👀 Axios AM: Trump breaking point

Happy Wednesday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,575 words ... 6 mins. Thanks to Noah Bressner for orchestrating. Edited by Andrew Pantazi and Bill Kole.

🤖 I'm in Manhattan this morning for our third annual Axios AI+NY Summit. Tune in at 2 p.m. ET for conversations with Casey Neistat, Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and more. Watch here.

🏛️ The Congressional Coalition on Adoption — historically the largest bipartisan, bicameral caucus in Congress — turns 40 with a reception on Capitol Hill tomorrow. More details.

The shift over the past few weeks has been subtle but unmistakable: John Thune sounds like he's had it with President Trump, Axios' Mike Zapler writes.

• Why it matters: In a departure from the past 18 months, the Senate majority leader has broken with POTUS on a string of recent controversies.

🏛️ It's a sign that Trump's sway with congressional Republicans is waning as he approaches the back half of his term.

• Trump named Bill Pulte — a MAGA attack dog who's used his position as the federal housing finance chief to go after the president's enemies — acting director of national intelligence yesterday, despite no apparent intelligence experience.
• Thune's verdict: "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there." If the White House wants Pulte in the job permanently, "he's got a lengthy road ahead of him," the Senate leader added.

🖼️ Friction point: Thune, in his low-key manner, has made his differences with Trump known repeatedly in recent weeks.

• "I'm not a big fan," Thune said of Trump's proposed $1.78 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, which he said "doesn't pass the smell test."
• After the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled that money for Trump's proposed ballroom couldn't go in an immigration enforcement bill, the president demanded she be fired. Thune wouldn't bite.
• Thune was visibly disappointed when Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary — after months urging the president to get behind his friend and colleague, Sen. John Cornyn. Cornyn lost in a rout.

🥊 Reality check: Thune has been with the president on his biggest priorities, from tariffs and nominees to immigration and tax cuts in the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

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Iowa Democrats are plotting a comeback with candidates for governor and the Senate who embrace the state's rural roots, Axios Des Moines' Jason Clayworth writes.

• Why it matters: Josh Turek's Senate primary win last night and Rob Sand's uncontested path to the governor's race give Democrats two statewide candidates with rural appeal.

Turek, a moderate former Paralympian, defeated progressive state Sen. Zach Wahls — a win for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who backed Turek as the more electable candidate. In November, Turek will challenge Rep. Ashley Hinson to replace retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

• Sand, the state auditor, has made rural outreach central to his pitch, leaning on his small-town upbringing and moderate appeal, and casting himself as a Democrat who can connect with voters well beyond big cities.

🥊 In a rare primary defeat for President Trump, Zach Lahn narrowly beat Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra (37.8% to 37.0%) in Iowa's GOP primary for governor.

• Full Iowa results (NYT open link).

🔎 AP results from all 6 states with primaries yesterday (Calif. ... Iowa ... Montana ... N.J. ... N.M. ... S.D.)

🌴 California's two hot races remain too early to call:

• Steve Hilton (R), a former Fox News host endorsed by President Trump, led the California governor's "jungle primary" (28%), where candidates of both parties run together and two advance. Xavier Becerra (D) is running second (25%) and Tom Steyer (D) is third (20%).
• L.A. Mayor Karen Bass advanced to a Nov. 3 runoff, with 35%. The race for the second slot, between Trump-endorsed Republican reality TV star Spencer Pratt (30%) and progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman (22%), is yet to be decided.

The wait: California counts slowly. Mail ballots postmarked yesterday count through June 9, so the runners-up may not be clear for days.

• Full California results (NYT open link).

Nick Bilton, the newly installed executive producer of "60 Minutes," fired Scott Pelley after the veteran anchor assailed him in front of staff during a meeting on Bilton's first day, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.

• Why it matters: The leaked exchange showed how little confidence top talent has in the new management at "60 Minutes" and CBS News. Pelley told Bilton he lacked relevant expertise and that Bari Weiss was "murdering" the show.

In a termination letter, Bilton said he fired Pelley "for cause" after the confrontation and efforts at a resolution yesterday.

• "Yesterday's performative display of hostility — enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil, private conversation — demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show."

Bilton wrote in an email to the "60 Minutes" team: "I know how much Scott meant to many of you, and I don't say this lightly. I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose."

• "What I regret most is that this situation interfered with the conversation I had hoped to have with you about Season 59 and the future of this show. … What I will commit to is this: My unyielding support for each of you, the journalism that you do and what we will do together going forward."

🔭 Zoom out: Last week, the network parted ways with longtime producer-turned-interim executive producer Tanya Simon, as well as correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.

• Anderson Cooper resigned from "60 Minutes" after nearly two decades this year, citing the desire to spend more time with his family.

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Boeing’s commitment to the U.S. economy is an investment in the people driving our industry forward.

The impact: Today, we support 1.4 million jobs with a network of nearly 10,000 suppliers across all 50 states.

Learn how Boeing backs America.

Amazon has dethroned Walmart as the Fortune 500's No. 1 company — ending the retailer's 13-year reign atop the list, out this morning.

• The list ranks U.S. companies by FY 2025 revenue.

The top 10:

1. Amazon
2. Walmart
3. UnitedHealth Group
4. Apple
5. Alphabet
6. CVS Health

7. Berkshire Hathaway

8. McKesson

9. Exxon Mobil

10. Cencora (drug wholesaler)

🤠 Between the lines: Texas is once again home to the most Fortune 500 companies (57) — reclaiming the top spot among states from California (56). New York (53) follows closely behind.

• Women CEOs now lead 55 Fortune 500 companies — 11% of the list and the highest share in its history.

More on the new No. 1: Amazon puts groceries at the center of Prime Day, by Axios' Kelly Tyko.

• Explore the full list ... Methodology.

Economists are looking for clues that AI is eliminating jobs for young workers. Two new papers suggest a different culprit: remote work, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.

• Why it matters: Young workers' white-collar job woes might stem from the massive, pandemic-era shift in how Americans work. Any AI-related impacts are landing on top of that upheaval.

New research — separately from the New York Fed and a group of British economists — suggests employers may be shying away from inexperienced workers, believing that remote work makes training harder.

• The Fed economists estimate that remote work accounts for roughly 64% of the rise in youth unemployment since the pandemic.

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said yesterday that Marvell Technology is the "next trillion-dollar company," and investors listened: The stock soared nearly 33% in a day, writes Axios' Emily Peck.

• Why it matters: As leader of the most valuable company in the world, Huang is one of a select few who can move markets simply by saying stuff — a kingmaker of sorts.

Speaking at a trade show alongside Marvell CEO Matt Murphy, Huang said the company's chips were "essential" to data centers.

• Shares of Marvell — which makes semiconductors and high-speed networking technology used in data centers — jumped to $290.79 from $219.43 the day before.
• Its market cap shot up to just under $250 billion. Last year, it was $53 billion.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — who endorsed the executive order on AI that President Trump signed yesterday — will be in D.C. today for meetings at the White House, and with House and Senate leaders of both parties.

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told CNN he'll meet with Altman today at Altman's request. Sanders on Monday proposed a one-time 50% tax on AI companies (paid in stock) to create an American AI sovereign wealth fund.

Republican support for same-sex marriage has plummeted, with fewer than 4 in 10 saying it should be valid, Axios' Avery Lotz writes from Gallup polling out this morning.

• That number has slid from 55% in 2022 to just 37% this year.
• Among independents, support has dropped 10 points since last year.

Yes, but: A majority of Americans overall (65%) still support same-sex marriage.

• Explore the data ... Keep reading.

Live event companies — including movie theaters — are delighting Wall Street as the trend toward in-person entertainment accelerates in the AI era, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

• Cinemark said Monday that last month represented its highest-ever domestic box office performance for May. "Backrooms" delivered its biggest horror opening day of all time last week.
• AMC said last month was its highest-attended month of May since 2019.
• IMAX posted a record global box office in 2025.

🔮 State of play: A focus on scarcity has helped venue companies with competitive pricing.

• Sphere saw revenue grow 69% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, thanks in part to concert residencies.
• Those numbers are helping fuel investor optimism around expansions planned in Abu Dhabi and National Harbor outside D.C.

Keep reading.

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What to expect: Operating at this scale means we can actively invest in local economies and create opportunities for communities across all 50 states.

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