May 8, 2026
Gerrymandering, Continued Fighting, and Marco Rubio
Good morning, everyone!
Over the weekend, be sure to stay up to date on my Notes page, where I will keep you apprised of the day’s historical snapshots and notable quotes.
Today, we will look at Tennessee’s new congressional map, the situation in the Middle East, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s political prospects.
Let’s get to it.
United States
-The average U.S. gas price stood at $4.55 yesterday amid the ongoing Middle East conflict, according to AAA.
-Lawmakers in Tennessee approved a new congressional map that eliminates the state’s lone Democratic seat.
The move comes in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision invalidating a pillar of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
-A federal court ruled against President Donald Trump’s new global tariff he imposed after the Supreme Court overturned the duties he had previously enacted, saying it was “unauthorized by law.”
-The White House released a counterterrorism strategy document, listing “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as major terrorist groups.
Read it here.
-Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now overtaken both Vice President JD Vance and California Governor Gavin Newsom to be the favorite to win the 2028 presidential election in betting markets.
On Wednesday, Rubio posted a campaign-style video, fueling speculation about his political prospects.
View it here:
For months, Trump has asked advisers and friends to compare Vance and Rubio as his potential successor.
According to The New York Times, several Republican voters who volunteered at Vance’s Iowa event this week expressed interest in a potential Rubio candidacy.
-Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman penned an op-ed in The Washington Post saying that although he stands at odds with the Democratic Party, he has “no plans to leave” it despite Republican efforts to poach him.
-Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has emerged as the frontrunner in the California gubernatorial election, baffling some of his former colleagues in the Biden administration.
-Former Vice President Kamala Harris is calling for the release of the Democratic Party’s 2024 election autopsy report.
-In an interview on CBS, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch pushed back on Trump’s suggestion that members of the high court should be loyal to the president who appointed them, saying, “My loyalty is the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
View the interview here:
-Car debt soared to a record $1.68 trillion at the end of last year.
At the same time, the average transaction price for new vehicles has slightly decreased.
-On this day in 1884, Harry Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri.
Other Links:
Polls show an enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans going into midterms - CNN
Democrats keep control of Michigan state Senate after special election win - NBC
John Roberts decries heated criticism of the Supreme Court - Politico
US will start revoking passports for thousands of parents who owe child support, AP learns - AP
Karoline Leavitt announces birth of baby girl - CNN
U.S. Health Authorities Monitor Hantavirus Cruise Passengers in Georgia, California and Arizona - The New York Times
OpenAI makes its Mythos rival more widely available to cyber defenders - Axios
Africa
-Central African Republic’s opposition leader, Anicet Georges Dologuélé, said his passport had been confiscated and that he was not allowed to board a flight to attend an African Union meeting in Ethiopia this week.
Dologuélé served as the country’s prime minister between 1999 and 2001 and has since become a major opposition figure.
Last year, he stood as a candidate against President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who won a third term in office.
Democracy tracker Freedom House rates the country low for the government’s lack of respect for “political rights” and “civil liberties.”
The French-speaking country, which gained independence in 1960, has been rocked by civil conflict for 13 years.
-Countries across Africa are seeking to boost their own oil and gas production to offset the losses caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
-Two U.S. soldiers have gone missing in Morocco.
-On this day in 2006, speaking from the White House, President George W. Bush addressed the ongoing violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, saying, “I’ve called this massive violence an act of genocide, because no other word captures the extent of this tragedy.”
Other Links:
China’s Digital Silk Road tightens grip on Africa - Semafor
African countries warn citizens of xenophobic attacks in South Africa - Reuters
South Africa condemns ‘fake videos’ of alleged xenophobic attacks - BBC
Deadly double attack hits 2 central Mali villages as violence spreads - AP
Nigerian army rescues 7 children and 2 women abducted from an orphanage last month - AP
Americas and the Caribbean
-Costa Rica President-elect Laura Virginia Fernández Delgado will be inaugurated today.
Delgado, of the conservative ruling Sovereign People's Party (PPSO), was elected in the first round of voting in February’s presidential election. She will succeed term-limited President Rodrigo Chaves Robles.
She will be the second woman to hold the office, behind Laura Chinchilla, who served from 2010 to 2014.
-President Trump hosted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the White House yesterday.
The meeting came after a year of deteriorating bilateral relations between Washington and Brasília.
Trump has consistently criticized Brazil for the detention of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year prison term for his efforts to remain in office following his 2022 election defeat to Lula.
Trump has demanded his release, calling his prosecution a “witch hunt” and levying tariffs on the country in retaliation for his imprisonment.
Since a meeting in Malaysia in October, the two leaders had expressed a willingness to ease tensions.
-Secretary Rubio announced new sanctions on Cuba yesterday that target the country’s leader, military, and its state-owned natural resources company.
