Trump previously summed up his pick of Ed Gallrein this way: “I asked for a warm body that could beat Massie.” Gallrein, a fifth-generation Kentucky farmer and former Navy SEAL, had only just lost a state senate race in 2025. The race in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District drew $32.6 million in ad spending, per AdImpact — a record for any U.S. House primary. Trump’s “Kentucky MAGA” super PAC funneled in money from megadonors Paul Singer ($1M) and Miriam Adelson ($750K).

Massie had drawn Trump’s ire by pushing to release the Jeffrey Epstein files via a bipartisan discharge petition with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), voting against the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, and openly opposing the Iran war. In his 20-minute concession speech, Massie told a crowd chanting “no more wars” and “America First”: “There is a yearning in this country for someone who will vote for principles over party.” He signed off teasing a 2028 run.

The Trump administration does not plan to seek Congressional approval for the planned 250-foot Independence Arch at Memorial Circle, Arlington — between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The legal theory: Congress already authorized a similar project a century ago, even though that one was never built. The arch would stand taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (164 feet), more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. Survey work began the week of May 11.

The latest design has dropped four golden lions from the original, but the height stays at 250 feet — a 60-foot statue atop a 190-foot arch. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, stacked with Trump allies, reviewed the revised proposal Thursday. Four Vietnam veterans, represented by Public Citizen, are suing to block the project for lacking Congressional authorization, alongside parallel litigation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation over Trump’s planned $1+ billion White House ballroom.

The South Carolina state House passed a new congressional map shortly after midnight Wednesday (12:39 a.m.), in a 74-37 vote, redrawing Rep. Jim Clyburn’s 6th District into Republican territory. Clyburn, 85, has held the seat since 1993 — he’s a power broker who delivered the 2020 Democratic primary for Joe Biden. The map could give the GOP a clean 7-0 sweep in the state. Four Republicans defected. The bill heads to the Republican-led state Senate.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an addendum Tuesday to Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” settlement, “forever barring” the IRS from any audits or reviews of past tax returns by Trump, family members, and Trump businesses. Stakes: a long-running IRS audit detailed by the New York Times and ProPublica in 2024 found Trump could owe more than $100 million over his Chicago tower loss claims. Sen. Jack Reed: “He’s the plaintiff. You’re his appointee.”

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report released May 13 confirms 42 US aircraft lost or significantly damaged during “Operation Epic Fury” — the air war launched against Iran on February 28. Replacement cost estimate: over $7 billion. Total war cost so far: ~$29 billion, per acting Pentagon CFO Jules Hurst III. Heaviest loss: 24 MQ-9A Reaper drones. General Atomics shut the Reaper production line in 2025; only 5 spare units remain in stock.

Among the losses: three F-15E Strike Eagles destroyed by Kuwaiti ground-based air defenses in a friendly-fire incident over Kuwait on March 2, 2026. All six aircrew ejected and were recovered. A fourth F-15E was shot down over Iranian territory on April 5. Also lost: 7 KC-135 refueling tankers, one F-35A damaged by Iranian ground fire, one E-3 Sentry AWACS struck at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and the MQ-4C Triton maritime patrol drone.

SpaceX filed its public S-1 registration with the SEC late Wednesday May 20, confirming plans for what would be the largest IPO in history. Ticker SPCX, dual-listed on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas, with a roadshow set for the week of June 8. Target valuation: $1.75 trillion (some reports say up to $2T), with a raise of up to $75 billion — beating Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record of $29 billion raised at a $1.7T valuation. CFO James McNeil promised a 30 % retail allocation, triple the normal mega-IPO rate.

The S-1 disclosed SpaceX’s 18,712 bitcoin holdings, with a cost basis of around $661 million (~$35,320 per coin) — a stash that has not changed since 2024. Fair value at March 31: $1.29 billion, currently worth around $1.45 billion. Holdings are held by third-party custodians and were more than double what on-chain trackers Arkham and Bitcoin Treasuries had attributed to the company. Q1 2026 revenue: $4.69 billion; net loss: $4.28 billion. Starlink has ~10,000 satellites in orbit.

The US national debt officially crossed $39 trillion on May 18, per Treasury data — $39,008,999,901,378.68 to be exact. More than $1 trillion added since October 23, 2025, or roughly $5 billion per day. Debt-to-GDP ratio crossed 100% in March (debt held by the public at $31.27T against $31.22T GDP). Trump’s pushback: if you count America’s natural assets like the Grand Canyon, “if you kept it at $40 trillion, you’re way under-levered.”

James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems agreed to buy New York Magazine, Vox.com, and the Vox Media Podcast Network — including shows like Pivot with Kara Swisher and Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin? — for over $300 million. The deal closes in 4 to 6 weeks. Vox Media was valued at $1 billion in 2015. James, Rupert Murdoch’s youngest son, publicly broke with the family right-wing empire years ago; this is roughly 50 years after his father first bought New York Magazine before selling in 1991.

Self-described “left-handed gay Jew” Barney Frank died Tuesday night at 86, after entering hospice for congestive heart failure earlier this year. The Massachusetts Democrat served 32 years in the House (1981–2013), chaired the Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011, and co-wrote the landmark Dodd-Frank Act after the 2008 crash. In 1987, he came out — the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. In 2012, he became the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage, wedding Jim Ready.

The DOJ unsealed an indictment Wednesday charging former Cuban president Raúl Castro, 94, brother of Fidel, over the February 1996 Cuban MiG shootdown of two civilian Cessnas operated by the anti-Castro group “Brothers to the Rescue.” Four people died. Seven counts: one of conspiracy to murder Americans, two of destroying aircraft, four of murder. The Clinton administration had previously avoided indicting Castro for diplomatic reasons. Trump: “That place is falling apart.”

Jack Smith is the former special counsel appointed under Biden who investigated Trump in two cases – the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and the 2020 election interference case. Both collapsed once Trump won back the White House. Volume II of his final report (on Mar-a-Lago) was sealed by Judge Aileen Cannon and never released. On Wednesday, ex-prosecutor Carmen Lineberger, who worked in the Florida office that handled the case, was indicted: she allegedly emailed the sealed report from her DOJ account to her personal Gmail in December, with the filename “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf.” Months earlier, she’d allegedly mailed other DOJ files disguised as chocolate cake recipes. Pleaded not guilty; up to 20 years on one count.

The Sandy Fire, sparked Monday 10:17 a.m. by a tractor hitting a rock near Rudolph Drive in Simi Valley, has grown to 2,115 acres with 22% containment as of May 21, after burning 1,698 the day before. 17,000+ people are under evacuation orders in Ventura and LA counties. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was evacuated. Two elementary schools (Crestview and Mountain View) were bused to Simi Valley High. More than 750 firefighters from Ventura, LA County and CAL FIRE are on scene.

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers, 42, told reporters at Pittsburgh’s organized team activities Wednesday that 2026 will be his 22nd and final NFL season. “Yes. This is it.” The four-time MVP (second only to Peyton Manning’s five), Super Bowl XLV champion, signed a one-year, $25 million deal to return — drawn back by the hiring of new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, his coach for 13 seasons in Green Bay. Rodgers ranks fourth all-time in passing TDs (527) and tied first all-time in passer rating (102.2).

In a Squawk Box interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin recorded at Blue Origin’s Merritt Island rocket factory Wednesday, Jeff Bezos called Trump “a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term”, adding “Trump has lots of good ideas… you have to give him credit where credit is due.” Context: Bezos pulled the WaPo’s 2024 Harris endorsement (250,000 subscribers lost) and Amazon paid $40 million for the Melania documentary plus $35 million in promotion. Memorial Day gas average: $4.55/gallon.

Alessandra Mussolini, 63, granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, won Italy’s Grande Fratello VIP (the celebrity edition of Big Brother) Tuesday — beating 15 other contestants. Prize: about $116,000, half donated to charity. Former MEP and member of the right-wing Lega party (she once said she was “proud to be a fascist”), Mussolini also released a city-pop album in 1982 that’s been rediscovered on YouTube with millions of views.