Said Trump: “I have just been informed that one of the biggest, best, and smartest Retailers in America, Walmart, will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration’s request to celebrate our great Country’s 250th birthday.”

New York Times: Trump tries to take credit for Walmart price cuts of beef and other products.

”Democratic leaders in Maine and Washington, along with a growing pack of Platner’s close supporters, abandoned his Senate campaign on Monday after Politico reported that a woman who dated him said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner called the allegation false.”

Washington Post: Top Democrats pull Graham Platner endorsements, call on him to end Maine Senate campaign.

New York Times: What we know about Senator Mitch McConnell’s condition.

“Officials have ruled out having the state party’s committee, which includes about 100 members, choose the nominee.”

New York Post: Maine Dems can still dump embattled Graham Platner — as long as he beats a key deadline.

“The attacks come as Iranians mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader killed at the start of the Iran war. They also follow stepped-up threats by the powerful paramilitary force, which has been undermining talks and warning vessels not to transit the waterway using a route cleared by the U.S. military near the coast of Oman.”

Axios: Iran resumes attacks in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. says.

“Prosecutors say Brian Cole Jr. placed bombs near the Republican and Democratic national committees’ headquarters on the night of January 5, 2021. His attorneys argued in March that Cole should be covered by Trump’s pardon because the alleged conduct is ‘is so inextricably and demonstrably tethered to’ the events at the Capitol on January 6.”

“Maine Democrats would be in uncharted terrain if Mr. Platner does exit the contest… Maine law does not dictate what process the state Democratic Party would use to replace Mr. Platner should he step aside.”

“Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, released a statement also calling on Platner to ‘immediately withdraw.'”

Washington Post: Top Democrats pull Graham Platner endorsements, call on him to end Maine Senate campaign.

New York Post: Rep. Ro Khanna — one of Graham Platner’s biggest congressional supporters — urges embattled candidate to end Maine Senate bid after rape allegation.

“But the shift by Mr. Trump, who is heading to a NATO summit in Ankara this week and has said he was preparing to bring a gift that would make Mr. Erdogan ‘very happy,’ could face opposition in Congress, which could seek to block it.”

“The public turnout was set to be one of the largest gatherings in history. Iranian authorities say 11 million people took public transport to attend the memorial that began Saturday to honor Khamenei, who was killed alongside several family members in the first wave of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Tehran more than four months ago.”

“Participants pelted a picture of President Trump with stones while others held a large banner that said ‘We will kill Trump’ in Farsi and English.”

“The passports are the latest place Mr. Trump has inserted, or tried to insert, his name and likeness during his second term, following the Kennedy Center, the U.S. Institute of Peace, U.S. Navy warships, a proposed $250 bill and more. This is the first time a sitting U.S. president has appeared on a passport.”

Bloomberg: Maine’s Platner weighs path ahead after new assault allegation.

Axios: Platner says he’s taking time to consider future of Maine Senate bid.

“The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident in three interviews over the past two weeks.”

“Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner, who is now the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop.”

“She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.”

The weekly news quiz for members has been rebuilt from the ground up and I’d love your help putting it through its paces before it becomes a regular feature once again.

When you finish, you’ll get a shareable result — a row of green and red squares you can copy and paste into the comments to compare notes with other readers.

New York Post: Platner mysteriously cancels multiple Maine Senate campaign events — as key deadline approaches.

“Soccer officials and fans allege that FIFA is bending its own disciplinary rules under political pressure from President Trump — raising questions about whether the sport’s governing body is giving the U.S. a boost due to the president’s close relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.”

New York Times: Trump defends asking FIFA to review Folarin Balogun’s World Cup ban.

“The court’s brief order came in response to an emergency request from the tech companies and a group of students, who had told the justices that the law violated their free speech rights and asked that it be blocked.”

Reuters: Supreme Court won’t block Texas app store age verification law.