Mentioned in this edition: Donald Trump, Linda McMahon, Elon Musk, Elbridge Colby, Jackie Rosen, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Al Green, John Thune, John Fetterman, Josh Hawley, Joe Biden, Louis XIV, Cardinal Mazarin, George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Richard Nixon, Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, Steve Witkoff, and more.

Good morning. Ever since he came down the golden escalator in 2015, American politics has, like the Earth around the sun, revolved almost entirely around President Donald Trump’s personage. The nature of Trump’s centrality struck us as similar to another leader and his court from long ago: the Sun King, France’s Louis XIV. From Trump’s Versailles-inspired palace to his shifting circles of advisers, we thought we’d look closer at how Trump operates in the vein of France’s royalty of old.

🔎 WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

📚 President Trump is preparing to dismantle the Education Department. The White House is reportedly putting the finishing touches on an executive order that would direct Trump’s new secretary of education, Linda McMahon, to begin dismantling her department. Secretary McMahon hinted at this earlier this week when she posted about the department undertaking its “final mission” — to “send education back to the states.” Though Trump cannot constitutionally eliminate the department without congressional approval, he can essentially freeze the department for the duration of his term.

✂ Trump called for DOGE to rein it in. In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump called the Department of Government Efficiency “an incredible success.” But at the same time, he wrote that, “[as] Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go.” Trump’s post makes clear that he is still supportive of Musk’s work; But it also indicates he may be understanding that some of Musk’s cuts, like those to national parks, are not entirely popular.

⏰ Congress is running out of time to avoid a shutdown. House Republican leaders have decided upon pursuing a “full-year” continuing resolution — meaning government funding levels would remain unchanged — which would fund the government until September, the end of the fiscal year. Republican leadership was helped by an intervention from President Trump, who supports the idea, as well as House and Senate Democrats who appear open to it. The deal would remove a major near-term impediment for the GOP, but will also kick the can down the road, setting up a major fight in September.

🔥 Elbridge Colby took heat from both parties at his confirmation hearing. Colby, President Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy, was criticized by Democrats and Republicans on the Armed Services Committee for his call for a pivot to Asia, which Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-NV) said would “take our eye off the ball.” Colby’s desire to shift America’s foreign policy away from the Middle East and toward Asia is in stark opposition to traditional GOP thinking — which has historically been tough on Iran — and would also be a strike against the military-industrial complex, which has billions tied up in America’s activity in the Middle East.

🦅 THE EXECUTIVE

• Vice President JD Vance has seen the memes about him and gets a kick out of them.

• VP Vance traveled to the southern border with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, where he highlighted the steep drop in border crossings over the past two months.

• President Trump delayed tariffs for one month on Mexican and Canadian products that are affected by the USMCA trade agreement.

• President Trump will host a White House crypto summit today, to which the top players in the crypto world have been invited.

🏛️ CONGRESS

🔒 This section is for members only

Mentioned behind the paywall: Al Green, John Thune, John Fetterman, and Josh Hawley.

 🏢 THE AGENCIES

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Mentioned behind the paywall: The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, and the Treasury Department.

In the court of America's Sun King

What’s happening

One thing that has remained consistent throughout both of Donald Trump’s presidencies — and even during the interregnum of the Biden administration — is the uniqueness of how Trump operates. Unlike other modern presidents, Trump is significantly less ideological and more pragmatic, open to free-flowing discussions and loosely defined roles. Two months in, cabinet members and staff — many of them new to Trump’s inner orbit — are still figuring out what their roles mean…

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