Washington, DC

1. Trump’s Oman threat
2. Trump tests Asia
3. SCOTUS vs. Trump
4. Defense contractor shakeup
5. Stewart’s choice

Thirty-year Treasury yields ▲ to a 19-year high, driving up US borrowing costs.

Trump’s Oman threat follows concerns over Hormuz

President Donald Trump’s new warning to Oman comes as the country continues talks with Iran on access to the Strait of Hormuz — though not necessarily on terms the US would welcome. Trump threatened “bomb the sh*t out of” Oman if it gets in the way of a deal with Iran; in fact, Oman remains active as a mediator between the two warring countries. A US official told Semafor there’s concern that “Oman and Iran may cut a deal where there’s a tolling scheme” for the strait, and that any such deal could bypass the US. “Most countries in the region would be fine with that,” the official said. “But Trump really wants to say he opened up the strait without a direct toll.” Trump told reporters that Oman hasn’t “behaved very well” but added that the US has “handled them very easily.”

— Shelby Talcott

Trump’s moves test Asian allies

American allies in Asia have a new reason to worry about the US’ reliability in an age of rising aggression from China. Trump’s announcement that the US would scale back joint military exercises with South Korea is both a poke in the eye to Seoul, which Trump has had a complicated relationship with, and an overture to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Other recent moves have rattled Asia, including Trump’s freeze on arms sales to Taiwan and the Pentagon’s diversion of military assets from the Pacific to the Middle East. Still, it’s unclear how Kim received Trump’s olive branch — Trump said today that he had responded, without providing details — or whether Trump will even follow through. South Korea’s military said annual drills began today as scheduled. When asked about concrete steps to limit exercises, a Pentagon spokesman said there was “nothing to share at the moment.”

Justices rebuff Trump on Carroll case

The Supreme Court has officially twice rejected Trump’s appeal of the $5 million verdict against him in the sexual abuse case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll — an expected move that is nevertheless likely to draw ire from the president. The Carroll case is a lower-profile high court defeat for Trump than past losses on birthright citizenship and tariffs. Still, the president’s legal team insisted he “will keep winning against liberal lawfare,” and the justices may soon have other opportunities to engage on politically polarizing cases. The legal battle over Trump’s new tariff regime is expected to reach them, and Attorney General Todd Blanche hinted yesterday that the administration could ask the justices to intervene in cases regarding federal access to state voter rolls. Rulings favorable to Trump could fuel Democrats’ push for “dramatic reform” of the court if they retake power in Congress.

Defense contractor CEO ousted for relationship with subordinate

L3Harris’ board ousted CEO Chris Kubasik after an independent probe found he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an employee, Semafor’s Rohan Goswami scooped. The $54 billion defense contractor’s outside law firm conducted the probe, which had wrapped up in recent days. Kubasik was previously in line to take over as CEO of Lockheed Martin, another major US defense contractor, before he was fired over a similar incident that involved a “personal relationship with a subordinate employee” in 2012, Lockheed said at the time. L3Harris’ shares fell 3% on the news. The defense contractor is a big name in Washington and has done plenty of business with the Trump administration. The Pentagon took a $1 billion stake in a spinoff of the company’s rocket business, and L3Harris was responsible for security upgrades to Trump’s new Air Force One, gifted by Qatar.

‘The Daily Show’ faces uncertain future under Paramount

Will Jon Stewart walk away from the new Paramount? It’s a question that has been on the minds of Daily Show fans and staff amid a series of corporate moves that included the cancellation of the Stephen Colbert-hosted Late Show, and the decision by new owner David Ellison to purchase the proudly anti-woke publication The Free Press and appoint its founder to serve as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, Semafor’s Max Tani writes. Stewart’s deal is up at the end of the year, and while there is strong interest from Paramount in renewing the liberal media icon’s deal heading into a general election season, the two sides have yet to ink an extension. Company executives see Stewart and The Daily Show as one of two key components, along with South Park, of Comedy Central’s continued relevance as streaming disrupts cable.

On Tuesday, September 15, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J.; Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Dr. Emily Aaronson, Chief Medical Officer, Walmart; The Honorable Alex M. Azar II, 24th Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services; Chris Butler, Vice President & Head of Drug Discovery, Isomorphic Labs; and Amber Guild, CEO Elect, Susan G. Komen will join Semafor’s The Future of Health to unpack innovation and access of US healthcare.

From breakthrough therapies and AI-enabled care to the investments and policy decisions shaping the next generation of medicine, on-the-record conversations will explore how innovation can expand access, improve patient outcomes, and build a more affordable, effective healthcare system.

Sept. 15 | Washington, DC | Request Invite

White House

• President Trump said Israel should end strikes on Gaza, citing his administration’s peace plan and Hamas’ disarming.
• Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met for hours with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in an effort to resolve an impasse over the administration’s Gaza peace plan.

Congress

• Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., vowed to introduce a war powers resolution preventing military action against Oman when Congress returns from August recess, in the wake of President Trump’s comments today.

Campaigns

• President Trump voted by mail in the Florida Republican primary. — Politico
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected in Iowa today to stump for GOP candidates. — CBS
• The campaign of Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is refunding over a million dollars in excess contributions after Federal Election Commission officials flagged donations over the legal limit.

Courts

• Civil rights organizations asked the Supreme Court to hear their challenge of a Texas law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms.

Foreign Policy

• The Houthis claimed responsibility for a strike on a Saudi ship in the Red Sea.

Immigration

• Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott announced the suspension of border construction in Big Bend National Park after backlash from local officials.

Business

• OpenAI signed a deal with backing from Nvidia to build one of the country’s largest AI data centers in Ohio.
• Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm with ties to the Trump administration, faces a federal antitrust probe examining whether some senior executives are maintaining board memberships at competitor companies. — Bloomberg

— President Trump, speaking to the mother of Ryder Williams, a 16-year-old lifeguard who rescued a boy at a California beach.

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