Plus: Supreme Court Upholds Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Kids

Good evening,

The U.S. saw 1,000 people become millionaires every day last year, according to the Global Wealth Report from investment bank UBS.

U.S. residents accounted for more than half of all new millionaires in 2024, with 379,000 people seeing their net worth reach at least $1 million. That is more than any other market globally.
- UBS attributed the rise to a stable U.S. dollar and an upbeat financial market.
Most Americans still fall short of that $1 million mark. At the end of 2024, the average wealth per adult in the U.S. was around $312,000.
Globally, 680,000 people became millionaires for the first time in 2024: a rise of more than 1% from the year prior.
- The number is expected to keep growing. UBS predicts an additional 5.3 million people will see their net worths reach at least $1 million by 2029.

Dr. Evil is simply ecstatic. 💸

Sam
Associate Producer

P.S.: There will be no Mo News newsletter tomorrow for Juneteenth, but we will be back with a regular newsletter on Friday, June 20th.

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Trump Mulls Military Action as Iran Promises ‘Irreparable Damage’ in Retaliation

President Trump said Wednesday afternoon that he has not yet made a decision on whether to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

“I have ideas as to what to do,” Trump said. Earlier in the day, he told reporters, “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I am going to do.”

Trump’s comments are fueling speculation that the U.S. might join Israel’s assault to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capabilities which could create a wider conflict in the Middle East.

WHAT IRAN IS SAYING
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump’s call for an “unconditional surrender” from Iran, saying “The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.”

Trump told reporters Wednesday that Iran is interested in negotiating — even suggesting Iranian officials would travel to the White House for talks, but said Tehran should have proposed peace talks sooner.

“Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago,” Trump asked of Iran’s timing. “You could have done fine.”
Iran’s UN mission appeared to deny Trump’s claim, saying it does not “grovel at the gates of the White House” or “negotiate under duress.”

WHAT A STRIKE COULD LOOK LIKE
Brett McGurk, President Biden’s former top Middle East adviser, who also served under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump said on CNN Wednesday, that he expects a U.S. strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site to take place within “a few days.” Fordow is buried deep beneath a mountain and would require a 30,000 pound bunker buster bomb that the U.S. has in its arsenal to destroy.

Why? He pointed to recent military movements and Trump’s call on Tuesday for “unconditional surrender,” which he said leaves little room for diplomacy.
What now? McGurk said now is the time for the U.S. to secure its assets, align with Israel on mission goals and continue to explore a potential diplomatic off-ramp for Iran.
What could be next? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) during testimony on Capitol Hill what the day after a potential strike on Iran would look like. He responded that the administration has “plans for everything.”

If American B-2 stealth bombers are deployed, it would mark the first use of the bunker-busting bomb, which was specifically developed for this type of operation. The Fordow nuclear site sits nearly 300 feet underground and was built to withstand airstrikes.

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🚨 ONE THING WE WERE FOLLOWING

Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth in a 6–3 decision split along ideological lines.

The ruling means kids under 18 who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria cannot access hormone treatments or puberty blockers — even if they have their parents’ consent. Medical providers are prohibited from prescribing puberty-delaying medication, offering hormone therapy, and performing gender-transition surgeries.

WHAT THE JUSTICES SAID
The key question in the case was whether Tennessee’s law regulates medical treatment or discriminates based on sex. If it were considered sex discrimination, the state would have to meet a much tougher legal standard to justify the law. The Supreme Court ruled it doesn’t.

Chief Justice John Roberts, for the majority, which included the five other conservatives on the court, wrote, “This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field... Questions regarding the law’s policy are … appropriately left to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”
Writing for the three liberal justices, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the Court ” the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent.”

BY THE NUMBERS
Roughly half the states in the U.S. have similar laws, which means these states are now free to follow Tennessee in blocking transgender kids from receiving gender-affirming care. About 300,000 minors and 1.3 million adults identify as transgender as of 2022, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute.

The Trump administration has zeroed in on transgender issues this term, including attempting to ban transgender people from military service and participation in women’s sports.
- In its latest move, the Trump administration on Wednesday told The Trevor Project, a nonprofit, it would end its specialized support to LGBTQ people who call the national suicide prevention hotline (988) starting next month. Instead, those callers will be directed to the general service. The service was started in 2022 as LGBTQ people are four times more likely than their peers to attempt or contemplate suicide.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Break-In reported at the home of slain Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (NBC)
Kristi Noem is ‘alert and recovering’ after trip to hospital over allergic reaction (AP)
Supreme Court okays nuclear waste storage in Texas (FOX)
Florida attorney general held in contempt after enforcing blocked immigration law (GUARDIAN)
Dangerous Midwest, Northeast heat wave will bring hottest weather of year so far, including Chicago, New York (THE WEATHER CHANNEL)
Karen Read found not guilty of murder at second trial (MO NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion (NPR)
North Korea to send thousands to help rebuild Russia's Kursk region (BBC)
India and Canada to restore diplomatic services nearly two years after killing of Sikh separatist (AP)
Indonesia volcano spews ash more than 6 miles into sky, dozens of Bali flights canceled (CNN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Sam Altman says Meta is offering $100 million to poach his employees (CNN)
Social Security retirement trust fund may be depleted in less than a decade, new trustees’ report finds (CNBC)
Average long-term US mortgage rate eases to 6.81%, third consecutive weekly decline (ABC)
FDA approves the world’s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV (AP)
Cannabis use linked to a doubled risk of heart disease death, new study finds (CBS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Anne Burrell, TV chef who coached the ‘Worst Cooks in America,’ dies at 55 (AP)
Jeremy Allen White is Bruce Springsteen in first footage from biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (VARIETY)
Tennis great Chris Evert calls out WNBA players for lack of sportsmanship after latest Caitlin Clark skirmish (FOX)
Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders get 400% pay raise (ABC)
Tyler Perry sued for $260M by actor claiming sexual harassment and assault (FOX)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… More than 25,000 kites will fly this week over the Danish island of Fano during the country’s annual kite festival. The festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and organizers are expecting some 5,000 kite enthusiasts to descend on the island.

Fano is more than 8 miles long and has strong coastal winds, making it the ideal destination for flying kites.