What to watch in today’s primaries and Scott Bessent threatens new sanctions on Iran: Morning Rundown

South Carolina voters will choose the Republican candidate in the race to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. The Trump administration plans its largest mblock visa revocation in history. And how Penn State students reacted to a mblockive drug ring bust that made national news.

Here’s what to know today.

South Carolina offers the next major test of Trump’s influence

President Donald Trump quickly threw his weight behind Sen. Darline Graham when she announced her bid to run for a full term after the sudden death of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham. But her candidacy has faced skepticism, particularly after a misstep at a debate last week. Now, the president’s influence faces its next test this election season.

The Republican Senate runoff today in South Carolina between Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman will show whether a Trump endorsement is still an important factor in Republican contests. Norman is a staunch conservative who has painted Graham as the “establishment” pick, and some Trump supporters are wary about Graham’s lack of experience.

Trump’s influence also faces a test in the Oklahoma GOP primary for governor. State Attorney General Gentner Drummond has touted his closeness to the president, even though Trump backed his opponent, former state Sen. Mike Mazzei. Trump has since panned Drummond as a “fake Republican.”

The Oklahoma race has become particularly brutal and personal. Fighting between the two candidates over accusations about their fitness for office led to the two men releasing drug tests in recent days.

Here are the other primary races to watch.

NBC News’ chief data ***yst Steve Kornacki takes a closer look at a potentially decisive South Carolina district in The Data Dive, a new subscriber-exclusive newsletter on the numbers, trends and data shaping the biggest stories heading into the midterms. Read today’s edition here.

More politics news:

• The Supreme Court handed an initial win to the Trump administration in its effort to implement an executive order aimed at limiting who can receive mail-in ballots before the midterm elections.

• For subscribers: On the campaign trail, Trump branded himself as the “fertilization president” and promised to make IVF free. What happened?

 Bessent threatens new sanctions on Iran in follow up to ‘economic D-Day’ threat

The U.S. took steps aimed at further isolating Iran after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened an “economic D-Day” against the Islamic Republic. Bessent said yesterday that his department is sanctioning nearly 60 corporations, individuals and vessels that it says enables the Iranian regime’s “recklessness.” Bessent said Trump has been making phone calls to world leaders requesting that they stop trading with the Iranian regime. Earlier yesterday, the United Arab Emirates said it will end all trade relations with Iran.

While Iranian leaders downplayed the threat, experts said the success of Bessent’s announcement will hinge on whether the country’s most powerful trading partners — China, India and Russia — decide the U.S. threats are credible.

More on the reaction to Bessent’s announcement.

Related coverage:

• Canadian leaders traded barbs with Trump over the new wave of tariffs imposed by the U.S., with Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying “everything is on the table” in terms of retaliation.

U.S. prepares for mblock visa revocation

The State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of business and tourism visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department do***ents obtained by the Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The move to revoke so-called B1 visas — which are generally used for business trips — and B2 visas — are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care — could affect up to 200,000 foreigners and would be the largest single mblock revocation of visas in U.S. history.

The revocations would not necessarily result in the holders’ immediate deportation, and it would likely face legal challenges.

Here’s what else to know.

Staff Pick: The reaction at Penn State to an alleged drug ring

When prosecutors announced that 14 people had been charged in what authorities described as a highly profitable cocaine-trafficking ring centered on two Penn State fraternities, the allegations quickly made national headlines and became the butt of online fodder. But when I went to State College, Pennsylvania to see how the news was reverberating on campus, I found something unexpected: Students barely seemed to care.

For two days, I knocked on fraternity and sorority doors and talked to students about the alleged scheme. Of those who did stop to chat, most said they didn’t know the defendants, hadn’t heard about the alleged operation before the arrests, or didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

My story captures the striking disconnect between the seriousness of the allegations and the decidedly muted reaction on campus, even as it has endured years of national scrutiny and Greek life-related scandals. — Matt Lavietes, breaking news reporter

Read All About It

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NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified 

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