Good morning and happy Friday! “White Lotus” actor Tom Hollander was mistakenly sent Spider-Man’s Tom Holland’s box office bonus check for an “Avengers” movie. Unfortunately for him, finders keepers rules don’t apply on $10 million+.

 2024 

🗳️ General election mode activated

The Republican National Committee is considering a formal declaration (it’s legally meaningless) calling former President Donald Trump the party’s “presumptive nominee.” Parties don’t have official nominees until their big conventions in the summer. And they (typically) don’t have presumptive nominees until a candidate has racked up a numerically insurmountable lead in the primaries.

It seems both parties are moving into general election mode about 5 months earlier than usual. Two top Biden White House aides have left their government jobs to run his campaign. And Vice President Kamala Harris is ratcheting up her appearances and focusing on women’s issues.

Support: The United Auto Workers (UAW) — the huge labor union — officially threw its support behind Biden. The president strongly supported the UAW’s strike last year and even appeared on a picket line. Though unions usually support Democrats, it’s not a guarantee. Trump is meeting with the (also huge) Teamsters union soon, hunting for labor support. Who won’t support Trump, though? Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Oops: A young staffer at Tuesday's Trump watch party got unceremoniously kicked out after posting a pic with Alina Habba. Why? Habba is Trump's attorney in his New York defamation case. And she told the judge on Monday that her parents had COVID and that she felt feverish. It looks like that might not have been entirely true.

But court was back in session yesterday with no mention of the pic. The woman he was found liable of defaming, E. Jean Carroll, is seeking $10 million in damages. This trial will decide how much she gets. Trump’s defense rested yesterday after he briefly took the stand.

Related: Peter Navarro just got sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress (refusing to talk, basically) related to its investigation of the Jan. 6 riots. He was President Trump’s top trade advisor for his entire presidency. Navarro is appealing his case to a higher court.

 POLITICS 

🔴 Jeff DeWit resigned his gig as chair of the Arizona Republican Party this week after he was accused of trying to bribe a Republican Senate candidate to drop out of the race. That candidate, Kari Lake, released a short recording of DeWit talking about "a number at which..." she could "take a pause." DeWit claims he wasn't bribing her. No, no. He was just offering "perspective." He also (suspiciously) said he only quit because she threatened to release more recordings of him.

🔵 Endangered Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) is taking a right turn on immigration. Tester's up for reelection this year in a state that hasn't voted Democrat for president since 1992. So he's hitting President Biden for "using the border as a political talking point" and demanding a solution "to the border crisis." Will it be enough? Democrats sure hope so. Tester’s seat is seen as the likely tipping point that decides control of the Senate next year.

🔵 West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) is also tacking right on immigration. He said if the Senate’s bipartisan immigration deal fails, President Biden should declare a national emergency (that would give the president extra military powers on border enforcement). Manchin (the Senate’s most moderate Dem) is retiring from the Senate this year. But he has openly discussed making an independent run for president. This could be part of that calculus.

 TRIVIA 

It’s no secret that most large U.S. cities are run by Democrats. Republicans do better in suburban and rural areas. But that’s not universal. What is the most populous U.S. city with a Republican mayor?

 WORLD 

🇺🇸 United States: Texas Gov. Greb Abbott isn’t letting up in his border fight with the feds. The Supreme Court ruled this week that the feds could cut down the razor wire Texas placed near the border. Abbott says he’ll put up more. He believes the Constitution allows states to defend themselves when the federal government fails to. And most Republican governors are backing him up (obviously). The White House says this is a dangerous political stunt that actually prevents Border Patrol agents from doing their jobs.

🇷🇺 Russia: Seventy-four people died in a military plane crash this week in Russia. Sixty-five of them were Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia, of course, claims Ukraine shot it down. Ukraine disagrees. Not only did they not shoot it down, their intelligence says only five people were aboard.

🇮🇱 Israel: Israel is creating a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip by demolishing loads of buildings. Israel says this is a necessary security measure to protect its border. The U.S. and others oppose the move and say there should be no change to Gaza's territory during the war.

🇯🇵 Japan: A Ukrainian-born Japanese woman — who’s lived in Japan since she was five — won the Miss Japan pageant and (some) people are not thrilled. Around 97% of Japanese people are ethnically Japanese.

🇲🇽 Mexico: A U.S. court said a $10 billion lawsuit filed by the Mexican government against U.S. gun companies can go forward. Mexico says over 500,000 American guns flow into its territory each year. They believe those companies should be liable for what happens with those guns.

🇯🇵 Japan: A Japanese man who killed 36 people in a 2019 arson attack on an anime studio in Kyoto was sentenced to death. He will be hanged. Japan uses capital punishment for only the most serious of crimes.

 BRIEFS 

• Elon Musk says a cheaper Tesla will debut next year to better compete with Chinese EVs

• A manufacturer and a retailer are blaming each other for a mislabeled cookie that killed a New York woman who had a peanut allergy

• Airlines affected by the ongoing 737 Max 9 problems say they’ll hold Boeing responsible

• Microsoft laid off 1,900 people in its gaming division

• A guy who survived his last execution is about to become the first person in the US to be executed using nitrogen gas

• WWE founder Vince McMahon was just accused of sex crimes by a former employee

 QUOTE 

 SNACKS 

🍿 Movies: Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” is unfortunately returning to theaters next month (for a week). Because what the world needs right now is to be even more mind-bogglingly confused.

🎙️ Music: Justin Timberlake, 42, dropped a new single (“Selfish”) ahead of his first new album in five years. It’s almost like the short-lived NSYNC reunion was all just a selfish ploy.

😐 “Food:” South Korea’s government is begging people to stop frying and eating…toothpicks?

🦄 Unicorns: The Smithsonian (who else) has a piece on how unicorns (go on) became the (sub)national animal of Scotland.

 POLL 

 ANSWER 

Eric Johnson is the Republican mayor of Dallas. He was elected to two terms as a Democrat but switched parties last year (controversial, but probably a smart political move in Texas).

If you want someone who was elected as a Republican look no further than right next door: Fort Worth, TX. But that's kind of a lame answer since it’s not the principal city in its own metro.

The city with the largest population...that is the sole principal city of its metro area...that has a Republican mayor...who was actually elected as a Republican is…Oklahoma City.

That not do it for you? The most populous metro area (aka: including suburbs) whose principal city has an elected Republican mayor (even though this city itself isn't as populous as the one above) is…Miami.