The president hosted a highly anticipated "exclusive" dinner for the largest holders of his meme coin, Official Trump, at his golf club in Virginia on Thursday night.
Why it matters: Fight Fight Fight, LLC — a company linked to President Trump's family — sold a digital token that gave anyone in the world a chance to pay for a night of access to the commander-in-chief.
The Supreme Court issued a stay Thursday allowing President Trump's removal of two independent agency heads to remain in force for now — but suggested Federal Reserve officials have special protection based on the central bank's unique structure.
Why it matters: The ruling suggests that the court will ultimately vest the president with significant authority to remove the heads of agencies, even when Congress has structured them to be insulated from politics.
Comcast's Epic Universe in Orlando officially opened today.
🎢 It's the first major new U.S. theme park in 20+ years, according to CNN.
💰The park covers 750 acres with a rumored price tag of about $7 billion, CNBC reported.
🧙 State of play: Epic Universe contains five themed worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic; Super Nintendo World; How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk; Celestial Park; and Dark Universe.
"Epic Universe represents the largest investment Comcast has made in Universal's theme parks since gaining control of the business in 2011," Reuters reported. "Analysts say it poses a heightened competitive threat to Walt Disney World, whose last major expansion was in 2019."
💭 Nathan's thought bubble: This is making me nostalgic for the long-gone "Back to the Future" ride at Universal Orlando.
The news that inspired our recent "Game of Thrones" coverage on stablecoins was the big new vision from Circle — the issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin and the dominant player in the U.S. market.
According to a social media post from the company, that network is up and has run some transactions.
💭 Our thought bubble: Tether + Bitfinex seemed to work out real well (there have been issues, of course), so Circle + Coinbase seems extremely not crazy.
But CEO Jeremy Allaire didn't call me on this one you know so anything could happen.
MARA, the bitcoin mining giant, is posting some of its bitcoin holdings to investment adviser Two Prime as a way to earn yield.
Why it matters: Bitcoin treasuries on the balance sheet of public companies is becoming a whole thing, led by Michael Saylor's Strategy.
What they're saying: "This expanded partnership is about more than just yield – it's about building a model for capital efficiency, transparency, and risk-aware innovation in digital asset management," Alexander Blume, CEO of Two Prime, said in a statement.
MARA, which is putting 500 BTC (roughly $55 million) with Two Prime to earn yield, has already worked with the firm to post BTC for collateral-backed loans.
The House of Representatives in Texas passed SB 21 yesterday, which would create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the state, mirroring the one created by President Trump's executive order.
Yes, but: The House made an amendment to the bill, so it has to go to conference before it passes.
Lee Bratcher, of the Texas Blockchain Council, tells us that he expects it to move through conference easily.
What we're watching: June 1 is the last day Texas could pass a concurrent resolution, however, according to Axios' reading of the legislative calendar, so there is not a ton of time.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that if he does not "make a serious proposal for an immediate ceasefire" with Ukraine, the Senate will pass new sanctions against the Russian government.
Why it matters: Thune (R-S.D.) is increasing pressure on Putin by signaling the Senate is willing to act on a bipartisan bill that would authorize new Russian sanctions and tariffs.
The reputations of companies that stumbled into politics or the culture wars have been hit hardest since 2019, when the Axios Harris Poll 100 first launched the rankings.
Why it matters: Most of the biggest decliners have consistently made headlines for polarizing acts or operational failures.
Around the world, investors are sending a clear-as-glass signal: After years of profligate debt issuance, the world's major economies are now facing the bill.
The big picture: A sell-off in bond markets over recent weeks is signaling that the long-term trajectory for interest rates is higher than it has been in decades. The drop in long-term bond prices means a rise in the interest rates governments must pay to borrow money.
The Trump administration plans to end production of the penny after the cost of making it ballooned and it became increasingly useless as currency.
Why it matters: The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September.
The popularityof labor unions surged over the past decade, while American sentiment toward big business has fallen, according to new data published by the liberal Economic Policy Institute.
Why it matters: The approval switcheroo helps explain, in part, why the Republican Party has been courting labor unions in recent years.
The upper bound of "middle class" in America is often pegged at an annual income of between $150,000 and $250,000, but looking at legislation being drawn up by Republicans in Congress, it seems to be much, much higher.
Why it matters: Some of the proposals for the forthcoming budget raise income cutoff levels to as high as $2.5 million per year.
Men are far more likely to "buy the dip," per a BlackRock survey shared first with Axios that examines how voters respond to stock market declines and considers their general feelings about retirement.
Why it matters: The findings illustrate a broader issue when it comes to investing and saving for retirement — there's a gender gap that puts women, who also have longer life expectancies, at a disadvantage.
With thousands of their brick-and-mortar stores closing and online vendors proliferating, big pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens are seeing their reputations slide, according to the annual Axios Harris Poll 100.
Why it matters: The souring consumer sentiment comes as pharmacy giants mount major turnaround plans in the hopes they can overcome slumping in-store sales, overexpansion and backlash from putting more products under lock and key and shortening pharmacy hours.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says he's convinced of two things: The U.S. will make a long list of trade deals by mid-summer, and the tariffs forcing those deals won't raise retail prices.
Why it matters: Investors, business leaders and consumers are praying he's right.
Prices are going up, that's clear now — but the nation's biggest retailers are taking very different approaches to what they say on the impact of tariffs publicly.
Why it matters: President Trump's trade war is stirring echoes of the inflation that took hold of the economy just three years ago.
Senate Republicans voted to move forward with repealing California's EV mandate — ignoring opinions from the Government Accountability Office and Senate parliamentarian.
Why it matters: Democrats have called it the "nuclear option," warning Republicans are setting a new precedent for what kind of rules can be undone by Congress.
