🎬 Watch the episode.

President Trump said on "The Axios Show" yesterday that he reached the point last week of seeing Anthropic as a national security threat.

• 🦾 But in the conversation with Marc Caputo, Trump signaled relations have eased since, suggesting the White House's tumultuous relationship with the tech giant is on the mend, Axios' Maria Curi reports.

Why it matters: National security concerns and personality clashes have left the AI heavyweight at the center of a government crackdown, with the company facing treatment typically reserved for foreign adversaries.

• Last week, the administration restricted any country outside of the U.S., and foreign nationals within the U.S., from accessing Anthropic's most advanced models.

🚨 Asked whether he views Anthropic, or CEO Dario Amodei, as a threat to national security, the president replied: "Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe."

• He walked away from a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit with the view that Amodei was "nice" and "smart."
• Trump added: "He responded to us very quickly because you know it's a tremendous liability."
• In response, Anthropic told Axios: "We are grateful to the administration for their ongoing partnership in working to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible. We remain committed to working alongside them towards our shared goals of protecting critical infrastructure and making sure the U.S. leads in AI."

🥊 Reality check: Trump didn't rule out leveraging emergency powers under the Defense Production Act if the AI lab didn't get in line.

• Trump said: "I have the power to use a lot of things."

🎥 Watch the clip.

It's been a rocky road for ice cream fans, with the average price at scoop shops up 35% since 2019, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes.

• That's based on data Bloomberg reported from research firm Technomic.

🌊 Michigan State University food economist David Ortega tells Bloomberg there's a "perfect storm" fueling higher prices, with factors including wide-ranging inflation, tariffs, the Iran war and more.

• Energy costs are a particular burden.

💸 Between the lines: Even our frozen treats are starting to reflect the broader "K-shaped economy" of haves and have-nots.

• 🍨 Still, ice cream remains a relatively affordable treat.

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1. 🇮🇱 U.S. officials told Axios that Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a renewed Lebanon ceasefire, but clashes continued today. Washington hopes that postponed talks between the U.S. and Iran, originally set for today, can be launched if the ceasefire holds. More from Barak Ravid.
2. 🇮🇹 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy's conservative leader, sharply rejected President Trump's reported claim to Italian broadcaster La7 that she "begged" for a photo with him at the G7 summit. "Neither I nor Italy ever beg," she said, per a translation of her video statement. Go deeper.
3. 🫏 House Democratic leadership suffered another setback when state Sen. Joe Baldacci lost his primary to a progressive rival in Maine's 2nd district. It's the second time this month a candidate backed by the House Dems' campaign arm has fallen short in their primary, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

Embracing America's complexity makes you love it more, former President Obama said in a sit-down interview coinciding with the opening of his presidential center in Chicago's South Side.

• 📺 The interview airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET in a two-hour MS NOW special, "Hope Comes Home: Inside the Obama Presidential Center." The prime-time special includes an interview with former First Lady Michelle Obama and a walk-and-talk tour with Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett.

⚖️ Obama described a nuanced patriotism, with room for criticism and celebration.

• He said there's "this idea ... on the right, and you see this in the Trump administration ... that any suggestion or criticism that America was anything other than perfect is unpatriotic."
• And among progressives, he said there's a belief that "the only true narrative of America is this one of oppression and exclusion."

❌ Obama told MS NOW's Michele Norris: "I reject both those views."

• Watch a clip ... Watch yesterday's grand opening.