Axios

President Trump on Monday moved to cut off federal funding for so-called gain-of-function research and implied such work could have been responsible for triggering the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why it matters: A new executive order furthers the administration's theory that the virus originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. It specifically references "foreign research likely to cause another pandemic."

The Trump administration again defended the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone Monday, arguing in a legal filing that a case seeking to limit access to the pills should be dismissed.

Why it matters: It's the second time in two months the administration has defended FDA's regulation of the pills.

The White House is signaling to GOP lawmakers that President Trump's massive tax package isn't an a la carte menu: It's a prix fixe meal.

Why it matters: While officials want the "one big, beautiful bill" to include all of Trump's tax priorities, they plan to make extending his 2017 tax package the centerpiece of their messaging campaign, according to an administration official.

President Trump on Monday pushed back against criticism of an AI-generated photo depicting him as the pope that was shared on his Truth Social account and reshared by the White House.

What they're saying: "I had nothing to do with it," Trump told reporters at the White House. "Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That's not me that did it, I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it, I just saw it last evening."

Key leaders in the House of Representatives have taken a fresh stab at writing a comprehensive scheme to regulate cryptocurrencies in the U.S.

Why it matters: The question of which digital assets are subject to securities laws, and which aren't, has been a significant point of friction between the government and the industry since at least 2017, when entrepreneurs started raising money by issuing tokens en masse.

President Trump said Sunday he's directed government departments to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, the notorious California prison-turned-tourist -attraction.

The big picture: Alcatraz housed prisoners including the gangster Al Capone before it closed as a prison in 1963 because it was expensive to run and the U.S. government "found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution" than keep it open, per a Federal Bureau of Prisons post.

Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan last night to reoccupy and eventually flatten all of Gaza if a new hostage-and-ceasefire deal isn't reached soon, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• The plan calls for demolishing any buildings left standing and displacing virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single "humanitarian area."

🗓️ The latest: The Security Cabinet is using President Trump's visit to the Middle East next week as a deadline for a new deal.

New York Times photographer Doug Mills won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography today for his unforgettable images of the assassination attempt against President Trump — one of four Pulitzers for the Gray Lady.

• The others were for Explanatory Reporting, Local Reporting (with The Baltimore Banner) and International Reporting.

🏆 The Wall Street Journal took home the prize for National Reporting, for "chronicling political and personal shifts of the richest person in the world, Elon Musk, including his turn to conservative politics, his use of legal and illegal drugs and his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin."

• More images by Doug Mills ... Full list of winners.

1. 🏈 D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined President Trump in the Oval Office today as he announced that the 2027 NFL Draft will be held on the National Mall. Go deeper.
2. 🦾 OpenAI scuttled its plan to spin out an independent for-profit company, CEO Sam Altman told employees today. Instead, its existing nonprofit board will keep control. Go deeper.
3. 🌎 The Trump administration is offering $1,000 stipends and travel assistance to undocumented immigrants who "self-deport." Go deeper.

The British royal family hosted World War II veterans today at Buckingham Palace to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day — May 8, 1945, when the war ended in Europe.

• The anniversary is Thursday.

King Charles III joins World War II veterans at a tea party at Buckingham Palace today.

• Go deeper.

President Trump on Sunday said he would order officials to start the process of imposing 100% tariffs on any movie produced outside the U.S.

Why it matters: Trump's trade war has thus far been mostly about industry, like steel, aluminum and cars.

President Trump said on Sunday that he's directed government departments to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz.

Why it matters: One of the world's most notorious prisons, Alcatraz has been closed since 1963 because it was expensive to run, and the U.S. government "found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution" than keep it open, per the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

President Trump's legally dubious threat to strip Harvard's tax-exempt status could cost the university hundreds of millions a year, and other nonprofits fear they could be next.

Why it matters: Trump has waged an unprecedented assault on the independence of universities, law firms, and nonprofit media, using the power of the government to punish his perceived political enemies.

With millions of borrowers behind on student loan payments, the Department of Education on Monday will start referring those in default for debt collection.

The big picture: Some 5.3 million borrowers who are in default could see their wages garnished if they don't resume payments.

More than 200 CEOs on Monday signed a letter urging state leaders to mandate artificial intelligence and computer science classes as a high school graduation requirement.

Why it matters: The letter follows President Trump's creation of an AI education task force to expand students' exposure to AI instruction, as aptitude with the technology increasingly becomes a workforce expectation.

