Today's Headlines: Trump had a full episode between 1am and sunrise Tuesday, posting dozens of times about the 2020 election, the reflecting pool, and Barack Obama — before waking up and telling reporters he doesn't think about Americans' financial situations "at all." He also disowned his favorite pool guy after the reflecting pool paint job came out bubbly, uneven, and full of holes, despite having previously bragged about this being the greatest pool contractor in history — he then flew to China to meet Xi Jinping, bringing 16 CEOs including Elon Musk and Tim Cook, to meet with the country actively helping Iran win his war. On the war front, the Pentagon is considering renaming the conflict "Operation Sledgehammer" — not just rebranding, but a legal strategy to restart the 60-day congressional authorization clock — while Hegseth told Congress the $29 billion war could resume without their approval, which even some Republicans found uncomfortable but not uncomfortable enough to act on. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Kash Patel denied the drinking allegations before Congress and offered to take an alcohol disorder test only if Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen takes it with him, which is a choice. In Epstein files news, Democrats held a field hearing in Palm Beach where Epstein survivors testified, including one woman appearing publicly for the first time only because her name was published unredacted in the files, who revealed Epstein was assaulting her while in prison and that she couldn't report it because her visa was tied to him — one of at least 55 people whose immigration status was connected to his estate. In a completely under-covered story, the former mayor of Arcadia, California pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent for China after running a fake local news site publishing pro-China propaganda on government directives. And finally, Stephen Colbert's late night show ends next Thursday, closing out with Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and both Jimmys — which was a good TV moment in an otherwise chaotic week.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices