Axios

The Supreme Court rejected on Thursday Mexico's $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gun makers that alleged the companies' loose controls allowed for the weapons to be illegally trafficked in the Latin American nation.

Why it matters: The unanimous ruling ends a years long legal battle in the first-of-its kind suit that saw the Mexican government try to hold U.S. gunmakers accountable for drug cartels' high rates of gun violence in parts of the country.

Six days after bagging an honorary key to the Oval Office, Elon Musk forced every Republican into a loyalty test between himself and President Trump.

• In rapid succession, they're choosing Trump.

Why it matters: Today's nasty MAGA divorce featured Musk going there on every front, from citing Jeffrey Epstein to calling for impeachment and saying he'd decommission the rocket that keeps the International Space Station supplied in orbit.

Republicans know they are playing with fire by making significant changes to Medicaid. Now GOP senators are eyeing Medicare as well, raising the blood pressure for party strategists even higher.

Why it matters: Medicare is part of the third rail of politics.

• But some GOP senators think they can find billions in savings by targeting "waste, fraud and abuse" and get away with it politically, as long as they don't cut benefits for the program's core beneficiaries.
• "Find me an American who thinks we should have waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare," Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mt.) told reporters.
• "Find me a voter that says that's a good idea."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office is on the cusp of victory in the annual bipartisan Congressional Physical Activity Challenge, sources familiar tell us.

• 🗳 Why it matters: Bragging rights are on the line. But there's controversy in this year's contest.

Zoom in: Thune's team is the most active team on average, which gives them a claim to victory.

• But on overall points, Sen. Cynthia Lummis' (R-Wyo.) team will take the top spot for the third year in a row.

The man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators advocating for the release of Hamas hostages was charged in Colorado state court Thursday with 118 counts, court documents show.

The big picture: Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was also charged with a federal hate crime, now faces 28 counts of attempted murder.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office is on the cusp of victory in the annual bipartisan Congressional Physical Activity Challenge, sources familiar tell Axios.

Why it matters: Bragging rights are on the line. But there's controversy in this year's contest.

Congressional Republicans are openly attacking Elon Musk like never before after the billionaire Tesla founder claimed President Trump is "in the Epstein files" and even called for him to be impeached.

Why it matters: It's a stunning fall from grace for a man who flexed so much influence over Republican lawmakers just weeks — even days — earlier.

Republicans know they are playing with fire by making significant changes to Medicaid. Now GOP senators are eyeing Medicare as well.

Why it matters: Medicare is part of the third rail of politics. Still, some GOP senators think they can find billions in savings without paying a political price.

House Republicans are issuing a subpoena to former President Biden's personal physician Kevin O'Connor as part of their investigation into the ex-president's health.

Why it matters: House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is ramping up the probe after new revelations emerged about Biden's cognitive decline in Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper's new book, "Original Sin."

The slow-motion train wreck end of President Trump's relationship with Elon Musk on Thursday cost both men significant sums of money.

Why it matters: Both have vast business empires, but they each have one public company, and investors dumped both as their social media war spiraled into personal attacks.

The two most powerful people in the U.S. have gone from friends to foes.

Why it matters: Elon Musk and President Trump's (very) public online feud imperils billions of dollars in government contracts for Musk as the former DOGE head continues to go scorched earth against the president.

Elon Musk's bitter public breakup with President Trump has included an undeniable fact: the world's richest man contributed more than any other billionaire donor to support Republicans in 2024 — by a lot.

Why it matters: Musk has said he'd pull back on political spending, after his six months in Washington left him with empty DOGE promises and his companies in turmoil.

• But where he puts his cash has massive potential influence — including toward any future political pursuits.

Tesla shares plunged Thursday as the relationship between Elon Musk and President Trump imploded and Trump suggested canceling Musk's government contracts.

Why it matters: The threat escalates their real-time breakup and threatens to deliver a serious blow to the wealth of the world's richest person.

Elon Musk declared all-out war on President Trump Thursday, writing on X: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."

• "Such ingratitude," Musk added.

Why it matters: The public breakup between Trump and Musk — a key adviser who spent nearly $300 million to support the president's campaign and Republicans in 2024 — has escalated dramatically.

The bromance of President Trump and Elon Musk appears to be over after a public fracturing on Thursday.

The big picture: The Tesla CEO initially seemed to leave the Trump administration on a good note and was expected to remain one of the president's most influential outside advisers. That no longer appears to be the case.

President Trump suggested he could cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Elon Musk's companies, accusing his former adviser and biggest political donor of going "crazy."

Why it matters: The close relationship between two of the most powerful men in the world is imploding in real time, triggered by Musk's scathing criticism of Trump's signature legislation.

Elon Musk posted a poll on X on Thursday asking followers whether they support the idea of a new political party to take on the Republicans and Democrats.

Why it matters: The richest man in the world is publicly feuding with the most powerful man in America, whom he spent record-setting sums to elect. We're about to find out what Musk is prepared to do about it.

President Trump gave Republican senators a green light to explore ways to save money on Medicare during a meeting at the White House, senators said Thursday.

Why it matters: Changes to save money on Medicaid have already proven contentious with some Republicans. Medicare could open a new can of worms.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will attempt to strip deep cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from the GOP's mega budget reconciliation bill, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Senate Republicans want to completely cut the CFPB's funding from the Federal Reserve, according to an internal GOP memo reviewed by Axios.

