Washington, DC

1. Israel, Iran trade fire
2. Behind the AI stakes talk
3. AI regulation battle
4. Spy powers standoff
5. House mulls immigration bill
6. Trump at Knicks vs. Spurs
7. Platner in Maine
8. Crucial House poll

PDB: Voters sour on Trump’s handling of cost of living

Mamdani attends Game 3 … Brent crude rises to $97 after latest strikes … WSJ: Sen. Schiff proposes bill to restrict Pentagon AI use

Trump calls on Israel, Iran to halt strikes

President Donald Trump ordered Iran and Israel to “immediately stop ‘shooting’” early Monday after the countries exchanged their most intense strikes in months, straining a shaky ceasefire and further complicating peace talks. Trump has been trying to lower the temperature, telling the Financial Times that he would pressure Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate to Iranian missile strikes, and that Netanyahu would ultimately accept a Washington-Tehran truce. It marks the latest sign of friction between the two allies: US intelligence is concerned about Israel spying on US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. On Sunday, US Central Command said it shot down Iranian drones threatening traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump insisted he “didn’t guarantee no war” during the 2024 campaign, despite his rhetoric about avoiding foreign entanglements.

Inside Altman’s pitch on govt AI stake

OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who offered last year to cede equity in his firm to the Trump administration, envisioned a hybrid of the Alaska Permanent Fund and Trump Accounts, a person familiar with the talks told Semafor. The firm laid out one possible version of that in April, when it described a “Public Wealth Fund” of donated equity that provides returns “directly to citizens.” The idea has bipartisan appeal: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whom Altman met with last week, has endorsed a similar proposal. NOTUS first reported Altman’s pitch, which the president told reporters Friday he might discuss with “all the big” AI firms as soon as this week: “The American people can benefit from the success of AI, and by doing that, they’re going to like it better,” Trump said. It’s unclear precisely when the meeting could take place or who might attend.

— Eleanor Mueller

View: Politicians look to protect kids from AI

As Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence boom powers America’s economy and shapes its national security priorities, political leaders are struggling with how to regulate the technology, if at all. The answer, increasingly, is a set of rules restricting how children can interact with AI. “We made this mistake with social media companies who we thought were going to change the world and told us to trust them, and did the exact opposite — destroy a generation of kids,” Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said. Even as some of the research around technology and children remains contested, America’s political class is nearly unanimous in agreement with Cox’s view. “Parents are apoplectic about” AI, said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who is leading an effort with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., to impose criminal penalties on companies whose AI products have sexual interactions with minors or steer them towards hurting themselves.

Surveillance tools’ expiration date looms

Key pieces of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will expire on Friday absent the White House or Senate Democrats relenting in a feud over Trump’s acting director of national intelligence. An extension needs at least 60 votes in the Senate, and Democrats want to use their leverage to get Bill Pulte replaced as interim DNI; they might be willing to let the warrantless spy powers lapse. “I know how important this tool is,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on ABC, accusing Trump of throwing a “live hand grenade” at the debate days before the provisions expire. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said Pulte is not “statutorily qualified” but warned a FISA lapse before the World Cup “would be the most grossly irresponsible thing I’ve seen Congress do in my 22 years in office.” Trump hasn’t yet shown any sign of changing his pick.

— Burgess Everett

Immigration bill on glide path in House

House Republicans are preparing to take up the Senate-passed $70 billion immigration enforcement bill this week. Although it’s largely on a glide path to final passage a week after Trump’s June 1 deadline, the tight House margin still means there’s no room for error. GOP leaders still need to pacify moderates who are concerned about the fate of Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund,” especially after Trump doubled down on his defense of it Sunday morning on NBC. “The votes are not there and will not be there to give a dime to this fund,” purple-district Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said on CNN. And attendance could be an issue, too. GOP leaders were forced to scrap potential votes last Friday on the immigration bill when it looked like enough House lawmakers would be absent to scuttle the vote.

— Nicholas Wu

Trump inserts himself into US sports culture

Trump is heading to another big sporting event tonight — Game 3 of the NBA Finals in his hometown of New York, where the Knicks lead the Spurs 2-0. His appearance showcases his habit of inserting himself into US sports culture, even when he may be less welcomed by the crowds or cause logistical disruptions. There will be no watch party outside Madison Square Garden tonight, for example, a decision reportedly made in consultation with the Secret Service. Trump’s focus on sporting events helped him in 2024, attracting younger, often male voters. But there’s a simpler rationale powering Trump’s attendance streak: He’s a huge sports fan. Already this term, Trump has attended US Open tennis championships, the Ryder Cup, and the 2025 Super Bowl. He’ll bring the drama to Washington next weekend with a UFC fight on the White House lawn.

— Shelby Talcott

Platner team bets on ‘redemption’ in Maine

Pulled from obscurity last year by labor unions and progressive strategists, Graham Platner has become the kind of candidate both parties dread: one whose words and messy personal life keep throwing them off-message. Platner has no intention of heeding pressure from the Democratic Party to step aside in the wake of reporting about sexual messages he’d sent to women and his volatile behavior with ex-girlfriends (allegations Platner has denied). Maine Democrats will decide on Tuesday whether to nominate him to face Sen. Susan Collins. “All of us are fairly nervous about his chances, and what information Republicans might be holding back about him until the primary’s over,” one Democratic activist told Semafor’s David Weigel. But Platner’s team thinks it understands Maine voters much better than the DC professionals, and is betting on his message of “redemption.”

Democrat pulls ahead in key House race

The Democrat running to unseat Rep. Bill Huizenga leads the Michigan Republican by three points, according to a new Democratic poll shared first with Semafor. The poll, conducted by Democratic firm GBAO on behalf of Sean McCann’s campaign, is the first to show the state senator pulling ahead of Huizenga amid his party’s bid to flip the House. Notably, the poll also showed nearly six in 10 disapprove of Trump’s job as president. Huizenga, who won his seat by nearly 12 points in 2024, has long been a target for House Democrats’ campaign arm. McCann outraised Huizenga by almost $400,000 in the first quarter of 2026, bringing his total to more than $1 million. “From now until November, Sean is all gas, no brakes,” McCann’s campaign manager, Simone Archer-Krauss, told Semafor. Huizenga campaign spokesperson Calvin Moore said that “McCann can cook up all the biased internal polls he wants, but he won’t be able to hide from his record in November.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Semafor’s Ben Smith and Max Tani will be in Cannes to cover media and marketing’s biggest annual gathering, where many of the most powerful people in media come to make deals, rub shoulders, win awards, and sip Aperol spritzes on the Côte d’Azur.

Starting June 22, they’ll deliver news, scoops, and insights on the year ahead in media — with all its deal-making, gossip, and pretentious grandeur, from one of the industry’s true epicenters.

Blindspot: Voter ID and Trump

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized fellow Republicans who voted with Democrats to reject an effort to add a Trump-backed voter ID bill to the Senate’s reconciliation package, Fox News reported.

What the Right isn’t reading: Democrats mocked President Trump over a clip of him closing his eyes during an event in the Oval Office, accusing him of sleeping.