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US-Iran conflict enters new phase as Saudi Arabia helps hit proxies The stop-start fighting between the United States and Iran appears to have entered a new phase as Saudi Arabia has publicly joined military escalations against Tehran-backed proxies, complicating a conflict that now includes nearly every country in the region. Read more. Why this matters: At the same time, an already untenable diplomatic effort to end the war has faltered once again as mistrust deepens between the United States and Iran. Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region — while little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The US and Iran trade missile barrages as hopes dim for a quick resolution Iraq’s balancing act is only getting harder as the war between the US and Iran widens Lebanese banker faces possible arrest at home after dining with Netanyahu

How views on Trump’s handling of Iran have shifted, according to a new AP-NORC poll   Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll. Our polls and surveys analyst Linley Sanders is with us this morning to unpack the latest results. What’s the most interesting finding from this latest poll? There’s been an apparent decline in Republicans’ approval of how President Trump is handling Iran, dropping from roughly 71% last month to 61% now. That comes as just 28% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach, and about two-thirds of Americans say the war with Iran has not been worth fighting. That frustration could be a problem for Republicans as the midterms approach. Most Americans also say it’s highly important that the U.S. prioritize keeping gas prices low and negotiate a ceasefire. How does Trump’s approval trajectory compare with past presidents? In this new poll, 33% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handing the presidency overall. That’s slightly below where he was at this point in his first term, and similar to where former President Joe Biden was about one and a half years into his presidency. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ For more data, check out AP’s poll tracker Americans’ confidence in US economy falls as Iran conflict sends gas prices higher

