Democratic leaders are increasingly alarmed that they're facing their own brewing version of the GOP's Tea Party rebellion 17 years ago, Axios' Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein write.

• Why it matters: The wave of primary victories by democratic socialists and party outsiders has shocked establishment Democrats. But the rage has been building in the party for a decade.

It's not just progressives vs. moderates. It's also insiders vs. outsiders, with many Democratic voters angry at their own party.

• Some Dems now believe a Trump-esque figure could take over the party in 2028 as an outlet for grassroots rage.
• Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to President Obama and now "Pod Save America" co-host, writes: "It is very clear that the groups of the left — Justice Democrats, Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution — are out-organizing, out-fundraising, out-working, out-maneuvering the traditional party institutions."

🔎 Zoom in: Democrats' growing distrust of party leaders — and embrace of left-wing outsiders and populists — is rooted in Donald Trump's 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.

• Trump's 2024 victory radicalized some Dems who'd previously seen his first term as a fluke.

🗳️ State of play: Left-wingers, outsiders and Democratic Socialists of America members have racked up victories coast to coast during Trump's second term.

• Democratic socialists and progressives followed last year's election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani by beating two incumbent House Democrats and winning an open seat's primary in the city last week.
• Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George won D.C.'s Democratic primary for mayor, making her mayor-in-waiting. She energized young voters by promising to tackle affordability and take on Trump.

🔮 What's next: Democrats are watching several upcoming primaries to see how deeply the anti-establishment feelings run. These races include:

• Colorado's governor's race, plus a Denver-based House primary where a democratic socialist is challenging a longtime incumbent.
• Wisconsin's gubernatorial primary, where democratic socialist Francesca Hong could win.
• Michigan's Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed could beat the establishment's pick, Rep. Haley Stevens.

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As the Supreme Court wraps up a term focused on executive power, here's a remaining case being hotly watched in Trumpworld:

• Republicans challenged limits on how much money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates. The justices upheld coordinated party expenditure limits in 2001.

Why it matters: Top Republicans tell me the ruling could affect midterms if the Trump machine's bursting coffers could suddenly be deployed more freely.

• The RNC's massive cash advantage over the DNC would also matter more.

🔮 The next rulings are due today. Terms typically finish around the end of June, sometimes spilling into early July.

• Go deeper: Axios' Avery Lotz sketches the top remaining cases.

AI proponents are splitting over a huge question: whether national security concerns outweigh the need to keep American AI companies ahead of Chinese rivals, Axios' Madison Mills writes.

• The fight is happening in public, in real time.

Catch up quick: David Sacks, President Trump's former AI and crypto czar, warned yesterday that restricting access risks undercutting the AI strategy Trump laid out just a year ago for "Winning the Race."

• His post came after the White House asked OpenAI to delay its latest model, GPT-5.6, which will now be released in stages. That follows a directive that forced Anthropic to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5.
• Mythos went back online for a limited group of users on Friday. Fable could return soon.

Between the lines: U.S. labs could face a government-imposed speed limit that Chinese rivals don't.

• Two security evaluations show Chinese AI systems have already caught up to the best U.S. models on cybersecurity, Axios' Sam Sabin reports.
• Open-source Chinese model usage has surged in recent weeks amid a focus on minimizing AI costs, as seen on OpenRouter.

💰 Follow the money: For investors, this is "hugely bearish," Paul Kedrosky, a venture capitalist, told Axios via text.

• "The AI party now has a hall monitor who is also diluting the punch. That causes, as the capital markets kids say, re-rating pressure," he said.
• Translation: Investors may value AI labs less if their most valuable products face government-controlled delays.

Yes, but: AI labs and investors say they want rules instead of ad hoc decisions.

• Mark Pincus, Zynga founder and an investor in OpenAI and Anthropic, tells Axios he supports clear regulation but said it's "hard to build when there's a moving target."

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Just 53% of Americans say they're "extremely" or "very" proud to be an American, according to new Gallup polling out today — the lowest share since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.

• National pride reached a high of 92% shortly after 9/11.
• A decade ago, 81% said they were "extremely" or "very" proud.

👓 Between the lines: Since last year, pride has fallen the most among women, Americans aged 18 to 54, people of color and non-college graduates.

• Go deeper.

Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes in his weekly C-Suite newsletter:

I never read Trump books. To me, there's little mystery to how the president thinks, operates or governs.

• Until now. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (two reporters who are must-reads for Trump Kremlinology) deliver living history with "Regime Change," which sparked a West Wing leak hunt and sold an astonishing 150,000 copies in preorders + Day 1.

I asked Swan, a longtime friend, to share his learnings on how business leaders can navigate Trump:

1. Play to his Great Man theory. Trump couldn't care less about winning the midterms, boosting his domestic popularity or even helping set up Vice President Vance to succeed him. Trump's singular obsession, fed by his staff and friendly historians, is being seen as a Great Man of WORLD history.
2. Master the oligarchy. Trump pops off in public but runs a more discreet operation with a half-dozen loyalists plotting future moves. To limit leaks, they sometimes use the Situation Room to secretly hatch domestic plans. This group includes: Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, chief of staff Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller.
3. Expect more volatility. Trump is playing for history and searching for grand gestures. Don't be surprised if he seeks a deal with China to carve up the world map or expands his territorial ambitions south of the border.

Get the book: With the book sold out in many places and distributors awaiting a new printing, Haberman tweeted last night that she and Swan "are so grateful that there is such interest in REGIME CHANGE ... [T]he ebook and audiobook are both available immediately. Thank you for patience."

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📈 If you're a CEO or on a CEO's team: Apply now to join Jim's new Axios C-Suite weekly newsletter.

President Trump's voter fraud crusade is crashing into the limits of his power ahead of November's midterms, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports.

🏛️ His legislative fix is stuck in the Senate:

• Senate Republicans have defied Trump on the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

⚖️ He's also been stonewalled by the courts.

Between the lines: Voter fraud is rare. But searching for cases has become an executive-branch priority.

• Keep reading.

Wielding blueprints, President Trump toured a D.C. municipal golf course, East Potomac Golf Links, that he plans to renovate into a longer one capable of hosting major championships.

• Trump wrote on Truth Social that work on the Potomac River course will start Sept. 1: "When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events."

Tom Fazio, who was hired to lead the renovation, has designed several of Trump's golf courses, including ones in Northern Virginia and Bedminster, N.J.

The president's motorcade also drove along the roundabout outside Arlington National Cemetery, where Trump plans to build a massive triumphal arch.

• Go deeper: "Trump envisions a championship golf course. Locals are skeptical" (N.Y. Times gift link).

Political satirist Bill Maher received the 27th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last night in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall, saying it "has been the honor of a lifetime to try and lead a backlash to groupthink."

• "If you hang around long enough and create something important enough, everyone hates you at some point," Maher said.

For more than half his life, Maher, age 70, has tested the boundaries of humor on American TV, with "Politically Incorrect" and now HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

• Jay Leno, Woody Harrelson, Louis C.K., John Mellencamp, Whitney Cummings, Ted Sarandos, Stephen A. Smith, Arianna Huffington and Michael Kives were among the celebrity guests.

👀 The gala could be one of the Kennedy Center's last major events for several years. President Trump planned to close the building in July for a two-year renovation, but a federal judge has blocked the closure.

• The president didn't attend. As guests arrived, tarps covered the Kennedy Center façade, after the judge ordered the removal of Trump's name.
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the most prominent administration official to show up, said ahead of the ceremony that Trump "wants to make this building sensational."

The ceremony will be shown on Netflix on July 21.

• Read on.