Good morning! Andrew here, attempting to recover from one of the more rapid-fire news days we’ve seen in a while – and I cover Donald Trump for a living. If that reads like a plea for help, well, what can I say?

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ an American doctor who treated patients in Gaza just won his Democratic primary race. Plus, Trump gives one of his worst henchmen a new role; the U.S.-Iran war is still not over; and the acting AG says the president’s $1.8 billion slush fund won’t move forward – just don’t put that in writing or anything like that. Seriously.

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‘A Clear Message’

In April 2024, Zeteo announced its formal launch with a live event at the Spy Museum in DC, featuring Mehdi interviewing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on stage. Sitting in the audience that night was a little-known doctor from New Jersey who told Mehdi that he was on his way to volunteer in Gaza.

Last night, that doctor, Adam Hamawy, won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district, despite an aggressive smear campaign by pro-Israel Dems, and is now on his way to Congress, where he will presumably join Ocasio-Cortez’s leftist ‘Squad.’

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Hamawy easily defeated second-place finisher Brad Cohen, who decried “his association” with terrorists – a reference to Hamawy’s testimony at the trial of Islamist militant Omar Abdel-Rahman in 1995. What his critics don’t mention is that Hamawy was a first-responder in New York on 9/11, treating victims of the terror attack on the Twin Towers, then deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005 as a combat medic, and later rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the U.S. Army. Speaking with Zeteo’s Prem Thakker on the eve of the primary, Hamawy called the attacks on him “ridiculous” and an effort to distract from his efforts to fight “a genocide that’s happening right now, and real terrorism, and a terrorist state.”

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Happy Tuesday, Zeteo fans – it’s Swin again. I’ve reported on how Donald Trump’s second administration can be understood primarily as a “den of snitches, ‘freaks,’ and paranoid tyrants.” Since last year, the snitching, the freakishness, and the paranoia and tyranny have only gotten worse – and Trump’s disastrously unpopular bloodbath in the Middle East made matters much worse for Team Trump, turbo-charging the amount of leaking and ass-covering amongst the den of freaks.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we have another update for you on how all this backbiting and fascist-‘Office Space’-style governance can take some very humorous twists and turns, at the expense of Trump himself. Also, Trump drops his “Anti-Weaponization” slush fund – for now – and a few Democrats belatedly discover a fraction of spine after marching with Israeli extremists.

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‘Not Ratting Myself Out’

In April, Donald Trump was so furious about leaks of highly sensitive information to two journalists that the U.S. president – as Zeteo first reported – ordered senior officials to launch a massive leak hunt throughout his government.

Trump wanted to know who had blabbed to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan for their forthcoming book Regime Change, including for their fly-on-the-wall accounts of Trump’s march to war with Iran.

By May, the president was so livid and paranoid about the leaks that he pushed his Justice Department to seriously consider raiding the homes of reporters, or just jailing them until they sold out their anonymous sources.

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It’s June now. Given that Trump officials had said this leak hunt was such a “big deal” to the president, we wanted to check in with our well-placed sources about how the hunt was going, as it stretches on into the summer.

In the past several weeks, it appears to have stalled out. President Trump didn’t get what he wanted, which was to very quickly see some (figurative) heads on plates: to identify which of his trusted appointees had leaked, and find out how he could punish them for, in Trump’s repeated phrasing, such “treason.”

There’s one big reason why the Trump-Vance administration’s sprawling leak hunt into who sang for Swan and Haberman got hobbled. Here’s what we found:

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Monday wherever you are. Happy June! Today I’m grateful for the gift of good sport. Seeing Arsenal vs. PSG go to penalties (sorry, Mayor Mamdani), and the young San Antonio Spurs surviving against the Oklahoma City Thunder was a blast. I’m super-conflicted on Spurs vs. Knicks, though. Love Spurs basketball, but also love the prospect of an NYC win and Karl Anthony-Towns finally getting his flowers… Who are you rooting for?

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ a breakdown of all the genocidal Israeli officials who were happily parading in New York City – and all the Democrats who marched alongside them. Plus, Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur are banned by the UK over their views on Israel and Donald Trump posts yet more evidence of his unfitness for office for all the world to see.

Let’s dig in!

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New York’s Proud Genocide Parade

In October 2025, Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa uttered a fateful phrase. “Every parade has the right to exist in New York City.”

But does that mean the mayor has to go to every parade?

On Sunday, New York was host to the Israel Day Parade. Crowds of pro-Israel marchers, Christian Zionists, Israeli officials, and U.S. politicians descended on the Upper East Side.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani attracted vicious criticism for being the first New York mayor in more than 60 years not to attend the event, which honors an apartheid state internationally that is credibly accused of genocide.

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Mamdani avoided marching alongside Israeli officials who have expressed extremist, genocidal, and viciously racist sentiments about Palestinians – and at least one for whom the International Criminal Court is reportedly seeking an arrest warrant.

That did not stop many other Democrats from marching. New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Council Speaker Julie Menin, disgraced former Mayor Eric Adams, disgraced former Governor and failed mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Dan Goldman, Rep. Jerry Nadler (and Alex Bores, vying to take Nadler’s seat) – were in attendance. New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler joined them.

So, who were all these New Yorkers marching with? Let’s take a survey.

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Friday wherever you are, and Eid Mubarak to all who celebrate. Can you BELIEVE it’s almost June? How are you enjoying the weather? Let me know in the comments… :)

There is no paywall in this installment of ‘First Draft’ thanks to today’s sponsor, Ground News!

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ an analysis of AIPAC’s Twitter account gives a better understanding of which Democrats actually challenge the U.S.-Israel relationship, a top CBS reporter departs with a warning, and Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner lures Susan Collins into offering an open goal.

Let’s dig in!

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Itchy Twitter Fingers

You can tell a lot about someone by the enemies they attract. When you look at Democrats floated as possible contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination, very few have attracted the ire of the Israel lobby.

As the public has grown increasingly outraged by the genocide Israel has committed in Gaza with U.S. tax dollars, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has scrambled to shore up support. It’s an effort that has involved dumping millions into elections across the U.S., using opaque super PACs to disguise such spending, and lobbying to curtail free speech. It has also fueled a very active presence on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Since the start of 2025, AIPAC has fired off hundreds of tweets attacking U.S. politicians. But among the crowded field of Democrats floated as potential presidential picks, only three have been particular targets for AIPAC: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ro Khanna, and Senator Chris Van Hollen.

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Since 2025, according to a Zeteo analysis, AIPAC has gone after Khanna by name at least 147 times; Ocasio-Cortez at least 116 times; and Van Hollen at least 105 times.

In a December 2025 post, AIPAC slammed Van Hollen for… holding all actors to equal standards, whether adversary or foe.

In a February 2026 post, AIPAC mocked Ocasio-Cortez on foreign policy, saying: “If @AOC spent less time obsessively lying about Israel, she’d have more time to find Venezuela and learn about Taiwan.”

And in April, when Khanna said “Team America” should cut tax dollars to Israel, keep the Israeli prime minister out of the Situation Room, and move away from obsession over war in the Middle East, the pro-Israel lobby responded that Khanna wasn’t Team America, but rather “Team Ro.”

Of course, those three Democrats are not alone in being AIPAC targets. Attacks often feature names including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee, Delia Ramirez, and Mark Pocan, as well as Senators Bernie Sanders, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, and Peter Welch.

As U.S. support for Israel has plummeted, particularly among Democrats and independents, Democratic politicians have changed their rhetoric, distancing themselves from AIPAC specifically or making relatively safe condemnations of the “Netanyahu government.” A sparse few, listed above, have gone further, criticizing the Israeli apartheid regime more broadly, and condemning pro-Israel interests beyond AIPAC.

You can’t necessarily tell who is sincere in such criticisms and who may be doing the bare minimum, perhaps with permission from the pro-Israel lobby, with an understanding that when push comes to shove, they’ll have Israel’s back.

But by looking at who AIPAC is explicitly attacking, you can get a better sense of who, among possible 2028 picks, the pro-Israel lobby is afraid of, and who may pose less of a threat.

In contrast to its attacks on Ocasio-Cortez, Khanna, and Van Hollen, AIPAC has thanked Senators Cory Booker and Mark Kelly once each since 2025, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro twice (and Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries repeatedly).

Other possible candidates have not attracted attacks. They include former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (who said Thursday she would not run).

Of course, this isn’t conclusive. Ultimately, it’s just a survey of a social feed. And some of the politicians listed above have flashed signs that they could meaningfully stand up to the pro-Israel lobby and enforce U.S. and international law.

But that cuts both ways. It’s easy to vote to limit some weapons to Israel (as Ossoff and Gallego have) if you know the measure won’t pass. The pro-Israel lobby may not like it, but ultimately, it can swallow an action if it does not prompt actual change. Votes can be release valves for political pressure. You’re only a risk if you’re leading the charge, pushing the envelope, asking fundamental questions about the U.S.-Israel relationship, and being the reason for so much public momentum against Israel.

Accordingly, AIPAC evidently sees many possible 2028 Democratic contenders as persuadable - or at least possible to discipline.

Two-and-a-half years into Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians, amid its genocidal campaign in Lebanon, and its horrific joint war on Iran, if you are a Democrat still considered “gettable” by AIPAC… you have work to do with your base.

Given that the overwhelming opinion among grassroots Democrats is opposition to U.S. aid to Israel’s genocidal regime, Ocasio-Cortez, Khanna, and Van Hollen should all be counted as serious presidential contenders.

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We used Ground News to find related stories focusing on AIPAC’s impact in elections. Take this feature on the Kentucky primary race and the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on critical seats.

Ground News is a news app and website that scans 50,000+ articles while offering built-in bias comparisons, fact checks, and funding transparency for every source.

For this story, we see that there is a split in the coverage with 43% left, 19% right, and 38% center. Many of the headlines are the same, but the coverage couldn’t be more different. Ground News makes it easy to see the difference in how both sides are covering the same story.

The built-in factuality and ownership features also highlight the hidden angles behind every article. With Ground News’ Vantage Plan, information becomes your superpower. Learn more at ground.news/zeteox and get 40% off the unlimited Vantage Plan.

(This portion of the post was sponsored content.)

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🇮🇷 Iran War Updates

• Waiting on Trump: The U.S. and Iran reportedly agreed to extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and prepare a path to talks over issues including Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. JD Vance said, “I can’t guarantee that we’re going to get there, but right now I feel ​pretty good about it.” But his boss hasn’t made up his mind. Axios said Donald Trump “wants a couple days to think about it.”

• Markets react: Oil prices fell on news of a possible deal, with Brent below $90 a barrel after passing $109 last week.

• New sanctions: Nonetheless, the U.S. Treasury imposed new restrictions on Iran’s military oil trade and on entities trading with Tehran.

• Lebanon latest: Lebanese authorities said at least 19 people were killed and 58 injured in continuing Israeli strikes, as Israel confirmed it had hit the capital, Beirut, for the first time in weeks. Continuing to ignore that deal in the south, Israel forced thousands to flee in Tyre and other regions, as it continued to target civilian areas.

• Deadly cost: The Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll from the Israeli onslaught since March 2 had reached at least 3,324, with 10,027 injured.

‘Let’s Call This What It Is: Censorship’

Fired from ‘60 Minutes’ by CBS News editor-in-chief-cum-Trump-shill Bari Weiss, veteran correspondent Cecilia Vega issued a powerful statement about the beloved but besieged news show.

“I very much fear what comes next,” she said.

Weiss jettisoned serious talent on Thursday, also firing correspondent Sharyn Afonsi and executive producer Tanya Simon. Nick Bilton was named as the new EP – a move backed by prominent Trump supporters.

Vega did not hold back about Weiss’s impact on CBS News, since the founder of The Free Press was installed by Trump ally David Ellison, the new owner of parent company Paramount.

“In recent months,” Vega said, “my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions.

“Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.

“I held the line and refused to incorporate suggestions that offend the conscience… I know… that many producing teams and correspondents working on the show today have had to fight to maintain editorial independence with regularity. I am far from the only 60 Minutes correspondent who has asked herself, ‘What is my personal red line? How much can I push back before I pay the price?’”

Noting that “this season alone I was part of teams that won… a George Polk award and a duPont-Columbia award for our coverage of Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s Cecot prison,” Vega said she had “an honor no one can take from me: I was the first Latina correspondent to ever be on ‘60 Minutes.’”

Telling former colleagues to “hold the line,” her sign-off was “La lucha sigue.”

In English, it means “the struggle continues.”

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🗞️ What You Need to Know

• Duly noted: Trump officials have pressed the Treasury for a $250 bill featuring Trump’s portrait, the Washington Post reported. Likenesses of living persons have been legally barred from U.S. banknotes since 1866. A top printing official who resigned over the issue told colleagues on leaving: “The buck stopped here.”

• Corruption watch: Staggering stories of Trump corruption kept pouring out. A White House aide hurried through a $620 million deal for a company tied to Donald Trump Jr. Dell signed a $9.7 billion Pentagon deal after Trump Sr. acquired stock and praised the company. It goes on and on and on.

• Weaponization watch: The DOJ is probing a nonprofit that helped pay legal bills for E. Jean Carroll, who won millions after Trump was found liable for her sexual abuse and defamation, the Washington Post said. Carroll is also a target.

• License to kill: The Trump administration’s murderous Pacific and Caribbean boat strikes face two legal deadlines on Friday, NOTUS said, citing suits brought by advocacy groups and relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in one such strike.

• License to chill: Trump’s DOJ is seeking names, addresses, and banking details of Twitter and Reddit users who criticized ICE, Bloomberg reported.

• Recuse me? Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son works in a political role at the Treasury, NOTUS scooped. The Treasury said Philip Alito “does not counsel on any matters reasonably expected” to be placed before his dad.

