Washington, DC

1. Rubio’s Vatican visit
2. Iran, US trade blows
3. WH hosts anti-abortion activists
4. Democrats in Canada
5. US jobs report
6. US, Ukraine resume talks
7. Mali attacks worry DC

PDB: Trump tariffs struck down

Trump attends LIV Golf dinner … Rubio meets Meloni … WHO: Hantavirus risk to public ‘absolutely low’

Rubio’s papal visit stokes 2028 talk

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the Vatican had been in the works before President Donald Trump started posting about Pope Leo XIV “endangering Catholics.” But the trip came at an auspicious time, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott writes, for both Rubio and the administration writ large. Others in Trump’s orbit saw his papal visit as a valuable cooldown — and the measured tone Rubio took contrasted with that of Vice President JD Vance, himself a Catholic, who earlier urged Leo to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology” after the pontiff criticized the Iran war. Rubio had won praise among Trump allies earlier in the week for his stint filling in as White House press secretary. While the trip boosted his 2028 buzz, most White House aides are still confident that the Republican nomination is Vance’s, should he want it.

Trump insists truce intact despite attacks

Trump insisted a ceasefire with Iran was holding even as the two sides traded fire, and threatened renewed strikes if Tehran does not agree to a firm truce. Each side blamed the other for breaking the month-long ceasefire, after Iran made what US Central Command called “unprovoked attacks” on American ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the US military said it struck Iranian military sites. Speaking on an impromptu visit to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool amid its restoration late Thursday, Trump downplayed the Iranian strikes, saying “They trifled with us today… We blew them away,” and separately called the US strikes a “love tap.” As a protracted standoff looms, the US won approval from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to use their bases and airspace for future attacks. Meanwhile, a leaked CIA intelligence report seen by The Washington Post suggested Iran could withstand the US naval blockade for at least three months.

White House hosts anti-abortion activists

The White House is expected to hold a staff level meeting today with anti-abortion activists, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. The sit-down comes as Trump faces growing criticism from many anti-abortion activists over his priorities in his second term. They’ve been particularly frustrated with some of Trump’s top appointees’ failure to curtail access to abortion pills; Dannenfelser told The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that “Trump is the problem.” Dannenfelser declined to confirm or deny the upcoming meeting. White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster lauded Trump’s “pro-life and pro-family” presidency, adding that the administration “continues to engage with stakeholders and activists in this important community to advance the President’s pro-life agenda.”

— Shelby Talcott and David Weigel

Buttigieg, Slotkin head to Canada

Two potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are heading to Canada tomorrow for a summit with Prime Minister Mark Carney and center-left politicians from Europe. Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will speak alongside liberal politicians from other Western democracies at the event, which was organized by the Center for American Progress. Their focus: how to battle right-wing politicians on affordability. “How do we fight the authoritarian right?” asked CAP President Neera Tanden in an interview with Semafor. The so-called Global Progress Action meeting is taking place one month after Spain’s socialist government organized a similar session. Tanden said Democrats can learn a lesson from Carney, who moved his governing Liberal Party to the right on some issues and surged in popularity. “Our best leaders are nimble about the world that they live in and nimble about where the public is,” Tanden said.

— David Weigel

How stable is the US jobs market?

The US jobs market has evaded any severe impact from the Iran war, unlike other pieces of the US economy. The April jobs report out today will shed further light on the labor market, and economists are betting that it will show continued signs of stability. It’ll come on the heels of ADP’s report, which showed stronger-than-anticipated private sector job growth last month. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, also out today, may tell a different story. The Iran war’s upward pressure on prices is causing Americans to worry more about their pocketbooks, and executives across industries are warning that it’s having an impact on spending behaviors. “They’re literally running out of money at the end of the month,” Kraft Heinz Co.’s CEO told Bloomberg. McDonald’s warned that its franchises are experiencing tighter cash flows due to war-induced inflation.

US, Ukraine try to revive peace talks

A weakened Vladimir Putin will preside over a scaled-back Victory Day parade tomorrow, as Ukraine and the US make a fresh run at reviving stalled talks to end Moscow’s four-year war on Ukraine. The annual holiday celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany will feature a smaller display of military might than usual. Putin has “no victories to celebrate,” The Wall Street Journal writes, as Russian forces lose territory in Ukraine. Both sides are threatening attacks ahead of Victory Day, with Russia reporting it downed hundreds of Ukrainian drones into Thursday. The Trump administration is preoccupied with the Iran war, but on Thursday, Ukraine’s chief ​negotiator, Rustem Umerov, met with US officials in Miami to seek a way forward. Expectations are low; the last trilateral talks occurred in February. The EU is considering its own talks with Putin, the Financial Times reported.

Fears for US Mali embassy after attacks

A sweeping jihadist offensive across Mali is raising concerns in Washington about the security of the US embassy in Bamako and the safety of Americans in the West African nation, Semafor’s Adrian Elimian reports. Last month, the Al Qaeda-affiliated group JNIM and the separatist FLA launched simultaneous attacks in an offensive that has continued into May. The scale and coordination of the attacks raised urgent questions on Capitol Hill about the stability of the military junta governing Mali. Senate Democratic aides are pressing for answers from the State Department about embassy operations and US strategy in the country, including about whether Mali’s government could be toppled. “My guess is you’re not going to see black flags flying over Bamako tomorrow. But I can’t promise by next week,” said one expert. State said it “continually reviews its posture at embassies and consulates throughout the world.”

Angel Studios is crowdsourcing a “values based” alternative to Hollywood. The brothers behind the faith-and-values-driven studio, known for its increasingly popular blockbusters, join Mixed Signals to explain how their Guild with 2 million members subverts the traditional greenlighting process. Max and Ben ask the Harmon brothers whether Angel Studios is a niche Christian media company or something with genuine mainstream scale.

Debatable: Trump’s impact on NATO

Trump can’t officially leave NATO without a vote in Congress. On his own, he can — and has — shaken up the alliance, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant writes. Experts and officials agree that some of his moves have been positive, like his drive to get NATO members to spend more on defense. Some of Trump’s other decisions, though, have strained transatlantic relations, like his recent move to reduce US troop presence in Germany. The question is: How far will he go? “There are two camps: one who fears that they see the trend line clearly and the other shoe is about to drop, and that Trump — even if legally he can’t do it, will do something kind of equivalent to pulling out of NATO,” said the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig. “The other, more cautiously optimistic group thinks that this is a pattern we’ve seen for 10 years.”

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Republicans in both chambers are privately sounding the alarm about funding anything related to President Trump’s ballroom project, after the White House requested $1 billion for security. “A first-year poli sci major would know not to ask members to take this vote and we hope the speaker does too,” one House Republican said.

Playbook: “No,” said Jason Roe, GOP strategist and former executive director of the Michigan GOP, when asked if the White House has a midterm message.

Axios: Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to skip the China trip next week to stay in the US to focus on Iran talks, a US official said.

White House

• A FEMA review panel approved recommendations to significantly downsize the agency, drawing pushback from some disaster survivors and climate advocates. — WaPo
• President Trump has a habit of unwinding at the end of his day by working on his ballroom, even as public anger over the project builds. — WaPo