“Rep. Ro Khanna challenged newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk to a televised debate on the impact of cuts made during Musk’s time atop the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, following an ugly social media spat between the Silicon Valley congressman and tech titan,” CNBC reports.

Mediaite: Elon Musk vows to sue “liar” Democratic lawmaker who suggested he killed 4.5 million kids with DOGE cuts.

“One of the leading Democratic super PACs is pledging to spend $30 million defining potential Republican presidential candidates during the 2028 primary season,” NOTUS reports.

“The Priorities USA effort, described first to NOTUS, is aimed at younger, disengaged voters living in seven battleground states. Priorities USA is training its attacks on Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”

“Gavin Newsom is gambling that embracing Joe Biden will be more popular among Democrats than running away from him in the party’s 2028 presidential primary,” Axios reports.

“The California governor — unlike most potential Democratic candidates for president — has spent the last 18 months courting Biden and his family, publicly defending the ex-president’s legacy as others have distanced themselves.”

“When Gavin Newsom made the startling announcement on Monday that he and his wife were under federal investigation, the California governor turned to a well-worn strategy: making political hay out of confrontation with President Trump,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Newsom, a Democrat, said in a social-media video that Trump was behind the Justice Department probe ‘because I am considering running for president.’ Less than three hours later, Newsom’s political-action committee sent out a fundraising plea urging supporters to help him ‘stand up to Trump and fight off this political witch hunt.'”

“Since Trump’s return to the White House, Newsom has used his bully pulpit to position himself as one of the most prominent faces of the Democratic Party’s resistance to the president.”

Mediaite: Gavin Newsom rages at Trump amid DOJ investigation.

Bloomberg: “Eighteen years after he energized a party that desperately needed a fresh leader, Democrats are back in a similar situation — and looking ahead to their most wide-open presidential primary since Obama surged to victory in 2008.”

“A slew of White House hopefuls are already auditioning to again lead the party out of the wild, with several parallels to the post-Bush era that produced a Democratic breakout star.”

“Just as Obama followed two dry establishment nominees — Al Gore and John Kerry — Democrats are now again looking for something bolder after Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris came across as creatures of the status quo.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, said he is “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential bid and is pushing for “dramatic change” in Washington, NOTUS reports.

Said Van Hollen: “If you are asking me whether I think Democrats need to shake things up, you bet I do. It’s pretty clear operating that from within the confines or the halls of Congress is not a successful recipe for actually getting change.”

Axios: “In a scene from the forthcoming Regime Change, President Trump asks a guest at a private dinner last year to compare Vice President Vance to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump often does that to stir the pot on 2028 speculation. But this time, the judge was Rupert Murdoch.”

“And with Vance and Rubio sitting awkwardly at the table, Murdoch was notably more effusive about Rubio. The media mogul had privately tried to talk Trump out of choosing Vance as his running mate in 2024.”

The Hill: Poll shows Rubio and Vance neck and neck in 2028 GOP match-up.

New York Times: “Despite his relentless disavowals that he has any interest in seeking the presidency, Mr. Ossoff is now regularly mentioned as a potential 2028 contender. There’s good reason for him not to talk about it: Georgia remains a difficult state for Democrats to win, and Mr. Ossoff, the only Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in a state that Mr. Trump won in 2024, can’t afford to turn away from the immediate challenge.”

“It’s turning into a very big week for two of the buzziest candidates in the Dems’ nascent 2028 presidential field,” Politico reports.

“Tonight, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) will learn the identity of his Republican opponent in this November’s Senate race — a vital stepping stone on what looks like an increasingly plausible path to the presidential nomination.”

“It comes 24 hours after California Gov. Gavin Newsom received what might just be the ultimate boost for any 2028 wannabe — the coveted Trump DOJ investigation. Now watch both men spend the week seeking to capitalize.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to brand Sen. Mark Kelly as ‘seditious’ and moved to strip him of his military rank. It hasn’t worked out that way,” NOTUS reports.

“Instead, Democratic strategists say the feud has driven attention and millions in campaign cash toward the Arizona Democrat as he ‘seriously’ considers a 2028 presidential run in what will likely be a crowded field.”

“More importantly, it blessed one of the Senate’s most centrist members with an identity as a fighter in a party hungry for confrontation with President Donald Trump.”

Politico: Mark Kelly keeps cashing in on Trump’s ‘Seditious Six’ attacks.

Bloomberg: “Trump is leaving the technical work to his vice president, who never wanted the war in the first place. Owning the end to a war he publicly opposed could make Vance a hero to the MAGA base and Republican lawmakers, who are anxious for the conflict to end before the November midterms…”

“But if the deal ends up collapsing, or leads to more turmoil in the Middle East, Vance would own that, too — a less-than-ideal outcome if you aspire to be Trump’s heir apparent. It’s too early to tell if this high-profile role will help Vance’s ambitions, or if the fragile deal will crumble into chaos.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) accused President Trump of ordering the  Justice to investigate him and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Bloomberg reports.

Said Newsom: “Put my name on every and any enemy’s list you have, but leave my wife and family out of your personal vendetta.”

Jonathan Martin: “Democrats are approaching what could be their most wide-open presidential primary in decades, but I’d venture a confident prediction today: one of the two Georgia senators will be on the party’s ticket in 2028.”

“Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the two Democrats who delivered their party a majority with their twin victories at the end of the first Trump term, could bookend the outgoing president eight years later.”

Axios: “In the last month alone, four progressive House candidates she’s endorsed in open primaries have cruised to victory, making her an early kingmaker as she weighs a 2028 presidential run.”

Michelle Goldberg: “If you were cooking up an ideal 2028 candidate in a lab, he — and let’s face it, it’s probably a he — would look a lot like Ossoff. He’s young and handsome, with a picture-perfect family: a beautiful wife who works as an obstetrician-gynecologist and two small daughters. He’s a Southerner from a reddish state with a history of wooing Black voters. And he’s a Jewish critic of Israel who, as much as anyone in politics today, has the potential to bridge the Democratic Party’s agonizing divide over Zionism.”

“But the excitement Ossoff is generating is about more than demographics. It stems from his skill in eviscerating Trump’s gluttonous profiteering, his brazen attempts to turn this country into the most squalid sort of kleptocracy.”