AI Summary
5 min readPresident Trump named Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard. The appointment bypasses Senate confirmation and is capped at 210 days. Pulte, sometimes called “Little Trump,” has no national security experience at this level. He has pushed for investigations into figures like Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Representative Adam Schiff, neither of whom has been formally charged with wrongdoing. The move drew criticism from Democrats and from Senate Republican leader John Thune, who said he did not want a “weaponized DNI.”
Anti-Weaponization Fund Abandoned
The Trump administration is scrapping its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.” The fund had drawn condemnation from many GOP senators and threatened to sink an unrelated immigration enforcement bill.
New AI Executive Order
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:18) **Trump Abandons $1.8 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund** - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tells Congress the fund is dead, period, after condemnation from GOP senators threatened an unrelated immigration bill.
- 2 (00:29) **Trump Names Housing Chief Bill Pulte as Acting DNI** - President Trump appoints a close ally to replace Tulsi Gabbard without Senate confirmation, a move criticized by both Democrats and top Senate Republican John Thune.
- 3 (03:00) **Trump Signs Executive Order on AI Oversight** - The order requires AI companies to give the administration 30 days to review models before public release, a shorter timeline than a previous version Trump rejected.
- 4 (03:46) **Index Providers Change Rules to Fast-Track Mega IPOs** - Companies behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are tweaking rules to integrate IPOs like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI faster, potentially within five days.
- 5 (06:54) **Spacex Eyes $1.75 Trillion Valuation in IPO** - Elon Musk's rocket maker is aiming for a valuation near $1.75 trillion and plans to sell less than 5% of its shares, with updated paperwork expected soon.
- 6 (07:56) **Markets Close Higher; Victoria's Secret Soars** - The Dow led gains, closing up nearly 0.5%. Victoria's Secret stock surged 47% after reporting a 15% sales gain and raising its outlook, driven by a strong focus on bras.
- 7 (08:27) **Berkshire Hathaway's Home Builder Bet and Agent Exodus** - Berkshire’s $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison signals confidence in a housing recovery, but the NAR has lost 200,000 members since 2022 as low sales push agents out of the industry.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
P.M. Edition for June 2. President Trump has named Bill Pulte, leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence. WSJ White House reporter Natalie Andrews discusses how Pulte has urged investigations into the president’s perceived enemies and lawmakers’ criticism of his appointment. Plus, the Trump administration is abandoning its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund after it drew broad condemnation from GOP lawmakers. And, we hear from Jason Zweig, who writes WSJ’s Intelligent Investor column, about how the year of the mega IPO is triggering changes by index providers—the firms that compile market averages like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100–to accommodate these titanic deals. SpaceX, one of those massive IPOs, is eyeing a valuation of around $1.75 trillion. Alex Ossola hosts.
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