Axios AM

August 25, 2023
Hello, Friday! Smart Brevityโข count: 1,386 words ... 5 mins. Edited by Emma Loop.
โ๏ธ 1 big thing: Inmate No. P01135809
Photo: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
That's how Donald J. Trump of Palm Beach, Fla., is listed in the jail records of Fulton County, Ga., after last night's 20-minute booking.
- He described himself as 6 foot 3 inches, 215 pounds โ 24 pounds less than the White House doctor reported in 2018.
- He's listed as having blue eyes, and blond or strawberry hair.
Why it matters: Trump orchestrated prime-time coverage of his fourth arrest โ and instantly moved to monetize the historic mugshot that resulted, Axios managing editor David Lindsey writes.
The 7 p.m. drive-by visit for his fourth arrest in less than five months produced this stern-looking mugshot โ another presidential first that's sure to be a signature image of the 2024 campaign.
- Trump's team already has indicated it will use the image on Trump '24 merchandise and fundraising appeals.

Before flying back to New Jersey, Trump told reporters on the tarmac that the prosecutions amount to "election interference":
- "What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. ... I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows it."

๐ฆ Trump's mugshot inspired his first tweet since Jan. 8, 2021 (above).
- He included a link to a campaign donation page, urging fans to help "SAVE AMERICA during this dark chapter in our nation's history."
๐ฅ Reality check: Trump's trip was a reminder of the jeopardy he faces in the charges filed by Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis.
- She's accused him of running a criminal enterprise that tried to overturn the election โ state charges that are out of reach of any potential self-pardon he could try to issue if he were elected president again.
More on the mugshot ... Go deeper: Latest court action.
2. ๐บ Trump's surrender spectacle

Instead of a courthouse like the one Trump visited when responding to felony indictments in New York, Florida and D.C., this time he had to report to the decrepit, smelly Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.
- "ANY MOMENT: TRUMP LANDS IN GA FOR HISTORIC FOURTH ARREST," CNN said.

On MSNBC's "INDICTMENT SPECIAL," Rachel Maddow said at 7:42 p.m. ET:
"Donald Trump is under arrest in the state of Georgia. โฆ Former President Trump is in custody. He has been arrested. Landmark moment โฆ for all the worst reasons."
Fox News covered the booking. Then, before Trump's plane had left Atlanta, host Jesse Watters had moved on to Hunter Biden.

Above: Mugshots of two of Trump's co-defendants in Georgia, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
3. ๐ฆพ Next AI target: salary negotiations
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Employers โ and ambitious employees โ are using new chatbots to role-play negotiations and brainstorm comp packages, Axios' Ryan Heath reports.
- Other players in labor negotiations, including unions, see opportunity in AI-assisted talks.
Why it matters: Those with the most to gain include people who in the past have been reluctant to negotiate, and those who want better options beyond salary, including stock, vacation or other leave.
Case in point: A salary chatbot by Pactum, based in Silicon Valley, was inspired by the company's vendor-negotiation platform, used by Walmart.
- Pactum CEO Martin Rand told Axios that men and women negotiated equally hard with the bot. In person, men tended to negotiate harder.
4. March on Washington, 60 years on

Tomorrow, civil-rights leaders will mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington with a rally and march by a multiracial, interfaith coalition of allies at the Lincoln Memorial, Axios' Keldy Ortiz reports.
- Why it matters: The 1963 protest โ where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech โ sought to bring attention to jobs, voting rights and police brutality. The issues are eerily similar in 2023.
๐งฎ By the numbers: Poverty rates for Black Americans have fallen in the decades since the first March on Washington, but have remained high compared with other races.
- Today there are 60 Black lawmakers in Congress, compared with five in 1963.
This time, the march will include civil rights organizations of different racial groups, reflecting the changing nation.
- "We have to figure out: How do we create the climate for all of us to engage forward," Martin Luther King III โ a human-rights activist, and son of the civil-rights leader โ told Axios.
- Today, Hispanics โ not Black Americans, as in 1963 โ are the largest minority group in the U.S.
- Pacific Islanders and Asians have seen among the biggest population increases in the last two decades.
Flashback: Over 260,000 people attended the 1963 march.
- Go deeper: Details on tomorrow's march ... Share this story.
5. ๐ A great time to buy sneakers


Painful pandemic-era shortages have reversed and, in some cases, become painful gluts, Axios' Kate Marino writes.
Take sneakers. Factory shutdowns throttled supply โ and the scarcity sent prices soaring.


