Morning Announcements

Today's Headlines: SpaceX went public today raising $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation, making Elon Musk humanity's first trillionaire. Moving on, Trump spent Thursday morning threatening to seize Iran's main oil hub Kharg Island, then hours later cancelled strikes because Iran "approved a draft agreement" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin 60 days of nuclear negotiations — except Iran's own state media reported no agreement had been approved and that "the Americans kept changing their positions," though the stock market had its best day in two months anyway because the concept of a deal is apparently enough for Wall Street. In voter suppression news, the USPS quietly changed its rules to require states to hand over voter lists for anyone requesting mail-in ballots, with 23 states suing to stop it and the first judge already declining to block it, because of course they did. Trump dropped Bill Pulte as acting DNI after even Republicans said no, replacing him with Jay Clayton — Manhattan US Attorney, former SEC chair, and someone with no intelligence experience but a strong track record of loyalty to Trump. The DOJ is subpoenaing JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo to investigate alleged "debanking" of conservatives, with the primary evidence being that Trump lost his bank accounts after January 6th, and a DOJ staffer working on Traitor Fund legislation quietly asked to recuse himself because he was planning to file a claim from the same fund he's helping write. In Trump shenanigans news, his birthday UFC cage fight is set up on the White House lawn — with rain in the forecast — and workers will operate 20 hours a day year-round to build his gold arch in DC by the end of his term. And finally, Vance Boelter, the Minnesota man who posed as a police officer and murdered the Democratic speaker of Minnesota's state house, her husband, and their dog, pleaded guilty and received two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years. Resources/Articles mentioned: WSJ: SpaceX Officially Raises $75 Billion in Record-Breaking IPO Axios: Why Kharg Island is central to Trump's escalating Iran threats Axios:Trump cancels Iran strikes as mediators claim deal close AP News: US stocks jump, and oil prices ease on hopes for a deal to get crude flowing globally again CNN: Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots for states that don’t hand over voter lists, under plan for Trump directive Axios: Trump picks Jay Clayton for Director of National Intelligence Lever News: The Epstein Prosecutor With A Portfolio Problem WSJ: Jeanine Pirro’s Prosecutors Probe Big Banks for Alleged ‘Debanking’ Politico: Top DOJ official planned to make a claim with Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ AP News: Man pleads guilty to killing a top Minnesota Democrat and her husband while posing as an officer AP News: Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn's Octagon is ready for Trump's 80th birthday bash AP News: Administration plans intensive, year-round construction schedule for Trump's triumphal arch Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: Iran shot down a US Army helicopter yesterday, the US responded with strikes on Iranian air defense systems, both crew members are stable, and stock futures dropped immediately — so the ceasefire is going great. Meanwhile, the World Cup starts tomorrow and the Trump administration is already making it a disaster: the best male referee in Africa was denied entry despite a valid visa, the Iraqi team's vice captain was detained for seven hours at O'Hare, the team photographer was turned away entirely, and Trump is preemptively blaming Europe for any Ebola outbreaks despite zero confirmed cases there. Meanwhile, the House voted to give ICE and Border Patrol $70 billion more for immigration enforcement — $38 billion to ICE, $26 billion to Border Patrol, and a breezy $5 billion for "unforeseen costs." Anthropic's cofounder published a blog post asking leading AI labs to consider pausing frontier AI development, comparing it to nuclear nonproliferation — the response was a collective "no," with some calling it self-serving given everyone's upcoming IPOs — and this comes as Anthropic is reportedly preparing to release Claude Fable 5, a model it deemed too dangerous for public release just six months ago. Epstein assistant Lesley Groff testified before the House Oversight Committee claiming she "never saw anything improper" after two decades of keeping Epstein's entire schedule, which the committee found highly inconsistent. Tom Steyer conceded the California governor's race, Trump kept pushing election fraud conspiracies about California to the point that a congressman reported a friend canceling their voter registration over Spencer Pratt, and Ken Paxton's own former impeachment attorney endorsed Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race, saying Paxton is too focused on appeasing Trump to be a good senator. And finally, NASA announced the Artemis III crew of four astronauts who will orbit Earth practicing lunar lander docking in preparation for a 2028 moon landing — assuming Blue Origin delivers its lander on time, which is uncertain after one of its rockets exploded during a test. Resources/Articles mentioned: AP News: US and Iran launch airstrikes after Trump blamed Tehran for downing Army helicopter CNBC: Stock futures slip after U.S. launches ‘self-defense strikes’ against Iran: Live updates NYT: U.S. Denies Entry to World Cup Referee From Somalia NYT: Iraq World Cup star Aymen Hussein questioned for ‘seven hours’ by U.S. immigration officials Axios: Scoop: Trump admin pre-blames Europe for any World Cup Ebola AP News: House passes $70B bill to fund immigration enforcement for 3 years, sending to Trump MS Now: Longtime Epstein assistant denies knowledge of his crimes to House Oversight Committee Business Insider: What smart people are saying about Anthropic suggesting a global AI pause WSJ: Anthropic Releases Fable 5, a ‘Mythos-Class’ AI Model With Guardrails WaPo: Maine Senate primary election live results: Graham Platner runs X: X | Ro Kanna AP News: Ken Paxton's attorney in his impeachment trial endorses James Talarico in US Senate race AP News: NASA unveils Artemis III astronauts to test technology for a future moon landing Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: Trump's Meet the Press interview derailed when Kristen Welker told him to his face that he lost in 2020, but not before he confirmed on the record that he wants January 6th defendants who assaulted police officers compensated, called them victims of "dirty cops," denied ever promising no new wars, and compared Iran favorably to Vietnam. Coincidentally, a Vietnam veteran filed a lawsuit over the UFC fight night at the White House, arguing it wasn't authorized by Congress and benefits Trump directly since he bought UFC parent company stock while promoting the event, with the Lincoln Memorial scheduled to host fighter weigh-ins, which is a sentence that exists. Trump will also be at the Knicks game inconveniencing everyone with TSA screening and canceled watch parties. On the war beat, Iran fired missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire, Israel bombed Beirut, oil spiked 3.6%, and Trump responded by calling Fox News to criticize Israel and telling Axios he was phoning Netanyahu because "each of them had their fun" — not the standard framework for analyzing a missile exchange. The May jobs report came in better than expected with 172,000 payrolls added, but markets dipped anyway, prompting Trump to post that "stocks should go up not down, that's the way it was for 200 years," which is not how markets work. And finally, a former Social Security Administration executive blew the whistle on a DOGE-backed plan to mark 2.7 million living people — citizens, permanent residents, teenagers, senior citizens — as dead in federal databases to make life impossible for immigrants and funnel them into Social Security offices where they could be arrested, which didn't go through, though last year officials did successfully file 6,000 people into the Death Master File, some of whom had to physically show up to prove they were alive. Resources/Articles mentioned: NBC News: Read the transcript: President Donald Trump interviewed by NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker NYT: Trump Defends Compensation Fund and Iran War in ‘Meet the Press’ Interview NYT: Lawsuit Aims to Stop U.F.C. Fights at White House on Trump’s Birthday AP News: No bags, no watch parties at Madison Square Garden with Trump attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals NYT: Live Updates: Iran Fires Missiles at Israel for First Time Since April Cease-Fire NYT: Israel Bombs Beirut Outskirts as Fighting With Hezbollah Escalates Axios: Trump tells Axios he will ask Netanyahu not to strike back at Iran Bloomberg: Oil Jumps As Israel retaliates Against Iran After Missile Attacks CNBC: Jobs report May 2026 Fortune: Trump stunned as stocks fall on great jobs report. Barclays explains why ‘we are entering the warning zone' WaPo: Whistleblower claims DOGE planned to mark 2.7 million people dead Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: California and Iowa held their primaries Tuesday — Becerra and Hilton are leading California's governor's race with Steyer's money in a distant third, Karen Bass is holding first in LA's mayoral race with Spencer Pratt in second, and several Beverly Hills residents showed up to vote for Pratt only to discover they don't live in Los Angeles, perfect. Missing New Jersey congressman Tom Kean Jr. — absent for three months — won his uncontested primary anyway, with Trump endorsing him and calling him "tireless," while Kean remains well enough to execute stock trades but not apparently to show up to work. The House passed a War Powers Resolution requiring Trump to withdraw from Iran unless Congress authorizes the war — four Republicans defecting. Iranian drones struck Kuwait's main airport yesterday killing at least one person, and Trump defined the current ceasefire as "when you're shooting in a more moderate manner." The Kushner Albania situation escalated to over 100,000 protesters, a government corruption investigation, and frozen bank accounts tied to the land company behind their resort, over how ecologically protected land was quietly reclassified to clear the way for their development. George Santos is under investigation by the DOJ and CFTC for betting against his own State of the Union attendance on Kalshi after publicly tweeting he'd be there to inflate the odds — which is the most on-brand insider trading imaginable. And finally, DOGE whistleblower Daniel Berulis filed a defamation lawsuit against Elon Musk, revealing that less than a week after his whistleblower report was published, someone cut the brakes on his car, removed the airbag sensor, and left fingerprints inside — with the only entities that had his address on record being his utilities and the Office of Personnel Management, which DOGE had already taken over. Resources/Articles mentioned: The Guardian: Trump-backed candidate loses in Iowa governor’s race as Democrats look to flip Senate seat NYT: Election Live Updates: Races Are Close in California With Many Votes Still to Count NYT: A Congressman Was Suddenly Absent. So We Looked. And Looked Politico: New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. says he's 'energized' but appears to push back timeline for return The Independent: Where’s Trump? President resurfaces after a week with no public events amid health questions and tumbling polls NYT: House Passes Iran War Powers Resolution AP News: Kuwait says Iranian drones hit airport and killed 1 as ceasefire is tested again WSJ: Trump Tells Aides He Won’t Resume All-Out War With Iran Unless U.S. Troops Are Killed MSN: Albania freezes assets in Kushner resort corruption probe Wired: He Blew the Whistle on DOGE. Then His Brakes Were Cut Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: The Traitor Fund is effectively dead for now — the DOJ said it "disagrees strongly" but will abide by the court's ruling, which is the closest thing to a clean win we've gotten in a while. Trump's America 250 birthday celebration continues to implode, with a competing Power to the People Festival announced for October 3rd featuring Springsteen, Joan Baez, and Dave Matthews, while the UFC fight at the White House is still on but now requires attending service members to meet a waist-to-height ratio under .55, and the National Park Service is spending $5 million on a no-bid contract to gold-plate four bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial, which is giving Saddam Hussein's living room. Trump reportedly told Netanyahu on a bad phone call that "you're fucking crazy, you'd be in prison if it weren't for me, everybody hates Israel because of this" — accurate — and Netanyahu pulled back on planned Beirut strikes, with Lebanon's parliament speaker saying Hezbollah is ready for a full ceasefire with Israel, though the US bombed Iranian drone sites yesterday and a cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, so "ceasefire" continues to mean whatever anyone needs it to mean. Florida's attorney general sued OpenAI and Sam Altman for marketing ChatGPT without adequately warning of its dangers, citing its alleged role in mass shootings, suicide encouragement, and helping a murder suspect dispose of bodies — and Anthropic filed its IPO the same day at a $965 billion valuation, because timing is everything. And finally, a second man named Dan Sullivan entered the Alaska Senate race against incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan with no policies and no party affiliation, just a stated goal of unseating the other Dan Sullivan, which is either a Democratic ploy or the most chaotic campaign launch of the cycle. Resources/Articles mentioned: AP News: Trump reconsidering $1.8 billion fund, AP source says, as Justice Department temporarily pauses it Rolling Stone: Tom Morello Announces Power to the People Festival With Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, More NBC News: No heavyweights allowed: Troops must meet fitness criteria to attend White House UFC event Ts-horse-statues Axios: "You're fucking crazy": Trump fumes at Netanyahu in call on Lebanon Axios: Lebanese official told U.S. that Hezbollah ready for full ceasefire with Israel AP News: US bombs Iran, downs missiles fired at bases in Kuwait Axios: Florida sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over ChatGPT - Axios Tampa Bay CNBC: Anthropic confidentially files IPO prospectus with SEC, prepping Wall Street for landmark AI deal NYT: Senator Dan Sullivan Has a New Challenger in Alaska Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: Trump touched down in Beijing for his Xi Jinping summit — greeted by a military band and hundreds of children waving flags — while Elon Musk technically skipped his own OpenAI trial to attend as emotional support, despite the judge explicitly not excusing him. On the Iran war, US intelligence assessed that Iran still has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites and about 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, which is not what "totally obliterated" means, and for the seventh time Senate Democrats tried to advance a war powers resolution to force a congressional vote on Iran and for the seventh time it failed. On the domestic front, the DOJ is discussing settling Trump's personal tax return