Washington, DC

1. GOP hates Spirit bailout
2. King Charles in Congress
3. FCC pressures Disney
4. UAE leaves OPEC
5. ‘Chinamaxxing’ isn’t diplomacy

Shares of chip stocks all slid ▼ on reports OpenAI was falling short of internal revenue goals.

Republicans hate proposed Spirit bailout

It takes a lot to unite the Republican Party against an idea from President Donald Trump, but Spirit Airlines has accomplished the feat, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller, Burgess Everett and Nicholas Wu report. The idea of a government intervention or bailout of the troubled discount airline is getting panned from all corners of the party. “This would be a really bad idea. I don’t think you want the government owning airlines,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called it “terrible,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called it “horsesh*t,” and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said it’s “not his favorite thing.” An exception to the rule: Spirit Gold member Bernie Moreno, the GOP senator from Ohio, who said he shares Trump’s concerns about job loss and rising fares and it’s “not unreasonable” to have a conversation about Spirit.

King Charles warns against looking ‘inward’

King Charles III championed the US-UK relationship during an address to Congress this afternoon, stressing the need for cooperation on modern-day challenges. At a time of high tensions between the US and Europe, Charles touted bilateral trade and investment ties, and urged the US to remain in NATO. “I pray with all my heart that our alliance will continue to defend our shared values with our partners in Europe and the Commonwealth, and across the world,” Charles said to booming applause. “And that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking.” Earlier today, Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla warmly at the White House. “Americans have had no closer friends than the British,” Trump said. The royals will head back to the White House for an elaborate state dinner this evening.

FCC reviews ABC’s licenses amid Kimmel flap

The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing ABC’s broadcast licenses, a move scooped by Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami. The maneuver ups the pressure on Disney, ABC’s owner, as it faces fierce scrutiny from the administration, again, over a Jimmy Kimmel monologue. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has previously threatened Disney’s licenses — as recently as this month, when he criticized the company’s diversity programs. Trump and first lady Melania Trump have both demanded that the broadcaster fire Kimmel over a skit that aired two days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, in which he said the first lady looked like “an expectant widow.”

UAE’s Saudi schism deepens with move to quit OPEC

The UAE’s announcement that it will quit the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is a blow to the cartel, which has struggled in recent years to maintain unity. In the short term, the announcement doesn’t really matter. With the Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf oil producers can’t hit their production targets anyway. But Abu Dhabi has long complained that OPEC unfairly held back its oil production, and longer-term, the logic of maxing out crude sales when you can has increased. A deeper fault line is at play, too. The UAE’s move is the latest sign that it is no longer willing to go along with historic alliances it views as unnecessary purely for the sake of harmony. That most notably impacts its relations with Saudi Arabia, which considers itself the leader of the Gulf countries and bristles at the UAE’s independence.

‘Chinamaxxing’ isn’t enough

After a decade of animosity, opinion polls show Americans’ views of China are softening, especially among the young. Online, Gen Z influencers are “Chinamaxxing” — posting video clips of themselves sipping hot water, shuffling around in bedroom slippers, and eating hotpot, habits they encountered after last year’s ban on TikTok drove them to Chinese apps. A budding fascination with all things Chinese is boosting US tourist travel to China, albeit from a low base. Likewise, scholarly exchanges are picking up. And American business leaders are trickling back to China: Executives from about 30 US companies, led by Apple’s outgoing CEO, Tim Cook, showed up at the recent China Development Forum in Beijing. But a combination of catchy memes, holiday excursions, and earnest seminars don’t add up to a broad détente between the US and China. If anything, they highlight the gulf that now separates them.

Can Mark Cuban solve soaring healthcare costs? On this week’s episode of Compound Interest, presented by Amazon Business, Mark joins Liz and Rohan to discuss his approach with Cost Plus Drugs, which aims to disrupt the little-known middlemen driving up prescription drug prices. He also discussed soaring valuations in sports, his regrets around the Dallas Mavericks sale, and offered a surprising assessment of TrumpRx.

Listen to the latest episode of Compound Interest now.

Iran War

• President Trump posted to Truth Social this morning that the Iranians told him “that they are in a ‘State of Collapse’” and that they want to open the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible.”
• About an hour later, Iran’s United Nations mission posted on X that Tehran has a “legal right to take necessary and proportionate measures” to secure the Strait of Hormuz, and pinned the disruptions on the US’ “unlawful” actions.
• The Treasury directed banks to keep additional distance from Chinese “teapot refineries,” which play a key role in importing and refining Iranian fuel, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports.

Congress

• Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., announced he will not seek reelection in November.
• More than 70 House Democrats urged President Trump in a letter to prohibit Chinese car companies from building vehicles in America. — WSJ

Justice Department

• The Justice Department has indicted former FBI Director James Comey again, this time over a photo he posted to Instagram of seashells shaped to say “86 47,” a coded political slogan that means “get rid of Trump.” — CBS
• A former adviser to Anthony Fauci, David Morens, has been indicted over allegations he used a Gmail account to hide information about COVID research projects funded by federal grants.

State Department

• The Trump administration is printing limited-edition US passports with President Trump’s face on the inside cover. — Fox News
• Visa applicants are being asked whether they fear returning home, a new question designed to bar potential asylum seekers. — WaPo
• Trump tapped former House Freedom Caucus member Dave Brat to be ambassador to Australia.
• The acting US ambassador to Ukraine will depart her role in the coming weeks over differences with Trump. — FT

Pentagon

• Google signed a deal to provide the Pentagon with its artificial intelligence models for classified work.
• The US military has quietly increased the number of secret fixed-wing attack aircraft and armed MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as part of its campaign to kill alleged drug smugglers. — NYT

Politics

• Republican strategists are privately using words like, “sour, ugly, bad, bleak” to describe the party’s outlook in the midterm elections. — NYT
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe there is too much money in politics. — Politico

Economy

• US gasoline prices climbed to a four-year high, reaching an average of $4.18 per gallon of regular gasoline, and Brent crude crossed $110 a barrel for the first time in weeks.

World

• Ukraine and Israel are tussling over whether Israel allowed imports of grain stolen by Russia.

— The White House on X ahead of King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s state visit.

Laura McGann, editor

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

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott,