Congress
“The Senate voted late yesterday to advance debate on a package of funding cuts requested by Trump. The cuts are aimed at $7.9 billion earmarked for international efforts to combat famine and disease and $1.1 billion previously allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Most of the money toward CPB goes to local public radio and TV stations, including those that carry NPR. If it passes, CPB will lose the funding Congress appropriated for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.
The vote was so close that Vice President JD Vance had to break a 50-50 tie, says NPR’s Scott Neuman. Republicans want to cut funds to NPR and PBS because of what they believe is political bias, which the networks deny. All Senate Democrats voted against the measure, and three prominent Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, joined them. McConnell, Murkowski and Collins expressed concern about the White House Office of Management and Budget's unclear explanation of how the cuts would be applied. The Senate is expected to begin debating cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid this morning, which will be followed by a vote.” [NPR]
DOGE cuts
“The Senate is one step closer to a final vote on spending cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency. The bill, known as a ‘rescission package,’ would slash billions in federal funds that Congress had already approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Full Congressional approval would codify the DOGE cuts into law so that they couldn't be reversed by the next administration and would help to insulate the Trump administration from legal challenges. Although three Republican senators joined Democrats in voting against advancing the package, the final tally for both votes was 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breakers. The package must pass the Senate and the House by Friday.” [CNN]
“Josh Hawley, a senator from Missouri, introduced legislation to reverse some of the Medicaid cuts that he voted for as part of Trump’s big policy bill two weeks ago.” [New York Times]
Epstein Files
“House Democrats, capitalizing on a Republican rift, called for Trump administration officials to testify about their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
The Republican breach over the Epstein saga hints at a broader fraying of Trump’s political coalition, Annie Karni writes.
Late night hosts covered Epstein and MAGA.” [New York Times]
Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans break with Trump administration on Epstein files as Democrats call for documents' release
“Johnson (R-Louisiana) called for the Justice Department to release any files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein just days after the Trump administration effectively declared the matter closed. Johnson's interview was released moments after House GOP leaders barely defeated a Democratic effort to force a House vote to release the files.”
Read the story at Washington Post
With Epstein conspiracy theories, Trump faces a crisis of his own making
“President Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay the uproar over the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case as his supporters demand the Justice Department release much-hyped records in the investigation. Trump's problem is the nothing-to-see-here approach doesn’t work for those who've learned from him they must not give up until the government’s deepest, darkest secrets are exposed.” Read More at AP News
Trump officials made unusual requests for data on voters and voting equipment.
“The details: Officials have asked at least nine states for copies of voter rolls; two have partially complied. It has sparked concerns about interference ahead of the 2026 midterms.” Read this story at Washington Post
The Trump administration halted work on a new tool to predict extreme rainfall.
“What to know: NOAA was developing a way to help predict how rising temperatures will alter the frequency of heavy rainfall. Officials stopped the project this spring.
This month: There has been an unusual amount of flooding nationwide — here’s what’s driving it. As communities struggle, some lawmakers are spreading conspiracy theories.”
Read this story at Washington Post
No Relief
(Eli Hartman / Bloomberg / Getty)
“One thing that’s helpful in a crisis is steady leadership. Unfortunately, disaster-stricken Americans are stuck with Kristi Noem instead.
Noem, the secretary of homeland security, was unequivocal at a March Cabinet meeting: ‘We are eliminating FEMA.’ (She was echoing President Donald Trump, who’d suggested getting rid of the agency.) This weekend, when asked point-blank whether that was still the plan, she had a different claim. ‘No, I think the president recognizes that FEMA should not exist the way that it always has been,’ she said. ‘It needs to be redeployed in a new way.’
Noem is right that FEMA’s current deployment seems to not be working all that well. But no matter how officials describe their plans, the Trump administration is dismantling the federal government’s ability to prepare for, warn about, and help Americans recover from disasters.
My colleague Zoë Schlanger writes today about some of the many ways FEMA was not prepared to respond to major flooding in Texas. The agency took days to get search-and-rescue teams to the state and did not immediately tap responders from adjacent states who were ready and waiting. FEMA’s delay in renewing contracts for a call center meant that thousands of flood victims’ calls went unanswered (which Noem deemed ‘fake news,’ without explanation); the contracts have since been renewed. FEMA’s acting chief, David Richardson, finally showed up in Texas more than a week after the floods, sporting, for some reason, cowboy boots and a straw planter hat. Maybe his absence didn’t matter much, because his expertise is in weapons of mass destruction, not weather disasters, and he has reportedly been taken aback by the scope of duties in the agency he now ostensibly leads.
At least Texas is getting some federal help, however belatedly. By contrast, California Governor Gavin Newsom complained last week that his state has still not received the federal assistance it requested to help recover from major wildfires in January. (DHS noted that it had allocated other funding to California.) This is part of a pattern going back to the first Trump administration in which states with Republican leaders who flatter Trump get help, while Democrat-led states or those that voted against the president are shut out. Americans’ ability to recover from a disaster shouldn’t be conditioned on the officials they choose to represent them.
Trump’s attacks on FEMA have never been particularly coherent: He attacked the agency last year for doing too little after Hurricane Helene, and then said he wanted it to do less. But the basic premise that FEMA needs rethinking is not unreasonable, nor is it partisan. Professional emergency managers, including top FEMA leaders who have served under both parties, have suggested that states should do more to handle smaller disasters, making the federal government more of a coordinator and funder for major-disaster relief. (FEMA is also somewhat awkwardly wedged in the Department of Homeland Security, which the Trump administration narrowly views as a border-and-immigration authority, more or less.)
But moving to a more state-reliant paradigm would take real investment in federal policy beyond just FEMA—both financial and administrative, neither of which Trump is interested in making.
Such a shift would require research that readies the country for changes in climate and increases in extreme weather. Instead, the Trump administration is seeking to eliminate research into climate change, which the president has described as a ‘hoax.’
It would require rebuilding and upgrading local infrastructure so that communities can weather storms, floods, and fires better, and thus don’t have to spend so much money rebuilding (frequently, in the same high-risk locations). Instead, in April, FEMA canceled a grant program established during the first Trump administration that was designed to help fund projects that do just that, saying it was not part of the agency’s mission.
It would require ensuring that people have timely and accurate forecasts that can allow them to get to safety before disasters strike. Instead, the Trump administration is gutting the organizations that perform those duties. Some National Weather Service offices no longer have 24-hour staffing. The Defense Department is cutting off the National Hurricane Center’s access to satellite images that are crucial for good hurricane forecasting, Zoë recently reported. The administration is seeking to shrink NOAA, and some administration officials have previously suggested privatizing some of the agency’s functions.
And it would require making sure that states have the funds they need to handle disaster relief without help from the federal government. Instead, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s cuts to health care and food assistance have pushed funding burdens onto state governments, meaning they will be less able to cover unexpected costs.
Scholars like to say that there are no natural disasters. Fires, floods, hurricanes, and other phenomena are natural, ‘but what makes them a disaster is how they intersect with individual and community vulnerability, which is socially constructed,’ the historian Jacob Remes told Pacific Standard in 2017. ‘Once we understand this fundamental paradigm, we can understand how disasters are political events with political causes and solutions.’ This may sound theoretical and academic, but the Trump administration’s decision to destroy the federal capacity for disaster relief will create far too many chances to see exactly what it means in practice.” David Graham, The Atlantic
Pentagon pulls 2,000 National Guardsmen out of California
READ FULL STORY→ USA Today
Illegal border crossings hit historic lows
Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photos: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP, Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Illegal crossings at the nation's borders have fallen to their lowest point since modern record-keeping on crossings began, Axios' Russell Contreras writes from new U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers.
Why it matters: The data suggest that President Trump's hardline immigration approach — especially along the U.S.-Mexico border — may be achieving its goal, even as the administration has not stopped all noncitizens without papers from entry.
Zoom in: There were 25,228 total encounters nationwide in June, which is the lowest monthly total since CBP was founded in 2003.
The Southwest border saw 6,072 apprehensions, a 15% drop from the previous record in March.
The agency hit its lowest recorded single-day total on June 28 with only 136 apprehensions, CBP said.” [Axios]
The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE
“ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.”
Read story at ProPublica
NIH leader fired amid probe into whether he tried to use a $3.3 million contract to benefit his spouse, officials say
“NIH chief operating officer Eric Schnabel was escorted out of the building just three months into his new job, after officials began looking into whether he steered a contract on autism and other topics to benefit his spouse, Trish Schnabel, according to multiple officials familiar with the matter.”
Read the story at Washington Post
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at a top DOGE official in tense Pentagon confrontation
“The episode in April, which has not been reported previously, was sparked by claims that a team leader with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting organization had summoned law enforcement to remove a subordinate from the Pentagon installation, people familiar with the matter said. Hegseth, these people said, deemed it an unacceptable overreach.”
Read the story at Washington Post
Democrats accuse Waltz of lying over Signalgate and berate him for not expressing regret
“Democratic lawmakers laid into former national security adviser Mike Waltz on Tuesday over his role in the Signalgate messaging scandal — saying he lied about aspects of the leaked chats and castigating him for the fact that sensitive information and potentially classified information was exposed.
‘I was hoping to hear from you that you had some sense of regret over sharing what was very sensitive, timely information about a military strike on a commercially available app,’ said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said that Waltz had made false assertions about how a journalist was added to the chat. ‘I've seen you not only fail to stand up, but lie,’ Booker said.
Waltz, for his part, blamed the Biden administration for approving the use of the messaging app.”
Read the latest at POLITICO
Adelita Grijalva wins Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Arizona special election
“Grijalva won a contested primary in a safely Democratic district, defeating Gen Z content creator Deja Foxx and others. The contest underlined intraparty tensions over age, experience and dynastic politics. Grijalva will be a heavy favorite in the special election to succeed her father, liberal stalwart Raúl Grijalva, who represented the district until his death in March.”
Read the story at Washington Post
(Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Shutterstock.)
The Trump Administration Is About to Incinerate 500 Tons of Emergency Food
By Hana Kiros
“Five months into its unprecedented dismantling of foreign-aid programs, the Trump administration has given the order to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it. Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire tomorrow, according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks, two of those sources told me, the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash. (The sources I spoke with for this story requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions.) …
Since Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency disbanded USAID and the State Department subsumed the agency, no money or aid items can move without the approval of the new heads of American foreign assistance, several current and former USAID employees told me. From January to mid-April, the responsibility rested with Pete Marocco, who worked across multiple agencies during the first Trump administration; then it passed to Jeremy Lewin, a law-school graduate in his 20s who was originally installed by DOGE and now has appointments at both USAID and State. Two of the USAID employees told me that staffers who sent the memos requesting approval to move the food never got a response and did not know whether Marocco or Lewin ever received them. (The State Department did not answer my questions about why the food was never distributed.)”
Read the full article at The Atlantic
Inside Epstein feud
President Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Top White House officials are feuding over the Jeffrey Epstein files, despite President Trump's demand that they — and the American public — move on, officials tell Axios' Marc Caputo.
Behind the scenes: Trump quickly dismissed a reporter's question yesterday about whether Attorney General Pam Bondi had told him he was in the sex trafficker's files.
But last week, a similar media inquiry had sent the White House ‘into a tizzy’ — and helped fuel mistrust between the Department of Justice and the FBI.
The backstory: The fallout over the Epstein case continues to haunt Trump's team, 10 days after DOJ's about-face announcement that it wouldn't disclose any more details about Epstein, that he had no client list, and that he'd killed himself in prison and wasn't murdered.
That angered Trump's MAGA loyalists who — thanks in part to Trump and his aides — had been convinced the president would reveal all about Epstein and his alleged cabal of powerful pedophiles. Suddenly, long-held conspiracy theories were fueled by new disappointment.
The issue also irks Trump. ‘Pissed-off Trump is no fun for anyone,’ said an outside Trump adviser who's in frequent contact with administration officials. ‘The president wants to talk about his accomplishments. This isn't that.’
Inside the room: The blowback over DOJ's decision led to an intense shouting match in the White House last week between Bondi and the FBI's deputy director, Dan Bongino, as Axios first reported.
Unreported until now: After the Bondi-Bongino blowout, a reporter asked whether Bondi had informed Trump that his name was in the Epstein files.
Trump has long denied wrongdoing in the case. No evidence has emerged indicating otherwise, but he was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The reporter's question alarmed White House and DOJ personnel about the appearance that the administration had shut down the release of more Epstein information to protect Trump from embarrassing disclosures. Speculation about that swept across some cable news channels.
‘It put people in a tizzy,’ a source familiar with the discussions told Axios.
The story didn't run. But yesterday, a reporter publicly asked Trump about the rumor that Bondi had told him his name was in Epstein's files.
‘No, no. She's given us just a very quick briefing,’ Trump said at the White House, calling the Epstein files a non-story, old news and even ‘fake news.’
On releasing more Epstein information, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md.: ‘He's dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. ... It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring. ... Anything that's credible, I would say: Let them have it.’
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a podcast interview: ‘I'm for transparency. ... We should put everything out there and let the people decide it. ... I agree with the sentiment that we need to put it out there.’” [Axios]
Scoop: RFK Jr.'s 2028 baby steps
Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s super PAC co-hosted an organizing call for supporters and influencers last week, stirring speculation that he's positioning for a run at the White House in 2028, Axios' Brittany Gibson writes.
Why it matters: A 2028 presidential campaign wasn't explicitly discussed. But two people with knowledge of the call came away believing it was a step toward another campaign for Kennedy, whose long-shot run in 2024 wound up helping Donald Trump to victory.
Those leading the call included MAHA PAC leader Tony Lyons, vaccine scientist-turned-skeptic Robert Malone, and Kennedy's top adviser Stefanie Spear, according to two people who were on the call and two others familiar with it.
Entertainer Russell Brand and motivational speaker Tony Robbins also spoke on the call, two of the sources said.
Several who were involved saw Lyons' participation as a sign that the PAC would help prepare a campaign and fundraising machine in waiting for Kennedy, to be ready if he chooses to run.” [Axios]
The Minnesota suspect confessed to killing a Democratic lawmaker and her husband.
“The latest: Vance Boelter left a handwritten letter to the FBI director in his purported getaway car, prosecutors said yesterday. It claimed he was acting on secret orders.
The case: Boelter, 57, faces murder charges tied to the shootings last month of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. He’s also accused of wounding two others.”
Read this story at Washington Post
By Ali Bianco
As Republicans reimagine an even redder Texas, they’re still figuring out the right message to sell the sweeping megabill. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
“2026 ON THE BRAIN: President Donald Trump spoke with Texas Republicans this morning, ominously writing on Truth Social that ‘with the right Candidate, Texas isn’t ‘going Blue’ anytime soon!’ The point of the call? To mobilize the GOP to get five new red seats through the mid-decade redistricting process — a massive undertaking that could have big 2026 implications, as Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman notes.
The looming redistricting conversation has been growing since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested it last week. Finding five new red seats in an already GOP-tilted Texas could mean moving Republican voters out of some incumbents’ districts, complicating their reelection path in 2026. But there’s a bigger target that some Republicans, including Trump, are hoping to capitalize on.
‘Hispanic voters in Texas have rapidly shifted in favor of the GOP, in large part thanks [to Trump], so a mid decade redistricting will mean significant gains,’ Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — currently battling it out in a heated primary against AG Ken Paxton — wrote on X.
Not having it is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who together with Texas Democrats at a presser this morning slammed the ‘aggressive and egregious gerrymander’ as rigging the map ‘to disenfranchise millions of people in Texas,’ per POLITICO’s Nick Wu. DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) also pointed to the possibility that Republican incumbents will lose voters: “It’s basic math.”
