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Pentagon Pete Humiliated by Major U-Turn as Air Force Flu Outbreak Explodes The military has quietly reinstated mandatory flu jabs for recruits just two months after Hegseth scrapped the 80-year-old rule. The U.S. military has been forced into a humiliating climbdown over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s flu vaccine rules after an outbreak at a U.S. Air Force base spread to affect at least 222 recruits.Hegseth, 45, made the annual flu shot optional for troops in April, tearing up a requirement that had stood since 1945 in a move that broke with decades of public health guidance. Only about 40 percent of new trainees at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas had been jabbed when the outbreak took hold in early June, down from a previous rate of nearly 100 percent.Now the Army, Navy, and Air Force have all quietly performed a U-turn, once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees, officials told ABC News, which first reported the worsening crisis. The Pentagon has granted the services formal exceptions to Hegseth’s own policy. The numbers are getting worse by the day. As of Tuesday, at least 222 recruits at Lackland Air Force Base had been diagnosed with flu, and four had been hospitalized, two sources familiar with the matter told the network. That is up from 159 cases and two hospitalizations a week earlier. One recruit has died. Keon McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic training when he suffered a medical emergency on June 12 and was rushed to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he died on June 16, according to the Air Force. The cause remains under investigation. It is not yet clear whether the death is linked to the outbreak. Recruits are at particular risk. They live in tightly packed bays, shower communally and spend their days within arm’s reach of one another through drills and inspections—exhausted, stressed and crammed together in exactly the conditions where a respiratory virus can thrive. Hegseth showed no such caution in April. “Our new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you,” he said, branding the old mandate “overly broad and not rational.” Rep. Joaquin Castro, 51, whose Texas district covers about half of San Antonio, including Lackland, was scathing. “After Secretary Hegseth scrapped the military’s flu vaccine mandate, it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred,” he wrote on X. “It was a reckless decision that put troops in harm’s way and undermined our military readiness.” The Army is now preparing to further broaden the requirement in the coming weeks—to include troops deploying overseas, first responders, child care workers, healthcare staff, prison workers, and soldiers on large-scale exercises, a spokesperson said. The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for comment. In a statement, spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that the undersecretary for personnel and readiness had signed off on exceptions for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency, following what he called “thorough risk assessments” designed to “maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations.” He insisted the Pentagon “remains committed to the health and readiness of our warfighters.” An Air Force spokesperson said the 37th Training Wing had spent three weeks battling the “localized influenza outbreak” alongside the 59th Medical Wing, isolating and treating sick trainees with antivirals such as Tamiflu and monitoring those who had been in close contact. Recruits return to training once medics clear them. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseth-humiliated-by-major-u-turn-as-air-force-flu-outbreak-explodes/? ps:ibid!!!!!

Pentagon Pete’s Purge Chaos Spirals With Top General’s Shock Exit The increasingly paranoid defense secretary just canned one of the top military officials responsible for helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out another senior military official in his paranoid purge of the Pentagon’s top brass. Four-star General Chris “C.D.” Donahue, 56, who, as the Army’s chief official in Europe and Africa, has been instrumental in helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, has filed to retire and will leave his post within days. Donahue, a special forces veteran who was famously the very last service member to depart Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal under Joe Biden, had once been tipped to run the entire Army but is now one of the most senior names on a lengthening list of officers shown the door under Hegseth, as The Atlantic first reported. The general had clashed with the secretary before opting to retire, according to CBS News, which said the Army confirmed July 2 as his final day after just a year and a half leading U.S. forces in Europe and Africa. Armed forces officials thanked him for his service in a clipped statement and tapped his deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, to fill in. Brett McGurk, a former special presidential envoy who steered the campaign against Islamic State under Obama and during Trump’s first term, told CBS that “there are few people more responsible for the defeat of ISIS than Chris Donahue,” and that “he is among the most consequential commanders of his generation.” The exit extends a clear-out that has thinned the Pentagon’s upper echelons since Trump returned to office in January 2025. Hegseth pushed out the Army’s most senior general, Randy George, in the spring—a move The Financial Times reports stirred resentment in the ranks. George’s job had notably been to rebuild air-defense stockpiles that the president’s war with Iran had depleted. The roll call of canned veteran leaders runs long. It includes Air Force General and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Q. Brown, along with Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was the first woman to run the Navy, as well as ex-National Security Agency chief General Timothy Haugh and former top NATO liaison Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield. Officers are clear-eyed about the danger that Hegseth’s purges pose to national security, having cost the Defense Department decades of combined experience and expertise. “It’s interesting that the guy who says he wants to bring back the warrior culture is expunging the biggest warriors in the Army ranks,” one retired service member told The Atlantic. “This is not a war on woke,” they added. “This is a war on warriors.” Other former top officers told the FT that an increasingly paranoid Hegseth has fostered an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that has reached the highest ranks at the Pentagon. The dismissals have gathered speed since last year’s Signal leak, when Hegseth unwittingly shared sensitive airstrike details with a journalist who had accidentally been added to a group chat with multiple ranking members of the Trump cabinet. That snafu has fed what detractors describe as a hardening bunker mentality at the top of Hegseth’s department. But not all officers dismissed by the secretary have gone quietly into the night. Nancy Lacore, a 35-year Navy veteran cut loose last August as Hegseth removed officials whose intelligence assessments had irritated the president, has since secured a Democratic ticket in South Carolina and is now running for Congress, The New York Times reports. Hegseth’s stewardship has supplied no shortage of oddities to accompany the purges. He has repeatedly joined rank-and-file troops for fitness drills in front of the cameras, ordered a makeup space installed at the Pentagon for touch-ups ahead of press appearances, put up photographs of his wife in official areas, and curbed access for reporters and photographers whose work he finds unflattering. The Daily Beast contacted the Defense Department for comment on this story. The Pentagon deferred questions to the Army. “The Army thanks Gen. Donahue for his leadership of U.S. Army Europe and Africa,” spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said. https://www.thedailybeast.com/defense-secretary-pentagon-pete-hegseths-purge-chaos-spirals-with-top-general-cd-donohues-shock-exit/? ps:What a complete jerk this man is!!

Archaeologists find huge Viking textile production site in Denmark SØFTEN, Denmark (AP) — Archaeologists have discovered a huge Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that dates back more than 1,000 years and underlines the sophistication of Viking society. https://apnews.com/article/denmark-viking-textile-production-site-soeften-54f9b57b5485aa602591185ff3b911cd?

High school senior gets over 5 years in prison for setting homeless man on fire on NYC subway NEW YORK (AP) — A high school senior who admitted to setting a fire that severely burned a homeless man on the subway was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to 5 1/2 years in prison. https://apnews.com/article/subway-fire-arson-new-york-city-87dce820960d41011f2e127fcf14c3a2?

COVID-19 vaccine study that was blocked from CDC journal is published elsewhere NEW YORK (AP) — A study on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness has finally been published after being blocked from a government health journal. https://apnews.com/article/cdc-covid-vaccine-effective-study-256e61b5ff4fcf3bfecd48826077e389?

Judge bars immigration arrests at US courthouses in a setback for Trump A judge on Tuesday barred the federal government from making arrests at immigration courts, ordering an end to a practice that took hold shortly after President Donald Trump took office last year. https://apnews.com/article/judge-rules-against-immigration-courthouse-arrests-e99e8e3a27647a716917217cc1c207ab? Federal appeals court allows the Trump administration to resume expanded use of speedy deportations A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border. https://apnews.com/article/trump-speedy-deportations-lawsuit-aclu-judge-cd0ffc2dc1df05568952e9149569bbbb?

Immigration case dealing with green card holders, Supreme Court sides with Trump administration WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday in an immigration case dealing with the government’s power over green card holders accused of crimes. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-immigration-b9ea1079296c0d7be844213986f96e6f?

8 convicted in Texas immigration center shooting and protest are sentenced to decades in prison A former U.S. Marine reservist and seven others were sentenced Tuesday to decades in prison over a shooting last year that wounded a police officer during a demonstration outside a detention center near Dallas. Read more. Why this matters: Prosecutors called the crime an act of terrorism and said the eight were linked to the leftist militant group antifa. The defendants’ attorneys denied any antifa ties. Benjamin Song, the Marine reservist who was convicted of opening fire during the July 4 demonstration outside the Prairieland Detention Center, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, the maximum punishment. The seven others received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years. All but one of the eight defendants sentenced Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges.

Trump heads to Capitol to speak with GOP senators who have grown increasingly frustrated with him President Donald Trump on Wednesday will attend a closed-door Senate GOP luncheon for the first time in more than a year. Read more. Why this matters: The president has pressured senators for months to focus on his proof-of-citizenship voting bill even though it doesn’t have the votes to pass. At the same time, he has blocked them from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend his Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame. Still, senators said ahead of the meeting that they hope to focus on unity, not disagreements. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Senate for first time approves a war powers resolution in a rebuke to Trump over Iran conflict Trump administration touts Iran deal as a payday for US farmers, but Iran denies it Top Army general who was last US soldier to leave Afghanistan is suddenly leaving his post NATO’s Trump whisperer heads to the White House to soothe the president ahead of next month’s summit Troubled Reflecting Pool faces fresh scrutiny over vandalism claims and duck deaths Justice Department announces hundreds of charges in multi-billion-dollar healthcare fraud crackdown How Americans feel about the country’s 250th anniversary, according to new polls Supreme Court rules Rastafari man can’t sue Louisiana prison officials who cut his dreadlocks

Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani waded into Democratic House primaries to boost three progressives over establishment-backed candidates. Read more. What to know: All three of Mamdani’s candidates won Tuesday, defeating two incumbents and essentially ensuring that two self-described democratic socialists will be elected to Congress in their deep blue districts. The mayor said it was a question of electing “better Democrats” who would “put working people back at the heart of politics.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg loses in New York City congressional primary The primary elections, in photos Alan Wilson wins South Carolina Republican governor runoff after Trump hedges his bet on race Ben McAdams defeats progressives in Utah Democratic primary as he seeks a return to US House Federal judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit seeking detailed voter data from Maryland Georgia’s QR codes for counting votes will remain for midterms

