Axios

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• Several Democrats eyeing 2028 runs for president say the party has a vocabulary problem as much as a messaging one. The left's embrace of "woke" buzzwords alienated working-class voters and drove many of them to Donald Trump, they say.

Why it matters: To get them back, they want more Democrats to start speaking more like ordinary people — and less like progressive politicos or liberal arts professors.

Free-market consumer groups are pushing back against the Trump administration's effort to set a definition for ultra-processed foods, according to a letter shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: It's the latest example of a rift within the GOP base over health and nutrition policy.

Past criticism of abortion pills by President Trump's nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration could revive an intense debate over abortion rights that the administration has largely managed to duck for the last year and a half.

Why it matters: Though the Senate is unlikely to hold a confirmation vote on White House aide Heidi Overton before the midterm elections, new talk about dialing back access to the pills could work both ways politically for Republicans.

The U.S. Army and the Defense Innovation Unit have selected Antares to build and operate nuclear microreactors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, chief executive Jordan Bramble told Axios.

Why it matters: The military's sky-high energy demand — for reusable batteries, computer farms, radars, housing, weapons and more — is an ideal pressure test for nuclear, which has mounted a comeback in recent years.

Meta's landmark settlement over claims its products harmed children underscores years of congressional deadlock over kids' online safety legislation.

Why it matters: The settlement will force Meta to make changes to its products and pay billions after Congress repeatedly failed to pass federal rules to protect children online.

The Trump administration has struck data-sharing deals with major technology firms to help track how AI is affecting jobs and hiring, acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling told Axios.

Why it matters: AI could reshape the labor market faster than traditional government statistics can capture it. That could make it difficult for economic policymakers to see major shifts in jobs and hiring in real time.

The chair of a key Senate Judiciary subcommittee is launching an investigation into Flock Safety's "collection, retention, and dissemination of the data" from its AI-powered surveillance cameras, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The probe represents the highest level of backlash to date towards Flock cameras, which have rapidly evolved from the target of local governments and activists to a major national political issue.

President Trump recently blurted out that North Korea has 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons.

• Experts told Axios that is believable, but is most likely an undercount.

Why it matters: Nuclear arsenals are often spoken of in generalities — round numbers, increases and decreases, confidence levels. Specifics like this, especially from the very top, are rare and raise hackles.

Rolls-Royce will this week mark the completion of a $1 billion investment in Indiana, where the company has expanded and renovated its manufacturing, assembly and test facilities.

The big picture: The overhaul competitively positions Rolls-Royce amid wartime-production messaging from the Pentagon and a growing portfolio of projects, including propulsion for the Army's MV-75, the Air Force's B-52J and the Navy's MQ-25A.

• "If you go back to 2014, we knew that we were at an inflection point. We had aging facilities, some dating back to World War II," Adam Riddle, president of Rolls-Royce Defense, told Axios.

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina — The scrubby, scorching-hot hills of Range 63 bustled last week with soldiers and contractors. Some nursed cans of Monster. Some rocked sunglasses and sun shirts. Some handled shotgun magazines.

• A futuristic Ford F-250 was posted at one end of the range. Atop sat a 12-gauge turret, dubbed Edda, that shredded two targets as they flew overhead. A small shipping container labeled "Bee Hive" was parked at the other end. It brimmed with Bumblebee V2 drones, which zipped toward the horizon one after the other.
• In the middle, a crew with Safe Pro AI pored over aerial imagery and algorithms to identify hidden mines. And somewhere farther off, another F-250 finessed a slurry line charge into place. Its detonation, seen and felt, hurled into the air smoke and dust.

The big picture: This hourslong jam session was part of Sandhills 2.0, an ongoing experiment meant to remove U.S. troops from some of the bloodiest battlefield tasks, like breaching.