Donald Trump says he continues to ponder one of the biggest decisions of his life. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

THE BIG IDEA: Citing the horrific terrorist attacks in the south of France, Donald Trump has postponed the 11 a.m. event to announce his running-mate.

The news came at the end of a long day filled with strong signals that he had picked Mike Pence. Some other news outlets reported that the Indiana governor has been offered and accepted the job.

Although they do not dispute that Pence probably will be chosen, senior campaign officials cautioned my colleagues Robert Costa and Philip Rucker last night that “Trump could still spring a surprise” and insisted that the selection process remains “fluid.” The candidate himself said he has not made his “final, final decision.”

Trump wanted this news cycle to himself, but some think he was also looking for an excuse to buy time. After all, it’s not like he suspended the rest of his campaign. He held two fundraisers last night in California and phoned into Fox News after 84 civilians were killed by a man driving a truck through a crowd during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice. (Keep reading for much more about what happened…)

The Donald has taken a big risk by postponing his announcement. Here are some of the ways it may backfire:

-- He appears to have lost control.

“Trump long has been the master of the media, able to change the conversation with a single tweet or a phone interview with a cable network or a speech at a rally. He dominated his primary opponents by skillfully manipulating the media,” our chief correspondent, Dan Balz, wrote overnight in a column. “Sometimes he seemed determined merely to create chaos as a way to draw attention from something else. Sometimes what he did produced negative stories. He seemed to thrive through it all, conscious of the rule of the New York tabloids: feed or be consumed. That’s not the way things appeared on Thursday.”

“Trump knows the value of a good show, but this was hardly what a skilled impresario would have produced,” Balz continues. “At times, his vice presidential selection process has been transparent. … But at the moment when he needed clarity, everything turned opaque, muddy and messy. … A skillful campaign should have been able to grab hold of the story as it seemed to spin away. … But there were neither hard confirmations nor true denials.”

Remember, this should be one of Trump’s finest hours. The FBI director’s announcement last week that Hillary Clinton was “extremely careless” in handling classified information has taken a negative toll on her image and given him some momentum. A survey from CBS and the New York Times, published yesterday, shows the race tied at 40 percent nationally.

-- Trump has squandered an opportunity to look resolute and steady.

Trump benefited politically from terrorist attacks during the Republican nominating process. His numbers went up after the awful events in San Bernardino and Paris because primary voters judged him as someone who could be tough and ruthless, but the dynamic has shifted somewhat since he wrapped up the nomination. The electorate as a whole perceived Clinton’s response to the Orlando attack as more presidential than his.

There is always a risk of overreacting to an attack, no matter how heinous. Speaking by phone with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News last night, he said he would ask Congress to declare war on the Islamic State. “This is war,” he said. It’s worth noting that this was before any confirmation about the identity or motive of the truck driver.

From the chief strategist on George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign:

From the New York Times:

From Reuters:

“We will not be intimidated” was Clinton’s message last night."Once again, it appears that terrorists have struck at one of our closest allies in Europe,” she said. “Every American stands in strong solidarity with the people of France. … We will never allow terrorists to undermine the egalitarian and democratic values that underpin our very way of life.”

Who is it going to be?

-- Putting off the announcement has generated rampant speculation that Trump is having second thoughts about Pence – and questions about whether he had settled on the governor in the first place.

During his call with Fox last night, Trump said he’s not definitively made up his mind. “I mean, I've got three people that are fantastic,” he said, praising Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie and Pence.

It’s possible that some of our competitors overstated the degree to which Pence was the certain pick in pursuit of getting it first. It’s also possible that Trump is not telling the truth in an effort to keep the suspense alive. But it doesn’t matter: the presumptive Republican nominee appears INDECISIVE, which is off-brand and projects weakness.

It’s no secret that Trump has been torn between his head and his heart for the past few weeks. In his gut, he prefers Gingrich and Christie because of their combativeness. But experienced political strategists around him say Pence is the smarter pick to shore up the base and win over social conservatives. And he wants to win.

To be sure, most signs still point to Pence. He was spotted last night in New York, while Gingrich had no plans to be in the city, Costa and Rucker report. “He convened an 8 a.m. meeting in Indianapolis with political allies to go over logistics should he join the ticket … Marc Lotter, Pence’s deputy campaign manager, was spotted by reporters on a flight from Indianapolis to New York.”

-- Presuming he ultimately goes with Pence, Trump now seems reluctant, torn and maybe even ambivalent. It’s hard to get the voters excited when the candidate doesn’t seem super excited.

-- A crucial deadline to withdraw from the Indiana governor’s race means that we should know by noon today whether Pence is the pick or not. If Pence pulls out, any formal rollout over the weekend will be totally anti-climactic. Perhaps Trump did not think this piece through. (You cannot be on the ballot for governor and vice president simultaneously in the Hoosier State.)

The 57-year-old has not pulled out of the gubernatorial contest yet, per Bloomberg:

On the other hand, if Pence pulls his name off the ballot this morning and then Trump spurns him, it would be one of the most cataclysmic burns in American political history. It wouldn’t just be a disappointment for Pence; it would destroy his political career.

The Indiana GOP would also suffer a huge blow. The party, which must quickly pick a replacement candidate if Pence drops, is in limbo for now, Amber Phillips reports. Two members of Congress want to run if the seat opens: Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, the Republicans’ best hope of holding the office, took himself out of contention and said he will stay on as president of Purdue University.

Trump and Gingrich in Cincinnati last week. Running mate or not, “Newt Gingrich is going to be involved with our government," The Donald said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

-- The other finalists for vice president have been left hanging, and Gingrich is acting like he thinks he still might be able to win the job – contributing to the sense of chaos.

Last night on Fox News, the former Speaker said Trump “did the right thing” by postponing and said he now expects to find out "tomorrow or Monday."

Gingrich went on to call for deporting everyone in America with a Muslim background who believes in Sharia law. “Western civilization is in a war,” he said. “We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background and if they believe in Sharia they should be deported,” he told Sean Hannity. “Sharia is incompatible with western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia, glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door.” (Melissa Etehad has more.)

-- Media elites and conservative thought leaders said Gingrich, by going even farther than Trump, jumped the shark:

-- A helpful primer on public attitudes about this, via our in-house pollster Scott Clement: Americans perceive widespread discrimination against Muslims in the U.S., think it is on the rise and unjustified, and disapprove of subjecting Muslims to greater scrutiny than other religious groups as part of anti-terrorism efforts. A substantial minority support Trump’s proposed Muslims ban – including most Republicans – though support did not increase in the wake of the Orlando shooting. Fears of “lone wolf” terrorist attacks are strikingly high, and Americans doubt the government can stop them. Four nuggets from reliable polling:

• Last month, 43 percent supported a temporary ban on non-citizen Muslims entering the U.S. This was unchanged from our May poll, before the Orlando shooting. (Post-ABC)
• In March, 30 percent of Americans said Muslims living in the U.S. should be subject to more scrutiny than people of other religious groups. 60 percent said they should not. (Pew)
• In January, 76 percent of Americans felt discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. is increasing. (Pew)
• In December, 73 percent thought Muslims living in the U.S. face discrimination – 59 percent said this discrimination was unjustified, while 14 percent said it was justified. (Post-ABC poll)

 -- Retired Gen. Michael Flynn, whose defense of abortion rights over the weekend torpedoed his vice-presidential hopes, apparently believes his military background can get him back into contention in the Trump veepstakes.

He posted an old photo of Clinton wearing a head covering:

-- Pence, for his part, released a strongly-worded statement:

-- Christie, who Trump suggested is still in the mix, had a more measured reaction:

French police inspect the truck that rammed into a crowd in Nice. (Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

THE LATEST FROM FRANCE:

-- At least 84 are dead and another 18 are critically injured in Nice after a truck filled with explosives rammed into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day. The gunman also opened fire on revelers before being shot to death by police. Witnesses said the truck drove for a MILE into the crowd, zigzagging to kill as many people as possible. “In the aftermath, the large white truck remained on the palm-lined boulevard, its screen riddled with bullets.” (Michael Birnbaum, William Branigin and Sarah Kaplan)

-- Police identified the suspect as a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man born in Tunisia. He was known to French police for committing common crimes but was not known to outside intelligence sources. Officials said they found the man’s identification papers in the truck, along with “guns” and “larger weapons.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bloodshed, although jihadist networks were celebrating it on social media.

