Joe Biden and Donald Trump are running dueling basement campaigns that make them look like they're in the witness protection program.

• Why it matters: They're a combined 157 years old. And they're not being tested and prodded in the ways that are hallmarks of an American presidential campaign.

President Biden had a much less active summer than former President Obama during the equivalent period, Axios' Alex Thompson and Hans Nichols report.

• Most of Biden's appearances are between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. — aides say his age limits his schedule.
• White House spokesman Andrew Bates said: "While we strategically time public events to reach the nightly broadcast news audience, President Biden — who's about to take off for his latest trip around the world [landed in India on Friday] — works late, whether it's calling lawmakers to advocate for legislation or traveling to a war zone like Kyiv."

Even former President Trump, known for talking to reporters willy-nilly, is doing less of that — apparently because he finally believes his lawyers that he's better off doing his talking in court filings.

• A June interview with Fox News' Bret Baier left Trump with a range of shifting defenses that can be used against him in the classified documents case.

🧮 By the numbers: Trump held two public campaign events in August. Biden has held one rally since he announced his re-election campaign in April.

Trump is doing significantly fewer public events than his underdog opponents for the 2024 GOP nomination.

• Trump is opting for private meetings at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
• Trump posted 55 Instagram videos on his indictments ... "COVID tyrants" ... ISIS ... his poll numbers ... Rupert Murdoch ... his former attorney general, Bill Barr ... and important figures in American history.

Biden is running a Rose Garden strategy heavy on policy-focused trips. A bonus: The campaign doesn't have to cover expenses.

• Biden made just 19 public appearances after 6 p.m. from June to July this year, according to Mark Knoller, a former CBS News radio correspondent who's the unofficial chronicler of presidential schedules.
• By contrast, President Obama held 25 events after 6 p.m. over the same period in 2011.

Obama was much more active than Biden during the three summer months before his reelection year, appearing at 63 events vs. 43 for Biden.

• Biden was slightly ahead of Trump, who held 39 events in the same stretch of 2019, according to Knoller's meticulous records.

Between the lines: Both Biden and Trump are sticking to interviews with friendly media.

• Biden hasn't done an interview since early July. He answers fleeting questions from the press pool.
• As indictments piled up over the past two months, Trump has avoided tough interviews and opted for ideologically sympathetic hosts — Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, and Hugh Hewitt.

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The U.S.-China tit-for-tat tech battle is hitting one of the most profitable and influential companies in the world — Apple, Axios' Hope King writes.

• Why it matters: Apple derived 19% of its revenue from the Greater China region last quarter. For iPhone shipments, China passed the U.S. as the largest single market last quarter, market research firm TechInsights says.

China's restrictions on iPhone use by government employees are expanding to local governments and state-owned companies, Nikkei Asia reports:

Central ministries and agencies have restricted the use of foreign-brand products in official business since around 2020. Such curbs have since been expanded to employees of local governments, including prefectures, and cities, and state-owned enterprises since around August.

The bottom line: The Wall Street Journal calls Apple the biggest U.S.-China pawn yet, noting that few "companies are safe if Apple isn't immune to China retaliation."

The IRS has begun using AI to detect sophisticated tax violations by high-income earners and large business partnerships.

• Why it matters: Targets for new scrutiny include hedge funds, real estate investment partnerships, publicly traded partnerships and big law firms.

The IRS is prioritizing cases involving taxpayers with incomes above $1 million but tax debts of more than $250,000, Axios' Jacob Knutson reports.

• 1,600 taxpayers fall under this category and "owe hundreds of millions of dollars," the IRS said.

Read the IRS release ... Share this story.

The White House unveiled a year-long, $50 million gut renovation of the Situation Room — a 5,500-square-foot, highly secure complex of conference rooms and offices on the West Wing's ground floor.

• Why it matters: These are rooms where history happens — where the president discusses secret operations, talks with foreign leaders and works through national-security crises, AP's Colleen Long writes.

The renovated space has a modern-but-vintage vibe:

• Floors, furniture and computers were stripped and replaced with mahogany paneling from Maryland + stonework from a Virginia quarry.

Contractors had to get temporary security clearances. Illuminated signs flash green for declassified and red for classified exchanges.

• See-through glass offices fade to opaque with the press of a button.

☎️ But there are still plenty of landline phones: No cellphones are allowed in the secure space. Beside an outside door, there are cubbies to stow phones.

Above is the "watch floor" — a 24/7 operations center staffed by military and civilian personnel.

• Workers dug five feet down to make room for cutting-edge technology that allows White House officials to bring together intelligence from different agencies.

The complex has a reception area with a U.S. seal in stonework. Behind that is the main conference room, known as the "JFK room."

• To the right are a smaller conference room and two soundproof "breakout rooms." The "watch floor" is to the left.
• Although it'll probably always be known as the "Sit Room," it's technically the "Whizzer" — White House Situation Room (WHSR).

Watch a video of Biden touring Sit Room ... Share this story.

A strong earthquake hit Morocco — the North African nation just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain — killing more than 1,000 people, Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath writes from state media reports.

• Homes and buildings collapsed or were damaged, including in the old city of Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

President Biden and other G20 leaders announced an international infrastructure project to connect India, the Middle East and Europe with rail, shipping lines, high-speed data cables and energy pipelines, Axios Barak Ravid reports.

• Why it matters: The project — announced during the G20 Summit in New Delhi — is one of the key initiatives the White House is pushing to counter Beijing's growing influence and create an alternative to China's Belt and Road vision, of which the Middle East is a key part.

Biden said Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UAE and Jordan will be part of the initiative, first reported by Axios.

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What leapt out at me in this Gallup survey is the 3%: Formal business attire has basically vanished in less than a generation.

• Why it matters: This is another trend that was already underway, then was accelerated by COVID — and ain't going back.

Explore the data.

74 million Americans plan to bet on the NFL this season — a new record, and a nearly 60% increase from last year, Axios' Simran Parwan reports from an American Gaming Association survey released this week.

• Why it matters: That's roughly 30% of U.S. adults.

🧮 By the numbers: An Axios analysis of Sports Handle data shows that states have generated over $3.5 billion in tax revenue in the past five years from legalized sports betting.

• On Thursday, Kentucky launched legal retail sports betting, bringing the number of states with live and legal sports betting markets to 35 + D.C.

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