• US warships battling the Houthis faced anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in combat.
• The commanding officer of USS Mason described his first experience with these missiles.
• He said the incident occurred after the Mason responded to an attempted hijacking by pirates. 

US Navy warships that spent months battling the Houthis have faced unprecedented threats during their restless deployments, chief among them being anti-ship ballistic missiles, a deadly weapon that had never been used in combat until recently.

One of these warships, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, found itself under fire from anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time shortly after it joined the Navy's counter-Houthi mission last fall. The missiles came in as it was responding to a hijacking attempt by pirates, marking the first operational use of such weapons.

The commanding officer of the Mason, which just returned home from a monthslong Middle East deployment, said that his first combat experience with these missiles was surprising.

Cmdr. Justin Smith recalled in a recent interview with Business Insider that his first reaction was disbelief. He was shocked that someone was actually firing missiles in their direction.

"My team responded incredibly well, from the detection to being able to make sure that the system was ready to engage," he said.

Pirates and ASBMs

Five Somali pirates boarded the M/V Central Park on November 26 and attempted to hijack the commercial tanker as it was sailing through the Gulf of Aden. But before the small band of pirates could take over the vessel, nearly two dozen crew members were able to lock themselves in the citadel, a protected room that can serve as a safe haven in the event of a pirate attack.

The Central Park sent out a distress signal, leading the Mason and a Japanese warship to respond. When they arrived on site, they demanded the release of the vessel. The Somali pirates attempted to flee on a skiff, but an MH-60 helicopter attached to the Mason hunted them down and fired warning shots, stopping the pirates in their tracks.

Mason sailors then executed a visit, board, search, and seizure of the skiff, where they detained the pirates. Smith said it was the first time in five years that a Navy VBSS actually resulted in the capture of suspected pirates.

With the pirates secured, the Mason moved to assist the crew on the Central Park. The pirates had damaged the citadel's door in their attempt to take over the ship to the point where it couldn't be opened from either side. The American sailors had to find some additional tools to break in and rescue the mariners, who would have been stuck in the room until someone else came to rescue them.

It was right after this that the Mason first detected inbound anti-ship ballistic missiles. It is unclear if the Houthis were specifically targeting the coalition ships, the Central Park, or if it was unrelated to the situation the Mason was trying to address. The projectiles ultimately landed in the water several miles away.

Ready for future threats

Smith said he left the incident feeling confident in the Mason's training and its ability to detect the threats. He said that the missiles are providing an opportunity for the Navy to ensure that it's ready for future engagements.

After the Central Park incident, anti-ship ballistic missiles became a familiar threat to Navy warships defending merchant shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis, since their campaign began last fall, have launched dozens of anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen. Many of these were intercepted by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, although some slipped past defenses and went on to strike commercial vessels. One attack in March killed several civilians.

The Iran-backed rebels have also targeted ships with airborne drones and exploding uncrewed surface vessels, the latter becoming increasingly common.

The Houthi attacks began as Israel launched a high-casualty war in Gaza following the October 7 massacre by Hamas operatives. The group has persisted in its attacks despite the costly efforts of the US and its allies to stop it.

Multiple Navy officers with the strike group have applauded their warships' ability to engage the anti-ship ballistic missiles. In separate interviews with BI, they praised the combat systems for working as intended and their sailors for leaning on their training.

US rivals, such as China, have developed vast arsenals of these weapons, which have the potential to threaten maritime operations and have long been cause for concern.

Smith said that seeing the Eisenhower carrier strike group find success when it comes to intercepting the anti-ship ballistic missiles just "validated that what the Navy has done is keeping us on the correct trajectory for future threats."

• Delta's CEO questioned the financial viability of airlines struggling despite healthy travel demand.
• Airlines desperate to generate revenue have flooded the market with cheap flights in recent months. 
• United's CEO had similar words for low-cost carriers in June. 

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian had stark words for competing airlines that depend on selling low-priced tickets to stay alive.

"You cannot, if you are on the lower end of the industry's food chain, continue to post losses, particularly given the health of the demand set we've seen over these last couple of years," Bastian said as Delta reported disappointing second-quarter financials and warned things could get even worse.

Airlines that can't break even "will not be given the opportunity to continue to run business models they have," he added.

Bastian's comments came in response to a question about the potential for structural changes within the industry as many airlines struggle to remain profitable.