-- Two Americans were killed: 51-year-old Sean Copeland of Lakeway, Tex., and his 11-year-old son Brodie Copeland were on a family vacation. (Mary Hui)

-- "President François Hollande condemned the ‘attack whose terrorist nature cannot be denied.’ He announced that France would ramp up its military efforts in Syria and Iraq and that the country’s state of emergency, which had been imposed after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris last November, would be extended three months.” “All of France is under the threat of Islamic terrorism,” said Hollande, declaring three days of national mourning.

-- “It would be difficult to pick a more evocative place of celebration than the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, a boulevard lined with palm trees and flanked by broad sidewalks,” Steven Mufson writes. “The street is lined with the grand hotels — the Palace of the Mediterranean and the Royal — and apartment buildings constructed decades ago. … But from now on, the name of the promenade will evoke different images: The spacious lobby of the 103-year-old luxury hotel Negresco, with its large chandelier and traditional French chairs, turned into a makeshift hospital ward.”

-- The first-hand accounts of the horror are painful to read: “I could hear screams, cries ­and it looked like bowling, people were being thrown in the air ­ two or three meters high,” said a restaurant owner. “In front of my restaurant there were at least ten people laying on the street, dead.” (Sarah Kaplan)

-- Here are three pictures of the carnage:

A covered body in the street with a child’s doll lying alongside:

(Reuters/Eric Gaillard)

The wounded are evacuated by EMTs:

(Olivier Anrigo/EPA)

Rescue workers help an injured woman into a ambulance: 

(Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images)

-- Watch a graphic, 1-minute video of police firing shots at the driver:

Video shows Nice police firing at truck

GET SMART FAST:​​

1. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in a statement that she regrets her “ill-advised” criticisms of Trump. "It's over and done with and I don't want to discuss it anymore," she later added to NPR. (Robert Barnes)
2. BP announced it will spend another $5.2 billion related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, bringing the total estimated cleanup cost to $61.6 billion. The energy giant’s assessment is expected to be the final price tag placed on the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico accident. (Steven Mufson)
3. Angry residents in rural South Korea egged the prime minister, lobbing water bottles and appearing in tractors to protest construction of the U.S. missile defense system in their neighborhood. Residents are concerned about possible health hazards. (AP)
4. Georgia executed a sixth inmate this year, setting a nationwide record since the death penalty was re-instated four decades ago. (Mark Berman)
5. Brazil’s national guard threatened to quit providing security at this year’s Olympics, citing poor accommodations and working conditions. Their protest is the latest blow to Rio as it seeks to overcome a number of hurdles before next month's games. (Dom Phillips)
6. Former Chris Christie ally David Samson pleaded guilty to bribery charges, admitting that he used his former post as Port Authority chairman to coerce United Airlines to run direct flights to his South Carolina vacation home. (Star Ledger)
7. New Jersey taxpayers have now spent more than $10 million related to the Bridgegate scandal. (NJ.com)
8. Many ecosystems are in danger: A major new study has found that more than 10 percent of species across the globe have populations that have fallen below levels considered “safe” by biologists. Scientists conducted 1.8 million measurements at 20,000 locations across the globe. (Chris Mooney)
9. A California couple was arrested for child abuse after police discovered three children – ages 7, 6, and 5 – stranded in the Mojave Desert for “disciplinary purposes.” Officers found the children shoeless and waterless in the 95-degree heat. (Elahe Izadi)
10. Baton Rouge zoo officials blamed “irresponsible pet owners” after two terrier dogs entered an exhibit in the facility overnight, attacking and killing a band of monkeys. (Sarah Larimer)
11. The State Department plans to let you renew your passport online starting in 2017. To protect passports from fraud and tampering, it will also implement a redesign with a polycarbonate data page, laser engravings, micro-text and special inks. (Andrea Sachs)

Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager, at the Rules Committee meeting in Cleveland. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

THE LAST REMNANTS OF THE NEVER TRUMP RESISTANCE GOT CRUSHED, BUT NOT WITHOUT SOME CHAOS—

-- As expected, the rules committee overwhelmingly rejected attempts to formally unbind convention delegates, effectively putting an end to any serious attempt to rob Trump of the nomination, Ed O'Keefe and Dan Balz report. “The rejection of the ‘unbinding’ proposal was so overwhelming that committee leaders opted not to record the tally. Trump supporters on the committee quickly exercised procedural tactics to effectively kill any attempt to revive the issue -- and to codify that delegates are indeed bound to vote for the results of state caucuses and primaries."

