Happy Monday! President Biden is cranking out new catchphrases faster than his own staff can figure out what they mean, ending a speech Friday by uttering, “Alright, God save the queen, man.”

Axios asked several current and former Biden aides over the weekend what the president was trying to convey. “Several gave different answers and some said they still aren’t sure.”

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories 

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing Sunday, kicking off a two-day trip that marks the highest-level visit to China by a U.S. official since 2019. Blinken held talks with top Chinese foreign policy officials—including Foreign Minister Qin Gang and diplomat Wang Ayo—before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. A State Department spokesman said this morning that the conversations were “candid, substantive, and constructive,” though no specifics have emerged on what was discussed.
• An Islamic State-linked militia attacked a school in western Uganda Friday night, killing at least 37 people—most of them students. Five militants belonging to a Congo-based extremist group known as the Allied Democratic Forces burned a dormitory and abducted six students, according to a Ugandan military spokesperson.
• The Food and Drug Administration told vaccine manufacturers last week to target the XBB.1.5 variant of COVID-19 in their fall booster campaign. The shot will represent the third variation of the COVID-19 vaccine and is predicted to be broadly effective against most Omicron strains of the virus still circulating in the United States. XBB.1.5 became the dominant strain for new infections earlier this spring.
• President Joe Biden announced Friday he plans to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen, former North Carolina health secretary, to replace Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky announced last month she will step down at the end of June. The position does not currently require Senate confirmation, but it will beginning in 2025.
• The Department of Justice released a report Friday that found the Minneapolis Police Department engaged in a pattern of excessive force and discrimination against black and Native American citizens. The federal probe, prompted by the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, will result in a consent decree—a court-monitored mandatory overhaul of the Minneapolis Police Department in collaboration with city officials.
• The Surfside, Florida condo that collapsed in 2021 had serious deficiencies in its pool deck, according to preliminary findings from a federal investigation released last week. The pool deck was not built to code or to match the original plans, backing up one of several early hypotheses about the cause of the collapse that left 98 people dead. 
• The College Board said Thursday it will not alter its Advanced Placement psychology course to comport with Florida’s expanded regulations on classroom instruction regarding gender and sexuality. The announcement from the College Board follows controversy in the spring over its African American studies course, which the Florida Board of Education alleged was in violation of the state’s laws on teaching critical race theory.
• Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers leaker, died Friday at the age of 92. The documents he leaked to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other outlets in 1971 revealed how four presidential administrations had expanded the war in Vietnam while misleading the U.S. public about their actions. 
• Pope Francis was released from the hospital Friday, almost 10 days after he was admitted for an operation to remove a hernia and scar tissue. The pontiff, 86, was also hospitalized earlier this year with a respiratory infection.
• Wyndham Clark, a twenty-nine year old American with just one PGA Tour victory to his name, held off Rory McIlroy to win the U.S. Open Sunday at Los Angeles Country Club. Clark had never finished higher than 75th in a major. 

Let’s Make a (Mini) Deal

Hand over heart, the Biden administration claims it is not seeking a nuclear deal with Iran.

“Rumors about a nuclear deal—interim or otherwise—are false and misleading,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Wednesday.

But the administration has reportedly been quietly talking to Iran since late last year, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in early May that it was “engaging Iran diplomatically regarding its nuclear program.” Now, according to the New York Times, the administration is reportedly seeking to exchange some sanctions relief for prisoner releases, an end to Iranian-backed attacks on U.S. contractors in the region, and—perhaps most importantly—constraints on Iran’s further nuclear development.

Remembering Charles

Five years ago this week, we lost the legendary columnist Charles Krauthammer. “Charles”—for the last decade of his life he had, like Oprah, Ichiro, and Elvis, reached single-name status in certain circles—was an enormous influence on many here at The Dispatch, and some of us were lucky enough to call him a friend.

Yesterday—Father’s Day—Charles’ son Daniel threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park in Washington to commemorate his dad and his devotion to D.C.’s baseball team. As part of the ceremony—which featured Daniel and his mother Robyn, as well as friends and relatives of the late Dr. Krauthammer—Fox News anchor Bret Baier narrated a touching video tribute that played on the scoreboard, and the Nationals unveiled a plaque commemorating Charles at the top of Section 128, where he had season tickets. We miss Charles a great deal, as well as his thoughtful and important contributions to the national debate.

Worth Your Time

• When was the last time you listened to AM radio? Although the technology is diminishing in popularity, Sen. Ted Cruz is working on legislation mandating all new cars be equipped with AM radio capabilities. “The idea violates all sorts of conservative principles,” Ryan J. Rusak argues in a piece for the Idaho Statesman. “Letting the market sort out customers’ needs and desires, minimizing costly regulations for businesses and allowing for variety rather than top-down conformity. The best argument that Cruz and his Senate collaborator, Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, muster for their legislation is that many Americans’ most reliable access to emergency broadcast alerts is AM radio. But that specific need is better met by spreading broadband internet access, which would also improve education and remote-work opportunities. Cruz and Markey, who is as far to the left as the Texan is to the right, are touting the bipartisan support for their bill. In this case, bipartisan isn’t a synonym for good or smart but rather for a point where conservatives and progressives can agree on flexing government power—and the political benefits of doing so.”
• In honor of Juneteenth being observed today, take a few minutes to (re)read this June 2021 G-File from Jonah on the nation’s newest federal holiday. “I’m at a loss to understand why celebrating the end of slavery is anything but good. In particular, I’m at a loss to understand why seeing white Americans celebrate the end of slavery is anything but good,” he wrote. “Making Juneteenth an American holiday and not just a black holiday underscores that Americans—all Americans—are (or should be) rightly proud that we did away with an institution existentially at war with the best version of ourselves. For those who talk about slavery as if it never shrinks in the rearview window no matter how far behind us it gets, that could be an awkward talking point to work around. It’s harder to claim that ‘white America’ hasn’t acknowledged the evil of slavery when all Americans celebrate the end of slavery and the liberation of our fellow Americans.”

Presented Without Comment

NBC News: Pence ‘Always Hoped’ Trump Would Have ‘Come Around’ on Accepting 2020 Election Results

Also Presented Without Comment

Wall Street Journal: Pickleball Diehards Are Choosing Vacations Based On Where They Can Play

Also Also Presented Without Comment

Boston Globe: Case of Stolen Body Parts From Harvard Medical School Morgue Began With a Tip From an Ex-Lover

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics team covered former Vice President Mike Pence’s reaction to the Trump indictment and Republican prospects in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, Jonah examined Republicans’ widespread belief that the system is rigged against Donald Trump, Nick wondered (🔒) if Ron DeSantis isn’t running out of time to make his move, and Chris warned against (🔒) making straight-line predictions in the GOP 2024 primary contest. 
• On the podcasts: Jonah ruminated on gender and other hot-button issues on The Remnant, Sarah was joined by Judge Amul Thapar to discuss his new book on Advisory Opinions, and Mike spoke with former Rep. Peter Meijer about the security issues surrounding Trump’s retention of classified documents for The Dispatch Podcast. 
• On the site over the weekend: Luis returned to a beloved Seamus Heaney poem in honor of Father’s Day and Peter Meilaender reviewed a new book about the first year of the war in Ukraine. 
• On the site today: Charlotte digs into continued efforts by Turkey and Hungary to obstruct Sweden’s NATO bid, and Jacob looks at debates over whether to reauthorize a key section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Plus, Chris marks Juneteenth by reflecting on the deferred costs of American slavery.

Let Us Know

We hope all the dads out there had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday! 

Tell us about a moment you shared with your dad that might have seemed insignificant or routine at the time but has stuck with you over the years.