• Markets: The Dow had its third down day in a row yesterday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended mostly flat. But it could have been worse: Stocks fell early in the day as investors warily watched rising bond yields, but pared some losses amid hope for a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
• Stock spotlight: Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, fell after investors weren’t as impressed with the company’s quarterly results as diners are with their breadsticks.

START THE PRESSES

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images

President Trump can’t keep CNN, MS NOW, and Politico off his US taxpayers’ lawn, at least for now. Nearly a week after he barred them from the White House, journalists from these outlets regained access yesterday following a judge’s early morning order to temporarily block Trump’s ban.

To refresh: Trump announced last Friday that he was revoking White House credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico (Politico and Morning Brew have the same parent company, Axel Springer), initially saying it was “a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” but later calling their reporting a national security risk. The outlets sued to get back in.

Now, things are looking up for the press: “The Court is skeptical—at least on this record—that Defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation” of the outlets’ press passes, US District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote:

• Kelly granted the outlets a 14-day restraining order against Trump’s media ban, while their First Amendment lawsuit challenging it progresses.
• The administration’s examples of “objectionable reporting” by CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were “so vague it hardly does the trick,” Kelly’s order said.
• The judge added that the outlets have a good shot of proving in court that the administration violated their constitutional due process rights.

The judge issued his order in the wee hours of yesterday morning, but reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were still turned away until around noon, though it wasn’t immediately clear why.

No eyes on Xi

CNN’s TV pool peers—ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC—suspended their White House video coverage all week in solidarity with the excommunicated outlets, which meant that no American network aired live footage yesterday when Trump hosted China’s President Xi Jinping, who’s here to discuss AI, Iran, and Taiwan.

Looking ahead…the networks have said they won’t resume presidential pool coverage until the administration reassures them that CNN will not only regain White House access, but also be readmitted to the pool.—ML

      

World

Tour de headlines

Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

🏛️ At state dinner, Xi said he and Trump reached “common understanding on many issues.” China’s president started the day with good news, announcing that a new pair of pandas would arrive at Zoo Atlanta in the coming days. The leaders held bilateral talks in the Oval Office yesterday before their much-anticipated state dinner. The guest list was heavy on business and tech executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Today, Trump is expected to take Xi to the National Archives to tour an exhibit of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights before China’s leader heads home.—HVL

🏠 Mortgage rates hit 7% for the first time since January 2025. Abstaining from avocado toast probably won’t be enough to help you buy a house: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 7.03% on Thursday, Freddie Mac said yesterday. That’s up from 6.3% a year ago and represents the first time mortgages have breached the psychologically significant 7% mark in 20 months. That’s likely to hit the already stagnant housing market hard. With inflation remaining elevated and the war in Iran driving up oil prices, the bond market—which mortgage rates tend to follow—has seen large yield spikes. The 10-year bond, which is closely tied to consumer borrowing costs like mortgages, leaped above 5%, and yesterday the 30-year bond had its highest yield since 2004.—AR

⚖️ New York accuses Polymarket of running an unlicensed gambling operation. If you had money on New York suing Polymarket about two months after it went after rival prediction market Kalshi, it’s time to cash in. The lawsuit filed against Polymarket US yesterday is similar to the one the state lodged against Kalshi, asking a judge to block the platform from operating in the state and order it to pay fines because it’s not licensed by New York’s gambling regulator. Prediction markets have argued that they’re not subject to state gambling regulations because they instead fall under the federal regulation of the CFTC (and the agency agrees), but the question is being put to the test in multiple lawsuits. Polymarket plans to fight the suit. “We believe in New York and we’re staying here,” its chief legal officer said.—AR

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DROPS OF JUPITER

Niv Bavarsky

Oracle is acting like your defiant roommate who said he won’t pay rent until the toilet is fixed. The company warned the developer of a massive New Mexico AI data center that it’ll delay contract payments if the project doesn’t come online as planned by 2028, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

The development, dubbed Project Jupiter, faces delays as permits for a natural gas pipeline to fuel the data center are in limbo amid local opposition. Oracle, which is the data center’s main tenant, invoked a force majeure contract clause that protects it from liability if certain events it can’t control occur—though it said it’s still committed to the project.

Oracle sees a murky future

The news adds uncertainty to the gargantuan enterprise, which hinges largely on Oracle paying up:

• The $18 billion of debt tied to the project is already trading at 90 cents on the dollar amid concerns that Oracle is too debt-burdened, per a recent Financial Times report.
• Oracle’s stock was down nearly 3.5% yesterday, while shares of its developer, Blue Owl Capital, sagged 3.6%.

This is bigger than Jupiter: The project is part of the Stargate initiative to spend $500 billion building data centers for OpenAI, which President Trump touted alongside the leaders of OpenAI and Oracle last year. Silicon Valley’s overall AI infrastructure splurge is projected to make up 3.6% of US GDP between 2025 and 2032.—SK

      

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BOB FIGHT

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Getty Images

With the fervor of a 20-slide Notes app callout, Bob Chapek wants you to know who’s at fault for his short tenure as CEO of Disney: the other Bob. In excerpts from his new memoir, Behind the Castle Walls: My Thirty Years at the Happiest Place on Earth, which Simon & Schuster is releasing next week, Chapek claims that former CEO Bob Iger (who had the role before and after him) launched a “relentless three-year campaign to push me out.”

ICYMI: In February 2020, Iger abruptly stepped down as CEO of Disney, but stayed on as executive chair of the board. Chapek was his successor, but he was unceremoniously ousted on a Sunday after a three-year stint at the top that involved Covid turbulence, an unpopular take on Florida’s so-called “Don’t say gay” bill, and a compensation fight with Scarlett Johansson. Then Iger took the reins once more.

In his new tell-all:

• Chapek says he spent years being teased with the CEO role, but only found out he got it weeks before his 2020 appointment.
• He also claims he was set up to fail, accusing Iger of stepping down to avoid being in the top seat during Covid. However, he has provided no evidence for this accusation, and spokespeople for Iger and Disney declined to comment to news outlets.

A big boss scorned: Iger and Chapek’s beef is well documented, but Disney insiders view the book as “revisionist,” according to Variety.—MM

      

Reader Poll

DAVE’S SPORTS DESK

The NFL’s top draft pick has financial tips for Gen Z

Screenshot via @FOS/X

On Fridays, the Brew’s Dave Lozo looks at a sports business story that says a lot more than just the final score of a game.

Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL yet, but the first pick in this year’s draft is making the most of his free time with a new video series that offers financial advice to Gen Z.

The series, “Finance with Fernando,” is a collab with US Bank. Mendoza studied finance in college and interned at Newmark Group and ACRE Investment Company, so when he says “my true passion is fiscal responsibility” in an intro video that’s nearly indistinguishable from an I Think You Should Leave skit, you know he means it.

Along with the advice, Mendoza is also offering a giveaway for one fan—a recommendation from him on LinkedIn, where he posts like a normie.

Saving early: Per Northwestern Mutual, Gen Z began putting money into a 401(k) at an average age of 22, which is far earlier than millennials (28) and Gen X (32).—DL

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quiz

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It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

News

What else is brewing

• The Senate rejected a resolution to halt US military action in Iran in a 49–50 vote yesterday.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the UN yesterday. He denied allegations of genocide in Gaza, described attacking Iran as “one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” and called the many delegates who left as he began to speak “moral cowards.” Earlier in the day, in a taped address, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (who was denied a visa to come to the gathering) accused Israel of waging “a genocidal war” and called for a two-state solution.
• Starbucks is planning to close 250 underperforming stores in North America this week, comprising about 1% of US locations.
• Gucci began selling shoes labeled “Made in China,” in a major departure from the luxury brand’s reliance on manufacturing in Italy.
• Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who rose to fame as a child on Home Improvement, was arrested this week after allegedly kicking a sheriff’s deputy who suspected the driver of a car the actor was a passenger in was under the influence.
• An explosion near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, injured at least two people and collapsed a building.

recs

• Simplify your life with this three-step method.
• This website lets you play old-school computer solitaire—but the twist is you’re playing alongside other people.
• Why it might be time to start washing your bananas.
• This may not be trending as much anymore, but it’s still at the center of our hearts (and tables).**

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Play

Decipher: This edition of our code-cracking puzzle asks you to decode song lyrics from a famous girl group. Play Decipher here.

Friday puzzle

What number comes next in this sequence?

23, 28, 43, 65, 98

Answer

148. You add up the sum of all the previous digits that have appeared in the sequence so far. So 23 + 5 = 28, 28 + 10 + 5 = 43, etc.

(Source)

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: revisionist, meaning “advocating for reanalyzing historical information.” Thanks to Julia from Ohio for a suggestion that made us look twice. Submit another Word of the Day here.