Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been blasting out more national policy papers than any other potential 2028 presidential candidate.
So far, polls show few voters care.
Why it matters: Emanuel has gotten national coverage for his plans, has hit the podcast circuit, appears regularly on CNN and writes a column for the Wall Street Journal. But he's barely a blip in early 2028 polls, as other potential candidates such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom have risen over the past year.
Veterans of Bernie Sanders' two presidential campaigns are splitting their allegiances between a pair of Democrats vying to inherit his progressive movement: New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
Why it matters: Ocasio-Cortez and Khanna are deploying contrasting strategies to build momentum toward possible White House runs in 2028 — a split that reflects some of thetensions between Sanders' 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, Fla., 90 miles north of Havana, according to classified intelligence shared with Axios.
Why it matters: The intelligence — which could become a pretext for U.S. military action — shows the degree to which the Trump administration sees Cuba as a threat because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, a senior U.S. official said.
Some close advisers to President Trump fear the biggest substantive result of the China summit is heightened danger that Chinese President Xi Jinping will invade Taiwan in the next five years, potentially choking off the chips used to power AI to U.S. companies.
What they're saying: Trump loved the pageantry and the special access Xi shrewdly rolled out during the Beijing visit. But the words didn't match the bonhomie. One Trump adviser told us Xi is "trying to move China to a new position where he's saying: 'We're not a rising power. We're your equal. And Taiwan is mine.'"
Republicans have delivered major wins for the crypto industry in Washington — and they're increasingly frustrated that its biggest political spender isn't stepping up for them in the midterms.
Why it matters: Crypto now commands the biggest political war chest of any industry in America — and how it deploys that cash could help decide the November elections.
Some college classes are seeing a boom in students earning A's — many with the help of AI.
Why it matters: Universities and colleges were already concerned about how many students are earning A's and B's, but now must worry that graduates are leaving AI-proficient rather than knowledgeable about their subjects of study.
Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s.
Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather.
The Supreme Court denied an emergency effort from Virginia Democrats to revive their chances of redrawing the state's congressional maps before the November midterms.
Why it matters: Virginia's redistricting push is officially dead.
