Happy Wednesday! In what’s being described as a “Passover miracle,” Billy—a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who was abducted from Nahal Oz during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack—was found in southern Gaza last week. After rescuing her from the streets of Rafah, an Israeli reservist took Billy to a veterinarian and discovered through a microchip implant that she belonged to Rachel Dancyg, the ex-wife of Alex Dancyg, a Holocaust educator who was kidnapped into Gaza and later murdered. Billy will be reunited with her family today.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- Two American soldiers were killed, and another was seriously injured, in a vehicle accident near the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement. The troops were deployed as part of the Joint Task Force Southern Border, which is leading the military’s mission to secure the southern border. The military has not yet released the names of the deceased soldiers, and an investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.
- President Donald Trump held a meeting in the White House situation room on Tuesday to discuss ongoing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, Axios first reported. “Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters on Monday, adding that he believed the Islamic Republic was intentionally stalling negotiations. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, who on Saturday met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman, said Tuesday morning that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program” for any deal to be reached—a reversal from the day before, when Witkoff told Fox News that Iran should not enrich uranium above 3.67 percent.
- The U.S. refused to back a statement from Group of Seven (G7) allied nations—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom—condemning Russia’s Palm Sunday missile attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The missile strike—which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said intentionally targeted civilian areas—killed 35 people, including children, per Ukrainian officials. The report added that Canada, the current presiding nation of the G7 , informed the other countries it could not advance the statement without U.S. support.
- A Russian court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced four journalists—Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin, and Artyom Kriger—to five-and-a-half years in penal colony imprisonment for their alleged involvement in a banned anti-corruption group founded by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Foundation for Fighting Corruption, founded by Navalny in 2011 to investigate corruption allegations in the Russian government, was outlawed in 2021 after being deemed an “extremist” organization. The journalists’ attorneys indicated plans to appeal the verdict.
- The Chinese government on Tuesday directed the country’s airlines to block deliveries of Boeing airplanes and aircraft parts, the latest development in escalating trade barriers between the U.S. and China. In a social media post, President Donald Trump said that China “just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft.” A total of 29 Boeing aircraft were set to be delivered to Chinese airlines in 2025, according to Bank of America analysts.
- The Pentagon has placed two officials on leave following an investigation into leaks of sensitive information from the department, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday. Among them was Dan Caldwell, a top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who on Tuesday was escorted out of the building. Caldwell, who is reportedly suspected of sharing classified information with journalists, was named as Hegseth’s representative to the White House in the leaked Signal group chat in which top U.S. officials discussed plans for an imminent attack on Yemen’s Houthis last month. Darin Selnick, the Defense Department’s deputy chief of staff, was also suspended and removed from the Pentagon in relation to the probe.
- Former President Joe Biden on Tuesday gave his first public address since leaving the White House, accusing the Trump administration of threatening Social Security benefits. “Fewer than 100 days, this administration has done so much damage and so much devastation,” Biden said in Chicago at a conference hosted by Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled. “They’re taking a hatchet to the Social Security Administration, pushing out 7,000 employees, including the most seasoned officials.” Ahead of Biden’s remarks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would protect Social Security for “law-abiding, taxpaying American citizens and seniors who have paid into this program.”
- Three students were shot and injured at Wilmer Hutchins High School near Dallas on Tuesday, and a fourth student suffered a “musculoskeletal injury.” The suspect, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, initially fled the scene before reportedly turning himself in to a sheriff’s department that night. The four victims—all males—were hospitalized, and their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Zuckerberg in the Hot Seat
A lot has changed between the first and second Trump administrations. But one thing that has remained constant is the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against Facebook. The agency charged with enforcing antitrust laws sued the social media giant in December 2020, alleging its acquisitions of Instagram and the messaging platform WhatsApp constituted illegal market monopolization. More than four years and one corporate rebrand later—from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc.—a trial on the suit finally began this week.
The case is one of the first high-profile actions of the Trump administration’s FTC, and it comes after years of growing support for more robust antitrust enforcement—bolstered in part by bipartisan antipathy toward Big Tech. But the agency may face an uphill battle as it seeks to convince the court to unwind acquisitions now more than a decade old.
Monday was the first day of what is expected to be a roughly two-month-long bench trial where the ...
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Today’s Must-Read
Besides a small placard on the door, there’s no outside signage to let the unsuspecting passerby know that behind the black-tinted windows lies an entirely different world, a place where a Polynesian aesthetic meets a Caribbean spirit and, shaken with ice, pours out as something weird and nostalgic and vibrant and escapist and entirely American. This is Smuggler’s Cove, a modern mecca for the tiki enthusiast and rum aficionado.
Toeing the Company Line
Do Republican Voters Still Care About Scandal?
The outcome of Ken Paxton’s primary challenge vs. Sen. John Cornyn may answer that question.
Uncle Sam, Deadbeat Customer
A peek into a government hamstrung by absurdity.
American Soybean Farmers Are Caught in the Trade War Crossfire
Producers of America’s largest agricultural export are reeling for a second time.
Whitmer Highlights Democrats’ Disarray
The party has a few options for improving its image. Hiding might be the best one.
Unsettled Colonialism
Vibes? Papers? Essays? Podcasts?
Worth Your Time
- Writing on the 160th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Paul Wolfowitz reflected on what made Lincoln great. “Lincoln is the greatest American president not because he was perfect, but because he had so many leadership qualities crucial for confronting the challenges facing him,” Wolfowitz wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “He combined moral vision with strategic genius, a rare mix for any political leader. … Lincoln didn’t flaunt his eloquence. Like Eisenhower and Reagan, he even knew that it could be useful to be underestimated. That trait may be the most at odds with modern expectations of power. ‘The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,’ he said at Gettysburg. The world remembered, largely because of his words. But Lincoln’s point was that actions matter most.”
- In honor of Tax Day, the editors of National Geographic dug into the long and colorful history of taxation. “Over the centuries, different governments all over the world have levied taxes on everything from urine to facial hair—and officials accepted payments of beers, beds, and even broomsticks. These payments went to fund government projects and services—from the pyramids of Giza to the legions of Rome,” they wrote. “Taxation has existed for so long, it even predates coin money. Taxes could be applied to almost everything and might be paid with almost anything. In ancient Mesopotamia, this flexibility led to some rather bizarre ways to pay. For instance, the tax on burying a body in a grave was ‘seven kegs of beer, 420 loaves, two bushels of barley, a wool cloak, a goat, and a bed, presumably for the corpse,’ according to Oklahoma State historian Tonia Sharlach. ‘Circa 2000-1800 B.C., there is a record of a guy who paid with 18,880 brooms and six logs,’ Sharlach adds.”
Presented Without Comment
Axios: DOGE Takes a Slice Out of America’s 250th Birthday
DOGE’s cost-cutting may get in the way of the “grand celebration” President Trump, has ordered for July 4, 2026 — America’s 250th birthday.
State humanities councils planning 250th anniversary celebrations all over the country have had their funding slashed, and those organizations tell Axios they likely won’t be able to execute the big, patriotic plans they had been making.
Also Presented Without Comment
The Athletic: [Tennis player] Harriet Dart Apologizes After Requesting Opponent Wears Deodorant: ‘She Smells Really Bad’
In the Zeitgeist
Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday, honoring the 78th anniversary of the Hall of Famer breaking the baseball color barrier and taking the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Since 2004, it’s been tradition for the league’s players to honor Robinson’s legacy by donning his signature number, 42, on their jerseys.
And for New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., repping Robinson’s iconic number is best paired with his iconic baggy pants and high socks.
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