July 30, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. The United States bombarded sites in Iran overnight. I’m going to start, though, with President Trump’s campaign of retribution and payouts. James Comey Jared Soares for The New York Times On the beach New details emerged yesterday in the Justice Department’s criminal case against James Comey, Trump’s former F.B.I. director and longtime nemesis, by way of a new court filing by Comey’s lawyers that seeks to dismiss the charges against him. They’re spicy. As you probably remember, prosecutors have charged Comey with threatening Trump’s life. In 2025, Comey posted a photograph of seashells laid out on a North Carolina beach in the shape of the numbers “86 47.” Prosecutors say that “86” is gangster speak for murder. Trump is the 47th president. Comey, for his part, says “86” is tavern jargon, a piece of slang that means to eject a disorderly customer. His lawyers have urged the judge to dismiss the case against him as a vindictive and selective prosecution, and their filing yesterday was based on internal government documents turned over in the case. Those documents, write Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer, provide “one of the most glaring examples to date of the degree to which Mr. Trump now directs federal law enforcement actions.” The Secret Service questioned Comey about the posting, and an agent received a “direct request” from Trump to forward him details from the interview, according to the documents. That summary was sent to Air Force One, even as Trump told Fox News that same day that he was “not going to get involved” in the case. Secret Service agents tailed Comey’s car from North Carolina to Virginia. The “# 3 guy at DOJ ‘wanted to ping’” Comey’s phone without a traditional warrant, according to the filing, a request that’s typically used only when an emergency — a dangerous, fleeing suspect, for instance — requires immediate action. The agents who were following Comey even lost him briefly. He had turned off the highway to visit the gravesite of his son who died in 1995. What’s the deal? The man Trump has tapped to lead the Justice Department, and thus oversee the Comey case, is Todd Blanche. He’s the president’s former personal lawyer. But Blanche’s confirmation faces some headwinds on Capitol Hill. Last night, Senate Republicans delayed a vote on Blanche’s nomination after two key figures on the Judiciary Committee threatened to block it over a deal Blanche cut, as acting attorney general, to settle Trump’s lawsuit with the I.R.S. In June, Blanche said he would drop a proposed $1.8 billion fund to compensate what the Trump administration calls victims of Biden-era actions by the Justice Department. A provision that shields Trump and his family from tax investigations would remain in place, he said, potentially providing a $100 million windfall for Trump and his family. Blanche has thus far refused to put on paper the details of his promise to kill parts of the deal, angering the two Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Cornyn said he didn’t know what the holdup was, Glenn Thrush and Michael Gold report, and he did not rule out the possibility that Trump wants to keep the tax-immunity deal. “I can see why he wants it, because it provides immunity from audits no other taxpayer would get,” Cornyn added. An ally allayed In the meantime, payouts from the fund appear to continue without a formal structure, despite Blanche’s public retreat. The government will make a seven-figure payment to an anti-abortion activist convicted by a Tennessee jury in 2024 of conspiring to prevent access to an abortion clinic, his lawyers announced yesterday. The lawyers had argued that the Biden administration weaponized the Justice Department against the activist. Trump pardoned him last year. Devlin and Alan were on this story, too, and report that Blanche’s management style often prompts criticism that “he continues to act like Mr. Trump’s personal defense attorney, rather than a senior law enforcement official with responsibilities to taxpayers, the rule of law and the public.” A federal judge in Minnesota made just that critique in June. Quashing a number of grand jury subpoenas of Democratic officials there, the judge wrote that Blanche’s department had used “criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the president’s political and personal adversaries.” Related: Trump asked the Supreme Court to step in and overturn an $83.3 million jury award against him for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of a decades-old sexual assault. TODAY’S NUMBER Dr. Anthony Fauci Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times 100 — That is how many times, at least, that Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights yesterday. Senators were grilling him on Capitol Hill as part of a committee investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Fauci accused the committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Rand Paul, of having an “unhinged obsession with me.” Read more about the bitter hearing. MORE NEWS War in the Middle East The war is widening. Iran is becoming more determined as the conflict goes on, experts say. An apparent drone attack on an Egyptian port hit two ships, including a U.S. tanker. U.S. and Saudi attacks on Iraqi militias risk further expanding the war. The Israeli military bombed a mosque in Gaza, accusing Hamas of using it to store weapons. The United States and Iran can’t stop cycling between conflict and calm. Click the chart below to see how unusually volatile this war has been. Source: Data on U.S. and Iranian attacks comes from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, a nonprofit that tracks global conflict. Adina Renner/The New York Times Politics Ken Paxton Antranik Tavitian for The New York Times Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, is far behind his Democratic challenger in fund-raising. So far, national Republicans aren’t willing to help out. Trump unveiled plans for a major redesign of Dulles International Airport in Washington, part of his efforts to remake the city. More and more uninsured patients are showing up in emergency rooms and have been unable to pay their bills after Republican lawmakers cut Obamacare subsidies. (And the Trump administration said it would end Biden-era subsidies that helped lower the cost of Medicare drug coverage.) Around the World The New York Times Cuba is struggling through an energy crisis, worsened by Trump’s fuel blockade. But people are finding ways to cope: Our correspondent visited a children’s movie night in Havana. Watch the video above. Russia charged Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, with facilitating terrorism in its latest attempt to control communication. The South Korean supergroup BTS said it would not compete in the Grammy Awards, protesting the creation of a new category for best Asian pop music performance. Protestants in Northern Ireland have long clashed with Catholics. Some have shifted their anger to immigrants. The Fed The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but acknowledged internal pressure to tackle inflation by raising rates. Long-term government borrowing costs hit a two-decade high after the Fed’s decision. Other Big Stories Buried beneath Marietta, Ohio: hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive fracking wastewater. Now the toxic mess is bubbling up to the surface. Seven years after eBay stalked and harassed two journalists in an effort to get them to stop publishing stories, the company and three former executives agreed to pay them $56 million. OPINIONS Should men ever wear shorts at the office? No, says a fashion writer. Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens discussed the Fauci hearing. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS In Nantucket. Four Winds Craft Guild We’ve made these links free for you. ‘No Influencers’: A Nantucket store owner said a sign banning the social media obsessed from his property was meant as a joke. People took it seriously. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about a man who has been charged with a felony after giving customs agents a code that erased his phone. Going dry: California wine growers are burning their vines as younger people turn to canned cocktails, seltzers and nonalcoholic beers and spirits. The busker: Glen Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter and actor who fronted the band the Frames and had Oscar-winning success with the 2007 film “Once,” died early yesterday morning in a motorcycle crash in Dublin. He was 56. IN ONE MAP The number of data centers in the United States is poised to explode. Source: Cleanview. Jacqueline Gu/The New York Times The A.I. boom is marking the landscape. From the American Midwest to the Persian Gulf, hundreds of major data centers will be turned on in the coming years. They are set to deliver computing power for A.I. that has no technological precedent. A.I. companies are recruiting thousands of electricians and construction workers to help build these data centers. And the Trump administration is repurposing large chunks of federal land to house the centers. Yesterday, the Energy Department said it would redevelop a retired Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility in Kentucky to host a new campus. SPORTS N.B.A.: As the league’s investigation into Kawhi Leonard’s controversial endorsement deal continues, the crew of the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” unpacks another oddity in the saga, this time involving a Rhode Island soccer project. Watch the episode here. Memorabilia: A thrifter bought a Lakers warm-up jacket with Wilt Chamberlain’s name on it for $3 at Goodwill. It resold at an auction last week for nearly $90,000. RECIPE OF THE DAY Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog. I love Melissa Clark, but I’m not going to make her recipe for stir-fried green beans with ground chicken as she suggests. I’m going to use ground lamb instead (as she allows), and luxuriate in how it absorbs the flavors of cumin, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Make it with ground turkey or pork. Make it with tofu crumbles. But make it! THE BIRTH OF A CHEF Anthony Bourdain, circa the late 1970s. Courtesy of A24 The new Anthony Bourdain biopic, “Tony,” is set in 1970s Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Some of the people and places Bourdain interacted with there are still around. Pete Wells, who was our restaurant critic, examines the scene, then and now. More on culture This is cool. After finishing his latest novel and receiving a prepublication galley of it, Karan Mahajan reverted to the original opening passage he had written for the book. Read them both and vote for the one you prefer. Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” is one of this summer’s biggest songs. It has fueled controversy because of its discussion of money, power and dating. It’s also Jon Caramanica’s “Song of the Week.” Late night hosts reviewed Trump’s eulogy for Senator Lindsey Graham. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Philip Lindeman Keep a journal when you’re on the road this summer. You don’t have to show it to anyone. It’s just for remembering in ways that are more fulfilling than scrolling your camera roll. That’s Travel 101. Eat sweet corn to get more fiber. Apply DEET. It’s gotten a bad rap, experts told the bug slappers at Wirecutter. And ticks hate it. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were outboard and troubadour. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Correction: Yesterday I called Lafite Rothschild a wine appellation. It’s not. It’s a (very good) wine producer. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

🛢️ China's new global power Data: China's General Administration of Customs. Chart: Matt Phillips/Axios The Iran war has revealed China's enormous power over global oil prices thanks to its position as the world's largest buyer, Axios' Matt Phillips writes. Why it matters: China's reaction to the oil shock — by substantially withdrawing from world markets — helped prevent the worst of the price spikes that experts thought would follow closure of the Strait of Hormuz. 💡 How it works: Chinese policymakers pulled several levers to cushion the impact of falling oil imports, Goldman Sachs analysts say. They drew down domestic reserves of coal, oil and natural gas. They also leaned harder on renewables and China's massive fleet of electric vehicles.

America's election fears Data: Charles F. Kettering Foundation and Gallup. Chart: Noah Bressner/Axios New Gallup polling finds deep unease around election integrity and America's democratic process ahead of November's midterms. 67% worry political leaders will pressure officials to change outcomes, with Democrats far more anxious (77%) than Republicans (56%). 57% doubt ballots will be properly handled or secured, with Republicans (66%) more concerned than Democrats (52%). Explore the data.

Musk's massive midterms push Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images Tech billionaire Elon Musk is jumping into the midterms with a huge investment to boost Republican voter turnout, Axios' Alex Isenstadt scoops. Musk is resuscitating his dormant super PAC, America PAC, which spent more than $260 million to help elect President Trump in 2024. 🖼️ The big picture: America PAC will focus on door-knocking, digital advertising and direct mail to turn out conservative voters less inclined to cast ballots in a non-presidential election year, sources familiar with the plans tell Axios. Musk's representatives declined to say how much he'd spend. But given what he donated in 2024, the number is expected to be high. Behind the scenes: Musk, the world's richest person, has been in talks with Trump's team about how he can help. America PAC, which has said it knocked on more than 10 million doors in 2024, will coordinate with other Republican groups. By focusing on voter turnout, Musk's group will allow other GOP groups to gear their efforts toward TV ads. Musk's effort will be led by his top political adviser, Chris Young. 👓 Between the lines: Musk's investment will add to a huge Republican cash edge over Democrats at a time when Trump's low approval ratings have put GOP control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, in jeopardy. GOP super PACs and committees have a $300 million-plus advantage over their Democratic counterparts — and that doesn't include the $400 million sitting in Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC. ps:Nothing like paying people off!!

AI prisoner's dilemma Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios America's AI architects are converging on a chilling consensus: The pace of progress may soon demand a slowdown — but no single lab can afford to pull the brake alone, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: Momentum for an AI pause or pacing mechanism has reached a historic tipping point, ignited by a summer of extraordinary yet unsettling leaps in capabilities. More than 1,200 employees at leading AI companies have signed a new petition, "Pacing the Frontier," urging Washington to back an international framework capable of throttling AI development. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday that he has spoken with White House officials "about the need to pace it as the models get more capable, which I think is in everyone's interest." 🔬 Zoom in: What was once a campaign led by AI skeptics, academics and local data center opponents is increasingly being championed by the co-founders and chief scientists at the bleeding edge. Petition signatories spanning OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta acknowledge that no individual lab can afford to ease off unilaterally due to "intense competitive pressure." It's the classic prisoner's dilemma: AI may be safer if everyone slows down together, but any lab or country that slows alone risks commercial, strategic and technological defeat. 🔭 Zoom out: The drumbeat for government intervention has been building for months, triggered by a series of jarring disclosures by America's most advanced AI labs. On April 7, Anthropic revealed that its unreleased Claude Mythos model had taught itself to find and exploit security flaws that had gone undetected in widely used software for nearly two decades — jolting the Trump administration into an unprecedented role as industry gatekeeper. On June 4, Anthropic became the first frontier lab to call for a globally coordinated "pause" mechanism. On July 21, OpenAI revealed that its AI agents escaped a locked testing environment, reached the internet and hacked into at least two outside companies — Hugging Face and Modal Labs — in an autonomous effort to score higher on a cybersecurity evaluation. The other side: The economic and geopolitical stakes standing in the way of an AI slowdown are enormous. U.S. labs and policymakers also fear a unilateral slowdown would cede the frontier to China.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY July 30 1965 President Johnson signs Medicare into law President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Medicare, a health insurance program for elderly Americans, into law. Medicaid, a state and federally funded program that offers health coverage to certain low-income people, was also signed into law on this day. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1866 The New Orleans Massacre 1970s 1971 Fighter jet collides with passenger plane American Revolution 1777 New York’s first elected governor takes office Arts & Entertainment 1999 “The Blair Witch Project” released in theaters 1966 The Troggs take their signature hit, “Wild Thing,” to #1 Civil War 1864 Union forces stopped at the Battle of the Crater Inventions & Science 2003 Last classic VW Beetle rolls off the line Sports 1976 Caitlyn Jenner wins Olympic decathlon U.S. Government and Politics 1619 First legislative assembly in America convenes in Jamestown U.S. Presidents 1956 President Eisenhower signs “In God We Trust” into law 1974 Under subpoena, Nixon surrenders Watergate tapes World War II 1945 USS Indianapolis torpedoed

As France tames wildfire and lets 84,000 evacuees go home, blazes flare across Europe LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — France gave the go-ahead Thursday for 84,000 evacuees forced out by a monster wildfire to return home, the strongest sign yet that firefighters are turning the corner in a grueling battle against flames that have burned an area four times the size of Paris. But blazes flared elsewhere across Europe and actor George Clooney said he’d evacuated his French home because of a nearby wildfire. https://apnews.com/article/france-spain-greece-wildfires-heat-climate-change-de0bfabe2249153afc0e16da2f7e02f3?

