Eight-term Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie lost his GOP primary Tuesday to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein in what AdImpact calls the most expensive House primary in U.S. history — over $32.6 million in ad spending. Hours earlier, the WHO declared its highest-level emergency on the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak now spreading across the DRC and Uganda: at least 600 suspected cases and 139 deaths, with one American missionary doctor evacuated to Berlin and U.S. critics linking the late detection to USAID and CDC cuts.
🗳️ KENTUCKY PRIMARY
MASSIE OUSTED — $32.6M IN ADS, MOST EXPENSIVE EVER
Eight-term Rep. Thomas Massie lost the GOP primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, handpicked by President Trump. AdImpact recorded $32.6 million in ad spending — most expensive House primary in U.S. history — with more than $14 million from outside groups. Trump went all-in after Massie pushed the Epstein files release, opposed the Iran war and voted against the 2025 tax bill. Said Trump: “He was a bad guy. He deserves to lose.”
SECOND GOP INCUMBENT TO FALL IN A WEEK
Massie is the second sitting Republican ousted by a Trump-endorsed challenger in days, after Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy failed Sunday to advance from his state’s primary. Trump also publicly threatened to pull his endorsement from Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert after she campaigned for Massie. Andy Barr, also Trump-endorsed, won the GOP nomination to replace retiring Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
⚖️ DOJ SETTLEMENT
TRUMP DROPS $10B IRS SUIT FOR $1.78B FUND
President Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization dropped Monday a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the Justice Department setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate alleged victims of Biden-era prosecutions. Democrats call it a “slush fund.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.): “Trump is one step closer to creating a giant slush fund of taxpayer dollars for his MAGA buddies.”
ADDENDUM SHIELDS TRUMP’S OWN TAX RETURNS
A one-page document quietly posted Tuesday on the DOJ website added a sweeping carve-out: the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing audits of Trump, his family, the Trump Organization, and “affiliated” trusts and entities. The 2024 New York Times reported a loss in an IRS audit could cost Trump more than $100 million. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, signed the addendum.
🪖 WAR POWERS
SENATE ADVANCES IRAN WAR-POWERS REBUKE 50-47
For the first time since the Iran war began, the U.S. Senate advanced Tuesday a War Powers Resolution by 50-47, with four Republicans joining Democrats. The vote came 80 days after the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on February 28. The 1973 War Powers Act limits a president to 60 days of unauthorized military action; Trump declared on May 1 a ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities. The bill still faces House passage and an almost certain veto.
🌍 REFUGEES — AFRIKANERS
10,000 MORE WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS — CAP RAISED TO 17,500
In an emergency notice to Congress Monday evening, the State Department raised the refugee admissions cap for Afrikaners (white South Africans of mostly Dutch descent, about 2.7 million of South Africa’s 62 million people) from 7,500 to 17,500 through September. Justification: “unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation.” Pretoria has consistently rejected the “white genocide” claim. Since October, all but three U.S. refugee admissions have come from South Africa.
📰 SOURCES
🦠 EBOLA — DRC/UGANDA
600 CASES, 139 DEATHS — BUNDIBUGYO STRAIN, NO VACCINE
At least 600 suspected cases and 139 deaths across the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda, per the WHO. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain — no licensed vaccine or treatment exists. The WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC, its highest alert level) on May 17. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “I am deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.”
CRITICS: USAID DISMANTLED, CDC DECIMATED
Jeremy Konyndyk, who led the COVID-19 response at USAID and now runs Refugees International, noted that during the 2014–16 outbreak (28,000 cases, largest ever), “USAID and CDC, supported by the U.S. military, led the international response.” Now: “USAID is gone and CDC is decimated.” The State Department disputes the link, calling the claim “false.” U.S. foreign global-health spending has dropped nearly 57% since USAID was shut down.
🚢 IRAN — TANKER SEIZED
U.S. NAVY SEIZES “SKYWAVE” — 1M+ BARRELS OF CRUDE
U.S. forces overnight seized in the Indian Ocean the tanker Skywave (302,481 deadweight tons, built 2005), the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday citing three U.S. officials. The vessel was sanctioned by OFAC in March 2025 for moving Iranian oil; it likely carried over 1 million barrels of crude loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island in February. Third tanker seized in two months after the Majestic X and Tifani in April. CENTCOM reports 89 commercial vessels redirected so far under the U.S. blockade.
🇨🇳 PUTIN IN BEIJING
PUTIN MEETS XI 6 DAYS AFTER TRUMP — NO COINCIDENCE
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday in Beijing for a state visit, less than a week after Donald Trump met Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on May 14. The two leaders plan to issue a joint declaration on a “multipolar world” and a “new type of international relations,” per Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov. China and Russia declared a “no-limits friendship” in February 2022, weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since 2012.
🔫 SAN DIEGO MOSQUE
TEEN SHOOTERS ID’D — 17 AND 18, MET ONLINE
San Diego police identified the two attackers who killed three at the Islamic Center of San Diego as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18. They met online, then realized they lived in the same city. A 75-page manifesto referencing white supremacist “Great Replacement” theory was recovered. A gas canister beside their SUV bore the Nazi SS lightning-bolt symbol. Both authors named John Earnest (2019 Poway synagogue attack) and Brenton Tarrant (2019 Christchurch, 51 killed) as inspirations.
📰 SOURCES
🔍 GOOGLE — I/O 2026
SEARCH BOX REDESIGNED — FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS
At its I/O developer conference Tuesday in Mountain View, Google unveiled what Head of Search Liz Reid called “the biggest upgrade to our iconic Search box since its debut over 25 years ago.” The new “Intelligent Search Box” expands dynamically, accepts text, images, files and videos, and is powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash. AI Mode reached 1 billion monthly users in its first year; AI Overviews now reach 2.5 billion. Google plans capex of $180–190 billion in 2026, six times the 2022 level.
🐔 DE-EXTINCTION
26 CHICKS HATCHED FROM FULLY ARTIFICIAL EGGS
Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences announced Tuesday it hatched 26 healthy chicks from fully artificial 3D-printed lattice “eggshells” — the first successful shell-less incubation system since experiments began in the 1980s. The company targets de-extincting the South Island giant moa, a flightless New Zealand bird that stood 11.8 ft tall and weighed 507 lbs, extinct since the 15th century. Moa eggs are 80 times the size of a chicken’s. CEO Ben Lamm previously claimed the “de-extinction” of dire wolves in 2025.
🎨 ART AUCTION RECORDS
POLLOCK $181M, BRANCUSI $107M IN ONE NIGHT
Christie’s Rockefeller Center sale Monday set new auction records for two 20th-century masters. Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A (1948), the largest “drip” painting ever auctioned, sold for $181.2 million after a seven-minute bidding war — nearly triple Pollock’s previous record of $61.2 million (2021). Constantin Brancusi’s bronze head Danaïde (c. 1913) brought $107.6 million. Both came from the estate of Condé Nast chairman S.I. Newhouse, who died in 2017. Total Newhouse evening sale: about $630 million.
🔥 SANDY FIRE — CALIFORNIA
1,700 ACRES IN SIMI VALLEY — STARTED BY A TRACTOR
The wind-driven Sandy Fire, sparked Monday at 10:17 a.m. near Sandy Avenue in Simi Valley (Ventura County), had burned 1,698 acres with 5% containment by Tuesday night. At peak, 17,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation. One home destroyed, no injuries reported. Simi Valley police say it began when an individual “hit a rock with a tractor” while clearing brush. Over 750 firefighters were deployed alongside water-dropping helicopters.
💼 META — LAYOFFS DAY
8,000 JOBS CUT — DEEPEST SINCE 2023
Meta began Wednesday its largest layoffs since 2022-23, eliminating about 8,000 jobs (roughly 10% of staff) and dropping plans to fill 6,000 open roles. Cash freed up is heading to AI: Meta now expects $125–145 billion in 2026 capex, mostly for data centers and custom silicon. Reality Labs (which has lost over $70 billion since 2020) has been a focus of cuts; 7,000 employees are being moved into four new AI units. Earlier 2026 rounds already cut about 2,200 staff.
📰 SOURCES
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