Washington, DC

1. Fund freeze thaws immigration
2. Trump’s Iran whiplash
3. AI boom fuels rally
4. Foreign influence at DoD
5. Anti-AIPAC sentiment
6. Mineral deals for public health

MGM Resorts ▲ 16% after Barry Diller’s company offered to buy the rest of the casino giant it doesn’t already own.

DOJ tables Trump fund and unsticks immigration bill

The Justice Department may have shaken loose the GOP’s $70 billion immigration enforcement bill with a statement this afternoon that it would abide by a court ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion fund for people allegedly victimized by the government. Senate Democrats are still planning to clobber the immigration bill with amendments related to the “anti-weaponization” fund, which could have benefited Capitol riot participants — but Republicans who were set to join them may not need to if the administration backs off altogether. The DOJ’s social media post doesn’t equate to permanent cancellation of the fund. Republicans are talking to the administration about how to advance the immigration bill after it stalled out over intraparty opposition to the fund. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the easiest path would be for the administration “to shut it down themselves.”

— Burgess Everett

Trump calls Netanyahu and Hezbollah to salvage Iran talks

President Donald Trump did an about-face and stepped in to salvage collapsing talks with Iran, after initially dismissing the country’s threat to suspend negotiations over Israel’s attacks in Lebanon. “I don’t care,” Trump said in a midday phone call with CNBC when asked about Iran’s rebuke. But within hours, Trump said he made several calls, including to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who Trump said on Truth Social had agreed to pull troops marching on Beirut. Trump also said “through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop.” He posted an update 14 minutes later to say “talks are continuing, at a rapid pace” with Iran. Trump’s cleanup followed a White House effort to broker a renewed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, but Netanyahu had said he planned to escalate airstrikes on Beirut and expand ground operations, complicating US-Iran talks.

Market rally nears 40-year record

Here’s one reason for the White House to celebrate: Markets are on a rally for the history books. The S&P 500 was up 16% in April and May in a nine-week streak matched just four other times since 1950. And it might just continue. Anthropic filed paperwork today with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, leapfrogging over competitor OpenAI in an IPO race expected to attract a tsunami of investment this year. This morning Nvidia unveiled the first PCs designed to run AI agents locally, boosting the stocks of partner manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Microsoft. The news marks a significant shift in the trajectory of AI — from humans querying bots to bots performing tasks autonomously. Despite some signs the market could be overheating and of risky bets on speculative tech, most traders are betting on boom times continuing.

Lawmakers push new foreign disclosure rules in defense contracting

A bipartisan pair of senators wants to make it easier to spot foreign influence in Pentagon contracts. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are introducing legislation today that would direct all prospective defense contractors and subcontractors to disclose information on their beneficial owners, and whether any of them are foreigners, according to details shared first with Semafor. The measure, which the pair wants to add to annual defense policy legislation, would also require contractors or subcontractors working with the Pentagon on contracts larger than $500,000 to disclose whether they are under foreign ownership, control, or influence — lowering the current bar of $5 million. “Transparency brings accountability, and that includes shining a light on foreign influence in Defense Department contracts,” Grassley said. Warren called the proposal “commonsense, bipartisan reform to ensure that the Pentagon knows who it is doing business with.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Anti-AIPAC sentiment swings Democratic primaries

The toxicity of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Democratic primaries has officially grown beyond the war in Gaza, Semafor’s David Weigel reports. Just ask the two candidates challenging Rep. Steny Hoyer’s preferred successor. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn is denouncing Adrian Boafo, the retiring Hoyer’s preferred heir to his Maryland Democratic seat, for getting help from “the MAGA donors who fund AIPAC.” Another candidate for the 5th District nomination this fall, Prince George’s County legislator Wala Blegay, put it more directly: “People are tying the war in Iran to AIPAC.” Growing confusion about pop-up political action committees that use unfamiliar names is also playing a role by giving progressive candidates an opportunity to generate a speedy backlash. The result is anti-AIPAC sentiment is helping to swing Democratic primaries across the country.

View: Ebola may have spread under the radar

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a reminder of the challenges created when informal economies collide with global supply chains and weak governance. The epidemic has been concentrated in eastern DRC, where the economy relies on mining. Gold, tin, tantalum, and tungsten from the area enter global supply chains, feeding demand for electronics, jewelry, and car parts. The fear is that Ebola was circulating for weeks before being discovered, raising the prospect that it spread undetected among workers below the radar of the formal economy who crossed the region’s porous borders. But Kinshasa has control over the funds from its natural resources: The Congolese government has inked deals with Washington to provide US companies access to its minerals. This move to formalize the mining sector is an opportunity to plow revenues from extractive industries into improving public health facilities.

Campaigns

• As Graham Platner’s campaign stumbles, Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills reminded voters she’s still on the ballot. — Portland Press Herald
• California voters are drowning in AI slop, a harbinger for 2028. — Politico

Courts

• Former FBI officials have set up a support group for current bureau staff as the agency experiences rapid change under Director Kash Patel. — NYT

Technology

• In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., argued that AI-generated wealth needs to “benefit humanity,” and proposed creating a sovereign wealth fund with a one-time 50% stock tax on the largest AI companies.

Media

• A 60 Minutes correspondent accused Bari Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, of “murdering” the longtime Sunday news show. — NYT
• The Defense Department designated its press office a classified space and banned journalists from accessing it as a place to meet with public affairs officers. — WaPo

Education

• Proposed Education Department regulations could cut off student loans and other aid for thousands of college programs whose graduates earn low salaries, prompting opposition from religious colleges and higher education groups.

Defense

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotion of at least seven Navy officers, an unusual decision that disproportionately affected women and minority officers. — NYT

Economy

• Jerome Powell, former chair of the Fed, warned of the dangers of political interference at the central bank in a speech this weekend. — WSJ

World

• The Albanian prime minister defended plans for a $4.7 billion luxury resort promoted by Jared Kushner and backed by Qatari investors after protests over land ownership and environmental protections.

— Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiling Nvidia’s new RTX Spark PC processor, which is designed to run agentic AI directly on a new generation of Windows computers.

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, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel