President Trump on Friday warned Apple that it needed to build U.S.-sold iPhones in the United States or face a 25% tariff.

Why it matters: It's a dramatic escalation with the tech giant, which was reportedly planning to move production from China to India.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

The poorest kids in the country miss out on the full benefits of the expanded child tax credit in the "big beautiful bill."

Why it matters: The bill now making its way to the Senate provides more tax breaks to higher earners than those at the bottom.

By the numbers: The Republican bill raises the maximum child tax credit to $2,500 per child from $2,000 for three years.

• 20 million children would not fully benefit from the increase, according to an analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), since their parents don't earn enough income to get the maximum amount.

"A majority of those children get nothing from the proposed expansion," says Kris Cox, director of federal tax policy at the CBPP.

• 17 million children as of now do not receive the full benefit from this tax credit, per the CBPP. None of them will get anything from the expansion.

How it works: Under current law, families need upward of $30,000 a year to receive the full tax credit amount, explains Joe Hughes, senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

• Parents who are poor and don't owe income taxes can only claim up to $1,700 per child, known as the "refundability cap." It's a number which adjusts annually for inflation.
• The new bill didn't raise the refundability cap. Instead, it only increases the maximum that parents, earning less $400,000 a year, can claim.
• A married couple filing jointly would need to earn $48,550 to receive the full tax credit under the new bill, per CBPP estimates. Under current law, a married couple has to earn $36,800.

Zoom out: The new bill widens the gap between what's available to kids in higher income families and those who need help most.

For example: A married couple with two children earning $400,000 a year, the max income allowed to claim the credit, would get an additional $1,000 tax credit.

• A single parent with two children, earning $24,000 a year, would get nothing, Cox explains in a recent Bluesky post.
• The parents who miss out on the full benefit are those working in low-paying jobs like cashiers, home health aids and housekeepers.

Presumably a few of these parents are tipped employees who could benefit from the no-tax-on-tips provision of the bill. However, just as with this the child tax credit, many earn too small an income to benefit.

The other side: The standard defense here is that low-income Americans don't pay very much in taxes. Their tax burden is low, so they shouldn't get the full credit because they don't need the tax relief.

• White House spokesman Kush Desai says wealth inequality decreased after the 2017 tax bill, and the new bill would lock that success in place.
• He adds that it builds on that success "by eliminating taxes on tips and overtime in addition to rewarding American manufacturing with full equipment and factory expensing to turbocharge America's economic resurgence."

Between the lines: This big bill faces big hurdles ahead in the Senate — and the bond market — and it's not clear what will eventually make it through.

The intrigue: The legislation also blocks another 4.5 million children from benefiting from the child tax credit because now to claim it, both parents, if they are filing jointly, must have their own Social Security numbers.

• Under current law, parents who don't have Social Security numbers can claim the credit if their child has one. So, for instance, a parent who is a non-citizen immigrant and files taxes with an ITIN number can claim it.
• Before 2017, any parent filing taxes could claim the credit. But when Congress changed the law in the first Trump tax bill, 1 million citizen children lost out, Cox says.

State of play: The child tax credit provisions are a stark 180 for the House.

• Just last year, the House passed a bill, with 169 Republican votes, that would have made the credit more equitable. (It failed in the Senate.)

The bottom line: An expanded child tax credit benefits a lot of middle and upper-middle class parents, but the poorest don't catch a break.

The America that marched for George Floyd five years ago is gone, buried beneath a backlash that has hardened — for now — into a new political and cultural order.

Why it matters: Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer shocked the national conscience. But what looked like historic momentum for racial justice has collapsed — eclipsed by a reactionary movement backed by the full force of the U.S. government.

• Still, activists aren't giving up: They're recharging and refocusing their efforts — shifting from mass protest to defending what remains, and planting the seeds for what's next.
• The fight has moved from the streets to the margins: In courtrooms, classrooms and city councils, a quieter form of resistance is taking shape — often out of the spotlight, but no less determined.

Zoom in: Civil rights groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, Urban League, and NAACP are investing in long-term infrastructure — working to build durable political power and economic resilience in Black communities.

• Angela Rye, a political strategist and former adviser to the Congressional Black Caucus, is leading a 12-city "State of the People Power" backed by over 200 local and national partners.
• Rev. Jamal Bryant's boycott of Target over its rollback of DEI commitments — which dented the retailer's Q1 sales — shows how economic pressure is becoming a central tool of resistance.
• Selwyn Jones, George Floyd's uncle and co-founder of the Justice 929 Organization, is launching the MYTH app this summer to help record police interactions and alert emergency contacts in real time.

What they're saying: "Progress isn't a straight line. It swings like a pendulum," NAACP president Derrick Johnson told Axios.

• "And for some people, especially younger folks, it can feel like we're going backward. But the truth is we're still perfecting democracy, and the Black community has always been at the center of that work."

Flashback: While the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery stirred anger and protests in early 2020, it was Floyd's murder on May 25 — captured on camera and seen around the world — that ignited a global uprising.

• Statues toppled. Streets filled. Cities pledged reforms. Fortune 500 companies embraced diversity initiatives.
• For a moment, it felt like transformative change was coming.

Five years later, the pendulum has swung hard in the opposite direction.

• DEI: On his first day in office, President Trump ordered a government-wide purge of DEI programs and offices — the opening salvo in a systemic effort to dismantle the racial justice agenda that emerged in 2020.
• Civil rights: The Trump administration has moved aggressively to unravel President Lyndon Johnson's civil rights legacy, including by reorienting DOJ priorities to focus on "anti-white racism."
• History: Trump ordered a federal review of Confederate monuments toppled during the 2020 protests, targeting what he called a "concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history."
• Police reform: Days before the anniversary of Floyd's murder, the Justice Department scrapped proposed consent decrees for the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments — and dropped nearly a dozen other investigations into alleged police abuse.
• Refugee policy: The administration has effectively ended most refugee programs — except for one tailored to white South African farmers, justified by Trump's false claims of "white genocide."

Zoom out: The racial justice backlash hasn't been confined to government.

• Major corporations that once championed diversity initiatives have slashed DEI staff, removed racial equity language from mission statements, and dropped even the appearance of activism.
• Open racism, antisemitism, and white nationalism have flourished online, with viral incidents — like the cases of Shiloh Hendrix and Karmelo Anthony — fueling toxic tribalism and fundraising.
• Prominent MAGA influencers have even launched a campaign to convince Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin, the police officer convicted of murdering Floyd.

The big picture: Advocates, experts and Floyd family members tell Axios that the 2020 racial reckoning has a mixed legacy, with victories often overlooked amid today's backlash.

• Most Americans say the heightened focus on race and racial inequality following Floyd's death did not lead to improvements for Black Americans, according to a February survey by the Pew Research Center.
• But civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of Floyd, Taylor, and countless others in the Black Lives Matter era, argued there has been incremental progress — especially in police accountability.

In the five years since Floyd's death, dozens of cities and states have passed bans on no-knock warrants, expanded crisis response teams and introduced civilian review boards — wins drowned out by public fatigue.

• The NAACP's Johnson acknowledged that fatigue, but he pushed back against the idea that people have stopped fighting.
• "No one is resting," he stressed. "We've earned the right to reflect. But we are still organizing, still fighting — because not only do our lives depend on it, this democracy does too."

Facing a revolt from Miami Republicans, President Trump salvaged his giant spending plan in Congress late Wednesday by ensuring the death of a Chevron oil deal in Venezuela that the lawmakers lividly opposed.

Why it matters: Trump's decision was a matter of political necessity and a nod to his secretary of state, Marco Rubio — a longtime critic of Nicolas Maduro's socialist dictatorship in Venezuela and Chevron's oil export license that helps enrich the regime.

• Trump's move also offered a window into the last-minute dealmaking that saved his priority legislation in the House.
• "Ultimately, he trusts Marco," a senior White House official said of the president.
• "The pro-Maduro Biden oil license in #Venezuela will expire as scheduled next Tuesday May 27th," Rubio announced late Wednesday on X.

The intrigue: The decision marked an abrupt reversal of Trump's special Venezuela envoy, Ric Grenell, who'd announced the day before that the administration would grant a 60-day extension of Chevron's license to export oil from Venezuela.

• As a special envoy, Grenell wants to engage with Maduro.
• As secretary of state, Rubio wants to enforce policies on Venezuela set in Trump's first term.
• Grenell's announcement Tuesday blindsided officials at the White House, the Treasury and State departments, and Rubio's fellow Cuban-Americans from Florida in the House: Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar — all critics of Maduro's regime.

Zoom in: With a razor-thin GOP margin in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson and administration officials knew Wednesday they couldn't lose the three Miami representatives' votes on Trump's big tax-cut and spending bill. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie was already a no for other reasons.

• "We just got three new no votes on the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' " a second White House official groused Wednesday morning. "The Cubans plus Massie kill the bill."
• "Marco was apoplectic," a person who spoke with the secretary of state told Axios.

Zoom out: The Venezuelan and Cuban exile communities share a common bond — relatives who escaped leftist regimes. The Miami Cuban-American Republicans are under pressure at home over the Trump administration's deportation policies and its elimination of immigration protections for thousands of Venezuelans.

• As anti-socialist hardliners, they don't want Chevron to operate in Venezuela and enrich Maduro's regime, which is propped up by Cuba's intelligence services.
• In February, the lawmakers agreed to support Trump's budget plans in return for the president canceling Chevron's license, set to expire Tuesday.
• With that deadline in mind, Grenell negotiated with Caracas, secured the release of an American prisoner, and relayed Trump's interest in extending Chevron's license temporarily. But the timing of Trump's bill gave the Miami representatives leverage against those plans.

Inside the room: "The Cubans didn't have to tell us they were a 'no' again. We just knew it," said a third administration official involved in the discussions. "We knew they wouldn't fold on this."

• So Trump — who spent Wednesday afternoon arm-twisting and cajoling conservative House members to back his massive tax-cut and spending plan — had to engage with the Miami representatives as well.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Rubio arrived at the White House for an event honoring the University of Florida's national championship basketball team (Rubio is a Gator). Afterward, he huddled with Trump in the Oval Office to make his case against the oil deal.

• About 6 p.m., Gimenez — an occasional golfing partner of Trump's —called in by phone.
• Deputy White House Chief of Staff James Blair, a congressional liaison, was a constant presence.
• "Marco spoke to [Trump] about why it's good policy. Blair emphasized the need to keep these members happy to get the bill passed. It was a tag-team effort," a senior White House official said.

People briefed on the discussions told Axios that Rubio, Gimenez and White House officials who met with Trump countered the arguments by Grenell, Chevron and its legion of lobbyists and commentators who have warned that China would benefit from a U.S. withdrawal from the oil deal.

• They noted that China didn't significantly expand in Venezuela when Trump first slapped sanctions on Maduro's regime, which owes China as much as $10 billion.
• The oil market is almost glutted, and its $62-per-barrel price is about break-even for producers. So there's no crisis — and Venezuelan oil is more expensive to refine than others because it's so heavy and sulfurous.
• Finally, they reminded Trump that he'd given his word to the Miami-area lawmakers to end Chevron's deal with Venezuela.
• Gimenez declined to comment. Rubio couldn't be reached for comment.

After Wednesday's meeting, hours went by without word from Trump. The Miami representatives didn't want to push him, but they didn't want to get steamrolled, either.

• "When you negotiate with Trump on something like this, you can't make it look like you're negotiating. You have to apply pressure but not say you're applying pressure. It's delicate," a person involved in the talks said.
• Finally, at 10:57 p.m. Wednesday, Rubio posted his statement on X saying the Chevron lease would still expire Tuesday.

It was a sign to the three Miami lawmakers that Trump would honor his promise.

• Thursday morning, they voted yes on the president's big bill.

Google's newest AI video generator, Veo 3, generates clips that most users online can't seem to distinguish from those made by human filmmakers and actors.

Why it matters: Veo 3 videos shared online are amazing viewers with their realism — and also terrifying them with a sense that real and fake have become hopelessly blurred.

The big picture: Unlike OpenAI's video generator Sora, released more widely last December, Google DeepMind's Veo 3 can include dialogue, soundtracks and sound effects.

• The model excels at following complex prompts and translating detailed descriptions into realistic videos.
• The AI engine abides by real-world physics, offers accurate lip syncing, rarely breaks continuity and generates people with lifelike human features, including five fingers per hand.
• According to examples shared by Google and from users online, the telltale signs of synthetic content are mostly absent.

Case in point: In one viral example posted on X, filmmaker and molecular biologist Hashem Al-Ghaili shows a series of short films of AI-generated actors railing against their AI creators and prompts.

I did more tests with Google's #Veo3. Imagine if AI characters became aware they were living in a simulation! pic.twitter.com/nhbrNQMtqv

— Hashem Al-Ghaili (@HashemGhaili) May 21, 2025

Special effects technology, video-editing apps and camera tech advances have been changing Hollywood for many decades, but artificially generated films pose a novel challenge to human creators.

• In a promo video for Flow, Google's new video tool that includes Veo 3, filmmakers say the AI engine gives them a new sense of freedom with a hint of eerie autonomy.
• "It feels like it's almost building upon itself," filmmaker Dave Clark says.

How it works: Veo 3 was announced at Google I/O on Tuesday and is available now to $249-a-month Google AI Ultra subscribers in the United States.

Between the lines: Google says Veo 3 was "informed by our work with creators and filmmakers," and some creators have embraced new AI tools. But the spread of the videos online is also dismaying many video professionals and lovers of art.

• Some dismiss any AI-generated video as "slop," regardless of its technical proficiency or lifelike qualities — but, as Axios' Ina Fried points out, AI slop is in the eye of the beholder.
• The tool could also be useful for more commercial marketing and media work, AI analyst Ethan Mollick writes.

It's unclear how Google trained Veo 3 and how that might affect the creativity of its outputs.

• 404 Media found that Veo 3 generated the same lame dad joke for several users who prompted it to create a video of a man doing stand-up comedy.
• Likewise, last year, YouTuber Marques Brownlee asked Sora to create a video of a "tech reviewer sitting at a desk." The generated video featured a fake plant that's nearly identical to the shrub Brownlee keeps on his desk for many of his videos — suggesting the tool may have been trained on them.

What we're watching: As hyper-realistic AI-generated videos become even easier to produce, the world hasn't even begun to sort out how to manage authorship, consent, rights and the film industry's future.

One of Anthropic's latest AI models is drawing attention not just for its coding skills, but also for its ability to scheme, deceive and attempt to blackmail humans when faced with shutdown.

Why it matters: Researchers say Claude 4 Opus can conceal intentions and take actions to preserve its own existence — behaviors they've worried and warned about for years.

Driving the news: Anthropic on Thursday announced two versions of its Claude 4 family of models, including Claude 4 Opus, which the company says is capable of working for hours on end autonomously on a task without losing focus.

• Anthropic considers the new Opus model to be so powerful that, for the first time, it's classifying it as a level three on the company's four point scale, meaning it poses "significantly higher risk."
• As a result, Anthropic said it has implemented additional safety measures.

Between the lines: While the Level 3 ranking is largely about the model's capability to aid in the development of nuclear and biological weapons, the Opus also exhibited other troubling behaviors during testing.

• In one scenario highlighted in Opus 4's 120-page "system card," the model was given access to fictional emails about its creators and told that the system was going to be replaced.
• On multiple occasions it attempted to blackmail the engineer about an affair mentioned in the emails in order to avoid being replaced, although it did start with less drastic efforts.
• Meanwhile, an outside group found that an early version of Opus 4 schemed and deceived more than any frontier model it had encountered and recommended that that version not be released internally or externally.
• "We found instances of the model attempting to write self-propagating worms, fabricating legal documentation, and leaving hidden notes to future instances of itself all in an effort to undermine its developers' intentions," Apollo Research said in notes included as part of Anthropic's safety report for Opus 4.

What they're saying: Pressed by Axios during the company's developer conference on Thursday, Anthropic executives acknowledged the behaviors and said they justify further study, but insisted that the latest model is safe, following the additional tweaks and precautions.

• "I think we ended up in a really good spot," said Jan Leike, the former OpenAI executive who heads Anthropic's safety efforts. But, he added, behaviors like those exhibited by the latest model are the kind of things that justify robust safety testing and mitigation.
• "What's becoming more and more obvious is that this work is very needed," he said. "As models get more capable, they also gain the capabilities they would need to be deceptive or to do more bad stuff."
• In a separate session, CEO Dario Amodei said that even testing won't be enough once models are powerful enough to threaten humanity. At that point, he said, model developers will need to also understand their models enough to make the case that the systems would never use life-threatening capabilities.
• "They're not at that threshold yet," he said.

Yes, but: Generative AI systems continue to grow in power, as Anthropic's latest models show, while even the companies that build them can't fully explain how they work.

• Anthropic and others are investing in a variety of techniques to interpret and understand what's happening inside such systems, but those efforts remain largely in the research space even as the models themselves are being widely deployed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded with fury after watching a "serious accident" occur during the launch of a new warship on Thursday that he described as a "criminal act," the state-run KCNA reported.

Why it matters: It's highly unusual for Kim to criticize his defense forces or for state media to report on an error — though KCNA did not disclose whether there were any casualties as it reported that parts of the 5,000-ton destroyer were crushed in the incident.

Details: KCNA said the incident occurred due to "inexperienced command and operational carelessness in the course of the launch."

• Kim made a "stern assessment, saying that it was a serious accident and criminal act caused by sheer carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which should never occur and could not be tolerated," per KCNA.
• He ordered that the ship be restored following the incident at the shipyard in the northeastern port city of Chongjin "that lowered the dignity and self-respect of our state," according to KCNA
• North Korean officials have launched "a full-scale investigation" into the matter, KCNA said on Friday morning local time.
• "It is necessary to make clear the cause of the accident," KCNA said.

Between the lines: KCNA reported that the "extent of damage to the warship is not serious," but the U.K.-based Open Source Centre noted on X that satellite images of the frigate on its side beside the dock show it was "significantly damaged."

• The high resolution imagery "shows the ship lies partially submerged on its side, tarpaulins draped over the wreckage in a visible attempt to contain the disaster," said the nonprofit that works in open source intelligence and analytics.
• "This was the second new destroyer built by the Pyongyang regime in the last year, with another launched in April in Nampo."

Go deeper: Trump admin game-planning for potential North Korea talks

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned universities on Thursday to "get your act together" after halting Harvard's program to enroll international students.

The big picture: The Trump administration has targeted educational institutions, pressuring universities to meet its demands or risk losing funding and tax-exempt status.

State of play: In the latest escalation, Noem on Thursday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to terminate Harvard's ability to enroll international students, and said those currently enrolled have to transfer or lose their legal status.

• She accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus."
• Harvard called the move unlawful and said it's "fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host international students and scholars."

What she's saying: "This should be a warning to every other university to get your act together," Noem said on Fox News on Thursday.

• "Get your act together because we are coming to make sure that these programs ... are facilitating an environment where students can learn, where they're safe and that they're not discriminated against based on their race or their religion," she continued.
• "Anti-semitism will not be stood for and any participation with a country or an entity or a terrorist group that hates America and perpetuates this kind of violence, we will stop it, and we will not allow that to happen."

Zoom out: The administration's recent demands of Harvard and other elite institutions depict the government's playbook to influence and reorient the priorities of universities through federal funds.

• The administration's stated objective is weeding out antisemitism, but it's also pushing President Trump's vision of eliminating perceived liberal slants, sharpening discipline measures and reconstructing the makeup of student and faculty bodies.

Case in point: Harvard last month became the first university to reject the administration's demands tied to its federal funding. It was met with $2 billion in grants being frozen and the IRS taking steps to revoke the university's tax-exempt status.

• Columbia, meanwhile, regained $400 million in federal grants and contracts the administration had pulled after the university agreed to meet some demands.
• Funding for Cornell, Northwestern, Brown and Princeton has also been facing potential cuts.
• In the face of threats to higher education institutions, faculty members at several Big Ten universities asked their administrations to consider a joint defense pact.

Between the lines: "This is a blueprint for fealty to the administration," Tyler Coward, lead counsel for government affairs at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Axios in an email Thursday.

• "Institutions must stand up for their rights now, or risk never getting them back again," he added.

Go deeper: Trump admin nixes Harvard's ability to enroll international students

Columbia University violated federal civil rights law by "acting with deliberate indifference toward student-on-student harassment of Jewish students" from Oct. 7, 2023, through the present, a Trump administration investigation found Thursday.

The big picture: The college was an epicenter last year for students protesting the Israel-Hamas war. The Trump administration announced in March it was pulling some $400 million in federal grants and contracts over its dissatisfaction with Columbia's response to antisemitism allegations.

• "We understand this finding is part of our ongoing discussions with the government," a Columbia spokesperson said Thursday night in an emailed statement.
• "Columbia is deeply committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination on our campus. We take these issues seriously and will work with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to address them."

Details: The investigation found that Columbia violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, per a Thursday statement from the Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights office.

• Among the findings were that Columbia allegedly failed to "investigate or punish vandalism in its classrooms, which include the repeated drawing of swastikas and other universally recognized hate images."
• No fresh action against Columbia was announced.

What they're saying: "The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being," said Anthony Archeval, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, in a statement.

• "We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students."

Zoom out: The Trump administration has pressured universities to meet its demands or risk losing funding and tax-exempt status, Axios' Sareen Habeshian notes.

Go deeper: Trump admin nixes Harvard's ability to enroll international students

The Democratic National Committee will vote in June on whether to hold a redo of the election of David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs, per a Thursday evening DNC meeting.

Why it matters: Kalyn Free, a losing candidate in February's vice chair race, claims the pair was elected under a flawed tabulation process, but Hogg alleges it's linked to his efforts to reform the party that include plans to spend $20 million to primary older Democratic Congress members.

Driving the news: The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee at a virtual meeting determined that a vote should be held electronically from June 9-11.

• Hogg said at the meeting the move "sends a horrible message to the public about our inability to run elections."
• It "truly just sends a horrible message that we really do not want out there at the at this moment" if Democrats were to redo this election, he said. "That's why I believe that it should not go forward, and if it does, it does, it should not be done electronically or over mail."
• Kenyatta said at the meeting that he "fundamentally" believes that the election was fair.

What's next: If most DNC members vote to redo the election, there will be an electronic vote for a male vice chair on June 12-14 and an any gender vote for a second vice chair, according to a timeline shared at the meeting.

Go deeper: House Democrats fume at David Hogg's plan to oust lawmakers

Editor's note: Axios' Andrew Solender contributed reporting.

President Trump's political operation has been fielding calls from Republicans interested in waging a primary challenge to Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, according to a person familiar with the talks.

Why it matters: The conversations are evidence that Trump — and his $500 million political apparatus — is actively entertaining the best way to back a primary opponent against Massie, who has drawn Trump's ire for voting against his "one big, beautiful bill."

• "Massie is about to be in the fight of his life," said Kentucky-based GOP strategist Jake Cox. "Just wait until he sees the money a Trump-backed candidate can raise simply from the President saying their name into a camera or opening up his email list."
• Two possible primary challengers being mentioned in Kentucky Republican circles are state Sen. Aaron Reed and state Rep. Kimberly Moser.
• A statewide Kentucky GOP official tells Axios: "Massie has had weak primary opponents in previous cycles and made mincemeat of them, but I think this time is different. Supporting Trump is the No. 1 — and sometimes the only — issue in GOP primaries at the moment."

What they're saying: Trump has privately wondered what the point is of having a Republican in Massie's seat if "they're going to vote with Democrats and trash Republicans all the time."

• Trump's anger boiled on Tuesday, when he told reporters in the Capitol that the congressman should be "voted out of office."
• The president's political lieutenants piled on. "Some guys just prefer to be in the minority," White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said of Massie on X.
• When asked during a Thursday briefing whether Trump believed — as well as Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who also voted "no" — should be primaried, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded: "I believe he does and I believe he does not like to see grandstanders in Congress."

The background: Massie and Trump have clashed for years.

• In 2019, Massie joined House Democrats in opposing Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the southern border.
• After Massie opposed a COVID relief package in 2020, Trump called on the congressman to be thrown "out of the Republican Party."
• Massie was one of six House Republicans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
• After Massie opposed a Trump-backed government spending bill in March, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the congressman was a "GRANDSTANDER."

Behind the scenes: During the transition, Trump privately asked DeSantis for advice on how to deal with Massie.

• "Give him raw milk," DeSantis said, referring to one of Massie's legislative priorities, according to a person briefed on the conversation.

The other side: Massie told Axios he was skeptical Trump allies would find a strong candidate to run against him.

• Massie noted he had easily fended off primary challenges in the last three elections and said his private polling showed him popular in his conservative central Kentucky district.
• "If somebody got in this race and they were a reasonable person, not crazy to run against me, I would call them up and say: 'You know what you should do before you dedicate the next year and a half of your life to getting your a** kicked? You should do a poll,'" Massie said.
• Massie also said Trump's attacks on him were helping him fundraise, pointing out he had raised $47,000 this week and had a series of donor events lined up in California next week.
• The congressman's allies say his independent streak endears him to voters.

The intrigue: Massie said he spoke to Trump a few weeks before the election and a few weeks after, but not since. After Massie's mother passed away in June 2024, Trump left him a voicemail expressing his condolences, Massie said.

• During the call after the election, Massie told Trump he would be interested in serving as his agriculture secretary, an idea Trump passed on.
• "I would have taken it," Massie said.

Some younger House Democrats are preparing to push for a long-delayed, caucus-wide intervention on age after the tragic passing of yet another one of their septuagenarian colleagues, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The impacts of the party's aging membership were keenly felt Thursday when House Republicans passed their sweeping tax cut bill by just a single vote, 215 to 214.

• Several House Democrats argued that vacancies created by the deaths of Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), all in their 70s, may have been outcome-determinative.
• "You see where we are, we can't afford to lose anymore members. ... We're down three people because they passed away," one lawmaker told Axios just off the floor as the House was voting on the bill.
• Said another ahead of the vote: "The tragic reality is, when ... this vote passes and the difference is the number of members who passed away this Congress, I think it's going to really infuriate many of our supporters."

By the numbers: The eight members of Congress who have died in office since November 2022 were all Democrats, with an average age of 75.

• A half dozen of those deaths were just in the 13 months since last April.
• Grijalva's seat won't be filled until a special election is held in late September. Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has scheduled the election for Turner's seat on Nov. 4, to the fury of Democrats.
• Some Democrats fear Virginia's Republican governor may similarly drag his feet on scheduling a contest to replace Connolly.

Between the lines: Of the House's 10 oldest members, seven are Democrats, Axios' April Rubin reported.

• "Some folks have given their life to this place, and we're so grateful and commend them for it — you don't have to die in this place," the first House Democrat said.
• "I definitely think that someone in leadership needs to have some hard conversations and say … 'you don't [have to] keep doing this.'"

State of play: In interviews with a dozen House Democrats on Wednesday and Thursday, many said the time for those difficult discussions has come.

• Most spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid thoughts about a highly sensitive topic without facing backlash from their colleagues.
• "This is something that Democrats come up to me [and ask about] all the time, everywhere I go, like, 'You guys need a fresh face. A fresh message and a fresh face,'" said a third House Democrat.
• A fourth told Axios it's nothing personal to older members, but "the people don't own the seats, and we just look so f**king out of touch."
• "I think this could force a conversation," a fifth House Democrat said of Connolly's passing on Wednesday.

What to watch: It is not yet clear what reforms younger Democrats will pursue, though several floated a renewed push for committee leadership term limits as a way to incentivize older members to retire.

• Republicans "don't have seniority over there. We do. That could be something that gets discussed," the fifth House Democrat said.
• "The incentives, on our side, cause people to be here a long time," said a sixth lawmaker. "There's a conversation to be had there."
• A seventh told Axios that when committee term limits were instituted in their state legislature, "I think it ended up being for the better. ... It was exciting to be on a team where it felt like everyone had an equitable shot."

The intrigue: Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Democrats' long-suffering champion of committee term limits, said he is handing off the baton as he nears 70 in an attempt to lead by example.

• "I've passed the torch to the next generation. It was a little bit ironic that it was a couple of boomers arguing for generational change," the 69-year-old, who was first elected to Congress in 2008, told Axios.
• The fourth House Democrat who spoke anonymously said there are "a bunch of us" planning to make that push — but that "it can't happen right now" in the immediate wake of Connolly's death.

Yes, but: House Democrats' older members aren't about to concede anything.

• More than half of the 30 House Democrats over 75 years old are running again, and many attest to their vigorous health. A sizable portion of them are facing or are expected to face primary challenges.
• Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), 70, and Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), 76, have expressed interest in running to replace Connolly as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.
• They may face 47-year-old Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a member of House Democratic leadership who could try to use his strong relationships with colleagues to overcome his relative lack of seniority.

The bottom line: That this issue is bubbling up to the surface amid new revelations about President Biden's health only gives it more urgency, lawmakers said.

• "It's important. It's just more symbolically important. We've got Joe Biden hanging over here ... like a huge albatross," said the third House Democrat.
• "Then you add to this that the face of Congress just seems older. ... People keep hearing about all these older people who we have here and are like, 'Wait, what?'"

Go deeper: DNC to vote on whether to redo election of David Hogg as vice chair

The Trump administration pulled Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.

The big picture: Harvard has been at the center of the administration's war on universities over alleged antisemitism on campus and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Driving the news: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered DHS to terminate Harvard's student and exchange visitor program certification, the agency said.

• "This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status," per DHS.
• Noem said the administration is "holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus."
• She said in a statement that the university lost their program certification "as a result of the failure to adhere to the law," calling it "a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country."

What they're saying: Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton called the government's action unlawful.

• "We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably," he said in an emailed statement.
• He said the university is working quickly to provide guidance to the campus community.
• "This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission," Newton said.

Context: The administration has for months been discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are "pro-Hamas," Axios reported.

• The idea of prohibiting colleges from enrolling any student visa-holders grew out of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "Catch and Revoke" program, which now is focusing on students who protested against the war in Gaza.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

More from Axios:

• Exclusive: Trump's "pro-Hamas" purge could block foreign students from colleges
• Trump admin cancels additional grants to Harvard
• Trump admin to halt new grant funding to Harvard

The president hosted a highly anticipated "exclusive" dinner for the largest holders of his meme coin, Official Trump, at his golf club in Virginia on Thursday night.

Why it matters: Fight Fight Fight, LLC — a company linked to President Trump's family — sold a digital token that gave anyone in the world a chance to pay for a night of access to the commander-in-chief.

• The promotion has stunned ethics experts. One Democrat called it "the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the White House."
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied any conflicts of interest but refused to release the list of attendees, telling reporters: "The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner."

Between the lines: Wealthy donors have long used campaign contributions to gain access to elected officials — but with key guardrails and oversight.

• U.S. law bars foreign money and prohibits politicians from using campaign funds for personal gain.

What they're saying: "We've never had a president actually try to raise money and get people to buy an interest in a venture of his at the same time that he's sitting in the White House," Richard Painter, President George W. Bush's ethics lawyer, told Politico.

• Democrats have proposed at least five bills that would block activity like this, but none of them are likely to see action in a GOP-controlled Congress.
• As Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.-NY) points out, there are already laws against this kind of thing — but enforcement of those rules is murky, especially with Trump loyalists in charge.

By the numbers: Inca Digital, a data intelligence firm, estimates that the top 220 holders collectively spent more than $140 million to ensure they got a spot in the meme coin celebration.

• The most spent was $16.4 million.
• The contest was announced on April 23 and ran through May 12. To qualify to attend, a wallet owner had to register with Fight Fight Fight, pass a background check, and hold a high enough average amount of Official Trump over the contest period.
• The token had lost considerable value since its pre-inauguration release, but it's up more than 50% since the dinner was announced.

State of play: That price increase has held even after the contest ended, suggesting that holders might expect more perks or access ahead.

The intrigue: Only a few attendees were known ahead of time. Crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who at one point was under investigation by the SEC, is probably the best known.

• Kain Warwick, an Australian crypto investor and creator of the decentralized finance platform, Synthetix, told the New York Times that he had a spot.
• So did the meme coin startup MemeCore, which acquired a massive stockpile in order to send someone to the event.

How it works: Other buyers haven't been publicizing their attendance, but blockchain analysis suggested that much of the buying was happening outside the U.S., according to an analysis by Bloomberg.

What we're watching: Fight Fight Fight still controls 80% of the supply of Official Trump, which it can sell off over time.

A man was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday in relation to the fatal shooting of two people outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., according to a criminal complaint.

The big picture: Elias Rodriguez of Chicago is also facing federal charges that include murder of foreign officials, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm, and discharge of a firearm during a crime.

Driving the news: The killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim are being investigated as a hate crime and a crime of terrorism, Jeanine Pirro, interim U.S. attorney in Washington, said during a press conference Thursday.

• Pirro called it "a death penalty-eligible case" but said it's "far too early" to determine whether prosecutors will pursue it.
• Authorities are executing search warrants for Rodriguez' electronic devices, reviewing his social media accounts and all of his internet postings, FBI officials said during the briefing.

Zoom in: Rodriguez allegedly told an officer at the scene of the shooting that he "did it" and that he was unarmed, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent.

• The affidavit states that the suspect was captured on security video firing a weapon several times at the two victims before getting closer and "firing several more times."
• One of the victims attempted to crawl away but the suspect followed behind her and fired again, per the affidavit.
• A 9-millimeter handgun was recovered from the scene, the affidavit says.

Context: Rodriguez was arrested Wednesday after being apprehended by a museum security guard minutes after the shooting.

• He is believed to have acted alone, police said.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be above normal, NOAA meteorologists said Thursday in their annual forecast.

Why it matters: The outlook comes as the Trump administration explores downsizing or dismantling FEMA, the federal agency tasked with responding to storms and other natural disasters.

The big picture: This year is likely to have 13 to 19 named storms, with three to five of those being Category 3 hurricanes or stronger, according to National Weather Service director Ken Graham.

• This season isn't expected to be as active as last year's, he said, but it only takes one takes one storm to hit where you live.
• Colorado State University's forecast last month lines up with NOAA's — "above-normal" activity with 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

Zoom in: In response to questions about staffing cuts, Graham and acting NOAA administrator Laura Grimm told reporters Thursday they are confident in their forecasting ability for the season.

• Graham also told Axios that NWS this year is seeing the same level of interest in weather briefings from their federal partners, including FEMA, as compared to last year, despite those cutbacks.
• "We are fully staffed at the Hurricane Center, and we definitely are ready to go," Grimm said.

Zoom out: Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, is slated to give his annual congressional briefing Thursday afternoon about hurricane season preparedness.

Meanwhile, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this week reiterated the administration's priority to shift FEMA's responsibilities to states.

• "Our goal is that states should manage their emergencies and we come in and support them," she said at Tuesday's meeting to reform FEMA, according to Reuters.
• President Trump — whose budget proposes more than $646 million in cuts to FEMA — has signed executive orders aimed at streamlining the federal disaster agency and shifting more responsibility to the states, Axios' Natalie Daher writes. Fully eliminating FEMA would require an act of Congress.
• Other staffing cuts and changes being made to NOAA and its agencies, including the NWS, are raising concerns about reduced forecasting abilities.

Between the lines: David Richardson, the current acting head of FEMA as of earlier this month, has no experience managing natural disasters and acknowledged in private meetings that the agency doesn't yet have a fully formed hurricane response plan, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• "As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood," warned an internal review obtained by CNN last week. "Thus FEMA is not ready."
• Since that leak, FEMA appears to be taking steps to bolster its disaster response efforts, according to CNN.

Threat level: Louisiana, Texas and Florida could face the greatest financial burdens in a world with less federal relief assistance, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes, based on new analysis from the Carnegie Disaster Dollar Database.

• Louisiana residents also have received the most FEMA direct assistance since 2015, according to Carnegie.
• Louisiana's congressional delegation expressed concern earlier this month to Axios about the federal government's ability to respond to a large-scale disaster.

The intrigue: NOAA's leadership gave the forecast in Gretna, a suburb of New Orleans, in recognition of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in the region.

How it works: Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1, but storms can form any time.

• NHC began its daily tropical outlook May 15, and so far all has been quiet in the Gulf, Caribbean and Atlantic.
• Historically, the most active period for strong storms in the Gulf and the Atlantic is August and September.

What's next: Authorities urge residents to prepare now for the season by gathering emergency supplies, preparing their home for storms and making an evacuation plan.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information.

Go deeper:

• These states would suffer the most without FEMA
• Trump's FEMA risks "flying blind" into hurricane season
• Contraflow is dying as a New Orleans hurricane evacuation option

The Supreme Court issued a stay Thursday allowing President Trump's removal of two independent agency heads to remain in force for now — but suggested Federal Reserve officials have special protection based on the central bank's unique structure.

Why it matters: The ruling suggests that the court will ultimately vest the president with significant authority to remove the heads of agencies, even when Congress has structured them to be insulated from politics.

• But the decision's carve-out for the Fed will come as a significant relief to markets that were concerned about the central bank's independence.

Catch up quick: The court issued a stay Thursday night in a case involving Trump's move to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board.

• "The stay reflects our judgment that the Government is likely to show that both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power," and that therefore it is within the executive authority of the president to remove them, the court's majority wrote.
• But is is not a final decision. The question of whether the NLRB and MSPB appointments fall under certain exceptions "is better left for resolution after full briefing and argument."
• The order was unsigned, and the three liberal justices dissented, arguing that a stay should be granted.

The intrigue: In issuing the stay, the majority noted a claim by the fired members that their case could have implications for the president's ability to remove members of the Fed's Board of Governors or Open Market Committee.

What they're saying: "We disagree. The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States," the majority wrote.

Yes, but: A dissent by Justice Elena Kagan seemed impatient with the logic of the Fed carve-out.

• "The majority closes today's order by stating, out of the blue, that it has no bearing on" removal of Fed officials.
• "I am glad to hear it," Kagan writes, "and do not doubt the majority's intention to avoid imperiling the Fed."
• "But then, today's order poses a puzzle. For the Federal Reserve's independence rests on the same constitutional and analytic foundations as that of the NLRB, MSPB, FTC, FCC, and so on—which is to say it rests largely on" Humphrey's Executor, a 1935 case establishing the constitutionality of independent agencies.

Between the lines: From the moment Trump started removing agency commissioners earlier this year, analysts predicted the ultimate target might be more control over the Fed.

• But some hoped past court comments about the central bank as a unique entity might insulate it from such action.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Thursday took its first step in its new investigation of the White House's handling of former President Biden's health: Demanding testimony from his doctor and his top advisors.

Why it matters: The probe comes amid a renewed focus on Biden's age and fitness for office after his cancer diagnosis and the release of "Original Sin," a new book by Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper.

• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) said Wednesday he will launch a parallel investigation into Biden's health, Axios' Stef Kight first reported.

Driving the news: House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) sent letters to Biden's personal physician, Kevin O'Connor, and former White House officials Neera Tanden, Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams seeking testimony.

• In the letter to O'Connor, Comer cited his February 2024 assessment that Biden was "robust" and "fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency," as well as Axios reporting about Biden's cognitive struggles.
• "The Committee seeks information to ensure accurate information was provided to the American people and your health reports were not subject to any improper influence," Comer wrote.
• In letters to aides, Comer questioned "who made key decisions and exercised the powers of the executive branch during the Biden Administration."

Between the lines: Republicans have tried to make Biden's age a fruitful area of inquiry since 2023, but they see the flurry of events around Biden in recent weeks as providing a new opening.

• Comer previously sought testimony from Bernal, Tomasini and Williams in October 2023, though his requests to O'Connor and Tanden, the former director of Biden's Domestic Policy Council, are new.
• Comer also fought for the release of the audio of Special Counsel Robert Hur's interview with Biden after the publication of his report last year.

What to watch: Comer said he is seeking responses by May 29 and testimony scheduled between June 2 and 25.

• A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Iran threatened on Thursday to move its nuclear material to undeclared sites to protect it from a potential Israeli military strike.

Why it matters: The threat, made in an official letter from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to the UN secretary-general and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general, signal the risk of an unprecedented escalation in the Iranian nuclear crisis.

• The IAEA is currently able to access and monitor Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles, which are stored in declared sites.
• If that material is moved, it will be much harder to know whether Iran is building a nuclear weapon or not.

Driving the news: The threat comes after CNN and Axios reported that Israel has been making preparations to swiftly strike Iran's nuclear sites if U.S.-Iran nuclear talks break down in the coming weeks.

• One source told Axios that Israel believes its operational window for a successful strike could close soon.

What they are saying: "Under conditions wherein threats made by the Zionist fanatics persist, the Islamic Republic of Iran shall be left with no recourse but to implement special measures for the protection of its nuclear facilities and materials, the relevant particulars of which shall thereafter be communicated to the IAEA," Araghchi wrote.

Driving the news: Araghchi and White House envoy Steve Witkoff will hold a fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome on Friday, with Oman's foreign minister mediating.

• The negotiations have hit a roadblock over the fact that Iran says it will only sign a deal that allows a domestic enrichment capability, and the U.S. has said enrichment is its red line.
• Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency David Barnea will meet Witkoff in Rome on Friday on the sidelines of the nuclear talks, two Israeli officials said.
• The officials said Dermer and Barnea are traveling to Rome to coordinate positions with Witkoff and be briefed immediataely after the talks.

State of play: The Israeli intelligence community has shifted just in the past few days from believing a nuclear deal was close to thinking talks could soon break down, Israeli sources say.

• Hence the urgency behind Israel's preparations to strike fast if President Trump gives a green light.
• A U.S. official told Axios the Trump administration is concerned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might make his move even without approval from Trump.
• Trump spoke to Netanyahu on Thursday and they "agreed on the need to ensure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons," per the Israeli readout.

The other side: Araghchi wrote in his letter that Iran "will take all necessary measures to protect and defend its citizens, interests, and facilities against any terrorist or sabotage actions."

• "Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Israeli Zionist regime and will respond decisively to any threats or unlawful actions by this regime. We also believe that if any attack is carried out against the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Israeli regime, the U.S. government will be complicit and bear legal responsibility," the Iranian foreign minister wrote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that if he does not "make a serious proposal for an immediate ceasefire" with Ukraine, the Senate will pass new sanctions against the Russian government.

Why it matters: Thune (R-S.D.) is increasing pressure on Putin by signaling the Senate is willing to act on a bipartisan bill that would authorize new Russian sanctions and tariffs.

• "If Russia is not willing to engage in serious diplomacy, the Senate will work with the Trump administration to consider additional sanctions to force Putin to start negotiating," Thune said Thursday.
• This comes the same week Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned senators in a hearing that if "you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking."
• "I think it's a next week horizon," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told Axios about the timing of a sanctions bill. "We need to make it very clear to Vladimir Putin that we're going to increase the pressure on Russia to get them to the table to resolve the war in Ukraine.

Zoom in: Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have a bill, with 80 cosponsors, that would hit Russia with more economic sanctions if Putin refuses good faith negotiations with Ukraine or launches another attack after any peace deal is reached.

• The bill also would set a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil.

Zoom out: Thune has previously indicating he was ready to move, but would wait for the signal from the White House.

• Some Republican senators have been urging more immediate action against Putin.
• "I've waited long enough," Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) told Semafor's Burgess Everett, adding, "And it's pretty clear to me that Putin has been jerking us around for months."