ITK Daily | May 26

Global Street Smarts.

Happy Friday.

ITK Daily will be on hiatus starting Saturday, May 27, returning Monday, June 5.

Here’s today’s ITK Daily.

To be ITK, know this:?

ITK Radio | Kevin Madden

Kevin is a senior partner at Penta, helping lead the firm’s integration of strategic advisory, advocacy, communications, and issue management capabilities for clients around the globe.

Before Penta, Kevin was an executive vice president at Arnold Ventures, where he helped build and implement advocacy teams and strategies for one of the country’s leading philanthropies, achieving major policy reforms at the federal, state, and local levels.

Kevin served as a senior strategist and spokesman on three presidential campaigns, most notably the Romney for President campaign in 2012.?

You can catch the conversation and show notes?here.

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There are only two global superpowers left: Outside the local neighborhood, it’s every country for itself.?Simon Kuper

Russia moving nuclear warheads to Belarus, says country’s leader: The Guardian reports Alexander Lukashenko’s comment comes after countries signed a pact that provides for Moscow to deploy weapons in Belarus.

Reuters: Russia moves ahead with deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Ukrainians were likely behind Kremlin drone attack, US officials say: NYT reports American spy agencies do not know exactly who carried out the attack this month, but suggest it was part of a series of covert operations orchestrated by Ukraine’s security services.

Jens Stoltenberg: 'Ukraine will become a member of NATO': Le Monde reports the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization tells Le Monde the alliance must adapt to 'global threats.'

Power of Siberia: China keeps Putin waiting on gas pipeline: Beijing is driving a hard bargain as Moscow presses for a new Sino-Russian pipeline through Mongolia.?FT

Hungary is becoming more important to China: Viktor Orban and Xi Jinping bond over their anti-Americanism.?Economist

NSA and Five Eyes alliance issue joint advisory over China-sponsored cyber actor?ExecutiveGov

China, US commerce, and trade chiefs confirmed to meet in US: Reuters reports China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will meet US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai while visiting the United States, his ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Keir Starmer the Conservative: How will he manage Brexit??Tom McTague

Biden, McCarthy see progress but no deal on debt limit: WSJ reports the House of Representatives left for its Memorial Day weekend recess with no deal in place to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, as the White House and Republicans continued to wrangle over spending levels.

US debt crisis: Biden vows 'no default': AFP reports President Joe Biden declared Thursday the United States would avoid a disastrous credit default even as lawmakers went on a 10-day break without a deal on raising the nation's borrowing limit to keep paying the bills.

Debt limit crisis looms as first big test for new Democratic leader: Hakeem Jeffries, the New Yorker who succeeded Nancy Pelosi this year as the House’s top Democrat, is getting a trial by fire.?NYT

Joe Biden wants a ‘new economic world order.’ It’s never looked more disordered: The president and his critics agree that the free trade era is over in Washington. They just aren’t sure what comes next.?Politico

Biden is expected to tap Air Force chief to be nation’s next top military officer: Politico reports if confirmed, Gen. C.Q. Brown would succeed Gen. Mark Milley as Joint Chiefs chair.

Ron DeSantis pivots from glitchy campaign launch on Twitter to travel blitz: Bloomberg reports Florida governor is scheduled to travel to early Republican voting states.

DeSantis 2024 is melting upon contact with reality: The comedy of life decides elections — and Trump is laughing the hardest.?Freddy Gray

+ "The only problem is that his presidential ambitions seem to be melting upon contact with reality. "

Ouch.

+ "For now, it’s clear that the tech-media-industrial complex doesn’t decide elections. The comedy of life does — and Donald Trump is laughing that hardest."

DeSantis-Sacks ’24: David Sacks, the PayPal Mafia scion, has ascended from mere rabble-rouser into a genuine GOP cultural and political force, starting super PACs and dark-money groups, appearing on Tucker, and in his latest media venture, launching DeSantis himself.?Puck

David Sacks is a political Cuyahoga River Fire.

The Ron DeSantis challenge: The Florida Governor has a strong record. Can he offer voters a larger national vision??WSJ - Editorial

Donald Trump is very likely to be the Republican nominee: So his chances of re-entering the Oval Office are uncomfortably high.?Economist

Trump’s grip on the GOP tightens as the field widens: Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley all disguise the obvious: A Trump-Biden rematch is almost inevitable.?Bloomberg

DeSantis is a truer believer, if a lesser politician, than Trump: The Florida governor aims to take Trump out of Trumpism.?Economist

For Republicans, Ron DeSantis offers the best of two worlds?Marc A. Thiessen

My thoughts on the RD launch:

To win the Oval Office, you need to lead a cause, not run a campaign.

The WSJ on the RD launch captures this superbly: “...the malfunction is likely to be remembered more than anything DeSantis said.”

RD repeatedly fails to say anything meaningful, aspirational, and consequential.

It's going to be a slog for Team DeSantis.

The Hill: DeSantis says he’ll consider pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, including Trump

Same-sex couples accounted for 1% of households in 2020, census shows: WSJ reports newly released figures reveal changing composition of US families.

Google’s photo app still can’t find gorillas. And neither can Apple’s.?NYT

ChatGPT-maker warns it might leave EU over planned AI law: BBC reports The EU's planned legislation could be the first to specifically regulate AI. "The current draft of the EU AI Act would be over-regulating," OpenAI's Sam Altman said, Reuters reported.

The tech giants have an interest in AI regulation: It is a way of holding back open-source proliferation.?Economist

Radio was invented in 1901...?

And a generation later, in the United States...

The Communications Act of 1934.

AI is following a human pattern of inventing and then regulating new tech.

Nvidia approaches $1 trillion valuation: WSJ reports the graphics-chip maker’s stock closed up 24%, boosting other chip makers and shares tied to AI after the company issued a strong sales forecast due to rising demand for artificial intelligence technology.

The surprising reason Coca-Cola is struggling to slash its carbon emissions: Coca-Cola has made huge strides in lowering its carbon footprint, but its biggest contribution to climate change is all of its branded refrigerators.?FC

Reuters: Ford CEO says China main EV rival, not GM, Toyota

Nikola plunges as NASDAQ says sub-$1 stock price risks delisting: Bloomberg reports the electric truckmaker has until Nov. 20 to regain listing compliance.

VCs face pressure to divest from China: Sand Hill Road firms that chased China’s tech gold rush have been quietly plotting ways to distance themselves from a brewing conflict between the two superpowers.?Kate Clark | The Information

Inside Disney and Comcast’s fight over the future of Hulu: Parent companies are in the final phase of a battle marked by legal threats, broken promises, and secret arbitration.?WSJ

Adidas after Yeezy: The partnership with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was the stuff of sneakerhead legend—and its demise has the shoe company scrambling to replace nearly half of its profits.?Bloomberg

Caroline Ellison: Friends reveal how the ‘reserved’ young math lover lost her way in Sam Bankman-Fried’s corrupt crypto empire: After the fall of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the trading firm she ran, the 28-year-old became a public villain.?Fortune

‘Asteroid City’ review: Wes Anderson’s latest is quirky, creative, and obscure?Deadline

Asteroid City, Cannes review: Wes Anderson’s enrapturing cosmic comedy is an offbeat Close Encounters?Independent

French Olympic Committee head resigns, one year before Paris Games: Le Monde reports Brigitte Henriques resigned after infighting left the committee in turmoil. The International Olympic Committee called on France to 'focus' on preparing for the 2024 Games.

The Guardian: Lewis Hamilton insists he will stay at Mercedes and denies Ferrari approach

Hamilton will sign new Mercedes deal 'in coming weeks': AFP reports Lewis Hamilton on Thursday denied all reports that he has been approached by Ferrari and said he was set to re-sign with Mercedes "in the coming weeks."

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal

Caracal produces ITK Daily.

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