Today's five.

Trump called her a "TOTAL WINNER" on Truth Social, and Louisiana Republicans apparently agreed. Julia Letlow beat state Treasurer John Fleming in the GOP Senate runoff Saturday, closing out a primary that already claimed one notable casualty: incumbent Bill Cassidy, who finished third in May and became a footnote. Letlow and Fleming had both advanced from the initial primary after neither cleared 50% outright. Bloomberg called the race for Letlow via DDHQ projections. The Hill tracked the live results; NewsNation tracked the Trump posts. Cassidy, notably, voted to convict Trump in 2021. Louisiana has a long memory.

Trump's third ICE director in as many months is a former Oklahoma state trooper, which either reflects bold iteration or a position that's harder to hold than it looks. Lance Schroyer, currently a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, was reportedly Mullin's pick — the nomination came from the secretary's orbit more than from the agency itself. Todd Lyons resigned in late May; David Venturella, a former private prison executive, has been running things in an acting capacity since June. The Senate still has to confirm Schroyer, which means Venturella's not going anywhere just yet.

Inviting the sitting Vice President onto your show to announce your vote is up for grabs is a very specific kind of message-sending. Maher told Vance Friday that if Democrats keep heading toward democratic socialism — his words included antisemitism, anti-capitalism, and abolishing prisons — "my vote is in play." Vance said he liked hearing that. Maher noted his vote "always has been," which is doing a lot of quiet work. All three outlets covering this leaned the same direction, so treat the framing as consensus with an agenda. The Democrats Maher called out by name didn't appear on the show to respond, which is also a response.

A ceasefire that's apparently optional is just a pause with better PR. The U.S. military struck 10 targets in Iran near the Strait of Hormuz; Iran's Revolutionary Guards responded by claiming strikes against U.S. military targets — so now both sides are simultaneously at war and not at war, depending on who's talking. NBC led with the American strikes. The Daily Caller and Independent Journal Review led with Iran's counterclaim. The Strait of Hormuz sits at the throat of global oil shipping, which is the context neither headline wanted to bury but both kind of did.

A Florida GOP gubernatorial debate that didn't happen is somehow still generating campaign content. Byron Donalds was the only candidate who met the qualifying criteria, so the event was canceled — but Jay Collins and Paul Renner showed up to the Republican confab anyway and did their counter-programming thing. It's a classic primary-season move: if you can't share a stage, you work the same room. Florida Politics covered it straight. There's no debate footage because there was no debate, which is a strange thing to spin, and yet here everyone is, spinning.