First Read's Morning Clips

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning to raise money for former President Donald Trump in the coming weeks, putting into action the commitment he made at a meeting with Trump last month to help his former rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination,“ the AP reports. “DeSantis is making calls to donors while his finance team works quickly to put together a schedule that would include stops in Florida and Texas.” “DeSantis is taking concrete steps toward a political reconciliation with Trump, who for months taunted his GOP opponent as ‘DeSanctimonious’ as the Florida governor argued Trump’s time had come and gone.

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday knocked down speculation that his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, would run to succeed him in 2026,” Politico reports. “The Republican governor insisted at an event in event in Coral Gables that Casey DeSantis, a former television anchor who was a near constant presence on the campaign trail when he ran for president, had “zero” interest in running for governor.”

Politico: “On Monday, after initially — briefly — shifting in his chair and rolling his eyes as Cohen took the stand, the former president promptly restrained himself. For hours, Trump took in the testimony with his eyes shut, nearly reactionless, moving only occasionally to scratch an itch, whisper or pass a note to his attorney, read a document or glance at the computer monitor in front of him before going back to his shut-eye pose.” “Across the room, Cohen, the state’s top witness, was seeking to make the case against the former president, calmly delivering his testimony as the district attorney’s office, but not yet Trump’s lawyers, questioned him extensively about his years-long role as a personal attorney and fixer for Trump.”

New York Times: “Hogan knows that his side of the party — what he calls ‘the Republican wing of the Republican Party’ — lost that battle. He knows that many of his fellow Never Trumpers have lost re-election, decided to retire or changed their tune. And he is running for Senate anyway, gearing up for a fierce battle that will test whether there is any path forward for anti-Trump Republicans seeking federal office in 2024.” Said Hogan: “I do feel a little bit like I’m running toward the burning building.”

Week 4 of testimony in Donald Trump's first criminal trial (of 4) started off with the most anticipated - and volatile - witness: Michael Cohen. Fully prepared and clearly ready for the day, Cohen was cool, calm and collected, delivering devastating testimony that rebuts most, if not all, of Donald Trump's defenses.

At a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday, former President Donald Trump made many questionable comments. He called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “Fat Alvin.” He claimed migrant children “don’t speak English.” And he said that, if he’s re-elected, he will deport pro-Palestinian, antiwar protesters. “When I’m president, we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals, and if you come here from a violent country and try to bring jihadism, or anti-Americanism, or antisemitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you.