By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief
Good morning! Opinion editor Clay Wirestone uses the Trump phone as a metaphor to make sense of a trio of Kansas Republicans. Jonathan Shorman, writing for our D.C. bureau, examines the president's order on voting by mail. And Amanda Watford from our Stateline affiliate is reporting on shifting marijuana policy.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
OPINION
Trump promises big, then underdelivers. What does that say about his Kansas lawmaker superfans?
By Clay Wirestone
Behold the Trump phone.
It made its debut online in 2025, a vision of gold-plated sleekness and bleeding-edge technology. Patriots were invited to preorder the device to show their support for “American-proud” wireless technology and their favorite president of all time.
The phone landed with a thud in May. Tech reviewers panned the device, noting its distressingly urine-soaked color and mysterious inner workings. The phone was smaller and a different model than those 2025 website mockups. On the plus side, recipients noted, it did function as a phone and came preinstalled with Trump’s “Truth Social” application.
In short, it was a classic bait and switch from the bait-iest and switch-iest of leaders. Promise your fans the world, then shove the bare minimum in their general direction when time runs out.
This suffocating mixture of hyperbole and too-real reality has been on sharp display in Kansas politics lately, as various political figures have shown themselves as mustard yellow rather than glittering gold. They’re all, in their own ways, Trump phones.
Jane Norman/States Newsroom
Trump ordered limits on voting by mail. The Postal Service is moving to make states comply.
The U.S. Postal Service on Friday took its first major step to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, proposing a rule that would require states to submit lists of voters before mailing ballots.
But the proposed rule appears to smooth over some of the rougher edges of the executive order, which has been condemned by Democratic state officials as an intrusion on their constitutional authority to administer elections.
Amanda Watford/Stateline
The feds have embraced medical marijuana. Now what?
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent decision to downgrade the drug classification for medical cannabis will help medical marijuana businesses. Companies will be able to claim some federal tax benefits. New research can start up at state universities.
But the broader divide between federal and state marijuana policy remains largely intact, leaving states to navigate a fragmented and still-evolving cannabis landscape with few clear answers about what comes next.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Kansas Reflector staff will participate in the following free public forums.
6:30 p.m. June 12, Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone will join a panel discussion: "From the Desk of William Allen White: What Can Journalism Today Learn from the Sage of Emporia?"
5:30 p.m. June 16, Bradbury Alumni Center at Washburn University in Topeka. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
6 p.m. June 24, Groover Labs in Wichita. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
6 p.m. June 25, Clint Bowyer Community Building in Emporia. Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith will lead a discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Host: Kansas Appleseed. Register here.
7 p.m. June 27, Park City Senior Center. Host: Park City Community Pride.
2 p.m. Sept. 27, Red Rocks Visitor Center in Emporia. Host: Red Rocks.
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Sherman Smith at [email protected].
Thanks for reading Read & Reflect. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.