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War to Wallets: Trump Turns From Iran to the Economy as GOP Faces Midterm Headwinds (Bloomberg)
President Trump plans to take his economic pitch on the road to western US states, as the White House grapples with an increasingly unpopular war with Iran ahead of the November midterm elections.
The president’s trip this week to Nevada and Arizona, two swing states that Trump carried in 2024, reflects a growing recognition inside the administration and among congressional Republicans that the party must remind voters of its economic accomplishments as affordability issues weigh heavily on American households.
Treasury Warning: Henry Paulson Says US Should Prepare for a ‘Vicious’ Bond Crash (Bloomberg)
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called on US authorities to prepare a backup plan in order to avert a potential collapse in demand for Treasuries — an event that he warned would have “vicious” effects.
“We need an emergency break-the-glass plan, which is targeted and short-term, on the shelf, so it’s ready to go when we hit the wall,” Paulson said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin.
Tragedy in VA: Virginia Ex-Lieutenant Governor Kills Wife, Self, Police Say (Bloomberg)
The former lieutenant governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax, killed himself and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, at their home just after midnight on Thursday, according to police. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis described it as a murder-suicide, adding that it was an ongoing domestic-related dispute surrounding a “messy divorce.”
Guarded Rollout: White House Moves to Give US Agencies Anthropic Mythos Access (Bloomberg)
The US government is preparing to make a version of Anthropic PBC’s powerful new artificial intelligence model available to major federal agencies amid concerns that the tool could sharply increase cybersecurity risk, according to a memo reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Founder's Next Act: Reed Hastings to Step Down as Netflix Chair (New York Times)
Reed Hastings, who transformed Netflix
from a scrappy DVD subscription service into a globe-spanning Hollywood colossus, will step down in June from the board of the company he co-founded, the company said on Thursday.
Meme Momentum: Allbirds Shares Sink as 582% AI Surge Comes to Screeching Halt (Bloomberg)
Allbirds’s surprising pivot from wool sneakers to artificial intelligence infrastructure is looking more like a flash in the pan for the stock than a driver of long-term gains.
Shares of the firm, which said it plans to re-brand itself as NewBird AI, sank as much as 31% on Thursday, a swift but only partial reversal from the knee-jerk reaction a day prior when the stock soared more than 582%. Nearly 300 million shares exchanged hands on Wednesday, several times the daily average of just over 20 million.
“This has the feel of a meme stock, where emotions take over and logic and reason get thrown out the window,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments. “That the market actually rewarded the stock yesterday when it doesn’t seem to have any kind of actual AI edge tells me that froth, specifically AI froth, is picking up.”
A Gilded Ego: Trump’s ‘Triumphal Arch’ Draws Backlash, Even From an Expert Who Proposed It (New York Times)
During his first term, President Trump visited the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to attend a commemoration of Armistice Day, which ended World War I. The memory of the arch stayed with him, and eight years later, he is determined to surpass it.
“The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, and we’re going to top it by, I think, a lot,” Trump said in December of his plans to build his own triumphal arch in Washington. “The only thing they have is history.”
The Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal body that advises presidents about “matters of design and aesthetics,” this week gave its stamp of approval to another one of Trump's passion projects: a 250-foot arch on the other side of the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
But Trump’s push to build the giant arch — more than quadrupling its size from the original plans — has alienated early proponents of the project, classical architects and veterans groups who say it will diminish nearby Arlington Cemetery.
The monumental design is pleasing to its most important constituent: Trump. Asked last year who the arch was for, Trump responded: “Me.”
A rendered image of the arch,
which has been dubbed the "Arc de Trump" by critics, is gilded in Trump's signature gold branding:
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