The stockpiles are one reason Nike's shares cratered this year, even as the overall stock market recovered.
- Nike stock this week hit a milestone no exec wants to see: the company's longest losing streak since it went public in 1980.
- Earnings reports by Nike sellers Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker both cited excess inventories.
๐ Between the lines: During peak COVID, we yearned for goods. Now, we're spending on experiences.
6. ๐ฐ Vivek's debate haul

Vivek Ramaswamy raised $450,000 after Wednesday night's GOP debate in Milwaukee, with an average donation of $38, his campaign tells Axios.
- Why it matters: Ramaswamy, 38, stood out as aggressive and energetic. The more experienced candidates scolded him as shallow and annoying.
๐บ 12.8 million people watched the debate on Fox News and Fox Business, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.
- That's half the 24 million who flocked to the first Republican presidential primary debate in 2015, driven by curiosity about Donald Trump.
11 million of this week's viewers were on Fox News, which usually has a prime-time average of about 2 million.
- The debate drew 2.8 million viewers in the prized 25- to 54-year-old demographic.
๐ฆ Tucker Carlson's taped interview with Trump on X (formerly Twitter) drew 250 million "views."
- That figure can't be compared to TV viewership, since it counts the number of times people saw the post in their feeds โ even if they didn't actually watch it.
7. ๐ท New COVID shots
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
Updated versions of COVID vaccines are expected to be available to all Americans by mid-September, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
- Why it matters: COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising, but remain far below peak levels.
Officials said they expect the updated vaccines will protect against newer variants that are circulating.
8. 1 fun thing: Toymakers target adults
Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images
As children migrate from playthings to screens, toymakers have been tweaking their products to cater to the nostalgic tastes of adults, Jennifer A. Kingson reports for Axios What's Next.
- Why it matters: The "Barbie" and "Transformers" movies helped fuel a retro toy craze among adults.
What's happening: "Kidults" โ teenagers and adults who like cartoons, action figures, board games, building sets and puzzles โ are helping drive global toy sales, according to the consultancy Circana.
- Pandemic isolation prompted adults to turn to puzzles, board games and collecting favorite objects โ trends toymakers are capitalizing on.
- 41% of parents bought toys for themselves in the past 12 months, according to a July survey by The Toy Association.
Mattel and others are pinning their hopes on adult collectors to snap up Barbies, "Star Wars" memorabilia and Lego sets.
- Lego has an "Icons" series of products aimed at adults, with a $680 Titanic set.
Atari just released the Atari 2600+ ($130), which can play original video game cartridges from the 1970s and 1980s.

Millennial and Gen Z parents are also introducing their kids to the brands of their youth.
- Those include Tamagotchi Uni (an internet-connected version of the familiar virtual pets) ... Spirograph (now on an LCD screen!) ... and Potato Head. (The "Mr." has been not-quite-dropped.)
๐ถ๏ธ What to watch: "Eldertainment" โ toys and games geared toward senior citizens โ is an emerging category touted as a way for older adults to sharpen their memory skills or connect with their grandchildren.
- A Hasbro licensee called Ageless Innovation sells animatronic companion dogs and cats, plus updated versions of the Game of Life, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit โ with easy-to-grasp pieces and bigger fonts.
๐ฌ Thanks for sharing this August week with us. Please invite your friends to sign up.
Sign up for Axios AM

Catch up with the most important news of the day



