Not that long ago, Ron DeSantis looked like the future of MAGA, the iron-fisted ruler of Florida politics who was set up for a White House run, Axios' Marc Caputo writes.

• Now the Republican governor faces potential political obscurity — unable to control legislators in his own party, who are calling for a federal investigation of his wife's charity.

Why it matters: Nothing exemplifies DeSantis' striking loss of mojo in Tallahassee like the scandal surrounding Hope Florida, the state-backed charity of First Lady Casey DeSantis, who's been eyeing a bid to succeed her husband as governor.

The charity received $10 million in secret settlement money from a Medicaid provider just days before the charity sent that same amount to two political groups favored by the DeSantises.

• House Republicans and independent observers allege that the arrangement amounted to an illegal siphoning of Medicaid funds.
• The governor has denied wrongdoing and accused fellow Republicans of a "bogus" political smear.

🐊 The big picture: The high-level Republican drama, dysfunction, name-calling and accusations in Tallahassee are likely to reverberate in next year's state elections.

• Polling suggests the scandal has hurt Casey DeSantis, who's been weighing a 2026 campaign to follow her term-limited husband as governor. Hope Florida was supposed to be central to her political platform.

Zoom in: Ron DeSantis' stumble began with his failed presidential primary bid against President Trump last year. DeSantis' vindictive and pugilistic style of politics left him further isolated in the Florida Capitol.

• "Be careful how you treat people on the way up because you may encounter the same people on the way down," said Curt Anderson, veteran consultant and top adviser to DeSantis' predecessor, Rick Scott, who's now a U.S. senator and has had a strained relationship with the governor.
• "You see falls in politics, but not like this," Anderson said. "It's stark. It's fast. It's a made-for-TV movie. Let's not forget: He was ahead of Trump in polling in 2022 and would've run against [President Biden or Vice President Harris] and won."

🍻 "There was a time when every Republican in the nation wanted to have a beer with Ron DeSantis," said one Republican who still likes him. "The problem is that the governor didn't act like he wanted to have a beer with them, and it showed."

• Keep reading.

The Trump administration's immigration crackdown is sparking employer worries over workplace raids and staffing challenges, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new survey of executives out this morning.

• Why it matters: A drastic reduction in immigration could lead to labor shortages, especially in some critical roles — building houses, taking care of the growing elderly population, or staffing farms and meatpacking plants.

🧮 By the numbers: 75% of executives surveyed by the employment law firm Littler said the administration's immigration policies were among their top concerns — the only other topic that drew more worry was diversity, equity and inclusion policy.

• 70% of executives said they expect immigration enforcement actions from ICE and DHS will have a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces over the next 12 months.

58% expressed concern that Trump's immigration policies will create staffing challenges. Companies in manufacturing and hospitality expressed even more worries.

• Littler surveyed 349 executives at U.S. firms from late February to mid-March — 60% in-house lawyers, and the rest HR or others in the C-suite. Nearly three-quarters of the execs surveyed are at companies with more than 1,001 workers.

Share this story ... Get Axios Markets.

A $2 billion crypto deal involving President Trump's family and a foreign government is threatening to derail bipartisan legislation that Congress has been working on for months, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Why it matters: Democrats see the potential for gob-smacking corruption in Trump's lucrative crypto projects, which they consider to be the clearest conflicts of interest in a sea of new business ventures launched by the president and his inner circle.

The Trump family's crypto dealings could now jeopardize legislation on stablecoins — digital tokens designed to hold a steady value — that the crypto industry has aggressively lobbied for as a way to gain legitimacy and legal clarity in the U.S.

• Senate Democrats also unveiled a sweeping new proposal yesterday to ban presidents, lawmakers and their families from issuing, endorsing or sponsoring crypto assets, Axios' Stephen Neukam scooped.

