Trump's new peace push

Good morning. Get ready for more talks, this time involving both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Labubu dolls defy consumer woes. And JPMorgan faces the wrath of an 85-year-old widow. Listen to the day's top stories.

— Eleanor Thornber and Omar El Chmouri

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Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin and urged him to begin making plans for a summit with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, possibly within weeks. US and European officials are getting to work immediately on providing Ukraine with security guarantees. Zelenskiy made sure to be ready for Trump at yesterday's crucial Oval Office meeting—and it paid off. Read our explainer on the territory at the heart of Russia's war in Ukraine.

What's Next for Ukraine After Zelenskiy-Trump Meeting?

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Trump's tariffs will help soften the blow to the US's fiscal health from tax cuts, S&P Global Ratings said, endorsing one of his arguments in favor of imposing levies. But the president's tariff war also risks creating a new trade order dominated by China, according to S&P. Adding to those concerns, India's Narendra Modi hailed Putin as a "friend" as his government moved to bolster relations with Beijing and tilt away from the US.

Fresh Intel. The Trump administration is in discussions to take a stake of about 10% in the beleaguered chipmaker, a move that could see the US become its largest shareholder. They're not the only ones interested: Japan's SoftBank Group agreed to buy $2 billion of Intel stock in a bet on the company's AI prospects.

Home Depot's results offered the latest signs that consumers are staying away from big purchases as interest rates remain high and inflation uncertainties linger. But there's no such worries for Pop Mart. It saw revenue jump 204% from a year ago and is racing ahead with its global expansion as it cashes in on the worldwide frenzy for Labubu dolls.

New Jersey commuters, we feel your pain. Analysis of real-time train data shows NJ Transit really is less reliable than its New York and Connecticut counterparts. In fact, its riders face significant service disruptions at six times the rate of other commuters—in other words, a bad commute roughly every two weeks. There's better news for those flying Air Canada though, as flight attendants ended a three-day walkout that had forced hundreds of cancellations.

Deep Dive: Iran's Future

Israeli airstrikes damaged residential buildings in Tehran during the 12-day war. Photographer: SABA/AFP/Getty Images

Iran's conflict with Israel in June was the most damaging in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' history, yet the military organization is now more critical to the survival of the Iranian regime than ever before.

The IRGC is known in the West for its elite forces defending Iran's theocratic leadership, its proxy militias in the Middle East, and deep tentacles. Read our explainer on how Iran's regime keeps a tight grip on power.
Battered but not broken. While the 12 day confrontation with Israel killed most of the IRGC's top echelon, the announcement of a new National Defense Council this month underscored the Guard's expanding role and influence.
The worry is that Iran is now more likely to look for a nuclear deterrent, despite the attacks by the US and Israel that were designed to stop it from producing such weapons.

The Big Take

Part of Saudi Arabia's planned megacity of Neom, Trojena is a sprawling ski resort in the heart of the dry Middle Eastern desert. Featuring ski slopes atop luxury hotel roofs and a crystal skyscraper the size of the Eiffel Tower, it's supposed to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. But in a region with little snowfall, Trojena is proving to be one of the country's most difficult challenges.

Big Take Podcast

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Opinion

The rooftop pool of the Soho House New York,. Photographer: Busà Photography/Moment Unreleased RF

Soho House's ownership will now match its membership—both will be private—but the timing could be awkward, Allison Schrager writes. It's not that the approach of the company is unworkable, it's just unworkable in public markets. How long can private equity funds tolerate investments like Soho House that don't earn a profit?

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Before You Go

JPMorgan lost an attempt to stop an 85-year-old widow from pursuing claims that the company failed to prevent her son from siphoning more than $8 million from her bank accounts. The bank argued that she was never technically a customer, but the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said otherwise.

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