The White House is sending nine Cabinet secretaries across the country to try to sell President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" to skeptical voters — a move underscoring the administration's increasing urgency as it pivots toward the 2026 midterms, Axios' Alex Isenstadt writes.

• Why it matters: The stakes are huge. Top Republicans believe the Trump team's ability to make the massive tax-and-spending bill more palatable to voters will go a long way toward determining the GOP's prospects in next year's elections.

It won't be easy: A recent Wall Street Journal poll found 52% of voters oppose the package, while 42% supported it.

• The administration has touted the bill as a boon to the working class. But polls indicate that most Americans see it as favoring the wealthy and big companies, ballooning federal deficits, and hurting lower-income people through measures such as cuts to Medicaid.
• The WSJ poll did show public support for parts of the bill, including its limited "no tax on tips" provision.

🔎 Zoom in: Nine Cabinet members — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, HUD Secretary Scott Turner and Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler — will be hitting the road over the next few weeks, sources tell Axios.

Several of their appearances will be in key political battlegrounds:

• Loeffler will visit Lansing, Mich., at an event with swing-district GOP Rep. Tom Barrett. Michigan will have competitive Senate and governor races next year.
• Wright will visit the Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Va., which focuses on nuclear physics. He'll highlight AI funding included in the bill for science research. Virginia will hold its governor race in November.
• Chavez-DeRemer and Duffy will be in Minnesota, where a vacant Senate seat is up for grabs and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz may run for reelection.
• Duffy will travel to an air traffic control tower in Duluth, Minn., to highlight the bill's investments in air traffic control. The administration sees that as a political winner at a time when controller shortages are complicating travel across the U.S.

👀 What we're watching: Trump and Vice President Vance also will hit the road. Vance visits Indiana today to discuss redistricting and headline a GOP fundraiser. More from Axios Indianapolis.

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Katie Miller, a fiercely loyal aide in both Trump administrations, revealed to Mike that she has left her full-time work for Elon Musk — and today will launch a podcast, "The Katie Miller Podcast," aimed at conservative women.

• Why it matters: Miller, 33, had behind-the-scenes sway as an adviser to Musk at the height of his DOGE muscle. She left government with him at the end of May, but now is an entrepreneur building her own brand.

"For MAGA and President Trump's legacy to grow long-term, we must talk to conservative women," Miller told Axios.

• The Florida native said in an interview that her husband, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, is "incredibly supportive" of her new enterprise, and has even pitched in to wrangle guests.

Miller took on a few investors to launch the show, which will drop each Monday. She has a contract production staff and a studio set in the living room of her Washington-area home.

The backstory: Miller, who also worked in the Senate, was a special government employee at the beginning of this Trump term, then went to work directly for Musk.

• "I'm incredibly grateful to President Trump and Elon for the ability to enact lasting change," she told Axios. "We got a lot done. ... We reshaped how the federal bureaucracy views government spending."
• Asked about her relationship with Musk since his breakup with Trump, she replied: "I hope Elon is a listener to the podcast and I hope to have him as a guest one day."

🎙️ Zoom in: In an introductory episode, the Florida native says her podcast will cover "lifestyle, what's going on, real honest conversations — none of the bullsh*t." She says she'll host "politicians, business leaders, celebrities, musicians, artists, scientists — you name it."

• With so many MAGA podcast audiences skewing male, Miller says there hasn't been "a place for conservative women to gather online. There isn't a place for a mom like me, mom of three young kids — 4, 3 and almost 2 — and a wife, and trying to do a career, eat healthy, work out."
• Miller said she doesn't plan to focus on politics, noting that there's "no conservative answer to 'Call Her Daddy,'" the culture-heavy blockbuster podcast hosted by Alex Cooper.

The podcast will be based at KatieMiller.com, and will be available on YouTube, X, Rumble, Spotify and Apple Music.

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A key measure of CEO confidence bounced back this summer, but business leaders are still slightly negative about the economy and business conditions, Emily Peck writes from new data shared first with Axios.

• Why it matters: It's another sign that the business community — heartened by the administration's announcement of trade deals — is coming to terms with tariffs.

The jitters triggered by President Trump's initial "Liberation Day" announcement appear to have eased. A ripping stock market helps, too.

🧮 By the numbers: Confidence rose 15 points — a sharp upward turn — in the three months ending in July, according to the report from the Conference Board, a nonpartisan think tank, and the Business Council, an association of CEOs.

Friction point: For the first time since 2020, more CEOs said they were planning to shrink their workforce (34%) than expand it (27%) — yet another indicator of a cooling labor market.

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Dialog — a secretive, invite-only network founded two decades ago by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman, the star investors and entrepreneurs — is preparing a major expansion, including a real estate purchase to build a campus in the D.C. suburbs, a tipster familiar with the group's plans tells Mike.

• Why it matters: Dialog, often compared to a tech-era Bilderberg, has quietly become one of the most elite, and mysterious, gatherings for CEOs, elected officials, and intellectual heavyweights.

Dialog leaders are in active discussions to buy a physical venue in Virginia, just outside Washington, to serve as a permanent hub for its off-the-record meetings, the tipster says.

• The decision to buy land, then build, within commuting distance of the capital shows the group isn't just kissing President Trump's ring, but plans to be engaged in Washington long after this term.

🔭 Zoom in: The next flagship Dialog gathering will be in the spring. Smaller retreats are planned sooner, including one in the Middle East this fall.

• Past Dialog participants, who cut across a wide swath of elite influencers, include Elon Musk, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Larry Summers, Chamath Palihapitiya, Henry Kravis, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Eric Schmidt.

A source invited to participate in Dialog said that amid "rising demand for quieter reflection in an always-on world, Dialog bills itself as offering global elites the chance to talk candidly across ideological lines, away from their phones."

• "Given declining trust in institutions and anti-establishment fervor," this source added, "the group actively keeps its inner workings secretive and hidden from public scrutiny."

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President Trump's Oval Office announcement yesterday with Apple CEO Tim Cook produced two big tech stories:

1. Apple announced it's boosting its investment in U.S. manufacturing by $100 billion — putting the company's U.S. investments at $600 billion over the next four years.
2. Trump said he plans to impose 100% tariffs on "all chips and semiconductors coming into the United States" — with a big carveout for companies that have committed to making them here.

Why it matters: Semiconductor chips are essential to the production of a wide range of goods, including cars, computers, phones, health tech and AI servers, Axios Closer author Nathan Bomey writes.

• "The good news for companies like Apple is, if you're building in the United States, or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge," Trump said.

🔬 Zoom in: Apple's plan — which the company's calling the American Manufacturing Program — includes partnering with suppliers such as Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and Samsung to boost U.S. parts sourcing.

• Go deeper: Apple's announcement ... Trump's chip tariffs.

Former Vice President Harris is trying to sell her upcoming book through the joint committee her campaign team ran with the DNC, Axios' Alex Thompson writes.

• Last weekend, Harris' team sent a promotional email about the book, "107 Days," that was paid for by the Harris Victory Fund — a collaboration between her presidential campaign, the DNC and state Democratic parties.

Why it matters: Harris is a potential 2028 presidential candidate, and the party apparatus is supposed to be neutral in how it deals with possible contenders.

• Democratic operatives and some activists are watching the DNC closely because they believe the committee unfairly interfered in the last several presidential primary seasons to either stop Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign or block any serious challenge to then-President Biden.

Keep reading.

A revealing quote by President Trump in TIME's new profile of Speaker Johnson, out this morning:

"He's the only guy that could do this, because he's a nice guy," the President said of Johnson recently at a White House meeting, according to two sources present. "I couldn't do this." Trump couldn't tolerate the criticism or the insubordination; he couldn't take a punch without counterpunching. In contrast, Johnson is willing to absorb the opprobrium, mediate the meltdowns, and hold together a fractured conference.

Full story.

Jen Pawol, a veteran minor league umpire, will become the first woman umpire to work a regular-season Major League Baseball game this weekend, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• She'll take the field for a Marlins-Braves series in Atlanta.

Pawol, 48, worked spring training games in 2024 and this year.

• Two other women — Pam Postema and Ria Cortesio — have umpired in MLB exhibition games, but neither made it to a regular-season contest.

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