New York Times noted in July that he would leap to echo any of Trump’s gripes about interest rates “with a post demanding Mr. Powell’s resignation.” The Times also reported Pulte drafted a letter for Trump to fire Powell that was never issued, but made its way to the Resolute Desk. Alongside the previously mentioned fraud claims, he has also targeted Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook for investigation. (Any wrongdoing proved on Cook’s part freeing up her seat for Trump to appoint a replacement would surely only be a knock-on effect.)

Since Pulte will be acting DNI, he won’t have to be confirmed by the Senate. We just have to hope that some Republicans will push back on this appointment.

One more big story: you probably heard that CBS has fired 60 Minutes star Scott Pelley because he criticized the network’s changes to the long-time new program.

Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum at The New York Times: CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes.’

CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program.

Mr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents.

Scott Pelley

“We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.”

Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply.

“I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

The firing of Mr. Pelley is among the most consequential moves of Ms. Weiss’s rocky tenure at CBS. And it is almost certain to spike tensions that have coursed through the network for months.

It also raises the stakes of Ms. Weiss’s surprising decision to replace the entire leadership team at “60 Minutes,” CBS News’s most successful franchise, and hire Mr. Bilton, who has no experience in broadcast TV, to oversee the show. The program’s viewership was up 9 percent this past season from a year prior, and the show is routinely among the nation’s highest-rated weekly broadcasts, according to Nielsen.

Those viewers are accustomed to familiar faces like Mr. Pelley, who has contributed to the program since 2004. The “60 Minutes” staff prides itself on autonomy, and it is not clear how the show’s production team may react to the firing of Mr. Pelley.

At the staff meeting on Monday, which Ms. Weiss did not attend, Mr. Pelley repeatedly pressed Mr. Bilton about the network’s decision to fire Tanya Simon, the show’s previous executive producer. He also told Mr. Bilton that he had “slender” qualifications to oversee the show and that he would “never be welcome” at “60 Minutes.”

It’s not just 60 Minutes that is being murdered. It’s CBS itself.

That’s all I have for today. What stories have you been following?