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In Iowa's Republican gubernatorial primary, businessman Zach Lahn edged out Trump-backed Rep. Randy Feenstra 37.8% to 37%, handing Trump his first midterm-cycle endorsement defeat for a governor, House, or Senate seat. Trump's late endorsement couldn't overcome Lahn's grassroots ground game, and the narrow loss is drawing immediate scrutiny of the limits of presidential endorsement power heading into the fall.
Voters in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota held primaries Tuesday in a key midterm-shaping evening. The California governor's race to succeed Gavin Newsom — with Trump-backed commentator Steve Hilton in the mix — remained too close to call late Tuesday with more than half the vote counted. Rep. Ashley Hinson secured the Iowa Senate primary with Trump's backing and will face a Democrat in November.
U.S. corporate profits jumped 28.6% in the first quarter — the strongest gain since Q4 2021 — with net profit margins hitting a record 14.8%, according to the Mercatus Center. Real GDP grew at a 2.0% annual rate over the same period, suggesting a resilient economy even as tariff headwinds build toward mid-year.
After the Supreme Court ruled in February that the IEEPA statute didn't authorize the administration's original tariff framework, the White House has pivoted to other trade statutes targeting a 12% average tariff rate. Goldman Sachs projects at least a one-point inflation bump from the current regime, and some analysts warn the combined pressure of tariffs, immigration enforcement, and fiscal policy could push inflation above 4% by year-end.
President Trump told ABC News a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is reachable within a week and described it as "largely negotiated," but U.S. military commanders acknowledged fresh "self-defense" strikes in southern Iran in the same window. Iran launched retaliatory missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain. Secretary of State Rubio insists Tehran is negotiating from weakness.
A call between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly grew contentious as Trump pressed hard against Israel's expanding Lebanon military campaign, using blunt language to convey his displeasure. Trump warned that continued bombing risks further isolating Israel diplomatically, while France and the UK have separately deepened nuclear deterrence cooperation for European defense — a sign of how broadly the conflict is reshaping alliances.
In a seismic shift for Central European politics, Hungary's national elections ousted Viktor Orbán and his nationalist Fidesz party after 16 years in power. Orbán had been one of the EU and NATO's most persistently pro-Moscow voices; his defeat is expected to tilt Hungary back toward mainstream European positions on Ukraine policy and Russia relations ahead of the next phase of that conflict.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham developed a perovskite-based catalyst that splits water into hydrogen at significantly lower temperatures than current commercial processes. If it scales, the method could sharply cut the cost of green hydrogen — a critical clean fuel for hard-to-electrify sectors like steel production, shipping, and aviation.
Engineers are preparing to push an experimental supersonic aircraft to Mach 1.6 at 60,000 feet following a successful series of near-supersonic test flights. The program is viewed as a proof-of-concept for the next generation of civil supersonic transport, potentially reviving commercial supersonic travel for the first time since the Concorde retired in 2003.
Scientists discovered that pigeons' legendary homing ability may be powered by iron-filled immune cells in their livers that function as tiny biological compasses, responding to Earth's magnetic field. The finding upends decades of research that focused on the beak as the navigation organ, and could shed light on how other animals — and possibly humans — sense magnetic fields.
