It’s 6 p.m. in Washington and 3 p.m. in Los Angeles — where Disney is still sifting through the wreckage after Snow White’s box office disaster.

Welcome to The Evening Rundown. Signalgate continues to send shockwaves through Washington, while the Trump White House scrambles to rewrite the narrative.

The White House Is Waging an Information War. The Press Must Fight Back.

Jeffrey Goldberg might as well have his face on a dartboard in The West Wing after dropping the full Signal group chat that’s now gripping media worldwide. There’s already plenty of reporting and analysis breaking down the severity of what Waltz and Hegseth did—but what matters most right now, from this publication’s perspective, is how the Fourth Estate is responding, particularly in light of the administration’s reaction.

Since January 20th, the Trump White House has been “flooding the zone,” moving at a breakneck pace designed to overwhelm reporters and blunt the public’s ability to process and respond. While the Washington press corps has finally caught up, their slow start was almost embarrassing. The administration has made a sport out of humiliating the press—banning The Associated Press from the White House press pool, kicking CNN, Politico, and others out of the Pentagon, and completely shuttering government-funded outlets like Voice of America.

Now, with the press finally catching the White House flat-footed, this should be the moment to strike. But are they? It’s hard to tell. The Atlantic, which took the bold step of publishing the entire text chain (minus the CIA contact), kept its universal paywall up for nearly all internal coverage. The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other legacy outlets did the same. So, seriously—what are we doing here? Paywalls are the fastest way to kill interest in a story, no one is going to solely subscribe purely to read one article. It is a false choice in which newsrooms are — once again — putting profit over information.

The White House is waging an information war—and the press needs to fight back. Every time the reporters in the Brady Briefing Room let Karoline Leavitt bulldoze them with lies unchecked, or lock critical analysis behind a paywall, they’re not just failing their duty—they’re willingly letting the nation slide deeper into authoritarianism.

Why it matters: The press is up against an administration that thrives on disinformation, weaponizing every platform at its disposal to mislead the public. To counter this, publications must use every tool they have—not just strong reporting, but strategic action. That means dropping paywalls on critical coverage so the truth isn’t locked behind a subscription fee while lies spread for free. It means cutting live feeds of White House events when they become blatant propaganda, refusing to be used as a megaphone for deception. It means walking out of press briefings when the administration turns them into bad-faith spectacles. Journalism isn’t just about documenting history—it’s about ensuring the public has the information they need to fight back. If the press fails to meet the moment, they’re not just losing readers—they’re losing the country.

Read More:

• Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal — The Atlantic

• The country’s most powerful institutions are bowing to Trump. The Atlantic just backed him into a corner. — Politico

The Day In Focus

• Dems Think Hegseth Was Drunk During Signalgate: Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) clashed with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during the House Intelligence Committee hearing, pressing him on whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s drinking habits played a role in Signalgate. The fiery exchange came as Democrats questioned the competence and judgment of top Trump officials after The Atlantic's bombshell report. Gomez didn’t mince words, suggesting Hegseth may not have been sober when sensitive national security discussions were happening over Signal.

• DOGE Is Coming For NPR and PBS: Elon Musk has set his sights on NPR and PBS and the FCC is weighing in. Chairman Brendan Carr declared that public media networks should "survive on their own," echoing a long-standing Republican argument against public media. Officials for both organizations testified before the House today in a contentious hearing led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, during which House Republicans bemoaned the organizations’ alleged biases.

• Vance’s Trip To Greenland Scaled Back: The ‘Vance family vacation’ to Greenland —which was supposed to be a multi-stop tour, complete with meetings in the capital and a front-row seat at the national dog sled race — has been drastically scaled back. Instead, Vance and company will make a brief stop at a U.S. military base before heading back to Washington. The trip was condemned by Greenlandic officials, who said the visit was “highly aggressive.”

A Devastating Look At The Final Hours of The Harris Campaign

Vanity Fair snagged the exclusive on Chris Whipple’s new book, Uncharted, which dives deep into the final weeks, days, and hours of the 2024 Presidential Race. It offers a sobering glimpse into election night at the Naval Observatory, as former Vice President Kamala Harris began to process the reality that Trump was on track to return to the White House.

The piece ends with a chilling quote from Harris: “Oh, my God,” she said, “What is going to happen to this country?”

It feels like we’re just starting to find out.

Read More:

• EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Kamala Harris Campaign’s First Week—and Final Hours — Vanity Fair

Variety Hit Piece Shields Gal Gadot, Torches Rachel Zegler

The media circus surrounding Disney’s disastrous Snow White remake has focused less on the film’s quality—widely panned before it even hit theaters—and more on the supposed animosity between its two stars, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. At the center of this narrative is Variety’s Tatiana Siegel, whose reporting has played a major role in fueling the perception that Zegler is the true villain of this Hollywood saga — and somehow responsible for the film’s failure at the box office. Siegel’s latest piece frames Zegler as a social media liability, claiming Disney had to hire a crisis PR expert to manage the backlash against her comments about the genocide in Gaza. But the real story isn’t about Zegler’s alleged missteps—it’s about the double standard in entertainment journalism when it comes to outspoken women in Hollywood.

Siegel has built a reputation for targeting actresses who challenge the status quo, especially young women of color like Zegler. In contrast, her coverage of Gal Gadot—who has been accused of being notoriously difficult on set and has a history of posting inflammatory, racist, and xenophobic content—has been noticeably absent. The silence is deafening, especially when considering that Gadot’s past remarks, including controversial statements about Palestinians, have sparked widespread criticism. Yet, in Siegel’s framing, Gadot remains the graceful veteran actress, while Zegler—a Latina woman who dared to have opinions while working on a film she was contractually obligated to promote—is positioned as the real problem.

This pattern isn’t unique to Snow White. Time and again, Hollywood’s media machine punishes women who speak up while protecting those who fit a more palatable mold. Zegler, who has been vocal about labor rights and industry sexism, has faced a wave of media takedowns that echo the treatment of other young actresses who refuse to play the game. Meanwhile, Gadot, whose offscreen reputation is far from spotless, remains largely untouchable in these narratives. It’s a familiar playbook: reward silence and compliance, punish those who refuse to stay in line.

Read More:

• Snow White producer Marc Platt's nepo baby son Jonah unleashes explosive tirade against 'woke' Rachel Zegler — Daily Mail

• Disney ‘boosted Gal Gadot’s security’ after Snow White co-star’s Gaza tweet — The Telegraph

• Inside Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Fiasco: Death Threats, Beefed-Up Security and a Social Media Guru for Rachel Zegler — Variety

The Last Call

Earlier today, after The Atlantic paywalled their story on the latest batch of Signal screenshots, I took to Twitter to vent my frustration. My issue with paywalls goes beyond the simple annoyance of hitting a locked article when trying to stay informed—they’re a disaster for user experience. But more than that, I believe paywalls are inherently exclusionary, bad for business, and a deliberate barrier to critical information.

In an era where access to reliable journalism is more important than ever, locking essential reporting behind a paywall ensures that only those who can afford it get the full picture, while everyone else is left with half-truths, speculation, or outright misinformation.

The real crisis in journalism isn’t that people won’t pay for news—it’s that the industry keeps doubling down on models that alienate the very audience they need to survive. Paywalls are a short-term Band-Aid for a long-term problem, pushing readers away instead of engaging them. Journalism is supposed to serve the public good, but when it’s locked behind a paywall, it stops being a public service and starts becoming a luxury.