More eager to play ball is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been floating an equal and opposite redistricting response in light of Texas’ proposed moves. ‘Two can play this game,’ Newsom, a widely speculated 2028 hopeful, wrote on X today.
The messaging war: As Republicans reimagine an even redder Texas, they’re still figuring out the right message to sell the sweeping megabill — and beat back Democratic attacks. Republican strategists are pushing a new tack on tax cuts, branding them as ‘Trump Working Family Tax Cuts’ and hammering how policies like no taxes on tips could benefit new elements of Trump’s 2024 coalition, NBC’s Peter Nicholas and colleagues report.
The speaker’s side: ‘Every citizen in every zip code in every pocket of America will benefit from the One Big Beautiful Bill,’ Speaker Mike Johnson said at today’s weekly House Republican Leadership news conference. New numbers out today show Johnson raised more than $50 million for House Republicans this cycle, and he’s already transferred more than $14 million to the NRCC, per Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio and colleagues.
On the flip side: Democratic strategists are piloting new programs that would overhaul the old style of Democratic politicking to avoid repeating 2024’s sweeping losses, NYT’s Ken Bensinger and Shane Goldmacher write. ‘That mind-set will be on display on Tuesday in Washington when many of the party’s keenest number-crunchers are gathering for a closed-door meeting of the Analyst Institute, a progressive nonprofit that focuses on data-driven campaign tactics, to discuss where the party went wrong in 2024.’
Other hot-button issues are likely to be on the table, such as stories like the latest from USA Today’s Sarah Wire, who writes how states are trying to mitigate the impact of the megabill’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food assistance, and how voters are mobilizing to town halls, some for the first time, out of concern.
Reminder: Another piece of the 2026 puzzle will slot in tonight after 10 p.m., when the results roll in from the Arizona primary for the special election to fill the late Rep. Raul Grivalja’s seat. The three-way race has become a litmus-test for the old guard vs. new guard of the Democratic party, as Playbook noted this morning. To little surprise, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has placed her bet on the old guard — in this case former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, per Fox News’ Chad Pergram. ‘She happens to be [Grijalva’s] daughter, but she's made her own mark. I've watched her career carefully in Arizona,’ Pelosi said.” [POLITICO]
INTERNATIONAL
Netanyahu’s Rattled Coalition
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men burn conscription orders as they block a main highway during a demonstration against drafting to the Israeli military, in Bnei Brak, Israel, on June 5.Amir Levy/Getty Images
“An Israeli ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism (UTJ), announced on Monday that it would quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government over a long-running dispute relating to the country’s new conscription bill. The move leaves Netanyahu with a parliamentary majority of just one seat; if more parties also resign, it could severely limit Netanyahu’s ability to govern and bring Israel a step closer to holding new elections.
Israeli ultra-Orthodox religious students have long been exempt from the country’s mandatory military service that applies to most other young Israelis. However, those exemptions were scrapped last year after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that they amounted to discrimination against the country’s secular majority and ordered the government to begin drafting the religious students.
That decision sparked outrage within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, whose members argue that their men serve the country through their intensive religious studies and that mandatory military service would threaten that tradition and their way of life. Netanyahu has since worked hard to resolve the issue by pushing for a new military conscription bill in the parliament. The new bill lays out a plan to gradually integrate the ultra-Orthodox into the military while potentially cutting public funding for individuals or religious schools (known as yeshivas) that fail to participate in the program. Even still, UTJ lawmakers said that the proposal is too harsh.
In a statement announcing its resignation from the coalition, Degel HaTorah, one of the two factions that make up the UTJ, cited the ‘repeated violations by the government of its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies.’
It remains unclear whether Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party within Netanyahu’s coalition, will make a similar move. Though Monday’s announcement puts Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, under greater political pressure, it does not yet signal that his government has collapsed. UTJ members have 48 hours before their resignation takes effect. Plus, the parliament is slated to go on summer break at the end of July, potentially allowing Netanyahu to dodge a vote to dissolve parliament and use the intervening period to coax UTJ back into the coalition.