• Maine claims: Senator Susan Collins attacked Democrat Graham Platner for saying she voted to send him to Iraq, saying, “That was Platner’s decision to serve. He was not drafted.” Platner responded, “There’s nothing more Orwellian than voting to send 18-year-olds to die in a forever war – and then blaming them for it.”

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🧠 Pop Quiz!

When Justice Samuel Alito joined the Supreme Court in 2006, which Major League Baseball icon attended his welcome dinner – and what did Alito say he smelled like?

Keep your eyes out for the answer below!

🌏 Anywhere But America

• 🇵🇸 Don’t forget Gaza: Benjamin Netanyahu directed Israeli forces to occupy 70% of Gaza, having already ignored a US-brokered truce by extending its footprint in the territory and continuing strikes, killing more than 920 Palestinians. Gaza officials said a strike on Wednesday night killed at least 10 people, including five children.

• 🇮🇱 Early protest: UN ambassador Danny Danon said Israel would cut ties to UN Secretary General António Guterres after the UN “added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones.” The UN’s annual report on such violence is presented to relevant states before publication.

• 🇨🇺 Cuba latest: Axios described how the Trump administration is trying to force the Cuban government to collapse, a source saying the U.S. expects summer unrest as its blockade cuts electricity for cooling and food storage.

• 🇧🇷 Brazil bans: The U.S. labeled two Brazilian criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations, a move President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he regards as interference favoring Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, his rival in October’s election.

• 🇨🇩 Aid arrives: European Union supplies reached Bunia in north-eastern Congo, at the center of the outbreak of a rare form of Ebola. More such aid is expected.

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😳 WTF?!

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is threatening to withdraw Customs officers from airports serving “sanctuary cities,” e.g., places that reject Donald Trump’s fascistic deportation policies. Among appalled reactions, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said such a move “would cause enormous economic damage and disrupt air travel nationwide.”

“That he’s even contemplating this publicly is a sign of madness.”

🧠 Trivia answer: The Philly Phanatic. Alito said he “smelled like a flower.”

📖 Weekend Reads

A Hell of a Secretary of War

From Tom Dispatch, a look at the strange career of the Fox News host who became Donald Trump’s defense secretary, a man way out of his depth but nonetheless profoundly disturbing U.S. military culture. “Hegseth’s fusion of strength, religion, and violence was encapsulated in a poster allegedly displayed at a U.S. military installation in recent days,” Jasper Craven writes. “It featured Jesus Christ firing a mortar round.”

‘Seriously the Best Boss Ever’: Inside the World of Jeffrey Epstein’s Assistant

Jeffrey Epstein called his executive assistants “an extension of my brain” and a “social prosthesis.” Lesley Groff was one of the best. For The Guardian, Sophie Elmhirst provides a hugely detailed read on the world Groff entered, what she did regarding Epstein and his “girls,“ and what it might yet mean for Groff: on June 9, she will be interviewed in Congress.

How Venture Capital Benefits From Zombie Bankruptcies

Laptop nomads in Washington, Chicago, and Texas knew Foxtrot, a chain that offered lattés, wine, and a spot to work. One day in April 2024, it suddenly went bankrupt, costing hundreds of jobs. Now it’s back, propped up by venture capital, private equity, and laws that allow it to skirt huge debts. And as Hannah Harris Green notes at Mother Jones, cautionary tale of modern capitalism or no, the laptop hordes are back.

ICYMI From Zeteo

Zeteo’s Martin Pengelly contributed to this newsletter.

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Still want to get Zeteo content, but not this newsletter? You can unsubscribe directly from ‘First Draft’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in Substack, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘First Draft’ off.

Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Thursday wherever you are. Today, I’m gawking at the latest installment of Donald Trump’s playground-ification of Washington, DC: the pathetic, compensatory stage he’s throwing together in back of the White House in preparation for his “UFC Freedom 250” event in June.

Anyhow, in today’s ‘First Draft,’ a Trump-appointed, genocide-approving acting U.S. attorney pardons an Israeli criminal on U.S. soil, the U.S. strikes Iran again while talks flounder and Zeteo reveals Trump’s advisers are softening data to make him feel like he’s winning, and Graham Platner surges against Susan Collins in Maine.

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‘Interests of Justice’

An Israeli-born, Trump-appointed acting U.S. attorney – who has referred to Palestinians as “animals,” called for Gaza to be wiped “off the map,” and suggested “even the children” in Gaza are terrorists – dropped a gun charge against an Israeli immigrant who operated a biolab in Nevada.

Her name is Sigal Chattah.

These developments come after Nevada authorities released an Israeli cybersecurity official on bail following his arrest in a police operation targeting alleged online child predators – allowing him to flee to Israel before stricter conditions were imposed (Chattah sought to distance herself from the fiasco, pinning it on local authorities).

You’re reading this all right. Let’s walk through this thicket together.

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In Las Vegas in January, property manager Ori Solomon was arrested on a felony charge of improperly disposing of hazardous waste, as part of an investigation into an illegal biological lab found inside a home also available to rent on Airbnb.

Two people who entered the home’s garage – which held refrigerators containing vials of unidentified liquids – reportedly fell “deathly ill” and “could not get out of bed.”

Materials in the home Solomon managed were “consistent in appearance” to items found in a California lab allegedly used to manufacture unauthorized test kits, including for pregnancy and COVID-19. Around 1,000 lab mice in poor condition were reportedly found in that lab, along with vials labeled with names of diseases including HIV, malaria, and Ebola. Chinese national Jia Bei Zhu – who has been criminally convicted for fraudulently selling COVID tests – was linked to both properties.

Shortly after Solomon’s arrest, he was also charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, because his non-immigrant visa prevented him from owning or possessing a gun.

And then, on May 11, the federal government dismissed the federal charges against Solomon, without prejudice. In their motion to dismiss, prosecutors said that “after a careful review of the evidence and additional information provided by defendant,” they “concluded that the interests of justice require dismissal of the complaint at this time.” No more information was given.

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Happy Wednesday, everyone. It’s Swin, again. For those in the U.S., we hope you spent the first day after the Memorial Day weekend doing something more productive than publicly raging at the “Dumocrats,” an insult ‘The Simpsons’ did decades ago.

If you managed to do better, Zeteo subscribers, then you did better than the president of the United States, who, when he’s not failing to secure peace in the Middle East and wrecking the global economy, or attending a third medical checkup in 13 months while insisting everything’s fine, is busy building a rancidly corrupt slush fund for his buddies.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we get into why, when it comes to this particular Trumpian abomination, the Republican elite is jacking the freak-out dial all the way up past 11. We also look to Texas, where Trump’s MAGA pick, Ken Paxton, duly hammered Senator John Cornyn in their runoff election. Let’s get to it.

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It’s the Corruption, Stupid

If you’ve been following the news for the first year and a half of the second Trump administration, you’ve probably seen elite conservatives, otherwise so fast to sacrifice all oversight and leverage to their dear leader, occasionally pop up to finger-wag the president. Usually, this isn’t for any particular moral or constitutional reason. It’s because Republicans on Capitol Hill want to stay there and don’t like that Trump’s abysmal record and spiraling unpopularity are jeopardizing their job security.

This is why you’ve noticed such an uptick of notable Republicans coming out against the Trump administration’s $1.776 billion pot of taxpayer money, established to benefit the president’s allies and (alleged!) criminal associates who claim Democrats or prosecutors were too mean.

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Trump lied that he “wasn’t involved” in this. As Zeteo reported over the weekend, he was deeply involved. The fund was created after Trump sued his own government over an Internal Revenue Service leak of his tax returns. Last week, Trump’s Department of Justice announced that Trump had struck a deal with his own administration, in which he would drop his absolutely bogus lawsuit in exchange for the establishment of what Democrats are now very credibly dubbing a full-on “MAGA slush fund.” There was even a blisteringly corrupt addendum: immunity from tax-related investigation for Trump, his business, and his family.

To call this shockingly corrupt would be far too polite. And it appears elected Republicans are starting to get the memo.

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Good morning… Martin here, with considerable help from Swin. Monday was generally a quiet and thoughtful (and in DC, wet) Memorial Day. Donald Trump, of course, paid no respect to anyone, hurling out insults, brags and inappropriate jokes as usual. Regardless of the president’s behavior, I hope everyone remembering someone found the right way to do so.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Trump stuns Muslim leaders into silence while suggesting an Iran peace deal is around the corner; Republicans in Texas get ready to pick a “corrupt and extreme” candidate to take on the great Democratic hopeful James Talarico in the Senate race; and a president whose aides insist he is absolutely, definitely, completely not dangerously old and unfit gets ready for yet another trip to the doctor – after a restorative snooze at Arlington.

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‘Are They Still There?’

According to Axios, Donald Trump told leaders of Muslim nations that after his war with Iran is over, he wants them to sign up to the Abraham Accords, thereby normalizing relations with Israel.

The leaders, “especially those of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan,” were reportedly stunned into silence.

“Trump joked and asked if they are still there,” an unnamed U.S. official was quoted as saying of the Saturday call.

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Signed in 2020, the Abraham Accords saw the UAE, Bahrain, and a few other Muslim-majority countries recognize Israel. Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan, whose leaders were also on Saturday’s call, are not part of the accords but do have relations with Israel.

Unabashed, Trump used social media to claim: “Who knows, perhaps the Islamic Republic of Iran would like to join, as well!”

So far, so predictably bizarre. And with an easier target – Senator Lindsey Graham – Trump’s gambit found favor, the South Carolina hawk who opposes talk of a deal radiating familiar lickspittle energy, praising Trump for a “simply brilliant” move he said would make the Middle East “a powerhouse for economic opportunity and good instead of a powder keg.”

Unfortunately for Trump, key Muslim allies were a little less keen than Graham.

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Good morning! Andrew here. Democrats have lost to Donald Trump twice, and we all continue to pay for it – the vulnerable more than others. You might hope, at some point, the Democratic Party would carry out a fact-finding mission to tell us all why that happened. Well, then I have some good news, as well as some bad news.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we look under the hood of the Democrats’ failed 2024 autopsy report, Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund threatens his $1 billion ballroom, and the Trump administration drops charges against six ICE protesters in Chicago after a judge alleged prosecutorial misconduct.

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Losers Don’t Know Why They Lost

The Democratic National Committee on Thursday finally released its long-awaited autopsy, supposed to explain why the party lost to Donald Trump a second time.

The primary reasons why Democrats lost in 2024 are well-documented and widely understood: There was broad dissatisfaction with the economy and brutal post-pandemic inflation; Joe Biden chose to run again even though his physical decline was obvious, to the point that he was forced to quit the race with just months to go; and Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, adamantly refused to break with her boss over his support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

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As I previously reported with Swin in our own version of a 2024 autopsy, Democrats also ran a bad campaign from a technical perspective. They failed to adapt to a rapidly changing media environment, didn’t present a cohesive message, and relied obsessively on data to drive decision-making in ways that didn’t make much sense.

Swin and I had to complete our story on “How the Democrats Blew It” by January 2025. The DNC never finished its actual autopsy report.

The document released on Tuesday, titled “BUILD TO WIN. BUILD TO LAST,” remains shockingly incomplete a year and a half after Trump won, even though these reports are a perfunctory campaign tradition: The losing side conducts countless interviews and extensive research, disclosing it for the sake of transparency, with the point of doing better next time.

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Good morning, friends. Mehdi here. I went on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ yesterday and, painfully, Piers ended our interview insisting I - a Liverpool fan - congratulate him - an Arsenal fan - for his team winning the Premier League after 22 years. I reluctantly did so. Sorry.

Anyways, in today’s ‘First Draft,’ Jeff Bezos reminds us that he has no principles and no shame; Democrats mount a fightback against Donald Trump’s most crazily corrupt act ever; and Benjamin Netanyahu wants us to believe that Itamar Ben-Gvir doesn’t represent Israel or its values (LOL!).

Here we go…

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‘Jeff Bozo’

Do you remember what Donald Trump used to call Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos during his first term as President? I do.

“Jeff Bozo.”

Second-term Trump and the fourth-richest man in the world now get along much better than they did before. Because Bezos, like so many other billionaire tech moguls, has gone from loudly criticizing the president to shamelessly capitulating to him.

On Wednesday, in an interview with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bezos fawned over the president, saying “Trump has lots of good ideas” and “you have to give him credit where credit is due.”

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday wherever you are. Some nice DC news is that one of the most beloved fountains in Malcolm X Park is back on after years out of order, thanks in part to Donald Trump’s insistence on “beautifying” the capital for the nation’s 250th birthday. A source tells me, however, of an odd “odor” wafting around the fountains. Yet another thing that smells fishy in Trump’s America…

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Trump and pro-Israel interests spend big to stamp out a Republican maverick; an extraordinary report details the U.S. and Israel’s original plan for regime change in Tehran; and Trump’s financial corruption reaches unbelievable heights. Let’s dig in.

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Massieve Loss

Nearly $33 million. That’s how much was thrown into one Republican House primary in Kentucky. The most expensive such primary ever. And it was enough to beat Thomas Massie.

Millions were dropped by outside groups and Trump allies seeking to boost Massie’s challenger, Ed Gallrein. It paid off, Gallrein winning 55% to 45%.

Massie told supporters he had called his opponent to concede. Though he couldn’t resist a crack at Gallrein, he said he was committed to “basic decency” in politics, adding: “We’ve been honorable the whole time and we’re going to stay that way.”

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The spending in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District surpassed even that seen in two vastly expensive House primaries in 2024, successful challenges against then Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri. Bowman and Bush had something in common beyond progressive politics: they were leading critics of the Israeli government and advocates for Palestinian rights. Yes, your guess is correct: many of the same groups and individuals who spent against Bowman and Bush spent to get rid of Massie, AIPAC prominent among them.

It should be said that Massie is no one’s idea of a progressive, hidden or otherwise. Hardline positions include abortion (anti), guns (pro), and birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented migrants (you guessed it, anti).

Nonetheless, his breaks from Trump created headlines, and not just thanks to colorful quotes like this one, when he told a minion of pro-Trump troll Laura Loomer: “I thought you knew. I vote with Republicans 91% of the time, and the 9% I don’t, they’re taking up for pedophiles, starting another war, or bankrupting our country.”

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday, wherever you are. Unfortunately, I write in the wake of horrific violence in San Diego, California. I share my spirit with all who may be directly affected, and to all who deserve to be able to go without fear to their houses of worship.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we discuss all that led to yet another terrible anti-Muslim attack. Donald Trump, meanwhile, got a near-$2 billion slush fund to dole out to his allies, while Israel illegally intercepted another aid flotilla, kidnapping hundreds, including the Irish president’s sister and Zeteo contributor Alex Colston.

Let’s dig in.

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Hating Muslims

Just days after yet another red-faced, fear-mongering Republican congressional hearing on “Sharia law,” a mosque was attacked in the United States. Two teenage suspects allegedly carried out a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, killing three people.

While many of the details are still being uncovered, here’s what we know about the attack so far and the apparent motivations: the suspects were found dead, of apparently self-inflicted wounds. One reportedly left a suicide note that contained writings about racial pride, CNN reported, while hate speech was reportedly written on one of three weapons taken from the home of the parents of one suspect. A gas can with an “SS” sticker (a possible reference to Hitler’s Nazi paramilitary force) was also recovered.

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Unfortunately, we can become desensitized towards such violence. Violence done with firearms, in a nation with more guns than people. Violence towards Arab Americans, especially since 9/11. Violence towards Muslims, given the posture of US foreign policy for decades on end.

But this attack hits hard, not only because it is at the nexus of so many social ills, but because the fomenting of anti-Muslim hatred in recent months has been so blatant – and so normalized.

For months, Republican members of Congress have unashamedly and publicly spewed venom towards Muslims and Islam, with little press or Democratic Party pushback. Comments that would tank political careers if they were made about any other minority are barely noticed if they are made about Muslims.

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Good morning! Martin here, with your first ‘First Draft’ of the week, having somehow resisted the temptation on Sunday to catch the D6X down 16th Street and take in the Trump administration’s massive Christian Nationalist prayer rally on the National Mall, and yet ended up watching it anyway, all the while picking up a growing whirring sound as the Founders rolled in their graves…

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ a leading news outlet carries water for the administration as it plans yet another war, Donald Trump apparently does “do God,” a drone strike causes a fire near a UAE nuclear power plant, and the president’s polling somehow finds new depths to plumb…

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Cuba ‘Threat’ Is Not Axios-matic

On Sunday, Axios published what seemed a startling exclusive.

Under the headline “U.S. eyes attack drone threat from Cuba”, the piece read: “Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, Florida, 90 miles north of Havana, according to classified intelligence shared with Axios.”

Noting that said shared intelligence “could become a pretext for U.S. military action,” the piece said the Trump administration sees Cuba as a threat due to factors including “the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana.”

An unnamed “senior U.S. official” was quoted as saying: “When we think about those types of technologies being that close, and a range of bad actors from terror groups to drug cartels to Iranians to the Russians, it’s concerning. It’s a growing threat.”

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It was enough to prompt Sheriff Rick Ramsey of Monroe County, covering the Florida Keys, to put out a statement, saying he was monitoring the situation.

But Sheriff Ramsey also said he had not heard from the administration, and given President Donald Trump’s frequent threats to invade Cuba, his oil embargo that has wrecked the island’s economy, the reportedly imminent U.S. indictment of 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Havana just last week, there to deliver more threats, all widely reported, even the least curious reader of the Axios exclusive might’ve wondered just how serious this supposed Cuban drone threat might be, and just what motivation might lie behind its release via the press.

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Good morning! Mehdi here. Later today, I’ll be unpacking the ongoing AOC-vs-MTG controversy in a video monologue and making the case for the Democratic congresswoman and against the former Republican congresswoman. That’ll be in your inboxes in a few hours.

But for now, in today’s ‘First Draft’ newsletter, Trump’s corrupt behavior reaches corrupt new heights; Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is trying to get back into Parliament to topple flailing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; and Israel continues to bomb Lebanon in violation of the supposed “ceasefire” as yet another War Powers Resolution vote fails in Congress.

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The New Trump Slush Fund

“You can take all the corruption from every single US administration in history, add it all together, and it will not equal the amount of corruption committed by the Trump Regime in less than two years,” tweeted Ron Filipkowski, the conservative-turned-liberal commentator and ardent Trump critic. He was referring to a New York Times story about how the Trump administration is planning to drop fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in exchange for Adani agreeing to invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy.

But let’s be honest: Filipkowski could have been responding to any number of corruption scandals in this second Trump term. How about the president’s acceptance of a $400 million plane from Qatar in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution? Or Trump and his family’s acceptance of $187 million from the Abu Dhabi royals via their investment in the Trump family cryptocurrency venture, another clear violation of the Emoluments Clause? Or companies associated with Trump’s sons winning at least two lucrative government contracts?

The list goes on and on and on and on.

Nevertheless, I’d argue that this was the week we learned of the biggest Trump corruption scandal of all.

Here’s the background:

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Good morning! Andrew here. Perhaps you thought this before, but have you noticed since Donald Trump launched his war with Iran that he really, really doesn’t care if every American – and well, everyone around the globe – suffers? Relatedly, does anyone know how to make a campaign ad?

There is no paywall in this installment of ‘First Draft’ thanks to today’s sponsor, Ground News!

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we review Trump’s history of saying on camera that he knew gas prices would go higher, potentially a lot higher, and he launched his war anyway. Plus, a U.S. judge blocks sanctions against United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese for investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, and Trump’s favorite Democrat, attention-seeker John Fetterman, casts the key vote to keep the Iran war going.

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‘I Expected Worse’

Donald Trump won in 2024, in large part, because Americans didn’t like the Biden-era economy, and the higher prices that followed the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation,” Trump pledged on the campaign trail, as he promised to drive down energy prices and grocery prices – while also claiming he’d avoid disastrous regime-change wars in the Middle East.

As both top Trump and Kamala Harris campaign aides have told it, the most effective Trump campaign ads in 2024 revolved around the idea that she was more of the same, and video clips of the vice president arguing that “Bidenomics is working.”

That, of course, feels like a lifetime ago. As president now, Trump is leading a financial WMD of a regime-change war that’s seen Iran choke off the flow of oil, sending diesel and gasoline prices soaring. Consumer inflation accelerated last month – and it’s likely about to get much worse, as wholesale prices have started to spike.

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And Trump couldn’t give a shit.

That’s not my opinion. Trump keeps screaming it out loud, on video, in the middle of a midterm election cycle that would look very bad for Republicans if they weren’t trying so hard to eliminate Democratic congressional seats and Black voting power in the South.

Asked Tuesday if Americans’ financial situations were motivating him to make a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Trump said: “Not even a little bit,” adding: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.”

If that, for some reason, sounds like it could be taken out of context, as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested on Wednesday, or sounds like a “misrepresentation” of what Trump said, as Vice President JD Vance falsely claimed, there are many similar clips of Trump sounding wholly unconcerned with the economic havoc he’s creating.

Since launching his war of choice, which has seen the price of gas increase by more than 50% in the US, Trump has repeatedly said he expected oil prices would go much higher.

“We figured oil prices would go up, which they will,” he said on March 7, a week after launching his war, or “excursion,” as he put it that day.

The national average gas price in the U.S. was $2.98 the day Trump launched his war. It was $3.41 on March 7.

“I expected worse, actually,” Trump said later that month. “I thought that oil prices would go much higher.”

At his March 26 Cabinet meeting, Trump said, “I thought the oil prices would go up more.” A day later, at a Saudi investment conference, Trump said, “I thought oil prices were going to go up higher than they are now.” Gas was $3.98, a full dollar higher nationally than it was before Trump’s war.

On April 16, Trump dismissed the idea that Americans were facing high gas prices. “They’re not very high,” he told a reporter.

Speaking at The Villages in Florida on May 1, Trump said, “I thought the oil prices would go up much more,” adding, “We have no choice whether it does or doesn’t, I have to do what’s right.”

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In a bizarre scene a week ago, surrounded by UFC fighters in the Oval Office, Trump said he thought the price of a barrel of oil would be triple or nearly quadruple what it was when he launched his Iran war. “I thought oil prices would go to $200, $250, it’s at $100 now,” he said. “Even if it went to $200, it would have been worth it.”

The national gas price average was $4.54 that day.

On Tuesday, as he said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump added that “a lot of people” thought oil prices would be even higher. “It was $99 yesterday, which is low, which is relatively low.”

As Trump remains so oddly impervious to Americans’ economic pain, observers step in to tell his public just how bad things are getting politically. On Wednesday, CNN data guru Harry Enten greeted a new report about annualized wholesale inflation up 6% with a disbelieving “Jesus…” Then he went to town on just that one aspect of Trump’s terrible cost-of-living polling.

“These are the ugliest numbers I have ever seen on inflation,” Enten said. “And it’s not just one poll… it’s many polls. Just take a look here. President’s net approval on inflation, the five worst polls ever for any president. They all belong to Donald John Trump, and they have all occurred in the last month…

“It is a record. Simply put, you do not want to have the five worst polls ever.”

We used Ground News to analyze the story on Trump dismissing concerns over high oil prices.

Ground News is a news app and website that scans 50,000+ articles while offering built-in bias comparisons, fact checks, and funding transparency for every source.

For this story, we see there is a split in the coverage, with 29% left, 44% right, and 27% center. The topics are the same, but the coverage couldn’t be more different. Ground News makes it easy to see the difference in how both sides are covering the same story.

The built-in factuality and ownership features also highlight the hidden angles behind every article. With Ground News’s Vantage Plan, information becomes your superpower. Learn more at ground.news/zeteox and get 40% off the unlimited Vantage Plan.

(This portion of the post was sponsored content.)

🇮🇷 Iran War Updates

• Split decision: John Fetterman’s sole Democratic “no” meant the Senate failed a seventh time to pass a measure to end Trump’s war. Republican Lisa Murkowski switched to yes with one GOP senator absent. The measure went down 49-50.

• China crisis: As Trump landed in Beijing to meet Xi Jinping, the New York Times reported that U.S. officials say Chinese firms are plotting to sell arms to Iran. Meanwhile, a Chinese oil tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz, controlled by Iran, after being stranded for two months. Trump later hailed the Chinese president a “great leader” and “friend” and invited him to the White House.

• Talks talk: Vice President Vance said talks to end the war were “making progress” but Trump’s “red line” was an end to Iran’s nuclear program. An Iranian general said the country’s military had “no room for retreat.”

• Secret visit: Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the UAE during operations against Iran, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. The UAE denied that the visit was secret.

• Lebanon latest: Strikes on vehicles in southern Lebanon killed 22 people, including eight children, the Health Ministry said, per the BBC. Continuing to ignore the supposed ceasefire, Israel claimed it hit Hezbollah targets and warned residents of nine villages to evacuate ahead of more strikes. The death toll has topped 2,895 people.

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UN Official Beats Trump Sanctions

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, celebrated on Wednesday after a federal judge blocked U.S. sanctions against her.

The Italian lawyer said: “As the judge says: ‘Protecting the Freedom of speech is always just the public interest.’ Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far. Together we are One.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned Albanese in July 2025, after Trump issued an executive order authorizing measures against anyone involved with the International Criminal Court investigation of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

Albanese’s “offense” was to recommend war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and U.S. nationals.

The sanctions barred Albanese from entering the U.S. or banking there. As she previously lived in Washington, DC, while attached to the World Bank, and maintains a house in the city, Albanese and her family faced serious problems. In February this year, Albanese told Mehdi and a Zeteo town hall audience about life under U.S. sanctions, including how she could not “make any financial transaction.” She also discussed a crude video spread by pro-Israel groups attempting to paint her as antisemitic.

Albanese’s husband, Massimiliano Cali, and daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. On Wednesday, in his ruling, Judge Richard J. Leon wrote: “Protecting the freedom of speech is ‘always’ in the public interest … That is so even when an individual's views are ‘hurtful,’ ‘caustic,’ or ‘even outrageous,’ as defendants clearly believe Albanese's speech to be … Indeed, the ‘proudest boast’ of our First Amendment is that it protects the freedom to express even ‘the thought that we hate…’

“Enough said.”

🗞️ What You Need to Know

• Fed led: Kevin Warsh was confirmed as the new Federal Reserve chair. Only one Senate Democrat – Fetterman, obvs – backed Trump’s pick, amid concern over the president’s attacks on Fed independence.

• Legal news: Trump’s DOJ sued the Washington, DC, Bar for disciplining Jeffrey Clark, a government lawyer who worked on Trump’s attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. In Florida, Trump, state officials, and trustees of Miami Dade College were sued over a land deal for Trump’s presidential library.

• Et tu, Kash?: After getting FBI Director Kash Patel to agree to take a test to see if he has a drinking problem, Senator Chris Van Hollen took a test himself. Meanwhile, MS Now reported agents saying Patel is manipulating statistics relating to FBI arrests.

• Epstein update: Howard Lutnick’s House Oversight transcript was released. Of the commerce secretary’s attempts to explain issues including a visit to the late sex offender’s island he first failed to mention, Democrat Ro Khanna said: “It was just contortions and lies… He made a farce of the English language.”

• Drunken slurs: Senator Rand Paul’s son, William Paul, made antisemitic comments to GOP congressman Mike Lawler at a DC bar, NOTUS reported, adding that Paul said he was “really drunk” and told Lawler to “watch more Tucker Carlson.” Lawler isn’t Jewish. Paul apologized and said he was seeking help.

• ICE impunity: A witness to a homicide at a Texas ICE facility whose account Zeteo published had his appeal dismissed and was ordered removed from the U.S., Zeteo learned. In Colorado, a judge said ICE is violating court orders, including by making and failing to document warrantless arrests.

• Power play: Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents must find a new energy source as their current supplier will feed data centers instead, Fortune reported.

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🧠 Pop Quiz!

By his own account, new Fed chair Kevin Warsh appeared in which 1987 movie drama starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep?

Keep your eyes out for the answer below!

🌏 Anywhere But America

• 🇵🇸 Don’t forget Gaza: The Gaza Health Ministry told Reuters 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, had been killed in Gaza since the Iran war paused on April 8 – 20% more fatalities than in the previous five weeks.

• 🇵🇸 Plain murder: A Palestinian man climbed the separation wall between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, seeking to find work, AP reported. Israeli forces killed him.

• 🇬🇧 Keir clings on: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stayed in his job despite intense pressure from his own party after disastrous local election results. Health Secretary Wes Streeting was reportedly set to launch a leadership challenge.

• 🇱🇻 The PM who is resigning: Center-right Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa announced that she was resigning after her coalition partner, the Progressives, effectively said it would no longer support her. The resignation comes days after she pushed out Defense Minister Andris Sprūds, of the Progressives, over his handling of multiple incidents of Ukrainian drones flying into Latvia’s territory.

• 🇵🇭 Senate shots: Gunfire was heard in the Philippine Senate, as authorities tried to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who, as national police chief, enforced former president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug efforts in which thousands were killed.

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😳 WTF?!

Before Doug Burgum became Trump’s interior secretary, he was governor of North Dakota, a state that produces a lot of energy, renewable sources included.

But he doesn’t seem to know how solar power works.

Appearing before the House Natural Resources Committee, Burgum, who has extensive oil and gas ties, sought to cast doubt on solar projects.

Addressing the California Democrat Jared Huffman, the secretary said: “All of these projects you are describing in Nevada have one thing in common: When the sun goes down, they produce zero electricity… the whole machine doesn’t work when the sun goes down.”

Huffman requested “unanimous consent to enter in the record this amazing new technology that apparently the secretary is unaware of: It’s a battery.”

Bruce Westerman, the committee’s Republican chair, smirked.

Burgum stayed stone-faced.

🧠 Trivia answer: Ironweed. (Warsh made the claim to the Stanford Daily, while an undergraduate. IMDB doesn’t list him.)

ICYMI From Zeteo

Zeteo’s Martin Pengelly contributed to this newsletter.

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Still want to get Zeteo content, but not this newsletter? You can unsubscribe directly from ‘First Draft’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in Substack, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘First Draft’ off.

Join Swin at 4pm ET/1pm PST TODAY for a Town Hall conversation with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, as his state finds itself at the center of Donald Trump’s war on our free elections.

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday wherever you are.

Today, I’m thinking about the very talented Hannah Einbinder. Yep, she’s funny, and sure, she’s got an Emmy. But she is also leading by example in Hollywood. Recently, she joined activist Mahmoud Khalil, novelist Isabella Hammad, and our very own Simone Zimmerman for an illuminating conversation at the beautiful Riverside Church in New York City. I definitely recommend you check it out. Here’s a taste of the chat.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed is surging in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, while prices on everything are surging because of Donald Trump’s war on Iran… and yet the U.S. president outright says he doesn’t care about Americans’ financial situations. Let’s dig in!

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El-Sayed and Done?

Weeks after the Democratic establishment joined Abdul El-Sayed’s opponents in attacking him for appearing alongside the progressive streamer Hasan Piker at a campaign rally, El-Sayed is surging in the U.S. Senate primary. Polling by Mitchell Research & Communications shows El-Sayed in first place, at 28%, with Haley Stevens trailing at 18%, and Mallory McMorrow one point further back.

Last November, the same firm showed Stevens leading with 27%, McMorrow at 24%, and El-Sayed at 16%. El-Sayed has since surged while the other two have fallen.

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Much has happened between the two polls, but among the most high-profile episodes was when Piker rallied with El-Sayed. In the lead-up to the event, right-wing, centrist, and pro-Israel groups assailed the link-up. Stevens attacked El-Sayed too, while Senator Elissa Slotkin accused him of campaigning with someone “who has a history of antisemitic rhetoric.” McMorrow also got into the fray, comparing Piker to antisemitic far-right white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Speaking to Zeteo last month, Piker, who rightly rejects accusations of antisemitism while maintaining a critical stance on Israel, called the Fuentes comparison “totally indecent,” objecting to “being compared to an avowed neo-Nazi white supremacist, whose worldview I find to be morally repugnant, whose opinions I have spent my entire life combating – opinions just like that.”

It is safe to say that most Michigan Democratic voters are rejecting such smears – and El-Sayed is surging. The new poll shows him winning voters between the ages of 18 and 44 with genuinely astonishing numbers:

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Good morning! It’s Swin, again. If you’re living in the United States today, it is hard to get around how boring it is that our ruler, Donald Trump, is just a bully. He’s not an interesting bully, or even a sympathetic one. He’s just a stereotypical bully, the kind of coward we’ve all met on the playground who only ever seems to pick fights with those he thinks he can easily topple.

It’s why our commander-in-chief talks a big game when he grins about potentially invading Cuba, but why he sounds like such a limping loser about his war on Iran failing to quickly go his way. And as he prepares to head to China – a massive world power that can properly defend itself – which Trump do you think is showing up: the phony tough guy, or the simpering “pussycat?” More on that, in a moment…

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Trump prepares to meet Xi Jinping, the only Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission issues a stark warning to Disney and ABC about what the administration wants to do to them, and the president takes another nice little snooze.

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Mr. Trump Goes to Beijing…

Late last year, President Trump had a message for several of his confidants: “We’re not fucking doing that,” the US president, sitting in the White House, privately said, one source with direct knowledge of his outburst tells me.

According to several people familiar with this matter, Trump had recently been briefed by senior US officials on draft papers for his new, then-unfinished National Defense Strategy – and the president wasn’t happy. The draft for the China-related section of this Pentagon strategic document had been helmed largely by Defense Department official Elbridge Colby, one of Team Trump’s preeminent China hawks. The section was notably hawkish on China as a national-security danger, because of course it was: Trump has long campaigned on this idea that he’s The One Guy who can be genuinely “tough” on the Chinese, that he’s America’s one true savior from the menace of the East. Trump appointed Colby specifically to be substantively, if not performatively, tough on the People’s Republic.

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But at that moment, Trump apparently didn’t want to hurt China’s feelings too much – or, the feelings of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, a fellow brutal authoritarian on the global stage who Trump affectionately refers to as his “friend” and a great negotiator. President Trump, the sources tell me, personally intervened and ordered the China-related passages of the soon-to-be-released National Defense Strategy to be torn out, to have much softer, friendlier language swapped in. (In January, when the thing was released, people started noticing the conspicuous vibe shift.)

“Donald Trump is a pussycat in many ways,” one senior US official tells me. “He clearly respects Xi a whole lot… [and] he’s a lot rougher on NATO than [he is on] Beijing.”

