Today in One Sentence. U.S. and Iranian negotiators moved toward a tentative 60-day ceasefire extension to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that neither Trump nor Iran’s leadership has approved a federal judge declined to block Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list to limit mail-in voting inflation accelerated to 3.8% in April, its highest level in nearly 3 years the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll lied under oath Trump refiled his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and two Wall Street Journal reporters over its report on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein White House adviser Peter Navarro initiated a Pentagon request for a $620 million loan to a startup tied to Trump Jr.’s venture firm Trump bought more than $1 million in Dell stock before the Pentagon awarded Dell a $9.7 billion contract Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son quietly took a political appointee job as a Treasury Department lawyer while the Supreme Court handled cases involving the department and Trump’s Treasury Department has prepared a design for a $250 bill with his portrait and signature, despite laws barring living people from U.S. currency.

1/ U.S. and Iranian negotiators moved toward a tentative 60-day ceasefire extension to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that neither Trump nor Iran’s leadership has approved. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there were “perhaps” the “makings of a deal,” but said Trump’s terms still include reopening the strait, surrendering highly enriched uranium, and ending Iran’s nuclear program. The draft would let shipping resume while both sides negotiate Iran’s nuclear program, frozen assets, sanctions relief, and the U.S. blockade. The talks advanced despite new strikes, with U.S. forces hitting Iranian drones near Bandar Abbas and Kuwait intercepting an Iranian missile aimed toward a U.S. base. U.S. Central Command called the launch an “egregious ceasefire violation,” while Iran said it answered U.S. “aggression” and warned of a “more decisive” response. Meanwhile, Trump threatened to “blow up” Oman if the U.S. ally joined Iran in managing or tolling the strait, saying “nobody’s going to control it.” (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Reuters / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / Associated Press)

2/ A federal judge declined to block Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list to limit mail-in voting. The order directs federal agencies to use Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration data to build “state citizenship lists,” and tells USPS to deliver ballots to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list. Judge Carl Nichols didn’t rule on whether the order is lawful, but said the challenge was premature because no citizenship lists had been created, no Postal Service ballot rule had been adopted, and no voter had yet been harmed. (New York Times / Associated Press / NBC News / NPR / Washington Post / Reuters / The Hill)

3/ Inflation accelerated to 3.8% in April, its highest level in nearly 3 years. Core inflation rose to 3.3%, while the savings rate fell to 2.6% and real disposable income fell. Initial jobless claims, meanwhile, increased by 5,000 to 215,000, while continuing claims rose to 1.79 million. (Politico / ABC News / Reuters / New York Times / CNN / Associated Press / NBC News / Reuters / Associated Press)

4/ The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll lied under oath about outside funding for her civil lawsuits against Trump. The investigation is based on a perjury theory already examined, at least in part, by the appeals court that upheld Trump’s $5 million sexual abuse and defamation judgment. In Carroll’s 2022 deposition statement, she said no one else was paying her legal fees, though lawyers later disclosed that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman helped cover some costs. The appeals court upheld the verdict against Trump and said Carroll had “plausibly represented” that she forgot about the limited funding, and that discovery showed she “simply was not involved” in who paid litigation costs. Carroll won two civil cases against Trump: a $5 million verdict in 2023 after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and an $83.3 million defamation award in 2024 over his later attacks on her. (CNN / Reuters / CBS News / NBC News / Associated Press)

5/ Trump refiled his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and two Wall Street Journal reporters over its report on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump denies writing or signing the “bawdy” birthday note that was typed inside a sketched outline of naked a woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret,” and signed “Donald” below the waist to mimic pubic hair. A federal judge dismissed the original complaint, saying it lacked sufficient claims that the story was published with “actual malice” toward Trump. The revised suit says Trump called Murdoch before publication and denied writing the letter. Murdoch allegedly told him “I will handle it.” Dow Jones said it has “full confidence” in the reporting and will defend the case. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Reuters / CNN / The Hill)

The 2026 midterms are in 159 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 894 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. White House adviser Peter Navarro initiated a Pentagon request for a $620 million loan to a startup tied to Trump Jr.’s venture firm. Trump Jr.’s firm took an undisclosed stake in Vulcan Elements about three months before the Pentagon announced a deal to help the company build a magnet facility and give the government a $50 million stake. The Pentagon denied political influence, while Trump Jr.’s spokesperson claims he had “no knowledge about how this deal came together.” (ProPublica)

  2. Trump bought more than $1 million in Dell stock before the Pentagon awarded Dell a $9.7 billion contract. The purchase came nine days before Trump praised Michael Dell for pledging $6.25 billion to Trump’s child investment accounts program, telling people to “go out and buy a Dell computer.” (New York Times)

  3. Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission asked a judge to erase a $5 million Biden-era penalty against the crypto exchange run by prominent donors to Trump’s 2024 campaign. Gemini, run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, settled the case weeks before Trump took office, after regulators accused it of making false statements tied to a bitcoin futures business. The agency now says the case should never have been filed, citing a whistleblower account it now calls not credible and describing Gemini as a fraud victim. (CNN)

  4. A senior CIA official was arrested after investigators found 303 gold bars worth more than $40 million, about $2 million in cash, and dozens of luxury watches at his Virginia home. Court papers say David Rush received gold bars and foreign currency for work expenses, but the CIA later couldn’t locate much of it. Prosecutors charged him with stealing public money. The filings don’t explain why his work required that much gold or why it ended up at his house. (Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)

  5. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s son quietly took a political appointee job as a Treasury Department lawyer while the Supreme Court handled cases involving the department. Philip Alito works in Treasury’s general counsel office, which advises Secretary Scott Bessent, but his name doesn’t appear on the department’s website and his public bar listings are outdated. Samuel Alito didn’t recuse from a tariff case naming Treasury as a defendant, and his office didn’t respond to questions about the arrangement. (NOTUS)

  6. Trump’s Treasury Department has prepared a design for a $250 bill with his portrait and signature, despite laws barring living people from U.S. currency. The Treasury claimed it was only doing “appropriate planning” for the stalled legislation needed to authorize the note. After resisting the effort, Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Patricia Solimene was reassigned. She told colleagues in a goodbye email: “The buck stopped here.” (Washington Post / CNN / Associated Press)