Principals

1. European charm offensive
2. Bongino gets FBI co-deputy
3. Another Gaza ceasefire push
4. China-India talks
5. GOP targets property taxes
6. Texas Dems return

PDB: Softbank invests in Intel as US weighs a 10% stake

US reports housing starts … WaPo: Top Air Force general forced out … Bloomberg: Air Canada flight attendants reach deal to end strike

Zelenskyy, Europeans charm Trump

President Donald Trump is pushing for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after his talks in Washington with European leaders ended on a positive note but made little concrete progress toward ending Russia’s Ukraine war. The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was a stark change to the Ukrainian leader’s last Oval Office meeting with Trump in February, which imploded, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott writes. “It was our best meeting with President Trump,” said Zelenskyy, who was accompanied by European leaders looking to present a united front of support for Kyiv. Key differences remain, including over the need for an immediate ceasefire. Trump insisted Putin is ready for peace, but evidence points to the contrary: Russia launched a huge overnight attack following Monday’s meeting. Still, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz predicted Zelenskyy and Putin would meet “within the next two weeks.”

A surprise hire at FBI

The Trump administration is tapping Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey as co-deputy director of the FBI, two people familiar with the situation told Semafor’s Shelby Talcott — meaning he’s set to share the role with current FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. The new hire comes after the FBI and Justice Department landed at the center of a firestorm over the Jeffrey Epstein case last month, with Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi at one point fighting over the handling of the case. “I will protect America and uphold the Constitution,” Bailey said in a post on X confirming his new role. It’s unclear whether Bongino will stay with the FBI long-term: Some have speculated he won’t want to keep his No. 2 post if he’s sharing it. Bailey’s name had been floated during the Trump transition as a possible attorney general pick.

Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal

Hamas accepted an updated proposal for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, even as Trump appeared to back Israel’s plans to move into Gaza City. Qatari and Egyptian mediators presented the fresh proposal, which would set up a 60-day ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, according to Axios. The plan could avert an Israeli takeover of Gaza’s biggest city — but the Israeli government has yet to respond, though it mirrors a previous US-backed deal that Israel agreed to. Trump on Monday said remaining prisoners would only be returned “when Hamas is confronted and destroyed,” signaling for an expanded Israeli campaign that has prompted protests in Tel Aviv. Israel has also discussed moving Palestinian refugees from Gaza to South Sudan, according to The New York Times, a controversial move that critics regard as a potential violation of international law.

India, China grow closer

China and India are inching closer together, as the US picks a fight with New Delhi. China’s Wang Yi is wrapping up a two-day visit to discuss trade, border peace, and broader cooperation between the two countries. The talks precede what will be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, a thaw that follows years of tensions fueled by border clashes. Meanwhile, the US has singled out India with tariffs over its purchase of Russian oil, as trade talks have stalled. “India’s dependence on Russian crude is opportunistic and deeply corrosive of the world’s efforts to isolate [Vladimir] Putin’s war economy,” White House adviser Peter Navarro wrote in the Financial Times. The US-India rift “works in Beijing’s favor,” an analyst told The New York Times.

Conservatives eye property tax abolition

Anti-tax conservatives have found a new mission: eliminating all property taxes. “There’s a philosophical debate that we need to have about property tax,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told local business owners in Jacksonville this spring. As Carla Wagner, the organizer of the anti-property tax AxMITax campaign in Michigan and a gubernatorial candidate, told Semafor’s David Weigel: “If we want to turn the state around, it’s going to take some very bold and drastic measures.” The idea comes with risks; a lack of replacement revenue sources could make it difficult to pay for services taxpayers like, for example. But red-state Republicans across the country have expressed interest, and even the president has mused about an end to capital gains taxes on homes. So property tax abolitionists might be part of the GOP’s future — if they can convince skeptical voters.

Texas Democrats come home

Texas Democrats returned to the state legislature on Monday, facing new rules set by the Republicans who are now able to pass the friendlier map requested by Trump. Members of the minority party who had left for other states, stopping the map redraw attempt in a previous special session, were now under surveillance. One of them, Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier, stayed in the House chamber rather than sign off on a police escort to follow her out of the capitol. Republicans moved ahead with passing new district lines designed to eliminate five Democratic seats — and Democrats said they’d won a partial victory when they fled the state, by convincing California Gov. Gavin Newsom to put his own mid-decade re-draw on a Nov. 4 ballot.

— David Weigel

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Blindspot: Guns and Gaza

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Gun rights advocates pushed back on the Trump administration’s idea to combine the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Daily Caller reported.

What the Right isn’t reading: Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 House Democrat, called the Gaza war a “genocide” during a forum last week.

Beltway Newsletters

Playbook: Vice President JD Vance is headed to Georgia on Thursday to sell President Trump’s megabill, which the White House is now rebranding as “working family tax cuts.”

Axios: New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is in some ways a leftist version of Trump: A social media sensation loathed by his opponents who the media can’t stop talking about.

White House

• President Trump announced he intends to “lead a movement” to end mail-in balloting, something experts say he constitutionally has no power to do himself.

Congress

• House Speaker Mike Johnson faces two ethics complaints that he allegedly paid California Rep. Darrell Issa’s rent from campaign accounts.
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be “hauled up” to the House Oversight Committee if Democrats retake the chamber.

Outside the Beltway

• Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana are also sending National Guard troops to DC.

Inside the Beltway

• White House social media producers are tagging along with FBI agents as they execute arrest warrants in DC. — Reuters
• The General Services Administration changed some code on Regulations.gov that will make submitting public comment on regulations more cumbersome. — 404

Campaigns

• Democratic Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten dropped out of the race to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst and endorsed Josh Turek.