Chaos at Washington's Biggest Dinner

Good morning.

May we all head into this week with the enthusiasm (and endurance) of yesterday’s history-making London marathon winner. To kick things off, King Charles III lands in the US today for his first visit as king — and he’ll follow in his mother’s footsteps with this rare address. First Lady Melania Trump and Queen Camilla will partner for a very timely educational event. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson embarks on what Axios calls “hell week” with a trifecta of high-stakes votes ahead. The Fed holds its two-day meeting on interest rates — here's what that could mean for your wallet. And Friday is May Day and my favorite meme day. Now, let's get to the news...

— Marina Carver / Senior Editor / Brooklyn, NY

US News

Chaos at Washington's Biggest Dinner

What's going on: Shortly after attendees sat down for Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, muffled gunshots rang out — some initially mistook them for dropped dinner plates. Confused journalists, who were just posting “nerd prom” pics, hid under tables with waitstaff, and some began reporting almost immediately. The Secret Service entered the room to escort President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and Vice President JD Vance to safety. As videos and photos of the incident continue to emerge...here’s what we know:

The suspect & motive: Authorities identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Allen. He was subdued by the Secret Service within seconds and never made it close to officials. A Secret Service agent (wearing a bulletproof vest) was shot, and he is expected to recover. Investigators say Allen, a California teacher, was armed with multiple weapons and appeared to target President Trump and administration officials. A 1,000-word manifesto that listed his grievances against Trump was found in his hotel room. Allen is expected to appear in court later today.

What else?: Political violence is already on the rise in the US, and this is the third assassination attempt against Trump. The president struck an unusually conciliatory tone immediately following the incident, calling for unity. Trump said he “wasn’t worried,” but the attack only underscores the need for the White House’s ballroom project to continue, which a federal judge recently blocked. But by Sunday, his tone seemed to have shifted. In an interview with 60 Minutes, the president lashed out at a journalist after she read parts of the manifesto. Trump said another dinner will be rescheduled within 30 days.

Related: The Journalist Who Planned the Dinner Sat Next to Trump. Here’s What She Says Happened (CBS News)

The News in 5

🗞️ After President Donald Trump told his top envoys to cancel their Pakistan trip, Iran’s top negotiator is back in Islamabad to continue talks with mediators.

🗞️ The Trump administration is reinstating a controversial method of execution for federal death row inmates — and lifted the Biden-era moratorium on capital punishment entirely.

🗞️ South Carolina’s measles outbreak, which infected more than 1,000 people (most of them unvaccinated children) has finally come to an end.

🗞️ Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blinked first — and it looks like President Trump will get his Fed nominee.

🗞️ A true crime podcast helped police arrest four people in a 43-year-old murder case.

Politics

MAHA May Be Moving On From Trump

What's going on: Back in 2024, MAHA voters celebrated President Donald Trump's election, expecting major reforms to dietary guidelines and vaccines. Now, many are feeling played. Tensions could come to a head today outside the Supreme Court, where MAHA plans to hold a “People vs. Poison” rally. Justices will hear a landmark case on whether pesticide maker Roundup failed to warn people of its product’s cancer risks. Trump is on Roundup’s side (its key ingredient, glyphosate, is used in ammunition, and he recently moved to boost its production). Pesticides are also central to the farm bill fight on Capitol Hill. Many MAHA folks feel that the White House is stifling Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine policy plans. Now, one policy adviser warns that Republicans are “squandering their MAHA moment.”

What it means: The GOP can’t afford to lose any support ahead of the midterms. But do they continue to appeal to MAHA voters at the cost of major voting blocs like farmers? At the end of the day, the group is not a monolith. Six major MAHA leaders told The New York Times that their mostly white and female voters might stay home in November… and plenty of races are already expected to be neck and neck. Democratic candidates are trying to seize the opportunity. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is appealing to parents worried about processed foods and even filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief against Roundup. As one strategist told Politico, if Republicans ignore MAHA, they could be committing “political suicide.”

Related: The Man Responsible for the New Food Pyramid Has a Surprising New Job (Fortune)

Health

Bueller? 

What’s going on: It might be time to switch out group chats for group FaceTime calls. People are speaking a lot less than they used to, going from 16,600 words spoken per day in 2005 to 11,900 per day in 2019, according to new research highlighted in The Wall Street Journal. This 28% decline is concerning for the fate of society. It’s not hard to see why. We text our friends “happy birthday” instead of call, order dinner on an app, and are a little too attached to our headphones. These in-between interactions — chatting with coworkers, making awkward eye contact while ordering coffee — are quietly disappearing. This limits opportunities for conversation as we lose third spaces and stop getting wrapped up in hour-long phone calls. Guess grandma was onto something.

Let’s talk about it: Casual conversation isn’t fluff. It requires a lot of mental processing. We process and respond to real-time conversation in about 200 milliseconds, so when we talk less, we’re logging fewer reps. Psychologists worry that less yapping and more alone time will only worsen loneliness. And no matter how annoying baby talk is, young children need it. Research shows parents speak less to their babies when scrolling on their smartphones, even though early conversation is tied to brain development. Sartre once said, “hell is other people,” but that was before we could so easily avoid them.

Related: Wellness Spaces Are the New Hangout Spots (CNBC)

Quick Hits

🌧️ Put on your boots and blast “Unwritten,” because science says there are benefits to feeling the rain on your skin.

🧀 Move over, cottage cheese: There’s a new high-protein dairy obsession on your FYP. 

🤗 Doing these six things can put your kid on track to becoming your BFF as an adult. 

🏠 Interior designers say you should snag these five finds at estate sales. They’re the antidote to “millennial gray.”

🥨🍿 When it comes to pretzels vs. popcorn, dietitians say there’s a clear winner.

🤩 One ‘00s actress is still beaming about her Destiny’s Child shoutout.

On Our Calendar

Things to jot down today…

🗓️ Jury selection kicks off in Elon Musk’s fraud case against Sam Altman's OpenAI. Things could get messy fast.

🗓️ Disney+ premieres Songs in Sign Language, giving you a whole new way to experience “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

Psst…For more dates worth knowing this week, check out the Skimm+ calendar.

Know It All

There have been some out-there lip balm flavors like Coca-Cola and Blue Moon, but Burt's Bees wants to take things a step further with this collab…

Skimm'd by: Rashaan Ayesh, Molly Longman, Mallory Simon, Stephanie Gallman, Aryanna Prasad Bhullar, Erika W. Smith, and Marina Carver. Fact-checked by Sara Tardiff.