June 24, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning from North Dakota, where I’m on a reporting trip with our architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora. I’ll tell you more about it in the coming days. For now, know that it’s windy and beautiful here on the buttes, green yet Mars-like, with pheasants exploding out of the grass. Bison for breakfast? I think so, yes. As for the news: Progressive candidates had a strong showing in New York’s primaries. The Senate voted to check President Trump’s war powers. And there’s more below. We’ll start today, though, with our mail. President Trump and Elon Musk in the Oval Office last year. Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times Your questions, answered A perk of writing this newsletter is that we get to hear directly from our readers. You all send us great questions, and we’ve gone out to find answers for them. You’ll see some of those below, and more published in the coming days. Please: Send more questions, so we can keep this going. When Trump became president again, there was a period of intense activity by his DOGE agency. Are they operating still, and if so, to what effect? — Nigel Ashton, Wirral, England Emily Badger, a reporter with The Upshot who worked on a major investigation into DOGE, answers: The executive order creating DOGE called for it to end this July 4, but it effectively wound down last fall with a whimper, having saved the government little money. Some DOGE workers have transitioned to permanent roles within the government. And the administration is still pursuing some of the same goals, including with a fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance. But DOGE as we knew it is no more. We’ll still be talking about it for a while, though, as the consequences of its cuts (and related lawsuits) may linger for years. I’ve read that Social Security benefits could be cut by more than 20 percent circa 2032. Is anyone in Washington doing something about this, or is the sentiment “que será, será”? — Barbara Nawrocki, New London, Connecticut Tara Siegel Bernard, who has reported extensively on the future of Social Security, answers: You’re right: Social Security’s annual trustee report warned earlier this month that the program’s longstanding shortfall had worsened. At the end of 2032, the trust fund that pays retiree and survivor benefits would be depleted, and incoming revenue would be enough to pay only 78 percent of benefits, which translates into a 22 percent benefit cut. Several proposals exist to shore up the program, either through tax increases, benefit cuts or some combination therein. But such a crucial program requires a fix that garners public and bipartisan support — a challenge in these polarized times. But the report appeared to inspire some movement. Two members of Congress recently introduced a bill that would create an independent commission, with members appointed by both parties, tasked with finding “commonsense solutions.” And Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno said they’re working on a bipartisan plan of their own. Vincent Alban/The New York Times What or who decides gasoline prices? The price of a barrel of oil doesn’t always seem to track with prices at the pump. — Kate Eaton, Ann Arbor, Michigan Emmett Lindner, a business reporter who has been covering the recent rise and fall of gas prices, answers: There’s a saying about the cost at the pump: up like a rocket, down like a feather. Essentially, the price of gasoline shoots up when oil jumps, but takes a while to match a drop. The conflict in the Persian Gulf has caused a lack of crude supply throughout the world; at one point, oil’s price went up over 50 percent. Barrel costs have gone down, but some of the gas currently sold was refined from the older, more expensive crude. When wholesale prices go down, station owners are also slow to cut costs, hoping to make up for weeks of thin margins. And, of course, they try to draw customers while remaining competitive with the other stations in the area. We landed on the moon decades ago. Why isn’t it easy to do so again? Why are we reinventing the wheel? — Linda Hoza, Lakewood Ranch, Florida Katrina Miller, a science reporter who recently covered NASA’s announcement of the Artemis III crew, answers: The main issue is money. NASA is trying to send humans back to the moon — this time to stay — at a fraction of the cost of the Apollo program. Back then, NASA’s approach to developing rockets and vehicles suitable for a lunar landing was expensive and controlled by the federal government. Now, the agency is relying more on SpaceX and Blue Origin to do much of that work. That’s cheaper, but also more volatile. NASA has less influence over design and timelines, and its lunar aspirations depend on whether those companies can fulfill what some say are overly ambitious promises. PRIMARY NIGHT Mayor Zohran Mamdani Lexi Parra/The New York Times Left-wing candidates had a strong showing in New York, where all three contenders endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their Democratic House primaries last night: One of those candidates, the progressive former city comptroller Brad Lander, ousted an incumbent, Representative Dan Goldman, in a race in which Israel became a top issue. The other two candidates were both democratic socialists: Darializa Avila Chevalier, who defeated Representative Adriano Espaillat, and Claire Valdez, who won the nomination for an open seat. In another closely watched race, Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman, won a crowded primary for a safely Democratic district being vacated by Representative Jerrold Nadler. Its star-studded field included Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy and had prompted nearly $40 million in super PAC spending. Read more about Mamdani as a new kingmaker. (We made this link free for you, along with others below.) THE LATEST NEWS In the Courts An appeals court ruled that the Trump administration could expedite the deportations of unauthorized immigrants nationwide. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that a Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were forcibly shaved by prison guards could not sue state officials for money. The court also cleared the way for Exxon Mobil to seek compensation for oil and gas assets that Cuba’s communist government seized in 1960. Washington Renovations Trump has blamed vandals for the state of the renovated Reflecting Pool. But internal documents don’t note any evidence of tampering with its new “American flag blue” coating. (This link is free.) The condition of the Reflecting Pool has become a favorite topic for late night hosts. Around the World The New York Times Doctors treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the symptoms may be milder than in previous outbreaks. In the video above, Apoorva Mandavilli, a health reporter, explains why that could actually make the outbreak more dangerous. Click to watch. A U.N. report accused Israel’s security forces of deliberately killing children in Gaza after a cease-fire took effect. Israeli officials called the report a “libelous sham.” Tech SpaceX shares are slumping just over a week after its blockbuster I.P.O. Times Exclusive: Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app, similar to Polymarket and Kalshi. OPINIONS There are lessons for other populist movements in the failures of Brexit, Philip Stephens writes. (This link is free.) Here’s a column by Bret Stephens on why it’s time to cringe for America. Subscribers always win. Here’s why. You can now save 75% on your first year of a New York Times Games subscription. Discover all of our word and logic games (and play past puzzles), earn badges for your achievements, plus more. Time is running out though, so subscribe today. Subscribers always win. Here’s why. You can now save 75% on your first year of a New York Times Games subscription. Discover all of our word and logic games (and play past puzzles), earn badges for your achievements, plus more. Time is running out though, so subscribe today. MORNING READS A Barack Obama-endorsed cheeseburger. Lyndon French for The New York Times Not fancy, but good: Former President Barack Obama has strong feelings about the cheeseburgers at his presidential center. (This link is free.) Prime Day: The sales event, which used to be a single day of discounts on Amazon, now stretches over multiple days. Wirecutter is keeping track of the best deals. Searching for clues: Every villain prompts a hunt for an origin story. Times reporters went in search of Jeffrey Epstein’s. (This link is free to read). Legacy of Little Bighorn: As the 150th anniversary of the battle approaches, relatives of Sitting Bull and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer are grappling with its meaning. Scary mommy: Jill Smokler’s warts-and-all look at parenting attracted millions of readers to her blog. She died of brain cancer at 48. YOUR PICK, YOUR VOICES The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the increasing rate of “gray divorce” — that is, splits among those 50 and older. Readers, unsurprisingly, also had thoughts on the topic. You can join the conversation here. H Hogship Massachusetts It’s over when, “you complete me,” becomes, “you deplete me.” T Tania Oregon Marriage consists of two people deciding to stay together. That's it. That's the magic and the glue: commitment. If someone is abusive, addicted, or has a mental health disorder that they cannot or will not deal with, that's a different animal. Beyond that, marriage is just two people deciding to stay together. View all comments TODAY’S NUMBER 44.3 Celsius — That’s how hot it got in Pissos, in southwest France, yesterday. (In Fahrenheit, that’s around 112 degrees.) It was France’s hottest day on record, according to the country’s weather agency. Read more about the European heat wave. WORLD CUP Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s 5-0 blowout win over Uzbekistan, making him the first person to score a goal in six World Cups. In other group stage action, England struggled to a draw against Ghana, Panama is out after a 0-1 loss to Croatia, and Colombia eked out a 1-0 win over Congo to ensure a spot in the knockout rounds. The United States eased travel restrictions on Iran’s team, allowing players to arrive in Seattle a day earlier than planned for their final group stage game. RECIPE OF THE DAY David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks. You don’t need a recipe. You just need confidence. Get a rotisserie chicken, some baby arugula, a lot of herbs, maybe an avocado, a couple of limes. Dinner in 15 minutes, tops. I’ll walk you through it. TAKES TWO In Istanbul. Laura Boushnak for The New York Times Istanbul has become an unexpected global capital for tango. There are dance spots and tango schools all over the city. Some even say, perhaps blasphemously, that Istanbul’s tango scene rivals that of Buenos Aires, where the dance was born. That’s surprising in an overwhelmingly Muslim city where social conservatism may clash with the famously steamy dance. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Play Unhinged, an immersive horror game on Netflix that stars Zoë Kravitz and Sadie Sink. The catch is: The controller is your phone. It’s an experiment in getting audiences to use two screens in tandem, rather than as a distraction from each other. Deep-clean your air-conditioner, please. You don’t want to be blowing mold everywhere. Enjoy the simple pleasure of a breeze in your bedroom with this terrific little fan tested by the studious aerodynamicists at Wirecutter. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was marijuana. 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 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

