🚔 Axios PM: Inside Bolton raids

Busy news Friday! Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 737 words, a 3-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.

🚨 Breaking: Chicago and New York City are President Trump's next targets for federal crime crackdowns, following Washington.

• "We're going to make our cities very, very safe," he told reporters at the White House this afternoon.

🏦 Fed chair Jay Powell opened the door to cutting interest rates, but didn't commit, Axios' Neil Irwin reports from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Go deeper.

• President Trump threatened to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook after housing regulator Bill Pulte doubled down on his attacks against her, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports. Go deeper.

This morning's FBI raids of John Bolton's home in suburban Maryland and his office in Washington were part of a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling and sharing of classified information, Axios' Marc Caputo reports.

• Bolton, a high-profile national security adviser in Trump's first term, wasn't detained or charged.

"NO ONE is above the law," FBI Director Kash Patel posted this morning, without naming Bolton.

• Patel included Bolton on a list of "members of the Executive Branch Deep State" in a 2023 book.

🌎 Bolton and Trump fell out over foreign policy, with Bolton calling his former boss "unfit" before the election.

• Trump told White House reporters when asked about the Bolton raid: "Not a fan — he's sort of a lowlife. ... He's a very quiet person, except on television, if he can say something bad about Trump. Not a smart guy, could be a very unpatriotic guy. We're going to find out."

👎 Bolton was highly critical of Trump during the president's first term, and he's continued to scold the president on social media and in interviews.

• In a post this morning, Bolton expressed skepticism about the Russia-Ukraine peace talks: "Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don't see these talks making any progress."

After his falling out with Trump, Bolton published a book, "The Room Where it Happened," in 2020, which became the subject of an investigation over its use of classified documents. That probe was later dropped under the Biden administration.

• It is unclear whether that book is at the center of this probe.

Go deeper: "How the Trump-Bolton relationship devolved into chaos and an FBI raid," by Axios' Herb Scribner.

A cold front may bring an early taste of fall to much of the eastern U.S. next week, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes.

• Temperatures could be below average from New England down to Georgia and over as far as the Four Corners, per NOAA's latest short-term outlook.

🍃 That could mean a nice, crisp chill in the air just in time for back-to-school season for many.

• 🌩️ Cold fronts also tend to trigger thunderstorms as they pass.

🌡️ The other side: Above-average temperatures are expected in the Northwest, southern Texas and Florida.

Reality check: We here in Upstate New York call this "false fall."

• There's still plenty of time for more warm-ups before it's truly autumn.

1. 🪖 National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C., will now carry weapons under orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Go deeper.
2. 🇵🇸 Parts of Gaza are enduring famine, a UN-backed hunger monitor said. Israel rejected the determination as fabricated and political, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. Go deeper.
3. ⚽️ The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will be held at the Kennedy Center in December, President Trump announced. Go deeper.
4. 🐘 Joe Gruters, a Florida conservative with ties to President Trump, was elected as Republican National Committee chair after running unopposed with Trump's backing. Go deeper.
5. 🎓 Howard University president Ben Vinson III is stepping down at the end of the month, just days into the start of the academic year. Former Howard president Wayne A.I. Frederick will return as interim president. Read the announcement.

Sandwich merch from Etsy printmaker Lorraine Hu is a hot seller in Washington as a symbol of resistance to President Trump's militarization of the country's capital, Axios D.C.'s Anna Spiegel reports.

• Hu's design nods to the D.C. flag and "sandwich guy" — the now-ex DOJ staffer who launched a Subway hoagie at a federal officer.

👕 Hu, a hobbyist with a nonprofit day job, has sold over 450 T-shirts, totes and pins since last weekend.

• 💵 She's donating all proceeds — now over $4,300 — to organizations working with local residents.

Go deeper ... Get Axios Local.

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