Nineteen Democratic-led states plus the District of Columbia sued Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, saying his ongoing reorganization of the federal health bureaucracy incapacitated core functions and deprived the states of federal funds and expertise.

The big picture: The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island alleges that Kennedy's structural changes stopped health agencies from carrying out legally required functions, including health hazard evaluations at workplaces, food safety inspections and infectious disease prevention.

• The attorneys general say HHS is violating the Constitution's requirements on separations of power and running afoul of administrative procedure laws.
• "Dismantling HHS by terminating the people necessary for it to meet its own mandates, and paralyzing it by means of a confusing reorganization, is an unlawful effort to undercut the will of Congress who ordered the agencies and programs to run," the complaint reads.

The complaint was filed by New York, Washington, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

Context: Kennedy in late March announced that he'd consolidate 28 HHS divisions into 15 offices, including a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America. He said the move would streamline functions and cut costs.

• The plan required placing on administrative leave and eventually firing 10,000 HHS employees, on top of about 10,000 who voluntarily left the agency since the start of the year.
• Some employees placed on leave have been asked back to work.

The complaint asks a judge to stop HHS from implementing Kennedy's restructuring plan.

• HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zoom out: Twenty-three states in April separately sued HHS for clawing back more than $11 billion in public health grants to state and local health departments without warning.

• A federal judge in Rhode Island has temporarily blocked the grant moves while litigation continues.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will not run for the Senate, despite wooing from Senate GOP leadership, Axios has confirmed.

Why it matters: Kemp was by far the Republican Party's strongest potential candidate as it tries to take back the Georgia seat from Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in the 2026 midterms.

Entertainment industry stocks retreated Monday as investors feared the impact of President Trump's threat to impose tariffs on foreign-made movies.

• But several key stocks pared their losses as the White House signaled that the plan hasn't been firmed up.

Why it matters: It was not immediately clear how or whether Trump could follow through with his 100% duties on films made outside the U.S. — but investors nonetheless winced.

The Trump administration is offering $1,000 stipends and travel assistance to undocumented immigrants who "self-deport," the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday.

Why it matters: President Trump has been pushing self-deportation, urging immigrants to leave before being arrested by U.S. officials amid the government's crackdown.

The African nation of Rwanda is in talks with the Trump administration to accept U.S. deportees, the country's foreign minister confirmed late Sunday.

The big picture: The Trump administration has pursued fast-tracked deportations with little or no due process, a strategy that's drawn condemnation from advocates and strong pushback from the federal judiciary.

One way to think about OPEC+'s accelerated return of barrels: Saudi Arabia and some other members see President Trump — for now — as more invested in lower prices than in what's comfortable for U.S. producers.

Why it matters: Crude prices are falling again to open the week following Saturday's OPEC+ decision to boost output by another 411,000 barrels per day next month.

MAGA media is seizing on its new influence in Washington — staffing up, enjoying unprecedented access to power, and making market splashes.

Why it matters: Corporate America has typically shunned right-wing media. But expanded exposure to Washington's powerbrokers is helping MAGA outlets and personalities establish themselves as key media players.

Last week, President Trump disowned the U.S. economy as one still shaped by his predecessor's policies.

• Less than 48 hours later, he touted strong employment and said the administration was "just getting started!!!"

Why it matters: The economy did not change, but the data did. The tricky presidential balance of owning the economy — in the good and bad — is not new. But it has perhaps never been more on display than with Trump.

A popemobile that Pope Francis used is "being transformed into a mobile health unit" for children in Gaza, the Vatican announced Sunday.

The big picture: "It was his final wish for the people to whom he had shown such solidarity throughout his pontificate, especially in the last years," per the Vatican News, the Vatican's official media outlet.

Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke of the importance of the U.S. Constitution in bringing people together as he received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his actions on Jan. 6.

The big picture: The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation bestowed the honor on Pence for resisting pressure from President Trump and others to not certify former President Biden's 2020 election win following the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

President Trump plans to announce Monday that Washington, D.C., will host the 2027 NFL Draft, with the aim of holding it on the National Mall, Axios has learned.

• The announcement is expected to be made with National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris at the White House, two sources familiar with the plan tell Axios.

Driving the news: It comes days after the Commanders and D.C. officials announced a plan to bring the team back to the city with a new domed stadium on the site of the old RFK Stadium.