JULY 2026 – Three journalists for Politico – Pentagon beat-reporter Paul McLeary, Victor Jack and White House Correspondent Dasha Burns – teamed up on a quick -turnaround piece last week on the NATO Summit in Turkey. The July 8 news story focused of course on Trump’s typically erratic behavior, his contrasting messages in public and in private, and then gave some nice insight on how European NATO members handled him. It’s not clear if all three or any of the reporters actually attended the one-day summit, and gossipy Politico doesn’t have a reputation for covering much beyond DC. But this piece seems to be an exception. The story of Trump’s harsh rhetoric in public and gentle treatment of allies in private, well, it was widely picked up by the rest of the US press.