欧盟机构：全球再迎史上第二热5月

2026年6月10日 14:51 / 联合早报

5月28日，在法国巴黎拉德芳斯商务区，人们走过喷雾装置降温。 （彭博社）

欧盟机构发布数据指出，今年5月是全球有记录以来气温第二高的5月，预计未来数月内将形成的厄尔尼诺现象，可能在全球多地引发极端天气。

新华社报道，欧盟气候监测机构哥白尼气候变化服务局星期三（6月10日）发布的公报显示，今年5月全球地表平均气温为15.81摄氏度，比1991年至2020年同期平均值高出0.55摄氏度，仅低于2024年5月，成为有记录以来第二热的5月；相较工业化前水平则高出1.42摄氏度。

在海洋方面，今年5月南纬60度至北纬60度之间的全球海表平均温度为20.90摄氏度，为有记录以来同期第二高，仅略低于2024年5月的20.93摄氏度。

5月期间，热带太平洋大范围海域海表温度持续处于异常偏高水平，赤道太平洋正继续向厄尔尼诺状态过渡。公报预计，未来数月内厄尔尼诺现象将形成，并可能在全球范围内触发更多极端天气事件。

公报还提到，5月欧洲大陆经历了明显的天气转折。多地气温在5月20日前后迅速由低于平均水平转为高于平均水平。5月下半月，欧洲西部遭遇异常偏早且强烈的热浪，法国、英国等国多地打破5月气温纪录。欧洲中期天气预报中心气候战略负责人萨曼莎·伯吉斯表示，这表明极端气候事件正快速从“例外”演变为“新常态”。

在海冰方面，公报指出，5月北极海冰平均面积较同期平均水平低约4%，为有记录以来同期第四低；南极海冰面积则较同期平均水平低约9%，为有记录以来同期第七低。

Trump wanted to star at the World Cup, but politics may spoil the party

2026-06-10T04:00:07.962Z / CNN

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Donald Trump thought he’d miss out on the chance to stride the globe’s biggest sporting stage, lamenting in 2018, when the US won the right to co-host this year’s World Cup finals, that “I won’t be here” owing to presidential term limits.

But the historic political comeback that made him only the second president to win two nonconsecutive terms bought him political extra time and a role in the massive soccer extravaganza.

Trump has always had a flair for inserting himself into the global zeitgeist. So he seized his chance.

He proudly displayed a gleaming replica World Cup that complemented the golden decor of his Oval Office; he welcomed soccer supremo Gianni Infantino into his global MAGA orbit; and after presenting Chelsea with the trophy in a FIFA club tournament in the US last year, he celebrated with the team like he’d scored the winning goal.

But the 2026 World Cup finals that open on Thursday may serve to highlight the discord of his politics more than his enthusiasm for the beautiful game. While Trump may be looking for a new chance to promote his global ubiquity, many overseas critics are likely to be alienated by contributions that epitomize the turbulence and discord of his second term.

The finals come at a moment when Trump’s political star is waning due to growing unpopularity at home and reverses overseas.

Infantino’s award of an inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Trump — after his friend was passed over for the Nobel version — now looks awkward after the president launched military strikes against another World Cup qualifying nation, Iran.

Trump’s hardline immigration policies, which left some foreign fans feeling unwelcome in the United States, are overshadowing the countdown to opening games. A respected Somali referee was refused entry at a time when the administration is accusing Somalis in Minnesota of fraud. (The community denies the claims.) The Senegalese team reportedly endured harsh security checks when arriving for their pre-World Cup camp, though the federation said it anticipated the security procedure and deemed it normal. And Iran said Tuesday that its ticket allocation for its three group games in the US had been canceled.

This follows concerns that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could conduct sweeps for undocumented migrants at games involving South American teams with large followings in the United States, though the administration has tried to tamp down those fears.

Soaring ticket prices, meanwhile, have priced many fans out of games, leading to accusations that FIFA sees the World Cup finals more as a money grab than a celebration of football’s traditionally working-class fans. Out-of-reach ticket prices are a metaphor for affordability crises stalking western societies and economic inequalities faced by Global South countries. Even Trump balked at tickets costing $1,000 for the first Team USA game. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you,” he told the New York Post.

More broadly, Trump’s searing second term, which has seen him slap tariffs on competing economies and lambaste the societies of close allies, has created an atmosphere of global tension that sits uneasily with FIFA’s claims to promote unity and joy. For a fleeting moment, there was talk of a European boycott after Trump demanded Denmark hand over Greenland.

This is far from the first global sporting event to be hit by a political storm. The US led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The last World Cup in Qatar was clouded by accusations of human rights abuses, including the deaths of migrant workers in building stadiums.

Before the competition begins, almost every huge sporting event is beset by bad headlines about politics, commercialization and access. But the hyper-politicization of the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted with Canada and Mexico at a time of Western Hemisphere antagonism, has an added ingredient almost guaranteed to cause polarization: Trump.

The US president’s tendency to create extreme positive and negative reactions has focused attention on Infantino’s decision to align himself so closely with the US leader.

The FIFA president has been ubiquitous in Washington and Mar-a-Lago. He even showed up at Trump’s Gaza peace summit in Egypt last year. After the US president’s second-term inaugural rally, he declared on Instagram, “Together, we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world.”

This apparent endorsement seemed to conflict with FIFA’s statutes, which stress it remains “neutral in matters of politics.” Infantino, however, defended his friendship with Trump at a meeting in Northern Ireland last year. “I think it is absolutely crucial for the success of a World Cup to have a close relationship with the president,” Infantino was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

Still, eve-of-tournament controversies raise the question of just how much leverage FIFA has won with Trump.

“Infantino might say, ‘(This is) what do I have to do as president of this organization, to secure political support, so that everything goes smoothly,’” said Alexander Cooley, a senior nonresident fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. But FIFA may have walked into a political trap. “I think what you’re seeing is that the Trump administration really doesn’t care about global public opinion.”

Infantino would not be the first global figure to find that buttering up a US president who demands shows of respect has little payoff. Many European leaders flattered the president during his first year back in office but couldn’t slake his fury, which drove transatlantic relations to their lowest point in decades.

Cooley, also a professor of political science at Barnard College, argued that Trump’s team may be making a classic immigration play to his base with treatment of World Cup fans, delegations and referees. “If the world is up in arms or disappointed in that, who cares?” Cooley said, paraphrasing a possible administration sentiment.

The World Cup finals are widely regarded as the world’s largest sporting event. According to FIFA, 1.5 billion viewers watched the final in Qatar in 2022. Trump often marvels at the scale of the event, saying last year in the Oval Office, “(It’s) like three Super Bowls every day for a month.”

The president, a sports fan of some authority, loves huge audiences and the white heat of publicity. It’s hardly surprising that he’s drawn to such a gargantuan spectacle.

Trump can be expected to weigh in throughout the tournament on social media or any on- or off-field controversies, in keeping with his habit of using sports to drive social, cultural and political messages. During his first term, for example, he often slammed former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other players who took a knee to protest police brutality.

But mixing sports and politics can backfire. He was brutally booed after showing up at an NBA Finals Game in New York on Monday night. And his craving to co-opt others’ success can overshadow the moment. The US hockey triumph over Canada in the final of the Winter Olympics this year turned a moment of national unity into one of political division after Trump and his FBI Director Kash Patel inserted themselves into the team’s victory celebrations.

World leaders often try to exploit World Cups. Some — like British Prime Minister Harold Wilson after England’s 1966 World Cup triumph — wrapped themselves in the flag. Argentina’s junta used the country’s win as hosts in 1978 as propaganda. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup sought to restore international prestige after he was ostracized for annexing Crimea. Critics have dismissed Qatar’s World Cup and the forthcoming 2034 tournament in Saudi Arabia as reputational “sports washing” by anti-democratic regimes.

This had led critics to argue that Infantino sees himself as a geopolitical figure as much as a footballing one. His closeness to leaders like Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reflects an era when multibillionaire owners and Middle Eastern wealth funds own many top clubs as strongmen and oligarchs dominate political and corporate life.

Still, great sporting events usually defy attempts by politicians keen to hijack them. World Cups are defined by moments of footballing panache, like the bamboozling turn by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff at the 1974 finals or Paolo Rossi’s goal-scoring rout that led Italy to the title in 1982.

Controversies that are remembered are usually on the pitch — like Argentine Diego Maradona’s infamous “hand of God” handball goal in the 1986 quarter-final against England, or Zinedine Zidane’s stunning head butt that helped consign France to defeat to Italy in the 2006 final.

Some time over the next month, a second of brilliance or a rush of blood will underscore why World Cups, even in their corporatized and politicized modern renderings, make the world stand still.

