Today in one sentence: Trump surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges that he mishandled top secret classified information and obstructed justice after leaving the White House; a federal judge will allow E. Jean Carroll to amend her original defamation lawsuit against Trump to include comments he made at a CNN town hall; inflation fell to 4% in May from a year earlier; Kevin McCarthy struck a temporary deal with 11 members of the Freedom Caucus to end their protest that prevented the House from considering any business for almost a week; and California’s summer wildfires increased about fivefold from 1971 to 2021.


1/ Trump surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges that he mishandled top secret classified information and obstructed justice after leaving the White House. Trump faces 31 counts of willful retention of national security records, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document, one count of corruptly concealing a document, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheme to conceal, and one count of false statements and representations. In their 49-page indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Trump had documents with details on “defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.” Prosecutors added that Trump risked national security by keeping the classified documents in a bathroom, a ballroom, and his bedroom, among other places, at Mar-a-Lago. Nevertheless, Trump’s lawyer said at the arraignment that “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty.” Trump’s personal aide, Walt Nauta, also appeared before the judge but did not enter a plea because he does not have a local Florida lawyer to represent him. Both Trump and Nauta were released with no travel restrictions, and they were not required to surrender their passports. It was the second time in three months that Trump was not mugshotted at an arraignment. Trump is currently the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite being impeached twice, charged with 34 felony charges in an unrelated case in New York, and still under investigation for his efforts to overturn 2020 election. He is the first former American president to stand accused of federal crimes, and faces the possibility of several years in prison if convicted. Alina Habba, a Trump attorney, meanwhile, said “People in charge of this country do not love America. They hate Donald Trump.” She added: “What we are witnessing today is the blatant and unapologetic weaponization of the criminal justice system.” (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / ABC News / NPR / CNN / Bloomberg / CNBC)

2/ A federal judge will allow E. Jean Carroll to amend her original defamation lawsuit against Trump to include comments he made at a CNN town hall. The New York author is seeking at least $10 million more in damages. A day after Carroll won her $5 million sexual abuse and defamation case against him, Trump appeared on CNN and called Carroll’s allegations “a fake story” and dismissed her as a “wack job.” (CNN / Bloomberg)

3/ Inflation fell to 4% in May from a year earlier. It’s the lowest reading in two years and well below last June’s peak of 9.1%, which was a 40-year high. While inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, the consumer price index reading puts the central bank on track to skip a rate increase on Wednesday after 10 consecutive hikes. Prices rose 0.1% in May from April. (NBC News / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / CNBC)

4/ Kevin McCarthy struck a temporary deal with 11 members of the Freedom Caucus to end their protest that prevented the House from considering any business for almost a week. The House is now on track to vote on several bills this week, including bills on gas stoves and pistol braces. Multiple members leaving McCarthy’s office said the conservative Freedom Caucus agreed to end the blockade while they continue discussions about deeper spending cuts. Matt Gaetz added that the “power-sharing agreement” McCarthy negotiated with conservatives to win the speaker’s gavel in January “must be renegotiated.” (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN / Politico)

5/ California’s summer wildfires increased about fivefold from 1971 to 2021. Peer-reviewed research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that human-caused climate change is responsible for almost all of the increase in California’s wildfires over the past 50 years. The burned area grew 172% more than it would have without human-caused climate change. The 10 largest California wildfires have all happened in the last two decades – five of which occurred in 2020 and eight after 2017. Scientists estimate that the area burned in an average California summer could rise as much as 50% by 2050. (CNBC / USA Today / UCI News / Bloomberg)