-- O'Keefe did a Q&A with Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort: "All the money that was spent by the Never Trump people, they weren’t even delegates. They’re sitting on the sidelines pretending that they had these votes, which they never did. I never had any doubt. It wasn’t persuasive, it was desperation, it was meanness. … We’ve known for about a month that we were going to be fine. That’s the point that never really got reported. Most of the noise you were hearing was from people outside the system that’d already lost.”

-- A fib that will live in infamy: RNC officials postponed the rules committee meeting for multiple hours yesterday morning, blaming a “broken printer.” They were trying to buy time to work out a deal behind closed doors. That failed. And several outlets reported that there was never a broken printer.

The main stage on the convention floor in Cleveland.(AP /Gene J. Puskar)

BUT, BUT, BUT -- TRUMP'S CORONATION IS NOT COMING TOGETHER SEAMLESSLY:

-- RNC organizers requested $6 million from Sheldon Adelson to close a big funding gap, revealing that two dozen companies have canceled their planned sponsorships because of Trump. From Politico’s Alex Isenstadt and Shane Goldmacher: “In a letter addressed to the Adelsons … the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee revealed the names of more than two dozen prominent corporations and individuals who have reneged on a collective $8.1 million in pledged donations. ‘Over the past couple months, negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments,’ the letter says. Among those who have canceled their donations: David Koch ($1 million), FedEx ($500,000), Visa ($100,000) and both Pepsi ($500,000) and Coca-Cola ($1 million). The letter says the RNC has raised $58 million – putting the party $6 million below the $64 million that was promised to bring the convention to Cleveland. ‘We would greatly appreciate if you would consider a $6,000,000 contribution to the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee to help us cross the finish line,’ says the letter.The letter is dated July 12. The convention begins July 18.”

Bigger picture, corporate America continues to gang up on the GOP standard-bearer: A group of more than 140 tech entrepreneurs and executives, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and media mogul Barry Diller, slam Trump in a scathing open letter, saying he would be a “disaster” for innovation in Silicon Valley. “We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field,” they write, accusing Trump of campaigning on “anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people.”

-- Tim Tebow announced that he will not speak at the Republican convention, despite the Trump campaign telling reporters we was confirmed. "I wake up this morning to find out I'm speaking at the Republican National Convention," Tebow said in an Instagram video, expressing befuddlement. “It’s amazing how fast rumors fly … And that’s exactly what it is. A rumor.” Watch:

-- Trump suggested, preposterously, that Sarah Palin isn’t on the list of speakers because she lives too far away: "She was asked," Trump told the Washington Examiner. "It's a little bit difficult because of where she is. We love Sarah. Little bit difficult because of, you know, it's a long ways away."

-- The chair of the House Republican Conference, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, announced she will skip the convention, turning down a prime-time speech. A spokesman said she’ll attend a funeral and campaign in her safe district. (The Spokesman-Review)

-- Joe Manchin, one of the very few Democrats who said he’d skip his party's convention (citing flooding in West Virginia), announced that he’ll go to Philly after all.

Trump and Pence leaves the Indiana Governor's residence on Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

REACTION TO PENCE AS TRUMP’S PROBABLE PICK—

-- The race is on to define Pence: Three quarters of Americans have never heard of him. The new CBS poll shows he’s viewed favorably by 5 percent of registered voters and unfavorably by 8 percent. While 12 percent are “undecided,” 74 percent admit they have never heard of him. Even 85 percent of Republicans haven’t heard of Pence or are undecided about him, as are 88 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of independents.

-- The Koch donor network said it will still not support Trump, even with Pence (a longtime ally) on the ticket. "It doesn't change our engagement on the presidential," Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis told Matea Gold. "We are going to remain focused on the Senate."

-- Congressional Republicans largely welcomed the reports. Paul Ryan called him “a good movement conservative.” Flashback: In 2006, Pence challenged John Boehner from the right to be the minority leader. Boehner whooped him 168 to 27. They stopped announcing the results after that because it was so one-sided.

He will not, however, assuage some of Trump's fiercest Republican critics on the Hill: “If the objective is to broaden the appeal of the party beyond the base, I’m not sure this would be the wisest choice,” said Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.). "Not good enough for me," Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill), who served with Pence in the House, told Karoun Demirjian. Kirk joked, though, that the only V.P. pick that would get him to re-endorse Trump is his own mother. 

-- Social conservatives were ecstatic: “A Catholic from childhood who became a born-again evangelical, Pence has repeatedly described himself as ‘a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” Julie Zauzmer writes. “And he’s lived up to that, often putting faith first in his political decision-making. Christian conservatives cheered when he signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the United States, and rooted for him as he defended a religious freedom law that companies across the country decried as a gateway to discrimination against LGBT people. … But others say that Pence lost evangelicals’ trust by signing [an] amendment defending gay rights [in his religious freedom bill].”

Ted Cruz national co-chair Bob Vander Plaats, the president of the socially conservative Family Leader organization in Iowa, called it a "solid choice" and "good move," but he raised concerns about his wobbliness on religious freedom. "He did have one major, high-profile and very public stumble,’ Vander Plaats said, "and that was on religious liberty … There will be some who do not give Pence an out because of that.” (Des Moines Register)

Pence was a leading figure in the fight to defund Planned Parenthood during his time in Congress. “Pence is a pro-life trailblazer and Mr. Trump could not have made a better choice,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

-- Grade-A trolling from the White House: "I know that Gov. Pence did do some important work with the administration to expand Medicaid in his state," said Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

-- Indianapolis Star political columnist Matthew Tully says Pence makes sense as Trump's pick because he will never "attempt to upstage him."

-- Many of Pence's core beliefs are at odds with central tenets of Trump's message. Some examples:

(The Fix's Amber Phillips rounds up additional differences between the two here.)

-- Pence penned some choice op-eds 15 years ago when he served in Congress. Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski dug them up: “Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill,” read one headline. In another, Pence explains why Titanic was a popular movie, calling it a “metaphor before our eyes.” “On climate change, Pence says CO2 from burning fuels can’t be the cause of increased global warming because it “is a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature…” not an unnatural one. (He also mixes up India and Indonesia. “Pence says George Washington was a Republican: ‘Republicans, from George Washington to George W. Bush just have better ideas.' Pence wrote that Clinton must resign or be impeached.”

In “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner,” Pence reflected on his 1991 Congressional bid. “Negative campaigning, I now know, is wrong,” he said after his loss. “I predict that one day soon a breed of candidate will step forward, faces as fresh as the morning and hearts as brave as the dawn. This breed will turn away from running “to win” and toward running “to stand.”(Read more from the archives)

-- Some of Trump's most prominent supporters were not happy about the idea of a pro-trade, pro-immigration running-mate:

-- Here's a sampling of the online conversation about the news:

 Clinton appears with Sen. Tim Kaine in Annandale. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE:

-- “Clinton sought Thursday to showcase her stark differences with Trump on immigration, telling a Latino audience that the presidential election would shape the future of reform." From John Wagner and Jenna Portnoy: “The rally in Annandale — a community home to many Koreans and Vietnamese — also served as an audition of sorts for Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.). In his remarks at a community college, Kaine broke into Spanish, explaining how the meaning of the slogan ‘Ready for Hillary’ takes on even more significance in that language than in English."

-- The SEIU has teamed up with billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer to launch a $10 million mobilization effort for Clinton and down-ballot Democrats in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The campaign is part of a broader effort to expand collaboration between the labor movement and environmental activists. From Matea Gold: “The new program will involve intense door-knocking and phone banking in working-class communities, with an emphasis on engaging African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos around the issues of economic inequality and environmental degradation. … They will begin by having conversations with voters about local issues, tailoring their messages to community concerns in order to personalize the stakes of the national election. The goal is to make at least three contacts with each voter before a major get-out-the-vote push in the fall.”

-- A group of super PACs led by EMILY’s List launched a $1.5 million digital campaign targeting millennial women. Nine states are targeted. Young men and women read Trump quotes on camera. (New York Times)

-- Bernie Sanders announced a book deal: The Vermont senator will share policy ideas and reflections on his primary campaign in the forthcoming “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In,” according to publisher Thomas Dunne Books. It is slated for release one week after the election. (AP)

-- Citing the lawsuits against Trump University, Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic senators called on federal regulators to help protect consumers from educational programs that “engage in fraud and deceptive marketing." From Danielle Douglas-Gabriel: “In a letter sent Thursday to the heads of the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Veterans Affairs, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Education Department, the lawmakers urge the agencies to create an online tool that alerts and warns potential students of companies posing as universities without a state license, charter or accreditation. They also asked the agencies to “enhance and prioritize” enforcement of federal consumer-protection laws that prohibit deceptive practices by businesses or “individuals who lend their names to sham outfits.”

FRESH POLLING:

-- Clinton leads Trump in four of the most diverse battleground states, per a fresh set of NBC/WSJ/Marist polling: In Colorado, Clinton has an 8 point lead – 43 to 35 – with 21 percent undecided. In Florida, she’s up with a 7 point advantage, 44 to 37. In North Carolina, a state Obama won in 2008 but lost in 2012, Clinton leads 44 to 38. And in Virginia, she leads 44 to 35 percent.

-- Meanwhile, a national USC Dornsife/LA Times tracking poll finds Trump AHEAD by 3 (43-40), which is within the margin of error:

• The poll reinforces the typical race, age and gender divides: Trump leads among men 47-36, while Clinton shores up a smaller 41-34 edge among women.
• Trump leads strongly among whites who have not graduated college (53-24). Clinton is up 77-3 among blacks and 51-30 among Latinos.
• Clinton also slightly leads with white college graduates (42-40). “If she wins that group,” David Lauter writes, “Clinton would be the first Democrat to carry white college graduates since polls began asking such demographic questions in the early 1950s.”

-- More than half of all voters hold unfavorable views of the presidential candidates, according to the latest release of New York Times/CBS polling data, with large majorities saying neither nominee is honest or trustworthy. The levels of distaste shatters previous records:

• More than a third of Republicans say they are “disappointed or upset” that Trump will be their nominee, with an equal number of voters saying he does not represent “values or principles” of the Republican Party.
• Democrats are only marginally happier with Clinton: 25 percent of Democratic voters said they are disappointed she is the nominee, while 7 percent said they are “upset.” That said, in an indicator that show she's better off than Trump with her base, three quarters of Democrats say she stands for Democratic Party values.
• On the eve of both conventions, more than half of voters said they are NOT looking forward to the next few months of campaigning. Only 37 percent said they are.
• More than 90 percent of Trump voters said “the country is on the wrong track,” while less than 50 percent of Clinton supporters agree.

Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a police officer on Staten Island, demands to speak with President Obama after a town hall hosted by ABC. She had wanted a question during the televised event but did not get one. (Oliver Douliery/EPA)

-- President Obama participated in town hall meeting about race and policing on ABC, speaking to family members of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, who were fatally shot by police officers this month. "I ask that you keep all of these families and my family safe," said Sterling’s 15-year-old son. "I ask for your help to unite all of the races of the world.” Castile’s fiancé Diamond Reynolds called for action: "When I think about my daughter's future, I am scared for her," Reynolds told Obama. "How do we as a nation stop what has happened to my family and all the other victims across the world?" “The meeting was remarkable less for the president's remarks than for the questions he fielded, which came from staunch critics, the mothers of police officers as well as Sterling and Reynolds, who were still reeling with grief," Greg Jaffe writes.

Boris Johnson (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)

WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:

-- Boris Johnson's appointment as the UK foreign secretary stunned global leaders and he comes into office “on a cloud of acrimony,” by Michael Birnbaum and Griff Witte: “From composing a dirty limerick about the Turkish president and a goat to comparing the E.U. to Hitler and calling Hillary Clinton a ‘sadistic nurse,’ the mop-haired Johnson spared few world leaders in his previous career as the devil-may-care mayor of London. This time, he was on the receiving end: France’s foreign minister declared that the ‘leave’ campaigner had ‘lied a lot,’ and Germany’s top diplomat called him ‘irresponsible.’ The unusually sharp rhetoric from Johnson’s new peers reflected the degree to which he has alienated Britain’s global partners and the challenges he faces as he takes part in his nation’s divorce from the E.U. … It foretells the reception that Johnson is likely to receive during the coming years of fraught negotiations with the 27 other E.U. foreign ministers, almost all of whom personally blame him for the chaos unleashed by the British decision to leave the bloc.” (Anne Applebaum's column says the new cabinet signals "Britain's retreat as a Western power."

-- “Congress skips town with a long list of unfinished business,” by Kelsey Snell and Karoun Demirjian: “Congress started the month with a long to-do list, but it left town Thursday for seven weeks with most of it unfinished. The issue drawing the most attention is the failure to provide funding for efforts to combat the Zika virus, which causes birth defects and has spread through South America and the Caribbean. The House and Senate both passed bills to provide the funding, but a bipartisan deal on a final package could not be struck." In what has become a familiar ritual, Democrats and Republicans pointed the finger at each other over who is to blame: “We passed a perfectly responsible piece of legislation," Ryan said. “Republicans have no desire to work with us to get a bipartisan Zika funding bill to the President – now, or any time in the future,” Harry Reid said. “It’s all been a charade.”

Trump and Marla Maples in Atlantic City in 1991. (AP Photo)

-- If you read one story about Donald --> “How ‘thin-skinned’ Trump uses insults, threats and lawsuits to quiet critics,” by Frances Stead Sellers: “Over decades in business, through his well-publicized romantic entanglements, and now as a presidential candidate, Trump has demonstrated that those who rise up to criticize him do so at their own peril.” “Donald is very thin-skinned,” said Louise Sunshine, who has known Trump since the 1970s. “He takes everything personally. Everything.” “The approach may have worked well for a real-estate mogul who built a brand around his image as a hard-driving entrepreneur with a playboy lifestyle. But it underscores a fundamental question about Trump’s candidacy: How would a chief executive, who has never held political office and is accustomed to commanding his own empire, function as a democratic leader, as which he must interact regularly with adversaries and critics?”

• In 1991, former Trump employee John O’Donnell published “Trumped! The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump”: “In it, O’Donnell departed from the self-congratulatory narrative Trump has created in a series of autobiographies." Just before the book was published, Trump sent an attorney to O’Donnell’s office threatening to link O’Donnell with illegal business activities and an extramarital affair.
• Trump prevented Ivana from writing about their partnership: “She signed an agreement barring her from publishing a ‘diary, memoir, letter, story, photograph, interview, article, essay, account, or description or depiction of any kind whatsoever, whether fictionalized or not, concerning her marriage to [the husband] or any other aspect of [the husband’s] personal, business or financial affairs’ without Trump’s consent.”
• Marla Maples was in talks to publish a “candid memoir” in 2000, but they never panned out: Literary agent Susan Crawford, who recalled taking the service elevator up to Trump Tower to work with Maples on the book, said it never came to pass. “Quite suddenly, after Trump and Maples divorced, Crawford said, “Marla called and said, ‘Susan, I can’t do it.’”

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Shortly before the attack, Nice's mayor tweeted these photos from the promenade:

Here's a photo of the scene before the carnage, taken by a San Diegan who witnessed the whole thing:

French police urged people on social media not to share gruesome photos:

From an NBC correspondent:

A few photos from Cleveland:

For Throwback Thursday, Newt reminisced about his speech at the convention in San Diego 20 years ago:

Twitter did not love the chryon that was on CNN for much of the day:

Conservative critics are upset that Obama keeps claiming, “We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book.” The Post's Fact Checker yesterday gave the president Three Pinocchios. And the hashtag #GlockABook trended for much of yesterday:

Democrats rallied for stricter gun laws after the House adjourned:

Sanford Bishop celebrated National Hot Dog Day:

Congress cannot stop playing Pokemon Go:

Richard Blumenthal saw a metaphor in his broken window:

Cats offer crucial comfort during a leader's most difficult hours. David Cameron posted a picture of himself working on his farewell speech with Larry, the feline he got for his family when they moved into 10 Downing Street:

Finally, here's a sweet moment between Jimmy Carter and a young cancer survivor:

GOOD READ FROM ELSEWHERE:

-- Wall Street Journal A1, “Trying to Serve More Veterans Faster, VA Opens Door to Disability Fraud,” by Daniel Huang: “Iraq war veteran Brian Jacobson took a call last summer from the Sacramento Veterans Affairs Medical Center to schedule a coming medical exam for his disability benefits. When he asked the clinic staffer what he might expect at the appointment, [she] him he would get more benefits if he acted ‘like you have a screw loose in your head, wear clothes with holes that haven’t been washed in a while and act like you’ve been homeless.’ … The Department of Veterans Affairs, fiercely criticized in recent years for slow and shoddy work, has reacted by expanding coverage and speeding up claims processing. Now critics say the reduced evidence requirements and briefer investigations can mean claims get padded, wasting funds and time better directed to more-qualified veterans . Critics say the current system reduces the evidence required to prove disability and prioritizes speedy processing over checking for fraudulent claims.” “There’s a push from the top that says ‘get ’em done,’” said one doctor, saying her supervisor told her “just put down a sentence” to get through cases quickly.

DAYBOOK:

On the trail: We're waiting for any word from Trump. 

At the White House: Obama hosts the Diplomatic Corps Reception. Joe Biden leaves tomorrow for Australia and then New Zealand. He'll be gone through next Thursday.

On Capitol Hill: The Senate and House are out.

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- A much-needed break from the oppressive humidity, per the Capital Weather Gang forecast: "Coming out of the sauna-like, oppressive-feeling dew points well into the 70s, we slowly notice a slight break in humidity levels. In context of it being mid-July, and humidity and heat is about as high as it gets on an annual basis, we can’t be too surprised: it will still feel like summer this weekend despite a slight cool-down. There are shower or storm chances at times, too. Drink that water and dress in lightweight, light-colored clothing when you can!"

-- Federal Transit Administration inspectors announced a “slew” of problems with the Metro rail maintenance work that is being performed as part of the months-long SafeTrack program, identifying 109 defects that occurred during the first two surges of the program. Officials ordered Metro to perform 88 remedial actions – 34 of which have not yet been marked as completed. (Martine Powers)

-- A 34-year-old Washington man was arrested at the Courthouse Metro station after allegedly using his cellphone to take pictures under a woman’s skirt. Police are investigating whether the man, who threw his phone to the ground “in an attempt to break it” and hide the evidence, has targeted others. (Dana Hedgpeth)

-- Metro board chairman Jack Evans warned that, unless the transit agency finds a new source of revenue, the District, Maryland and Virginia may be forced to cough up $75 million to $100 million each. (Martine Powers)

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Video from social media showed the fireworks display in Nice before the attack:

Social video shows fireworks celebration before Nice, France attack

Soon, there was panic in the streets:

Video shows panic in the streets of Nice, France, after truck crashes into crowd

Seth Meyers wondered why Sanders waited to endorse Clinton:

Why Bernie Waited to Endorse Hillary: A Closer Look

Our Chris Mooney unearths a 2009 Pence appearance on "Hardball," in which he demurs on evolution and questions global warming. The fun begins around minute six:

Mike Pence on MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews

Watch the introduction to the ESPYS, where Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James talked about police violence:

The ESPYS Intro About Police Brutality and The Responsibilities of Athletes

Here is a clip from ABC's town hall with Obama on race and policing:

Obama talks about policing at ABC town hall

Hillary made a Pokemon joke at her Virginia rally:

Clinton makes a Pokémon Go joke

Finally, Boris Johnson might be the U.K.'s most undiplomatic foreign secretary ever -- check out a few of his legendary gaffes:

Boris Johnson: Perhaps the U.K.'s most undiplomatic foreign secretary