By Emma Tucker

A record number of Americans are hitting the road this week. Whether you're among them or opting to celebrate at home, I'd like to wish you a safe and happy Fourth of July. The 10-Point will be off tomorrow, but we'll have no shortage of top-notch coverage over the weekend, including a look at one of America's greatest unsung innovations, stories of people who started businesses after retiring, and reporting from holiday celebrations across the country. Find it all at WSJ.com.

Today's Headlines

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum doubles as President Trump's personal project manager, overseeing everything from the reflecting pool to the renovation of aging golf courses.

CQ Brown, who was fired as Trump's top general, criticized the administration's handling of the military, questioning the deployment of troops in U.S. cities.

A reclusive Korean magnate who spent around $7 billion buying up oil tankers before the Iran war has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the conflict.

JPMorgan is still on the hook for Charlie Javice's legal fees, a Delaware court ruled.

Live From The Markets

In the days after Trump announced "Liberation Day" tariffs in April 2025, his investment accounts bought and sold hundreds of individual stocks.

Investors asked to withdraw $15.6 billion from widely held private-credit funds in the second quarter-but fund managers returned $5.9 billion.

The slice of private software debt worth less than 80% of its original value hit a five-year high last year, according to an MSCI analysis.

Read It Here First

Jeff Bezos learned to love Trump — and win more contracts for Blue Origin.

The Amazon founder has gone from Trump's avowed enemy to an energetic ally, and his space company has booked rapid growth under the administration, report Dana Mattioli, Josh Dawsey and Shane Shifflett. In recent months, the president has told advisers that he wanted to see Bezos get to the moon with Blue Origin and make sure it gets related contracts, people familiar with the remarks said. White House spokesman Kush Desai said Trump wasn't giving Bezos special treatment. Amazon and Blue Origin didn't comment.

This year's job market is shaping up to be surprisingly stable.

The latest numbers, released Thursday by the Labor Department, were a disappointment. June's 57,000 new jobs fell well short of Wall Street forecasts. Yet look beyond the monthly number, and the job market has steadily, if not spectacularly, added an average of around 92,000 jobs a month so far this year. That is a giant leap from average net losses of 8,000 a month over the second half of 2025, reports Matt Grossman.

Pete Hegseth prepared a bombshell plan to cut troops in Europe. Then it got nixed.

The defense secretary was planning to tell NATO's top military chiefs last month that the U.S. was preparing additional cuts to its military forces in Europe, people familiar with the matter said. Instead, Hegseth announced that the U.S. would conduct a review of its force posture in Europe, report Yoko Kubota, Robbie Gramer, Michael R. Gordon and Alexander Ward. The incident suggests the administration isn't yet settled on the pace and scope of potential cuts in U.S. troop levels on the continent. A Pentagon spokesman said Hegseth "ensured his message was aligned with the president's objectives and agenda."

See The Story

How America celebrated its previous big birthday in 1976.

The bicentennial offered a break from a national malaise brought on by the Vietnam War, Watergate, urban doom loops and stagflation. Looking back at people in the photos from the era, with their feathered hair and cutoff jeans, is more than an exercise in nostalgia. If the spirit of 1976 reminds us of anything, it's that even in uncertain times, the country can throw a good party.

Happening Today

U.S. markets are closed for the July Fourth holiday.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are rumored to be holding wedding celebrations at New York's Madison Square Garden.

World Cup: The last matches of the Round of 32: Australia vs. Egypt at 2 p.m. ET in Dallas; Argentina vs. Cape Verde at 6 p.m. ET in Miami; Colombia vs. Ghana at 9:30 p.m. ET in Kansas City, Mo.

Number Of The Day

10.9 billion

The gallons of water Google says it consumed in 2025 — a 34% increase from 2024 — almost all for data-center cooling. That doesn't account for the water used indirectly while generating the power for those data centers. A researcher estimates Google consumes around three times as much water indirectly as directly.

And Finally. . .

Four couples share the lessons they learned from pulling off their big-ticket weddings.

They say the photos don't capture what it takes to stage storybook affairs, like the costs to ferry guests around a city or the surprise $100,000 bill that arrived after everyone went home. These are weddings that come with price tags that reach well into the six or even seven figures, and they offer a hint of the scale of preparations likely going into Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's coming nuptials.