Today's Headlines: Trump secretly escaped Air Force One in a catering truck at the NATO summit in Turkey due to an Iranian assassination threat — leaving the press corps and cabinet members including Marco Rubio sitting inside the plane he'd just abandoned as a decoy. The plane he fled was the Qatari hand-me-down that clearly wasn't secure enough for the president. When asked if he'd declare a national emergency around the November midterms, Trump said "stranger things have happened, I'll leave it at that" and then actually left it at that, which is alarming, to say the least. Meanwhile, the DOJ deployed election monitors to Minnesota's two biggest counties for their primary elections, a federal judge blocked Trump's postal service mail-in voting restrictions, and Todd Blanche is apparently discussing using ICE at polling places, so the election interference infrastructure is coming together nicely. On the corruption beat, the Antwerp World Diamond Center gave Trump a ring the size of a watch with 300 diamonds, dozens of sapphires, two giant T's, and "crafted in Antwerp for Donald John Trump" engraved on it — and weeks later the Trump administration approved a tariff exemption for Belgium's diamond industry, prompting Elizabeth Warren to send a strongly worded letter. Moving on to Immigration, ICE is planning to spend $20 million on electric shock gloves for agents, made by a company called Compliant Technologies, because subtlety is not the vibe. And finally, a new study found that dogs can distinguish between fear, anger, and sadness in human facial expressions with more nuance than previously known, which is genuinely good news and the only story today that doesn't require a drink afterward.
Resources/Articles mentioned:
WaPo: Contradicting public statements, Trump took secret flight from Turkey amid Iranian threat
The Independent: Trump doesn’t deny a possible federal takeover of elections: ‘Stranger things have happened’
The Guardian: Polls close in South Carolina, where Republicans brace for runoff in race to replace Lindsey Graham – live
Axios: Trump's mail-in voting restrictions blocked nationwide by federal judge
AP News: Belgian diamond group that won tariff relief gifted Trump a lavishly encrusted ring
AP News: AP Exclusive: ICE plans to give officers gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks
WaPo: Dogs can tell when you're happy, scared or sad, new brain scans show
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