Washington, DC

1. Bondi makes progress
2. Republicans brace for Iran request
3. Rhetorical de-escalation
4. Trump, Takaichi meet
5. Juicing oil supply
6. Gas prices near $4

Gold ▼ 6%, bucking its typical safe-haven status.

GOP wavering on Epstein investigation?

Two House Republicans appear to be wavering on calling Attorney General Pam Bondi to speak under oath in a bipartisan investigation of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Semafor’s Nicholas Wu reports. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Tim Burchett of Tennessee signaled they might be reversing course after Bondi answered questions in a private session Wednesday. Boebert told Bondi in the briefing she was embarrassed to have voted for the subpoena and wanted to withdraw it, according to a person in the room. But three of the five Republicans who voted to compel Bondi to testify under oath seemed unconvinced. Democrats are skeptical that the GOP will ultimately make Bondi talk about the Epstein files under oath. But as of now, Bondi needs to win over more Republicans to avoid the kind of intraparty questioning under oath that brought down ex-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Collins wants bipartisan Iran spending bill

The Trump administration will soon ask for Iran war funding, and some Republicans don’t want to use the party-line budget reconciliation process to deliver it. “That would not be my preference. I understand the need to get this through, but it seems to me that it would be best to go through the appropriations process,” Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Semafor. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., agreed, but predicted Democrats won’t go along: “It’s probably going to have to be a party-line reconciliation push, unfortunately.” Republicans are still digesting the $200 billion number the Pentagon presented to the White House, and Collins is wondering whether intelligence community, farm aid, and Pell Grant funding will be in the package. “The administration will need to make its case. Clearly, there’s going to need to be additional spending,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

— Burgess Everett

Trump dials back war rhetoric

President Donald Trump toned down his position on bombing critical energy infrastructure in Iran and waved off a question about ground troops. “I’m not putting troops anywhere,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office today, adding: “If I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” On Wednesday, reports circulated that the administration was considering deployments. Trump also said that he has instructed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target energy facilities like the offshore South Pars gas field again. That strike inspired Iran to hit a liquified natural gas facility in Qatar that will reportedly take “years” to repair. Though Trump’s message had softened from his threat to “massively blow up” South Pars yesterday, he didn’t set a timeline, and he appeared to confirm that he would ask Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars to fund the war and to replenish weapons stockpiles.

Japanese prime minister navigates Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi successfully got through her “difficult” meeting with Trump amid the Iran war. Takaichi acknowledged the “huge hit” the global economy is about to experience because of the war, but said, “I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.” Ahead of the meeting, Japan joined several Western countries in pledging to “contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through” the Strait of Hormuz. Trump praised Japan for “really stepping up to the plate” on Iran, “unlike NATO,” though he later jokingly compared the US’ surprise Iran strikes to Pearl Harbor. Still, the Japanese public overwhelmingly opposes the Iran war, which is pulling US military resources away from Asia. Trump and Takaichi, who are also discussing deepening economic ties, will continue their conversation over dinner at the White House tonight.

Treasury eyes lifting sanctions on Iranian oil

Desperate to rein in oil prices as they broke $119 a barrel early this morning, the Trump administration teased new plans to free up additional supply. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business his department may soon lift sanctions on “about 140 million barrels” of Iranian oil already in transit. He also floated another release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as one of “lots of levers” officials can pull. In a meeting between oil executives and Vice President JD Vance, officials took one option off the table: restrictions on US oil and gas exports, which experts have said could wind up boosting costs instead of lowering them. Trump, meanwhile, told reporters the oil news isn’t so bad; he “thought the numbers would be worse.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Gas prices knocking on $4/gallon

The average price of gas is climbing fast, edging towards $4 per gallon. Pump signs haven’t cleared that threshold already partly because gas prices in early 2026 had fallen below $3 per gallon, the lowest national average in nearly five years. The average jump nationally is just under 33% over the past month, but in New Mexico, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, prices have soared by more than 40%. In eight states, the average price has cleared $4 per gallon — and in three, $5 per gallon. Trump has said that when the conflict ends, “oil prices are going to go down very, very rapidly.”

When the business world moves, these are the people turning the wheel. Introducing The CEO Signal, a new video & audio series hosted by Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman of PSP Partners and former US Secretary of Commerce, and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, CEO editor at Semafor. Episodes are released every two weeks. Building on The CEO Signal newsletter, the essential briefing read by the world’s top chief executives, the show brings that perspective to revealing conversations with the people steering the world’s biggest companies.

In the debut episode, Andrew and Penny sit down with Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. Now 18 months into his tenure, Niccol has launched his “Back to Starbucks” campaign — an effort to revive the brand’s classic coffeehouse feel, including baristas writing names on cups again. In the conversation, Niccol explains how he’s rallying Starbucks’ global workforce behind one of corporate America’s most closely watched turnarounds — and working to restore momentum to one of the world’s most recognizable brands.

Niccol also reflects on why he tends to step into difficult situations — from Chipotle’s crisis to Starbucks’ reset — and what it takes to lead a company through moments of pressure.

Congress

• Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will oppose an updated version of the SAVE America Act over absentee balloting changes, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports.
• Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., cleared the Senate Homeland Security Committee vote Thursday, with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., breaking party lines to advance his DHS nomination to the Senate floor.

Politics

• Two political firms with ties to Trump raked in $23 million in contracts from the ad campaign that contributed to Kristi Noem’s ouster from DHS. — Politico

Federal Reserve

• President Trump signaled the Justice Department should continue the probe of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, complicating Kevin Warsh’s nomination.

National Security

• US officials detected drones above the Army base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live. — WaPo
• A US citizen now runs Mexico’s most-powerful drug cartel, raising legal questions for American authorities combatting the illicit drug trade. — WSJ
• Pentagon personnel are resisting dropping Anthropic’s AI despite Hegseth’s ban. — Reuters

Economy

• Oil prices would have to hit $138 per barrel and stay there for weeks to ignite a recession, a survey of 50 economists found. —WSJ
• Oil companies could start feeling the squeeze from higher oil prices, too.

Health

• The FDA approved a new higher-dose version of Wegovy.

— Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a press briefing Thursday, explaining the Pentagon’s $200 billion request for war funding.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor