Good morning! It’s the end of an era in Korea. To help restore “inter-Korean trust and peace,” South Korea’s new government has vowed to stop blasting K-pop and pro-democracy propaganda across the border at its northern neighbor. North Korea considers the broadcasts an act of war and has threatened to blow up the loudspeakers in the past (who can blame them?).

The North has tried the “right back at ya” strategy. But its anti-capitalist broadcasts toward the South were less effective because, hilariously, its speakers suck. A more effective strategy for North Korea, though? Going full 12-year-old boy and sending thousands of big balloons full of garbage and poop over the border last year. Diplomacy.

MILITARY

🥳 U.S. Army, Trump celebrate shared birthday

Who doesn’t love a good parade? What about one with a $45 million budget, 200,000 attendees, 7,000 soldiers, 50 military helicopters, 28 tanks, 34 horses, and 2 mules?

The U.S. Army was founded on June 14, 1775. Donald Trump was born on June 14, 1946. This Saturday marks the Army’s big 250th anniversary and Trump’s 79th birthday. So, obviously, it’s party time in Washington.

The background: President Trump first fell in love with the idea of a humongous military parade while visiting Paris in 2017 during its big Bastille Day celebration. Eight years later, his dream has arrived.

• America’s last big military parade celebrated the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

• These things used to be more common, but fell by the wayside as they became associated with authoritarian regimes in the late 1900s.

We’re a long way from Thanksgiving. So, if you’re a big parade nut and want to watch, online streams may be your best bet. The major broadcast networks aren’t airing the parade.

The details: Celebrations will go all day, but the hour-long parade kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. A fireworks show will follow at 9:45. Soldiers will be dressed to represent every era of the Army’s 250-year history, and they’ll have equipment to match. That includes everything from modern tanks to World War I vehicles, along with mules and a wagon from the Army’s Horse Cavalry Detachment.

The critics: This thing could cost $45 million, and it might get worse. Officials estimate the line of ~130,000-lb tanks could do up to $16 million in damage to streets on the parade route — not a great look for a budget-conscious federal government. But President Trump brushed off the cost as “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.” He said, “We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it.”

• The anti-Trump 50501 Movement (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement) will hold some 1,500 protest rallies in cities across the country on Saturday.

• Organizers say the event is a "costly, wasteful, and un-American birthday parade” celebrating one man’s ego.

Echoing the boss, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll defended the parade as "an amazing opportunity" to tell the Army's story. He believes it "will directly lead to a recruiting boom."

GOVERNMENT

💊 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to use AI to "radically increase efficiency" in the drug approval process. FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary hopes the change will help deliver "faster cures" by speeding up certain steps, like the review of up to 500,000 pages of submitted data. The current process can take months or years, but Makary believes "rapid or instant reviews are possible." Meanwhile, his boss, health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr., fired all 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee. He claimed the old crew had "persistent conflicts of interest" and simply rubber-stamped every new vaccine. All 17 were Biden hires, and 13 were from last year alone. Kennedy has since picked 8 replacements.

⛑️ President Trump wants to wind down the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the 2025 hurricane season ends this fall. He said FEMA “has not been a very successful experiment” and wants to “bring it down to the state level.” Instead of having FEMA teams respond to disasters, Trump wants the White House to dole out some cash, so states can do more work themselves (they already take the lead on most disasters). FEMA was created as an independent agency by executive order in the 1970s, but was moved to the Department of Homeland Security by Congress in 2003. Expect big political and legal fights over any attempt to modify it.

🤝 Details are still light, but President Trump announced a draft trade deal with China on Wednesday. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will be set at 55%, while Chinese tariffs on American goods will be 10%. China will ease its (new) restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals, on which it has a near-monopoly, for six months. Rare earths are critical to building both consumer tech and military equipment. In exchange, the U.S. will ease its (new) restrictions on the ability of Chinese students to attend American universities. The deal still needs to be approved by both Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

IMMIGRATION

🚨 L.A. under curfew as protests spread

Bad news if you were hoping to catch that performance of Hamlet in Los Angeles this week. Mayor Karen Bass issued a curfew to help quell looting and vandalism, locking down travel between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. in about one square mile of downtown L.A.

• Protests broke out late last week after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers began arresting people in L.A. for being in the U.S. illegally.

Military response: ICE agents were being overwhelmed, so President Trump federalized the California National Guard and ordered the deployment of 2,000 troops to the L.A. area. He later doubled that to 4,000 and added 700 U.S. Marines. Both types of troops are restricted in what they can do under federal law (the Posse Comitatus Act).

• They’re allowed to protect federal property and personnel, which could mean accompanying ICE agents on immigration raids.

• They cannot make arrests. They can detain people who pose a threat, but that’s only until police arrive to take over.

• Should Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, federal troops would be allowed to make arrests and enforce civilian laws.

California has pushed back on the legality of the troop deployment. Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to prosecute anyone inciting violence. But he’s not a fan of the military situation, which he believes has only fanned the flames. The state filed a lawsuit arguing the required legal conditions, like being in "danger of rebellion," haven't been met.

• In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott called up the Texas National Guard to keep the peace at similar anti-ICE protests in San Antonio.

• But no violence broke out, and soldiers were seen hanging out, playing Uno instead.

Arrests: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that "330 illegal aliens" have been arrested in Los Angeles, 113 of whom had "prior criminal convictions." Fourteen people so far are facing federal charges, including two guys for having Molotov cocktails.

Future: Owing to protesters burning American flags, Leavitt called the situation an attack “on American culture and society itself.” And the administration isn't backing down on its plan to ramp up deportations. ICE is prepping tactical Special Response Teams for deployment in five so-called "sanctuary cities," including Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and northern Virginia.

TRIVIA

The second-oldest member of Congress turns 88 tomorrow and swore on Tuesday that she’d be running again next year. Hours later, her own spokesperson awkwardly walked that back, saying she "wants to run again" but is still chatting with her family to “decide what's best." Yikes.

Eleanor Holmes Norton has served in the House since 1991 as Washington, D.C.’s non-voting delegate. Like other members, she serves on and votes in committees. Unlike other members, though, she doesn’t get a vote on the House floor and has no partners in the Senate. In what year was Washington, D.C., given its non-voting delegate to Congress?

Hint: It happened the year after the Beatles broke up.

BRIEFS

● President Trump's proposed budget bill includes a plan to put $1,000 in investment accounts for every American baby born between 2025 and 2028. Parents could deposit an extra $5,000 per year, and the kid would gain access to the cash when they turn 18.

● Due to unnamed security threats, rumored to be Iranian, the State Department is evacuating nonessential staff from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Family members of military members are also being pulled from several bases in the Middle East.

● As part of an effort to reduce the FBI's footprint in the D.C. area, the agency wants to move its National Academy from Quantico, VA, to Alabama. The program is aimed at local law enforcement. Its primary FBI training academy would remain in Quantico.

● The tech world is popping as Tesla "tentatively" plans to launch its self-driving robotaxis in its home base of Austin, TX, on June 22. Meanwhile, OpenAI hit $10 billion in annual revenue, and Meta paid $15 billion for a 49% stake in data company Scale AI.

QUOTE

ANSWER

D.C. can’t get a full vote in Congress without statehood. But it’s had the next best thing since first electing its non-voting delegate in 1971, after President Nixon signed the District of Columbia Delegate Act. The 60s and 70s were big for D.C. politics. Washington residents first received a vote in the presidential election in 1964, and first elected their own mayor in 1974 (the president used to appoint one).

PS: Technically speaking, D.C. also had a House delegate from 1871 to 1875, but we’re not counting that.