Delta's second-quarter profits fell by 29% compared to the previous year, a bigger decline than analysts had expected. Coupled with a lowered summer outlook, the results sent shares tumbling.

A big contributor to the lower profits was lower airfares and extra capacity, especially in economy class,

"Domestic industry seat growth accelerated into the summer months beyond normal demand growth," Delta president Glen Hauenstein said on the call. "This has impacted main cabin unit revenue trends through the summer."

Passenger load factor, which measures how much an average flight is filled, and yield, a measure of how much money it receives to fly a single paying passenger a mile, both fell compared to a year ago.

Oversupply is great for consumers — but hurting airlines' bottom lines

In June, the average price of a plane ticket in the US was at its lowest in 15 years, according to Labor Department data.

The oversupply of seat capacity extends beyond a single airline's bottom line. As airlines struggle to generate enough revenue, they've flooded the market with flights and cut ticket prices.

While many are beginning to reel back the excess capacity, some airlines, especially low-cost carriers, depend on selling these cheap tickets at high volumes for survival.

Southwest Airlines lost $231 million in the first quarter of 2024, while fellow low-cost carriers Spirit and Frontier lost $143 million and $26 million, respectively, during that same period.

At the same time, all three low-cost carriers have reported increases in the cost of labor, aircraft, and airport operations this year.

America's full-service legacy carriers like United and Delta, which in recent years has accounted for as much as 50% of the profits generated by the entire US airline industry, have diversified revenue streams to help absorb the hit from lower economy cabin profits.

For example, Delta can lean on credit card partners like American Express to pump $1.9 billion into its coffers during the second quarter or high-margin offerings like DeltaOne to cover lower income from economy seats.

During the second quarter, 56% of Delta's revenue came from its more expensive cabins.

Low-cost carriers don't have that benefit. Their price-sensitive customers limit their ability to raise prices. If an LCC gets too close in price to a mainline carrier, it can lose its main competitive advantage.

To succeed, according to Bastian, airlines need to understand that the definition of providing value to customers, which has traditionally been having the lowest fares, no longer rings true.

"I'm convinced across the industry is rewarding those that are providing real value, meaning a better quality experience, better value for money in terms of the product we are offering and reliability," Bastian said.

It seems America's low-cost carriers agree with Bastian's sentiments.

Both Frontier and Spirit announced in May that they're cutting several of the ancillary fees they frequently charge passengers. At the same time, Southwest executives hinted in April of potential changes to its boarding policy to help generate additional income and offer customers the option of a more premium experience.

• Trump picked Senator JD Vance as his running mate, shedding more light on his policy platform.
• Both Trump and Vance have supported strong tariffs on China to promote domestic manufacturing.
• Biden, and some economists, said Trump's tariff policies would raise prices for consumers. 

Former President Donald Trump has finally announced his running mate — and his choice means you'll hear a lot about tariffs on China in the coming months.

On Monday, Trump announced that JD Vance — a Republican senator from Ohio — is his pick for vice president. Vance, who previously described himself as a "Never Trump Republican," quickly aligned himself with Trump and GOP values once he took office in January 2023, embracing conservative views on issues including higher education, immigration, and tariffs.

The latter is an issue on which Vance and Trump particularly agree. Tariffs, or taxes on goods imported from another country, are intended to raise government revenue and bolster domestic manufacturing. As president, Trump was staunchly protectionist and used tariffs to enforce his "America First" policies — he imposed a series of tariffs on China that ultimately led to a trade war between the two economies resulting from disagreements over the tariffs.

Should Trump secure a second term, Americans will likely see a lot more action on that front. Vance has previously advocated for tougher trade policies against China, telling CBS News in May that "if you apply tariffs, really what it is is you're saying that we're gonna penalize you for using slave labor in China and importing that stuff in the United States."

"What you end up doing is you end up making more stuff in America, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio and in Michigan," he said.

While Trump touted his tariffs as necessary to promote manufacturing in the US, a major consequence of those actions was raising prices for Americans due to less competition from foreign producers. According to the Tax Foundation, Trump's tariffs raised taxes by nearly $80 billion.

While President Joe Biden has kept most of Trump's tariff policies in place — in May, he announced an $18 billion tariff increase on Chinese goods, which increased taxes by $3.6 billion — Trump has even more planned in his new platform.

It means voters are likely to hear the two candidates sparring over trade policy in the months to come — and it could have significant implications for Americans already struggling with high inflation.

"I certainly agree that we need to apply some broad based tariffs, especially on goods coming in from China and not just solar panels and EV stuff," Vance told CBS. "We need to protect American industries from all of the competition."

Trump vs. Biden on tariffs

Should Trump win the election, he wants to impose a 10% tariff on goods coming into the US and a 60% tariff on all imports from China.

Biden criticized that policy during the first presidential debate at the end of June, saying that Trump is "calling for a 10% tariff on everything Americans buy, including food from overseas, vegetables and other necessities."

"Economists tell us that that would cost the average American working family another $2,500 a year," Biden said. While estimates have varied on the exact impact of the tariff increase on American families, 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists signed a letter at the end of June saying they are "deeply concerned" about the impact of Trump's policies on the economy.

"Those tariffs overwhelmingly get passed on to consumers and increasing their prices and get fed down the supply chain — again, increasing prices to consumers," Joseph Stiglitz, who led the letter, previously told BI.

Biden's tariff policies have been more targeted than Trump's. In May, he called for tariffs on electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum coming from China and an increase in the tariff rate on semiconductors from 25% to 50% in 2025.

Both candidates have advocated tariffs and promoting domestic manufacturing, but Trump and Vance are set to act much stronger on the issue should they win — meaning consumers might be on track for even higher prices as a result.

• Sen. JD Vance brings very little elected office experience to Trump's ticket.
• His short tenure has been marked by Trump loyalty, opposition to Ukraine aid, and populist gestures.
• At 39, he's also the second youngest member of the chamber.

In his first interview since becoming Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio offered one notable aside.

"I think the experience that maybe most Americans will care about, it's not that I spent two years in the Senate. I think I've had a very successful two years in the Senate," Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "It's that I came from nothing, became a United States Marine, and succeeded in business. That's the experience that I think gives you a fresh perspective."

In making those comments, Vance was likely seeking to appeal to GOP voters' antipathy toward government and desire for a political outsider. But it also underscores an important reality about the Ohio senator: He hasn't been there that long.

It hasn't even been two years. It's been just 18 months. Vance took office in January 2023 after defeating Rep. Tim Ryan in a closely watched Senate race in Ohio.

At age 39, he also happens to be one of the youngest members of the chamber. Only Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, 37, is younger.

Here's what to know about his short tenure in the Senate.

He's introduced 33 bills, none of which have passed

Vance has introduced a variety of bills since making it to the Senate.

That includes the "Protect Children's Innocence Act," a bill to criminalize certain gender-affirming care for minors. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia first introduced the House version of the bill in 2022.

He also introduced the "Freedom to Breathe Act" last year. The bill would prevent any federal government from instituting mask mandates on public transportation, airplanes, or public schools until the end of 2024.

"You know, 'breathe free' or whatever it's called," Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania mockingly said at the time.

None of these bills, most of which appear designed for political messaging, have even made it close to passage. But that's not entirely Vance's fault: The Senate is currently controlled by Democrats.

He's pushed the party in a more populist direction at times

While Vance has led with culture war issues while in the Senate, he's also poured a fair amount of political capital into a bipartisan initiative: The Railway Safety Act.

The bill was introduced by Vance and a bipartisan group of senators from Rust Belt states in the wake of a disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

With just about all Democratic senators on board, opposition to the measure has come primarily from Vance's fellow Republicans, who have remained deferential to the interests of the rail industry. That's given the Ohio senator the opportunity to burnish his populist credentials on the issue.

Vance had another opportunity to stick his neck out when members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike last year. The Ohio senator backed the workers' demands, though he sought to blame the Biden administration's electric vehicle policies for some of their woes.

Separately, Vance has worked across the aisle on other issues, including cosponsoring a bill with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to claw back some compensation received by executives at big banks that fail.

He's led the opposition to Ukraine aid in the Senate

Vance is not the only Republican senator who opposed sending more aid to Ukraine this year. But he was the loudest and most forceful in making the argument.

"I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another," Vance said during his Senate campaign.

It's part of a broader worldview that Vance describes as realist, one in which the United States takes a more restrained approach to international conflicts and is less eager to support foreign wars abroad.

At times, Vance took his anti-Ukraine advocacy to extremes, including arguing that a Ukraine and Israel aid package passed by the Senate this year was an "impeachment trap" for a future Trump administration.