A cluster of bananas is called a “hand.” Along that theme, a single banana is called a “finger.” James

Trump and DOJ ask Supreme Court to toss $83 million defamation verdict in E. Jean Carroll case President Donald Trump and the Justice Department are asking the Supreme Court to toss an $83 million defamation verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault, saying he can't be sued for comments he made while he was president. Read More.

Comey’s ‘86 47′ Trump Seashell Case Gets Even Weirder The 65-year-old became the subject of a Trump administration witch hunt after posting a photo of some shells on a beach. Former FBI Director James Comey has filed a motion to dismiss President Donald Trump’s case against him for an Instagram post, exposing wild new details about how the investigation was conducted.Comey, 65, was indicted in April over a post he shared on the platform last May that officials said threatened violence against the 80-year-old president. The post, captioned “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” showed seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.” In slang, the number 86 can mean tossing something out or getting rid of it. Critics took the post to imply Comey thinks Trump should be killed, given that he is the 47th president. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced an investigation into Comey over the post, which she alleged “called for the assassination” of Trump. On Tuesday, Comey’s team filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, and the documents attached to that filing revealed a string of bizarre details about the case. His lawyers argued he was only being pursued because he had criticized the president, and that Comey had established actual “prosecutorial vindictiveness,” since Trump had already set his Justice Department on him once before. Last September, the department accused Comey of lying to Congress over press leaks, a case that was thrown out after a judge determined that Trump’s attack dog in the matter, Lindsey Halligan, a federal attorney with no prosecutorial experience, had been illegally appointed. “The President harbors genuine animus toward Mr. Comey,” the new filing states. That animus is nothing new. Trump fired Comey in 2017 over the Russia election interference investigation, and Comey has been a fierce critic of the president ever since. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi failed to make a case against him stick, but the effort appears to have been revived under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer. Comey’s lawyers say the White House was so fixated on the initial Secret Service investigation that top officials demanded updates while Trump was flying home from Europe. Law enforcement, they argue, went to extreme lengths to track him down. According to the documents, federal agents used emergency phone-tracking to follow Comey as he drove from North Carolina to northern Virginia shortly after the post went up. That kind of warrant-free location tracking is supposed to be reserved for true emergencies, requiring law enforcement to claim there is “an imminent threat to life or limb,” one Secret Service official noted in the filings. Except there was no emergency. When the Secret Service first reached out, Comey declined to share his exact whereabouts but agreed to sit down with investigators in Washington, D.C., the next day. Internal records show agents knew they were crossing a line. One unnamed Secret Service official admitted in a memo, “we did not believe that anyone’s life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone.” The filings also reveal that, in an effort to prove “86” meant murder, the Justice Department interviewed Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, a former mobster who has admitted involvement in more than a dozen killings. He was one of John Gotti’s closest associates and was his underboss in the Gambino crime family. Comey’s team pointed out that in those interviews, Gravano said real mobsters wouldn’t even use the term, since it’s too obvious. He said law enforcement officials would likely know its macabre connotations, but offered nothing to suggest he believed Comey did. Comey, for his part, deleted the post shortly after sharing it and said he had no idea of its hidden meaning, explaining that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” Search warrant affidavits also cite an unnamed Comey associate, interviewed by the FBI in April, who said they told Comey’s wife, Patricia, about the term’s meaning soon after the post went live, and then contacted the Secret Service, arguing Comey would have known what the numbers meant. But that associate’s belief was reportedly based on having listened to a Rudy Giuliani podcast, in which the former New York City mayor suggested that Comey’s law enforcement background meant he’d have known the term’s origins. Comey’s lawyers argued that none of his cases ever involved the word, and noted the associate is estranged from him. Gravano, ironically, ended up helping Comey’s case further when he suggested FBI agents contact longtime prosecutor John Gleeson for his take. “The claim that ’86′ is mafia jargon for ‘kill’ is preposterous,” Gleeson wrote, citing thousands of hours of debriefings and conversations with mafia members in which the term was never used that way. In an FBI affidavit seeking Comey’s Apple iCloud records, agents even pointed to his May 20, 2025, appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he discussed the seashell post. To justify searching his account, the investigating agent cited a Slate interview with Scandal actress Darby Stanchfield, who described going through “pre-interviews” ahead of late-night appearances, and used her comments to infer that Comey had likely discussed the seashells during his own prep sessions. Comey’s defense team filed its motion to dismiss on Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan, arguing that the “86-47” image fails to meet Supreme Court precedent for a “true threat” and that the charges violate his First Amendment rights. Flanagan, a George W. Bush appointee, has set an October 21 trial date for the former FBI director. The White House has been approached for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-comeys-86-47-trump-seashell-case-gets-even-weirder/?

Trump’s Nepo Baby Spy Chief Makes Desperate Bid to Keep His Job Bill Pulte is begging Trump to allow him to keep the role he has no experience for. Donald Trump’s acting director of national intelligence is reportedly lobbying the president to let him stay in the job—even after the Senate confirmed his replacement.Bill Pulte, the billionaire homebuilding heir who was tapped in May despite having no intelligence or national security background, is urging Trump to delay the swearing in of newly confirmed intelligence chief Jay Clayton, according to Politico’s Playbook.Pulte, 38, the grandson of billionaire William J. Pulte, was elevated to the role after intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard stepped down, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis. His surprise appointment bypassed Gabbard’s deputy, Aaron Lukas, and drew criticism from both intelligence officials and some Republicans. His nomination also complicated GOP efforts to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with lawmakers expressing concern about placing sweeping surveillance powers in the hands of someone without traditional intelligence experience. Among the skeptics was Sen. Kevin Cramer, an early Trump ally, who called the appointment “a funny pick.” “I think it’s a funny pick, to say the least. It seems like a funny pick. It’s interim for now, I guess—we’ll see. But I think it’s an odd pick,” the North Dakota Republican said in early June. Pulte’s time in the role now appears to be nearing an end after the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, as director of national intelligence on Tuesday. Announcing the appointment on Truth Social, Trump praised Clayton, writing: “Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!” But according to a White House official quoted by Playbook, Pulte is trying to persuade Trump to postpone the transition. Pulte, who has served as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2025, is asking Trump “to delay Clayton’s swearing-in, or at least trying to stay in the job longer,” a White House official told Playbook. The official said Pulte is arguing that he needs more time to complete unfinished work, telling the president: “He’s doing things nobody else will do, and that’s why he needs to stay in the job longer.” The effort has reportedly found little support inside the administration. The same official said colleagues “definitely do not want” Pulte to remain at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, adding: “That’s the deal that we made with the Hill. We want to honor that.” Even so, multiple people close to the White House told Playbook that Trump and Pulte remain close. “The president really loves him,” one official said, raising the possibility that Pulte could land another Cabinet-level role in the future. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. Pulte is expected to continue leading the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he has sparked controversy by pursuing mortgage fraud allegations against several prominent Trump critics, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook. He also was reportedly the first person to show Trump an AI-generated image portraying the president as Jesus Christ, which Trump later shared publicly. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-nepo-baby-spy-chief-bill-pulte-makes-desperate-bid-to-keep-his-job/? ps:All of his appointees have no clue what they're doing! They're only there to do his bidding and destroy the departments they're in charge of!!!!!

Trump Explodes With Obscene Threat as His Crisis Spirals Hours after a surprise attack on U.S. forces, the 80-year-old president offered one of his most profane public threats yet. A furious Donald Trump has reportedly vowed to “beat the f--king s--t” out of Iran in retaliation for a surprise attack targeting U.S. forces in the Middle East. Hours after Tehran launched a surprise ballistic missile attack against American forces in Jordan, the 80-year-old president was said to have offered one of his most profane public threats yet as the conflict spirals. “We are going to beat the f--king s--t out of them,” he is said to have told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst. “We’ll be hitting them hard. They’re going to get a beating.” Iran’s surprise attack took place after a short pause in hostilities. Centcom said in a post on X that the attack originated from Iran, but all missiles were intercepted. According to Trump, U.S. forces only had minutes to react before the incoming missiles reached their targets. He told Fox he had personally reviewed video of the operation, describing how American personnel tracked the incoming missiles in real time and successfully intercepted them before they could hit. But the president did not hold back in his message of retaliation, sending oil prices soaring at a time when many observers had hoped peace talks could finally pick up speed. With the midterm elections in just 97 days, the escalation also lands at a politically perilous moment for Republicans. While many GOP lawmakers have rallied behind the president’s hardline approach to Iran, an ongoing regional conflict risks deepening MAGA divisions within the party. Democrats are also likely to seize on a prolonged war, rising costs and the growing death toll. Since launching the war on February 28, at least 18 U.S. service members have been killed along with countless innocent Iranian civilians, while gas prices have soared due to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the administration does not appear to have an endgame, constantly oscillating between seeking peace and vowing to escalate. “Trump alternates each hour from “they’re begging for a deal and I think we’re getting close” to “we are going to end their civilization” with mass bombings on civilian infrastructure,” said former Republican turned MeidasTouch editor Ron Filipkowski. Trump told Fox on Wednesday that the U.S. had carried out coordinated airstrikes with Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed militias, which he described as “a cancer on the world.” He also addressed his meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisting the talks went well despite recent strains between the two leaders over strategy in confronting Iran and the broader regional conflict. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-explodes-with-obscene-threat-as-his-crisis-spirals/?

🌊 Parting shot! Photo: Ashley Corso Summer in a pic: Dusk on Long Beach Island, N.J., captured by reader Ashley Corso.

