Principals

1. J.D. Vance rises
2. Wall Street reacts to Vance
3. RNC night one
4. Judge tosses classified docs case
5. Trump rally shooter
6. Biden’s NBC sit down
7. Networks play it safe

PDB: Biden’s housing plan

Menendez jury deliberates … FT: Orbán claims Trump has ‘well-founded plans’ for peace talks between Russia, Ukraine … NYT: How Vance won over Trump

Trump selects Vance as running mate

J.D. Vance is Donald Trump’s running mate. The media-savvy freshman Ohio US senator rose to recognition with his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which chronicled his family’s struggles growing up in Middletown, Ohio. He looked to be holding back tears on the convention floor Monday as Republicans moved to nominate him as the vice presidential candidate. Republicans cheered Vance’s selection, saying his personal story would help reach blue-collar Americans. “He’s going to appeal to all these lunch-bucket Democrats,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Semafor’s Kadia Goba. Of the VP finalists, Vance was seen as most closely aligned with Trump’s MAGA brand of politics and has emerged as a fierce defender of Trump despite earlier criticisms. The choice is spawning nervousness in Ukraine and European capitals, given Vance’s open hostility to further support for Kyiv. “This is a disaster for Ukraine,” one senior EU official told Politico. “I think we should bring him” to Ukraine, Maria Mezentseva, a Ukrainian member of parliament, told Semafor. “That’s how we usually succeed to change someone’s mind.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Vance pick shocks CEOs

Donald Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as his running mate sent shockwaves through corporate America, Semafor’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig writes. Vance has been critical of Wall Street and built a profile as someone seeking to realign the balance of power toward workers and away from large global firms; he has even teamed up with liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren on bills cracking down on Wall Street. That may mean that a populist, anti-business Trumponomics will truly take hold in a second Trump term. “CEOs are shocked as this is quite an odd choice to try to balance the ticket with [someone] so hostile to business,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, president of Yale University’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute who is in touch with business executives, said. Meanwhile, conservatives like Rep. Kevin Hern hailed the choice.

Donald Trump kicks off RNC’s first night

In the highlight of the RNC’s first night, Donald Trump appeared with a bandage on his ear to “God Bless the USA” to take his place next to J.D. Vance in the stands. The onstage proceedings were devoted to the “Everyday Americans,” with an emphasis on outreach to less traditionally GOP voters. Speakers included four Black members of Congress, Teamsters head Sean O’Brien, who has asked to speak at both conventions and called Trump “one tough S.O.B.,” and a Latino mother who voted for Biden. Model and rapper Amber Rose said “the media has lied to us about Donald Trump” and that she’d mistakenly thought he was racist. Speakers and videos tended to emphasize kitchen table issues, with some red meat exceptions (“Let me state this clearly, there are only two genders!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said.) Mark Robinson, the North Carolina gubernatorial candidate known for his history of inflammatory rhetoric, focused his remarks on overcoming poverty.

Trump may be the luckiest man alive

Donald Trump might just be the luckiest guy alive, Semafor’s David Weigel reports. Trump dodged an assassination attempt and days later Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed charges accusing him of mishandling classified documents on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed. Smith’s position “effectively usurps that important legislative authority,” she wrote. Smith vowed to appeal the ruling. But an appeal — which could reach the Supreme Court — will take several months and makes it “impossible to have a trial before the Nov. 5 elections,” University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told Semafor. “He seems to be a very slippery, teflon-type character who isn’t held responsible for his actions,” said John Miller, an RNC convention protester, at a demonstration in Milwaukee Monday. By the way, since Weigel’s column published, Elon Musk reportedly committed $45 million a month to a super PAC supporting Trump’s campaign.

Mystery surrounds Trump rally shooter

Mystery surrounds the 20-year-old shooter who targeted Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend. The FBI has accessed Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone and told lawmakers it has already conducted close to 100 interviews in the case. But the phone provided little insight into Crooks’ motive, according to The Wall Street Journal, and his parents told law enforcement he didn’t seem to have strong political views. He also left an extremely limited online record. Meanwhile, scrutiny continues to mount on the Secret Service, with The Washington Post reporting that members of the crowd attempted to warn law enforcement of a suspicious man on a nearby roof almost a minute and a half before he began firing. The Secret Service is expected to brief members of the House Oversight Committee later today. Following the attempt on Trump’s life, independent presidential Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also receive Secret Service protection.

Biden’s combative NBC interview

President Biden conceded that it was a “mistake” to say it was time to put Donald Trump “in the bulls-eye” in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt. “I mean focus on him, focus on what he’s doing,” Biden said, defending the remarks that have come under greater scrutiny since the assassination attempt against the former president. The interview — his second network sit-down since his disastrous debate performance — was combative at times. Biden scolded the press for not focusing on Trump’s lies and insisted he remains fit to serve as president in a second term. “My mental acuity has been pretty damn good,” he said. In an interview with Complex taped last week, Biden said he has done “more for the Palestinian community than anybody” and insisted he would be on the ballot in November “unless I get hit by a train.”

CNN, MSNBC skirt angry Republicans

Television networks are raising their security levels in Milwaukee and two major cable television networks dialed back their coverage of the Republican National Convention in response to anger from the Republicans at the media in the wake of Saturday’s attack. NBC News pulled its flagship Morning Joe program on Monday, CNN reported, to avoid the possibility of “an inappropriate comment on live television that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole.” (A network spokesman denied that was the motive.) And CNN also altered its programming plans in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, Semafor’s Max Tani reports: Primetime on-air personalities, chief among them Anderson Cooper, were scheduled to broadcast live from the Republican National Convention on Monday, but instead decided to stay in New York. A network spokesperson blamed logistics.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate “isn’t an ‘expand the tent’ pick, that’s for sure,” one Republican senator said. “He’s the intellectual engine behind Trump’s vision.”

Playbook: Trump overshadowed Vance on the first night of the convention with his “WWE-style entrance” last night.

WaPo: Several Republicans at the convention described Trump as being saved by God from the attempted assassination over the weekend. “The devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle,” said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.. “Listen, if you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now.”

Axios: Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and David Sacks waged a secret campaign that continued until yesterday morning to persuade Trump to choose Vance.

White House

• President Biden will unveil a new plan in Nevada today to cap rental prices nationally. According to the White House, he will call on Congress to pass a bill to give landlords the option to cap rent increases in existing units at 5% or risk losing federal tax breaks, while also repurposing federal land in Nevada to build an estimated 15,000 affordable housing units.
• He’ll also sit for an interview with BET’s Ed Gordon, deliver a speech at the NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, and participate in an economic summit with Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford.
• Jill Biden spoke with Melania Trump after the attempted assassination against Donald Trump.

Congress

• Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told reporters he was receiving an FBI briefing on Monday for the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. He said the panel would launch a bipartisan investigation to “determine whether or not there were security breaches that we need to close.”
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is receiving daily briefings from senior law enforcement officials and is working to schedule an all-senators briefing, an aide said.
• Members of the House Oversight Committee wrote to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle demanding information related to Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.

Outside the Beltway

Two Democrats planning to challenge New York mayor Eric Adams in next year’s primary, former city comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, say they’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their respective campaigns, amounts that will rise into the millions after matching funds are included.

Economy

• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said economic activity and inflation has slowed as expected by the central bank, but he would not say if that would justify cutting interest at policymakers’ next meeting in two weeks. “I’m not going to be sending any signals one way or another on any particular meeting,” he said during an appearance in Washington, DC. “We’re going to make these decisions meeting by meeting.”
• Eviction filings are up 35% over the past year compared with pre-pandemic levels in six cities and their surrounding areas, according to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab unit.

Courts

• Jurors did not reach a verdict in the federal bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., after their first full day of deliberations on Monday. Meanwhile, a judge indefinitely delayed the trial of his wife, Nadine Menendez. Her trial had been postponed until August while she recovered from breast cancer surgery.
• New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking an independent monitor to oversee the National Rifle Association’s finances as the second phase of the state trial against the gun rights group began Monday. A jury found in the first phase of the trial that the NRA omitted or misrepresented information in tax filings, among other offenses. James is also seeking to block former chief executive Wayne LaPierre from rejoining the NRA.

Polls

• President Biden and Donald Trump are locked in tight races in Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to polls by The New York Times and Siena College conducted before Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump. Trump leads Biden 48% to 45% in Pennsylvania, a state Biden barely won four years ago. In Virginia, which Biden won by 10 percentage points in 2020, he leads Trump 48% to 45%. The results are nearly flat with a poll in May and within the margin of error.
• The polls show Vice President Harris outperforming Biden against Trump. She trails by one point in Pennsylvania but leads by five in Virginia.
• Some 44% of Ukrainians support starting peace negotiations with Russia, a poll published on Monday found, as doubts grow about Ukraine’s ability to win outright on the battlefield, Semafor’s Mathias Hammer reports. But most oppose ceding land to Russia.

On the Trail

• The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union is considering not endorsing a candidate in the presidential election, four years after it backed President Biden.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Donald Trump in Milwaukee Monday morning to discuss the independent candidate endorsing the GOP nominee. — Politico
• The Biden campaign said that Vice President Harris is prepared to debate J.D. Vance.
• Mitch McConnell was booed at the Republican convention.
• The talk of replacing J.D. Vance in the Senate has already started, with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy expressing interest.

National Security

Arrests in June for illegally crossing the border into the US from Mexico fell 29%, the lowest month of the Biden administration.

Foreign Policy

• Top EU officials will boycott Hungary’s six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union following Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s controversial visits to Moscow and Beijing, Semafor’s Mathias Hammer reports, quoting a spokesperson for the European Commission.
• European populist leaders immediately blamed the left for the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, despite the lack of information about the shooter’s background and possible motives. — Politico

Technology

Shares of Truth Social parent company Trump Media closed 31% higher Monday, following the attempt on Donald Trump’s life over the weekend.

Media

The White House Correspondents’ Association has a new leader: Politico’s Eugene Daniels.

Big Read

President Biden’s policies have benefited Pennsylvania residents, but they’ve delivered little political payoff, The New York Times says. The Erie County Redevelopment Authority’s ambitious $25 million project to turn an abandoned iron factory into an events venue, manufacturing hub, and brewery is heavily funded by the Biden administration, but Republican Rep. Mike Kelly is taking credit for it despite voting against the law that is providing the funds.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Forbes removed a column with a headline that questioned if Donald Trump would appeal to Black voters after surviving being shot on Saturday.

What the Right isn’t reading: Donald Trump Jr. sparred with MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff on the floor of the Republican National Convention after he was asked if the former president would reimpose family separations as part of his immigration policy if he wins the election. “It’s MSDNC, so I expect nothing less from you clowns, even today,” the younger Trump replied.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Josh McLaurin, a Democratic state senator in Georgia, was J.D. Vance’s law school roommate and released messages in 2016 in which Vance called Trump “America’s Hitler.”

• Trump says he was saved ‘by luck or by God.’
• Biden implores nation to ‘lower the temperature.’
• Liberal media outlets are questioning Biden’s fitness. Their audience is furious.