Washington, DC

1. Trump’s anti-communist midterm message
2. Iran asserts strait authority
3. Bessent’s AI awakening
4. Bolton pleads guilty
5. Leavitt returns (soon)

Tech stocks ▼ after a report that OpenAI may delay its IPO.

Trump frames midterms as USA versus ‘communism’

President Donald Trump urged religious conservatives to prevent a “communist” victory in the midterms, telling members of the Faith and Freedom Coalition that his pro-Christian policies would be reversed if Democrats returned to power. “Communism is very easy to sell,” he said, condemning New York City’s rent stabilization board for freezing what landlords could demand from renters: “They’re basically confiscating their property… these buildings will turn into ghettos and slums.” House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP legislators echoed the president, describing the victories of Democratic Socialist candidates in New York’s primaries as a threat to families, businesses, and the state of Israel. “He has achieved many if not all of his goals,” said US Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz.

— David Weigel

Ceasefire tested as Iran asserts authority over strait

A return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz is proving difficult. Iran reasserted its authority over the waterway today, after attacking a commercial vessel yesterday — an act Trump called a “foolish” violation of the ceasefire agreement. Trump claims the US-Iran agreement means the strait should return to the pre-war status quo, but Iran says all traffic must flow through its waters. Yesterday regime forces targeted a ship as it attempted to use a US-backed route that hugs the Omani coast. Some analysts interpreted the move as a warning to Oman, which had been in talks with Tehran about co-managing the strait, before recently telling European allies to prepare to pay them fees. Despite the upheaval, crude oil prices, which fell this week to pre-conflict levels, remained steady today.

Payment-rail warnings triggered Bessent’s AI involvement

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pursued a more active role in artificial intelligence policy earlier this year after financial institutions warned that advanced models could leave critical infrastructure vulnerable — including the Federal Reserve payment rails that allow the institutions to send money back and forth, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Banks, whose leaders have long raised similar concerns, have been collaborating with the Treasury and the Fed for years to develop other ways financial institutions could transfer funds in the event of a potentially disastrous outage. This spring, advanced models like Anthropic’s Mythos ramped up the pressure to ensure that Fed payment rails like Fedwire won’t go offline — and trip up the US economy. OpenAI said today it would limit the release of its latest advanced model at the behest of the Trump administration. Executives told reporters they hoped to approve more users by next week.

Bolton could face prison in classified information case

John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser turned critic, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal retention of classified information in Maryland federal court today. “I’m sorry for it,” he said in court. The longtime Republican fixture agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine and forfeit his government pension, and faces as many as five years in prison. Ultimately, it will fall to the judge to decide on his prison sentence in October. Even a few years in jail would pale in comparison to what Bolton would have faced if he had fought the charges laid out in the 18-count indictment and lost. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, contrasted Bolton’s case with Trump’s now-shuttered classified documents case: “Ambassador Bolton, whose offense was only keeping a diary which contained classified information, kept a record to preserve history, but Donald Trump kept secrets to serve himself.”

Karoline Leavitt expected to return soon to White House podium

Karoline Leavitt is easing her way back into the top communications job at the White House after having her second child on May 1. Leavitt, one of Trump’s most trusted aides, appeared on Fox News this week and then traveled with the president to Pennsylvania, after taking a little over a month off for maternity leave. In her absence, the White House scheduled intermittent briefings with top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She’s not fully back — the next briefing date is still to be determined — but she’s expected to return fully to the White House soon. With the US-Iran memorandum of understanding in jeopardy, the midterms inching closer, and the Republican Party paralyzed in Congress, she’ll have no shortage of news to address when she takes the podium.

— Shelby Talcott

From launching Call Her Daddy in 2018 to becoming one of the most successful podcasters in the world, Alex Cooper has built a highly influential media brand — and now she’s expanding into the creative agency space. On this week’s episode of Mixed Signals, Unwell co-founder Alex Cooper joins Max and Ben live from Cannes Lions to talk about growing her media business beyond podcasting, how her creative agency ended up going toe-to-toe with Call Her Daddy in revenue, and why she’s more interested in the marketing than most talent in her field. Plus, what she’s learned from her interview with Michelle Obama.

Congress

• The House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas ordering billionaire Leon Black to return for a deposition and to hand over materials, after lawakers said he declined to answer questions today as part of their Jeffrey Epstein investigation. — WSJ
• Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission requesting a federal investigation of Polymarket for alleged deceptive marketing practices. — WSJ

Courts

• A federal judge asked Justice Department lawyers to explain their decision to dismiss a criminal fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, which was brought at the end of the Biden administration.

Economy

• US consumer sentiment rose in May, but remains near a historic low.
• The US trade deficit on goods rose to a 14-month high in May.

National Security

• The extensive damage done to America’s sole naval base in the Middle East has the US re-evaluating its footprint in the region. — WSJ

Politics and Campaigns

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed a new federal “billionaires’ tax” on Friday morning, part of a “national agenda” he’s sketching out as he considers a run for president.
• Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was separated from his children during a “politically motivated hoax” similar to swatting.

World

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel and Lebanon had reached a framework agreement for ‘lasting peace and security,’ which is contingent on a ceasefire by Hezbollah.
• The death toll in Venezuela neared 1,000 people, as rescuers scramble to save people trapped under rubble before the “golden window” closes.

Inside the Beltway

• The Great American Fair got a bumpy start with power outages causing ride delays and ice cream to melt.

— Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., to the ducks in the Reflecting Pool, after one of their number was found dead earlier that week, as reported by The New Yorker.

Semafor DC Team

Laura McGann, editor

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

Brendan Ruberry, copy editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel