President Trump has proudly stretched the power of the presidency in never-before-witnessed ways, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column.

• But it's the choices he's made with that power — often alone, often impulsive — that explain his plunging popularity and will define his second term.

Why it matters: Every president tests limits. Trump tests them faster than anyone, often with little thought about the consequences, his advisers tell us. Only courts or markets, or his quest for good press, can rein him in.

• By then, the tariffs are in place, the war has started, the ally is insulted.

You can sort his choices into three buckets:

⚖️ 1. Rule of law as weapon: Trump has pointed the machinery of the federal government at his enemies while enriching himself and his family.

• He sent ICE into American cities underprepared and with a shifting mandate — cheering the made-for-TV chest-thumping, even as agents jailed and deported some U.S. citizens.
• He unleashed the Justice Department against critics, with indictments so thin that grand juries and Republican-appointed judges tossed some of them — while he rewarded supporters who claim they were targets of government "weaponization."
• He let family and friends profit from the presidency.

💵 2. Economy by improvisation: It often feels like Trump is running the world's largest economy on gut feelings and Truth Social posts.

• He leveled haphazard, unpredictable tariffs on friends and adversaries alike — ignoring Congress, the courts and the Constitution in doing so.
• He pressured a sitting Fed chair to force interest rates lower, with his DOJ going so far as to open a criminal investigation, breaking a half-century norm of central bank independence.
• He announced 50-year mortgages and $2,000 tariff dividend checks on Truth Social without a detailed policy framework or legislative language.

🪖 3. Power projection on personal whim: Trump often seems to be running U.S. foreign policy and the military via social media — by instinct, with an eye on the visuals.

• He taunted lifelong allies — NATO as a whole; Ukraine, Canada, Denmark, individually, among others — impulsively and personally, turning decades-old partnerships into punchlines.
• He launched a war against Iran, at Israel's urging, without a clear plan for the long, brutal, expensive aftermath now unfolding.
• He permitted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to oust the Army's top uniformed officer and the Navy secretary during the war.

📊 By the numbers: Nate Silver's polling average has the president underwater by 19 points, a second-term low and right around the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attacks.

• A CNN poll this month found 70% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy — a benchmark that never crossed 50% in his first term, even during the pandemic.

👓 Between the lines: Trump's pattern is to take a hard line, then relent when bond yields turn bad or MAGA influencers balk. Social media dubbed this TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out. But the pullback doesn't erase the act.

• Supply chains have already moved. Allies have already hedged. An enemy in a war of choice still gets a vote on when it ends.

The bottom line: Many Trump policies can be undone by the next Democratic president. That's the result of acting alone, without leaning on Congress to pass laws.

• But the world won't instantly trust America again. Generals don't come out of forced retirement. Institutions, once bent, don't always snap back.

📱Watch a "Behind the Curtain" video: Jim and Mike discuss Trump's ever-expanding uses of power. (Executive producer: Jimmy Shelton) ... Share this column.

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

Hours after Iranian officials arrived yesterday in Doha, Qatar, for talks to end the war, the U.S. military said it carried out "self-defense" strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines.

• President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Memorial Day that negotiations with Tehran are "proceeding nicely": "It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!"

U.S. Central Command said targets included "missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. … U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire."

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Axios chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin writes:

For most of this century, rich countries have enjoyed a seemingly free lunch: They could spend money as needed, cut taxes at will and stimulate their way out of problems without paying a price in the form of higher borrowing costs or inflation.

• That era is over. The $145 trillion global bond market is flashing red signals that there's now a price to be paid for governments that indulge their profligate impulses.

Why it matters: The recent bond rout reflects a world where supply disruptions are colliding with massive government borrowing needs and the funds required for the AI buildout.

The result: Higher inflation and surging demand for capital lead to higher and more volatile interest rates.

• In the near term, it becomes more expensive for American homebuyers and companies to borrow. In the medium term, it means a world of thornier tradeoffs for policymakers.

🔬 Zoom in: The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yielded 5.06% at Friday's close, after hitting a post-2007 high of 5.18% earlier in the week.

• The implications for American households and governments are already evident.
• The 30-year mortgage rate has surged from under 6% at the end of February to 6.65% Friday, per Mortgage News Daily.

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New renderings show the temporary arena for the UFC Freedom 250 fight at the White House on June 14 — 19 days away.

• The South Lawn venue will seat roughly 5,000 VIPs and military personnel for the Flag Day fight (also President Trump's 80th birthday).

85,000 fans will watch on screens at a Fan Fest on the nearby Ellipse (above).

🏗️ Above: Cranes have started building the UFC Octagon.

The government's lead civilian cyber agency has diminished executive branch stature as Washington prepares for emerging AI cyber threats, Axios' Sam Sabin writes.

• Former officials and industry leaders fear the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency no longer has the capacity to help utilities, banks and other critical infrastructure operators prepare for a feared wave of AI-fueled cyberattacks.

Why it matters: The agency is weakened as the government braces for AI models like Anthropic's Mythos to supercharge cyberattacks.

👂 What we're hearing: When President Trump hears "CISA," he doesn't think of protecting chemical plants, telecom networks or hydroelectric dams, a source familiar with Trump's thinking told Axios.

• "He thinks of some guy he'd never heard of making over-the-top claims about 2020 being the most secure election ever held," the source said, referring to former CISA director Chris Krebs.
• Since the beginning of 2025, the agency has lost roughly a third of its workforce through buyouts and budget cuts.

🔮 What's next: CISA's acting director recently told employees the agency plans to hire 300+ new staffers. (Federal News Network)

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N.Y. Times reporter David Streitfeld, who has covered Silicon Valley for 27 years, writes about yesterday's 42,000-word encyclical by Pope Leo XIV, which warns humanity to regulate AI:

"The old religion challenging the new is a dramatic story, the stuff of thrillers."

Why it matters: Silicon Valley has encountered little public opposition in its 50-year history. Certainly nothing with the sweep and authority of Magnifica humanitas (Magnificent humanity).

• Read the analysis (gift link) ... Read the encyclical.

🦾 Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah — who was invited to speak at the encyclical presentation, in a gesture of openness by the Vatican — said: "Every frontier AI lab — including Anthropic — operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing." Read Olah's remarks.

Mike Needham, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has been promoted to White House deputy national security adviser, Axios' Marc Caputo has learned.

• Why it matters: Needham is taking a vital job in a Trump administration consumed with foreign-policy drama from Iran to China, Cuba and Venezuela.

Needham replaces Robert Gabriel. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles called him a "trusted confidant and dear friend."

• Dan Holler, Rubio's chief of staff at the State Department, will take Needham's job as counselor and serve as acting director of policy planning.

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The New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 130–93 blowout.

• The Knicks have been pro sports' glamorous underperformers for a generation. The New York Times notes their last Finals trip came before Google took off, before the first iPhone, before the first "Fast and the Furious" film, and it ended in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Now the Knicks are four wins from their first title since 1973.

• The Knickerbockers have won 11 straight playoff games, sweeping the 76ers and the Cavs, and the city is treating them like champions already.

🎨 The New Yorker's latest cover (above) features Jalen Brunson towering over franchise legends like Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and Charles Oakley.

• Brunson earned the conference finals MVP. His dad, Rick, was a reserve guard on the '99 team.

The Knicks will face either defending champs Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs when Finals begin June 3.

• Takeaways.