Good morning and happy Thursday! It’s almost Memorial Day, which means summer is almost here and mowing is now a competitive sport. Just think. In a few short weeks, we’ll all be desperately waffling between not sweating to death and saving money on the A/C bill to pay for ad-free Netflix.

Programming note: We’re taking the weekend off, so your inbox will be one email lighter on Monday. We’ll see you right back here next Thursday, May 29. Enjoy your holiday!

DEFENSE

 🛡️ Trump wants Golden Dome missile shield

New Orleans has the Superdome. Your bald friend has a chrome dome. Israel has the Iron Dome. Now, if President Trump gets his way, the U.S. will have the Golden Dome.

Shortly after taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order demanding the creation of an "Iron Dome for America." On Tuesday, Trump unveiled some more concrete details for the plan. The basic idea? Build a system of "sensors and interceptors" across "land, sea, and space" to shoot down potential long-range missile attacks.

• The Iron Dome is Israel’s famous missile defense system. Since launching in 2011, the small, land-based system has shot down more than 5,000 incoming rockets.

• Canada wants in on this thing, too. The U.S. and Canada have long worked together on airspace protection via the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The why: Defending against long-range attacks has long been a U.S. defense concern. Ronald Reagan tried and failed to set up a similar, albeit smaller, system in the 1980s. Growing threats from China and Russia make it that much more attractive.

• For its part, China has criticized the plan for militarizing space.

The how: Trump has tasked Space Force General Michael Guetlein with overseeing the project. More than 180 companies have expressed interest in helping build it, including both traditional defense contractors and Silicon Valley tech companies.

• The completed Golden Dome will include an array of hundreds of satellites to detect incoming missiles and disable them either with lasers or by more conventional means.

• Per Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, it’s a layered system. “If you miss at one, you catch at the next."

The timeline: Trump says the basic architecture of this thing has already been designed. He estimates the system can be “fully operational” by the time his term ends. That’s January 20, 2029, for those of you counting down.

The cost: The whole thing is expected to cost $175 billion. As part of ongoing 2026 budget negotiations, lawmakers are working on securing $25 billion to get the ball rolling. Once built, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates it could cost up to $27 billion per year to maintain.

On a related note: Homeland Security conducted the first flight in its “we’ll pay you cold, hard cash to self-deport” program. And the Justice Department won 60 convictions against migrants who set foot in the 60-foot-wide National Defense Area on the Texas-Mexico border, which is effectively an extension of a nearby military base.

GOVERNMENT

👨‍⚖️ A federal district judge ruled that President Trump’s firing of the two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) was illegal. The five-member board is an independent agency. It reviews actions taken by the government to combat terrorism to ensure everything is above board on the civil liberties front. According to the judge, the board’s peculiar structure — one in which members outlast the presidents who appointed them — is constitutional according to a 1930s Supreme Court precedent. The White House is currently appealing other, similar cases to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn that precedent. Their argument? Officials who cannot be fired amount to a sketchy fourth branch of government that doesn't reflect the will of the voters.

✈️ The Department of Defense (DoD) formally accepted a Boeing 747-8 from the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar. Boeing has fallen years behind schedule on its $3.9 billion contract to build replacements for the 35-year-old pair of planes currently used as Air Force One. So, Trump aides approached Qatar about purchasing the plane as a Boeing band-aid. It has a sticker price of $400 million but is worth a mere $180 million on today’s market. The gifted jet is to be used as Air Force One after a hefty renovation to “ensure proper security” protocols and other requirements are met. That little process could also take years … and cost more than $1 billion.

🇿🇦 President Trump partied like a substitute teacher during an Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Tensions are high between the two men after Trump recently allowed 49 white South Africans to claim refugee status in the U.S. over concerns of racism back home. Ramaphosa brought a gift and two pro golfers to help smooth things over. Trump brought out a TV on wheels and played a video compilation of South African politicians calling for the murder of local white farmers. Ramaphosa attributed the clips to extremists from another party who don't make government policy.

POLITICS

🏛️ It’s a bad time to be a Biden

There’s no way to get around it: It’s a bad time to be Joe Biden. News outlets have been awash with stories for the past two weeks from a new book, “Original Sin,” co-authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper, that slams the Biden administration for covering up the then-president’s health issues. Revelations include:

• White House staffers were shocked at how little media coverage Biden’s health was getting.

• Their concerns over his frailty didn’t suddenly emerge after that disastrous 2024 debate. They were worried about him as far back as the 2020 campaign.

Two days before the book’s May 20 release, Biden’s office announced that he’d been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His spokesman says the bad news didn’t come until last week. But his own former medical advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, joined a growing chorus of people casting doubt on the official timeline.

• Emanuel thinks Biden’s “had this for many years, maybe even a decade,” and expressed shock at the idea that it somehow wouldn’t be caught until now.

• Another relevant (and tragic) detail from the book: The Biden family worked to hide the fatal cancer diagnosis of Joe’s son, then-Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.

Related: Former Vice President Kamala Harris is leaning toward running for governor of California next year. She’s likely to make it official in August or September.

TRIVIA

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sort of whiffed her response when asked what “habeas corpus” is during a congressional hearing. She defined it as “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.” That’s not really correct, though it is pretty much what the Trump administration wants to do. So, the question falls to you. What is habeas corpus? 

Hint: Put on your Latin hat and focus on that second word.

BRIEFS

● A pro-Russian former Ukrainian politician was shot dead yesterday outside his kids’ school in Madrid, Spain. He was a senior aide to Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader until that guy was overthrown back in 2014. He later tried to bribe and infiltrate Ukrainian courts.

● Ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive is headed to OpenAI after the company bought his AI devices startup (called “io”) for $5 billion. The list of products he designed at Apple includes the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, and more.

● Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war won’t end until Israel controls the entire Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israel might strike Iran’s nuclear facilities despite ongoing U.S.-Iran talks to end Iran’s nuclear program.

● The Department of Justice (DOJ) will end its oversight of police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, both of which are tied to controversial 2020 shootings. The DOJ believes the oversight is ineffective and actually makes some problems worse.

● The Trump administration has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt. Babbitt was shot and killed by the U.S. Capitol Police after breaching the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

QUOTE

ANSWER

The short answer: Habeas corpus is Latin for “you should have the body.”

The long answer: It’s a legal right that says you can’t be detained or imprisoned without the opportunity to go before a judge and challenge your arrest. It’s an 800-year-old legal procedure that ensures the king can’t just toss you in a dungeon and throw away the key.

The situation: The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus to help speed up deportations. It sounds wild, but the Constitution allows for this "when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” It’s been done four times before, including once by Abraham Lincoln. But there’s some disagreement over whether it can be done by the president alone or if it has to come from Congress.