lawsuit for up to $10 billion in taxpayer money — potentially including dropping all audits of Trump, his family, and his businesses — while the FBI has been running an internal "payback squad" of agents handling cases against Trump's political enemies out of off-site locations for over a year. Trump got his preferred Fed chair with Kevin Warsh confirmed 54-45, the narrowest margin in modern history, and the White House is planning 250 pardons to celebrate America's 250th birthday because of course it is. On the redistricting front, Louisiana senators stayed up all night to advance a map eliminating one of the state's two majority-Black districts, and South Carolina's governor called a special session specifically to pass a new map eliminating Jim Clyburn's seat with a simple majority instead of the usual two-thirds vote. Alligator Alcatraz is closing after costing Florida hundreds of millions in under a year, and Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions were unanimously overturned by South Carolina's Supreme Court after it emerged the court clerk told jurors not to be "fooled" by him — before writing a book about the trial. Resources/Articles mentioned: NYT: How China Sent a Message to Trump on His Arrival NBC News:A judge told Musk he wasn’t excused from trial. He went to China with Trump anyway NYT: U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities The Guardian: Senate fails to curb Trump’s war on Iran even as Republican opposition grows CNN: Justice Department considers settling Trump’s $10 billion IRS leak lawsuit WSJ: White House Explores 250 Pardons to Mark America’s 250th Birthday Not Us: FBI Created ‘Payback Squad’ to Handle Political Cases, Sources Say WSJ: Kevin Warsh Is Confirmed as Fed Chair in 54–45 Senate Vote NYT: Florida Plans to Close ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ Vendors Are Reportedly Told Axios NoLa: Louisiana advances congressional map with reduced Black representation The Hill: McMaster set to call South Carolina special session on redistricting: Reports NYT: Alex Murdaugh Murder Convictions Overturned by South Carolina’s Top Court Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: The Iran ceasefire is on "massive life support" per Trump, while Iran's foreign minister insists their latest proposal was reasonable — and the administration responded by sanctioning 12 companies helping ship Iranian oil to China, days before Trump flies to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping, where that will definitely not be awkward. This is further complicated by reports that China was preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran last month, meaning both China and Russia are now actively supporting Iran, great. On the Hantavirus front, 18 Americans from the cruise are back in the US, at least 2 appear infected, and the other 16 are being monitored at a federally funded biocontainment facility in Nebraska — the WHO still says global risk is low and this is not another COVID. In other news, Trump's plan to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool "American flag blue" was quoted at $1.8 million — it's actually $13.1 million, no other contractors were allowed to bid, and the justification was that delays would cause "serious injury to the government." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy filmed a road trip reality show visiting historic landmarks, which a watchdog group alleges was sponsored by Toyota, Boeing, and United Airlines — companies he's supposed to regulate — through a conveniently named nonprofit funded by auto companies. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Max Miller was accused in court filings of throwing boiling water on his ex-wife while their 2-year-old was present — also not his first abuse accusation, having previously been accused of assault by then-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in 2020. Texas sued Netflix for spying on children, collecting user data without consent, selling viewing habits to data brokers, and designing the platform to be addictive — Netflix says the lawsuit lacks merit. The guy who stormed the White House Correspondents Dinner pleaded not guilty, with his attorneys arguing that both acting AG Todd Blanche and Jeanine Pirro should recuse themselves since they were both at the dinner. And finally, NBC is launching a Wordle game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Jimmy Fallon. Resources/Articles mentioned: AP News: Passengers from virus-stricken cruise ship fly to home countries for monitoring CNN: Live updates: Trump says ceasefire with Iran on ‘massive life support’ after he rejects Tehran’s proposal NYT: Reflecting Pool Repairs to Cost $13.1 Million. Trump Had Promised $1.8 Million Reuters: Netflix sued by Texas for allegedly spying on children, addicting users The Hill: Watchdog group asks Transportation IG to probe Duffy’s ‘road trip’ with family Yahoo: MAGA Congressman Accused of Beating and Burning His Ex-Wife AP News: Man charged in White House correspondents' dinner attack pleads not guilty NYT: Wordle to Become Prime-Time TV Show, With Savannah Guthrie as Host Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices