Washington, DC

1. Platner accused of sexual assault
2. Trump works the refs
3. Tech stocks to Trump accounts
4. AI economy boom or bubble?
5. Kirk murder case hearings begin

Shares of Microsoft ▼ 1% after the company announced 4,800 job cuts, largely from its Xbox division.

Platner ‘taking time’ after sexual assault allegation

Graham Platner said in a recorded video that he is “taking time to reflect on the best path forward” for his Senate campaign after Politico published an accusation of sexual assault by a woman who dated the Maine Democrat five years ago. Platner denies the allegation. Jenny Racicot, who dated Platner on and off for two years, described an incident in 2021 when Platner came into her home uninvited and forced her to have sex with him over her repeated objections. Racicot previously told The New York Times she found his behavior “unsettling.” She said she is sharing the additional allegation because reaction to the Times piece focused on another woman with ties to the Republican Party. So far, Democrats who have endorsed Platner haven’t spoken publicly, but privately many in the party told Semafor they think he will likely drop out of the race.

Trump confirms he asked FIFA to ‘review’ red card suspension

In a rare moment of unity, politicians across the spectrum, from New York Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani to President Donald Trump, agree: Folarin Balogun was wronged. “I saw the play. That wasn’t a foul,” Trump said today of Balogun’s collision with Tarik Muharemović during a USA-Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup match last week, which earned the USA striker a red card. Mamdani called the penalty “cruel.” Trump took his complaint further, confirming to reporters this morning that he asked Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, for a “review.” “I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this,’” Trump said, though he called the decision to lift Balogun’s suspension from tonight’s match against Belgium “brilliant.” If Balogun, one of the USA’s best players, sat out of the game, it “would have had a big stain,” Trump said. FIFA swiftly rejected Belgium’s appeal of the reversal.

SpaceX No. 2 exec donates millions of stock to Trump Accounts

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said she plans to donate $320 million of stock in Elon Musk’s rocket company to investment accounts for kids that the Trump administration launched on July 4, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman reports. Shotwell said she would give one share of SpaceX stock, worth $165 today, each to accounts for more than 2 million children, with a focus on lower-income families in Texas, where SpaceX is based. The gift represents about one-fifth of the Class A SpaceX shares that Shotwell owns or has an option to buy. Those carry a single vote, compared with the more powerful Class B shares that Shotwell also owns. It’s unclear exactly how the stock transfers would work. Semafor reported last month that the White House had held talks with SpaceX about donating stock to Trump Accounts.

Markets remain high on AI as Treasury quietly warns of risks

Is the artificial intelligence boom still humming — or is it a bubble poised to pop? Wall Street’s appetite for AI is continuing, with the Nasdaq opening this week on a high as tech stocks prepared for a busy week. In a win for the White House, big banks and trading platforms are pushing into terrain officials hoped for a year ago, setting up futures exchanges for compute, the power and energy needed to train and fuel AI. Some of the biggest names in finance are getting behind the effort, Politico reports, including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and DRW CEO Don Wilson. Still, there are warning signs: A draft Treasury Department report outlined the risks posed by AI-fueled growth, NOTUS reports, given AI firms are even more entrenched in the economy than the dot-com companies that came before them.

Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer appears in court

Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk, appeared in court in Utah today as prosecutors began laying out their evidence in a preliminary hearing. The five-day hearing will determine whether prosecutors have established probable cause to proceed to trial. It also marks the first time Kirk’s family, including his parents and widow Erika Kirk, will be in the courtroom with Robinson, who were joined by Donald Trump Jr. Prosecutors are expected to present surveillance video of the shooting, DNA and ballistics evidence, autopsy findings, and a recorded interview with Robinson’s former roommate, whom investigators allege will describe his confession. State Judge Tony Graf said he must evaluate the evidence “in the light most favorable to the prosecution.” If Graf finds probable cause, the case will go to trial, where prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

— Lauren Morganbesser

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman thinks it is good you can’t get famous on Reddit. On this week’s Mixed Signals, he joins Ben and Max to explain why that may actually be a feature, not a bug, as the platform marks its 21st birthday and embraces its role as the internet’s “anti-social media” hub. They also discuss how Reddit approaches partnerships, why the company is suing Anthropic, and why Huffman believes it’s a good thing users can’t get rich from posting.

White House

• The White House accelerated construction of a new helipad ahead of an “upcoming state visit,” likely in reference to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s anticipated visit in September. — WaPo
• The Trump administration is reviving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, looking to leverage it as an instrument to carry out conservative policies. — Politico

Campaigns

• Republicans are urging President Trump to deploy the more than $350 million in his MAGA Inc. super PAC to support vulnerable GOP candidates ahead of the midterms.

Courts

• The Supreme Court declined to pause enforcement of a Texas law that restricts the apps children can download from online stores.
• A federal judge rejected Elon Musk’s bid to overturn a jury’s verdict that he defrauded investors in the company then known as Twitter as he was taking it over.

World

• Russia launched a deadly missile attack on Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit as Ukraine is running low on Patriot interceptors.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Trump to refrain from selling weapons systems to Türkiye during the NATO summit. — Axios
• French President Emmanuel Macron visited Syria, becoming the first European Union leader to visit the country since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad.
• Cuba’s electric grid suffered a total outage, plunging the country into a blackout.

Technology

• Tech leaders have shifted from publicly predicting mass job losses to emphasizing AI as a tool for job creation. — WSJ

National Security

• Lockheed Martin is buying naval defense company Ultra Maritime for $3.45 billion from a private equity firm.
• ICE’s internal watchdog is increasingly investigating what the agency calls “doxing” by civilian critics online.

Environment

• The National Weather Service is hiring to fill hundreds of positions after major staffing cuts as hurricane season proceeds.

Health

• Affordable Care Act enrollment dropped steeply over the last year, per new federal data. — AP

— Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on President Trump’s newly launched Trump Accounts.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel