High Stakes In Washington

Your unbiased daily news brief

August 18, 2025

In partnership with

Good Monday morning. Alcohol consumption has hit an all-time low in the U.S. Have a great start to your week.

In Today’s Brief

  • Texas: Flies factory

  • Bolivia: Election results

  • New Orleans: Mayor indicted

  • OpenAI: Stock sale

  • Weapons: Still No. 1

... and more

First time reading? Sign up here

Business news doesn’t have to be boring

Morning Brew makes business news way more enjoyable—and way easier to understand. The free newsletter breaks down the latest in business, tech, and finance with smart insights, bold takes, and a tone that actually makes you want to keep reading.

No jargon, no drawn-out analysis, no snooze-fests. Just the stuff you need to know, delivered with a little personality.

Over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew, and once you try it, you’ll see why.

Plus, it takes just 15 seconds to subscribe—so why not give it a shot?

The Top Tip

Capitol crucible

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders will make their case to President Donald Trump today following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

  • The news: Zelensky and Trump will sit down at the White House. They will then be joined by a slew of NATO and European Union heavyweights — French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

  • State of play: Trump renewed concerns he is sympathetic to Putin’s cause following their warm meeting in Alaska. He has dropped his push for a ceasefire — which Ukraine and Europe wants — and is now agreeing with Putin the focus should be a quick peace deal. Trump has also said Ukraine will need to cede some of its sovereign territory to end the war, but has said he supports security guarantees for post-war Ukraine.

  • Wild card: Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to Russia, claims Putin has agreed to European nations (and potentially the U.S.) to provide security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5, but outside the bloc.

  • Potential endgame: Zelensky said he will not cede any Ukrainian territory that Russia is not currently occupying, suggesting Kiev will accept freezing the front lines as a path to end the war.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

  • The federal government will build a $750M factory in Texas to breed billions of sterile flies. The facility is part of a strategy to protect cattle herds against flesh-eating maggots carried by non-sterile male New World screwworm flies currently found in Mexico (More)

  • The Trump Administration backed off a plan to install an emergency Washington D.C. police chief. The city challenged the move in federal court, arguing it was unconstitutional (More)

  • Three people were killed and nine injured in a shooting at a Brooklyn nightclub. The NYPD believes there were as many as four gunmen involved in the incident, which was likely gang-related (More)

World News

  • Bolivia is on the verge of ending almost 20 years of socialist-led government. Centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz took a surprise lead in early results; he will likely face a run-off against former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, a conservative (More)

  • Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 storm as its outer bands hit Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It could strengthen again over the Atlantic Ocean; current forecasts do not call for any direct land hits (More)

  • Qatar has proposed a peace deal for Congo and the M23 rebels. The Middle East nation is trying to broker an end to hostilities in the war-torn African nation (More)

Political News

  • New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell faces federal corruption charges. The Democrat is accused of defrauding the city while covering up a romantic relationship with a police officer on her protection detail; her final term expires in January (More)

  • Former Delaware Gov. Mike Castle died at 86. The Republican served two terms in the statehouse before nine terms as the state's House representative (More)

  • Democrats could add five House seats according to California's proposed new congressional districts. The maps will be on the ballot this fall as a response to Texas Republicans' controversial redistricting efforts (More)

Business & Markets

  • Major indexes closed mixed on Friday. The S&P 500 finished with a winning week despite slipping in the final session of trading (Dow +0.08%, S&P 500 -0.29%, Nasdaq -0.40%).

  • OpenAI plans to sell about $6B in stock at around a $500B valuation. The AI firm's current and former employees would sell to SoftBank, Thrive Capital and other investors (More)

  • Air Canada's flight attendants' union defied a government return-to-work order, remaining on strike. Labor leaders say the decree is illegal; the airline now plans to resume flights tonight (More)

Entertainment & Sports

  • Weapons was No. 1 at the box office for a second straight weekend, scoring $25M domestically. Freakier Friday and Nobody 2 were Nos. 2 and 3; Americana bombed on its opening weekend (More)

  • Actor Terence Stamp died at 87. The Englishman played General Zod in Superman and Superman II and was nominatedfor an Academy Award in Billy Budd; former General Hospital star Tristan Rogers died at 79 after battling lung cancer (More | More)

  • The Indiana Fever are hopeful Caitlin Clark will return from injury before the regular season ends. The WNBA star has missed 21 games with a groin issue and has not played since mid-July (More)