Energy Dept. draws fire for slow pace of Venezuelan oil deals www.axios.com/2026/08/03/e...
Energy Dept. draws fire for slow pace of Venezuelan oil deals
"We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem," a senior U.S. official said.
axios.com
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer held a high-level video call with China's vice premier to prepare for the September visit of its president, Xi Jinping, Axios has learned. Critical minerals & Ag were on the agenda www.axios.com/2026/07/30/b...
Bessent sets stage for Xi visit in high-level China talk
The Chinese leader is set to meet with Trump in September.
axios.com
Trump's economic assault on Iran has drawn a fraction of the attention devoted to his bombing campaign, even as senior US officials believe it may ultimately do more damage to the regime in Tehran. Here’s what the admin’s thinking www.axios.com/2026/07/27/i...
U.S. officials believe sanctions could hurt Iran more than bombs
"I have a lot of patience," Trump said Monday.
axios.com
In Florida’s Carpetbagger Primary, the conservative Club for Growth is dropping a massive $1.1 million ad buy to crush former Rep. Chris Collins He moved to FL-19 from NY after a 2019 fed conviction But the ad’s about … immigration www.axios.com/newsletters/... youtu.be/biFFEBsMnaA?...
"Guests" (FL-19)
YouTube video by Win It Back PAC
youtu.be
Neither Trump nor Rubio plan to block the extradition of Andrew & Tristan Tate, despite the brothers’ numerous MAGAville ties www.axios.com/2026/07/22/t...
Trump, Rubio don't plan to stop Tate brothers' extradition to the U.K.
Officially and publicly, Trump and his administration have kept the Tates at arm's length.
axios.com
Scoop: Trump’s MAGA brain trust —from his top pollster to his White House chief of staff to Cabinet officials to RNC strategists— meet today to plot midterm strategy Between MAGA Inc. & the RNC, they have at least $530m to spend www.axios.com/2026/07/21/t...
Scoop: Trump's top MAGA advisers gather to plot midterms
Trump's team is sitting on about $530 million and figuring out how, when and where to deploy it.
axios.com
Republicans admit the GOP's midtermforecast is bleak. But they're clinging to two hopes: voters' fear and loathing of Democrats. www.axios.com/2026/07/19/r...
GOP midterms strategy: Make it a "hate election"
"Voters have to hate the Dems more than they hate us."
axios.com
Why Trump wants Graham's sister to replace him temporarily in the Senate And why he doesn't want Nancy Mace w/@AndrewSolender www.axios.com/2026/07/13/t...
Trump wants Graham's sister as Senate replacement — not Mace
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to make the temporary appointment today.
axios.com
Cruz-aligned group blasts Fishback in ad targeting antisemitism The AI ad depicts Fishback as a talking bass yelling about white genocide as fisherman talk about whether to “throw the fish back” It runs during England-Norway’s World Cup match www.axios.com/2026/07/11/t...
Ted Cruz-aligned group blasts Florida's Fishback in ad targeting antisemitism
The ad buy underscores how antisemitism is a major issue in the Republican Party.
axios.com
MAGA figures flock to Charlie Kirk murder hearing. They’re all monitoring it. And some are pushing against baseless conspiracy theories, but it’s like “playing Whac-A-Mole in a field of bullshit." w/@axiosalex www.axios.com/2026/07/10/m...
MAGA figures flock to Charlie Kirk murder hearing
Nearly a year after his death, Kirk remains a unifying figure across the GOP and the MAGA movement.
axios.com
The Trump administration's official position about Venezuela's exiled opposition leader is simple: Don't help Maria Corina Machado gain entry to her home country. But Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau didn't appear to get the memo. www.axios.com/2026/07/08/s...
How a top State Dept. official "went rogue" over Machado's Venezuela plans
Chris Landau's alleged freelancing roiled the State Department for two days and led to internal arguments.
axios.com
As the NATO turns: Netanyahu is so irked by Erdogan's criticisms of Israel that he brought it up to Trump and asked about limiting US arms sales to Turkey. @barakravid.bsky.social and I in @axios.com www.axios.com/2026/07/06/t...
Scoop: Netanyahu asks Trump to rein in Erdoğan ahead of NATO summit
Netanyahu asked Trump to refrain from selling weapons systems that would help Turkey modernize its air force
axios.com
This is JD Vance's summer: The vice president penned a bestselling book, helped broker a tentative peace deal with Iran, embarked on a media blitz and — most importantly for him — impressed the man in the Oval Office. www.axios.com/2026/07/06/v...
Vance's hot summer positions to be Trump's heir — for now
"JD is earning it, and Trump sees it," one top adviser to the president said.
axios.com
Trump admin blasts Machado's "grotesque political opportunism" after Venezuela quakes www.axios.com/2026/07/01/t...
Trump admin blasts Machado's "grotesque political opportunism" after Venezuela quakes
Machado's attempts to return to Venezuela have saddled the State Department with "extra needless drama," an official said.
axios.com
Vance and Rubio aren’t so much two sides of the same coin in Iran talks "They're more like the different tools on a Swiss Army knife,” an adviser said And it’s Trump who decides how to use them and when w/@BarakRavid www.axios.com/2026/06/30/t...
Trump's "Swiss Army" tools on Iran: Vance and Rubio
The success of the peace talks depends on largely on how well Trump deploys each man to balance competing interests.
axios.com
On @axios show: Trump on Iran, Cuba, AI and his musings on wielding power www.axios.com/2026/06/19/t...
Exclusive: President Trump talks Iran, Cuba, Israel, AI, and power on "The Axios Show"
The president took an expansive view of his power in the wide-ranging interview.
axios.com
Housing Director Bill Pulte called outgoing ODNI chief Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday and told her it was her last day in office so he could take over But Gabbard didn’t believe him. She then talked to Trump. She was proven right Here’s how it went down… www.axios.com/2026/06/11/p...
Scoop: Pulte sought Gabbard's early removal as intel czar
"Today is your last day," Pulte told Gabbard during a call on Tuesday.
axios.com
“What the fuck are you doing?!” Trump lit into Netanyahu over the Lebanon bombing: “You're fucking crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this." @barakravid.bsky.social & I www.axios.com/2026/06/01/t...
"You're fucking crazy": Trump fumes at Netanyahu in call on Lebanon
"You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass."
axios.com
Trump’s weaponization fund looks “dead for now” —but only after ✅ bipartisan congressional opposition ✅an adverse ruling from a federal judge ✅another federal judge launching an inquiry www.axios.com/2026/06/01/t...
Scoop: Trump plans to drop "weaponization" fund
Trump's proposal has drawn bipartisan pushback in the GOP-led House and Senate.
axios.com
The Trump administration is bracing for the potential collapse of Cuba's totalitarian government as early as this summer, and has war-gamed new military response plans in case the island descends into chaos, U.S. officials tell Axios. www.axios.com/2026/05/28/t...
Exclusive: Trump's accelerating squeeze on Cuba
The methodical operation against the island nation is focused on eventual regime change.
axios.com
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked Cuban Independence Day on Wednesday with a Spanish-language video message to the people of the island that blamed their "unimaginable hardships" on their communist leadership www.axios.com/2026/05/20/r...
Rubio offers
The speech is part of the Trump administration's multi-layered pressure campaign targeting Havana.
axios.com
Trump will attend the G7leaders' meeting in France in June to talk artificial intelligence, trade and crime-fighting The war in Iran, of course, will hang over the talks www.axios.com/2026/05/19/t...
Scoop: Trump to attend G7 summit in France despite friction with allies
The summit is next month, and Trump's attendance had been in doubt.
axios.com
Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, military vessels & possibly Key West, 90 miles north of Havana Exclusive on what the Trump Admin is thinking 👇 www.axios.com/2026/05/17/u...
Exclusive: U.S. eyes attack-drone threat from Cuba
Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones from Russia and Iran, U.S. intel says.
axios.com
As fuel runs out in Cuba, CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Thursday in Havana with intelligence officials —and Raul Castro’s grandson, Raulito Castro (AKA “El Cangrejo”)— to emphasize it’s time for the regime to make a deal w/@BarakRavid & @DavidLawler10 www.axios.com/2026/05/14/c...
CIA director visits Cuba for rare meeting as island runs out of fuel
Ratcliffe met with Rául Castro's grandson, Raulito, in a highly unusual meeting.
axios.com
Rep. Thomas Massie’s ex, Cynthia West, accused him of offering her $5k to drop a wrongful termination claim against his ally, Rep. Spartz Massie campaign suggested West is lying There’s an Epstein Files tie here & a looming primary w/@kate_santaliz www.axios.com/2026/05/13/t...
Thomas Massie's ex accuses him of hush money offer
"You're not going to make a difference. Just walk away," she said Massie told her.
axios.com
Philip Caputo wrote a best-selling classic about Vietnam, shared a Pulitzer for uncovering Chicago’s voting fraud, was captured by militants in Lebanon & shot by others, covered wars in Afghanistan to Africa, hunted big game & caught bigger fish RIP dad www.facebook.com/share/p/1EwY...
facebook.com
Rubio announces new sanctions on Cuba’s military-industrial enterprise GAESA, its leader and a state-owned mining enterprise www.axios.com/2026/05/07/r...
Rubio announces new Cuba sanctions
The new sanctions show the Trump administration is pushing forward for regime change in Cuba.
axios.com
The U.S. is using force in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomacy in New York at the UN in an effort to break Tehran's chokehold on the vital shipping lane. @barakravid.bsky.social & I www.axios.com/2026/05/04/s...
U.S. and Iran exchange fire in strait as U.S. attempts to open shipping lane
It's looking more and more like war.
axios.com
"He wants action": inside Trump's latest Hormuz gambit @barakravid.bsky.social & I www.axios.com/2026/05/04/t...
"He wants action": Trump's frustration with Iran stalemate sparked Hormuz gambit
"If the Iranians do something they will be the bad guys and we will have the legitimacy to act."
axios.com
