News On Tap For Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Birthday Wishes, Corrupt Trumpers, & An Election Day Too

Today is our first birthday at The Politics Bar, so we’re celebrating with a lighter “News On Tap.” We’ve got Election Day news, along with good news in our Polls & Politics section. Unfortunately, there’s also plenty of news in Trump’s Corruption Land section, and we’ve got updates on that shooting in San Diego too, Meanwhile, Trump & Republicans are failing at war overseas, and failing to govern well at home. And we’ve got Entertainment news too. Plus, Paula Poundstone & Glenn Kirschner are stopping by to help us celebrate our first birthday here at the bar! Read up, get informed, and we’ll see you here tonight.

First Round - Democracy In Action

Elections Today

• What To Watch In Today’s Primaries In Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Alabama, & Oregon

• Rep. Thomas Massie’s Republican Primary In Kentucky Today Is The Latest Test Of Trump’s Dwindling Political Power

Polls & Politics

• Polls Confirm Democrats Have The Biggest Midterm Election Year Lead By Any Party, In 20 Years - And It’s Only May

• New NYTimes/Siena Poll Shows Most Republicans Still Back Trump, But A Third Are Now Seeking A New Direction For Their Party

• Strength In Numbers: The Big Story In The New NYT/Siena Poll Isn’t Trump’s 37% Approval Rating. It’s The 24-Point Swing Among Persuadable Voters.

• Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi Endorses Fellow Progressive Connie Chan In High-Profile Race To Succeed Her

• Trump Finally Endorses Corrupt Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton Over Sitting Sen. John Cornyn In Texas Senate Primary

The War Over Democracy

• Four Virginia Democratic House Candidates Drop Out After Courts Toss New Map, While At Least One Soldiers On

• Ari Berman: Alito Falsely Claimed Racism Was Over. Southern States Are Now Rushing To Revive Jim Crow.

Second Round - Trump's Corruption Land

• During Senate Hearing, Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche Defends Nearly $1.8 Billion Slush Fund To Pay Trump Allies

• Blanche, To Senate Appropriations Committee, Refuses To Rule Out Payments For Violent Jan. 6 Insurrectionists

• Top Treasury Lawyer Resigns After Trump Admin. Promises To Create $1.776B ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’

• Lawdork: Read The Details Of Trump’s So-Called “Settlement” To Create A Nearly $2 Billion Slush Fund That Trump Ultimately Controls

• David Rothkopf: Trump’s Golden Age Has Arrived - It’s A Golden Age Of Grift

Third Round - Trump's Failed Government

Trump’s Failing Foreign Wars

• Trump’s Tough-Talk Foreign Policy Is Hitting A Wall With Iran As Standoff Continues

• Donald Trump Threatened Iran And Then Pulled Back, All In The Same Day

• Paul Waldman: No One Is Coming To Bail Trump Out Of The Disastrous War He Started

• Cuban Govt. Condemns U.S. Sanctions, Accusing Trump Regime Of Building Fraudulent Case For Military Action

Trump’s Fumbled Immigration War

• Federal Judge Bars ICE From Making Immigration Arrests At Courts In New York City

• Minnesota County Charges ICE Officer In A Nonfatal Shooting During Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

• New Study Estimates More Than 145,000 U.S. Children Separated From Parents Since Trump’s ICE Surge Began

• Trump Regime Moves To Admit 10,000 More White South Africans As Refugees, Claiming An “Emergency Refugee Situation” That Doesn’t Exist

Republicans Can’t Govern

• Trump FDA Officials Now Planning To Repeal Limits On ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water

• SCORE Act, To Revamp College Athletics, Is Once Again Pulled From House Agenda, As Johnson Doesn’t Have The Votes

• Sen. Tillis Now Says He Will Vote Against Republicans’ New Reconciliation Bill

• Trump Reportedly Pressured Senate Majority Leader Thune To Fire Senate Parliamentarian Over Ballroom Funding, But Thune Is Refusing, For Now

• Even After Senate Parliamentarian Cuts The Funding, Republicans Aren’t Giving Up On Funding Trump’s $1 Billion Ballroom With Your Tax Dollars

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

Another Day That Ends In Why

• Teenage Gunmen Open Fire On San Diego Mosque, Killing 3 Men, And Then Themselves

• Suspect’s Mother Alerted Police About Missing Guns Before Shooting Happened At Islamic Center Of San Diego

• Heroic Security Guard Killed Protecting Children And Staff In San Diego Mosque Shooting

Watching & Worrying

• CDC Confirms American Working In Congo Tests Positive For Ebola; One Symptomatic American, & Six Others Taken To Germany For Treatment & Observation

• Ebola Deaths Rise Sharply As Outbreak’s ‘Scale And Speed’ Worry World Health Organization Chief

• Why This Ebola Outbreak Will Be So Difficult To Contain

• American Hantavirus Patient Blocked From Leaving Federal Hantavirus Quarantine

Russia’s Losing To Ukraine

• Ukraine’s Drones Are Now Devastating Russian Targets From 60 Miles Away

• Russians Now Fear Ukraine’s ‘Slaughterbot’ Drones Are Head-Hunting Them

Fifth Round - Entertainment & More

Hollywood Entertainment

• ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Texas Spinoff Ordered At ABC For 2027

• Reviews In Conflict: ‘The Mandalorian And Grogu’ Splits Critics, With Some Calling It The “Most Boring Star Wars” And Others The “Best In Decades”

• Stephen Colbert: CBS May Have ‘Saved My Life’ By Canceling The ‘Late Show

Sports Entertainment

• Wembanyama Scores 41 As San Antonio Spurs Top OKC Thunder 122-115 In Double OT To Open NBA’s Western Conference Finals

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Of The OKC Thunder Becomes The 14th Player To Win Back-To-Back NBA MVPs

• NHL Conference Finals Now Set: Colorado Avalanche Vs Vegas Golden Knights, And Carolina Hurricanes Vs Montreal Canadiens

• Pittsburgh Steelers Sign QB Aaron Rodgers To 1-Year Deal

Today’s First Special Guest

Paula Poundstone is an iconic comedian, & a prolific caller into The Stephanie Miller Show. She also hosts a weekly comedy podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone, and is a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me. On top of all that, Paula’s on tour right now, & she’ll be in St. Paul, Minnesota near our affiliate in Minneapolis on Friday, May 22. We’re thrilled to have Paula in the bar to help celebrate our birthday!

Today’s Second Special Guest

Glenn Kirschner, legal expert and friend of multiple bars (including ours), stops by the bar again tonight to help us get a handle on all the legal issues that are mixed in with today’s ‘News On Tap’ - especially that ridiculous so-called “settlemen” that’s really just a slush fund for Trump’s cronies & henchmen. We’ll have the PBR ready for him and get answers to all our questions tonight!

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