Principals

1. Trump’s China plans
2. Major new immigration order
3. Bob Good fights to survive primary day
4. $18 billion Israel weapons sale
5. Norcross indicted
6. Warren’s tax speech

PDB: Robert O’Brien lays out Donald Trump’s foreign policy on Taiwan, Ukraine

Biden campaigning in McLean … Putin in North Korea … Politico: Inside Biden camp’s decision to target ‘criminal’ Trump

— edited by Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann and Morgan Chalfant

Why Trump is ready to go harder on China

Donald Trump is gearing up for a sequel to his trade war with China if he wins the White House. And this time, advisers and allies say he’s much less interested in a deal, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant reports. They say Beijing failed to live up to its commitments under the “phase one” trade agreement negotiated during Trump’s first administration. Trump and his former aides are also deeply distrustful of China over its handling of COVID-19. “I don’t think we’re going to see a deal like we saw in the first term,” said Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser. Trump has floated imposing tariffs of 60% or more on Chinese imports, but allies believe his policy would include stringent export controls and investment restrictions. O’Brien predicted Trump would work with allies to box in Chinese companies like electric vehicle giant BYD.

Biden to protect undocumented immigrant spouses from deportation

After infuriating progressives with his recent moves on the border, President Biden appears to be offering them a major olive branch. Today he’s announcing new executive actions that would protect the undocumented spouses of US citizens from deportation and provide them access to work permits. The administration estimates the measure could benefit 500,000 individuals, making it the largest immigration relief program since Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program shielded “Dreamers” from deportation. (That program peaked at just over 700,000 participants). “These measures will help keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy and our country,” senior administration officials said in a press call. The new executive orders are being unveiled as part of a special White House event marking DACA’s 12-year anniversary.

— Joseph Zeballos-Roig

Trump loyalty tests and Democratic feuding in today’s primaries

House Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good could lose his seat today, in the most expensive of Tuesday’s primaries in Virginia and Oklahoma. Good, who endorsed Ron DeSantis for president and helped oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is facing revenge missions from him and Donald Trump; both support state Sen. John McGuire, who’s gotten more than $5 million in air cover from super PACs in the 5th District. (Good’s allies have matched that.) Good’s endorsed Cameron Hamilton in the state’s 7th District, Biden-trending territory where Trump/Ukraine scandal whistleblower Eugene Vindman has vastly outspent other Democrats running for that nomination. In the 10th District, retiring Rep. Jennifer Wexton endorsed state Del. Suhas Subramanyam over 11 other Democrats; super PACs have spent more than $5 million to help state Del. Dan Helmer, accused last week of sexual misconduct at a 2018 campaign party. In Oklahoma, Rep. Tom Cole faces a self-funded challenger who moved to his seat from Texas and started attacking him as a fake conservative. And in Georgia, Trump’s endorsed former political aide Brian Jacks for a safe seat; he’s ignored Jan. 6 rioter Chuck Hand, an underdog running for the GOP nomination in the reliably Democratic 2nd District.

— David Weigel

Congress paves way for Israel arms deal

An $18 billion deal to send F-15 fighter jets and weapons to Israel is going forward after a top House Democrat acquiesced to the sale. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had held up the approval of the sale earlier this year over concerns about heavy civilian casualties in Gaza using US-made weaponry. In allowing it to continue, he told the Washington Post he “repeatedly urged the administration to continue pushing Israel to make significant and concrete improvements on all fronts when it comes to humanitarian efforts and limiting civilian casualties,” and added that the new package would not arrive until “years from now.”

New Jersey party boss attends his own indictment press conference

George Norcross had a front row seat — literally — to his own indictment on racketeering charges. “George Norcross has been running a criminal enterprise in the state for at least the last 12 years,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said at a news conference, as the New Jersey Democratic powerbroker sat just a few feet away — sockless — and listened. Norcross, his brother Phillip, and four others were charged in what prosecutors allege was a scheme to illegally obtain waterfront property in Camden and collect millions in government tax credits using their influence over government officials. Norcross blasted Platkin as a “politician masquerading as an attorney general.” Make that two prominent New Jersey Democrats currently under the legal gun.

Warren: Democrats need to “stiffen our spines” on taxes

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is warning her party not to cave when it comes time to negotiate on the 2025 tax cliff. “If Democrats take the coward’s way out and sign our names to a half-baked deal that lets the wealthy off the hook, it will be a huge failure,” she said in a Monday speech at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “It’s time to stiffen our spines.” The Massachusetts progressive chided Democrats for getting stuck in a “tax doom loop” that saw them extend much of the Bush cuts. Among her proposed red lines: corporations and billionaires must pay higher taxes, and ensure the IRS must have enough funding to carry out its job. Senate Finance Democrats are set to meet Thursday on the tax cliff. “We’re going to start stepping up those discussions,” said Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden.

— Joseph Zeballos-Roig

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: There’s bipartisan interest in boosting defense spending for the 2025 fiscal year, but an election-year deal might be unlikely as Democrats spar with House Republicans over their demands for deeper domestic spending cuts.

Playbook: Republicans are hopeful Trump’s endorsement of Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom in Alaska’s at-large Congressional race will help overcome the state’s ranked-choice voting to defeat Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.

WaPo: Rep. Bob Good’s “defiance of leadership and willingness to take on his own colleagues could cost him his seat tonight.”

White House

• President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are fundraising in McLean, Va. this evening before heading to Rehoboth Beach.
• During his meeting with President Biden, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a record 23 alliance members would meet its defense spending targets this year.
• Vice President Harris met with an Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
• Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is scheduled to deliver a speech on Sunday at the groundbreaking of a new memorial to victims of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. — AP
• Biden envoy Amos Hochstein is trying to calm tensions and prevent an outright war between Israel and Hezbollah. — Bloomberg

Congress

• Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will testify before the Senate subcommittee on investigations today as the company navigates federal inquiries into its safety practices. Meanwhile, the search for his successor is hitting some bumps. — WSJ
• Senate Democrats will seek a vote on a bump stock ban as soon as today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
• Vulnerable Democrats are pressing Schumer for a vote on the bipartisan tax package that passed the House but faces resistance from Senate Republicans. — Axios
• House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul scheduled a transcribed interview for former White House press secretary Jen Psaki in his Afghanistan investigation for July 26.
• Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., accused the White House of scuttling Democratic support for her bipartisan ethics bill with House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer. — The Hill
• House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden asked for a briefing from the Justice Department on potential retaliation against IRS whistleblowers.
• Former GOP Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington has died at 79.

Economy

The IRS is closing a tax loophole that it says will raise $50 billion over the next decade.

Courts

• Attorneys representing Hunter Biden withdrew a motion for a new trial in his federal gun case.
• President Biden’s Title IX rule that established new protections for LGBTQ+ students was blocked in six more states by a federal judge in Kentucky.
• An Indian man charged with plotting to kill a Sikh activist on US soil has been extradited to the US and pleaded not guilty in court on Monday.
• Steve Bannon will serve his jail sentence at a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Conn. — CNN

On the Trail

• Maryland Senate GOP candidate Larry Hogan is running on his independence from the Republican Party in a new ad that dropped days after Donald Trump backed him. — Politico
• DNC Chair Jaime Harrison is appearing in Tallahassee today with Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried to highlight Democratic candidates in the Sunshine State as they try to win back the increasingly red state.
• Melania Trump is hosting another fundraiser for Log Cabin Republicans at Trump Tower. — Politico
• Megachurch pastor Robert Morris, who previously was a spiritual adviser to Trump, acknowledged engaging in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” after a woman accused him of sexual abuse during the 1980s.

Foreign Policy

• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán he would allow Hungary to “opt out” of NATO efforts to support Ukraine if he backs Rutte’s bid to lead the alliance. — FT
• A Russian court said judicial proceedings against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges would be held in secret, with the first hearing in a regional court to start June 26, according to state media.

Technology

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, White House Gender Policy Council director Jennifer Klein, and Biden’s domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden are participating in a roundtable this morning with semiconductor manufacturers, contractors, and unions to discuss how to create pathways for women to enter the construction workforce.

Big Read

A second Donald Trump presidency’s foreign policy would favor “peace through strength,” a former Trump national security adviser wrote in Foreign Affairs. The magazine’s latest edition features pieces by Trump-era NSA Robert O’Brien and Ben Rhodes, who was deputy NSA under Barack Obama, with O’Brien in particular arguing that Washington should deregulate to lure investment in its competition with Beijing, and more aggressively decouple the two countries’ economies, while making clear to Taiwan that “along with a continued US commitment comes an expectation that Taiwan should spend more on defense.” On Ukraine, O’Brien said Trump would provide lethal aid to Kyiv “while keeping the door open to diplomacy with Russia — and keeping Moscow off balance with a degree of unpredictability.”

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Donald Trump holds an 18-point lead over President Biden in Iowa, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll.

What the Right isn’t reading: Workers at Utium Cells in Ohio ratified a deal between the company and the United Auto Workers to make electric batteries for GM vehicles.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Ron Wyden is a Democratic senator from Oregon. He is participating in Semafor’s event on cybersecurity policy this morning. Follow along here.

• The interest rate cut summer that wasn’t.
• Senators tell Biden admin to increase pressure on India.
• The Washington Post looks to remake its identity.