Third Way, an influential center-left group, is bringing together hundreds of elected officials, party leaders and operatives here this weekend to build a case for nominating a middle-of-the-road Democrat — not a liberal — for president in 2028.
Why it matters: Centrist Democrats' efforts to shape the next election have taken on a new urgency as liberals such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and others have unexpectedly won races.
For many far-left Democrats, it's AOC or bust in 2028.
Left-wing Democrats are quietly escalating efforts to persuade New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president. One big reason: They see no clear alternative. Bernie Sanders (84) is too old — and no other Sanders-like pol with national punch is emerging.
Driving the news: Allies tell Axios the pitch to Ocasio-Cortez and her team is essentially this:
Potential Democratic presidential candidates are blasting Donald Trump's war against Iran, but their criticisms differ — and a few even echo some Trump talking points.
Why it matters: Their responses reveal subtle but important differences in approaches to foreign policy and political strategy.
President Trump presented on Sunday his case for going to war with Iran and toppling the current regime — and warned more U.S. soldiers will likely die before the operation ends.
Why it matters: Trump is publicly bracing the country for a sustained, costly military campaign, a sign America has entered an open-ended war with a rising human cost.
Trump touted the elimination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and framed the war as the only way to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed terrorist state.
A coalition of OPEC, Russia and allied oil-producing nations agreed Sunday to boost output by a larger-than-expected amount in a move that could help offset any shortfall from Iran amid this weekend's strikes.
Why it matters: The OPEC+ boost of 206,000 barrels per day is an early sign of how producers and companies will respond to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran as the world ponders the effect on oil prices.
The gunman in an early Sunday mass shooting in Austin wore a sweatshirt that said "Property of Allah" and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, a law enforcement official told AP.
The FBI is investigating the shooting in a downtown bar district as a potential act of terrorism.
President Trump said Sunday the U.S. military destroyed nine Iranian warships and is in the process of destroying the rest of Iran's navy.
Why it matters: The U.S. strikes target Iran's ability to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply flows.
Three U.S. service members were killed in action and five more seriously wounded as part of the American and Israeli strikes on Iran, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday morning.
The big picture: The casualties are the first confirmed American combat deaths since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran Saturday. The confirmation comes as Iran retaliates with ballistic missiles and drones against U.S. bases and allies across the Middle East.
Pope Leo XIV condemned the escalating violence in the Middle East and Iran Sunday, warning that the "spiral of violence" risks becoming "an unbridgeable chasm."
The big picture: The first American pontiff has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's policies since becoming pope last May, previously condemning the president's "zeal for war" following U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
As Israeli bombs fell on the supreme leader's compound in Tehran on Saturday morning, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was meeting above ground with several of his top advisers.
He never saw it coming.
Why it matters: The joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Khamenei was the culmination of two months in which President Trump pursued both diplomacy and war — on parallel tracks. On Friday, he chose war.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike Saturday as part of a massive joint military operation between the U.S. and Israel, Iranian state media confirmed.
The latest: The Iranian government announced 40 days of public mourning following the "martyrdom" of the 86-year-old ayatollah, who had ruled Iran for over 36 years.
