Weekend thread: What's going on?

Trump's surge in primary is "Defcon 1" according to some GOP leaders, as he faces new indictments. Biden wins the week with stunning numbers, while the president led on the world stage.

Programming note: I’ll be taking a vacation—my first break from the newsletter in over three years—beginning on the 19th and continuing through the 28th. The Signorile Report will resume after that. And you can all, of course, chat in the threads while I’m gone!

This weekend's thread is a tale of two presidential candidates.

Donald Trump is facing a new indictment in Georgia that is so alarming to him and his lawyers that they’ve resorted to desperate measures. This while Special Counsel Jack Smith has sent a target letter to another Trump employee in the documents case, as we also learn Smith has moved into Trump’s inner circle in the January 6th investigation.

And Republicans are apparently freaking out—"Defcon 1," as one put it—that Trump is possibly unstoppable as he surges in the polls, DeSantis is fizzling out, and no one else is gaining traction.

Meanwhile, President Biden stood on the world stage, kept the NATO allies together, reported a massive first quarter haul for his presidential campaign, and is soft-landing the economy, defying everyone and winning the week.