Saturday’s Headlines: Trump’s scandals stoke fear for 2018 midterms among Republicans nationwide

Democracy Dies in Darkness

The morning’s most important stories, selected by Post editors

Top Stories

Trump’s scandals stoke fear for 2018 midterms among Republicans nationwide

More and more Republicans across the country are watching dispiritedly as Democrats become further energized to turn out their voters in 2018, potentially tipping not only congressional contests but state and local races down the ballot.

By John Wagner • Read more »

Saudi Arabia greets Trump with elaborate welcome as he embarks on first foreign trip

President Trump arrived in Riyadh for his debut on the world stage, hoping to turn a page on the scandal encircling his presidency back home as he embarks upon an ambitious, high-stakes journey through the Middle East and Europe.

By Philip Rucker and Karen DeYoung • Read more »

White House adviser close to Trump is a person of interest in Russia probe

The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, according to people familiar with the matter, who would not further identify the official.

By Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky • Read more »

Fired FBI director Comey to testify in open session before Senate Intelligence Committee

“I am hopeful that he will clarify for the American people recent events that have been broadly reported in the media,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chairman of the committee, said in a written statement. The open hearing will be set sometime after Memorial Day.

By Karoun Demirjian • Read more »

Iranian moderate Rouhani wins second presidential term

In getting 57 percent of the vote, incumbent President Hassan Rouhani appeared to receive a resounding endorsement of his project to end Iran’s pariah status and rejoin the global economy.

By Erin Cunningham • Read more »

New Orleans removes Robert E. Lee statue, last of Confederate monuments to come down

The move ends more than 130 years of publicly honoring a man who embodied Southern pride but was seen by many as a symbol of racial oppression. In a speech to mark the moment, Mayor Mitch Landrieu sought to end years of heated debate over what the monuments said about its past.

By Janell Ross • Read more »

In a country that bans cinemas and segregates Starbucks, a young prince has an idea: Make Saudi Arabia fun

Mohammed bin Salman, son of the king, is pressing for more jobs for women and more opportunities for entertainment in the conservative nation where nearly two-thirds of the population is under 30. “We want to be normal like anywhere else,” said one young Saudi.

By Kevin Sullivan • Read more »

Opinions

Here comes the GOP bloodbath

By Erick Erickson • Read more »

The Trump presidency doesn’t seem sustainable

By Ruth Marcus • Read more »

Facebook could tell us how Russia interfered in our elections. Why won’t it?

By Philip N. Howard • Read more »

The dark source of Roger Ailes’s power

By Jon Klein • Read more »

Five myths about Watergate

By Rick Perlstein • Read more »

First, Erdogan’s goons attack protesters. Then, the embassy blames the victims.

By Editorial Board • Read more »

More News

Betsy DeVos hits hard reset on student loan servicing contracts

The Education Department will select one company to collect student debt payments on its behalf, reversing years of Obama administration policy and reviving a servicing model that had an equal number of benefits and problems.

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel • Read more »

Prosecutors push back against Sessions’s order to pursue most severe drug penalties

Thirty current and former state and local prosecutors say the attorney general’s directive “marks an unnecessary and unfortunate return to past ‘tough on crime’ practices” that will do more harm than good in their communities.

By Lindsey Bever • Read more »

Global soccer power FC Barcelona plants its flag among U.S. youth

With six development programs in the United States, the club of superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar is eyeing a deep, long-term dive into the lucrative American market.

By Steven Goff • Read more »

Videos show Turkish president’s guards beating protesters in D.C., but action is unlikely, experts say

The State Department summoned Turkey’s ambassador for a meeting — the equivalent of a diplomatic scolding — and D.C. police vowed to continue their investigation, but diplomatic immunity and other issues make prosecution difficult, law-enforcement experts say.

By Peter Hermann • Read more »

Perspective

Why does Hollywood insist on equating beauty with virtue?

Movies and TV lazily perpetuate a notion we no longer believe: that looks correlate with character.

By Zachary Pincus-Roth • Read more »

Planned Parenthood to close 10 health centers in Midwest, Southwest

Officials cited a variety of reasons for the closures, including political attacks by antiabortion lawmakers. The move means Wyoming will become the second state to have no Planned Parenthood center.

By Sandhya Somashekhar • Read more »

The Fix | Analysis

Video shows Hillary Clinton practicing avoiding hugs from Trump

A Democratic strategist posted a video, filmed two days before the first presidential debate, that shows Clinton evading an aide playing Donald Trump. It draws comparisons with a report of James Comey trying to maintain distance with him.

By Peter W. Stevenson • Read more »