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Trump’s Favorite Paper Turns on Him Over ‘Sleaze’ Scandal The first family has been accused of “sloshing around in the muck”. Donald Trump’s favorite newspaper just shredded the president and the first family for cutting sleazy deals off the back of his return to office. “It was bad when the Bidens did it, and it’s just as bad when the Trumps do it,” The New York Post’s editorial board wrote in a scathing Monday takedown of the grift that has defined the second Trump presidency. The newspaper’s editorial dives into a Sunday report from The New York Times that Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s sons, Kyle and Brandon, are fixing to profit from a billion-dollar mining deal struck between the U.S. and Kazakhstan. “It stinks to high heaven,” the Post wrote. “If a president’s family making bank from obscure resource companies in the former Soviet Union sounds familiar, maybe that’s because Hunter Biden’s lucrative connection to Burisma—a Ukrainian gas company—was a major scandal in the 2020 election and beyond.” Republicans, and the Trump family in particular, spent years trying to paint Joe Biden as the head of an organized crime group, with his son Hunter as the “bagman” who supposedly cashed in on the family name abroad and kicked a share upstairs to his father. Investigations by GOP lawmakers in the House failed to find any evidence that the elder Biden profited from his son’s foreign business dealings. Hunter Biden eventually pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on separate gun charges, while the allegations of foreign influence peddling foundered and never made it to court. Joe Biden pardoned Hunter in December 2024, saying he was worried the incoming Trump administration would try to come after the family again. Republicans have never admitted defeat and have continued to villainize the Bidens as crooks who escaped their day of reckoning. The Post’s Monday editorial laid out the hypocrisy in black-and-white. “The Lutnick and Trump boys have been sloshing around in the muck since their dads came to power 18 months ago,” the newspaper wrote. “They’ve profited handsomely from cryptocurrency deals while the government their fathers control were setting crypto policy.” Still, the paper has short-sold the irony. The Trump family’s grift began even before the president retook the White House last January, when an entity linked to the United Arab Emirates purchased a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.’s crypto-venture, which it used to route $187 million to Trump-family interests and a further $31 million to entities linked to the president’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. That deal set a template that has since allowed the first family to rake in an estimated $2.3 billion from digital assets alone, according to a Reuters analysis this month. But the money-making bonanza has never been confined to crypto, with the Trumps also cutting fresh real estate deals all over the globe—including in the former Soviet Union. Beyond the new Kazakhstan deal, Eric Trump unveiled plans this spring for Trump Tower Tbilisi, a 70-story skyscraper that promises to be the tallest building in the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in Eastern Europe. The Daily Beast previously reported that one of the Georgian partners on the project has close ties to the country’s ruling oligarch, pro-Putin billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is under U.S. sanctions for trying to drag Georgia closer to Moscow. The Trump Organization’s U.S. partner in the deal has its own history of shady links to Russia and the Soviet criminal underworld. The Post rounded off its editorial by warning that Democrats are now pushing hard to probe the Trump family’s business dealings. “If they take the House in the midterms, these hearings are surely coming,” the paper wrote. “It would behoove the Trump administration, and the nation as a whole, if the president gets ahead of the growing scandal, acts transparently and cleans up the whole mess before it swamps his final two years in office—and defines his legacy,” it added. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-favorite-paper-the-new-york-post-tears-into-his-sons-eric-and-donald-jr-over-sleaze-scandal/?

Self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for fraud conviction NEW YORK (AP) — A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced Monday to 30 years in a U.S. prison for a massive financial fraud that a federal judge said cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars. https://apnews.com/article/guo-wengui-chinese-businessman-fraud-3deb06c17c5640a5d63f0e2c72286ac8? ps:Well he should be getting pardoned!!!!!

Iran says this. The US says that. A guide to what they appear to disagree about now The 60-day clock is ticking on further talks between the United States and Iran on the interim deal, but it’s not even clear when negotiators will meet again. Read more. What to know: Other issues include control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says shippers must use its designated routes and coordinate with its authorities. It has objected to a new route overseen by the U.S. that runs along Oman. That sparked the fighting over the weekend. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The Strait of Hormuz’s future is unsettled in wake of latest strikes Israeli troops face resistance from residents as they push into a town in Syria

June 30, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. For a lot of the country today, it’s going to be a scorcher. In deep-red Texas, Democrats have a chance to win a Senate seat this fall, according to a new Times/Siena poll. And yesterday President Trump saw some mixed rulings at the Supreme Court. Let’s start with those. The Supreme Court. Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times Wins and losses The Supreme Court significantly expanded presidential power yesterday, holding that Trump can fire most independent government regulators. That’s a big deal. Critics say a president who can fire regulators at will is a president less constrained by constitutional checks and balances. He or she can issue loyalty tests. The court framed only one exception: governors of the Federal Reserve. The decisions came in two separate, but related, cases. The first concerned Trump’s efforts to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, because her policy views are, in his mind, inconsistent with the priorities of his administration. (As in, she’s a Democrat.) The 6-to-3 decision in that case determined that the president could indeed fire her at will. That’s a substantial shift in political power, one that gives the president more direct control over independent government agencies. The ruling has implications for more than two dozen of those agencies — including, but not limited to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service. As my colleagues note, the president has already changed the leadership of at least 13 agencies. The New York Times In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the ruling “promises to unleash only chaos.” At the same time, the Slaughter decision carved out the “unique role” of the Federal Reserve, with justices ruling that officials at the long-independent central bank could be fired only for cause. The second case, involving Trump’s efforts to do just that to Lisa Cook, a governor of the Fed, underscored the carve-out. In a 5-to-4 ruling — with two conservative justices, John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, joining the three liberals — the court said that Cook could not be fired without the chance to rebut unproven allegations of mortgage fraud leveled by the Trump administration against her. Only a president can remove a governor from the Fed for cause, the justices wrote. “But that does not mean that he may make that decision for any reason, or no reason,” they added. (Trump immediately renewed his vow to fire her anyway.) Request denied E. Jean Carroll Sarah Blesener for The New York Times The Supreme Court also ruled yesterday on a request by Trump to re-examine a $5 million civil judgment against him after a jury found in 2023 that he had sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. The justices declined to take up the case. That could end his legal efforts to fight back against the jury verdict finding that he assaulted Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. Trump condemned the decision on social media. “I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” he wrote. From the mailbag Trump was no less pugnacious in responding to another Supreme Court ruling yesterday. (We’re coming to the end of the court’s term, and the decisions are coming in hot.) This one upheld the grace period that Mississippi has for late-arriving mail-in ballots. The ruling means that Mississippi can count ballots that come in up to five business days after Election Day, so long as they’re postmarked by that day. And it leaves in place laws similar to Mississippi’s in 18 other states and territories, including Nevada and California. On social media, Trump excoriated the decision and called for passage of his voter identification law: “In light of the tremendous loss in the Supreme Court today concerning Voter’s Rights, and the fact that ‘people’s’ votes are allowed to be counted LONG AFTER an Election is over, it is more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.” More on the Supreme Court The court’s last decisions of the term are expected today. A few big cases remain, including on birthright citizenship and transgender athletes. In its next term, starting in the fall, the court will consider two Arizona laws that require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. THE LATEST NEWS Midterm Elections Democrats have a serious chance to win a Senate seat in Texas for the first time in a generation: James Talarico is tied with Ken Paxton, a New York Times/Siena poll finds. (We’ve made this story free for you to read, along with some others in this newsletter.) It’s Primary Day in Colorado. The biggest race is to be the Democratic candidate for governor. Senator Michael Bennet is facing off with the state’s attorney general, Phil Weiser. Gen-Z candidates — including a 29-year-old running for a House seat in Colorado — are stepping up to challenge the Democratic establishment. Republicans have tried to focus on affordability, but Trump keeps veering off script. In the video below, Tyler Pager, a White House correspondent, explains how the president is giving his own party midterm anxiety. Click to watch. The New York Times Around the World Delegations from the United States and Iran will be in Qatar today, but it’s unclear if they will hold direct talks. The official death toll from last week’s earthquakes in Venezuela has passed 1,700. Experts fear that’s still a serious undercount. Officials in Russia are careful not to blame economic problems on the war with Ukraine. But Russians are tired of the mismatch between rhetoric and reality. Weather The heat forecast for Tuesday. Orange indicates dangerous levels of heat. Source: NOAA Dangerous heat is expected across much of the United States this week. Temperatures could hit triple digits. Use our interactive map to see heat forecasts where you live. Wildfires are raging in Arizona, Colorado and Utah, after a dry winter and a record-hot spring. Other Big Stories As big A.I. companies prepare to go public, bringing new levels of wealth into the Bay Area, some tech workers doubt they can afford to stay there. (This link is free.) A law meant to end surprise medical billing has led to pay as high as $22,000 an hour for some surgical assistants, who can earn far more than the doctors they help. A space telescope set in orbit two decades ago is falling toward earth. A robotic spacecraft is scheduled to launch this morning on a mission to nudge it back up. OPINIONS @playdrone_ Since the earthquakes, Venezuelans have had to fend for themselves under a repressive government that has abandoned them, Carolina Jiménez Sandoval writes. Trump’s re-election seemed to be a generational political realignment. But the vibe is shifting again, David Wallace-Wells writes. (This link is free.) A.I. won’t take all our jobs because it can’t reason like a human, Zeynep Tufekci writes. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS Alex Kent/The New York Times At the fair: The Great American State Fair is underway on the National Mall — so far, with sparse attendance. Manners: A French psychologist says a trend toward American-style “gentle” parenting is making French children unbearable. (This link is free.) Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was a photo essay about people who clean houses and mow lawns in the Hamptons. Gym rat: Les Mills represented New Zealand in four Olympic Games, in shot put and discus, then founded a fitness empire that helped popularize aerobics. He died at 91. TODAY’S NUMBER 70 percent — That is the rough percentage of parents in Australia who said their children still had accounts on social media, despite a law banning anyone under 16 from major platforms. “What you’re effectively asking us to do with this is fence the ocean,” a government official said. WORLD CUP Germany, considered a World Cup contender, is out after losing on penalty kicks to Paraguay. Japan is done, too, succumbing to a late comeback from Brazil, which scored in the 96th minute to win 2-1. Morocco triumphed over the Netherlands, also on penalty kicks. Morocco’s decisive shot came from Ismael Saibari, who’s played his entire professional career in the Netherlands. RECIPE OF THE DAY Christopher Testani for The New York Times You can deploy ranch dressing in any number of ways. It’s terrific on a salad, of course, and with crunchy raw vegetables. But I particularly like it as a dip for pizza crusts and for chicken wings. I’ve been making those in the oven lately, so I can eat them while watching W.N.B.A. games or the World Cup. No recipe: just dry flats tossed with salt, pepper, cornstarch and a little oil. Lay them out on a racked sheet pan and roast at 425 until crisp. Toss with a mixture of melted butter and plenty of Frank’s hot sauce. Get on that. A HOLY PLACE Ross Mantle for The New York Times Generations of “Dawn of the Dead” fans have made pilgrimages to the mall in Monroeville, Pa., that George A. Romero filled with zombies in the late 1970s. But this year’s gathering of what’s called the Living Dead Weekend had an elegiac feel: Walmart has bought the building and plans to demolish it. Folks are bummed. “I’d equate visiting the mall to going to Georgetown and standing at the bottom of the steps where Father Karras lands in ‘The Exorcist,’” one fan said. “Or going to Martha’s Vineyard and seeing Quint’s shack from ‘Jaws.’” More on culture A heat wave’s a great time to catch up on movies. Our critics selected the best films of the year so far. (This link is free.) American classical music at 250: still basically European. Late night hosts continue to mock the Reflecting Pool. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Kimber Streams/NYT Wirecutter Store important documents in this fireproof safe. How do we know it’s fireproof? I’ll let the pyromaniacs at Wirecutter tell that story. Sleep better by adopting little rituals to wind down. (This link is free.) Hang a blanket over your windows this week, particularly those that get afternoon sun. On the East Coast and across the Midwest, anyway, it’s going to be hot. ☀️ GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was fanciful. 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’s newsletter misidentified the singer of “Hit the Wall.” She is Gracie Abrams, not Gracie Adams. 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

⚽ 1 for the road: World Cup shocks Paraguay players celebrate after defeating Germany in a penalty shootout to advance to the World Cup round of 16 yesterday. Photo: Charles Krupa/AP All four matches in the World Cup's knockout stage so far have been won in the final minutes or on penalties: Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties yesterday to earn the biggest upset of the tournament and send the 2014 champions home. In the earliest-ever World Cup exit for the Netherlands, Morocco's leading scorer Ismael Saibari netted the decisive goal in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw last night in Guadalupe (near Monterrey), Mexico. Keep reading. Brazil came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 with a dramatic goal in the 96th minute. Canada opened the round a day earlier with a 1-0 win over South Africa on a 90th-minute goal. 📺 Today's schedule for the round of 32: Ivory Coast vs. Norway (1 p.m. ET) ... France vs. Sweden (5 p.m.) ... Mexico vs. Ecuador (9 p.m.).

🌡️ Mapped: Holiday heat wave Map: National Weather Service This map shows a dangerous heat wave building across the U.S. and creeping east ahead of the holiday weekend. More than 160 million Americans — about half the country — are under a heat advisory, watch or warning. The National Weather Service warns that the extreme heat will peak in the Midwest with triple-digit temperatures from today through Thursday. Then it slides into the East for July Fourth. Go deeper: What's causing the heat wave.

🧑‍💻 Remote work is thriving Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios The CEOs lost this one: New government data shows 35% of U.S. workers did some or all of their work at home last year — significantly higher than in the previous decade, Axios' Emily Peck writes. In 2019, only 24% of workers did some or all of their work from home. By 2022, that number had risen to 34% and has held relatively steady since. Keep reading.

📉 Charted: Crypto's rough year Data: Yahoo Finance. Chart: Noah Bressner/Axios Bitcoin is down 43.7% over the past year and now trades below its level on Election Day 2024 — before it rallied on President Trump's pledge to make America the world's "crypto capital." The token has shed more than half its value since hitting an all-time high of $126,080 in October. Between the lines: Michael Saylor's Strategy Inc. — a major crypto holder — announced plans to sell as much as $1.25 billion worth of the coin. Saylor was famous in the crypto community for his "never sell" mantra.

💵 Trump's Supreme Court wall Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios The Supreme Court this term gave President Trump powers over the federal government that no modern president has held, Axios' Courtenay Brown and Andrew Pantazi write. But it blocked his administration on two of the biggest issues for markets: the Fed and tariffs. Why it matters: The rulings hand the president firmer command of the bureaucracy, pulling back only where investors worried political interference could unsettle markets. 🔭 Zoom in: Case by case, the court gave Trump a freer hand to fire, deport and act before judges could catch up. The court gave his administration major immigration wins, including on asylum access and temporary protected status. It repeatedly sided with Trump on emergency appeals, letting contested policies take effect while litigation continued. It also let him fire Federal Trade Commission officials at will, making it harder for Congress to create independent agencies outside direct White House control. Covers of today's New York Post and New York Times. At the same time, the court ruled against him in two high-stakes fights: The Fed: It denied his bid to immediately fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, ruling he must first clear the legal hurdles Congress put in place. Tariffs: It found he couldn't use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs, eliminating one of his fastest and broadest trade tools. 🥊 Reality check: The rulings haven't ended either battle. The White House has continued to pursue tariffs through other legal authorities after losing that case. Trump has said his administration will keep investigating whether it can ultimately remove Cook.

⚠️ New AI bust warning Data: BIS. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios Today's AI buildout resembles earlier technological revolutions and capital booms that ended in painful busts. That's the new warning from the Bank for International Settlements, a top forum known as the "central bank for central banks." Why it matters: The technological revolutions that transform the economy have a long history of attracting more investment than near-term returns justify, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes. AI could follow that pattern at a moment when the global economy is unusually reliant on a single investment boom to keep the expansion on track. 🔬 Zoom in: Some of the world's greatest technological breakthroughs — canals, railroads, the internet — sparked enormous investment booms, with capital pouring into new infrastructure years before the payoff became clear. If returns disappoint, today's surge in AI spending could become "a protracted investment bust" and spark a stock-market correction that could stunt worldwide growth, the BIS said. 💰 Stunning stat: The five biggest "hyperscalers" are expected to invest more than $1 trillion from 2025 through 2026, the Financial Times notes. Keep reading.

Trump's "Swiss Army" tools Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images Axios' Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid bring us this intel from inside the White House: As President Trump tries to hammer out a peace deal with Iran, he has a dovish adviser in Vice President Vance perched on one figurative shoulder — and a hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the other. Why it matters: The success of the talks — and therefore the health of global oil markets — greatly depends on how well Trump deploys each man to balance competing interests in Iran, Israel and Lebanon. A top Trump adviser told us: "Think of Marco and JD as aspects of the president's personality and policy. There's a more pro-Israel aspect of it, and that's Rubio. And there's a more Israel-skeptic aspect. That's JD." 🔎 Zoom in: Vance and Rubio differed during internal deliberations about the landmark June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran. Vance negotiated the deal with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The VP thought Trump should sign off to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stabilize the economy ahead of the midterms, according to several U.S. sources. Rubio, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was skeptical of the MOU and the chances it could lead to a comprehensive nuclear deal. Between the lines: The negotiations are complex because they're trilateral, involving Israel, Iran and Lebanon. They include three agreements: The MOU signed on June 17 between Iran and the U.S. A June 21 agreement Vance struck with Iran in Switzerland concerning Lebanon. A peace framework, shepherded by Rubio, signed Friday by Israel and Lebanon. Friction point: On Rubio's track, the parties worked to block Iran from interfering in Lebanon. But Vance's track gave the Iranians a say in the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which the U.S. classifies as an Iran-backed terrorist group. The two tracks collided. Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon were furious, declared Rubio's deal null and void, and demanded that the parties abide by the U.S.–Iran MOU negotiated by Vance. Said another U.S. official, playing down the situation: "To the Iranians, the deals conflict. To us, they do not. It depends on how you interpret those clauses." 👀 The intrigue: U.S. officials say the result of the Iran negotiations could have domestic political implications — especially for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. One U.S. official said Rubio didn't take the front seat in the Iran negotiations for a reason: "He is waiting to see if Vance self-destructs." But another senior U.S. official called that characterization "boneheaded and wrong. Both Marco and JD are executing the president's will." White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: "There is one camp — President Trump's camp — and the entire administration is fully behind the president's efforts to ensure Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon."

THIS DAY IN HISTORY June 30 1520 Spanish retreat from Aztec capital June 30, 1520: Faced with an Aztec revolt against their rule, forces under the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan at heavy cost. Known to the Spanish as La Noche Triste, or “the Night of Sadness,” many soldiers drowned in Lake Texcoco when the vessel carrying them and Aztec treasures hoarded […] read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1876 Wounded soldiers evacuated from the Little Big Horn by steamboat 1859 Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope 1950s 1953 First Chevy Corvette rolls off the assembly line Arts & Entertainment 1989 “Do the Right Thing” released in theaters 1936 “Gone With the Wind” published Black History 2015 Misty Copeland becomes American Ballet Theater’s first Black principal dancer Inventions & Science 1905 Einstein publishes his groundbreaking theory of relativity Space Exploration 1971 Soviet cosmonauts perish in reentry disaster World War II 1934 Hitler purges members of his own Nazi party in Night of the Long Knives

Cheese can be stored at the bank in Italy as collateral. The producers of Parmesan cheese can store their product in bank vaults at a cheese bank called Credito Emiliano as part of their banking scheme that accepts the expensive cheese as collateral for loans. James

Analyst Notes: Government data and America’s founding This democratic project we call the United States of America is celebrating a birthday again, and this year it’s a big, 18-letter one — a semiquincentennial. If you haven’t heard by now, that’s a celebration of 250 years. https://usafacts.org/articles/analyst-notes-the-role-of-government-data-in-americas-founding/? How many people live in the US? In 2025, there were about 341.8 million living in the US. That makes the US the third-most populous country in the world, home to 4.2% or roughly 1 in every 24 people on the planet. The population count guides political representation and resource allocation. https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-live-in-the-us/country/united-states/? One last fact At least 204.6 million Americans were registered to vote as of last April. That’s more than seven in 10 people who are 18 or older. California had the most registered voters, 23.1 million, while Wyoming had the fewest (271,337). Voter registration rates were highest in Minnesota at 83.6%. Seven other states (and Washington, DC) also had registration rates above 80.0%. Arkansas’s rate of 64.7% was the nation’s lowest. (Note: Not all states have reported 2026 voter registration data.)

🌾 Parting shot: Morning glory Photo: Darla Dernovsek Thanks to reader Darla Dernovsek for sending us this serene sunrise near Janesville, Wisconsin.