-On this day in 1846, American forces led by General Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican soldiers north of the Rio Grande, marking the first major battle of the Mexican-American War.
Other Links:
State Department reviewing all Mexican consulates in U.S. as tensions grow - CBS
Carney picks former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour to be governor general - CBC
Judge grants detained parents’ urgent plea to reunite with terminally ill son in Mexico - NBC
Argentina analysts hike up 2026 inflation, trim growth forecasts in central bank poll - Reuters
Argentina Fights to Save Huge Soy Exports After Dutch Rejections - Bloomberg
Asia/Indo-Pacific
-At a speech in Taiwan yesterday, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña said that “Paraguay and Taiwan share a friendship built on a solid foundation, democracy, freedom, confidence in institutions, the dignity of hard work.”
The comments came as Peña began his first visit to the self-governing island since assuming office in 2023.
The visit was met by scorn from China, which regards the island as a renegade province.
Paraguay is only one of 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and the only one in South America, as Beijing seeks to further isolate Taipei.
-The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand met on the sidelines of a regional summit yesterday, where they pledged to ease tensions following two border wars last year.
-Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pitched Tokyo as a regional leader during her recent five-day diplomatic tour to Vietnam and Australia.
-China sentenced two former defense ministers to death yesterday as President Xi Jinping’s government continues to purge the military’s upper ranks.
-On this day in 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower hosted South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in Washington, D.C.
Other Links:
China signals again that Taiwan is a priority ahead of Trump-Xi meeting - NBC
Pakistan warns of strong response to any attack on anniversary of clash with India - AP
Air-Conditioning Is in Short Supply as Asia Swelters - The New York Times
South Korea appeals court cuts jail term for ex-PM Han to 15 years in martial law case - Reuters
Iran war threatens jet fuel shortage that could disrupt summer travel in Asia and Europe - CNBC
Europe
-Hungarian Prime Minister-designate Péter Magyar will take office in Budapest this weekend.
Last month, Magyar and his Tisza party ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz after 16 years in power. Since his landslide victory, Magyar has pledged to reverse the policies of Fidesz, which moved to dismantle the country’s independent judiciary and free press.
At the same time, the 45-year-old leader has pledged to restore the country’s frayed relationship with the European Union.
-Secretary Rubio was received by Pope Leo at the Vatican yesterday.
In a statement, the Vatican said that the two agreed to improve relations between Washington and the pontiff.
Last month, President Trump unleashed a wave of criticism of the pontiff, scorning him for his opposition to Washington’s war against Iran.
Rubio, a Roman Catholic himself, is the first Trump administration official to meet with Leo in nearly a year.
-Russia will hold a scaled-down Victory Day celebration in Moscow on Saturday, marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.
Last week, Russia’s defense ministry announced that no military hardware will be used for the parade that will take place in Moscow’s Red Square.
It will be the first time in nearly two decades, and the first since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that missiles, tanks, and other military equipment won’t be present at the celebration in Moscow’s Red Square.
In justifying the reason for the absence, the defense ministry cited the “current operational situation.”
-The European Union failed to agree on implementing a trade deal with the United States.
-On this day in 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope, becoming the first American to serve as pontiff.
Other Links:
Russia says Ukraine launched a major drone attack after Moscow shunned ceasefire offer - AP
Spain asks European Commission to block US sanctions on ICC - Reuters
EU critic Rumen Radev named new Bulgarian prime minister - Euronews
Trump’s ‘irresponsible war’ to blame for economic slowdown, German minister says - BBC
France Passes Law Easing Process of Returning Looted Art - The New York Times
Middle East
-The United States and Iran exchanged fire yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, with both countries claiming the other fired first.
The military exchange comes amid a fragile ceasefire agreement and as the governments seek to reach a deal to end the two-month-long conflict.
Markets rallied this week as press reports indicated that negotiations were close to concluding.
-Iran has struck at least 228 U.S. military structures or pieces of equipment since the regional conflict commenced on February 28, according to The Washington Post.
-Israel struck targets inside Lebanon on Wednesday, marking the first time since Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last month.
-On this day in 1951, President Harry Truman hosted Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Ambassador Abba Eban in the Oval Office.
Three years earlier, Truman was the first world leader to recognize Israel after it declared independence.
Other Links:
Gulf States Lift Restrictions That Blocked ‘Project Freedom’ in Strait of Hormuz - The Wall Street Journal
As Stockpiles Fall, U.S. Sells More Missiles Worth $17 Billion to Gulf Nations - The New York Times
Iran state media: President met with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei - Jerusalem Post
After Beirut strike, Netanyahu says ‘no immunity’ for militants - Reuters
US targets Iraq oil official and militias with sanctions for aiding Iran - Reuters
That’s all for today. See you next week.