🇺🇸 Axios PM: Epic travel weekend

Plus: The 4th in photos | Friday, July 04, 2025

View in browser   PRESENTED BY VISA   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Jul 04, 2025 Happy 4th! Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 254 words, a 1-min. read. Thanks to Mickey Meece for copy editing.     1 big thing: Epic travel weekend   Source: Department of Transportation. Chart: Axios Visuals This will likely be the busiest July 4 holiday for air travel in 15 years, according to the Transportation Department's estimates. It's estimating 50,000 flights on Monday. TSA said separately that it's anticipating 18.5 million travelers to take to the skies between July 1 and July 7. Another 72 million people were expected to take a road trip of at least 50 miles, per AAA. 💺 The intrigue: The best deals over the long Independence Day weekend were for travelers looking to vacation outside the U.S. Domestic airfares are roughly 3% less expensive than they were last July 4, but tickets to Europe and Asia are 13% cheaper, according to Reuters.     2. 🇺🇸 America celebrates   Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP The Army's Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps perform outside the National Archives today. Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images A boater cruises through Newport Beach, Calif. Photo: Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP Randa Alakkad, from Syria, wipes away tears during a naturalization ceremony today at Mount Vernon, in Alexandria, Va.     A MESSAGE FROM VISA Visa-backed programs give students real-world money skills     Visa and its FinEd50 partners are expanding access to personal finance education in all 50 states. Why it's important: Free tools equip graduates with skills to budget, save, and build stronger financial futures. Learn how Visa is helping students.     3. Catch me up   A firefighter battled the Madre Fire along Highway 166 in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., yesterday. Photo: Noah Berger/AP 🚒 The Madre Fire has become California's largest wildfire of the year, covering more than 52,000 acres. Evacuation orders and warnings are in effect for communities in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Go deeper. 🇺🇦 Russia launched the largest air assault on Kyiv since the war began, injuring at least 23 people. Go deeper. 🇰🇵 An unidentified man crossed the heavily militarized border from North Korea into South Korea. Officials aren't yet sure whether it's a possible defection. Go deeper.     4. 🏆 Top dogs   Miki Sudo and Joey Chestnut at the Nathan's hot dog eating contest today. Photos: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images and Adam Gray/Getty Images   Miki Sudo and Joey Chestnut won this year's Nathan's hot dog eating contest. He ate 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She ate 33.     A MESSAGE FROM VISA Digital payment systems face growing fraud threats     Visa is protecting the payments ecosystem, analyzing over 500 data points on up to 83,000 transactions per second. The impact: Real-time insight helps detect fraud and keep digital payments secure. Learn how Visa is protecting America's payments.   📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM. Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Advertise with us. Axios, PO Box 101060, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: