Trump Declares War On Algae
Plus: OpenAI gets final cut. Tucker quits the party. How to lose a landslide, UK edition. Pay up, future Americans. And women supporting women, at full volume.
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Alan Greenspan died today at 100. For younger readers: He ran the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades and Washington treated him as an oracle, the man whose every syllable could move markets. He was also famous for being incomprehensible on purpose. “If I seem unduly clear to you,” he once joked, “you must have misunderstood what I said.”
His death brought back a conversation I had on Capitol Hill in early 2009, the worst stretch of the Great Recession and three years after Greenspan left the Fed. Congress was scrambling to keep the economy from going over the cliff. A longtime congressman — smart, moderate, not prone to drama — told me Greenspan’s mystique wasn’t incidental to the collapse.
Here’s why. He said that for decades, Greenspan would come before Congress, assess the state of the economy and explain Fed policy in riddles, and walk out unchallenged. Lawmakers wouldn’t question him because they didn’t want to look stupid or admit they had no idea what Greenspan had just said. So the hard questions went unasked. The deference compounded year after year, behind policies that helped steer the financial system into a wall. The Congressman told me we might not be in such a mess if members had started early on asking Greenspan, “Sir, please explain what you mean and what safeguards are in place to protect us from the worst outcome?”
Those in power can insulate themselves by making their work sound more complicated than it is. It was true of finance then. It is true of tech and AI now. It’s why I started News Not Noise. Almost everything that matters can be said in plain English, as long as someone is willing to ask the supposedly stupid question.
In this newsletter: The National Guard vs. photosynthesis. Jeff Bezos helps out a powerful friend. Tucker breaks up with the GOP. Britain seeks a new Prime Minister. Colombia got the strongman starter kit. And global superstar Olivia Rodrigo announces a new festival — with a charitable twist.
Here Are Your Headlines
We’re Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This: The National Guard and Park Police are patrolling the Reflecting Pool. Without evidence, Trump is blaming vandals for the Pool’s sorry state. The likelier culprits are heat and photosynthesis, which may prove harder to prosecute. Trump accused “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE” of cutting a “300 foot long gash” in the pool’s liner (Washington Post reporters said they could find no evidence of that) and “illegally” placing “destructive chemicals” in the water. Government workers, however, poured gallons of bleach into the pool shortly before its lining began to peel. At least five people have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the pool. One, 67-year-old Olympic medalist David Hearn, was detained and charged with destroying government property for touching an already-detached bit of coating. It’s unclear how this either destroyed federal property or contributed to the algae bloom plaguing the pool. Scientists say Trump’s $16 million renovation may have disturbed the pool’s ecosystem. His decision to repaint the surface in a darker “American Flag Blue” may also be a factor: Darker surfaces absorb more heat and warm the water — potentially feeding the unusually large algae bloom. This administration’s most formidable opponent may be basic biology.
Hallucination: This next item is from the increasingly crowded files of media consolidation and tech billionaires quietly gaining editorial control over their own mythology. Amazon MGM Studios abruptly dropped a movie about Sam Altman’s firing and rehiring at OpenAI — just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI. The film, Artificial, was directed by Luca Guadagnino and stars Andrew Garfield as Altman. Its portrait of Altman is reportedly unflattering. Amazon Studios did not tie its decision to the investment. But the conflict is hard to miss.
Coercion Attempt: A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s subpoenas of Minnesota leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz, who resisted ICE raids earlier this year. The judge slammed the administration for failing to “identify a single plausible investigatory justification” for the subpoenas, which he wrote were intended to “coerce” officials into helping with immigration enforcement and to “harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so.” More here.
The PM Is Gone, Long Live the PM: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he will resign after months of pressure. He said he’ll oversee what he hopes is a smooth transition to the country’s seventh prime minister in a decade. The likely successor is Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham was sworn in as a member of Parliament today after his landslide victory in a special election and reportedly commands widespread support among his Labor Party colleagues.
How Starmer Fell So Fast: Less than two years ago, Starmer led the Labour Party to one of the largest general election victories in British history. His popularity quickly collapsed and never recovered. Starmer inherited widespread anger over structural economic problems beyond his direct control. He also faced a hostile media that fanned the flames of right-wing populist outrage. But he was also a weak communicator, including within his own party. He also committed a startling number of political blunders and was quick to reverse his own decisions under pressure. One of the most damaging: appointing Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. More details here.
New Leadership: Burnham, by contrast, is a charismatic communicator. He carries himself as an optimist, activist, and everyman, a combination his supporters hope will rejuvenate the party and help it fend off a rising far-right. Burnham’s is fresh off a better-than-expected landslide victory in which he crushed candidates from two far-right parties. Skeptics counter that another leadership upheaval will further weaken the party and give the right an opening. More on Burnham here.
How This Works: In the UK, a party with a majority in Parliament — as Labour has — can change leaders through an internal process without triggering a general election. Assuming a quick handover, the UK could have a new prime minister as soon as mid-July. Burnham, or whoever wins the leadership contest, will pay a visit to King Charles, who’ll appoint the winner and ask the new leader to form an administration — a process that includes a ceremonial “kissing of hands,” which now usually involves a formal handshake.
Tiger King: Far-right, Trump-endorsed candidate Abelardo de la Espriella was elected president of Colombia in the closest election in the country’s history. His victory sparked celebrations from supporters and fears for democracy among critics. Espriella — “El Tigre,” as he calls himself — ran on an increasingly familiar far-right playbook, one bolstered by a steady stream of AI-generated content. He vowed to “disembowel” the left, bury anyone who challenged his victory in jails “15 meters underground without light and without water,” build megaprisons, kill criminals like “rats and cockroaches,” slash government spending, and target “gender ideology.” De la Espriella has never held public office. Before entering politics, he worked as a criminal defense lawyer, representing people accused of sexual harassment, drug trafficking, corruption, and ties to paramilitaries — including a man accused by the US of helping Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro launder hundreds of millions of dollars. Cool, cool.
Peru, by a Hair: Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is projected to win the closest election in Peru’s history. She’s the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, the country’s former authoritarian president who was imprisoned for extrajudicial killings. Left-wing candidate, Roberto Sanchez, alleged election irregularities and called on supporters to march in protest.
Keep reading to find out…
How the Trump administration is trying to force states to hand over voter rolls
Why Tesla is being accused of misleading European regulators
The quiet changes that would make it harder — and more expensive — to become an American citizen
Why Tucker Carlson says he’s “out” of the Republican Party
How US-Iran negotiations almost collapsed — and why the Trump administration just handed Iran an economic goldmine
The highs and lows of influential former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan’s career
Why a judge accused the Trump administration of trampling on your privacy rights
The mixed legacy of legendary starmaker Clive Davis
How to see your favorite women artists perform and support women-focused nonprofits at the same time
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