The quintessentially political Infantino understands this better than anyone. At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, he noted that in Qatar, the political furor faded once the football kicked off.

“When the ball started rolling, and the magic started, we had virtually no incidents,” he said.

执行“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务的四名宇航员为布雷斯尼克（左起）、帕尔米塔诺、鲁比奥、道格拉斯。 （路透社）

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）星期二（6月9日）公布执行“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务的四名宇航员名单，包括三名美国宇航员和一名来自意大利的欧洲航天局宇航员。

新华社报道，执行此次任务的宇航员分别是：担任指令长的美航空航天局宇航员布雷斯尼克（Randy Bresnik），担任飞行员的欧航局宇航员帕尔米塔诺（Luca Parmitano），以及担任任务专家的美航空航天局宇航员道格拉斯（Andre Douglas）和鲁比奥（Frank Rubio）。美航空航天局宇航员海因斯（Bob Hines）被指定为任务后备宇航员。

“阿耳忒弥斯3号”（Artemis III）任务计划2027年实施，届时美国新一代登月火箭“太空发射系统”将搭载四名宇航员的“猎户座”飞船（Orion）送入近地轨道。

预计宇航员将在太空停留约两周，他们将在近地轨道开展飞船与商业载人登月系统的交会对接等关键技术验证，为后续“阿耳忒弥斯4号”载人登月任务做准备。

目前，美国蓝色起源公司（Blue Origin）正在研发月球着陆器“蓝月”（Blue Moon）的载人登月版本，太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）正在研发重型运载火箭“星舰”（Starship）的载人登月版本。两家公司均在为“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务建造测试版本的载人登月系统。

执行“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务的四名宇航员为布雷斯尼克（左起）、帕尔米塔诺、鲁比奥、道格拉斯。 （路透社）

美国国家航空航天局（NASA）星期二（6月9日）公布执行“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务的四名宇航员名单，包括三名美国宇航员和一名来自意大利的欧洲航天局宇航员。

新华社报道，执行此次任务的宇航员分别是：担任指令长的美航空航天局宇航员布雷斯尼克（Randy Bresnik），担任飞行员的欧航局宇航员帕尔米塔诺（Luca Parmitano），以及担任任务专家的美航空航天局宇航员道格拉斯（Andre Douglas）和鲁比奥（Frank Rubio）。美航空航天局宇航员海因斯（Bob Hines）被指定为任务后备宇航员。

“阿耳忒弥斯3号”（Artemis III）任务计划2027年实施，届时美国新一代登月火箭“太空发射系统”将搭载四名宇航员的“猎户座”飞船（Orion）送入近地轨道。

预计宇航员将在太空停留约两周，他们将在近地轨道开展飞船与商业载人登月系统的交会对接等关键技术验证，为后续“阿耳忒弥斯4号”载人登月任务做准备。

目前，美国蓝色起源公司（Blue Origin）正在研发月球着陆器“蓝月”（Blue Moon）的载人登月版本，太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）正在研发重型运载火箭“星舰”（Starship）的载人登月版本。两家公司均在为“阿耳忒弥斯3号”任务建造测试版本的载人登月系统。

Higher gasoline prices likely pushed up US consumer inflation again in May

2026-06-10T04:02:02.522Z / Reuters

Summary

• Consumer Price Index forecast increasing 0.5% in May
• Year-on-year CPI estimated to have jumped 4.2%, biggest rise since April 2023
• Core CPI monthly increase expected to slow as one-time bump to shelter related to government shutdown fades

WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer inflation likely increased at its fastest pace in three years in May as the Middle East conflict raised prices of energy products, which would provide more ​ammunition for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged this year.

The anticipated third straight month of strong year-on-year Consumer Price Index readings from the Labor Department ‌on Wednesday is expected to highlight mounting pressure on households as evidence suggests more consumers are dipping into savings to finance their spending. Inflation is likely to outpace wage growth in May for a second straight month, a development that could weigh on overall economic growth.

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The soaring cost of living is a political liability for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, seeking to retain control of Congress in the midterm elections in November. Trump won the 2024 presidential election in ​large part because of his promise to lower inflation, but has seen his approval rating tumble as frustration mounts over his handling of the economy.

“The top-line increase in inflation will outpace ​wage growth for the second consecutive month,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. “What that means is Americans are seeing their paycheck decline in real terms, ⁠which, if it were sustained, would tend to suggest we’re going to have a challenge around household consumption in the second half of the year.”

The Consumer Price Index likely increased 4.2% in the ​12 months through May, a Reuters survey of economists predicted. That would be the largest annual rise in the CPI since April 2023 and would follow a 3.8% advance in April. The CPI increased 3.3% ​year-on-year in March. It is expected to have increased 0.5% on a monthly basis in May after advancing 0.6% in April.

The U.S. central bank tracks the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Indexes for its 2% inflation target. All inflation measures are running well above the Fed’s target.

The national average gasoline price increased 8.8% in May to $4.60 a gallon, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. At one point, gasoline prices had jumped by more than 50% since the ​U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.

Prices have retreated in recent weeks amid a ceasefire, leaving some economists cautiously hopeful that May could mark the peak in the CPI. Though restricted ​shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has raised fertilizer prices, that has not yet significantly pushed up food prices.

“There is a good chance that the year-over-year advance in headline inflation peaks for the moment in May, though, ‌of course, oil ⁠prices could surge again depending on the course of events in the Middle East,” said Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets.

LABOR MARKET IS RESILIENT

The report would follow on the heels of news last week that the economy posted a third straight month of above-expectations job growth in May. The unemployment rate remained at 4.3% for a third consecutive month. Though financial markets have started pricing in a rate hike, economists continued to believe that the bar remained high for the central bank to tighten monetary policy.

Some argued that outside high airfares, there were no strong signs of the oil price shock ​bleeding into the services sector.

Excluding the volatile food ​and energy components, core CPI was forecast to ⁠have increased 2.9% year-on-year in May after rising 2.8% in April. The so-called core CPI was projected to have gained 0.3% on a monthly basis after rising 0.4%.

“If the core was to show some signs of pass through, higher energy costs being reflected into other categories as well, then that would ​be the story that would trigger the Fed rate-hike narrative,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. “We’re in an environment where we’ve got ​a central bank that still ⁠considers the monetary policy stance to be somewhat restrictive.”

Part of the anticipated moderation in the monthly CPI rate reflects the fading boost from a one-time adjustment to rent measures after last year’s shutdown of the government prevented data collection. While the artificial intelligence spending boom is driving up prices of computers and software, those have a smaller weighting in the core CPI basket. The weighting is larger in the core PCE inflation basket.

A ⁠surprising used cars ​and trucks deflation has also helped to curb goods inflation. Economists were divided on import tariffs, with some viewing the ​pass-through as largely over while others said the duties continued to raise prices, especially those of apparel.

“The economy is nearing the end of the tariff pass-through phase,” said Diego Anzoategui, an economist at Morgan Stanley. “Our estimates suggest tariffs have lifted prices by ​about 63 basis points so far, with total pass-through closer to 70 basis points. We saw early signs of deceleration in March and expect that trend to continue.”

Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Iran war ripple effects are increasing risks of acute hunger for millions, World Food Programme chief says

2026-06-10T04:00:08.316Z / CNN

Ripple effects from the war in Iran are threatening millions more of the most vulnerable people with crisis levels of hunger or worse, World Food Programme (WFP) acting Executive Director Carl Skau told CNN.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up the cost of fuel exponentially, making the organization’s operations far more costly. The escalating fuel costs have also driven up the price of food around the world. And critically needed supplies of fertilizer from the Gulf to plant crops in places like Sudan have been stymied by the snarling of the critical waterway.

It is a devastating mix for an organization that was already having to make unimaginable choices due to significant cuts in funding.

“In many places, we’re already taking from the hungry to give to the starving,” Skau said.

The WFP relies on donations from governments and has seen an immense drop in funding across the board, including from its top donor, the United States. As of Monday, the US’s 2026 contribution was around $731 million. In 2024, it was more than $4 billion.

Skau explained that in the world’s poorest countries, “when the price of food goes up 20-30%, well, they eat 20-30% less.”

In March, the humanitarian organization warned that 45 million more people will face acute hunger by July if the price of oil remains above $100 a barrel. Now, Skau said they have begun seeing the impact on the ground in places like Sri Lanka, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz were to reopen tomorrow, Skau said, the impact would continue to be felt longer-term.

“It’s going to take time to recover,” he told CNN in a recent interview in Washington, DC.

“We hope this conflict goes away, and that the strait opens tomorrow. But I think it’s clear that we need rich countries to step up and try to mitigate the hit on the most vulnerable from this crisis,” he said.

The cuts in funding have impacted the organization’s ability to serve the most in need. Unlike in past crises, like the war in Ukraine or the Covid pandemic, Skau said there has not been an increase in contributions.

“Last year, it was a 40% drop in funding year on year,” said Skau, a former Swedish diplomat, who became acting head of the organization last week following Cindy McCain’s departure. He has served as chief operating officer of the WFP since May 2023.

Even before the Iran war began, the organization was faced with mounting needs around the world. Sudan has 20 million people who are food insecure; hundreds of thousands have been displaced in Lebanon; in Ukraine, there have been more than 20 incidents over the last two years impacting WFP distribution points, warehouses, vehicles or the assets and vehicles of partners. A missile strike hit a WFP warehouse in Dnipro, Ukraine, in late May.

The rising costs and cuts in funding have only compounded those challenges. Skau described a part of South Sudan that is facing famine, but can only be reached by air, which is very expensive.

“If we continue that air bridge, it burns a lot of resources, to the point we can’t address” other parts of the country facing emergency food insecurity, he said. “Those kinds of choices we haven’t really faced before.”

During a recent visit to Afghanistan, Skau said colleagues on the ground were trying to figure out the metrics of who the WFP would be able to help.

“We don’t have resources to help all the women-headed households with children in this province. So, what do we do? Do we say, ‘Okay, women-headed households with more than five children?’ Well, that means that those with four are not getting assistance, we know that that’s going to have massive impacts on them,” he described. “That’s the kind of conversations we’re having in terms of the cuts and the impact.”

The US government remains the largest donor to the WFP, but under the Trump administration, funding for humanitarian aid, including to the WFP, has dropped.

Skau told CNN that the WFP is “thankful” for the US contribution, but “we always want to push the envelope.”

“We will also have a conversation around what they can do to push others to do more,” he said. He noted that it is in the US interest to fight global hunger, because a “hungry world is an unstable world.”

“I think there is agreement and consensus among Americans and beyond that children should not go to bed hungry. Children should not starve,” he said.

位于美国加州圣巴巴拉市的这个原油储存设施由塞布尔近海公司运营。 （彭博社）

美国能源信息局下调今年美国石油库存预期。

新华社报道，美国能源部下属能源信息局星期二（6月9日）发布报告说，到今年年底，美国商业原油库存量预计为4亿1900万桶，比上月预测少1200万桶。报告还显示，在截至5月29日的一周，美国商业原油库存量为4亿3400万桶，与4月中旬4亿6600万桶的阶段高点相比减少约3200万桶。

报告说，由于霍尔木兹海峡航运受阻，5月中东地区日均原油产量比2月冲突爆发前减少逾1100万桶，全球石油市场依然充满高度波动性，预计第三季度石油运输将开始恢复，但到2027年初才会恢复到冲突爆发前水平。

报告预计，到今年年底，石油输出国组织（OPEC，简称油盟）和“油盟及产油国盟友”（OPEC+）日均原油产量将为3400万桶，比上月预测减少160万桶。今年全球日均原油和其他液体燃料产量预计为9899万桶，比上月预测减少261万桶。

报告还预计，由于燃油价格高、燃油供应减少、政府降低石油需求，今年全球日均石油需求将比2025年的1亿400万桶少110万桶。

美国能源信息局下调今年美石油库存预期

2026年6月10日 15:16 / 联合早报

美国能源信息局下调今年美石油库存预期

位于美国加州圣巴巴拉市的这个原油储存设施由塞布尔近海公司运营。 （彭博社）

美国能源信息局下调今年美国石油库存预期。

新华社报道，美国能源部下属能源信息局星期二（6月9日）发布报告说，到今年年底，美国商业原油库存量预计为4亿1900万桶，比上月预测少1200万桶。报告还显示，在截至5月29日的一周，美国商业原油库存量为4亿3400万桶，与4月中旬4亿6600万桶的阶段高点相比减少约3200万桶。

报告说，由于霍尔木兹海峡航运受阻，5月中东地区日均原油产量比2月冲突爆发前减少逾1100万桶，全球石油市场依然充满高度波动性，预计第三季度石油运输将开始恢复，但到2027年初才会恢复到冲突爆发前水平。

报告预计，到今年年底，石油输出国组织（OPEC，简称油盟）和“油盟及产油国盟友”（OPEC+）日均原油产量将为3400万桶，比上月预测减少160万桶。今年全球日均原油和其他液体燃料产量预计为9899万桶，比上月预测减少261万桶。

报告还预计，由于燃油价格高、燃油供应减少、政府降低石油需求，今年全球日均石油需求将比2025年的1亿400万桶少110万桶。

Trump ally Lindsey Graham survives challenge from GOP’s anti-establishment wing

June 9, 2026 9:02pm EDT / Fox News

Graham defeated businessman Mark Lynch, who was endorsed by Trump’s former counterterrorism director, Joe Kent

By Alex Miller, Fox News

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., squeaked out a win Tuesday night in a crowded primary race for the Republican nomination in the Palmetto State.

Though there were six candidates, the contest truly fell between Graham and businessman Mark Lynch. Their primary battle again brought forth the ongoing feud within the GOP, pitting Trump-aligned candidates against the edges of the president’s own MAGA movement.

Graham is running for a fifth term in the upper chamber and is fresh off successfully advancing the GOP’s $70 billion immigration enforcement package. He’s now headed to the general election in November, where he’ll face off against Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, who survived a three-way primary contest in South Carolina on Tuesday.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a demonstration for human rights in Iran at Theresienwiese during the 62nd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 14, 2026.(Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

He is also one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent allies in the Senate and was endorsed by the president early last year.

Meanwhile, Lynch was recently endorsed by Trump’s former National Counterterrorism Center director, Joe Kent.

“He is the America First candidate,” Kent said in an endorsement video on X. “He’s gonna keep us out of all these foreign wars, and he is the best postured right now to get the warhawk neocon Lindsey Graham out of office.”

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Lynch also called for “more MTGs, Gaetzes and Massies” in Congress, referring to former Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and one of Trump’s biggest critics in the GOP, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Both Greene and Massie have evolved into some of the most vocal critics of Trump and the administration. Massie, however, was felled last month in a hotly-contested primary race in Kentucky by a Trump-backed candidate.

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Lynch speaks at a Freedom Friday event at Momma Rabbit’s Nibbles and Sips in Lexington, S.C., on June 25, 2025.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

That alignment saw Trump go after Lynch on Truth Social, where he called on Palmetto State voters to buck him for Graham.

“Senator Lindsey Graham is doing a fantastic job,” Trump said. “He is running against a LUNATIC named Mark Lynch, who supports perhaps the Worst Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

“I don’t have to go into great detail, but needless to say, Mark Lynch would be a DISASTER for the Republican Party, and Lindsey Graham just, GETS THE JOB DONE,” he continued. “VOTE FOR LINDSEY ALL THE WAY. MAGA!”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Trump rekindles endorsement winning streak as GOP gubernatorial hopeful advances to runoff

June 9, 2026 9:09pm EDT / Fox News

The president praised Evette as an ‘America First Patriot’ after staying neutral for months in the crowded GOP field

By Paul Steinhauser, Fox News

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One week after President Donald Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over the GOP was on the line again, this time in South Carolina.

And the president easily passed the test.

The candidate Trump endorsed in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field of candidates and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Evette, who repeatedly spotlighted Trump’s support, now advances to a Republican runoff election in two weeks against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the second place finisher, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.

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South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette announces her bid for the Republican nomination for governor at The Smokestack at Judson Mill in South Carolina on July 14, 2025.(Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)

Since no candidate topped 50% of the primary vote to land a majority, Evette and Wilson will battle for the nomination in the June 23 runoff, and the winner will be considered the clear favorite in the general election in the solidly red southeastern state.

Meanwhile, in the South Carolina GOP Senate primary, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote, and will avoid a runoff, the Associated Press reported.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

Graham’s campaign and allied political groups spent nearly $20 million to highlight Trump’s support. And the president joined Graham and Evette for a primary eve tele-rally.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) won renomination on Tuesday in South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary, as he runs for a fifth six-year term in the Senate(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

While he wasn’t on the ballot, Trump’s immense clout over the GOP was facing another key test in South Carolina.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But his 11th hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

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Zach Lahn raises his fist in celebration after winning Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.(Zach Lahn for Governor via Facebook)

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in South Carolina in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service)

“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth – ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.

Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.(Jeffrey Collins/Associated Press)

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

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But the episode didn’t appear to sidetrack Evette.

Either Evette or Wilson will face off in November against state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.