Happy (almost) Friday! Today's newsletter, edited by Natalie Daher, is 817 words, a 3-min. read. Thanks to Carolyn DiPaolo for copy editing.

⚡ Situational awareness: President Trump is releasing his 2026 budget tomorrow. Axios' Hans Nichols scoops. It will be the first official indication of how he wants to fund the government and outline his priorities.

Mike Waltz has been a dead man walking in the White House for the past month, and the outgoing national security adviser started to act like it, Trump administration sources tell Axios' Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid.

• But instead of outright firing him, President Trump nominated him for United Nations ambassador. He asked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to withdraw her nomination for the role to preserve the House's slim GOP majority.