Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon assortment of Puck’s best new reporting. First up today, Eriq Gardner digs into the shocking proposal by Trump’s “Hollywood ambassador” Jon Voight to revive and expand the industry’s long-buried “fin-syn” rules, which once barred CBS, NBC, and ABC from owning the programs they aired. Under this new plan, streaming giants like Netflix and Max could be forced to share ownership and profits with independent producers—and while some Hollywood insiders have dismissed its viability, others are convinced it might actually come to fruition… Plus, below the fold: Peter Hamby pores over exclusive polling data that underscores the ongoing headwinds for the Democratic Party. Marion Maneker takes the temperature of the art market after Christie’s nine-figure Riggio and 20th century evening sales. Sarah Shapiro examines the peculiar rise of trendy L.A. momswear brand Donni. And exclusively for Inner Circle members, Julia Alexander breaks down David Zaslav’s evolving sports strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery. Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand is joined by Axios’s Sara Fischer on The Varsity to consider the logic behind ESPN’s forthcoming streaming service. And in a special edition of The Powers That Be, Leigh Ann Caldwell sits down with Republican Senator Jim Banks to unpack his party’s split on tariffs, the road to the midterms, and China’s rising influence.

Trump is considering a plan to revive the Nixon-era rules that once barred CBS, NBC, and ABC from owning the programs that they aired—and adding streamers like Netflix to the sanctions list. The president probably doesn’t have that power, but as his former antitrust chief told me, “Has that ever stopped Trump?” Read Now

Despite Trump’s unpredictable, anxiety-provoking, market-rattling, ethics-pulverizing first 100 days, the latest Puck/Echelon poll shows he’s still more popular than Democrats with voters. Read Now

CONGRESS: Protect Community Banks from Credit Card Mandates The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates will raise costs, limit credit access, and devastate local financial institutions. Credit unions and community banks in all 50 states strongly oppose this bill—and for good reason. It threatens to upend the payments system, harming smaller institutions card programs while corporate megastores like Walmart and Target cash in. Carve-outs don’t work—we’ve seen that before. Congress must reject false promises from retail giants and stand with the nearly 10,000 community-based institutions serving over 140 million Americans. Say NO to Durbin-Marshall.

There were some pockets of spirited bidding at Christie’s for works from the Leonard and Louise Riggio collection and Anne Bass’s estate. And yet the well-managed and heavily guaranteed sale revealed the market’s cautious mood. Read Now

In an industry that values speed and scale, Donni, the trendy, L.A.-based stretchy mom-pants brand, is taking it slow. Is founder Alyssa Wasko naive about what it takes to compete, or forging a new model for subscale, independent brands? Read Now

As Versant prepares for liftoff and David Zaslav prepares his own SpinCo, the prenup between sports leagues and cable companies is being renegotiated on the fly. And while cable will no longer vie for the largest packages, there is a path forward for a new strategy. Read Now

Axios media reporter Sara Fischer returns to the pod to preview ESPN’s forthcoming streaming service, ingeniously named… ESPN. She breaks down the logic behind the offering—but also the potential problems with the branding. Then Sara and John discuss Fox’s more tempered streaming strategy, and how The Athletic has prospered under the New York Times banner. Listen Now

CONGRESS: Protect Community Banks from Credit Card Mandates The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates will raise costs, limit credit access, and devastate local financial institutions. Credit unions and community banks in all 50 states strongly oppose this bill—and for good reason. It threatens to upend the payments system, harming smaller institutions card programs while corporate megastores like Walmart and Target cash in. Carve-outs don’t work—we’ve seen that before. Congress must reject false promises from retail giants and stand with the nearly 10,000 community-based institutions serving over 140 million Americans. Say NO to Durbin-Marshall.

In this special edition of The Powers That Be, Leigh Ann Caldwell hosts Republican Senator Jim Banks for a far-reaching conversation about tariffs, the road to the midterms, and how the G.O.P. is aiming to avoid a repeat of 2017’s political misfires. Banks also outlines the party’s strategy to counter China’s rising influence—and insists that under Trump’s leadership, Republicans are more unified than ever. Listen Now

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