Europe heat wave Extreme heat is gripping Europe as a powerful heat dome pushes temperatures to triple digits across much of the continent. Hundreds of records have already been shattered, with more expected as the heat intensifies today through Thursday. France, at the epicenter of the extreme conditions, also endured its hottest day on record Tuesday. Read more. THE SCIENCE: Here's what happens to your heart and brain in the heat

War powers In a rare bipartisan move, the Senate on Tuesday voted to limit President Trump's war powers by directing him to remove US military forces from the conflict in Iran. The measure sends a clear signal that many lawmakers remain uneasy about deeper US involvement. President Trump, meanwhile, called the vote "poorly timed and meaningless." Read more.

Housing affordability The dream of homeownership is slipping out of reach for many Americans as housing costs continue to outpace incomes. But relief may be on the way: Congress this week passed the largest housing affordability bill in a generation, designed to increase the number of homes on the market and remove some of the hurdles that have made them so expensive. Here's how it could affect you.

⚽ 1 for the road: World Cup scoring spree Data: Zafronix. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios The World Cup is producing goals at a pace not seen since 1958. Each match is averaging just over 3 goals so far — 23% more scoring than the same span of games in the last World Cup. AP pinpoints three factors driving the high-scoring games: ⚽ The ball: It's built with deep seams to produce "optimal in-flight stability." Players and coaches say it's flying at goalkeepers at high velocity. ⏱️ Longer games: New hydration breaks have led to more stoppage time, opening up extra scoring chances. 🌎 A bigger tournament: The expanded 48-team format, debuting this year, has widened the talent gap between teams. Go deeper. World Cup restrictions The US government will allow Iran's national team to enter the country two days before its World Cup match against Egypt on Friday, easing previous restrictions. It marks a notable shift after weeks of uncertainty that forced the team to alter its travel plans and navigate visa hurdles tied to broader tensions between Washington and Tehran. Read more. PLUS: Team Iran thanks LA for hospitality after World Cup game

📉 Tech stock slump Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Investors hit pause on the AI run-up, with chip stocks slumping from their record highs, Axios Markets author Emily Peck writes. Why it matters: We're in a bit of a reality-check moment in the AI buildout — both for businesses blowing their budgets on compute, and for investors bidding up stock prices for any company engaged in the new technology. The tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index slid 3.3% yesterday. The broader S&P 500 closed 1.4% lower, after a selloff in South Korea got investors skittish about the high-flying chip stocks. Keep reading.

Data: Pew Research Center. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios New polling shows America's standing abroad is sliding as the Trump administration threatens a wholesale reordering of the trans-Atlantic relationship, Axios' Mike Zapler and Josephine Walker write. Why it matters: Pew's findings, out yesterday, capture how allies increasingly view Washington as unreliable, self-interested and less committed to global cooperation. 🧮 By the numbers: A median of 76% of people across 36 countries have no confidence in Trump, according to Pew. About 57% view the U.S. unfavorably, and around 50% call it an unreliable partner. Among traditional allies, faith in the U.S. as a reliable partner has cratered since 2022 — down 52 points in Sweden, 48 in Canada and 47 in the Netherlands. More on the polling.

🎬 The Axios Show: Chamath's anti-doomer case AI investor and "All-In" Podcast co-host Chamath Palihapitiya tells Dan Primack on "The Axios Show" that an AI job apocalypse makes for an "incredible headline" but ignores how humans have adapted to past tech shocks. The Social Capital CEO rejected the idea that AI and robotics will wipe out work — even for plumbers. Palihapitiya asks who will run the plumbing business or the robotics company. Humans will still need shelter, food, clothing and, yes, bathrooms. Palihapitiya points to past technological transitions that let humans multiply the number of tasks they do in a day. "I suspect if you just trend it, that 35 things now goes to 300 things over the next thousand years," he said. "There's going to be more ways in which we allocate time." Watch the first clip.

🗽 Socialist earthquake in NYC Mamdani as kingmaker: House Democrats were stunned last night when two of their colleagues — including the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — lost primaries to left-wing challengers backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Axios' Andrew Solender writes. Why it matters: The New York primary results are expected to double the Democratic Socialists of America bloc in Congress. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told us: "People who do not support the DSA wring their hands at cocktail parties, while the DSA is organizing." 🔎 Zoom in: Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) lost reelection in a 66% to 34% landslide to progressive former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the Hispanic Caucus chair, lost his primary more narrowly to democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier. In the race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), democratic socialist state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez scored a double-digit victory over the Brooklyn borough president. Between the lines: Mamdani backed all three winners: Lander, Avila Chevalier and Valdez. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) endorsed Espaillat and Goldman. Keep reading. 👉 The AI race: New York state Assemblyman Micah Lasher won a crowded Democratic primary for the Manhattan congressional seat left open by retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, beating Alex Bores, a state assemblyman and former Palantir employee. Bores helped pass the nation's first major AI-safety law and ran on reining in the industry. The race drew more than $20 million in spending from AI interests. By the numbers: Lasher got 39% and Bores got 35%. Jack Schlossberg, a political novice and grandson of President John F. Kennedy, finished with only 11% of the vote (11,000 votes out of 102,000). Go deeper. 🗳️ More takeaways ... AP results from New York ... Maryland ... South Carolina ... Utah. Elections takeaways Americans across four states cast their votes Tuesday in primaries and runoffs ahead of the November midterm elections. In New York, all three candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their House primaries, including two who defeated incumbents. The wins are being viewed as a sign of Mamdani's growing political influence and his emergence as a key power broker within the Democratic Party. Read more. WATCH: Candidate finds out he won his race while live on CNN

Global AI wars Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen use this "Behind the Curtain" column to synthesize a flurry of news showing the U.S. faces rising AI competition across Asia and Europe: The Five Eyes intelligence alliance issued a rare joint warning this week that frontier AI capable of crippling governments and businesses is close. The fast rise of Chinese and Japanese models helps explain the urgency and fear, officials tell us. Why it matters: Yes, Anthropic's Mythos model is the most cyber-lethal threat in the world. But OpenAI is close here in America. And China and Japan, using much cheaper models, have gotten closer, faster than intelligence agencies anticipated. "The timeline is not years, it is months," Five Eyes warned. Five Eyes, composed of the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is considered the world's most comprehensive and powerful spy network. 🖼️ The big picture: President Trump told Marc Caputo on "The Axios Show" that "we're beating China by a lot" on AI. But that lead, which U.S. leaders and businesses have been banking on, is eroding. Three new disruptions show just how fast it's happening: It's becoming harder to put up a wall around America's advancements. Japan's Sakana AI launched Fugu Ultra, an orchestrator that it claims offers "frontier capability without the risk of export controls" by switching between publicly available models. The Tokyo-based company says it can reach Mythos-level performance by using U.S. labs' work as interchangeable infrastructure. China is eating away at that lead by stealing America's best work. In February, Anthropic accused DeepSeek, Minimax and Moonshot of illicitly training their own models via "distillation," using thousands of accounts to have millions of exchanges with Claude — a cheap shortcut to years of pricey research. American labs are wondering whether the frontier is worth the risk. Two weeks ago, the Commerce Department export-controlled Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5, leading the company to shut off access for everyone. The best domestic AI companies may be wary to show off their highest-capability models, fearing further government intervention. Between the lines: China's open-source models are gaining ground fast. Z.ai's GLM-5.2 is the buzziest right now. An LLM leaderboard by Artificial Analysis, a benchmarking company, puts GLM-5.2 alongside OpenAI's GPT-5.5, at about a fifth of the cost to run. When it comes to coding, Arena's web development ranking has the Chinese model second only to Fable — making it the best-performing model you can actually use right now. Alex Stamos, former Facebook chief security officer, told Axios Future of Cybersecurity's Sam Sabin that it's quite possible the Chinese "have things privately that are really, really good. [It] is arrogant and foolish of us to think that just because we're American that we've got the best stuff." He added that Chinese military hackers are likely "laughing hilariously right now at the Americans fighting between themselves and cutting each other off left and right." 🔭 Zoom out: It's Europe, too. Domyn — an AI company based in Milan, Italy — announced last week that its Europa project is a frontier open-source AI model that will support all 24 official languages of the European Union. Domyn (formerly iGenius, which was described as the Ferrari of AI) collaborated with Nvidia to build Colosseum, billed as Europe's largest AI supercomputer. 👀 What we're watching: The Five Eyes call to action said a "whole-of-society response is required" to respond to the accelerating cyber risk. "Boards and executives should ensure cyber resilience is in place and works under pressure," the bulletin says. "It is not enough to have controls. Leaders must be confident those controls will perform during a real incident. This requires reassessing long-standing trade-offs and using AI deliberately to strengthen defense — not just improve efficiency." The bottom line: America's AI lead is real but shrinking. Every move to protect it only hands rivals another reason to route around it — all while the capabilities that have Five Eyes on edge are already loose, downloadable and impossible to recall. Axios' Shane Savitsky and Sam Sabin contributed reporting.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY June 24 1997 U.S. Air Force reports on Roswell U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, New Mexico, almost exactly 50 years earlier. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1980s 1982 Garment workers’ strike begins in New York City’s Chinatown 21st Century 2021 98 people die in Surfside condo collapse Arts & Entertainment 2005 Tom Cruise raises eyebrows in “Today” show interview 1997 Disney pulls Insane Clown Posse album on release day Cold War 1948 Soviets blockade West Berlin Colonial America 1675 King Philip’s War begins Crime 1973 UpStairs Lounge arson attack 1993 Unabomber mail bomb injures Yale professor European History 1717 1st Masonic Grand Lodge formed in London 1812 Napoleon’s Grande Armée invades Russia Vietnam War 1970 Senate votes to repeal Gulf of Tonkin resolution

Airborne Ant Trap Researchers have identified a new Australian spider that catapults its prey into the air with an acceleration roughly 15 times greater than that experienced by jet pilots, according to a study published this week. A two-person team spent 10 nights in the rain forest recording the nocturnal species with high-speed and infrared cameras. The spider spends up to four hours spinning tension lines into a cone on a leaf, branch, or the forest floor. Researchers suspect it releases pheromones to lure green ants—the spider's only prey. When an ant bites the cone, the trap launches the insect nearly a foot into the air in a fraction of a second and into a primary web, where the spider feasts (watch infrared recording). The snare-like contraption is the first known web triggered by the prey rather than the predator and the first designed to target a single species. While the spider has yet to be formally named, it's been coined the ballista spider, after an ancient Roman weapon used to launch stones (watch how it works).

'Green Boots' Recovery Mission India’s government is soliciting bids for a mission to retrieve the remains of “Green Boots,” a climber who died 30 years ago on Mount Everest. See an image of “Green Boots” here (scroll and use the slider to reveal). In 1996, climbers attempted the first Indian ascent of Everest from the northeast side in Tibet. (Climbing from Nepal's south side is more common, accounting for about 70% of climbs.) Near the summit, the group was hit by the blizzard chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air.” Eight people died, including three Indian climbers, of whom only one body has been found. Nicknamed for his lime-colored boots, the body remains on the trail, and DNA has confirmed he is Indian soldier Dorje Morup. India wants the retrieval completed by October, despite poor weather conditions. About 200 bodies remain on Mount Everest. Efforts to retrieve them are dangerous, although some—including “Sleeping Beauty”—have been moved out of sight.

Healthcare Fraud Sweep The Justice Department has charged 455 defendants across 45 states and US territories in a $6.5B healthcare fraud crackdown, which officials described as the largest coordinated enforcement action in its history and the second-largest amount ever charged in a single operation (behind last year’s $14.6B operation). Authorities say the schemes targeted Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare programs through fraudulent billing, illegal kickbacks, opioid distribution, and telemedicine operations. Those charged include 90 licensed medical professionals, while 295 defendants are tied to over $500M in false Medicaid claims. Investigators also seized more than $127M in cash, vehicles, jewelry, and other assets tied to the alleged fraud. The two-week crackdown comes amid the Trump administration’s antifraud push, with expanded data-sharing efforts across agencies (scroll to see coordinated effort). Experts estimate healthcare fraud costs the US between $100B and $170B annually—roughly 3% to 15% of total healthcare spending. See a dashboard tracking healthcare fraud cases nationwide.