Tucker Carlson is preparing to unleash allies to attack Fox News in an effort to bully the network into letting him work for — or start — a right-wing rival, sources close to him tell Axios.

• Bryan Freedman, the high-powered Hollywood lawyer Carlson retained for the contract dispute, told me: "The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous."

Why it matters: Tucker vs. Fox could reshape the conservative news world. Fox, which has seen ratings plunge in Carlson's slot since he was let go 13 days ago, wants to sideline him by paying him $20 million a year not to work.

🔎 The intrigue: Axios has learned Carlson is busy plotting a media empire of his own. But he needs Fox to let him out of his contract, which expires in January 2025 — after the presidential election.

• We're told Carlson has been contacted by outlets — including the right-wing Rumble and Newsmax — that offered to pay him more than his Fox contract.

👀 Behind the scenes: Axios has learned that Carlson and Elon Musk had a conversation about working together, but didn't discuss specifics.

• Carlson confidants say he also is contemplating building a direct-to-consumer media outlet where his millions of fans could pay to watch him. Carlson's predecessor in his Fox slot, Bill O'Reilly, created a blueprint for this.
• Two days after being booted, Carlson teased in a Twitter video posted at 8 p.m. ET, counter-programming his former show: "See you soon."
• The two-minute video has racked up 24 million views.

State of play: The ousted host "knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map," said a Carlson source who wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

• Carlson allies with big platforms are prepared to attack Fox for trying to keep him on the shelf.
• And bare-knuckle brawlers from Trumpworld are standing by.

"They're coming to him and saying: 'Do you want me to hit Fox?' '' a close Carlson friend said. "He's been saying: 'No. I want to get this done quiet and clean.' "

• "Now, we're going from peacetime to Defcon 1," the friend added. "His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom."
• In a sign of what could be coming, Megyn Kelly hit her former employer for its post-Carlson ratings by tweeting a reference to conservative attacks on Bud Light: "My audience is calling them #Foxweiser."

🦊 The other side: Fox News directed Axios to the network's statement when Fox and Carlson "agreed to part ways": "We thank him for his service to the network."

Several embarrassing revelations have surfaced about Carlson from the files of the settled Dominion Voting Systems case against Fox — including his use of an obscenity about women, and a text message in which he said about a street attack: "It’s not how white men fight."

• Carlson's camp said his media suitors have gotten more aggressive about following up on their offers — viewing him as all the hotter.

Share this story ... Go deeper: Fox asks Dominion to probe leaks of Carlson messages.

Airlines have more workers than they've had in 20 years — but they still might not have enough to handle what's projected to be a sizzling summer travel season, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes.

• United Airlines, which has already hired more than 7,000 workers since January, says it plans to add 8,000 more this year.

🖼️ The big picture: The air-transportation industry had an estimated 534,400 employees in March — up 9.5% from a year earlier, and the most since April 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in April that the company is fielding "record" advance summer travel bookings — and international trips are particularly hot.

🔎 Between the lines: An ongoing pilot shortage is "one of the hangovers from the pandemic," Going.com travel expert Katy Nastro tells Axios in an email.

• "Even with aggressive hiring efforts ... there is still a deficit" due to the time it takes to train a commercial pilot.

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Eight victims were killed and seven remain hospitalized after a gunman opened fire yesterday afternoon at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, just outside of Dallas, Axios Dallas' Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi writes.

• The gunman was tracked down and killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby, responding to an unrelated call at the outlet mall.

🖼️ The big picture: The U.S. has had 199 mass shootings (at least four victims shot) through yesterday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

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"If a coronation mirrors a monarch’s reign and our changing times, what did King Charles's multi-faith, multilingual service, featuring a 'hummable' anthem, [an] 'homage of the people' and a blended but broken family, say about this new Carolean age?" Roya Nikkah writes on the front page of The Sunday Times of London.

• "With two hours of ceremonial splendour dating back a thousand years, updated for a 21st-century king with a swaying gospel choir and Ant and Dec, Charles ensured a page was visibly turned in the history books. This was a lifetime away from 1953," when his mother was crowned.

King Charles III, 74, donned a robe first worn by King George VI in 1937.

• Queen Camilla was presented with a ring by the Keeper of the Jewel House. (More from the Order of Service.)

• Download the 50-page program (which Prince Harry was spotted carrying at Heathrow, after racing out of Westminster Abbey before lunch).

Former President Trump leads President Biden by 7 points — 49% to 42% — in a general-election matchup in a Washington Post-ABC News poll out today.

• 44% of U.S. adults polled said they'd definitely or probably vote for Trump vs. 38% for Biden. 12% were undecided.
• Biden's approval hit a new low — 36%, down from 42% in February.

Why it matters: Biden's re-election campaign is already trying "to shift voters' focus away from their reservations about him and instead make the 2024 general election a choice rather than a referendum," The Post notes.

On mental acuity, 94%of Republicans, 69% of independents and even 21% of Democrats said Biden lacks the sharpness to be president.

• "Just 32% overall think Biden has the mental sharpness it takes to serve effectively as president, down steeply from 51% when he was running for president three years ago," ABC's Gary Langer notes.
• 54% think Trump has the needed mental sharpness.

On physical health needed to govern, just 33% think Biden, age 80, has it — vs. 64% for Trump, who's 76.

• 58% of Democratic-leaning adults want to nominate someone besides Biden.

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The House will vote on a sweeping, hardline border security package Thursday — the same day that a pandemic-related policy that has allowed the rapid expulsion of migrants will end, Majority Leader Steve Scalise tells Axios' Stef Kight.

• Why it matters: Border security and immigration are among the most divisive policy issues in U.S. politics. Bipartisanship is rare, and Republicans have pounced on the border issue as a weakness for President Biden.

⚡ What's happening: House Republicans will seek to codify some of former President Trump's strictest border actions, as local officials, humanitarian groups and federal law enforcement grapple with another surge of migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

• "Months of work" on the GOP package have resulted in "the strongest border security package that Congress has ever taken up," Scalise said in a phone interview.

🧠 Between the lines: The end of Title 42 and the ongoing strain on border resources have brought a sense of urgency — and spurred recent attempts at bipartisanship.

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Asian Americans are the least likely to feel they completely belong and are accepted in the U.S., an annual survey found.

• Why it matters: The survey illustrates the anxiety felt by Asian Americans three years after the pandemic generated a wave of anti-Asian violence in the U.S., "Axios Today" host Niala Boodhoo writes.

Half of Asian Americans report feeling unsafe in the U.S. due to their race/ethnicity, according to the STAATUS Index (Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the U.S.).

• Only 22% of Asian Americans said they feel they belong and are accepted in the U.S.
• That's compared to 57% of white respondents, 25% of Latinos and 24% of Black respondents.

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Mage, the surprise winner of the 149th Kentucky Derby, was a 15-1 shot.

• He beat the 4-1 favorite, Angels of Empire, who placed third, AP notes.

The 45-year-old jockey, Javier Castellano, snapped an 0-for-15 skid in the Derby.