WSJ What’s News - Khamenei Funeral Is a Show of Defiance Against the U.S.

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

P.M. Edition for July 6. Crowds thronged the streets of Tehran today as part of the week of funeral events for Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader killed by the U.S. and Israel at the start of the war. WSJ Middle East correspondent Benoit Faucon discusses how Iran is using the funeral as a demonstration of its defiance–potentially complicating peace negotiations. Plus, we’re exclusively reporting that Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum that puts on Davos, is making a comeback bid. And the “Trump Accounts” for kids are now live. We hear from the Journal’s Elyse Goncalves about who should get one, even if it doesn’t come with $1,000 of seed money from the government. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Iranians flood the streets to mourn their fallen leader, a show of force by the regime that may complicate negotiations with the U.S. But the messaging that is coming out of the rallies today is really that war could we start. It's a message of revenge. Plus, the Davos founder who resigned last year amid controversy is trying to come back to the World Economic Forum. And Trump accounts for kids are now available. We dig into who should make one.

It's Monday. July 6th. I'm Alex O'SLef for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The political drama rocking the World Cup just got a little more interesting. President Trump today confirmed that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked him to review U.S. striker for Lauren Balligan's one game suspension. All I did, I asked for a review. because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.

Balagan had received a red card for stepping on an opponent's ankle. Fefa's decision to reverse Balagan's suspension drew widespread backlash, including from Belgium, which the U.S. plays tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. The Belgian Soccer Association tried to appeal the decision. FIFA rejected it, but Belgium has raised the prospect of further challenges if Baligan is part of the team. for tonight's game. Infantino today stressed the independence of FIFA's judicial bodies. The president this morning also rang the opening bells for the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. It's the first time that the two exchanges were rung in at the same time, and remotely from the Oval Office. Trump did so to celebrate the fact that Trump accounts for kids are now available.

Between individual contributions and the seed funds, $800 million in new capital will be invest in the stock market for America's children this week. Those are a new type of savings account called a custodial individual retirement account for kids, and they come with special rules until the year the child turns 18. Elise Gonsolves has been covering the Trump accounts for the journal and is here to tell us more. Elise, how do the Trump accounts differ from other accounts people might open for kids like a 529? So Trump accounts are essentially retirement accounts that parents can open early on for their kids. With a 529 education investment account, parents can.

withdraw funds tax-free as long as they're used for school expenses. The earnings from Trump accounts, on the other hands, are taxed as income when you make a withdrawal. When the child turns 18, they can start taking money out for college. There's like one specific stipulation where you can take money out for a down payment on a house. But all other payments, you'd have to pay an early withdrawal fee. One reason that listeners might have heard about Trump accounts already and they might be particularly appealing to some parents is that they come with $1,000 of $1,000 of. seed money from the Treasury Department for newborns for the next few years. So should parents open an account for kids even if they don't get the $1,000?

So if your child doesn't get the $1,000, they may still be eligible for some additional contributions, like those from philanthropists or employers. For one, Michael and Susan Dell already promised billions of dollars to the program for kids who don't qualify for the $1,000. And today, SpaceX's Gwen Shotwell said she would contribute SpaceX talks to children between 11 and 17 and less affluent areas. On top of that, employers can add up to $2,500 annually to the accounts, and philanthropists and companies still have the opportunity to add money to these accounts. That said, financial advisors say it doesn't make a ton of sense for most families to

add their own money to these accounts. Things like a 529 or a taxable custodial account can give families a better tax advantage. That was the journal's Elise Gonsolves. Thanks, Elise. Thank you. In politics, Maine's Democratic nominee for Senate, Graham Platner, is reassessing his U.S. Senate bid. A woman he was romantically involved with publicly alleged that he sexually assaulted her, detailed in an article in Politico. Plattner denied the allegation in a video this afternoon. I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false. Plattner is running against Maine's longtime senator, Republican Susan Collins.

He rose from political obscurity to win the Democratic nomination after drawing big crowds and donations. He is called for taxing the wealthy to provide more government services like Medicare for all. Maine is one of this year's battleground races that could determine control of the Senate. Plattner said today that his campaign is reflecting on the best path forward. Stock markets open the week higher. The NASDAQ led the gains and closed up just over. over 1%. In other markets news, the upstart stock exchange based in Texas known as, yes, the Texas Stock Exchange, or Texie, is now open for trading, sort of. Today, it started trading a handful

of test symbols. The first publicly traded stocks are expected to start trading on the live exchange as early as Friday. Techsy has some Wall Street heavyweights backing its challenge to the New York Stock Exchange a NASDAQ. It'll continue its rollout over the next few months. It plans to begin listing exchange traded products in the third quarter, corporate listings in the fourth quarter, and then new IPOs next year. And Microsoft will cut more than 3,000 jobs from its Xbox Video Games division. It's also selling or spinning off four game development studios and exploring strategic options for a fifth. The video game industry has been pummeled by layoffs for the past few years after many companies, including Microsoft, expanded aggressively in response to a surge

of business during the pandemic, a boom that stopped when the world reopened. In a memo, to staff today, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said its business was not healthy and that Xbox needed a reset. Coming up, the shortage of anti-missile systems leaves Ukraine vulnerable and China tests its own long-range missile, launching it from a submarine. That and more international news after the break. Visit BetMDMDM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly, 19 plus to wager. only, please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone

close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. The journal has learned that the founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, is trying to make a comeback at the organization that hosts a meeting in Davos every year. In documents viewed by the journal, he is asking for. for an advisory role that would grant him influence over the forum's leadership. Schwab resigned as chairman last year after a public clash with the board for opening an investigation into a whistleblower's allegations of misconduct. A Wall Street Journal investigation in 2024 uncovered evidence of a toxic culture at the forum for women and black employees. Schwab denied any wrongdoing.

And last year in a public statement, the forum said that it found no material wrongdoing. But internal documents show that the forum kept the full findings of an investigation hidden. and those include instances of discrimination and bullying, misuse of corporate funds, and breaches of data integrity. The forum didn't respond to questions about Schwab's latest demands. Schwab himself didn't respond to requests for comment. In international news, Russia launched its latest volley of missiles at Kiev early this morning, leaving 12 dead and almost 50 wounded. Ukraine wasn't able to intercept any of the ballistic missiles.

That exposed a grim reality. The country has virtually run out of page. interceptors that stop the missiles. There's a global shortage of the U.S. made anti-missile system, which has been compounded by the U.S. war with Iran. Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky is expected to ask Western countries to send more of their own supply of interceptors at the NATO summit this week. And President Trump is set to meet with Zelensky on Wednesday. China's military said today that it test launched a long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine. A spokesman for China's Navy said that the missile was fired just afternoon today

and carried a simulated warhead to a designated area in the Pacific Ocean. It wasn't clear where the test missile landed. China tried to play down the event as unexceptional, even as the rare display of advanced capabilities set off concerns from U.S. allies across Asia and the Pacific. And in the Middle East, Iran is in the middle of a week of mourning for its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, who was killed by the U.S. and Israel at the start of the war.

Today, supporters packed the streets of Tehran as a truck carrying Hamani's coffin, along with those of his family members also killed in the war, made its way slowly through the crowds. For more on the funeral and what it means for the conflict, I'm joined now by WSJ Middle East correspondent, Benoit Foucahn. Penwa, this was quite an event today in Tehran. The regime predicts that over the six days of funeral events, 20 million people will turn out to honor Hamani. But why is this happening now, more than four months after Homanie was killed? The idea is that it had to be no longer in the war situation. But the messaging that is coming out of the rallies today is really that war could restart.

It's the message of revenge. The red flags, a religious symbol of revenge, the placards, the banners saying, you know, we do not forget or forgive. And then a huge giant banner in Farsi that say kill Trump. The participants are throwing stones at a giant portrait of Trump. I mean, there is a sense that the war in some ways unfinished business. And is this coming really from locals or from the regime or both?

I mean, it's coming from the regime, but it also comes from what looks like a very sincere feeling among the supporters of the superman leader. The question whether they represent the entire population, I was told by people in Tehran that actually a lot of inhabitants in Tehran actually left the city. They didn't want to be part of the funeral. They didn't want to be there and show support for the regime. So it's still a very divided population, I would say. But the message of we're still ready for war, essentially, is pretty clear. It sounds like from the regime. What might that mean for the negotiations with the U.S., which are ongoing?

It does complicate matters. If you have a position where you're not ready for concessions and there's also a lot of mistrust, you know, it does make the task of the negotiators much harder. So amid all of this projection of strength from the regime, there's been one person kind of missing, which is Most of a Hamini, the Supreme Leader's son and successor. What should we make of that? It was expected that it would not turn out. I adhere that potentially they would release some videos at one stage of him, but it hasn't happened. It's not surprising, even though it's obviously a question mark about how much he runs the country,

how much he's even healthy enough to make decisions. But the fighting turned out is not surprising considering the fear that they could. still be strikes or attacks on the leadership. We talked about what the funeral means for Iran's enemies. What does it show its friends, its allies? It has been a clear message of solidarity for the closest friends, whether the Hezbollah, the Houthis, of course, the Iraqi militia, and, to a lesser degree, Hamas, the statement very strongly committed to, quote, the cause of the axis of resistance.

Then there was a more complicated situation of neighbors. like Saudi Arabia, you could see criticism in the way they were greeted by the Iranian authorities that quoting parts of the Quran that were critical of the Saudi leadership. So that relationship is obviously damaged and that was evident in the kind of lukewarm reception they got once they arrived in Tehran. That was WSJ Middle East correspondent Benoit Falcon. Thank you, Benoit. Thank you. And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Additional sound, courtesy of Reuters. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansy

with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex Ocelah for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. If you want a $3,000 a month payday for life, what would you feel free to do? Maybe take a long weekend, every weekend, or try a bunch of new hobbies.

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