‘God willing, everything will be fine,’ said Miki Zohar, a cabinet minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The coalition shake-up could also further strain Netanyahu’s capacity to make concessions to Hamas in the ongoing cease-fire talks in Qatar, as the Israeli leader will have to rely on the coalition’s far-right parties, who strongly oppose an end to the war in Gaza, to maintain his parliamentary majority.” [Foreign Policy]
“Albanese visits Beijing. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday. The exchange was a part of Albanese’s six-day state visit to China and was aimed at reaffirming economic ties between the two nations, especially amid increased global financial uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
‘Australia’s relationship with China is important – for our economy, our security, and the stability of our region,’ Albanese wrote in a social media post. Meanwhile, Xi reiterated that Beijing and Canberra should continue to deepen their relationship ‘no matter how the international landscape may evolve.’
Even as trade remained a central focus, security concerns loomed over the meeting, with Canberra facing growing concerns about Washington’s commitment to AUKUS, the security partnership composed of Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Albanese’s trip coincided with Australia conducting its largest-ever military drills in collaboration with 19 countries, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and India.” [Foreign Policy]
“Nvidia chips. Nvidia, a U.S. chipmaker and the world’s most valuable company, on Monday said in a company blog post that it would resume selling its advanced H20 computer chips to China after the Trump administration said it would approve such shipments.
‘Today, I’m announcing that the U.S. government has approved for us filing licenses to start shipping H20s,’ Jensen Huang, the company’s CEO, who is currently in China on a visit, told reporters. ‘It’s so innovative and dynamic here in China that it’s really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here,’ Huang added.
The move is a reversal of policy that was previously announced in mid-April, when the U.S. government said that Nvidia would require a special license to sell the chips—which are used to develop artificial intelligence and were specifically designed to bypass export controls—to Beijing. The government’s decision in April effectively forced the company to halt its sale of H20 chips.
However, following recent U.S.-China talks in London and a lobbying effort by Huang and other tech leaders, who argued that the restrictions would limit U.S. competitiveness, the Trump administration appears to have altered its course.” [Foreign Policy]
“Corruption allegations. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that he was suspending the country’s police minister, Senzo Mchunu, and creating a commission to investigate allegations of police corruption. The move comes a week after a provincial police chief accused Mchunu of interfering with police investigations relating to a criminal syndicate.
‘In establishing this Commission of Inquiry, we are affirming our commitment to the rule of law, to transparency and accountability, and to building a South Africa in which all people are safe and secure,’ Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday. The independent body will have three months to present its initial findings.
The recent allegations come at a time of political turmoil for Ramaphosa, who campaigned on the promise to combat South Africa’s endemic corruption woes. Yet the announcement of a new commission was met with criticism. ‘These allegations provided the President with an opportunity to show bold and firm leadership,’ South Africa’s second-biggest party, the Democratic Alliance, which is part of Ramaphosa’s governing coalition, said in a statement. ‘Instead, he has once again outsourced executive responsibility to a commission, and South Africans have grown cynical of talk shops, task teams and commissions which they see as buying time and avoiding accountability.’” [Foreign Policy]
“In raising pressure on Russia, Donald Trump risks collateral damage to a key US partner, India.
The US president’s so-called secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow ends hostilities with Ukraine within 50 days would undoubtedly hurt China, a principal consumer. But as the No. 1 market by some measures, India would also be badly hit.
NATO chief Mark Rutte urged India among others to ‘make the phone call to Vladimir Putin’ and get the Russian president to the negotiating table, warning the threat of penalties was real.
WATCH: Trump announces plans for “secondary tariffs”on Russian imports.
True, the White House’s tariff vows are increasingly seen as negotiating tactics rather than set in stone, and oil markets have largely brushed off Trump’s latest threats. Indian officials say they aren’t too worried, and see China as the main US target. New Delhi’s closer ties with Washington should help to insulate it, they say.