Finding your superhuman ability Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images I grew up just outside of London, in a small town called Ilford. I went to regular public school, and for years I thought I was stupid, Axios co-founder Roy Schwartz writes. Teachers and kids thought I was stupid. I got awful grades, and when I compared my spelling, handwriting or grammar to anyone else, I confirmed that something was wrong. My parents scraped together the money to get a test. Unfortunately, these tests are ridiculously expensive. Back then especially, but even now, most people can't afford them. Luckily, my parents pulled together the money and got me tested — and wow. 📚 The big picture: It turns out I was intelligent — and I had dyslexia. Unfortunately, not much changed for me. There weren't really any learning accommodations back then. But at least if someone was watching me write, sometimes I could say, "I'm dyslexic," and get a small pass. Between the lines: For years I only saw the downsides to having dyslexia. 🔭 Zoom out: For those who don't have learning differences, let me share my typical experience when writing anything. I recently bought a new house, and I must have written the word "couch" 100 times, or rather intended to, only to write "coach." My spelling of the word "exercise" is so bad that spell-check can't identify it. I have to go to Google, find it in a sentence, then cut and paste it back into my email. Yes, we know the downsides to dyslexia and other learning differences. But they can also have several, almost superhuman, upsides. These have only become clear to me after founding my third startup: 1. 💪 Grit: You hear about this all the time. Parents worry that their kids won't have grit because life has become too easy. It's true. I hire dozens of people each year, and it's a very rare skill. Yet people with dyslexia and other learning differences have grit — and a boatload of it. They know what it's like to struggle, to overcome, to figure out a way forward, and to not give up just because something is hard. Grit is the most important characteristic and skill in this new world. Someone with learning differences has already overcome what most people will never experience. They'll find a way through because they have already had to so many times before. 2. 🧠 Problem-solving: People who have learning differences like dyslexia are wired differently. They actually think differently. I didn't realize my ability until I started Politico and Axios. I'd been very successful in sales and consulting, but I hadn't realized exactly why. Then I learned that dyslexic thinkers tend to be great at understanding complex issues and boiling them down to something most people can understand. This helped me in sales, management and, most importantly, leadership. People with learning differences will approach challenges in a unique way. That different approach helps companies make better decisions and solve difficult problems. What to watch: I know AI isn't a popular topic with young people. But in the age of AI, dyslexia's downsides are basically irrelevant. Can't spell? Doesn't matter. Can't do grammar? Doesn't matter. Can't read fast? Doesn't matter. 🤖 AI will help people with dyslexia and other learning differences to neutralize all of the downsides. Plus, the upsides will be in even greater demand. In a world where AI makes things easier, the skill employers want and entrepreneurs need is grit. And AI can supercharge our ability to solve problems. Today's young people have access to more knowledge, more tools, more freedom and more opportunity than any generation before. By a lot. It's not even close. The bottom line: To those with learning differences, you're ready for what's next — and what's next will be amazing because of you. The world needs people who think differently, especially now. Go be different.

💰 Scoop: Crypto cash infusion Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Two crypto groups are launching $1.5 million in ad spending to boost GOP Senate candidates in Michigan and Iowa, we've learned. Why it matters: It's a preview of what could be coming. 🗓️ With fewer than 100 days until the midterms, there's more than $125 million in crypto cash sitting on the sidelines. Fairshake, the industry's biggest super PAC, is staying neutral as negotiators make an eleventh-hour push to find the 60 votes necessary to pass a market-structure bill this summer. 😡 That is frustrating some GOP operatives, who think it's high time to put the CLARITY Act on the floor and force Democrats to go on the record. 🚗 Driving the news: Enter First Principles Digital. The new PAC is placing an $800,000 ad buy to bolster former Rep. Mike Rogers ahead of his Senate primary in Michigan next week, while a related organization, America First Digital, is spending another $750,000 in favor of Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa. "Mike Rogers has spent his career doing the work," Jason Thielman, executive director of both FPD and AFD, said in a statement first provided to us. "Now he's ready to fight to lower the cost of living and protect the American Dream for Michigan families." 📺 The TV and cable ad will focus on the Detroit media market. Last cycle, crypto groups spent some $10 million against Rogers in favor of now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) "Rep. Ashley Hinson has built a record of taking on tough challenges and delivering meaningful results for working Iowans," Thielman said in another statement. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated there will be a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act before the Senate leaves town. 🤔 The intrigue: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), one of the key Democrats negotiating the CLARITY Act, also chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 🎯 If the crypto industry starts targeting her candidates, that could complicate — if not derail — negotiations over the bill. — Stef W. Kight and Hans Nichols

❌ Thune says no Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeated to White House officials in private what he's been saying in public for weeks: We don't have the votes. Why it matters: President Trump isn't buying it — and he's questioning whether Thune is the man for the job. "Well, we're gonna find out," Trump said today. "I'll let you know." ‼️ Asked this evening about Trump saying the votes were gettable, Thune told reporters, "That must be a different form of math." Driving the news: Hours earlier, two of Trump's top aides met with Senate Republicans at their weekly lunch to press them to pass a three-part budget reconciliation bill before leaving town, we scooped earlier today. The goal is to move a House budget resolution to "pay our troops, help our farms and secure our elections," a White House official told us. The White House is also floating a separate reconciliation package (a fourth) to raise the debt ceiling during the lame-duck session. 📢 What we're hearing: Many of Thune's members simply don't want to endure another vote-a-rama, the marathon amendment process that comes with every reconciliation bill. The White House wants Thune to expand the number of committees that receive reconciliation instructions. Many in Thune's conference want to expand the bill in a different direction — and plus-up the $67 billion in defense spending that cleared the House. "There's clearly an interest among certain members of our conference for a higher level of military and defense," Thune said today. The intrigue: During the meeting, Republicans pointed out that the election-law changes envisioned in the House version of the SAVE Act — including more money for states to enforce voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements — wouldn't take effect in time to affect this November's elections. 🌎 Zoom out: The public clash comes at an awkward moment for Republicans: Fourteen weeks before the midterms, the White House and Senate GOP leadership are openly sparring over the president's agenda instead of selling it. Trump is trying to increase pressure on Thune, but the majority leader still enjoys broad support within his conference. Thune, when asked about Trump questioning whether he's the best person for the job, told reporters this evening: "Well, that's nice of him. I guess. I don't know, what do you say on that? That's a decision that's made by my colleagues." 🥊 Even as the two are at odds over reconciliation, Thune is planning to fly to Dallas to join Trump at the president's midterm political convention in September. — Hans Nichols and Stef W. Kight

Man convicted in terrorism trial over the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie A man was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel “The Satanic Verses.” https://apnews.com/article/salman-rushdie-stabbing-terrorism-07d938a1224875fa7adb55886050d46d?

✈️ Trump's next reno target: Dulles Airport Dulles' "people mover" shuttles. Photo: Allison Robbert/AP President Trump is expected this afternoon to unveil his plans to remake Washington Dulles International Airport. He'll propose a $22 billion rebuilding effort, sources told Reuters. The big picture: Trump has repeatedly criticized Dulles, one of two major airports serving the Washington, D.C., area. His renovation efforts are part of a broader push to reimagine Washington in his own image — an effort that also includes the Kennedy Center, the Reflecting Pool, the planned "Triumphal Arch" and more. CBS News reports that Trump "preferred the new Dulles design preserve the iconic sloped-roof main terminal, designed by Eero Saarinen, but would refurbish the interior with an open foyer and new ticket kiosks for the airlines." The Washington Post adds: "Under his plan, the current underground train would be fully built out to take passengers to their terminals — rather than relying on the airport's shuttles, nicknamed 'people movers' — and five terminals would be built to replace the four existing ones." "The Trump-approved design also calls for large glass windows and gold accents throughout the airport, such as high, gold-mirrored ceilings." Go deeper.

Fed leaves interest rate unchanged but with 3 dissents as Warsh praises ‘good family fight’ WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, although three officials dissented in favor of higher rates as the central bank wrestles with how to deal with persistently high inflation. https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-inflation-interest-rates-iran-war-ad10c177cb8d96f9e3ed122e12352a74?

Fauci repeatedly invokes the Fifth Amendment in a contentious Senate committee hearing WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer dozens of questions from senators in a Republican-led committee hearing about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://apnews.com/article/fauci-covid19-pandemic-senate-rand-paul-a774a79e46824ebec9e8e270b9cb9825? ps:I guess he had his reasons, and probably the right thing to do, but I'm disappointed!! I've said this about others if you have nothing to hide there's no reason to take the 5th!!!!!!!

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: The World Cup is for sale, Draymond's back in the Bay, the best fastball is baseball history, MLS All-Star Game, Madden's 99 Club, photo finish, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Draymond returns: Draymond Green has agreed to a one-year, $27.7 million contract with the Warriors after previously declining his player option of the same value to give the team the financial flexibility to pursue LeBron James this offseason. ⚽️ France hires Zizou: 28 years after helping France win the 1998 World Cup as a player, Zinedine Zidane has been named the new head coach of the national team, replacing Didier Deschamps. 🏈 NFL headlines: Aaron Rodgers confirmed that 2026 will be his final season; Eagles DE Jalen Carter (4 years, $152M) and Browns CB Denzel Ward (2 years, $62.2M) became the highest-paid players at their positions; Longtime Bucs DT Vita Vea requested a trade; Panthers great Luke Kuechly will be Netflix's top analyst for 2026. ⛳️ LIV to cancel finale: LIV Golf is reportedly set to cancel its season-ending $40 million team championship in Michigan next month amid its search for outside investment after the Saudi PIF pulls funding post-2026. 🏈 Tar Heels turmoil: UNC's football team is reportedly being investigated by the College Sports Commission, the entity that handles compliance and enforcement of NCAA and NIL rules. The program has also placed GM Mike Lombardi on paid leave following an HR complaint.   ⚽️ THE GLOBAL GAME FIFA PUTS THE WORLD CUP UP FOR SALE (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) Many thought that this summer's North American World Cup represented the peak of commercialization in soccer. As it turns out, it was perhaps only a plateau before a climb to much higher commercial summits ahead. Soccer for sale: FIFA, a not-for-profit institution, is exploring the formation of FIFA Forward Enterprise, an entity that would house all of the organization's commercial rights (broadcasting, sponsorships, ticketing, and licensing). In step with its formation, FIFA would sell a non-controlling minority stake in the entity to investors, with an initial capital raise up to $4.2 billion that values the organization at $20 billion. The investors: The expected lead investor is Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital vehicle recently established by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital, a successful technology-focused venture capital investor that has turned to sports in recent months. The commish: According to The Times, which broke the news, FIFA president Gianni Infantino would serve as the entity's commissioner when his term expires, potentially earning Goodell-level compensation. That possibility has invited stinging rebukes. Insurrection incoming? UEFA, the governing body of European football, voiced strenuous opposition to the potential deal. "The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially," UEFA said in a statement. "None of us are owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell." The support of Europe, home to the reigning champion and many top teams, is not an insignificant matter, and a World Cup boycott is reportedly on the table. FIFA can also expect dissent from the fan community, which has rebelled against similar commercially oriented measures in the past. In club competition, the European Super League concept was effectively squashed by fan unrest before it could achieve liftoff. Bottom line: FIFA's commercial ambition was unlikely to recede after a massively successful World Cup. However, inviting private investors into the fold charts an irreversible course toward maximizing commercial aspirations. That may be too much for some member associations and fans to stomach, setting the stage for the ultimate and definitive clash between sporting tradition and financial largesse.   ⚾️ FLAMETHROWER BEST FASTBALL EVER? NOBODY BEATS THE MIZ (John Fisher/Getty Images) It's actually not that common for the hardest-throwing starter in MLB to also be the best starter in MLB, but Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski appears to have reached that plane of dominance this season. Good luck, hitters: The NL Cy Young favorite has been utterly ridiculous all year (11-4, 1.58 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 185 K, 28 BB, 120 IP), thanks in large part to his triple-digit heater, which just might be the best fastball in the history of the sport. Wild stats: The Miz has hit triple digits on 42.1% of his four-seam fastballs this season. The only other starters who have ever reached double digits in that stat are Hunter Greene (16.9% in 2025) and Jacob deGrom (15.1% in 2023). Among starters in the pitch tracking era, Misiorowski is the all-time leader in fastballs with a perceived speed of at least 103 mph, with 710. Second-most is Jordan Hicks with… six. Jack Baer, Yahoo Sports: Misiorowski is the apex predator of pitch velocity, but that's not the only reason we're saying his fastball is better than any other in history. We can hear the coaches already, saying that fastballs are more than velocity. They're about placement. They're about trajectory. They're about movement. Well, he rates from good to elite on all of those, too. This is a pitcher who almost certainly throws harder than any pitcher in history, releases the ball as close to the plate as anyone, spins the ball as much as anyone and hits the good parts of the strike zone at a well-above-average rate. There have been other freak fastballs in history. Walter Johnson and Randy Johnson both threw elite velocities in their eras, from a place no batters were used to seeing the ball. The real key to a great fastball, or any pitch, is for it to do something the batter is not used to. And Misiorowski certainly does that in a way no other pitcher can replicate across history. Consider this: The Miz has been so good through 120 innings this season that if he posted a league-average ERA (4.21) for the remaining 42 innings he needs to qualify for the ERA title, he would still rank second in the NL in ERA and third in MLB.   💰 JERSEY SPONSORS PATCH PARTY: IRISH BEST BUCKEYES (Yahoo Sports) Ohio State unveiled a jersey patch partnership with JPMorganChase on Tuesday morning, a deal valued at more than $15 million annually, per Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. It was the richest reported school-level patch deal in college sports… for five hours. Down goes Brutus: Ohio State's reign atop the collegiate-patch throne ended on Tuesday afternoon when Notre Dame announced a patch partnership with SoFi, worth an annual average of $18 to $20 million over six years, per Dellenger. What to watch: The vast majority of schools have yet to land patch partners. While the Big 12 struck a $20 million deal with Monster Energy at the conference level, the Ohio State and Notre Dame deals represent the first credible patch numbers for top-tier schools, potentially opening the floodgates for more agreements.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 Charlotte' s Bank of America Stadium hosts North America's best tonight. (Krista Jasso/Getty Images) ⚽️ MLS All-Star Game The best of MLS (USA and Canada) and Liga MX (Mexico) will converge in Charlotte this evening (8pm ET, Apple) for regional bragging rights in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game, just days after North America hosted the World Cup. Head-to-head: The MLS All-Star roster features 29 players from 21 clubs, led by a team-high four from first-place Nashville. The Liga MX roster features 24 players from eight clubs, including five from reigning champions Cruz Azul. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Yankees at White Sox (7:40pm, Prime) … AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.70 ERA) takes the mound against Davis Martin (9-5, 3.49 ERA) and the first-place Sox. 🏀 WNBA: Dream at Wings (8pm, USA); Valkyries at Mercury (10pm, USA) … Golden State (19-8) will look to stay hot after winning 9 of its last 10 games entering the All-Star break. ⚽️ NWSL: KC Current vs. Racing Louisville (8pm, CBSSN); Bay FC vs. Gotham FC (10pm, CBSSN) … Gotham (2nd) and KC (6th) are near the top of the table, while Bay (14th) and Louisville (16th) are near the bottom. 🎾 Tennis: Mubadala DC Open (11am, Tennis) … Taylor Fritz and Naomi Osaka headline today's Round of 16 action in the nation's capital. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🎮 99 CLUB NFL TRIVIA (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) Six NFL players will boast a 99 overall rating (highest possible) when "Madden NFL 27" releases on Aug. 13. Question: Can you name all six players pictured above? Answer at the bottom.   📸 THROUGH THE LENS PHOTO FINISH (Adam Pretty/Getty Images) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Glasgow, Scotland — Swimmers compete during the Men's 100m Breaststroke at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where Australia currently leads the medal count by a wide margin (80), followed by England (44), Canada (35), South Africa (16) and Scotland (15).   Trivia answer: Clockwise from top right: Josh Allen (Bills QB), Trey McBride (Cardinals TE), Matthew Stafford (Rams QB), Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals WR), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks WR), Myles Garrett (Rams DE)

Biblical Ataroth High on a ridge in western Jordan, overlooking the Dead Sea some 6.5 miles away, sits the remarkable site of Khirbat Ataruz, likely the location known in the Hebrew Bible as Ataroth. During the Iron Age, beginning in the early to mid-ninth century BCE, a remarkable temple complex flourished here, and, for a time, control of the site was hotly contested by the competing powers of Israel and Moab. In the Summer 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, archaeologists Chang-Ho Ji and Aaron Schade detail their findings from two and a half decades of excavation at the site in their article “Sacred Center: The Iron Age Temple at Biblical Ataroth.” https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/biblical-ataroth/? The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared heretic by orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, their gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/the-nag-hammadi-codices/?