An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries. But it's not foolproof, especially when there's a lot of money involved. Rick Jackson's campaign spent more than $100 million, largely out of his own pocket, to defeat Trump-endorsed Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for Georgia governor, another rare example of the president's choice falling short in a primary battle. Plus, the latest AP-NORC polling on American freedoms, Trump's claims about car insurance and illegal immigration, the lowdown on presidential libraries and the latest photos from the G7 in France.
A note to our readers: Ground Game will pause on Friday for Juneteenth. We will return to your inbox on Monday, June 22. |
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Georgia gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson is hugged by a supporter after speaking during a primary election night party on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) |
The cost to overcome a Trump endorsement? $100 million. Plus more takeaways from Tuesday's primaries — By Jonathan J. Cooper, Jesse Bedayn and Simran Parwani
Nothing is certain in politics, but a “complete and total endorsement” from Trump is about the surest path possible to winning a Republican primary.
Jackson found another — albeit pricier — one; the billionaire healthcare tycoon personally supplied most of the $100 million-plus that his campaign has spent to persuade Republican primary voters to overlook Trump’s advice.
Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones more than a year ago and reiterated his support last week, praising Jones’ “Courage and Wisdom” in a social media post.
Before Tuesday’s runoff, Jackson came in second behind Jones in the May 19 primary, though nearly a third of voters backed other candidates. Jackson will face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, in November to lead one of the nation’s preeminent battleground states.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Republican primary for governor tested Trump’s endorsement in a different way. There, the president weighed in late, throwing his support two weeks ago to former state Sen. Mike Mazzei among a crowded field without a clear front-runner. Mazzei secured a spot in an Aug. 25 runoff, finishing nearly even with Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Read more from Cooper, Bedayn and Parwani on Tuesday's results. |
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The latest AP-NORC Poll: Americans see key freedoms under threat |
The U.S. Capitol and National Mall are seen as the set up for the America 250 celebration, in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) |
Most Americans see freedoms under threat but core to nation's identity, AP-NORC poll finds — By Matt Brown and Linley Sanders
Most Americans believe civil liberties like the right to vote are under threat, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while also continuing to agree that the rights expressed in the nation’s founding documents are still core to American identity.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans across demographics believe the right to vote, the right to free speech and freedom of religion are integral to the country.
But they were more divided on the importance of the right to bear arms, and few — about one-third or less — saw those rights as safe from threats.
The survey, which was conducted April 16-20 — before the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that winnowed a section of the Voting Rights Act — highlights an enduring consensus among Americans that personal freedoms are vital to the country's national identity. But it also reveals deep anxieties about the nation’s trajectory on the cusp of a summer filled with celebrations of the country's semi-quincentennial birthday.
Read more from Brown and Sanders on the latest AP-NORC polling.
View the AP-NORC Polling tracker. |
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Presidential libraries from FDR to Obama |
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama speak at a stakeholders event at the the Obama Presidential Center Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) |
A look at presidential libraries as the Obama Presidential Center opens to the public this week — By Hillel Italie
Whenever historian Geoffrey Ward visits the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum to do research, he finds himself caught up in the spirit of FDR himself, the sense of landed contentment and cheerful disarray that helped define his public image.
"It feels like you're stepping back into his world," Ward said of the grounds in Hyde Park, New York, that once were home to the Roosevelt family. “The library and home collections reflect all his many interests — stamps, coins, birds he shot and had stuffed as a boy, model ships, children’s books, books about naval history, the pony-drawn sleigh he rode in as a child, and on and on.” Since FDR helped launch the modern system of presidential sites in the late 1930s, a network of museums and research facilities has grown nationwide, overseen in part by the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, but otherwise as varied as the men they honor.
They are set everywhere from the scenic Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in California's Simi Valley to the small-town setting of the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa, to the vast Barack Obama Presidential Center that opens to the public on Friday, Juneteenth, in Chicago. Read more from Italie on presidential library lore. |
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Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, listens during an interview before a groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion of Coherent's manufacturing facility on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Sherman, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter) |
AP Exclusive: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says society needs ‘new social norms’ in the age of AI — By Josh Boak
— Josh landed an exclusive interview this week with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Texas, where Huang talked about AI and society, his relationship with Trump and more. One of our coverage priorities is doing interviews with top newsmakers that not only reveal important information but also are illuminating and insightful and tell readers and viewers something about the person the didn’t already know.
Hot mics at the G7 capture world leaders’ chats between weighty topics — By Rob Gillies, Sylvie Corbet, Darlene Superville and Collin Binkley
— This was an engaging story we worked on with our colleagues in Europe after a series of hit-mic incidents at the G7.
Pool owners react to algae bloom turning Trump's reflecting pool green— VJ Nathan Ellgren interviewed pool owners who were at the Reflecting Pool in Washington this week to get their thoughts on why an algae bloom had turned the water green. |
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FACT FOCUS: Illegal immigration didn't spike car insurance premiums |
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