Axios

The U.S. State Department on Monday reissued an "extreme danger" travel advisory for Venezuela, warning Americans to leave the country immediately or to prepare a will if heading there.

The big picture: The Trump administration has meanwhile been caught in a legal battle for deporting planeloads of Venezuelans to the country, and recently ended temporary deportation protections for some 300,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S.

The popular no-tax-on-tips provision and another carve-out for overtime pay are both in the "big, beautiful" tax bill unveiled by House Republicans Monday.

Why it matters: Exempting tipped income and overtime from taxes was a big priority for President Trump, who campaigned on the policies.

The Trump administration welcomed white South African refugees into the U.S. on Monday, the same day it announced it is ending deportation protections for refugees from Afghanistan.

The big picture: The coinciding moves show a split screen of President Trump's immigration crackdown, accepting one group while revoking protections from the other.

The White House's executive order to lower drug prices is largely an exercise in applying leverage, rather than actual policymaking — and it may not amount to much, experts said.

The big picture: President Trump says his directive will dramatically reduce drug costs for U.S. consumers, and quickly. But there are few details as to how he plans to accomplish that.

When President Trump announced his sweeping new tariffs last month — "Liberation Day," as he called it — he appeared ready to blow up the global trade system and effectively divorce the U.S. economy from many major partners.

• His deal with China, announced early this morning, makes clear that's not happening, Axios Macro co-authors Courtenay Brown and Neil Irwin write.

📈 The latest: Stocks soared today on the news of a temporary tariff stand-down, with the S&P 500 up nearly 3.3%.

Coffee shops across the country are pulling down their WiFi networks and banning laptops, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery reports.

• They're tired of being remote workers' unofficial offices. People setting up shop for a full day of Zoom meetings can cause overcrowding, hurt sales and detract from the vibes businesses want to set, they say.

💻 "We encourage engagement," says David Valdez, whose Detroit coffee shop, Alba, has had a no-WiFi policy since it opened. "That's only possible if you're not glued to your screen."

• The D.C.-based café Elle started out sans WiFi, but got angry Google reviews from customers jonesing for a hookup, owner Nick Pimentel tells Axios.

1. ✈️ It would be "stupid" to turn down Qatar's offer of a free 747, President Trump said today. "They're giving us a free jet. I could say, 'No, no, no, don't give us. I want to pay you a billion or $400 million, or whatever it is.' Or I could say, 'Thank you very much,'" Trump said. Go deeper.
2. 📦 The U.S. collected a record $16.3 billion in customs duties last month due to Trump's tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports.
3. 🏈 The Philadelphia Eagles will host the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL's regular-season opener this fall, ESPN reports. The league will release its full schedule for next season on Wednesday.

House Republicans are weighing a bill that would reduce Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

The big picture: The safety net program serves nearly 73 million Americans, who could face coverage and benefit losses.

Harvard President Alan Garber said the Trump administration is acting unlawfully in a Monday letter that also acknowledged the university and government share a priority in squashing antisemitism.

Why it matters: The Ivy League school continues to defend itself in the back-and-forth with Education Secretary Linda McMahon over federal funding and control over the institution.

President Trump on Monday dismissed criticism of his plan to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to serve as Air Force One, calling it "stupid" to turn down the gift.

Why it matters: Democrats decried the reported gift from the Qatari royal family of a luxury Boeing 747-8 — dubbed a "palace in the sky," but Trump shrugged off the blowback.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that the U.K. will implement new English language requirements for immigrants, alongside a slew of other immigration reforms.

Why it matters: The move represents a crackdown on immigration across Great Britain as the nation's Reform Party, with its staunchly anti-immigration policies, has seen a spike in support.

President Trump signed an executive order Monday morning that he said Sunday would cut prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices "almost immediately, by 30% to 80%."

Why it matters: Drug prices are considerably higher for U.S. patients than in other countries, and Trump and his predecessor President Biden have pushed for lower costs.

President Trump will name deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to be the acting Librarian of Congress, a Justice Department official confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: Blanche, who represented Trump in his hush money trial, already holds the number two position at the Justice Department. His interim appointment represents another example of administration officials juggling multiple posts.

The Trump administration is targeting climate technology that automatically turns a vehicle's engine off when it's stopped to save fuel.

Why it matters: Stop-start technology has become a common feature in new vehicles as a way to save a few bucks on gas and reduce emissions.

The Qatari royal family's willingness to transfer a jet worth roughly $400 million to the U.S. to temporarily serve as Air Force One is just one aspect of President Trump's financial entanglement with the Middle Eastern nation.

Why it matters: Trump's namesake business recently signed a deal to develop a golf course and luxury villas on Qatar's Eastern coastline, blurring the lines between America's diplomatic ties and Trump's personal financial interests.

President Trump said the "European Union is, in many ways, nastier than China," during a news conference on Monday.

Why it matters: The stakes of a prolonged U.S.-EU standoff over Trump's tariffs are high. With nearly a trillion dollars worth of trade last year, U.S. companies exported more than twice to the EU what they sent to China.

The Trump administration is looking to negotiate lower U.S. drug prices while allowing pharmaceutical companies to charge more for their products abroad, under a sweeping executive order President Trump signed on Monday.

Why it matters: The order hangs a big sword over the drug industry, which thought it was making inroads with the administration.

The Energy Department used a classic "Simpsons" meme Saturday to promote "drill, baby, drill" — but new analysis shows the challenge of making it stick outside of Springfield.

The latest: U.S. crude production should drop slightly next year, S&P Global Commodity Insights said Monday.

So much for taxing the rich: House Republicans late Sunday unveiled $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, the cost-saving center of their hotly anticipated tax legislation.

• That follows a preliminary partial draft released earlier in the weekend from the House committee that oversees taxes, with cuts for the upper-middle class and wealthy.

Why it matters: There is still much to be decided and negotiated, but these drafts provide clues about who's to benefit from the coming "big beautiful" bill.

The U.S. and China will slash their tariffs on each other for 90 days, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday.

Why it matters: It's the relief global businesses and investors hoped for, after the trade war brought commerce to a near-halt and sent economies hurtling toward recession.

The Food and Drug Administration is rolling out an aggressive plan to make generative AI a linchpin in its decision-making, part of a bid to get faster and leaner in evaluating drugs, foods, medical devices and diagnostic tests.

Why it matters: The plan raises urgent questions about what's being done to secure the vast amount of proprietary company data that's part of the process and whether sufficient guardrails are in place.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s short time leading America's health agencies has already destabilized the uneasy alliance that vaulted him into President Trump's Cabinet.

Why it matters: The "Make America Healthy Again" movement — a loose umbrella of vaccine skeptics, wellness influencers, and anti-pharma crusaders — was envisioned as a revolution against the medical establishment.

The U.S. and Qatar were bargaining over the price for a "palace in the sky" Boeing 747-8 to be used as the new Air Force One — and Qatar "came back and said: 'We'll just gift it. It's OK,'" a top administration source tells Axios.

• "And it's gifted to the people of the United States, gifted to the Department of Defense," the source added. "And it's supposed to be ready by the end of the year."

President Trump's MAGA loyalists are clamoring to oust Republican senators in Texas and North Carolina in 2026, leaving Trump with some crucial choices: Endorse them, or roll the dice by backing primary challengers.

Why it matters: Trump is the most powerful endorser in GOP politics, and his seal of approval can determine the outcome of nomination battles that will help shape the Senate, where Republicans now have a 53-47 advantage.

The Trump administration fired the top U.S. copyright official, days after removing the Librarian of Congress who appointed her.

The big picture: Politico first reported that Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter's removal came soon after her office issued a report on artificial intelligence that raised concerns about using copyrighted works to train AI, an industry outgoing DOGE leader Elon Musk is involved in via his startup xAI.

A House Democrat is oseeking an investigation into reports that the Trump administration plans to accept a jet worth roughly $400 million from Qatar to serve as Air Force One — and President Trump's personal plane after he leaves office.

The latest: Trump pushed back on concerns in a Sunday night Truth Social post.