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🇺🇸 1 for the road Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Construction is underway along the full length of the National Mall for celebrations of America's 250th birthday, 28 days from now.

⚽ Trump's immigration enforcers play host Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios The agency driving President Trump's mass deportation campaign is now preparing to welcome millions of foreign visitors at the World Cup, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes. Why it matters: Next Friday's World Cup kickoff in L.A. will trigger a wave of arrivals who'll come face-to-face with the Department of Homeland Security and the immigration system. Activists, fans and a former FIFA president have cautioned against coming to the U.S., claiming visitors should fear racial profiling, surveillance, and even ICE detention. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin pushed back on those concerns in a CBS News interview, saying ICE won't be there to "round up" immigrants at matches. The Trump administration has softened some restrictions to make travel possible for players, staff and fans. Iran and Haiti, both on the travel ban list, will field teams this summer. Fans from Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Tunisia will be able to avoid paying a $15,000 visa bond (to discourage visa overstays) with their proof of match ticket. Keep reading.

🤖 RSI 101: AI unleashing itself Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios AI giants are beginning to discuss "recursive self-improvement" (RSI) — when AI builds itself. Brian, an AM reader in Alexandria, Va., asked us for an explainer. Voilà: AI could soon take control of its own development, eliminating the need for a human in the loop. Why it matters: The concern is that AI designing, training and improving itself — "recursive self-improvement" or RSI — will outpace the ability of humans to monitor, control or govern the technology, Axios' Maria Curi writes. 🛠️ How it works: Instead of the sci-fi scenario of AI writing its own code, a more likely scenario is the automation of AI R&D. This is already happening: AI labs are using current models to build future ones. Read Anthropic's RSI essay.

Trump: U.S. stake in AI giants could be "beautiful thing" President Trump surprised tech CEOs by suddenly pushing the idea of the U.S. taking a small ownership stake in AI giants, so the American people share in the upside of what will be trillion-dollar companies. "There's something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday. "It's like you make them [partners] in this revolution. It would be a beautiful thing. ... It would make 'em rich." Why it matters: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pushed this idea with the Trump administration over the past year. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reignited the conversation this week when he proposed giving the public a "direct ownership stake" in top AI companies via a one-time 50% tax, paid in stock. Of course, industry advocates of the idea would favor giving up much less for an AI public wealth fund — 1%-5% stakes have been kicked around. Between the lines: AI is broadly unpopular in the U.S. Some industry leaders, and now clearly Trump, think the technology's image would improve if all Americans participated in this mind-boggling wealth creation. Ahead of the expected stock offerings by Anthropic, SpaceX and OpenAI, Trump said there's "so much money, and it's so big, that there are concepts where pieces could be given to the American public, where the American public essentially becomes a partner ... with the companies." "We'll look into that," Trump said. "We're talking about it, where the American people can benefit from the success of AI. And by doing that, they're gonna like it better. ... We're leading China. We're leading everybody in the world with AI, and we want to keep it that way." 💡 The backstory: Altman has pushed the concept in private conversations with administration officials, then in a proposal for an AI New Deal, then on Capitol Hill this week when he visited Sanders and leaders of both parties. A "Public Wealth Fund" was one of the provocative ideas in OpenAI's "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age," out in April. 🤝 When a reporter asked Trump about embracing a proposal by Sanders, a democratic socialist, the president touted his economic populism. "As far as economics is concerned," Trump said, "we have certain things that aren't that far apart. People are surprised."

Revenge of the AI bubble Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios The AI bubble debate has lurched through at least three frenzied phases in the span of three years, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Suspicion: Historic sums of capital poured into AI before anyone proved it could reliably automate work. A violent market correction felt inevitable. Mania: Claude Code and autonomous agents made the early skepticism look outdated, fueling a corporate scramble to embed AI everywhere and maximize usage. Reckoning: Companies discovered that AI can be extraordinary when aimed precisely — and ruinously expensive when treated as a universal productivity machine. Why it matters: The first phase doubted the technology. The second phase worshipped it. The third phase — currently gaining steam across Corporate America — questions whether AI's immense power is worth the price. 🔎 Zoom in: The case against AI used to come from outsiders — Luddites, "doomers," short sellers betting on a crash. Its newest skeptics are emerging from inside the boom. Uber capped employee AI usage after burning through its annual Claude Code budget in four months. A top executive said the spending was getting "harder to justify," with no clear link between token use and more useful consumer features. Amazon shut down an internal token leaderboard after employees gamed it with throwaway tasks to climb the rankings. An Amazon executive told staff, "Please don't use AI just for the sake of using AI." GitHub moved Copilot, the AI coding assistant used by millions of developers, to usage-based billing as part of its effort to create a "sustainable" business. The change shocked users who were suddenly confronted with the true cost of heavy AI usage. Bain surveyed 951 large companies and found AI savings falling well below projections, even as most firms planned to spend more. "The technology worked. The value didn't arrive," the report concluded. The intrigue: Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged the new concerns, calling the question of whether AI spending will show up in revenue "the most fair criticism" of the moment. 🎯 Reality check: The companies sounding the alarm are the early adopters. Most of the economy is still at the starting line, while the pioneers are the ones absorbing the cost shocks, wasted tokens and employee backlash. AI is already creating real value for chipmakers, model labs and some power users. The harder question is whether that value spreads across the companies paying to deploy it. By the numbers: Wall Street got a fresh reminder yesterday of how much AI optimism is baked into markets. The Nasdaq plummeted 4.2%, recording its worst day and worst week in more than a year. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 10.3%, its worst day in more than six years. One culprit was Broadcom: The chipmaker reported explosive AI growth, but failed to raise its longer-term AI revenue outlook — disappointing investors looking for signs that demand was still accelerating. The bottom line: AI can make the right worker dramatically more productive, but those gains depend on knowing exactly where and how to apply it. The real bubble may have been the assumption that AI could be sprayed across companies, employees and workflows and reliably pay for itself.

Jerry Demings suspends Democratic gubernatorial bid following cancer diagnosis Orange County Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Demings announced Friday he is suspending his 2026 campaign after being diagnosed with a treatable form of prostate cancer. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/05/jerry-demings-suspends-democratic-gubernatorial-bid-following-cancer-diagnosis/? It’s up to the voters now: Legislature OKs DeSantis property tax proposal Florida voters will be asked to sharply curtail the property taxes cities and counties rely upon under a far-reaching resolution championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved Tuesday by a supermajority of the Florida Legislature. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/02/its-up-to-the-voters-now-legislature-oks-desantis-property-tax-proposal/? ChatGPT creators knew product would cause harm, Florida argues in lawsuit OpenAI should’ve known the damage its chatbot would cause, the state argues in a lawsuit against ChatGPT’s creators. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/06/01/chatgpt-creators-knew-product-would-cause-harm-florida-argues-in-lawsuit/?

June 6, 2026 Good morning. The tension between sticking to what we know and seeking out new experiences is one of comfort vs. novelty. How can we have both? María Jesús Contreras Balancing act By Melissa Kirsch When Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal to retain the Champions League title last week, soccer fans were joyous or dejected, depending on their allegiances. I don’t have a dog in the fight, but I used the win as an excuse to revisit the dramatic P.S.G.-inspired anthem “Le Coeur de Paris,” featuring the mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti. I became acquainted with Viotti earlier this year, via a story about her many pursuits and identities beyond opera. “I think generally people should not do only one thing in their lives,” Viotti told The Times. Before Viotti ever studied voice — never mind became an opera star — she was a heavy metal singer and received a master’s degree in literature and philosophy. She performed in the opening of the Paris Olympics in 2024, sang at Black Sabbath’s final concert and won a Grammy last year with the band Gojira for best metal performance. Earlier this year, she played the role of Prince Orlofsky in “Die Fledermaus” at the Zurich Opera. By the time Viotti was 39, she had co-written a book and produced three albums. She “speaks an alarming number of languages fluently,” the Times reporter noted. (And here I was worried that I speak an alarmingly low number of languages fluently.) One would be forgiven for feeling slightly inferior when comparing oneself to such a diversely talented multi-hyphenate. But I’ve been thinking about that idea of “doing only one thing” in one’s life. Even if we’re not opera stars, we have our areas of expertise and, when we reach a level of accomplishment in one arena, it’s easiest to stop starting new things. There are only so many hours in the day, after all. If we’ve achieved some success in our work, or in baking, or knitting, or martial arts, we are now people who do that thing, who define ourselves as bakers or knitters. When we’re young, we might try many things in search of the one or ones that will stick, but in adulthood, it feels more comfortable to be good at things than to take on new ones. In his 1953 essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” the philosopher Isaiah Berlin suggested that people can be divided into two groups: hedgehogs, who know one big thing, and foxes, who know many things. Hedgehogs have a unified vision of the world, one central belief that governs their thinking. Foxes are more scattered, pulling from varied sources, changing their thinking as circumstances change. Berlin didn’t assert that one type was better than the other, but put forth his theory to describe writers and thinkers of his day. (Tolstoy, he wrote, was a fox who deeply wanted to be a hedgehog.) The result is a pretty entertaining low-stakes parlor game. I read Viotti’s statement as an admonition to do more, to not confine ourselves to our areas of expertise (baking, knitting) but to seek out more and varied interests (why not cross-country skiing? why not painting?). When viewed through Berlin’s lens, Viotti is encouraging us to be more fox than hedgehog. There’s a hedgehogginess in keeping to the stuff we know that we like and that we already do well. If we’re foxier, we’re less inclined to see our identities as fixed, our worlds as established and unchangeable. We’re flexible and curious and seeking out new experiences beyond what we already (think we) know. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m a hedgehog or a fox. I think we’re all some combination of both — a pure hedgehog risks being single-minded, a pure fox might be a dabbler, and people are much more complicated than these designations could ever articulate. But it’s interesting to look at how the hedgehog and fox impulses play out in your own life. If the classification system “is not an aid to serious criticism, neither should it be rejected as being merely superficial or frivolous,” Berlin wrote. “Like all distinctions which embody any degree of truth, it offers a point of view from which to look and compare, a starting-point for genuine investigation.” Let’s investigate. THE LATEST NEWS Elections Xavier Becerra at an event on Saturday. Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times Xavier Becerra, who served as health secretary in the Biden administration, will advance to the general election in the California governor’s race. The count continues in the Los Angeles mayor’s race. See who has done best in different neighborhoods. As Republicans break up majority-Black House districts, Democrats must decide: preserve Black representation, or try to win back blue seats? Trump Administration A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to restart its processing of asylum claims, which the government halted last year after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. President Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch would sit in the paths of flights in and out of Reagan National Airport. That could complicate Washington’s already-congested airspace, as these graphics show. Business The U.S. labor market blew past expectations in May, putting more people to work even as consumers soured on the economy. After a series of high-profile departures from “60 Minutes,” the remaining three on-air correspondents said they would stay because they don’t want the show to “die.” N.B.A. Finals Karl-Anthony Towns dunking in Game 2. Eric Gay/Associated Press The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 105-104, after the Spurs star Victor Wembanyama missed a last-second shot. The Knicks lead the series, 2-0. Trump said he would attend Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Other Big Stories James Handy, an 81-year-old actor with roles in “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Arachnophobia,” was stabbed to death. The son of his girlfriend was arrested. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said the state was working with the federal government to slow the spread of the screwworm, days after the first known U.S. case in decades was detected. Two dozen activists protesting U.S. military aid to Israel blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for four hours. They face up to 15 years in prison. A man who murdered his wife and another man in an elaborate scheme involving a fetish website and an au pair was sentenced to life in prison. Stephen Hanson, a powerful figure in New York’s restaurant scene, helped Jeffrey Epstein manage and entertain the young women who surrounded him. THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music M.I.A. Caroline Tompkins for The New York Times M.I.A. got canceled, and now she’s suing Kid Cudi for removing her from his tour. On “Popcast,” she talks about MAGA, her latest album and her swerve toward born-again Christianity. Watch or listen to the full conversation. The N.B.A. is rolling out music by Nas and the composer behind “Succession.” It could give the league a new musical identity. Some European countries have rejected the comeback tour of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The Dutch government says it can’t. Film and TV The sixth installment of “Scary Movie" takes a predictable and dismaying turn, our critic writes, even if it feels like the right time to bring the series back. Martin Scorsese is embracing A.I. (He backed Black Forest Labs, an image- and video-generation start-up.) The actor Anthony Head, who played Giles on the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” died at 72. Art and Politics Trump said he would hold a rally with the country musician Lee Greenwood and the tenor Christopher Macchio after other artists dropped out of a concert series to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. The Kennedy Center general counsel told employees to “immediately” remove Trump’s name from branding and documents. The National Symphony Orchestra is struggling to secure its next season as it loses its home at the Kennedy Center. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more. RECIPE OF THE WEEK Julia Gartland for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Blueberry-Ginger Clafoutis A purple-spotted take on the classic French dish, Nik Sharma’s blueberry-ginger clafoutis is a lovely dessert to make as berry season arrives. His clever technique of pre-baking some of the batter keeps the berries from sinking and burning, and ensures perfect fruit distribution. Grated ginger adds a touch of warmth without overwhelming the berries. And if the available fresh blueberries aren’t quite up to snuff, this works beautifully with frozen fruit, too. REAL ESTATE Katherine Marks for The New York Times The Hunt: With about $1.5 million to spend on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a couple looked for more bedrooms, some office space and an easy commute to school. What did they find? Play our game. What you get for … $1.3 million in Sweden: A 10-bedroom manor from 1806. A 25-acre farm estate near the Baltic Sea. A five-bedroom modern farmhouse. For sale, with a dreamy pool: A 1960s compound in the Berkshires, a tropical cottage in Miami, a quintessential Hamptons house, and two California retreats. LIVING The comedian Ken Cheng. Charlotte Hadden for The New York Times Not just networking: Is LinkedIn entering its post-cringe era? Celebrities and influencers are getting more active on the business-focused platform. A.I. advice: Companies want you to use their chatbots to devise a morning routine — though the advice tends to be things like “drink coffee” and “get dressed.” Revolutionary journeys: Some of the fiercest battles of the Revolution were fought in South Carolina, but its role is often overlooked. A trip to Charleston revealed history, myths and beauty. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER How to make sports look better on TV If you’re planning to watch the World Cup this summer from home (or any other sporting event), try motion smoothing. Though it has a reputation for making movies look wonky, motion smoothing can enhance sports by making fast action look less blurry. If it’s not already turned on by default, try looking for it in the picture settings menu. And if you’re planning to attend one of the matches in person (lucky you!), our style expert found stadium-friendly clear bags that are actually decent looking. You’re welcome. — Rose Maura Lorre GAME OF THE WEEK Maja Chwalinska on Thursday. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Mirra Andreeva vs. Maja Chwalinska, French Open women’s final: A few weeks ago, The Athletic’s Ava Wallace reported, Maja Chwalinska had two goals: to qualify for the French Open, and to be ranked in the top 100 by the end of the year. Mission accomplished, and then some. Chwalinska is currently ranked No. 114 in the world, though not for long. She is the lowest-ranked French Open finalist in history. She’s also the first women’s singles player to come through qualifying and reach the final. She has a style “full of slice and spin,” Ava wrote, “that utilizes drop shots and forces baseliners to play without rhythm.” Mirra Andreeva is just 19 years old — five years Chwalinska’s junior — but ranked No. 8 in the world. Neither woman has won a Grand Slam tournament before. Today at 9 a.m. Eastern on TNT (streaming on HBO Max) NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was forcing. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa 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

THIS DAY IN HISTORY June 6 1944 D-Day: Allies storm Normandy’s coast Codenamed Operation Overlord, D-Day began on June 6, 1944. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1998 “Sex and the City” premieres on HBO 1971 “The Ed Sullivan Show” airs for the very last time 1933 First drive-in movie theater opens Asian History 1981 Train derails in India, killing hundreds 1984 Indian army storms Golden Temple Black History 1966 Civil rights activist James Meredith shot Civil War 1865 Outlaw William Quantrill dies in military prison after being shot by Union soldiers Crime 1997 A teenaged mother gives birth and murders her baby at the prom Natural Disasters & Environment 1889 The Great Seattle Fire U.S. Government and Politics 1856 Sitting president Franklin Pierce denied his party’s nomination for reelection U.S. Presidents 1833 President Jackson rides the Iron Horse Vietnam War 1964 U.S. reconnaissance jet shot down over Laos World War I 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood begins

Routine date night becomes real-life rom-com when Virginia man takes over drive-in movie screen for surprise proposal to his girlfriend. (More) A father's heartfelt message to his daughter's new husband turns a wedding reception into a tearjerker. (More, w/video) Wisconsin trooper adopts kitten he saved after it was thrown out of a moving vehicle. (More) A 21-year-old audience member at "La La Land" concert steps in for sick pianist and helps save the show. (More, w/video) Second-grade teacher's end-of-year tradition sends students into summer with their heads held high. (More, w/video) "I love this memory of my mom. She was Filipina and they have a saying, 'Amoy Awraw,' meaning you smell like the sun. I would hear this from her after coming in from playing outside as a kid. It was like her way of saying that I must’ve had fun while playing. I think of this and her after being outside working in the yard or garden." — Jennifer C. in Washougal, Washington "I grew up in India, a child of missionary parents. When I graduated from high school at age 16, I flew to America for college. In those days, people dressed up to fly. My dear sacrificial, frugal mother used my Dad's suit to repurpose it for a little suit for me, and I will never forget that frugality, love, and sacrifice (of both my mother and Daddy). MANY such experiences were mine with her as my magnificent, amazing mother. She absolutely filled my heart and always loved very sacrificially." — Mardi B. in Macon, Georgia "I had always prepared a gourmet dinner for my mom on Mother's Day. I would usually get the day off work so I could prep all day, creating a multitude of special dishes. The year she died (in March 2012, after a long illness), I scheduled myself to work that Mother's Day to keep myself busy and without reminders of my mom. My daughter unexpectedly dropped by work that afternoon with flowers and a pair of Wonder Woman-emblazoned sneakers. Her thoughtfulness on a day that I had dreaded was a bright spot—and I still have the sneakers!" — Jill P. in Brea, California

Scientists have edited the DNA of early human embryos with a new level of precision for the first time, using an upgraded gene-editing technology that avoids the unintended damage seen in earlier versions. The development suggests it may one day be possible to correct disease-causing mutations before birth. The work, led by scientists from Columbia University, was conducted on lab-grown embryos intended for research, not for implantation. It builds on CRISPR-Cas9, a tool that works like molecular scissors, snipping DNA at targeted locations to remove or replace faulty genes (visualize how it works). A newer approach—base editing—allows scientists to swap individual DNA letters without fully cutting the strand. The refinement can reduce mutations that occur during DNA repair and could open the door to treating diseases caused by single-letter genetic errors, such as sickle cell. The breakthrough heightens concerns about using the gene-editing technology to enhance traits. In 2019, a Chinese scientist was sentenced to prison for secretly editing embryos to make them HIV-resistant in the first known case of gene-edited babies (w/audio).

Putin rejects Zelenskyy’s offer to meet and reaffirms Ukraine war aims Russian president describes Ukrainian counterpart’s letter as rude and says he sees no point in face-to-face talks https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/05/putin-rejects-zelenskyys-offer-to-meet-and-reaffirms-ukraine-war-aims? ps:The only one rude is putin!!!!!!!!!!

Starmer suggests US ‘trying to interfere in our democracy’ over Nowak claims Prime minister’s office responds after JD Vance blames British teenager’s death on mass migration https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/05/keir-starmer-questions-henry-nowak-case-two-tier-policing-claim?

Kuwait and Bahrain targeted by Iran after exchange of fire with US Iran attacks American bases in Gulf states after Washington shoots down drones and strikes Iranian radar sites https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/06/us-says-iran-radar-sites-struck-and-drones-intercepted-in-latest-threat-to-fragile-ceasefire?

Armenia heads to polls amid Russian pressure and threat of ‘Ukrainian scenario’ Relationship between Vladimir Putin and traditional ally has slowly unravelled under current PM Nikol Pashinyan https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/06/russia-putin-armenia-election?

If you were drafted during the American Civil War, you could legally pay someone else $300 to go in your place. James

Access to Closely Guarded Secrets View in browser On January 6, 2021, 19-year-old Elias Irizarry was among the members of a violent mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol and attempted to overturn the recent presidential election. He was convicted of trespassing on government grounds, and videos from that day show him entering through a window with a metal pole in his hand. Now he may have access to sensitive national-security information as an employee of the Department of Defense. As part of his deal with then-President Biden’s Justice Department, Irizarry pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and was sentenced to 14 days in jail. But as with almost all of the other January 6ers, he was fully pardoned on Donald Trump’s return to office last year. The Washington Post reported this week that Irizarry, now 25, works at the Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office. He’s been tasked with guarding the country against terrorist threats—but he himself participated in an attack on the U.S. government just over five years ago. His trajectory aligns with Trump’s ongoing effort to reframe the January 6 insurrectionists as “patriots” acting in support of a righteous cause, and reflects the White House’s tendency to reward illegal actions performed in the service of the president and his agenda. At the time of the riot, Irizarry was a freshman at the Citadel, a public military college in South Carolina. He was suspended from school after his guilty plea; after he apologized for his involvement in the riot at his 2023 sentencing, he reapplied and was accepted. The judge even wrote him a recommendation letter. Irizarry ran for Congress in 2024, and his campaign website explained that he’d “truly seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of America.” (He lost in the Republican primary, although he did capture 28 percent of the vote.) But does the fact that Irizarry apologized, and that a DOD spokesperson says that he believes Irizarry is qualified, mean that he should have access to the nation’s most closely guarded secrets? Part of the reason government jobs are so coveted is that many careers in public service are rewarded with stability, pensions, and other benefits. These positions can come with immense responsibility—and although it’s unclear what Irizarry’s motivations are for taking this particular role, his hiring is part of a concerning trend. He isn’t the first January 6 defendant to hold a position in the Trump administration: Jared Wise, who was caught on tape encouraging insurrectionists to “kill” Capitol Police officers, was until recently an employee of the Department of Justice. He resigned because he believed that he couldn’t “fully expose the abuses by the FBI and DOJ against J6 defendants” from within the federal government. A former FBI agent himself, Wise was hired specifically for the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, which was formed to investigate supposed abuses of prosecutorial power during the Biden administration. (My colleague Quinta Jurecic has argued that the project has unintentionally thrown light on the Trump administration’s own abuses.) One major concern over Irizarry’s job: his security clearance. All positions in the Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office require top-secret clearance, according to The Washington Post, which is typically granted only after a rigorous vetting process. (The Pentagon did not respond to my questions about the specifics of Irizarry’s role.) In part because Americans with security clearances can be targets for foreign agents, they’re routinely advised to watch for “insider threats”—red flags among co-workers who could potentially mishandle classified information, voluntarily or under duress. One of those tells, as my colleague Tom Nichols has written, is hostility to the U.S. government. Prosecutors alleged that, in the months after January 6, Irizarry sent texts to another rioter about potentially joining Russia’s military if America’s wouldn’t accept him. The Trump administration is still trying to paper over the history of January 6. In November of last year, Trump also announced mostly symbolic pardons for the election deniers who plotted to keep him in office. A month later, Trump pardoned Tina Peters, the Colorado county clerk who was convicted of election interference in 2024. The order didn’t carry legal signifiance—convicted only at the state level, Peters was technically beyond the president’s reach—but eventually, Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, did what Trump couldn’t, commuting Peters’s prison sentence. Immediately following her release, she went on Steve Bannon’s podcast and suggested that she was jailed for exposing a Democratic plot to steal the election. The decision to pardon those involved in January 6, and to give some of the insurrectionists jobs in government, sends the message that crimes can be forgiven as long as they serve the aims of those in power. Government agencies cultivate public trust in part by demonstrating that they’re hiring the right people; not so long ago, Irizarry would have been an active security risk. In this administration, loyalty is the qualification that matters most. Related: Donald Trump wants you to forget this happened. Republican leaders once thought January 6 was “tragic.”

Democrat Xavier Becerra advances to general election in race for California governor SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Xavier Becerra advanced to the general election for California governor Friday after pitching himself as an experienced choice to lead the nation’s most populous state and succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-election-primary-2026-98b2b4dcca6813c3ffeb9754bd09805d?

Stocks slump as Big Tech sinks and a strong May jobs report boosts odds for higher interest rates The U.S. stock market had its worst day since October Friday as a sell-off in big technology companies weighed down the broader market and a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will be forced to hike interest rates at some point this year. https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-iran-oil-trump-b5e10863b81cb1d6399f688ad8885c46? 💰 Chart du jour Data: Financial Modeling Prep. Chart: Axios Visuals The S&P 500 (-2.64%) and Nasdaq (-4.18%) each had their worst single-day drops of the year yesterday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report triggered a market selloff. Covers of today's Washington Post and New York Times. More on markets ... Jobs Day.

World Cup turf When the tournament starts next week, the players will have their eyes on the ball. John Trey Rogers will be focused on the grass beneath their feet, which took him six years to get just right.

Gloves come off Big banks aren’t pulling any punches in their fight with the crypto industry — Jamie Dimon just described a fellow financier as “full of sh*t.” With regulation coming up for a Senate vote, the long-simmering tensions are boiling over.

Space station leak Five astronauts were forced to seek shelter aboard a spacecraft attached to the International Space Station as their crewmates attempted to repair a leak. The Russian space agency Roscosmos said the situation does not pose a safety threat.

💼 The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate held at 4.3%, confirming that the economy is gaining momentum despite the economic fallout from the Iran war, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports.

Trump's team convenes nuclear experts President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to the national lab in Oak Ridge, Tenn., yesterday for consultations with a team of technical experts that could play a role in nuclear negotiations with Iran, Axios' Barak Ravid and Colin Demarest have learned. ☢️ Why it matters: The White House is trying to reach a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to end the war and begin in-depth nuclear negotiations, and wants to have experts at the ready should those talks be launched. 🇺🇸🇮🇷 The U.S. and Iran are still at odds on several details of the MOU, according to U.S. officials and regional sources involved in the mediation. The sources characterized the negotiations as in their final stretch, but it remains unclear whether agreement will ultimately be reached. A U.S. official told Axios: "This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn't mean that a deal is going to happen, but it is a sign that the negotiations are in a very serious phase and that there is a good chance to get it done, and we want to be prepared." The intrigue: Axios was alerted yesterday that Witkoff had made an unannounced trip to eastern Tennessee. Two U.S. officials later confirmed he and Kushner were visiting Energy Department facilities at Oak Ridge. Some of the country's foremost experts in uranium processing and centrifuge technology are based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. The White House and the National Nuclear Security Administration declined to comment. 👀 What to watch: U.S. officials say the White House has been getting positive indications from the Iran negotiators but believe there are internal divisions in Tehran over how to proceed.

🎁 Johnson's bonus points Values show the Democratic gain needed in every district to reach 218 seats. Data: Axios analysis of data from The Downballot, MIT Election Lab and Dave's Redistricting App; Chart: Andrew Pantazi/Axios Republican-led states have redrawn enough congressional districts to force Democrats to outperform their 2024 national results by nearly 5 percentage points if they want to retake the majority in the 2026 midterms. Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson's majority has been on a razor edge for years. But the math from redistricting gives him just a little more buffer. Democrats need to flip three seats to win the House, assuming vacancies return to the parties that last held them. Democrats have an almost 6-point advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot as of today, according to polling aggregator FiftyPlusOne. By the numbers: Harris carried 205 House districts before redistricting but would win just 200 under the new maps. Democrats need 218 to win a majority. Trump beat Harris by 1.5 points nationally. She needed a roughly 3.4-point national margin to carry a majority of districts. Across the 10 states that redistricted, Democrats held 80 seats in 2024 to Republicans' 101. Just to hold that ground, Democrats would need to outrun Harris' margin by 10.5 points. Yes, but: The pro-Republican tilt is real, but not historically extreme. Harvard Law professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos tells us the current GOP skew is "not remotely as bad" as the post-2010 maps, when Republicans' aggressive gerrymanders met few Democratic offsets. In 2012, Democrats needed about a 5.6-point national win to control the House. The median district backed Romney by 1.7 points even as Obama won nationally by 3.9. The bottom line: Candidate quality, turnout, money, scandals and the national mood still decide races, but pro-GOP redistricting gives Republicans a head start. — Andrew Pantazi