He's been unfailingly loyal to Trump

Vance was arguably the first GOP senator to endorse Trump's 2024 campaign, providing a statement of support to the New York Times after the party had just underperformed in the 2022 midterms.

Since then, he's been an unflinching Trump ally during his Senate tenure, carefully avoiding any disagreement with the former president while going out of his way to defend him.

That's included a willingness to go toe-to-toe with reporters who've pressed Vance on Trump's controversial remarks, including when he said that illegal immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country."

• Some 20 million Americans are prepared for major disruptions of public services.
• When bracing for weeks of outages, there's one place many "preppers" love to go: Costco.
• From gold bars to toilet paper, the wholesale club is a top choice for disaster readiness.

As modern life gets increasingly comfortable, it can also get more anxious.

For a growing number of Americans, this means preparing for the possibility of major disruptions of public services as a result of natural disasters or other doomsday scenarios.

According to an analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data, some 20 million Americans can withstand a full month of self-reliance. Within that number, there are those who identify as part of "preppers" communities online, which include enthusiasts stocking up on years' worth of supplies or building bunkers.

When stocking up for weeks of outages, there's one place many of these preppers love to go: Costco.

A recent New York Times feature about the Fortitude Ranch prepping community included a photo of a well-provisioned pantry with multiple bottles of Kirkland Signature vitamins and antacid tablets.

"Heading to Costco this week and was planning on getting some prepping necessities," one user posted on the r/preppers sub-Reddit back in February. "My plan was to grab a couple bags of rice and some canned food for long term food storage. Anything else I should consider while there? Thanks!"

The list of supplies in the replies was extensive: butter, protein bars, coffee beans, medicine, and (of course) bins to store it all.

And it doesn't stop there. Need a generator? Costco has them. Apocalyptic quantities of toilet paper and bottled water? You bet.

The wholesale club is also a huge seller of gold and silver bars and coins, which are extremely popular among those who are concerned about a breakdown of the financial system. (A one-ounce silver coin is currently worth about $30.)

There are also ready-to-go food kits in a variety of sizes, one of which contains 130 meals that last 25 years and costs $63. Bigger budgets can spring for the palletized version containing 36 kits with more than 13,000 servings for $6,000.

Of course, prepping requires a fair amount of disposable income, since the activity is necessarily about buying stuff and not using it.

Still, John Ramey, the founder of a popular prepping website, told the Times he expects business in the space to grow.

"The market for preparedness will continue to grow as the world continues on the wrong trajectory," he said.

• A Vice President JD Vance could be awful news for Ukraine in a Trump administration.
• He has repeatedly made his position clear on Ukraine: no more military aid.
• But his role as vice president on foreign policy shouldn't be overstated, experts told BI.

Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, has made his stance on Ukraine clear: He doesn't "really care" what happens to Ukraine.

The Ohio senator, who was named GOP nominee for Vice President on Monday, made the comments during an episode of Steve Bannon's War Room podcast days before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Since then, the 39-year-old has attempted to block millions of dollars in government aid to Ukraine and has criticized the Biden administration for its focus on the invasion.

If Vance is elected as Trump's vice president in November, the country's war efforts could suffer a massive setback, experts say.

Vance and Trump will likely try to block future Ukraine aid

Mark Temnycky, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, told Business Insider that Trump and Vance will likely try to block or scale back US aid if they are elected in November.

"Ukraine would have to rely more heavily on European assistance and involvement as the US scales back," Temnycky said.

An unnamed senior EU official told Politico that the appointment of Vance is a "disaster" for Ukraine and the European Union as it continues to support the nation.

According to its website, the EU has provided €88 billion, or around $95.7 billion, in economic, humanitarian, and military aid since the beginning of the invasion.

Meanwhile, the US had sent $175 billion in aid to Ukraine as of May, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Vance was one of 18 senators who voted against a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine and Israel in April.

The bill was ultimately approved, though Vance told reporters that it was "pretty clear to Europe and the rest of the world that America can't write blank checks indefinitely," according to Politico.

Speaking on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast in February 2022, he said: "I'm sick of Joe Biden focusing on the border of a country I don't care about while he lets the border of his own country become a total war zone."

Vance's criticism echoes comments made by Trump, who said in May that he would be able to end the war in 24 hours if he became president.