Workers who are white, heterosexual or a member of another "majority group" don't need to provide extra evidence to prove workplace discrimination, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The big picture: The case concerned a heterosexual woman who was passed over for a promotion, then demoted. She alleged that she was discriminated against in favor of LGBT employees.

If international trade is a game of chess, China has the U.S. in check — with few good options for the next move.

Why it matters: The trade war has exposed just how deeply the U.S. economy is at the mercy of an accident of geology — China's supply of the rare earth minerals that power our modern high-tech society.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday blocked their Democratic colleagues' second attempt to force Elon Musk to testify before Congress.

Why it matters: Democrats felt they had even better standing to compel the Tesla founder and former Trump lieutenant's testimony now that he is out of government.

If former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre thought she would set off a five-alarm fire among top Democrats by leaving the party, she is about to be sorely disappointed.

Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers who spoke to Axios characterized her personal motives as too transparent to be a knock on the party — and they don't exactly feel like they're losing their best messenger either.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday will enter President Trump's televised Oval Office stage, where world leaders before him have been ambushed, scolded and sent home without lunch.

The big picture: Under Trump 2.0, the Oval Office has become a danger zone for world leaders, who at the very least are subject to a series of on-camera spectacles — and at the worst, a full-blown attack.

Confusion over shifting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are reigniting questions in the public health community over who's running the agency.

• The answer: no single person.

Former Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Tuesday that she's written a book about a "broken" Biden White House and what she sees as the betrayal of the former president by the Democratic Party.

• Many of her former colleagues think Jean-Pierre — the face of the White House for more than two years — was part of the problem, according to interviews with more than two dozen former Biden administration officials.

Driving the news: Jean-Pierre's announcement Wednesday led former Biden aides to tee off on her. Many quietly had fumed for years, believing she was incompetent at her job at the White House podium and more interested in promoting herself than Joe Biden.

Coign, a self-described credit card "built for conservatives," claims to have launched the first fully AI-generated national television commercial, at least in the financial services industry.

Why it matters: Hyper-realistic AI videos flooded the internet after the release of Google's Veo 3 tool last month. Now, signs are emerging of a potentially massive disruption to the $250 billion TV advertising industry.

President Trump thought Ukraine's surprise drone attack over the weekend was "strong" and "badass," sources who discussed it with him tell Axios, but he's also concerned it will make his ceasefire mission even harder.

Why it matters: The meticulously planned operation on Russia's most strategic air bases — conducted remotely from thousands of miles away — suggested Ukraine has more "cards" than Trump gave them credit for, but also effectively dared Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate in return.

Dozens of House and Senate Democrats have signed a pledge to boycott some of Washington, D.C.'s hottest restaurants over labor disputes, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The list includes Le Diplomate and posh downtown venues that are popular spots for Democratic fundraisers, giving lawmakers a rare opportunity to throw around some serious weight on behalf of a union.

It's hard to overstate how rapidly President Trump has changed the very underpinnings of U.S. trade policy since the start of February. But this chart sums it up.

Why it matters: Trump is seeking to reset America's economic relationship with the rest of the world. But he has also introduced a trade policy landscape that changes by the day.

Former Rep. David Jolly is launching a campaign for Florida governor as a Democrat, hoping to staunch the state's lurch from purple to solidly red, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The onetime Republican, who previously weighed an independent bid for the role in 2022, believes he can succeed where so many other Democrats have failed.

President Trump directed administration officials to investigate former President Biden's use of autopen to sign documents in a Wednesday evening order that raised doubts about his predecessor's cognitive state.

The big picture: The probe into "whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President" comes as House Republicans threaten to subpoena Biden aides over the former president's mental fitness.

Former President Biden pushed back on Wednesday night on President Trump's announcement of an investigation into his presidential actions and autopen use that alleged his staff may have covered up a "cognitive decline."

What they're saying: "Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations," Biden said in a statement shared with outlets including Axios. "Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false."

The top House Democrat on a key investigative panel is asking President Trump whether he had any knowledge of alleged drug use by Elon Musk.

Why it matters: The investigation comes as even House Republicans have grown exasperated with Musk's erratic antics, as Axios reported on Wednesday.

A federal judge halted deportation proceedings against the family of the man charged in the Boulder, Colorado, Molotov cocktail attack, per a temporary order on Wednesday.

The big picture: U.S. District Judge Gordon Gallagher's order ruled that "deportation without process could [cause] irreparable harm" to the Egyptian citizens.

President Trump suspended the entry of international students to attend Harvard University through an executive order on Wednesday evening.

The big picture: While Harvard and federal attorneys are fighting over his administration's efforts to restrict international student enrollment, Trump halted global student entry with the stroke of a pen.

President Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday restricting the entry of people from a dozen countries into the U.S., citing national security concerns.

The big picture: Trump's order states that he has decided to "fully restrict and limit" entry from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said the state was ending a decades-old law allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges, just hours after the Trump administration sued over the policy.

Why it matters: The reversal will undoubtedly reshape access to higher education for thousands of undocumented Texans — and could intensify legal scrutiny of similar tuition policies in other states.