‘Count Me Skeptical’

Today’s notice: Senators want to see the Iran deal before they believe it. The soon-to-be-chartered Trump crypto bank. Another night of primaries. Executive branch vs. potential 2028ers: who wins? The latest on Democrats’ redistricting efforts. The D.C. mayor’s race. The Wizards try to avoid another disappointing No. 1 draft pick. Plus: This Bud’s (once again) for you, MAGA.

THE LATEST

Signed, sealed, greeted with skepticism: Senate Republicans are not ready to go all in on the Iran “memorandum of understanding” that Donald Trump announced with great fanfare, NOTUS’ Al Weaver and Avani Kalra report. No one has seen the text, and Trump appears to have a bit of a trust problem at this point after months of teasing a deal only to see talks repeatedly collapse.

“The process in the next 60 days, if you can get what the president and vice president have outlined, that would be a deal we can all live with, that would be a good deal,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said. “Count me skeptical that Iran will ever go there, but time will tell.”

Democrats don’t know what to think of this yet-to-be-revealed deal either. “They don’t consult us,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said of the president’s team. “We’re in a war we never should have been in because they wouldn’t consult Democrats or Republicans.”

Setting the tone: Up against these odds, JD Vance has been on a media tour, with stops at CBS, CNBC, ABC and CNN (and “The View” today). He has batted away concerns that the U.S. is immediately handing over wads of cash and suggested some senior Iranian leaders have had a change of heart toward the U.S. … all before the text has been released. (Trump said it would be public after Friday; other U.S. officials said Tuesday or Wednesday.)

Open tabs: CIA director doubts Iran’s intentions on deal, sources say (Axios); Justice Department Decision to Allow Paramount Deal Surprised Staff Investigators (WSJ); Kennedy Center Set to Launch New Endowment Under Trump’s Name (NOTUS); How an Addictive Gas Station Drug Found Allies in Trump’s Cabinet (NYT)

From the White House

Trump bank? World Liberty Financial, the stablecoin and trading platform co-founded by Trump and his three sons, asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in January to grant it a national trust bank charter. The office — led by Jonathan Gould, a Trump appointee — is expected to make a decision soon.

The charter would allow the company to settle financial transactions akin to Venmo or PayPal on the World Liberty Financial platform, while the owners (the Trumps) get a cut. NOTUS’ Jeff Stein reports that the OCC has already granted charters to around a dozen similar firms, and two former staffers told him they can’t see any reason World Liberty won’t get a charter as well.

Good-government groups see many reasons why it shouldn’t, most starting with conflict and ending in interest. However: “There are no conflicts of interest,” a World Liberty spokesperson said to Jeff.

From the campaign trail

Primary night preview: Tomorrow is not the busiest night on the primary calendar, but there are some interesting standout races: the marquee one is for D.C. mayor (more on that below in Metro).

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp and Trump are now (openly) on opposite sides of the Republican U.S. Senate runoff. The president endorsed Rep. Mike Collins over the weekend, while Kemp has backed former football coach Derek Dooley, who has been the governor’s guy all along. Our Reese Gorman had some reporting back in March about the once quiet dynamics of this race that are now fully aired out.

We would say keep a close eye on California’s 14th Congressional District tonight, where a ton of candidates are running to serve the remainder of former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s term, but we all know the vote counting won’t be done until sometime in the late 2030s (*sarcasm*).

Department of Unintended Consequences, Part I … “Every time the Trump administration hits him, he can say, ‘See, I’m their enemy, come with me in this fight,’” a Democratic strategist told NOTUS’ Joe Gould of the ongoing war to reprimand Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) being waged by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “That is the most powerful thing for eyeballs, and eyeballs equals donors among the base.”

… and Part II. What do we imagine the “donors among the base” will think of this? “Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-California) said in a video statement yesterday after alleging the Justice Department is investigating him. “He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.”

From the redistricting wars

Democrats’ 2028 focus starts this fall: The National Democratic Redistricting Committee is prioritizing races and ballot measures this cycle that Democrats say will affect the debate over lines next cycle, NOTUS’ Manuela Silva reports. Fourteen states have races the NDRC is watching, including sure-to-be 2028 battlegrounds like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

NOTUS METRO

Local news: The D.C. mayoral primary that did not become a national referendum. The lines are pretty clear between the candidates in the Democratic primary, NOTUS’ Christa Dutton reports. Moderate Kenyan McDuffie has the backing of several establishment figures, who say a vote for him will keep Trump’s ambitions to take over D.C. at bay. Supporters of progressive Janeese Lewis George want a more confrontational approach to the president, even if it provokes him.

But that debate has not become a national conversation among Democrats the way so many other primaries have, Christa writes. Lefties like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) have not endorsed anyone. And establishment-type Democrats who sit on congressional committees that deal with D.C.’s home rule have not, for the most part, made any big public pronouncements, either.

Sports desk: Ranking every No. 1 draft pick in Washington sports history. Wizards fans will see who the team picks at the NBA draft soon. But they should maybe temper their expectations, Scott Allen writes for NOTUS. Past first-overall NBA picks headed to D.C. have not changed the sports landscape like those picked by the Caps (Alexander Ovechkin in 2004) or the Nats (Stephen Strasburg in 2009).

Sign up for our new local newsletter. NOTUS has added some of the best reporters covering D.C.-area news, sports and culture. Sign up for the NOTUS Metro Newsletter now!

NEW ON NOTUS

Bud heavy: NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports on the extremely expensive work that went into Bud Light’s return to the MAGA spotlight Sunday night at the White House UFC event. You may recall the brand was declared dead to conservatives not that long ago (see Kid Rock’s target-practice video).

That, however, was before Anheuser-Busch’s nine-figure deal to make Bud Light the official beer of the UFC, a big Republican tilt in the company’s PAC political spending in 2024 and $1.43 million spent on federal lobbying so far this year alone.

More: There’s Only Room for One Dan Sullivan in Alaska Senate Race, by Torrie Herrington

NOT US

• Building Back the Bidens, by Ben Terris for New York magazine
  
• The 2028 Democratic Ticket May Already Be Taking Shape, by Jonathan Martin for Politico
  
• Do internet super stars matter in elections? By Elena Moore for NPR
  
• Inside the Ludicrous, Deadly Serious Plan to Take Over Greenland, by Ben Taub for The New Yorker
  

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