"He fundamentally agrees with Trump. That's precisely why neocon donors [who want more aid for Ukraine] fear him," Tucker Carlson told Axios on Tuesday.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Detroit in June, Trump criticized the scale of the US' financial support for Ukraine.

"He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home, and he announces that he needs another $60 billion. It never ends," he said, referring to Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Politico.

Will Vance's views change once he's in office?

Nonetheless, experts say it's difficult to judge Vance and Trump's position before they get to the White House.

Sergej Sumlenny, founder of the European Resilience Initiative Center, a German think-tank, told BI that no scenario is out of the question.

"The short answer is that nobody knows. Nobody knows because they could do anything," he said.

"Vance is famous for constantly changing his positions. He was a fierce opponent of Trump, and now he is his vice president," he added.

"While Vance has come out strongly against Ukraine, he hasn't been in a top job, and as vice president, I expect to see his views evolve," Melinda Haring, a senior advisor for Razom for Ukraine, a US-based charity, told Reuters.

The vice president's role shouldn't be overstated

Vance could wield significant influence on Trump as vice president, but his role shouldn't be overstated, according to Tom Packer, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of the Americas at University College London.

"The vice president has got very little power," he told BI.

While Vance is "clearly anti-interventionist; he clearly wants to pull back from a kind of strong confrontation with Russia," the vice president's job is not one that has "control over foreign policy."

Vance "won't be making foreign policy decisions," Packer said.

Andrew Payne, a Lecturer in Foreign Policy and Security at City, University of London, made a similar statement.

"It is important not to overstate the role of the vice president in foreign affairs," he told BI.

Very few vice presidents played a meaningful role in shaping foreign policy in modern times, with the most notable exceptions being Walter Mondale and Dick Cheney, he said.

"But in both cases, the presidents in question — Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush — proved willing to delegate authority in ways that would seemingly be anathema to Trump, given his "I alone can fix it" brand of leadership," he said.

Still, Vance's elevation as not just Trump's VP pick but also the possible heir apparent to his MAGA political empire is a signal about the future of the Republican platform.

A pick like Sen. Marco Rubio — a more moderate voice on foreign police — would have been less concerning to Ukraine's backers. A vice presidential nominee who had a measured policy on Ukraine could have been an olive branch to the few remaining Reagan-era conservatives who fiercely opposed Russian aggression.

But by choosing Vance, Trump is doubling down on his effort to reshape the GOP to fit his agenda, isolationist policies and all.

• A new $600 million Zyn factory is expected to open in Colorado late next year.
• Zyn has been in high demand in the US, fueling shortages of the nicotine pouches.
• Research studies and medical experts warn nicotine can be addictive and have long-term health effects.

Zyn is ramping up production with a new US factory amid high demand for the brand's nicotine pouches nationwide.

Zyn's parent company, Philip Morris International, will invest $600 million over the next two years to open a new manufacturing plant in Aurora, Colorado, the tobacco giant announced Tuesday.

The facility is expected to open for preliminary operations by the end of next year and start regular production in 2026.

An existing Zyn facility in Owensboro, Kentucky, will also increase production to help meet soaring demand for the nicotine pouches in the US.

Philip Morris International, which owns Zyn maker Swedish Match, said in February that nearly 385 million cans of the flavored nicotine pouches shipped in the US in 2023, up 62% year over year. The company expects even more this year, forecasting US shipment of roughly 520 million cans.

Soaring demand has created shortages of the nicotine pouches, with PMI's chief financial officer, Emmanuel Babeau, saying in April that there were "some tensions on the supply chain, without any doubt."

Zyn, which has been available in the US since 2014, has seen a spike in popularity thanks to social media and shifting consumer tastes. Some white-collar workers turn to Zyn on the job, and some people have tried using the pouches for weight loss, though medical experts warn it hasn't been well-studied to evaluate efficacy and safety.

Research studies and medical experts warn nicotine can be addictive and can have negative long-term effects on the body, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems.

• The 2024 Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee.
• On Monday, Donald Trump made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt.
• Speakers include GOP lawmakers, Trump family members, and Trump's running mate, JD Vance.

The 2024 Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee, and there have already been a number of standout moments.

Former President Donald Trump made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. He also announced his pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

Photos show some of the biggest moments from the convention so far.

Security was tight at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum as the Republican National Convention began days after Donald Trump survived an attempt on his life.

The US Secret Service is under scrutiny following the shooting at a Pennsylvania Trump rally on Saturday that killed one attendee, wounded two others, and left Trump bleeding from an injury to his ear.

Delegates were emotional as "God Bless the USA" played during the first day of the convention.

Florida delegate Rick Roth raised his fist in the air as the song played, mimicking Trump's defiant pose as the former president was rushed to safety after the shooting.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was whisked off stage when the teleprompter malfunctioned.

"It is now my honor to introduce the attorney general. And there goes the teleprompter," he said while he was supposed to be introducing Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

The band played music to fill the silence as Johnson exited the stage.

In her speech, Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene railed against "the establishment in Washington" and "illegal aliens."

Greene began her speech by acknowledging the death of Corey Comperatore, who died while shielding his family during the Trump rally shooting, and then proceeded with her usual Trumpian talking points.

Of Biden and Democrats, Greene said, "They promised unity and delivered division. They promised peace and brought war. They promised normalcy and gave us transgender visibility day on Easter Sunday."

Donald Trump made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt.

Trump arrived at the convention with a bandage covering the ear that was struck during the shooting.

JD Vance, Trump's pick for vice president, entered the convention with his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.

The 39-year-old Ohio senator, a former "Never Trumper" who rose to fame as the author of the best-selling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," would be one of the youngest vice presidents in US history if elected.

Trump sat next to Vance, as well as Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and Tiffany Trump.

Eric Trump's wife, Lara Trump, co-chairs the Republican National Committee. Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle have also remained heavily involved in Trump's 2024 campaign.

Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner did not attend the first day of the convention.

In one of the night's high-profile speeches, Amber Rose shared how she initially believed that Trump was a "racist" until she "did her research."

Rose, a model and reality TV star, slammed "left-wing propaganda" in her speech, saying that "the media has lied to us about Donald Trump."

"I realized Donald Trump and his supporters don't care if you're Black, white, gay or straight, it's all love," Rose said. "And that's when it hit me: These are my people. This is where I belong. So, I let go of my fear of judgment, of being misunderstood, of getting attacked by the left, and I put the red hat on too."

• J.D. Vance began bashing Donald Trump even before the former president took office.
• Over the years, he gradually went from MAGA-hater to MAGA darling.
• Vance has expressed regret for his past comments while celebrating his ability to change his mind.

Donald Trump has not only selected J.D. Vance as his running mate, but also appointed him the unofficial heir of the MAGA movement. But Vance hasn't always been all-in on Trump — in fact, he hurled some pretty nasty insults at the former president fewer than 10 years ago.

Here's a timeline of how Vance went from a "Never Trumper" to MAGA loyalist and second-in-command.

February 2016

Just a few months after Trump announced he was running for president, Vance texted a former roommate from Yale Law School that he feared the political hopeful might be "America's Hitler."

February 18, 2016

In a column for USA Today, Vance reflected on a GOP primary debate and said that "Trump's actual policy proposals, such as they are, range from immoral to absurd."

June 28, 2016

Vance published "Hillbilly Elegy," which focuses on his experience growing up poor in Ohio and Kentucky. The novel became a New York Times bestseller and, with its emphasis on the white working class, was largely seen as an explanation for Trump's rise. At the time, Vance self-identified as a "Never Trumper."

July 4, 2016

Writing for a magazine he now conflates with elitism, Vance said in The Atlantic that Trump is "cultural heroin."

August 17, 2016

In an interview with NPR, Vance said that he "can't stomach Trump" and that the former president "is leading the white working class to a very dark place."

October 9, 2016

After the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump brags about groping women, surfaced, Vance sent off a fiery Tweet: "Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us." Vance has since deleted the message.

October 18, 2016

Sitting for an interview with Charlie Rose, Vance said plainly, "I'm a 'Never Trump' guy. I never liked him."

November 8, 2016

At the ballot box, Vance did not cast his vote for Trump. He voted for Evan McMullin, an independent.

June 22, 2017

While discussing a bill working its way through Congress over Twitter DMs, Vance took another dig at the former president's character, referring to the former president as a "moral disaster."

February 2, 2018

Vance began to soften his tone in 2018 and lauded Trump's broad appeal. He told the Financial Times that Trump "recognizes the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and so forth," and called the former president the "least worrisome" part of the GOP's problems.

March 9, 2019

While speaking at an event for The American Conservative, a magazine, Vance said that Trump's policies on China were a "wild success."

2020

Vance supported Trump's bid for reelection and cast a vote in his name.

March 2021

In a radio interview, Vance said that he came to support Trump because he was pleasantly surprised by the former president's policies.

"I didn't think the policy was going to be that good, and the policy was much better than I thought it was going to be," he said. "I was really happy with the policy. And so, that's what caused me to become a Trump supporter."

July 2021

Vance launches his Senate campaign, becoming one of many GOP hopefuls in Ohio vying for Trump's endorsement.

Around the time that he started his campaign, Vance became a frequent guest on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," then at the height of its cable glory.

August 24, 2021

Vance went on Fox News and lamented his former stance on Trump, saying, "I regret being wrong about the guy.

October 23, 2021

Cementing his loyalty to Trump, Vance told an Ohio newspaper that he doubted the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He said that "there were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis.

April 2022

By this point, Vance's attempts to endear himself to Trump appeared to pay off — the former president endorsed Vance's Senate bid.

January 31, 2023

The next year, Vance offered an endorsement of his own. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Vance celebrated Trump's isolationist foreign policy tactics and officially supported his reelection campaign.

June 13, 2024

Now firmly established as Trump loyalist — and staunch conservative in the Senate — Vance kept it simple in an interview with the New York Times.

"I like him," he said of the former president.

July 15, 2024

Clearly, the affection is mutual. On the first day of the Republican National Convention, Trump ended his dramatic veepstakes and selected Vance as his running mate.

In his first interview as the GOP nominee for Vice President, Vance proved why Trump chose him above all others — he spoke confidently and cogently on all things MAGA, from specific policy initiatives to Trump's fitness for office. He will seemingly be a loyal running mate and eventual vice president should Trump win. He said his could-be job would be to "support the president in enacting the agenda."

Vance did not shy away from questions about his former opinions and celebrated his ability to change his mind.

"I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind," he said. "I bought into the media's lies and distortions."

• Sam Altman discussed the possibility of society granting some confidentiality around what people tell AI.
• As AI systems grow more popular, safeguarding the sensitive info that consumers share is key.
• Altman brought up the idea of "AI privilege" while talking about his new AI health venture with Arianna Huffington.

Should the sensitive information we share with AI be regulated under some form of confidentiality agreement similar to attorney-client privilege?

Sam Altman mulled the idea in a recent interview with The Atlantic, saying that society may decide "there's some version of AI privilege."

"When you talk to a doctor or a lawyer, there's medical privileges, legal privileges," Altman said in the interview. "There's no current concept of that when you talk to an AI, but maybe there should be."

The topic came up during a conversation with the OpenAI CEO and media mogul Arianna Huffington about their new AI health venture, Thrive AI Health. The company promises an AI health coach that tracks users' health data and provides personalized recommendations on things like sleep, movement, and nutrition.

As AI systems and products are implemented at increasing numbers of companies, regulating how that data is stored and shared has become a hot topic.

Laws like HIPAA make it illegal for doctors to disclose sensitive patient health data without the patient's permission. The agreement is important because it allows patients to feel comfortable being honest with their doctors, which can lead to better and more accurate solutions.

But some patients still have trouble opening up to doctors or seeking medical attention, and that's part of what motivated Altman to become involved with Thrive AI, he told The Atlantic. Other factors include the cost of healthcare and accessibility, according to an Op-Ed that Altman and Huffington wrote about the new venture in Time.

Altman said that he's been surprised by how many people are willing to share information with a large language model, or the AI systems that power chatbots like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. He told The Atlantic that he's read Reddit threads about people who found success telling LLMs things they weren't comfortable sharing with others.

While Thrive AI is still figuring out what its product will look like, Huffington said in the interview she envisioned it being "available through every possible mode," including workplace platforms.

That, of course, raises concerns about data storage and regulation. Big tech companies have already faced lawsuits over claims they trained their AI models on content they didn't have a licensing agreement with. Health information is some of the most valuable and private data that individuals have, and it could also be used by companies to train LLMs.

Altman told The Atlantic it would be "super important to make it clear to people how data privacy works."

"But in our experience, people understand this pretty well," Altman added.

OpenAI's Startup Fund and Thrive Global announced the launch of Thrive AI Health last week. The company said it seeks to use AI "to democratize access to expert-level health coaching" and tackle "growing health inequities."