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Good morning, friends. Prem here. Wishing you a wonderful Monday and new week, wherever you are, and a happy belated Mother’s Day to all you magnificent moms across the world, doing your best to help us be our best. Thank you. 💜

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ a grotesque golden statue of Donald Trump is unveiled at one of his lavish resorts; an ex-Biden State Department official collects tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and figures including Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan as he tries to beat a populist for a US House seat in Nebraska; and debate flares regarding Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, MAGA exile Marjorie Taylor Greene, and their views on Israel and Palestine.

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Idol Chatter

Late last week, a giant golden statue of a sadistic, narcissistic, psychopathic antagonist was unveiled – blasphemously, some said.

Oh, and we were also introduced to a gold statue of Homelander, a power-hungry, insecure villain from the Amazon superhero show ‘The Boys.’

In Florida on Thursday, a group of evangelical and Jewish clergy, led by South Carolina congressional candidate and presidential “spiritual adviser” Pastor Mark Burns, gathered to bless a 22-foot-tall, gold-colored statue of Donald Trump.

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The statue, dubbed “Don Colossus” and actually bronze covered in gold leaf, stands proudly at the Trump National Doral golf club resort, depicting Trump raising his fist, as he did after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.

Trump addressed the launch event, and his cult followers, by phone. Thanking attendees for their support, particularly Pastor Burns, the president inevitably rambled off-topic.

After talking golf, because of the venue, Trump said: “Iran is not doing good because of us. They are not doing well at all. And good things are happening.”

He was speaking right after he was forced to pause his slapdash effort to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway closed because of his war, because key allies had not given permission.

In any case, it didn’t take much for many people to raise an eyebrow at the obsequious display, at the spectacle of religious leaders gathered beneath a garish statue. Did someone say idolatry? Does that stuff even matter anymore?

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Good morning! Andrew here again. Every day that goes by, it feels more and more incredible that Kash Patel remains the FBI director. When will Donald Trump send this merch-hawking wantrepreneur packing?

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we review Patel’s latest week from hell, the US and Iran trade “love taps,” Trump’s new tariff scheme fails too, and there’s a looming disaster for Keir Starmer’s Labour government in the UK.

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Krashing Out

Kash Patel never had any business being the FBI director, and never would have filled the job if Donald Trump hadn’t been elected president again.

It’s hard to believe the paranoid, self-promoting conspiracy theorist will hold the role much longer, not with all of the alternately humiliating and horrifying news stories coming out about his management of America’s domestic spying agency.

Patel seems to know the walls are closing in.

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This week, according to MS Now, the FBI director “walled himself off from some senior bureau leaders,” and also ordered current and former members of his security team and IT staffers to take polygraph tests in a furious hunt for leakers.

MS Now additionally reported that the FBI has begun investigating Sarah Fitzpatrick, the journalist at The Atlantic who exposed Patel’s frequent drinking “to the point of obvious intoxication,” in a story with many deeply embarrassing details about his tenure at the FBI.

Patel has adamantly denied that report, filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit against Fitzpatrick and her magazine, which makes you wonder: Why would the FBI need to root out leakers and conduct a legally questionable investigation into a journalist if her story was based on “false and obviously fabricated allegations,” as Patel claimed in court?

Fitzpatrick, to her great credit, responded to news of the probe with a new story about how Patel often travels with “a supply of personalized branded bourbon” – bottles of Woodford Reserve with the phrases “Kash Patel FBI Director” and “KA$H PATEL” on them, which he likes to give out as gifts.

Patel’s week from hell comes after he was brutally parodied on ‘Saturday Night Live’ by a wide-eyed Aziz Ansari. “I’m a trailblazer,” Ansari declared. “I’m the first Indian person to suck at their job.”

And yet, this is hardly Patel’s first terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.

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Good morning… Martin here, delighted to be writing ‘First Draft’ again. Wednesday was another utterly ridiculous day in Donald Trump’s America, from alarming lows to social media sugar highs and back again, the WWE Smackdown presidency in full effect even while our freedoms are attacked and a major Middle East war careens from one lethal threat to another.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the president talks UFC while the press tries to talk Iran, the FBI threatens journalists and Democrats … and a private prison company cashes in on Trump’s ICE terror. Welcome to America.

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‘We’re Having a Big Fight’

Two things can be true at the same time. Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the US has ceased to be a serious country. Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the US is seriously screwed.

On Wednesday, Trump welcomed reporters into the Oval Office. The US-Israel war with Iran remained unresolved. A cost-of-living crisis, supercharged by that war and its effect on world oil prices, surged ever onwards. With Trump’s polls in the toilet, his party was racing to disenfranchise Black voters, as enabled by the Supreme Court.

That wasn’t all there was for the president to discuss. His administration had just unveiled a new counterterrorism strategy, while the FBI was reportedly investigating both a reporter who filed an unflattering piece about its director and a Virginia Democrat working to counter Republican electoral shenanigans.

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The country was on fire. Trump wanted to talk mixed martial arts.

Surrounded by professional fighters, the president, in his baggy suit and Freudian tie, played ringmaster for his next White House desecration: a UFC event, set for the night of June 14, to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and Trump’s 80th, not necessarily in that order.

“We’re having a big fight,” Trump said. “It’s never going to happen again, never happened before, and it’s all of the best fighters, best four fighters standing right behind me and all champions and it’s going to happen right in front of the White House, here’s a picture.”

He showed a mock-up. He talked, and bragged, and when they could get a word in, the fighters talked and bragged. Eventually, Trump asked for questions, though “only for the fighters,” because the reporters would “want to ask about Iran and a couple other things.”

Among the would-be Woodwards and Bernsteins, one fearless soul spoke up.

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Good morning! Andrew here. We’re told Donald Trump’s war in Iran is “a favor to the world.” His administration wants to be “helpful.” Why aren’t more people acting like it? And why does the president appear to be pulling back on his latest “gift” for all, “Project Freedom?”

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ has Trump helped too much? Plus, MAGA collects scalps in Indiana, “border czar” Tom Homan promises more mass deportations, and Abdul El-Sayed and Graham Platner find an AIPAC message they can get behind.

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The Gift Giver

According to Donald Trump and his top administration officials, his disastrous and illegal war with Iran has been one big gift – to Americans, to Iranians, and to people all over the world.

Take Project Freedom, Trump’s plan to have the US guide stranded commercial boats through the Strait of Hormuz, a step necessary because Iran closed the narrow waterway at the start of the war, choking off the flow of oil, sending energy prices soaring, and throttling the global economy.

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Trump called Project Freedom “a humanitarian gesture.” And on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “a favor to the world,” explaining: “It’s their ships that are stranded. It’s their fuel supplies that are stranded… It’s the fertilizer that they need for their food and crops that’s stranded … not our fertilizer, their fertilizer.”

Yes, the Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched their reckless war – and sure, people are now dealing with drastically higher oil prices, and the prospect of shortages of fuel and food.

But let’s keep in mind what Rubio said Tuesday: “We want to be helpful.”

Project Freedom is just one more way in which the US has tried to help people out with this war in Iran – thanklessly, we might add. And why is that?

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