Plumbing the Depths View in browser Back in 2016, before he converted to the MAGA cause, J. D. Vance was deeply wary of Donald Trump. He wrote to a law-school classmate that he went “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.” For most people, “cynical asshole” would seem pejorative, but perhaps Vance meant it as something to aspire to. Late last week, the vice president visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, in Yorba Linda, California, and quipped, “Young senator, vice president, writes some best-selling books, is hated by the media. It kind of sounds like J.D. Vance. I’ve always liked Richard Nixon.” Vance went on to suggest that the scandal that toppled Nixon was no big deal, and that the 37th president was a victim of nefarious forces. “If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be, like, a 12-hour news story,” he said. “The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.” Vance is correct about how Watergate would’ve landed today, but the lesson is not what he claims. Since 1974, Americans have become pessimistic about their leaders, deeply polarized in their partisanship, and distrustful of the media—all of which means that Watergate very well might pass quickly in today’s environment. The best evidence is that the Trump administration weathers scandals on the Watergate level routinely. As Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote of Vance’s remark, “‘We do a Watergate twice a day’ is a crazy way to confess your own corruption.” Vance, who has previously admitted to making up stories for political purposes, also offered a bogus history of what happened in Watergate: “If you look at the story of how the deep state took down Richard Nixon, it’s not all that different from what the same groups of people, the same institutions, tried to do to Donald Trump in the first Trump administration.” (As the journalist Ed Kilgore notes, the same revisionism has been peddled by the Vance-allied propagandist Christopher Rufo.) Once again, Vance is right to draw a comparison but takes the wrong lesson. Trump’s first impeachment, for soliciting foreign interference from Ukraine in the 2020 election, and Nixon’s downfall share two important things: First, both men did what they were accused of, though both insisted that their actions had been fine. (Trump: “a perfect conversation.” Nixon: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”) Second, the most damning evidence against both of them came not from “deep state” bureaucrats but from their own appointed political aides. The question of accountability is where the stories start to differ: Nixon was forced to resign by Republicans dismayed by his behavior; today, lockstep partisanship means that many GOP members of Congress pulled their punches in Trump’s two impeachment trials. Now Trump, like Nixon before him, is using the muscle of the federal government to bully and persecute his political adversaries. More than one year ago, my colleague Anne Applebaum described the Trump administration as the most corrupt in American history, and the headlines routinely provide attestation. Over the weekend, for example, The New York Times reported on how Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick struck a deal with the Kazakh government to give an American company access to Kazakh tungsten deposits, and to provide $1.6 billion in financing; the sons of both Trump and Lutnick now stand to profit from business arrangements based on the deal. A week before this, the Times reported that the administration killed an investigation into how a convicted fraudster had obtained clemency from the president—only one of many cases of what look like pay-to-play commutations and pardons. The Wall Street Journal recently delved into how the billionaire Larry Ellison’s roughly $45 million donation to a Trump-supporting nonprofit in the 2024 election helped facilitate his son David’s acquisition of Paramount, the corporate parent of CBS News, which he has moved to make a media ally of the White House, and pending acquisition of CNN. (A Paramount spokesperson told the Journal that the company had made no commitments to any government body about coverage.) The Washington Post reported earlier this month that more than half of the publicly identified donors to Trump’s intended White House ballroom have won new or larger federal contracts in recent months—totaling more than $50 billion. The president is aiming to host a major international conference at his own property—a step scandalous enough that he was forced to back down by Republicans when he tried it during his first term. No wonder the FBI has dissolved its public-corruption unit. This is not an exhaustive list, even for the past few weeks, which is part of the point: Watergate shocked the conscience because it was so rare to have such a fetid scandal break into view. But by following Steve Bannon’s maxim to “flood the zone with shit,” Trump has avoided the monthslong drip-drip of Watergate revelations, overwhelmed the press, and desensitized the public. Hardly anyone can maintain a mental list of all the improprieties. Ironically, Watergate paved the way for this. It was not the first instance of awful behavior by a president, but it led to a new era of close scrutiny of politicians, which turned up many scandals. This in turn numbed the public to any individual example, even as it deepened their dim impression of politicians as a whole. If it’s true that Watergate wouldn’t make a dent today, that is a reason to lament the fallen state of politics, not to conclude that Watergate was just fine. This would be a powerful argument coming from the vice president, who has worried about what he sees as insufficient morality in American society and has said that his role is “to try to apply moral principles in ways that get the best outcomes.” Instead, Vance has concluded that his best chance at political advancement is to hitch himself to the corrupt and unethical Trump. Such cynicism would do Nixon proud. Related: Sorry, Richard Nixon (From 2024) Why Trump gets away with it (From 2025)

More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing MIAMI (AP) — More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble, according to survivors. https://apnews.com/article/earthquake-venezuela-us-deportees-immigration-hotel-survived-783140c04b418de2308f548402ace9af?

🛰️ NASA is planning to launch a daring rescue mission to save a space telescope whose decaying orbit has put it in danger of burning up in Earth's atmosphere. Go deeper.

🚔 A shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany left six people dead, police said. The suspected shooter was arrested. Get the latest.

🏛️ Another big SCOTUS day Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios The Supreme Court today cleared the way for President Trump to freely fire officials from the FTC and most other politically independent agencies, Axios' Ashley Gold and Courtenay Brown report. The ruling — which overturns a nearly century-old precedent — vastly expands presidential power and influence. (Go deeper.) 🏦 Yes, but: The 6-3 decision came with a carve-out for the Federal Reserve, in line with earlier signals that the Supreme Court sees the central bank differently. SCOTUS also ruled today that Trump can't immediately remove Fed governor Lisa Cook, a blockbuster decision limiting the president's influence there. 🗳️ The Court also upheld a Mississippi law allowing mailed ballots to be counted if they're postmarked on or before the date of the election and received within five business days, Axios' Avery Lotz reports. That ruling could protect mail voting in states with similar laws this November — and is sure to feed Trump's frequent criticism of voting by mail. 👮 Finally, SCOTUS restricted law enforcement's use of "geofence warrants" that compel tech companies to identify users who were near the scene of a crime when it was committed. (Go deeper.)

No smooth sailing through Hormuz Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are resuming faster than many analysts predicted. But new hostilities are threatening the trend, Axios' Ben Geman reports. Marine traffic jumped last week before pulling back after a container ship was attacked Thursday, per multiple vessel-tracking services. 🛢️ Marine intel firm Windward reported that oil volumes leaving Hormuz reached 13.4 million barrels on June 24, and 11.7 million barrels on June 25. That's by far the highest since the war started — but well below the roughly 20 million prewar number. 🤔 Reality check: The situation is tenuous, with many trackers showing a drop in shipping traffic Friday and over the weekend. The U.S. struck Iranian targets on Friday and Saturday in response to Iranian actions in recent days, including what U.S. officials called an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps drone strike on a commercial oil tanker. Analysts are also watching how many empty ships enter the waterway to load up after the recent jump in outbound tankers. Landon Derentz, senior director at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, says: "I wouldn't confuse a burst of outbound shipments with a return to normal." Go deeper. 🇺🇸 🇮🇷 What's next: The U.S. and Iranian sides plan to hold talks in Qatar this week to sort out their dispute over the strait, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s push to toss $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a push by President Donald Trump to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. https://apnews.com/article/trump-supreme-court-e-jean-carroll-sexual-abuse-1a50d1e9e1d12898e78e0803c4627771? Supreme Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting Trump-led challenge WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, a persistent target of President Donald Trump. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-mailed-ballots-trump-elections-5f24f718ea92a33838485ce6302e079e? Supreme Court says Fed’s Cook can keep her job for now, but it upholds other Trump firings WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding President Donald Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception: the Federal Reserve. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-executive-power-trump-firing-cook-7b7676e5a066f8df41077a0920b9f334?

phkrause, don't rely on AI for accuracy.

10 claims surrounding Trump's reflecting pool renovation that we've investigated President Donald Trump put a spotlight on the reflecting pool in spring 2026. https://www.snopes.com/collections/trump-reflecting-pool-claims/? ps:He's so pathetic he can't even get out of his own way!!!!!

👋 Good morning! Welcome back. In today's edition: The World Cup knockouts are here, Mickelson's misconduct, Ryu wins at Hazeltine, the Miz strikes again, a Monday finish at the Travelers, Wimbledon begins, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ MLB firings: The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza in the midst of New York's last-place campaign, replacing him with senior VP of player development Andy Green on an interim basis. The Angels fired GM Perry Minasian amid a six-year tenure of perennially sub-.500 play; former Cardinals president John Mozeliak will take over on an interim basis. ⚽️ Poch offered extension: The U.S. Soccer Federation has reportedly offered Mauricio Pochettino an extension that would keep him on as the USMNT's head coach for another World Cup cycle, through 2030. As it stands, his deal will expire at the end of this year's tournament. 🏀 Charlotte's fire sale continues: Just a few days after trading away franchise cornerstone LaMelo Ball, the Hornets dealt Miles Bridges (and a second-round pick) to the Suns for Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and a future first-rounder. That's now two of Charlotte's top four scorers from last season gone, months after completing a promising 44-win campaign. 🏀 Mystics win marathon: The Mystics beat the Fire on Sunday, 124-123 (4OT), in the second quadruple overtime game in WNBA history. Six players scored at least 20 points (three per team), led by Washington's Sonia Citron and Portland's Carla Leite, each with a game-high 32. 🥊 Boots bests Zayas: Jaron "Boots" Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) defeated Xander Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday night at Barclays Center via seventh-round stoppage, capturing the WBA and WBO super welterweight titles to become a two-division unified champion.     ⚽️ WORLD CUP BRING ON THE KNOCKOUTS (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) The World Cup knockouts began on Sunday with a dramatic Canadian victory over South Africa, leaving 30 teams fighting for their spot in the Round of 16. No more math: The mental gymnastics of determining permutations and third-place cut lines ended on Saturday night, when Iran watched its dream get destroyed, revived, and then destroyed again during Algeria and Austria's thrilling 3-3 draw that resulted in Iran's elimination. Do or die: From here on out, it's win or go home, starting with three matches each of the next five days to narrow the field to 16. Today: Brazil vs. Japan, Germany vs. Paraguay, Netherlands vs. Morocco Tuesday: Ivory Coast vs. Norway, France vs. Sweden, Mexico vs. Ecuador Wednesday: England vs. DR Congo, Belgium vs. Senegal, USA vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina Thursday: Spain vs. Austria, Portugal vs. Croatia, Switzerland vs. Algeria Friday: Australia vs. Egypt, Argentina vs. Cape Verde, Colombia vs. Ghana To be the best… It certainly looks like the USMNT will have to beat the best, after the Americans landed a less-than-optimal road to the final. In the most difficult case, they'll have to face Belgium (Round of 16), Spain (Quarterfinal), France (Semifinal) and Argentina (Final). But first up is a date with Bosnia and Herzegovina — an opponent they can't afford to overlook. You'll never believe it, but Messi scored again. (Ryan Pierse/FIFA via Getty Images) Group stage notes: Individual scoring acclaim continues: Lionel Messi extended his World Cup scoring streak to a record seven games on Saturday, and extended his lead in the Golden Boot race with six goals so far. Harry Kane, meanwhile, scored his 70th goal of the season for club and country (a tally only bested by Messi's 82 in 2011-2012), in turn becoming England's all-time leading scorer at the World Cup with 11 goals. Straight chalk: 11 out of 12 pre-tournament favorites won their groups, with only Portugal falling short in that endeavor (they finished second to Colombia). In fact, the only team ranked in the world's top 20 who qualified for the World Cup but didn't reach the knockouts was No. 19 Uruguay, a stunning result whose consequences went beyond the field. Not midnight yet: Tournament darling Cape Verde secured a spot in the Round of 32 with three draws, becoming the smallest nation ever to emerge from the World Cup group stage. They're also one of seven teams making their knockout-round debut, alongside DR Congo, South Africa, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivory Coast and Egypt. Africa on top: Nine out of the 10 African teams in the field advanced to the knockouts, the highest percentage of any confederation. South America (5 of 6) and Europe (13 of 16) weren't far behind, while Asia (2 of 9) struggled mightily.   ⛳️ DEEP DIVE REPORT: MICKELSON'S HISTORY OF MISCONDUCT (Justin Casterline/Getty Images) Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from next month's Open Championship in the wake of a detailed report by Skratch's Alan Shipnuck, which unearths numerous accusations of sexual misconduct and otherwise inappropriate behavior against the six-time major champion. Catch up quick: Earlier this month, Golf Digest reported that Mickelson was no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club outside San Diego following accusations of unwanted physical contact with a female employee. "In fact," writes Shipnuck, "Mickelson's unceremonious ending at The Farms seems to be part of a larger pattern." "In recent years, he has had abrupt departures from two other high-end golf clubs, the Madison Club and The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe. Sources at both clubs say his personal conduct was a primary factor." "Seventeen years after Tiger Woods's serial infidelities exploded into a tabloid-fueled scandal, his onetime rival may now be facing his own reckoning." What they're saying: Ashley Perez, the ex-wife of Mickelson's friend and fellow LIV Golf player Pat Perez, shared her story — which included being propositioned by Phil with a nude photo of himself — to help fight the "culture of silence that keeps women from coming forward." "With Phil, I feel like the pattern has been there for many years but people have been afraid to go public because it's Phil Mickelson. We give these golfers so much adulation and money, they think they're gods. They think they're untouchable." A pattern of behavior: Mickelson allegedly paid golf club employees to drive his phone around the course to hide his location from his wife, Amy, so he could sneak away for secret rendezvous, according to the report. He also drunkenly propositioned a friend at a group dinner in graphic detail. "It was horrible," she said. "It felt like verbal rape." The last word, courtesy of one of Mickelson's former golf buddies… "It's a very sad story. He should have been Arnold Palmer. Phil had the same charisma, the same star power. People loved him everywhere he went. My take is that he came to believe his own bull****." "He thought he was bulletproof, because his whole life he had always skated on everything. But, in the end, he had too many demons. He got consumed by his own darkness."   📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS (Chris Carlson/AP Photo) 🇺🇸 Chaska, Minnesota — South Korea's Haeran Ryu (-13) emerged from a crowded leaderboard on Sunday at Hazeltine to win the Women's PGA Championship by two strokes, capturing her fourth LPGA victory and first major title. Historic comeback: Ryu shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday, leaving her 10 shots off the lead. Then she changed her putter and made history, shooting 64-68-70 the rest of the way to become the first LPGA major champion since 1964 who trailed by 10+ shots after Round 1. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images) 🇦🇹 Spielberg, Austria — Mercedes' George Russell won Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix for his second victory of the season, continuing the Silver Arrows' dominant campaign as their duo of Russell and Kimi Antonelli have finished first in seven of eight F1 races so far. Leaderboard: Mercedes (302 points) holds a sizable lead over Ferrari (204) in the team standings, while Antonelli (171) — who came in third on Sunday — Russell (131) and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton (125) are the only drivers with more than 80 points. The top three picks in the 2026 NHL Draft pose together. (Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Buffalo, New York — Penn State's Gavin McKenna (Maple Leafs), Sweden's Ivar Stenberg (Sharks) and the OHL's Caleb Malhotra (Canucks) were the top three picks in this weekend's NHL Draft, which was defined by a flurry of trades that saw 18 first-round picks ultimately used by teams other than their original owners. San Jose's historic selection: The Sharks' seventh-round pick was defenseman Alexander Karmanov out of Moldova, who at 7-foot-1 is the tallest drafted player in NHL history. If he plays a single game, he'll surpass the 6-foot-9 trio of Zdeno Chára, Matt Rempe and Viktor Svedberg as the tallest to actually appear in an NHL game. (Kirk Irwin/NWSL via Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Columbus, Ohio — Gotham FC defeated the Kansas City Current, 2-0, to win the NWSL Challenge Cup, coming out on top of Friday's rain-soaked contest that marked the first professional women's soccer match ever played in the state of Ohio. Where it stands: All 16 teams have played between 11 and 13 of their 30-game schedules as the league prepares to return from its monthlong pause during the World Cup's group stage. San Diego (25 points), Utah (24) and Portland (24) lead the way, followed by last year's champion (Gotham), runner-up (Washington) and Shield winner (KC), with 21 points each.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (John Fisher/Getty Images) ⚾️ 105.5 mph Well folks, he did it again. Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski threw a 105.5 mph fastball on Friday, yet again breaking his own record for the fastest pitch ever recorded by an MLB starting pitcher. He's also now just a few ticks away from the fastest pitch thrown by any pitcher, a record currently held by closer Aroldis Chapman, who hit 105.8 in 2010 and 105.7 in 2016. Could the Miz reach 106 and beyond? "I definitely think it's possible,” he said after the game, adding that he actually slipped while throwing the historic heater. "Science says you can hit 108. Someone eventually is going to hit it. ... Speed is cool, but if it doesn't win a ballgame it doesn't matter." Worth noting: He did, indeed, win the ballgame (9-3), and his ERA is an MLB-best 1.45 for first-place Milwaukee (50-31). 🏊‍♀️ 23.55 seconds Four-time Olympic medalist Gretchen Walsh broke the 50m freestyle world record on Sunday in Rome, clocking a time of 23.55 seconds to narrowly edge the mark (23.59) set just nine days earlier by Kate Douglass, her training partner and former University of Virginia teammate. Another record falls: While Walsh broke a nine-day old world record, Dutch Olympian Marrit Steenbergen broke a nine-year old world record, swimming a 51.68 in the 100m free on Saturday to eclipse Sarah Sjöström's mark of 51.71 from 2017. Handshakes at the last, with more to come today. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images) ⛳️ 72 holes (and counting) Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland (-21) fought an incredible duel on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, but 72 holes ultimately wasn't enough to determine a winner, and neither was four days after a lengthy weather delay forced a Monday finish. They'll return this morning (9am ET, Golf) for a sudden-death playoff on the 18th hole at TPC River Highlands. How they got here: Hovland — fueled in part by a horde of Norwegian soccer fans who came to cheer on their native son after watching Norway's World Cup game in nearby Foxborough — entered the final round with a one-stroke lead over the world No. 1. They remained neck-and-neck all day and reached the 18th hole all tied up, with both missing long birdie putts. Hovland left himself a tap-in, while Scottie sank an 8-footer to save par and force the playoff. 🏀 13-for-13 The Sky rewrote the record books in Friday's blowout win over the Sparks, led by center Kamila Cardoso's perfect 13-for-13 shooting performance, the most field goals taken in a single game without a miss in WNBA history. Chicago also dished out a WNBA-record 38 assists and scored a franchise-record 124 points. Elsewhere: The first-place Lynx (15-4) continued their winning ways on Sunday with an 85-77 victory over the Wings (11-8), as No. 2 pick and ROY frontrunner Olivia Miles (21 points, 8 assists) improved to 3-0 this season against No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd (21 points, 4 steals).   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, JUNE 29 Can Sinner beat the heat and repeat at Wimbledon? (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) 🎾 Wimbledon, Day 1 Play begins today (6am ET, ESPN/ESPN+) at the All England Club, where some key storylines in the season's third Grand Slam include Serena Williams' return to singles (she plays tomorrow), Novak Djokovic's pursuit of a record-breaking 25th major (he plays today at 11:20am) and Jannik Sinner's cramping history vs. the heat of a London summer (he plays today at 8:30am). Pre-tournament reading: Tennis players want more money ... they're just not willing to fight for it (Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports) ⚽️ World Cup, Round of 32 The knockouts continue today with Brazil vs. Japan in Houston (1pm, Fox), Germany vs. Paraguay in Foxborough (4:30pm, Fox) and Netherlands vs. Morocco in Guadalupe (9pm, Fox). Scorers galore: Five of the 15 players who have scored 3+ goals this tournament are in action today: Brazil's Vinícius Júnior (4 goals) and Matheus Cunha (3), Germany's Deniz Undav (3), Morocco's Ismael Saibari (3) and Netherlands' Brian Brobbey (3). More to watch: ⛳️ PGA: Travelers Championship (9am, Golf) … Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland (-21) will compete in a sudden-death playoff at TPC River Highlands. ⚾️ MLB: Rangers at Guardians (7pm, ESPN) … Jacob deGrom (6-5, 3.55 ERA) vs. ROY contender Parker Messick (7-4, 2.67 ERA). Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   ⚽️ 50 WINS WORLD CUP TRIVIA Man of the Match Lautaro Martínez celebrates his goal in Saturday's win. (Luke Hales/Getty Images) Argentina notched its 50th World Cup victory on Saturday, becoming just the third nation ever to reach that milestone. Question: Can you name the other two countries with at least 50 World Cup wins? Hint: South America, Europe Answer at the bottom.   📆 ON THIS DAY JUNE 29, 2007: NFL EUROPE FOLDS The 2004 NFL Europe World Bowl in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) 19 years ago today, NFL Europe officially folded, bringing an end to a failed marketing strategy that struggled to establish a foothold of attendance and media interest. Yes, but: That overaggressive idea was born of the same global ambition that has since led to the NFL's booming international slate, which this fall will feature a record nine games across four continents. The league wasn't wrong; it was just early. We'll dive deeper into NFL Europe's rise and fall in today's edition of Yahoo Sports Biz, which hits inboxes in a few hours. Subscribe here to start receiving our new newsletter.   Trivia answer: Brazil (78 wins) and Germany (70)