A federal judge ruled today that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could not reaffix President Trump’s name on the institution’s exterior. The judge said that Congress must weigh in before anyone is honored on the building’s walls.
In response, Trump posted a stark ultimatum to social media: If an appeals court does not allow his name back on the building, he said, he would block a $257 million renovation that he has championed.
Earlier, the center’s Trump-allied board voted, for the third time, to close the building for renovations, citing conditions that it deemed “hazardous.” Trump said the building would be shuttered “immediately,” despite a court order blocking the move.
In other Trump administration news:
The Senate deals a major blow to the crypto industry
The Senate voted this afternoon to block a landmark, business friendly cryptocurrency bill. The outcome was a bitter disappointment for crypto executives, who had made the legislation, called the Clarity Act, their most important policy priority.
Most Republican senators supported the bill, as did Trump. But Democrats decided to oppose it, citing the president’s crypto riches and calling for stronger language to prevent public officials from using crypto to make money.
The world is furious over rising prices
In Portugal, angry drivers have blocked traffic to protest rising fuel prices, which have spiked since the U.S. went to war against Iran. In Guatemala and Syria, demonstrators have burned tires and cars. And in the Philippines, bus drivers have walked off the job, which they said was now barely paying them enough for a meal.
In the U.S., fuel prices have also spiked, and 10-year Treasury bonds, a major gauge of borrowing costs, reached their highest level in 19 years. Testifying before Congress today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to blame Joe Biden for persistent inflation.
Related: Australians bought more electric vehicles than gas-powered cars last month, in part because of higher energy prices.
Iran-backed militants in Yemen are learning to arm themselves
The Houthis, a Yemeni militia backed by Iran, have over the past few months become a major player in the ongoing Middle East conflict. They have seized the strategic port of Mokha and claimed control over the Red Sea’s crucial southern passageway.
That may seem like a lot for a group better known for firing AK-47s out of pickup trucks. But as my colleague Nicholas Kulish explains, the Houthis have demonstrated a growing ambition to produce advanced weaponry on their own, making them less reliant on Iran. Anthropic suggested that the Houthis used the company’s A.I. tool in an effort to develop guided weapons.
For more:
A.I. is unpopular with voters, but neither party has an edge
Left- and right-wing political figures, including both Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon, spoke today at an event warning about the potential dangers of A.I. and demanding tighter regulations. It’s a topic that strategists in both parties believe will soon become a potent political force.
But so far, voter trust in Republicans and Democrats on A.I. issues is roughly the same, according to our new poll. Democrats were far more opposed to the construction of A.I. data centers than Republicans: 75 percent of those polled were against it, compared to 47 percent of Republicans.
For more: Democrats are approaching the midterm elections with a clear advantage, our poll found.
More top news
MoMA is transformed into a dance palace
Visitors to Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art were met today with something new. Dancers occupied the building’s vast second floor atrium, as they will six days a week for the next month.
The show, called “nowhere,” is a project by Sarah Michelson, a choreographer who has pushed and pulled at the art form for decades. At its core is the question: What is a dance? Michelson doesn’t have an answer — “dances are like embodied questions,” she told us — but she finds beauty in how a dance can’t be just one thing. See what it looks like.
There are promising worlds beyond our solar system
We all know about Earth’s seven closest neighbors, and Pluto, of course. But there are probably 100 billion other planets in our galaxy alone, and some scientists have been searching the cosmos for evidence of worlds that may be able to host alien life.
Take the exoplanet KOI-456.04, for example. It appears to receive about the same amount of heat and light from its star as we do from our sun, and water could potentially flow on its surface. It’s one of many that has scientists excited, as our columnist Natalie Wolchover explains.
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He’s on track to become the world’s most educated person
Jamie Beaton is just 31 years old. But he already has advanced degrees from Harvard (applied mathematics), Yale (law), Stanford (education technology), Princeton (finance), Oxford (he was a Rhodes scholar) and eight other elite universities — and he’s still studying. Beaton is also the C.E.O. of a college admissions counseling service valued at more than $600 million. You might be asking how he’s done it all, or perhaps: why?
Beaton told my colleague that he is simply following his “passions and curiosities.” Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand, his family taught him that learning was important: “Academics was our religion,” he said. Read more about his unusual life.
Have an astute evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow — Matthew
Keith Bedford was our photo editor.
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