Axios AM

June 15, 2026
โ๏ธ Hello, Monday! Smart Brevityโข count: 1,533 words ... 6 mins. Thanks to Noah Bressner for orchestrating. Edited by Andrew Pantazi and Bill Kole.
๐ข๏ธ Bulletin: Crude oil prices fell yesterday more than 5% to their lowest levels in more than three months after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire extension that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Go deeper.
๐ The Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in Game 6 last night with a 3-0 road shutout of the Vegas Golden Knights. More from Axios Raleigh.
1 big thing: Trump's "psychiatrist" and counsel
Boris Epshteyn is such a fixture in Donald Trump's White House that he's in Oval Office meetings when some attendees don't even know it, Axios' Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt write.
- Epshteyn, the president's senior personal counsel, speaks with "the boss" so often that Trump sometimes puts him on speakerphone without telling others in the room, two people familiar with the routine tell Axios.
Why it matters: In a White House where proximity to power is power itself, Epshteyn is one of the most influential people in D.C. โ not just because he's listening in, but because Trump listens to him as well.
"He's like my psychiatrist," Trump has joked about how often he talks to Epshteyn โ who typically offers such enthusiastic support that it's like therapy for the president.
- In Trump's fractious political world, though, such presidential praise draws criticism, including from within.
- "He's 100% hype man and cheering section for POTUS," one adviser said. "It's sometimes a bit much."
๐ Zoom in: As Trump's top personal attorney, Epshteyn has overseen a wave of unprecedented civil litigation from a president against the news media and social media companies.
- Trump has won or forced settlements with ABC ($16 million), CBS ($16 million, plus public service announcements), Meta ($25 million), Google ($22 million) and X ($10 million).
- Other Trump media targets still in litigation: BBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and even the Pulitzer Committee.

โ๏ธ The big picture: Epshteyn became a force in Trumpworld by assembling the legal team and charting the risky strategy that paid off during the 2024 election cycle, when Trump faced four criminal cases and two civil ones.
- Channeling his client, Epshteyn made brinksmanship the default tactic, fighting on every front, appealing everything possible (winning a landmark Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling) and raising the political pressure on judges and prosecutors as cases unfolded in the heat of an election.
- "Boris delivered in the crucible of battle where either Trump was going to be in prison or be president," said Steve Bannon, influential MAGA podcaster and first-term Trump official. "Boris was the guy who got it done."
- "He's the president's fixer," said a frequent White House visitor.
Between the lines: Epshteyn's role extends beyond the courtroom. In April, he was named chair of Trump Media. Donald Trump Jr. serves as a director.
- Epshteyn has significant influence in the Justice Department, Trump advisers say, because of his close relationship with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
- Epshteyn is in the Oval Office about once a week, a White House official said, and is "constantly" on the phone with Trump in between.
2. โก 60-day Iran deal
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a framework extending their ceasefire for 60 days, with a signing ceremony expected Friday in Switzerland and nuclear talks to follow, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
- Why it matters: The agreement could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ease pressure on global energy markets, and create a window for negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
The memorandum of understanding would mark the war's biggest diplomatic breakthrough.

๐ผ๏ธ The big picture: The agreement is designed to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
- Fully reopening the strait may not happen immediately. Mine-clearing, infrastructure repairs and guaranteeing security could take time before a full return to prewar shipping volumes.
๐ Breaking it down: The agreement calls for the U.S. and Iran to negotiate over Iran's nuclear enrichment and the disposal of its highly enriched uranium during the 60-day window.
- The U.S. will discuss sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds, with relief expected to be tied to Tehran's compliance.
3. ๐ค Anthropic's costly mistranslation

Anthropic failed to "honor" a recent cyber executive order, administration officials claim, and the company's purported failure to take the matter seriously led to its most powerful products being scrubbed from the internet, sources tell Axios' Maria Curi and Marc Caputo.
- An administration official said: "Some of us said it was time to give [Anthropic] a chance. Now those people are questioning that. They screwed us."
๐ฌ Zoom in: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday to express concerns that Anthropic's most powerful models, Mythos and Fable, could be jailbroken.
- The administration official said Anthropic knew a jailbreak could happen and distributed the models anyway: "They came to every fork in the road and took the wrong fork."
- Anthropic says it received explicit government approval to deploy Fable.
- On Friday night, the government imposed stringent export controls that ultimately led Anthropic to take the models offline entirely.
๐ Behind the scenes: A source familiar with the administration's thinking said that "Anthropic has not done a great job at trying to speak to the administration and appreciate the ideological differences."
- "It's like they just speak in different languages," the source said, adding that the company has simply not figured out how to communicate with this administration.
A source close to Anthropic said the company did not refuse to resolve the issue and has worked closely with the government on expanding Mythos access.
- Keep reading ... Read an open letter from cybersecurity luminaries calling for the administration to lift the export controls.
4. ๐ฅ White House fight night

President Trump and UFC CEO Dana White watch the Navy's Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds perform a flyover before the UFC Freedom 250 fights on the South Lawn last night.
- The card featured seven fights to celebrate Trump's 80th birthday and Flag Day, ahead of America's 250th, on July 4.

The 4,000-plus fans sitting under "The Claw" โ the open-air structure that housed the cage โ included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.
- Thousands more outside the White House lawn watched the fights on big screens from the nearby Ellipse, though not everyone was able to get tickets.

Above: Brazil's Mauricio Ruffy stretches in the White House before beating American Michael Chandler.
- The fighters walked out with first responders and Medal of Honor recipients.
There wasn't a drop of rain, despite a stormy forecast.
- For the closing fight, lightweight Justin Gaethje wrapped himself in an American flag before brutalizing Spanish-Georgian Ilia Topuria, winning after four rounds that left copious blood on the cage floor.
- Trump headed inside the cage to shake hands and watch a fireworks display that launched well after 1 a.m. Many of the winning fighters thanked Trump and God. (AP)
โ๏ธ Then at 3:06 a.m. ET today, Trump boarded Air Force One to fly to the French Alps for the Group of Seven (G7) summit.
5. ๐ Obesity drug overload
Next month's launch of a Medicare program providing weight-loss drugs for $50 a month could become one of the biggest drug rollouts ever, Axios' Tina Reed writes.
- Why it matters: It's expected to unleash pent-up demand for Wegovy, Zepbound and other blockbuster treatments โย and create new bottlenecks at doctors' offices.
The new program is part of a deal President Trump struck with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut prices for their diabetes and anti-obesity drugs in exchange for access to more patients.
- Providers are bracing for an onslaught beginning July 1, with roughly 14 million Medicare beneficiaries overweight or obese, according to KFF.
6. ๐ SpaceX's retail record


Retail investors bought $117.6 million more SpaceX stock than they sold on its first day of trading โ a record for an IPO in recent memory, Axios' Emily Peck writes.
- That surpasses a record set by Coinbase in 2021.
On Friday, SpaceX accounted for roughly 56% of all net buying by retail investors, according to Vanda.
7. ๐ก Quote du jour: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, 85 โ iconic singer-songwriter and Nobel Prize honoree โ was among several celebrities age 80+ who were asked by New York Times Opinion for advice to President Trump on turning 8-0.
- This passage from Dylan, on the best thing about being 80, leapt out at me:
"You're not rushing to become anything, and you're not haunted by things that you did. You're haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would."
Read the interviews (gift link).
8. ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ 1 fun thing: Taking over Boston

Thousands of Scotland fans in kilts sang, waved flags and nursed cans of beer as they packed the bleachers in Boston's Fenway Park yesterday afternoon, Axios Boston's Steph Solis writes.
- The traveling supporters โ Scotland's Tartan Army โ took in a Red Sox game a day after their first World Cup game in 28 years: a 1-0 win over Haiti in nearby Foxborough.
Watch: March to Fenway ... Bleacher singalong ... Share this story.

And ... a bonus for Noah Bressner, Sam Saliterman and the many other Knicks faithful in AM-land. Knicks let loose.
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