It’s Wednesday, August 13. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Is Trump’s takeover of D.C. lawful? Why is Reuters carrying water for Hamas? Bari Weiss speaks to Amanda Knox. And more.

But first: Are China’s electric vehicles about to take over the world?

The near future of America is going to be shaped by our war for global supremacy—and our main adversary is China.

Right now, things aren’t looking good for the U.S. China is hoarding rare earth minerals, controlling critical supply chains, and stealing intellectual property.

Oh, and they’re also coming for America’s electric cars.

Not long ago, we were the undisputed champion of this field, thanks to Elon Musk’s Tesla. The company was a potent symbol of America’s propensity to have the best ideas—and then to make them happen.

But then Tesla opened a gigafactory in Shanghai, and now, perhaps predictably, it’s lost the crown to a Chinese company—which, as Ethan Dodd reports in our lead story today, makes cars every bit as good then sells them to the world for less money. It’s put America’s entire automotive industry into a tailspin.

“It’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley—who, on Monday, announced that his company would spend $2 billion to convert a 70-year-old manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky, into a facility that will focus solely on electric vehicles.

But the proliferation of Chinese EVs isn’t just an economic threat; it’s a threat to national security. The Israeli military has banned them from its bases, because of fears that they could gather surveillance data and pass it on to Beijing. The UK has made a similar move.

It seems as though our allies are catching on to the possibility that EVs could well become another weapon in the cold war against China.

With all the praise that has been showered on BYD’s vehicles, we wondered how they stacked up against a Tesla. So we asked Michael Dunne, the author of a forthcoming book about the battle for EV supremacy, to give two cars a spin around the block—the BYD Seal and the Tesla Model 3—and then tell us: Which car, Chinese or American, is better?

Read his piece to find out.

—Joe Nocera

Jed Rubenfeld: Is Trump’s Takeover of D.C. Lawful?

Jed Rubenfeld

Trump has taken over D.C.’s police department—and promised to deploy 800 National Guardsmen to the city—because, he says, “Crime is out of control in the District of Columbia.” The move has been met with outrage; D.C.’s attorney general says it’s “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.” So we asked our resident constitutional law professor, Jed Rubenfeld: Is that true? Is Trump doing something illegal? Read full story

Why Is Reuters Carrying Water for Hamas?

Jonas Du

In the last week, Reuters, CNN, and ABC have published stories claiming the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has found “no evidence” of systemic aid theft in Gaza by Hamas. But, as a senior State Department official explained to The Free Press, the report in question was “deliberately and intentionally manufactured.” When it comes to the war in Gaza, how is it that the legacy media so often defers to the narrative that benefits Hamas? Read full story

You know the name of Amanda Knox, the American who was wrongfully imprisoned in Italy for a murder she did not commit. But you don’t know the whole story. In the most recent episode of Honestly, Amanda—who has a new book out—charts her ordeal, how she was smeared by the press, how she survived prison, and why she now chooses forgiveness. Yesterday Bari was overheard in The Free Press office saying, “This is one of the best conversations I’ve ever had on the pod.”

Why Amanda Knox Forgave the Man Who Sent Her to Prison The Free Press Episode