Good morning and happy belated International Left-Handers Day to everyone who spent middle school walking around with a giant schmear of pencil lead on the side of their hand. The struggle was real. In other news:

• McDonald’s of Japan had to nix a Pokémon card promo after everyone took the cards out and dumped the food on the sidewalk.

• A record 53% of adults now think moderate drinking is unhealthy.

• And French politicians are arguing about the legality of … air conditioning.

WORLD

🥶 Putin and Trump to meet in Alaska

One hundred and fifty-nine years after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward got hardcore made fun of for buying Alaska from Russia for the equivalent of a modern $150 million (what an idiot!), the Russians have returned. President Trump will sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday to chat about Ukraine's future.

• Mainland Alaska and mainland Russia are only about 55 miles apart in the Bering Strait. Two American and Russian islands nearby are only about 2.4 miles apart.

• This will be the first meeting between American and Russian presidents since Biden and Putin met in Geneva in 2021. Trump and Putin have met six times, most recently in 2018 in Finland.

Why meet with Putin? Trump has said since the war began in 2022 that he wanted to negotiate its peaceful end. Mild efforts earlier in 2025 didn’t pan out, but on Wednesday, he threatened "severe consequences" for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to end the conflict.

• Existing sanctions against Russia include freezing its trade with the U.S., forcing its companies out of the U.S.-dominated global financial system, and more.

• Extra steps could include so-called "secondary sanctions,” like 500% tariffs on countries that still trade with Russia (India, China). At least 82 U.S. senators are on board with that idea.

The White House is downplaying expectations and calling this more of a "listening exercise" than a full-fledged foreign policy summit. President Trump suggested he might also bring up the recent U.S. federal court database hack, which investigators believe was tied to Russia.

European leaders aren't thrilled about this whole thing, but Trump said he had a "very good" and "friendly" video call with them on the topic. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump confirmed that no territorial negotiations would take place without Ukraine's involvement.

• Ukraine says it will never recognize any Russian sovereignty over Ukrainian territory.

• But Russia controls a big chunk of Eastern Ukraine, and the lines haven’t changed substantially in the past two years.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won't attend this sit-down. But Trump said he wants Zelenskyy at a second, three-way meeting if this one goes well. When might that take place? "Almost immediately,” according to Trump.

Elsewhere in the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to allow Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip if they so choose. The U.N., meanwhile, condemned Israel for killing four Al Jazeera journalists. Israel alleges the journalist it targeted was actually a paid soldier and member of Hamas.

GOVERNMENT

🏰 The Trump administration wants the Smithsonian Institution to conduct a "comprehensive internal review" of eight of its museums. The move has sparked fears that Trump is trying to politicize the Smithsonian. But White House officials said they actually want to depoliticize things. Their stated goal is "to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions." The eight affected museums are four history museums, three art museums, and the National Air and Space Museum. The review is expected to be completed in early 2026. The Smithsonian was established in 1846 by British scientist James Smithson.

💼 Ten days after firing the last person, purportedly for getting the job numbers wrong, President Trump has nominated conservative economist E.J. Antoni as the next Commissioner of Labor Statistics. Antoni will lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which is primarily known for its monthly and quarterly reports on job gains or losses. BLS has taken heat over the past few years for constantly going back and correcting errors in its recent monthly reports. Antoni has voiced support for getting rid of the less accurate monthly updates in favor of focusing on the less timely, but more accurate, quarterly reports. But getting confirmed by the Senate could be tough.

👨‍⚖️ Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who famously refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple in 2015, is back in the news. It's been a while, but she's still fighting a lawsuit from the two gents she denied. She's lost twice in lower courts so far, owes $360,000, and is now asking the Supreme Court to take up her case and overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. So what's that mean? Nothing, really. The court receives 8,000 petitions each year from people who want their case heard, but only accepts about 70 of them. So the chances are slim that the court picks up this particular hot potato.

TRIVIA

Next year marks America's big 250th birthday, and the government is neck deep in the party planning process (UFC at the White House, anyone?) But not everyone is super jazzed about their country right about now. What percentage of Americans say the U.S.'s 250th birthday is something to celebrate?

Hint: We’re roughly in the range of two-thirds on this one.

POLITICS

🤠 Texas Democrats are heading home

The Great Redistricting War of 2025 is just beginning, and Republicans have won the first battle. Democratic members of the Texas legislature are heading home this weekend after fleeing the state to prevent a Republican-backed redistricting plan. They claimed victory for raising national awareness of the issue. But that’s cold comfort to their friends in Congress, five of whom are likely to lose their U.S. House seats in the redraw.

• Over in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is doubling down on his effort to redraw his state's maps for Democrats to counter Texas Republicans.

Things aren’t all bad for Texas Dems. Trumpy state Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary. And polls have him up big. If Paxton wins that primary, some Republicans fear they’ll have to spend up to $250 million to prevent Democrats from winning the seat over the controversial Paxton.

• That’s a lot of money that they might prefer spending in, say, Ohio, where ex-Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is planning a comeback bid after getting ousted last year by now-Sen. Bernie Moreno (R).

Despite all the hubbub, serving in Congress ain't what it used to be. A (modern) record nine senators and 21 representatives have already announced they’re headed for the exits after next year

Also in Congress: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) are bringing Epstein survivors to the Capitol for a press conference on Sept. 3, when the House returns from its vacay.

BRIEFS

● Nvidia and AMD, two of the world's largest makers of advanced computer chips, agreed to give the U.S. government a 15% cut for permission to sell their products in China. High-end chip exports are tightly controlled amid a global war for AI dominance.

● A federal appeals court said on Wednesday that the Trump administration could terminate billions of dollars in congressionally approved foreign aid funding. The ruling didn’t cover the policy’s merits, only that the plaintiffs aren’t qualified to challenge it.

● Walmart, the world's largest private employer, announced Wednesday that it will offer its 1.6 million U.S. employees a 10% discount on nearly all groceries. Employees already received a discount on produce and most general merchandise.

● Miguel Uribe Turbay, a Colombian senator and leading presidential candidate, has died two months after being shot in the head during a campaign speech. Authorities arrested a teenage suspect, but still don't know who ordered the hit. Uribe was 39.

QUOTE

ANSWER

According to a new poll of 1,500 people from The Spectator, a politically conservative magazine, 63 percent of Americans are ready to break out the cake and confetti. Being a political poll, there is, of course, a party breakdown here, too: 89% of Republicans are in the mood to celebrate, but only 37% of Democrats agree.