Washington, DC

1. WH isolated on AI
2. Xi summit wraps up
3. Diesel ban pushback
4. Klomp’s coup
5. Dems’ midterm optimism
6. Gun safety campaign
7. Media vs. Trump

PDB: AOC cosponsors ‘superintelligence’ ban

Trump , Xi visit National Archives … U Michigan reports consumer sentiment … Pope Leo meets Macron

White House stakes out lonely AI position

The White House and its allies are lonely in their insistence that AI development in America must accelerate without governments setting ground rules. At the UN General Assembly in New York City this week, as well as in meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington, President Donald Trump’s team was clear: US companies are the leaders in AI; they plan to keep it that way; and they reject any attempt at global proposals to rein in the technology. And without official support from the US, any agreement on AI safety will be difficult to execute. As a result, nations may be left setting nonbinding rules and best practices without the buy-in of the biggest companies’ home country. Meanwhile, frontier labs are pushing forward with their own self-regulatory schemes, which will ask them to agree on testing standards in a highly competitive environment.

Trump-Xi summit short on progress

Trump and Xi are set to conclude a superpower summit that has proven to be long on ceremony and short on substance. The pair made minor concessions on trade, Beijing pledged more student visas, and Xi said two pandas would soon arrive at a zoo in Atlanta. Yet little progress was made on the most pressing issues, including AI regulation, China’s opposition to American support for Taiwan, or Beijing’s reported support for Iran. If anything, the pageantry irked Trump’s fellow Republicans, who noted he campaigned on constraining China. The contrast to the White House’s treatment of a key ally, Japan — whose leader arrived on an empty tarmac then faced pressure over her country’s currency — was particularly stark.

Trump’s diesel export ban under siege

The diesel export ban Trump is mulling to bring down record-high prices would backfire in two ways, further dividing Hill Republicans while risking even pricier gasoline, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller and Nicholas Wu report. If his administration does push ahead, its main cheerleaders will be GOP candidates in tight races this fall. But most congressional Republicans want nothing to do with the idea, no matter how close they are with the administration. “The better policy would be for states like California to lift the restrictions that they’re imposing on the exploitation and the refining of diesel,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., told Semafor. Oil-state lawmakers were harsher: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, derided it as “a gimmick” that “won’t work.” The frosty response from Trump’s own party is particularly notable after a year that began with Republicans stiff-arming his earliest ideas to lower the cost of living.

Whitehouse backs Klomp’s HHS bid

Chris Klomp’s nomination to be the second-in-command at HHS has advanced to the Senate floor — with help from one Democrat. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., often a vocal Trump critic, joined 14 Republicans to support Klomp. When asked about his vote, Whitehouse pointed to a longstanding Rhode Island Medicare reimbursement policy issue he said he hopes Klomp will help resolve. For years, Whitehouse’s state has been grappling with challenges stemming from how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services compensates healthcare providers. “I’m sick of it, and it’s really hurting my home state,” Whitehouse told Semafor. “And I’m prepared to make a bet that Chris Klomp will help Administrator [Mehmet] Oz and Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy [Jr.] towards a resolution of this very dire home-based problem.”

— David Lim

Dems more optimistic about midterm map

Democrats are cautiously optimistic about the midterm map after a growing number of Republicans broke with Trump this week and polling shows Democratic candidates leading in some key races. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries quipped that “Judgment Day” was coming and that “House Democrats are running towards the finish line, and Republicans are running scared.” Others, however, were careful not to read too much into polls. “It’s a snapshot in time, and in Michigan, the minute you take things for granted is the minute you lose,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. Still, Democrats have viewed instances of Republicans like Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers breaking with the president on Iran as evidence Democrats are pulling ahead in the midterms. “That is to me a stronger sign of where the public is,” Slotkin said.

— Nicholas Wu

Giffords launches new ads in House races

Former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords’ gun safety group is spending roughly $1.5 million against Republicans in two critical House races, according to details first shared with Semafor. Giffords PAC is launching a new $850,000 ad to knock off Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania and spending $700,000 to defeat Rep. David Valadao in California. The ads attack both Republican members over contributions they’ve accepted from the firearm industry and their voting records on guns. One ad declares Bresnahan “too corrupt to keep Northeast Pennsylvania families safe,” while another features testimony from a former homicide detective accusing Valadao of “gambling with police officers’ lives and putting families in danger” (the latter also has a Spanish-language version). The ads are part of a $10 million spending plan.

— Burgess Everett

Media wins Round 1 of Trump fight

The three media outlets Trump banned from the White House won the first round of their legal fight with the administration, restoring their ability to cover the president in the middle of his summit with Xi. A Trump-appointed judge ordered their credentials reinstated for two weeks while the legal fight plays out, but a final ruling will come later, and Trump has already vowed to appeal if he loses. But he is testing the bounds of the judge’s order; journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were still denied access to the White House grounds yesterday morning, hours after US District Judge Timothy Kelly made his decision, before the administration ultimately complied. Meanwhile, TV pool coverage remains suspended — to the chagrin of Trump, who said his dinner with Xi was “Actually made for Television.” (A few Fox News stars attended, as did Paramount CEO David Ellison.)

Blindspot: Immigration and inflated valor

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets.

What the Left isn’t reading: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new steps to restrict “birth tourism” ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit, Fox News reported.

What the Right isn’t reading: A Republican House candidate in Nevada “inflated his military record multiple times in recent years by falsely claiming he received a Bronze Star ‘for valor,’” The Washington Post reported.

He built a billion-dollar water company by using comedy. On this week’s episode of Mixed Signals, Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario joins Ben and Liz (who filled in for Max) to explain why he thinks comedy is a more durable marketing genre than celebrity testimonials, why big companies almost never win when they sue smaller ones, and whether Liquid Death will fizzle out into the graveyard of buzzy consumer brands that came before it. Plus, why he thinks comedy is the one thing Coca-Cola can’t buy.

White House

• Conspicuously absent from the list of tech luminaries who attended President Trump and Xi Jinping’s dinner last night: representatives from Anthropic.

Congress

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is cosponsoring a bill led by Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., banning AI superintelligence, according to a spokesperson. She’s joining other lawmakers, including Reps. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
• The Senate voted down a war powers resolution on Iran; Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted for it, while