War Notes: Newsom Deja Vu 🤔

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

Exciting 👏: We are proud to offer "War Notes" readers an exclusive first look at a chapter from my new book, "Born Lucky."

Look back ⏪: By now, you know I was diagnosed as a young child with what we now know as autism.
My dad: Rather than adapt the world for me or seek accommodations, my dad quit his job and made it his life's work to adapt me to the world.
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Watch this 🎥: Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the National Guard at D.C.'s Union Station and laughed at the protesters.

Political lens 🔎: The White House is becoming intentionally antagonistic about its Washington, D.C., crime crackdown.
Watch tonight 📺: Axios' Marc Caputo joins us on his latest reporting.
- 📰 "White House: Half of D.C. crackdown arrests are in high-crime areas," Caputo writes.
Competing headlines:
- 📰 "DC just had a murder-free week, and yes, Dems, Trump did that," David Marcus writes in his new opinion piece on Fox News.
- 📰 "DC residents in new survey overwhelmingly oppose Trump police takeover," our partners at The Hill report.
Thought bubble 💭: No murders in a week compared to most D.C. residents opposing Trump's crackdown is, well, telling.

Putin's playbook 🤝: Russia's negotiating tactics as the Western world works towards a peace deal are becoming increasingly clear.

Their tactics:
- ❌Concede nothing.
- ✅Demand everything.
- ✅Play the victim.
- 💣When in doubt, threaten nuclear war.
🤷‍♂️ Russia's strategy shows the challenge of dealing with Vladimir Putin when, clearly, he doesn't fear Trump.
New 🚨: "Russia Demands Role in Guaranteeing Ukraine's Postwar Security," headlines The New York Times.
- Thought bubble 💭: Putting Russia in charge of Ukraine's security is like asking to appoint Jeffrey Epstein director at a Girl Scout camp.

Deafening Silence 🤐

🗓️Over the next few days and weeks, we will hear lots about the horror of Israel's coming offensive in Gaza.

🤔 Cries will go out: What about the Palestinian (Muslim) women who will soon be hungry?
❌ But you will not hear a single thing about the Muslim women executed in Iran.
- For example: Sharifeh Mohammadi, a Kurdish woman condemned to death over vague charges of advocating for workers' rights.
  - Go figure: A woman executed because she stood up for women's and workers' rights.
- More 📰: "Iran executed at least 975 people last year, the highest number since 2015, UN report says," headlines The Associated Press.
❓ Where are all the pro-women and pro-Muslim – aka pro-Palestine – voices?
- By all accounts, Mohammadi's only crime is standing up to a bunch of blood thirsty terrorists.
  - Yet the world is quiet.
❌ There is a simple reason for that: You can't blame the Jews for her coming death.
- Standing up for Mohammadi requires exposing the mullahs in Tehran.
Exposed ⚠️: The people crying about "Palestine" could give a damn about the Muslims being killed in Iran, yet they only care about blaming Israel.
And we know that because of who they don't talk about.
- They don't talk about the famine in Yemen.
- The genocide in southern Syria.
- Or the women executed in Iran – wait for it – because they stood up for women.
They talk about the Palestinians because they can blame the Jews for their deaths.
- 🧠 Keep that in mind over the next few weeks.

DeSantis 2024 and Newsom 2028 🗳️📱

🪚 The buzz around Gavin Newsom's newfound social media fame might just be a chainsaw.

How he got here ⏪: While scrolling on Instagram, TikTok or X in the past few weeks, you may have noticed an increase in trolling by an unexpected source: Gavin Newsom.
📱 The posts – from Newsom's official press office account – mock conservative media personalities and President Donald Trump himself.
See for yourself 👀: Just take a look at some of his posts – they may give you some deja vu:
- 📝 "TRUMP JUST FLED THE PODIUM WITH PUTIN — NO QUESTIONS, NOTHING! TOTAL LOW ENERGY. THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE'D JUST EATEN 3 BUCKETS OF KFC WITH VLAD. IS HE AFRAID THE PRESS WILL ASK ABOUT ME??? (AMERICA'S FAVORITE GOVERNOR)," one post on X reads, in part.
  - Look familiar?: Newsom used all caps, just like Trump often does in his Truth Social posts.
- 📱 Click here to watch a post that calls Trump "not hot" while a Taylor Swift song plays.
  - This is in reference to Trump's Truth Social post where he called Swift no longer "hot."
- 📝 "DONNIE J. AND KaroLYIN' LEAVITT WILL HAVE THEIR (LITTLE) HANDS 'FULL' TODAY. … YOU'RE WELCOME, AMERICA! LIBERATION DAY!!! THAT IS WHAT MANY ARE CALLING IT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN," reads another tweet, following Trump's style of giving people nicknames and signing off with his initials.
When asked about his recent shift to trolling, Newsom said:
- 🎤 "I've changed. The facts have changed. We need to change. And we need to stand up to this authoritarian. We need to stand up at this moment. It is foundational. Again, it is not about Republican versus Democrat. This guy is an invasive species. … He is something altogether different. And he is un—there are no constraints. So yes, we're gonna punch back."
  - 🙄 Huh – you are going to punch back by making jokes about Trump's tan line?
Newsom's trolling strategy has been receiving mixed reactions – from Democrats and Republicans.
- 📺MSNBC's Joe Scarborough is against the strategy, saying that "Gavin Newsom wants to own Donald Trump. He wants to be Donald Trump. Like, you can't be Donald Trump."
  - Thought bubble 💭: When Joe Scarborough is criticizing you, you just might be doing something right.
- Flip side 🔄: Charlamagne Tha God said that Newsom is finally stooping down to Trump's level: "When they go low, we go to hell."
  - Look back ⏪: Charlamagne is referencing Michelle Obama's famous quote, "When they go low, we go high."
Is all press good press?
- 📊 "CNN Data Shows Gavin Newsom's Strategy Against Trump Is 'Absolutely' Paying Off," headlines Mediaite.
  - ✍️ "CNN's chief data analyst then showed that the X account for Newsom's press office had received a 450% increase in followers since June, while Google searches for Newsom were up 1,300% since June 1 and 500% since August 1," they write.
- 🎤 CNN's Harry Enten explained how the trolling is taking Newsom to the top:
  - 📊 The prediction markets give Newsom a 24% chance of being the Democratic nominee in 2028.
    - On June 1, the same market gave him an 11% chance.
- 📰 "Poll: California Democrats like Gavin Newsom over Kamala Harris in 2028," writes Politico.
  - "The governor leads the former vice president 25 percent to 19 percent among the state's registered Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents."
Warning ⚠️: I've seen this play before.
- Ron DeSantis tried a similar tact during the 2024 primaries – it worked for a while and then failed – he barely made it out of Iowa.
- The same will happen with Gavin Newsom.
Political law ❌: You can't out-Trump Donald Trump.
- Many have tried – all have failed.
- When you fight Trump on his field, you lose.
Plus: Aside from Newsom, Democrats are already losing 2028.
- 📰 "The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis," headlines The New York Times.
  - 📉 "Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot."
  - "That four-year swing toward the Republicans adds up to 4.5 million voters, a deep political hole that could take years for Democrats to climb out from.

Watch tonight 📺: Dan Turrentine and Shelby Talcott on whether Newsom's strategy will be beneficial or harmful for him in the long run.

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