President Trump on Friday spoke for nearly an hour to workers at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh, crediting himself with saving their jobs by negotiating a "partnership" between their employer and Japan's Nippon Steel.

• Later that evening in Washington, D.C., he told reporters that he's neither seen nor approved a final deal.
• As of this writing, neither U.S. Steel nor Nippon has made any statement about a new agreement, and the White House hasn't responded to Axios' requests for clarification.

Why it matters: Trump's decision to put the cart before the horse may have given Nippon some last-minute leverage.

Catch up quick: Nippon Steel in late 2023 agreed to acquire U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion. The deal was opposed by both Trump and former President Biden, who blocked it early this year on national security grounds.

• Trump ordered a new national security review by CFIUS, after which Nippon sweetened the pot by promising $14 billion of investment into U.S. Steel and agreed to let the business be led and overseen by U.S. citizens.
• CFIUS submitted its assessment to Trump on May 21, and he has until June 6 to make a final decision. The merger is scheduled to close by June 18.

Zoom in: It feels like someone is hiding the ball.

• For example, how could Trump not have seen the deal after receiving an assessment of that deal from CFIUS? If it's because negotiations are still ongoing, wouldn't that mean the CFIUS review was incomplete?
• If there is a revised deal, isn't U.S. Steel legally obligated to disclose details to shareholders? Or is it just betting that Trump's SEC won't object? Same goes for the NYSE continuing to let U.S. Steel stock continue to trade, even though there clearly is a large universe of people who have at least some knowledge of what's really going on — as evidenced by Trump's shoutouts during his speech.

Dictionary: There's also some strange rhetorical games being played. Trump noted how the U.S. would maintain "control" of U.S. Steel, but that may be different than who "owns" U.S. Steel.

• And it's the latter that really matters, because the owner ultimately controls the pursestrings.

The big picture: Nippon knows that Trump has boxed himself in with steelworkers, who are aware of U.S. Steel's warnings of layoffs were the Nippon merger to fail.

• This may be mitigated a bit by Trump's decision on Friday to double steel tariffs to 50% — thus incentivizing Nippon to have a stateside producer — but Nippon is unlikely to base significant decisions on a wildly moving target.

The bottom line: Everyone involved a deal, to the point of premature exclamation.

Sanofi (Nasdaq: SNY) agreed to acquire Blueprint Medicines (Nasdaq: BPMC), a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech focused on rare immunology diseases, for $9.1 billion in cash and up to $400 million in earnouts.

Why it's the BFD: This is Sanofi's third big buy in 2025, following Dren Bo and Vigil Neuroscience, as it tries to build up a portfolio that's become too reliant on its Dupixent anti-inflammatory drug.

• It's a situation that's been exacerbated by some recent clinical setbacks and the April sale of a control stake in its consumer health unit to Clayton Dubilier & Rice for €10 billion.

By the numbers: Blueprint stockholders are slated to receive $129 per share at closing, representing a 23.3% premium over Friday's closing price.

• They'd also get contingent value rights that could include up to $6 in milestone payments.

The bottom line: "Sanofi's rare disease expertise could significantly boost the market penetration of Blueprint's systemic mastocytosis drug Ayvakit, which generated about $150 million in Q1 sales." — Katherine Davis, Axios Pro

• Atticus, a stealthy stablecoin banking startup, is in advanced talks to raise new funding led by Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey at a valuation of between $1.5b and $2b, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4mJaMJE

⚡TAE Technologies, a Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based fusion energy startup, raised over $150m in an ongoing round from insiders Google, Chevron, and NEA, as first reported by Axios Pro. axios.link/4kL1UkH

• Mubi, an London-based streaming service for independent films, raised $100m led by Sequoia Capital at a $1b valuation. axios.link/4dFpxZH

• Space Forge, a British startup seeking to make wafer materials in space, raised £22.6m in Series A funding led by NATO Innovation Fund. axios.link/3FICipM

• Energy Drive, a U.K. provider of energy efficiency solutions for large motors in the mining and metals sector, raised £20m from Pears Partnership Capital. energydrivesystems.com

• Netic, an autonomous revenue engine for essential services, raised $20m from such backers as Greylock, Founders Fund, Day One Ventures. netic.ai

• LuminX, an SF-based logistics and warehousing startup, raised $5.5m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include 1Sharpe, GTMFund, 9Yards, Chingona Ventures, and the Bond Fund. axios.link/3Z7YEHZ

• Literal Labs, a U.K. developer of energy-efficient custom AI models, raised £4.6m in pre-seed funding co-led by Northern Gritstone and Mercuri. axios.link/4mHVapC

• Dedge Secuity, a Spanish web3 security startup, raised €4m in seed funding led by Tritemius. axios.link/3SsLP7r

• Unbound, an Indian enterprise AI security startup, raised $4m in seed funding. Race Capital led, joined by YC, Wayfinder Ventures, and Massive Tech Ventures. axios.link/45Cl8Vn

• NavLive, a U.K.-based developer of AI scanning devices for architects, raised £3.3m led by Oxford Science Enterprises. axios.link/3SwBDdZ

• Arax Investment Partners, a wealth and asset management group backed by RedBird Capital Partners, acquired Schechter Investment Advisors, the RIA business of Michigan-based Schechter. araxpartners.com

• Carlyle and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) are considering a joint bid for the coatings unit of Germany's BASF, which could fetch around €6b, per Bloomberg. CVC Capital Partners and Lone Star Funds also are circling. axios.link/3HoNXdX

⚡ First Reserve and Fortress Investment Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in Island Energy Services, a Hawaiian provider of fuel logistics and infrastructure. islandenergyservices.com

• IK Partners agreed to invest in Irish wealth manager Kestrel Capital. axios.link/43FA0jr

• Lucky Energy Drinks, a performance beverage brand, raised funding from InvestBev. luckybevco.com

• Palatine acquired a majority stake in Fulfilmentcrowd, a U.K.-based fullfillment solutions firm, from BGF (which retains a minority position). axios.link/4541XDL

🍩 Swander Pace Capital acquired Maple Donuts, a York, Pa.-based maker of frozen bakery products. Co-investors were Partners Capital and Constitution Capital Partners. mapledonuts.com

• Chime, an SF-based neobank, set IPO terms to 32m shares at $24-$26. It would have a $10.5b fully diluted valuation, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (CHYM). It once was valued at $25b, and is backed by such firms as DST Global, Crosslink Capital, Access Industries, General Atlantic, Menlo Ventures, FPCI, and Iconiq. axios.link/4dJ5l9f

• Circle, the largest U.S. issuer of stablecoins, increased its IPO terms to 32m shares at $26-$27. It previously filed to offer 24m shares at $24-$26. It plans to list on the NYSE (CRCL), and had raised around $1.2 billion from firms like Accel, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, IDG Capital, Oak Investment Partners, and Fidelity. axios.link/43CYkSP

• Crown Reserve Acquisition, a health-care SPAC led by Prashant Patel, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/44Z3BGM

• FG Merger III, a financial services SPAC, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/4koH0Z7

🎲 Hann, a Philippine casino operator, filed for a domestic IPO that could raise up to $212m. axios.link/3SrUR4B

• Sentia, a Nordic construction firm owned by Ratos AB, filed to raise up to $160m in an Oslo IPO. axios.link/3ZFoovl

• 3i Infrastructure is interviewing banks to manage the sale of TCR, a Brussels-based provider of airport ground support equipment, per Bloomberg. axios.link/43q1zhR

🎵 Shamrock Capital sold Taylor Swift's master recordings back to the singer. axios.link/4kjyCtH

⚽ 49ers Enterprises and ParetoHealth founder Andrew Cavenagh agreed to buy Scotland's Rangers Football Club. axios.link/43HHN0b

🚑 Ascension Health of St. Louis is in talks to acquire Nashville-based ambulatory outpatient center AmSurg for around $3.9b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/44YRYj6

🚑 Atai Life Sciences (Nasdaq: ATAI), the psychedelic drug company backed by Peter Thiel, agreed to buy the 64% stake it doesn't already own in British rival Beckley Psytech at a $390m valuation. It also raised $30m in new equity. Beckley had raised over $100m from backers like Integrated, Aligned Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, PsyMed Ventures, and Catalytic Impact Foundation. axios.link/3SwvVc3

🚑 Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) agreed to pay Germany's BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) up to $11.1b (including $1.5b upfront) to license a new cancer drug. axios.link/3T1ePTU

⚡ Cactus (NYSE: MHD) will pay $344.5m to buy a 65% stake in the surface pressure control business of Baker Hughes (Nasdaq: BKR). axios.link/4ju4TNm

• FalconX, a crypto prime brokerage valued by VCs at $8b, acquired a majority stake in crypto hedge fund Monarq Asset Management. axios.link/45a7kBz

• France's government offered to buy part of Atos' (Paris: ATOS) former advanced computing unit for €410m. axios.link/4mG1g9V

• Omega Venture Partners, an enterprise software-focused VC firm, is raising up to $250m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Stacey DeVoe joined Great Hill Partners as head of talent. She previously was with Google. axios.link/3T2Vulf

• Antonin Marcus joined H.I.G. Capital as a managing director on its French midmarket PE team. He previously was with Eurazeo. axios.link/4dJuiBG