Today in One Sentence. Trump rejected the idea of regulating the artificial intelligence industry, calling warnings about safety a “HOAX”; House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress “potentially” will need to impose guardrails on AI, but warned that legislation could take “some time”; the EPA repealed Biden-era greenhouse gas limits on coal- and gas-fired power plants; Trump called for the U.S. to have “the lowest interest rate in the world”; Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, however, is expected to raise rates this week; Johnson confirmed that Trump’s promised $5,000 payments to Americans require congressional approval; a second federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting for the midterm election; New York and 21 other states sued the Trump administration to block its new “public charge” rule; the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general found that Florida’s now-closed “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center confined immigrants in small metal cages; Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Capitol and voted for the first time in three months; and a Russian oligarch spent hundreds of thousands to sponsor two nights of celebrations for Trump Jr.’s Bahamas wedding.

1/ Trump rejected the idea of regulating the artificial intelligence industry, calling warnings about safety a “HOAX.” Trump claimed that “the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT,” adding: “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies!” His comments came after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged AI companies to “slow the pace” of development and called for government rules requiring independent audits of frontier models. That position was also endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI CEO Elon Musk. Trump, however, singled out Amodei, claiming he had already stopped AI “people” from doing “bad, or potentially bad, ‘things,’ like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel,’” and claimed that efforts to limit the technology were part of a “SICK conspiracy” in which “the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” (Politico / CNN / Associated Press / New York Times / CBS News / Axios / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Reuters / Bloomberg)

2/ House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress “potentially” will need to impose guardrails on AI, but warned that legislation could take “some time.” Congress, however, is unlikely to pass broad AI safety legislation before the midterm elections, with the House scheduled to leave Washington this week and not return until November. Johnson argued that companies should bear responsibility for providing safe products and warned that “hyper-regulation” could undermine the U.S. advantage over China. (Politico / The Verge / Axios / Bloomberg / NBC News / CNBC / Politico / New York Times / CBS News)

3/ The EPA repealed Biden-era greenhouse gas limits on coal- and gas-fired power plants and proposed a separate rule to prevent future administrations from restoring them. The EPA claimed that power-plant greenhouse gases don’t “significantly contribute” to dangerous pollution and therefore don’t meet the Clean Air Act threshold for regulation. Power plants, however, are the nation’s second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. The EPA estimates that revoking the standards would save the energy industry more than $300 billion. The Biden administration had estimated that its rule would produce $370 billion in climate and public-health benefits. (Bloomberg / New York Times / The Verge / Axios / Washington Post / Associated Press / CBS News)

4/ Trump called for the U.S. to have “the lowest interest rate in the world.” Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, however, is expected to raise rates this week after inflation rose 0.4% in August and oil climbed above $100 a barrel. The 10-year Treasury yield also briefly hit 5%, its highest level since October 2023, pushing mortgage and other borrowing costs higher as heavy AI investments and borrowing have added to demand for capital. (Semafor / Bloomberg / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / CNN / Reuters)

5/ House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Trump’s promised $5,000 payments to Americans require congressional approval. Congress, however, hasn’t committed to the payments, and Johnson added “we have had zero time, of course, to process that, deliberate, discuss it.” Trump, nevertheless, insisted that the checks were “going forward” and that the government could “easily handle” the cost. Sending $5,000 to every U.S. adult could cost about $1.3 trillion. (Reuters / ABC News / Politico / Axios / NBC News)

6/ A second federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to restrict mail-in voting for the midterm election. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, found that “no statute grants the Postal Service the power” to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that don’t upload voter lists or use envelope barcodes. Nichols warned that allowing the rule could leave “a significant number of absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted.” The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is considering the Trump administration’s request to lift a separate injunction issued by a federal judge in Boston. (New York Times / Democracy Docket / NPR / Reuters / NBC News)

7/ New York and 21 other states sued the Trump administration to block its new “public charge” rule, which would give immigration officials wider discretion to deny green cards and visas based on applicants’ use of public benefits. The states argued that the Department of Homeland Security exceeded its authority because Congress never changed the longstanding definition of who is considered a “public charge.” The rule is set to take effect Friday. DHS estimates that more than 950,000 people could disenroll from or decline to enroll in public benefits as a result. (CNN / New York Times / Axios / Politico / Reuters / Wall Street Journal / ABC News)

8/ The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general found that Florida’s now-closed “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center confined immigrants in small metal cages. At least 79 detainees spent nearly two hours in small enclosures that staff described as “calming areas.” Investigators called the use of cages “highly unconventional” and posed “significant risks” to detainees’ health and safety. At least one enclosure may have been used as punishment. The watchdog also found detainees lived in cramped, windowless units, lacked daily access to showers, and encountered bug-infested facilities. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)

9/ 😏 Well, that’s fantastic: Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Capitol and voted for the first time in three months. McConnell, 84, was hospitalized in June after a fall. (Axios)

10/ A Russian oligarch spent hundreds of thousands to sponsor two nights of celebrations for Trump Jr.’s Bahamas wedding. Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Anderson, confirmed that “our dear friend” Umar Kremlev “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us” after their May 22 family-only ceremony, calling it an “extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend.” Kremlev was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship by Putin in April and has been sanctioned by Ukraine over his ties to the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Trump, who didn’t attend his son’s wedding, said, “I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him.” (ProPublica / Washington Post / CBS News / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal)

The 2026 midterms are in 50 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 785 days.