Between the lines: Democrats have long accused Trump and his family of profiting from the presidency. But on two particularly brazen crypto projects, Trumpworld may have flown too close to the sun:

1. The official website for Trump's meme coin invited its top 220 investors to an "intimate private dinner" with the president later this month, with a "VIP White House Tour" offered to the top 25 holders. References to the White House were later scrubbed from the website.
2. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto venture, announced that an Emirati state-backed venture fund would use World Liberty's new stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance.

Keep reading.

In his first post-presidency interview, former President Biden told BBC that President Trump's handling of the Russia-Ukraine war as "modern-day appeasement," Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes.

• The BBC Radio 4 interview took place this week in the 82-year-old former president's home state of Delaware ahead of tomorrow's 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, when allied nations accepted Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.
• Biden and Dr. Jill Biden are scheduled to appear live in-studio in New York tomorrow on "The View."

BBC journalist Nick Robinson asked Biden about Trump's belief that Ukraine will have to give up territory. "It is modern-day appeasement," Biden replied, in a nod to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's efforts to appease Hitler in the 1930s before World War II.

• On whether he should have dropped out of the '24 race soon, Biden said: "I don't think it would have mattered ... Things moved so quickly that it made it difficult to walk away. And it was a hard decision."

Watch interview here ... Share this story.

OpenAI announced a push to help countries build AI infrastructure and promote AI rooted in democratic, rather than authoritarian, values, Axios' Ina Fried writes.

• Why it matters: Global expansion will be one key to ensuring that OpenAI's massive investments pay off — and the company is arguing that it will help the U.S. counter China's influence, too.

How it works: OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said the new effort aims to partner with countries or regions to build and operate data centers that would serve up localized versions of ChatGPT for their citizens, with a focus on healthcare and education.

• OpenAI will work closely with the U.S. government, which has export control powers, to determine where OpenAI technology can be deployed.

🤖 Zoom in: One of the big questions is just how much OpenAI will be willing to customize ChatGPT, an important factor for countries weighing whether to use U.S. or Chinese AI systems.

• "This will be AI of, by and for the needs of‬‭ each particular country," OpenAI said in a blog post announcing OpenAI for Countries.
• There won't be a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach to the deals, Lehane said. "There'll be some places that maybe want an inference model for a specific purpose."

Keep reading ... Get Axios AI+.

President Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the U.S. will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, AP's Matt Lee reports.

• A source confirms for Axios that the idea has been discussed.

Today is Day 108 of Trump's term. On Day 1, Trump proclaimed that the Gulf of Mexico would be officially called the Gulf of America.

• In addition to Saudi Arabia, Trump's first foreign trip of this term (aside from Pope Francis' funeral) also includes Doha, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which also lie on the body of water.

🗺️ The backstory: Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran.

• The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century. Usage of "Gulf of Arabia" and "Arabian Gulf" is dominant in many countries in the Middle East.

On Google Maps in the U.S., the body of water appears as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). On Apple Maps, it's just Persian Gulf.

• The U.S. military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.

Reality check: Trump can change the name for official U.S. purposes, but can't dictate what the rest of the world calls it.

• Share this story.

The White House is planning executive action soon to try to speed nuclear reactors' deployment, Daniel Moore scoops in Axios Pro: Energy Policy ($).

• Why it matters: One or more orders will likely lean heavily on the Defense and Energy Departments as a way to meet soaring energy demand.

The administration views the Pentagon — with its deep pockets, massive energy demand, and ability to absorb risks in ways the private sector can't — as a "key enabler" for nuclear.

• The plans have been in the works for weeks and could drop any day, sources said.

Get Axios Pro: Energy Policy: Smart, quick intel for your job.

In a ritual dating to medieval times, cardinals today will file into the Vatican's frescoed Sistine Chapel after a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica (just concluded) and start their secret conclave to pick a successor to Pope Francis. (Reuters)

The cardinals will take oaths of secrecy beneath Michelangelo's "Last Judgment," then likely take a first ballot.

Assuming no candidate secures the necessary two-thirds majority (89 votes out of 133), the cardinals will retire for the day and return tomorrow.

• They'll have two ballots in the morning, and two in the afternoon, until a winner is found.

Go deeper.