Axios

Former President Trump, speaking at his first rally since surviving an attempted assassination, said that "he took a bullet for democracy" last weekend, while also taking numerous jabs at President Biden.

Why it matters: Trump, who called for national unity in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, repeated many of the common refrains during his rally in Michigan that have become staples in his campaign speeches.

The Trump campaign on Saturday shared new details on the former president's health, one week after a shooter opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania and struck Trump's right ear.

Why it matters: The memo from Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Trump's former White House physician, is the most detailed update yet on the former president's injury — and emphasizes how close he was to being killed.

As Democrats clash over whether President Biden can win in November, Republicans are saying dropping his bid is not enough — that Biden is mentally unfit to run the country another six months.

Why it matters: Even if Biden makes an historic decision and listens to the growing number of Democrats saying he will cost them the election, Republicans are laying the groundwork to pressure him to resign from office.

President Biden called Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) "unrelenting in her leadership" on Saturday in light of the 74-year-old legislator's death, which her family announced the day earlier.

The big picture: The congresswoman had revealed a breast cancer diagnosis and later a fight with pancreatic cancer. She is known for her advocacy for women and Black people and her work leading the effort to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Biden officials are telling Democratic critics that President Biden is eager to prove them wrong and plans to hit the campaign trail once he recovers from COVID, with potential trips to Georgia and Texas in the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: As he battles COVID in his Delaware beach house, Biden appears immune to the calls from his own party, including from the Senate's two most endangered Democrats, to drop out of the race.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), added his name to the list of lawmakers calling on President Joe Biden to bow out of the presidential race, saying he wanted to make sure the Nov. 5 election is focused on "issues Ohioans care about."

Why it matters: Brown, one the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats, is the latest Capitol Hill veteran to add his name Friday to the growing list of lawmakers publicly urging Biden to suspend his campaign.

The U.S. Capitol Police said Friday that there will be an increased law enforcement presence at the Capitol for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress next week.

Why it matters: Netanyahu is expected to face protests from both outside demonstrators and members of Congress, with some lawmakers vowing to boycott the speech.

Former President Trump called for United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain to be "fired immediately" during his Thursday speech on the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention.

The big picture: Fain endorsed President Biden in January after a months-long limbo over the administration's progressive push toward electric vehicles.

President Biden's campaign chair convened an all-staff call Friday and urged staffers to tune out news coverage that has focused on whether Biden will be pushed aside as the Democratic nominee, according to a recording of the call obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: The call is the latest example of Biden campaign leadership working to turn around the low morale among staffers in the aftermath of Biden's debate.

The global chaos today across a host of internet systems was caused by a single defect in a cybersecurity update — a problem that will very likely happen again.

• 🛬 More than 2,335 flights within, leaving or arriving in the U.S. were canceled as of midday Friday.
• 🆘 Some hospitals canceled or postponed surgeries. Banks couldn't handle money transfers. Some parts of the U.S. saw disruptions to 911 calls, court records and other municipal services.

Swifties are wreaking havoc across the Atlantic — at least in European central banks, Axios Macro co-author Courtenay Brown reports.

📈 Why it matters: The U.S. leg of Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour was credited with significant economic booms in the cities where it stopped.

• But now that the tour is making its way across Europe, the same effects — ticket purchases, travel expenditures, enormous demand for hotel rooms and food — are taking on a different hue.
• They're temporarily making inflation look much higher, at a time when central banks are trying to figure out whether inflation has cooled down enough to lower interest rates.

1. 📰 Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison on espionage charges for which the Russian government has never provided evidence. The U.S. condemned the trial as a sham. Go deeper.
2. 😷 President Biden is recovering well from COVID, the White House physician said. Go deeper ... Read the letter
3. Several more congressional Democrats — including members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus — called on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. Go deeper.

After 21 studio albums, one bestselling memoir, 20 Grammys, an Oscar and two Golden Globes, Bruce Springsteen is now a billionaire, by Forbes magazine's calculations.

• 💰 He's likely worth at least $1.1 billion, according to Forbes' "conservative" estimates.
• 🕺 And Springsteen, even at age 74, is still at it — he and the E Street Band are on a European tour right now, still plowing through three-hour shows to packed houses.

A staunchly pro-Israel House Democrat is urging the Biden administration to reverse its decision to remove Yemen's Houthi rebels from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone strike on Tel Aviv that killed at least one person and wounded seven others in one of the most serious attacks on the city since Oct. 7, Axios' Barak Ravid reported.

President Biden's COVID symptoms have "improved meaningfully" and he's completed his fourth dose of Paxlovid, the White House physician said in a Friday update.

Why it matters: The bout of COVID sidelined Biden's campaign for reelection at the same time Democratic calls for the 81-year-old incumbent to step aside crescendoed.

More than 25 Democrats in Congress have now publicly called for President Biden to step down as the party's presumptive nominee over concerns about his ability to take on former President Trump.

Why it matters: Biden has firmly resisted calls to step aside, but lawmakers have told Axios they expect the drumbeat to continue amid a barrage of fears from constituents and donors.

President Biden is facing a barrage of new statements from House and Senate Democrats on Friday urging him to bow out of the 2024 presidential race.

Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers tell Axios the calls will likely continue apace until Biden drops out – which even some of the president's allies think is increasingly likely.

One of Axios' reporters covering the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee sent us this promo fan for MAGA (TRUMP), the biggest meme coin for the former president.

• Market cap: $300 million, down from a peak of $775 million on June 1.
• TRUMP runs on Ethereum.

President Biden's campaign insisted on Friday that he will remain in the 2024 presidential race but acknowledged that it's been "a tough several weeks" marked by "some slippage" in support set off by his disastrous debate performance last month.

Why it matters: Several prominent Democrats in recent days have publicly asked Biden to step aside, while others, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have privately expressed concerns about Biden's candidacy.

Teamsters president Sean O'Brien's speech at the RNC this week highlights the lengths the Republican party, with no track record of supporting labor, will go to appeal to working-class voters.

Why it matters: It's not at all clear that pressure from O'Brien — or the ascension of a populist like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) to the ticket — will actually translate into any real action on labor policy.

Former President Trump in his acceptance speech Thursday night tore into the United Automobile Workers — calling for its president, Shawn Fain, to be fired. Just days earlier, a different union boss got a much warmer reception at the RNC.

Why it matters: The clashing speeches highlight tensions simmering in the Republican party as it pursues the votes of working-class Americans — and the mercurial nature of dealing with Trump, who's quick to insult those who don't bend the knee.

MILWAUKEE — The "new" Donald Trump soothed and silenced the nation for 28 minutes last night. Then the old Trump returned and bellowed, barked and bored America for 64 minutes more.

Why it matters: Despondent Democrats were reminded why they had long believed, before President Biden melted down in last month's debate, that Trump is a flawed candidate — and eminently beatable.

At least one person was killed and seven others wounded in a large explosion that took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Friday. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the explosion was the result of "an aerial target which fell without an early warning."

Why it matters: This is one of the most serious attacks on Tel Aviv since Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. A spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the drone strike.

Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), was, as expected, the final speaker at the Republican National Convention before Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday night.

Why it matters: It's unusual for a presidential nominee not be introduced by a spouse or family member. Both Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, who introduced the former president in 2016 and 2020, respectively, have stepped back from the public eye.

A German man's HIV has likely been cured after undergoing a stem cell transplant in a first-of-its-kind case, scientists announced on Thursday ahead of next week's International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany.

Why it matters: The 60-year-old has become only the seventh person to be considered cured of HIV — which affects an estimated 39 million people worldwide, including some 1.2 million people in the U.S.

Former President Trump took the stage with a bandaged ear only days after surviving an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania to accept the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday night. He left it after roughly 90 minutes of a mostly familiar stump speech.

Why it matters: While his speech — widely viewed as a test of his plea for unity — began on a personal tone, it soon returned to Trumpian talking points, misleading statements and lies.

A U.S. appeals court filed an order on Thursday barring President Biden's administration from providing student debt relief with its SAVE Plan.

Why it matters: Although the order on an emergency motion is not a final ruling, all aspects of the SAVE Plan are now blocked while the court case continues, per the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Hulk Hogan took the stage at the Republican National Convention Thursday night to endorse former President Donald Trump with the same charisma that made him the most recognizable wrestler in the world.

The big picture: "Hulkamania" swept the RNC as the former wrestler, whose real name is Terry Bollea, took the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Ear bandages are a widely seen accessory at this week's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The big picture: Convention attendees have been paying tribute to former President Trump, who appeared at the event with his large, white bandage on his right ear in his first appearance since Saturday's rally shooting.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), one of the most vulnerable frontline Democrats in November, said Thursday that President Biden should drop out of the presidential race.

Why it matters: Tester is just the second Senate Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step aside, as support for the president further deteriorates on Capitol Hill.

Former President Trump caps off the fourth day of the Republican National Convention with his keynote speech Thursday night.

Why it matters: It's his first speech since Saturday's assassination attempt and comes at a pivotal point in the 2024 election.