Good morning. In this edition:

• 📝 President Trump’s Middle East tour
• 🎧 Podcast power
• 🪨 Stonehenge, but in Michigan

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.62-minute read (1,230 words).

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“People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.”

–Albus Dumbledore (1881-1997)

President Trump’s decision to accept a ~$400 million luxury plane from the Qatari government has raised ethical, legal, and national security concerns from both sides of the political aisle.

• Under the arrangement, Trump would use the plane as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which point it will be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library foundation.
• It’s unclear whether Trump’s foundation would allow him to keep using the plane after he leaves office, though Trump denies he plans to do so.

Why replace Air Force One? In 2018, Trump struck a deal with Boeing to replace the two 747s that have been used as Air Force One for 30+ years—but the project fell behind schedule and billions over budget, pushing its expected delivery date from 2024 to 2027-28.

The pushback: Many Democratic lawmakers say the plane—likely the most valuable gift ever extended to the US from a foreign government—amounts to Trump leveraging the power of his office for personal gain. Some Republican lawmakers and commentators have also questioned whether Trump accepting the Qatari plane is the right move.

All eyes are on the Middle East

The debate comes as President Trump this week officially embarked on a trip to the Middle East—the first major foreign trip of his second term—which includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

At a US-Saudi investment forum in Riyadh yesterday, Trump announced two major decisions involving the region:

1. Saudi Arabia agreed to invest $600 billion in the US across a series of deals, including ~$142 billion in defense sales—though some reports peg the cumulative total as closer to $300+ billion.
2. The US will remove all sanctions on Syria, some of which have been in place since 1979, following the toppling of then-President Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December.

Looking ahead…Trump will remain in the Middle East through Friday, with an overall goal of reaching deals with local countries to invest $1+ trillion in the US.

📊 Flash poll: Two questions today:

1a. Do you agree with President Trump’s decision to accept a ~$400 million luxury plane from the Qatari government to serve as Air Force One during his presidency?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

1b. In general, do you agree with Trump’s latest diplomatic moves in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion investment, and lifting all sanctions on Syria)?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

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Spirit Airlines—like that one friend who came back with a new look after summer break—wants to shed its old image in favor of a new one.

The OG budget airline announced yesterday it will start offering a pricier seat option with more legroom, as it works to swap out a cacophony of crying babies, loud arguments, and groaning knees for the sound of quiet luxury.

• The airline will also allow holders of its Bank of America cobranded credit card to check two bags free—and they’ll be eligible for free upgrades.
• These changes are expected to be rolled out in June/July.

From budget → premium

Spirit Airlines, which transformed the industry by offering cheap fares and charging extra for everything else, exited bankruptcy in March following years of losses and unsuccessful merger attempts.

But change is in the air. This announcement marks the latest development in the airline’s let’s-become-a-premium-travel-option strategy, which involves leaning into pricier products to entice wealthier travelers to part with their cash. Co-branded credit cards are important, too—airlines generated $15+ billion in 2023 from this higher-margin line of business.

It’s a trend: United Airlines yesterday unveiled a new ultra-premium seating option with noise-canceling headphones, caviar service, and “luxe jammies,” while American Airlines said earlier this month that it’s installing suites with sliding doors on some of its planes.

Forget the theremin or oboe: The human brain is the most sophisticated musical instrument in the world, with the ability to physically sync its natural oscillations with rhythms, melodies, and harmonies, according to a new study published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

A dance, dance revolution

The study is the first to entirely focus on an idea called Neural Resonance Theory (NRT), which proposes that humans’ sense of timing, rhythm, and pleasure when it comes to music is due to our brain’s ability to synchronize its patterns with various genres, from reggae to R&B to rhapsodies.

• As the brainwaves sync to music, it creates an emotional response in each person and an instinctive drive to move to the beat, regardless of their musical background.

Put simply: Human brainwaves can physically sync to the music we listen to, causing us to feel some type of way and driving our body to groove along with the beat.

The study’s authors believe NRT research carries several major future applications, including therapeutic tools for conditions like strokes and Parkinson’s, new learning technologies to support rhythm and pitch education, and emotionally intelligent AI with greater music capabilities.

Not just a human thing? New research indicates chimpanzees and sea lions also have the ability to hold a beat.

Want to invest in the future of investing itself? StartEngine enables exposure to pre-IPO companies,¹ and now you can own a piece of the platform transforming private markets.

• 🔑 2.1M+ users² accessing coveted companies like OpenAI and Perplexity, with initial investments starting at just $15,000 (versus 7-figure VC minimums)
• 📈 Record Q4 2024 revenue ($17M) with YoY growth doubling in 2024 ($23M → $48M)³
• 👑 Led by Howard Marks, co-founder of Activision (acquired by Microsoft for $68.7B)

Join 45,000+ who've already invested $84M+ in StartEngine to date—before this round closes June 26.

Warning: Objects in the podcast industry may be bigger than they appear.

The 21st-century version of radio shows generated $7.3 billion in global revenue last year, according to a new estimate from research firm Owl & Co—or over 2.5x the size of prior industry estimates.

However…Previous figures, compiled by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, put ad sales at $2.4 billion in 2024, but that only covers the US and only includes audio advertising. Owl & Co.’s estimate is global and all-encompassing, meaning it also accounts for China’s massive podcast culture, subscriptions (ex: Patreon), and video revenue on platforms like YouTube—where more than 1 billion people are believed to watch podcast content every month.

Big picture: Following a presidential election where the candidates visited many popular podcasts, the industry is becoming even more mainstream. The Golden Globes recently announced podcasting will have its own category starting in 2026.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📊 Inflation rose 2.3% YoY in April, down from 2.4% in March and the lowest reading since February 2021. | Fintech company Chime filed for Nasdaq IPO.
• ✌️UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down; the company also suspended its 2025 forecast. | Microsoft will lay off ~3% of its workforce, or ~6,800 employees. | $100 million deli scheme: Peter Coker Jr. and his father were sentenced to prison; Vanderbilt and Duke universities invested in the fraudulently manipulated company.
• 🔋 GM unveils new EV battery tech set to debut in 2028; it’s expected to offer more range at a lower cost.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Kanguro

• 💼 The Paper, NBCUniversal’s spinoff of The Office, will premiere in September. | 🫧 A live one-night-only Wicked concert featuring the cast of the movie will premiere on NBC ahead of the film’s part two release in November.
• 📺 Disney’s stand-alone ESPN streaming service will cost $29.99/month and include everything the sports media giant has to offer. | YouTube will stream the NFL’s Week 1 Friday game in Brazil for free.
• ⚾ Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and 14 other deceased players are now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, per Commissioner Rob Manfred.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 💉 Zepbound outperformed Wegovy in the first head-to-head clinical trial comparing the two popular weight-loss drugs; Zepbound (aka Mounjaro) averaged a ~20% drop in weight over 72 weeks, versus ~14% for Wegovy (aka Ozempic).
• 🍎 Apple unveiled a series of new accessibility features coming later this year; they include a feature allowing brain implants to control the tech giant’s devices.
• 💊 Migraine drug ubrogepant doesn't just ease associated headaches, but is also the first drug to reduce non-headache symptoms in the hours prior to a migraine, per a new Phase III clinical trial.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Beam

• 🏛️ House Republicans unveiled the details of a new Trump-backed tax plan that aims to extend his 2017 cuts alongside further tax cuts; the tax breaks are expected to decrease government revenue by $3.7 trillion over the next decade, partially offset by cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
• ✈️ New Jersey’s Newark airport was forced to delay flights by up to seven hours on Monday due to a severe lack of air traffic controllers (three instead of the required 14); it’s the latest in a series of recent air traffic control issues at Newark.
• 🎓 The Trump admin cut an additional $450 million in grants to Harvard University; that’s on top of the $2.2 billion it froze last week.

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☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners from the 10th Annual 35 Photography Awards, which showcases some of the most captivating and thought-provoking images in the world of contemporary photography.

🤔 Did You Know? In 2007, archaeologists discovered a Stonehenge-like structure at the bottom of Lake Michigan that’s estimated to predate Stonehenge by ~4,000 years.

📰 Worth a Read: How curiosity rewires your brain for change

🖱️ Clickbait: Couple has wedding guests vote to decide their new last name

🐱🥳 When Miranda Gonzalez adopted her cat, Holly, 15 years ago, she always had a vision of throwing the kitty a quinceañera. Holly’s elaborate 15th birthday party ended up going viral this year, raising enough money to save a local animal shelter from closing.

👚 Australian nonprofit Thread Together is helping crisis survivors and people in need, one piece of unwanted clothing at a time.

✈️ Father and antique car renovator Tamir Ali transformed a 1970s-era private jet into a tiny home, which he's listing on Airbnb.

Below we've included three poorly explained movie plots. Can you name the film associated with each?

1. This again?
2. Shattered light shatters main character’s reality
3. Instructor goes above and beyond helping students find greatness

1. Groundhog Day (1993)
2. The Truman Show (1998)
3. Whiplash (2014)

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2. Count determined as number of unique email addresses in StartEngine’s database as of 03-07-2025. One individual may have more than one email address. Note that in In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors, and founders.

3. Based on our 2024 Form 10-K. This revenue growth has been driven by StartEngine Private, a new product line that offers funds in late stage companies. This product line has driven over $28 million of the $48 million in revenue from 2024. Net loss also increased to $16.5 million. To understand the impact on margins, see financials.