Washington, DC

1. Crypto-prediction market confab
2. Trump to stump in SC?
3. Surface-level unity at DNC
4. Consumer fatigue sets in
5. Russia tests NATO

US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said the woman her office charged with two felony counts of vandalizing the World War II Memorial could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

White House prepares to host crypto and prediction market execs

A White House meeting slated for Wednesday with cryptocurrency and prediction market players is expected to feature remarks from President Donald Trump as well as CFTC Chair Mike Selig, people familiar with the plans told Semafor. Attendees, according to those people, will include executives from cryptocurrency firms Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, and Chainlink, plus prediction market Kalshi and investment firm Paradigm (a Kalshi backer), as well as trade association Digital Chamber. Patrick Witt, executive director of the president’s council of advisers for digital assets, will also be there. It’s viewed as a small-group kick-off for the inaugural meeting of the CFTC’s 35-person Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday. (Coinbase, a16z, Ripple, Chainlink, Kalshi and Paradigm are members, as are others like CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange.) The White House and CFTC did not comment on the event, which Politico first reported.

— Eleanor Mueller

Darline Graham gets upperhand in SC endorsements

Sen. Darline Graham is consolidating support in South Carolina, earning the endorsement of Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., and the backing of National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., after finishing first in the first round of voting in the state’s Republican Senate primary. Trump endorsed Graham before she even decided to run, and there’s a lot of chatter about whether Trump will travel to South Carolina to help put away Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., in the August 25 primary runoff, according to people familiar with the race. Abby Zilch, a spokesperson for Graham, said “We’d love to have the President come to South Carolina, however no details are confirmed.” Mathematically speaking, Fry’s endorsement is huge: He earned nearly 20% of the vote on Tuesday and if his supporters follow him it could be decisive after Graham took home 33%.

— Burgess Everett

Democrats unite publicly in Austin as tensions simmer

The Democratic National Committee meeting in Austin shows some surface-level unity in a party still rife with divisions. Participants are expected to easily pass a Democratic presidential primary schedule Saturday to make South Carolina’s first-in-the-nation 2028 position official. But some Democrats say they’re papering over divisions, and gripes about DNC Chair Ken Martin, whom some have called on to resign. “The reality of the state of the party doesn’t seem to matter,” said one Democratic aide. “It’s all good vibes here while we ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ the body of a struggling party.” The proposed 2028 calendar will put South Carolina first on Jan. 22, Nevada second on Feb. 1 and New Hampshire third on Feb. 8. Though, New Hampshire Democrats are saying they’ll have the last word because of state law setting its primary before others’ primaries.

— Nicholas Wu

Americans curbed retail spending in July

The famously resilient American consumer is starting to show signs of fatigue. Americans cut back on their retail spending in July, a trend that surprised economists, who expected to see an increase. Retail sales experienced their biggest drop in a year, falling 0.6% last month compared to June, according to data from the Commerce Department. Separately, a University of Michigan report showed consumer sentiment declined earlier this month by about 8%, after rising during the previous two months. New inflation indicators this week buoyed the stock market, as investors read the data as a sign the Federal Reserve may hold off on raising interest rates. But consumers are less bullish; wage growth has not kept up with inflation even as it cools, and signs of trouble in the labor market continue to emerge.

Russia’s threat to NATO grows more brazen

Tensions are rising between Russia and NATO as the war in Ukraine drags on — and Moscow becomes more brazen. Poland said yesterday that its security officials thwarted a Russian plot to assassinate a US citizen on Polish soil. Earlier today, NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Latvia that the country’s defense minister said entered its airspace due to “Russian electromagnetic warfare” (he didn’t say which country it belonged to). Collectively, the incidents heightened concerns about Russia’s threat to NATO members; US intelligence has assessed that Russia may attempt to test NATO’s resolve with a limited attack on an alliance member in the coming years, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. The recent developments could also be a sign of Russia’s Vladimir Putin growing more desperate, as he faces pressure over a domestic fuel crisis and Ukrainian attacks inside Russia.

On Wednesday, September 16, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) will join us for the Youth Wellbeing Forum: Building Resilient Generations. As young people are challenged by rising rates of loneliness, anxiety, and depression, we are bringing together experts across technology, healthcare, and policy to examine solutions that can build lasting resilience. Semafor editors will sit down with Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.); Jaymes Black, CEO, The Trevor Project; Nicole Hockley, Co-Founder & CEO, Sandy Hook Promise; and Dr. Jon Kole, Medical Director and Senior Director of Psychiatry, Headspace, to explore how to build lasting resilience for the next generation.

Washington, DC | September 16 | Request Invite

White House

• President Trump dismissed a reporter’s assertion that family members of sailors serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln are concerned about conditions on board, saying, “no, they’re not.” The president added that he believes the 250-day deployment hasn’t been “nearly long enough.”
• A turf war is roiling a new fraud division in the Justice Department touted by Vice President JD Vance. —WSJ
• National security adviser Andy Baker is leaving the Trump administration in the coming weeks. —Axios

Campaigns

• AI is a campaign issue in nearly 40% of midterm races this year, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.
• Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, did not sign off on a fundraising email from former Vice President Kamala Harris expressing support for Peltola, and Peltola’s campaign said she never sought Harris’s endorsement. —NYT

Courts

• ​​President Trump formally asked the Supreme Court to allow construction of the White House ballroom continue.
• Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to stalking and then fatally shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024.

Health

• Food and Drug Administration investigators inspected Taylor Farms’ operation in Mexico this week for the first time since the facilities were linked to the largest cyclospora outbreak in the U.S. about a month ago.

National Security

• Major US defense firms race to manufacture cheaper missiles. —Bloomberg

Foreign Policy

• The Taliban is interested in reopening diplomatic ties with the US. —NYT

— Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commenting on Air Force One during an appearance on the “Net Positive” podcast.

Semafor DC Team

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel