It’s Tuesday, May 26. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: A Democratic congressional candidate who wants to imprison “billionaire American Zionists.” Vindication for Harvard’s anti–grade inflation crusader. And much more.
But first: Michael Doran on Trump’s two-part peace plan.
Memorial Day weekend began with every indication that a deal with Iran might be imminent. It ended with U.S. strikes against Iranian forces.
On Monday, the U.S. sank two Iranian boats that officials said were attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. also struck missile launchers in southern Iran after missiles targeted American planes. “U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” said Captain Tim Hawkins, a military spokesman.
In other words: A precarious ceasefire remains in place for now. Meanwhile, the diplomatic mood music still points toward a deal—even if the talks have slowed and President Trump threatens to walk away. “The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” he said Monday on Truth Social.
So what will Trump do next? Michael Doran has answers to that question in his latest piece for The Free Press. Michael is one of the most astute observers of this conflict, and in a must-read account of the state of play, he lays out where he thinks things are heading—and reveals what senior Trump administration officials say are the president’s long-term plans on Iran.
As national security adviser to President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan played a critical role in an administration with a very different Iran policy to Trump. He joins Aaron MacLean on the latest episode of School of War to discuss the state of his world and the state of the Democratic Party. Tune in for Sullivan’s views on China, Israel, Iran, Ukraine, foreign policy debates on the left, and more.
—Oliver Wiseman
A Democratic congressional candidate in Texas wants to imprison “billionaire American Zionists” and turn an immigration facility into a “castration processing center for pedophiles.” Maureen Galindo is sending Democrats across the country into a panic ahead of her runoff today. Olivia Reingold reports on the sex therapist now being called “Marjorie Taylor Blue,” and why conspiratorial politics is here to stay.
Graduation season is upon us, and most commencement speeches fall somewhere between forgettable and infuriating. Arthur Brooks has given his fair share of commencement speeches, and he understands why most speakers go wrong. Too many speeches are full of platitudes nobody remembers or political grandstanding nobody asked for, and lots of them simply go on too long. He breaks down the four rules for an address people won’t hate—starting with the most fundamental: “It’s about the students, not the speaker or their controversial opinions.”
Grades at Harvard have been climbing for decades. Last year, three out of every five grades were A’s. Last week, the faculty finally voted to cap them. Novi Zhukovsky reports on the reform and talks to Harvey Mansfield, the 94-year-old retired professor whose largely solitary fight against grade inflation began in the 1970s. His reaction upon hearing the news: “It’s about time.”
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Pope Leo—who took his name as a nod to the pope who defended workers during the Industrial Revolution—released on Monday his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas. He called for governments to regulate AI companies, protect workers who are displaced by AI, and ensure humans retain oversight of autonomous weapons. “The primary choice is not between a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to technology,” the pope wrote, “but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem.”
Mexico agreed to host Iran’s national soccer team during the World Cup after the U.S. declined to allow the team to stay on American soil. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said there was “no reason to deny them the possibility of staying in Mexico.” The team will stay in Tijuana and fly Iran Air to its World Cup matches in Los Angeles and Seattle.
A damaged chemical tank in Southern California that had been at risk of exploding is no longer considered a threat. A crack in the tank naturally vented pressure and brought temperatures down on the methyl methacrylate, a plastic-manufacturing chemical. More than half of the residents who had been evacuated were told that they could go home.
The United States has spent years trying to keep China from building world-class computer chips, but Chinese tech firm Huawei said it may have found a way around that. The company announced a breakthrough Monday that it claims will match the world’s most advanced semiconductors by 2031, achieved by stacking chips on top of each other, rather than depending on manufacturing cut off by U.S. sanctions.
A heatwave is scorching Europe, with the UK breaking its all-time May temperature record on Monday, reaching 94.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In France, two people died during sporting events. Health authorities have issued warnings about the rising risk of heat-related deaths.
Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts became the first rideshare workers in the country to unionize, with the newly formed App Drivers Union receiving state certification to represent about 70,000 drivers. The union can now begin bargaining over wages and job security—a potential model for similar efforts underway in California and Illinois.
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Anthropic keeps conversations with Claude ad-free: no sponsored links, no advertisers shaping answers, no paid product placements you didn’t ask for.
We read promise of an essay that "reveals what senior Trump administration officials say are the president’s long-term plans on Iran." What has Trump said -- will we get a full list? And by the way, is someone going to mention Trump's previous insistence on unconditional surrender?
"Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts became the first rideshare workers in the country to unionize..."
That's good news, those companies mistreat their drivers horribly.