Axios

Former President Trump on Friday addressed some of the fallout of an encounter at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.

The big picture: A contested series of events escalated with the circulation of photos of Trump smiling at gravesites with families of fallen service members.

Americans, driven by a Democratic surge, are the most enthusiastic about the presidential election in 24 years of Gallup polling.

Why it matters: November's election between Vice President Harris and former President Trump will be close, by polling indications, and could come down to the battleground states.

Former President Trump's off-script whims are increasingly throwing mud on his advisers' game plans, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.

• Why it matters: After spending months in the lead, Trump now faces a tougher opponent, Vice President Harris, who's rising in polls.

Case in point: Trump's campaign this week debuted a Pennsylvania mail-in voting website for a program called "Swamp the Vote," aimed at boosting GOP turnout in swing states.

Americans, driven by a Democratic surge, are the most enthusiastic about the presidential election in 24 years of Gallup polling.

• Democrats' enthusiasm is one point shy of the party's high — 79% in February 2008, during the Clinton-Obama primary.

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Brazil started blocking Elon Musk's social media platform X early today, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through its mobile app after the company refused to comply with a judge's order, AP reports from São Paulo.

• Why it matters: The suspension marks an escalation in the monthslong feud between Musk and Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.

A cloud-to-ground lightning strike near the Washington Monument during a storm on Thursday.

Former President Trump is vowing to dismantle the Department of Education. Vice President Harris wants to stem school shootings.

• Beyond that, neither has offered detailed plans for the nation's K-12 schools, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

Why it matters: Student reading scores have fallen to 20-year lows. States are facing teacher shortages, and racial segregation in schools has returned to levels not seen since the 1960s.

🔭 The big picture: American public schools are growing more separate and unequal even though the country is more racially and ethnically diverse.

• Education advocates are seeking a variety of reforms, from how school boundaries are shaped, to recruiting more teachers of color, to improving student achievement.

Empty nesters increasingly are lingering in their family-sized homes, making it tougher for millennials to trade up.

• Why it matters: Baby boomers with empty nests own 28% of America's homes with 3+ bedrooms, while millennials with kids own just 14%, Axios' Sami Sparber writes from Redfin data.

Between the lines: The problem for younger families is baby boomers don't have much motivation to sell.

1. Many older people are on fixed incomes. So those who own homes are often staying put because they're mortgage-free or have a low interest rate.
2. Most boomers are in their 60s, and are "still young enough that they can take care of themselves and their home without help," Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari writes.

Costco membership fees increase for the first time in seven years starting tomorrow — up $5 to $10 a year, depending on membership level, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.

• Why it matters: It adds up for the world's third-largest retailer, after Walmart and Amazon. Costco's membership fees in Q1 accounted for $1.12 billion — two-thirds of the company's $1.68 billion total net income.

The U.S. renewal rate: 93%.

• Go deeper: Fascinating N.Y. Times deep dive, "How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche" (gift link — no paywall).

After struggling to find a distributor, "The Apprentice" — starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump, and written by Vanity Fair's Gabe Sherman — will be released in U.S. theaters 25 days shortly before Election Day, on Oct. 11.

• Why it matters: Director Ali Abbasi, the Danish-Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized getting "The Apprentice" into theaters before voters head to the polls, AP's Jake Coyle writes.

Former President Trump's campaign, under pressure from Vice President Harris' rise in the polls, is facing a persistent challenge from within: Trump himself, and his tendency to undermine his own strategy.

Why it matters: The "Trump will be Trump" dynamic has been evident throughout 2024. But as the campaign heads into a nine-week sprint to Nov. 5, his off-script whims appear to be increasingly throwing mud on his advisers' game plans.

Former President Donald Trump is vowing to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and Vice President Kamala Harris wants to stem school shootings. Beyond that, neither has offered detailed plans for the nation's K-12 public school system, giving them a mandate to do nothing.

Why it matters: Student reading scores have fallen to 20-year lows, states are facing teacher shortages and racial segregation in schools has returned to levels not seen since the 1960s.