Trump attacks Iowa’s Republican governor. She’s not his first target.

Trump let his anger at Reynolds flow through his Truth Social account.

But while he cited Reynolds’s pledge to be neutral in the GOP primary — a traditional position for the governor of the first-in-the-nation caucuses — the former president let fly after a New York Times report highlighting her closeness with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rival for the 2024 Republican nomination.

“When she glowingly appeared with Mr. DeSantis not once, not twice, but at all three of his first visits to her state this year, eyebrows arched. And by the time Ms. Reynolds appeared on Thursday alongside Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife, alarms inside the Trump headquarters were blaring,” wrote Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman.

“[T]hrough her words and deeds, Ms. Reynolds seems to be softening the ground in Iowa for Mr. DeSantis, appearing to try to create the conditions for an opening for him to take on Mr. Trump,” they reported.

In May, Politico reported, she introduced him at a campaign event, calling him “a candidate who has shown us that he can, and all you have to do is look at his record.”

Trump won Iowa by 8 percent in 2020 — but Reynolds easily outperformed him in 2022, romping to reelection by 18.6 percentage points.

Reynolds has appeared with non-DeSantis candidates — including Trump

It’s not like Reynolds has fully turned on Trump.

From Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register:

“Reynolds has appeared alongside numerous 2024 presidential candidates in Iowa this year, including U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Trump himself.”

• “She introduced the former president at a March rally in Davenport, praising his work for Iowa and farmers.”
• “In short, he delivered for Iowa,” she said at the time.
• She also defended Trump when he was indicted in June, calling it “a sad day for America.”

Trump does this *a lot*

Given Trump’s support for rioters who ransacked the Capitol, shouting their desire to hang his vice president, it’s probably not much of a surprise to note he hasn’t been especially shy about attacking fellow Republicans, including several governors.

Like Reynolds, many of them outperformed him in their home states, which raises a question about how eagerly they’ll stump for him if he secures the nomination.

• There was his weird, racist attack on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin last November. Youngkin won by 2 percent in 2021. Trump lost Virginia by 10 points in 2020. (Youngkin was seen as a potential rival for the nomination at the time.)
• A few months ago, Trump called Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire a “nasty guy” who “wants to play games with running for president.” Trump lost New Hampshire by 7 points in 2020. Sununu won reelection in 2022 by 15.5 points.
• In March 2022, the former president, incensed that Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia refused to overturn the election there, called him “a turncoat, a coward, and a complete and total disaster.” Trump lost the state by .23 percent. Kemp won reelection in 2022 by 7.5 percent.

It wasn’t just Kemp. The Washington Post reported early this month that Trump also pressured Gov. Doug Ducey to overturn the results of the election in Arizona. Ducey, who is now out of office, resisted. Trump publicly attacked him in November 2020.

The DeSantis test in Iowa

DeSantis is obviously a special case: a direct rival for the Republican nomination, even if he lags behind Trump by double digits.

The race is still in its very early stages, though. It’s not clear how many GOP primary voters have fully tuned in. Other than fundraising, the campaigns have not faced real tests of organization – fundraising, yes, gathering endorsements, yet, but not turning out voters. Which is one reason Iowa matters so much for the Florida governor.

Here’s how Shane, Jonathan and Maggie put it:

“For Mr. DeSantis, Iowa is where his allies acknowledge he must first halt Mr. Trump’s momentum to prevent him from steam-rolling his way to a third consecutive G.O.P. nomination. For Mr. Trump, it is where he hopes to snuff out his challengers’ candidacies, and win where he did not in 2016.”

And if Trump is the nominee, he’ll need Georgia and Arizona in the general election. It’s not clear that his attacks on Kemp and Ducey have dented his standing among Republicans in those states. Iowa will tell us more.

Politics-but-not

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What’s happening now

New grand jury likely to decide Trump’s fate in Georgia election probe

“Two grand juries are to be impaneled Tuesday in Atlanta — one of which is likely to decide whether former president Donald Trump and his allies should face criminal charges for their efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia,” Holly Bailey reports.

• “Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) launched her probe into alleged election interference more than two years ago, just days after a recording was made public of a January 2021 phone call that Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). In the call, Trump said he wanted Raffensperger to ‘find’ enough votes to overturn his election loss in Georgia.”

Zelensky slams NATO over no clear path to membership, despite Biden unity pitch

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aggressively lashed out at NATO leaders gathered in Vilnius on Tuesday, calling out an as-yet-unpublished statement on its membership prospects and the ‘absurd’ process that produced it,” Toluse Olorunnipa, Emily Rauhala, Meryl Kornfield and Michael Birnbaum report.

Judge rejects FTC’s attempt to block Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision deal

“A federal judge on Tuesday allowed Microsoft to move forward with its $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision, in a resounding blow to U.S. regulators’ efforts to block consolidation in the tech industry,” Cat Zakrzewski and Caroline O’Donovan report.

Lunchtime reads from The Post

U.S. destroys the last of its chemical weapons stockpile

“The United States’ last declared chemical weapon — an aging rocket filled with sarin nerve agent — was destroyed late last week at a Kentucky munitions plant, the Pentagon affirmed Monday, ending a decades-long operation to cull U.S. stocks of deadly toxins,” Alex Horton reports.

• “At its peak, the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile measured about 30,000 metric tons.”

With Raskin not in Md. Senate race, Trone releases 40 endorsements

“Days after a high-profile potential candidate bowed out of the Maryland race for U.S. Senate, Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) unleashed several dozen endorsements Tuesday, bolstering his own candidacy in what his campaign called a ‘wide open’ contest,” Erin Cox reports.

Senators will demand answers from PGA Tour, with further hearings likely

“When the PGA Tour comes to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend its controversial pact with the deep-pocketed Saudi Public Investment Fund, there are likely to be aggressive, pointed questions. And there may not be many definitive answers,” Rick Maese reports.

• “Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations who is leading the probe into the tour’s surprising alliance with the LIV Golf benefactors, was unable to get any of the speakers he initially requested for Tuesday’s hearing. So even before a single golf executive is sworn in, Blumenthal pledged to call further hearings on the matter and said he expects the Saudi investors to come before Congress and explain the deal.”

… and beyond

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor’s staff prodded colleges and libraries to buy her books

“For colleges and libraries seeking a boldfaced name for a guest lecturer, few come bigger than Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court justice who rose from poverty in the Bronx to the nation’s highest court. She has benefited, too — from schools’ purchases of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of the books she has written over the years,” the Associated Press’s Brian Slodysko and Eric Tucker report. 

• “Sotomayor’s staff has often prodded public institutions that have hosted the justice to buy her memoir or children’s books, works that have earned her at least $3.7 million since she joined the court in 2009. Details of those events, largely out of public view, were obtained by The Associated Press through more than 100 open records requests to public institutions. The resulting tens of thousands of pages of documents offer a rare look at Sotomayor and her fellow justices beyond their official duties.”

The fallout from the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision has already begun

“As supporters of affirmative action push for universities to continue their work toward diversity, Republican lawmakers are taking steps that critics say would undo the gains that people of color have made in higher education,” the 19th’s Nadra Nittle reports.

China’s reopening trade is fizzling out

“Soft Chinese growth and flaring geopolitical tensions represent fresh hurdles for U.S. investors betting on a boom from the reopening of the world’s second-largest economy. Data on Monday showed China’s consumer price inflation was flat in June, marking a 28-month low and sparking fears of deflation. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen just concluded a visit to China where she attempted to stabilize a deteriorating relationship between the countries,” the Wall Street Journal’s Charley Grant reports.

The Biden agenda

Biden and Sunak pledge support for Ukraine ahead of NATO summit

“President Biden kicked off his high-stakes visit to Europe with a quick stop in London to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, where the two leaders emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine and bolstering a show of unity ahead of a NATO summit that is expected to be rife with divisions over how allied nations should support Kyiv against Moscow,” Toluse Olorunnipa and William Booth report.

Biden bets high-level diplomacy can cool fiery relations with China

“After three years of self-isolation by China, President Biden’s top aides are flying into Beijing throughout the summer to try to convince and cajole Chinese officials, including Xi Jinping, the nation’s leader, on building a new foundation for relations,” the NYT’s Edward Wong, Keith Bradsher and Alan Rappeport report.

• “It could amount to the most consequential diplomatic push of Mr. Biden’s presidency. He is betting that high-level dialogue can itself act as a ballast in a relationship that has been in a dangerous free fall for years. ‘I think there is a way to resolve, to establish a working relationship with China that benefits them and us,’ Mr. Biden said in a CNN interview broadcast on Sunday.”

Biden’s pick for Joint Chiefs faces Senate confirmation test

“Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, President Biden’s choice to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began testifying Tuesday morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where lawmakers are likely to press him on the administration’s support for Ukraine, challenges posed by Russia and China, and Pentagon social policies that have rankled Republicans and led to an unprecedented hold on military promotions,” Dan Lamothe reports.

How cluster munitions work, visualized

“Following months of debate within his administration, President Biden has approved the provision to Ukraine of long-sought cluster munitions, bypassing legal restrictions. The munitions are banned in much of the world. Here is what to know about them and why they are so controversial,” Eve Sampson, Victoria Bisset and Júlia Ledur report.

Hot on the left

Hunter Biden prosecutor pushes back against claims by IRS agents

“The federal prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden tax investigation partially addressed allegations of Justice Department wrongdoing on Monday, telling lawmakers that while he discussed with other officials the possibility of filing charges outside of Delaware, where he is based, no one denied him that option,” Devlin Barrett reports.

• “The letter from Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is the latest salvo in a back and forth that erupted after two IRS agents claimed Justice officials stymied and slow-walked their investigation of the president’s son.”

Hot on the right

GOP goes all-out to avoid another Senate primary mess

“Senior Republicans are mounting their most aggressive Senate primary intervention strategy in nearly a decade, sidelining candidates they suspect could blow their chances to claim the majority next fall,” Politico’s Burgess Everett and Ally Mutnick report. 

• “The moves risk inflaming tensions with the right flank of the party, as the GOP’s official campaign arm backs its preferred picks in surprisingly public fashion. But after losing a seat last year under a laissez-faire primary strategy, Republican leaders are embracing a dramatic change after former President Donald Trump helped assemble the GOP’s last roster of unsuccessful candidates.”

Today in Washington

Biden is in Lithuania today. There is nothing on his public schedule for the afternoon.

In closing

There are Swifties in the FBI. Confirmed.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.