Yet the spat still underscores how India increasingly finds itself caught in the middle of geopolitical competition.
While New Delhi has welcomed US backing in standing up to China — a shared rival — it’s wary of getting drawn too far into Washington’s orbit given its heavy reliance on Chinese imports.
India is at the same time engaging in its own fence-mending. Top envoy Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited China this week for a major regional forum, where he urged Beijing to avoid ‘restrictive trade measures and roadblocks.’
India’s unwillingness to align too closely with either power puts it in a difficult position as it negotiates what it hopes will be a favorable trade deal with Washington.
India is banking on an agreement that allows it to dodge punitive levies and burnish its role as the region’s manufacturing alternative to China.
Getting there depends on navigating the complex push and pull of Washington, Moscow and Beijing”. — Dan Strumpf [Bloomberg]
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024. Photographer: Maxim Shipenkov/AFP/Getty Images
“Trump suggested he may impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals at the end of this month and that levies on semiconductors could come soon as well, indicating they may hit alongside broad ‘reciprocal’ rates set for Aug. 1. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, meanwhile, warned that Trump’s trade war is the wrong approach to addressing imbalances in the global economy and will harm households.” [Bloomberg]
“Russia launched a massive drone attack over Ukraine’s central regions overnight, including on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, as US special envoy Keith Kellogg continues his week-long visit to Kyiv. Trump’s plan for the European Union to pay for US arms supplied to Ukraine is piling pressure on EU officials negotiating how to finance the bloc’s defense-spending ambitions.” [Bloomberg]
Firefighters at the site of a Russian attack in the Vinnitsia region, Ukraine. Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
“Israel carried out air attacks in Syria and Lebanon in the past day, once again increasing tensions with its neighbors. The army struck tanks and military vehicles advancing toward southern Syria’s Suwayda province, while it also conducted ‘numerous strikes’ targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.” [Bloomberg]
“Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, partly to pressure authorities to drop charges against Jair Bolsonaro, have thrust the nation’s conservatives into chaos as they seek to find an answer to the upheaval the levies will cause. The former president — who is banned from running in next year’s election and faces trial for an attempted coup — simultaneously tried to paint himself as the only hope to talk Trump down from the duties, while urging that the right ‘cannot be divided.’” [Bloomberg]
“French Prime Minister François Bayrou proposed scrapping two national holidays, part of a drastic effort to pare back the largest budget deficit in the euro area that’s likely to unleash a parliamentary backlash. Finance Minister Eric Lombard said he’s confident the budget will be approved and is open to improving it through discussions with opposition parties.” [Bloomberg]
“Taiwan President Lai Ching-te intends to make two stops in the US as part of a trip to the democratic island’s diplomatic allies, testing ties between Beijing and Washington just as they prepare for a possible leaders’ summit.” [Bloomberg]
“Turkey’s most popular opposition politician, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was set to appear in court today for allegedly threatening the city’s top prosecutor in a case that could end his career.” [Bloomberg]
“Extreme heat in Spain was 10 times deadlier over the past two months than during the same period last year, with an estimated 1,180 people dying due to heat waves from mid-May to mid-July.” [Bloomberg]
Vandals sentenced to more than 4 years for felling England’s beloved Sycamore Gap tree
The Sycamore Gap tree is seen along Hadrian’s Wall near Hexham, northern England, in June 2023, months before vandals turned the tree into a stump and damaged the wall. (Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)
“Vandals who cut down England’s beloved Sycamore Gap tree were sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison for damaging the country’s natural heritage and for the widespread outrage and distress it caused.” Read More at AP News
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
The inflation from tariffs that economists feared begins to emerge
“Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of a range of goods, including furniture, clothing, and large appliances.” Read More at AP News
“U.S. trading partners have largely failed to retaliate against President Trump's sweeping tariffs, allowing him to raise nearly $50 billion in extra customs revenues at little cost, the Financial Times reports ($).
U.S. revenues from customs duties hit a record $64 billion in the second quarter — $47 billion more than over the same period last year, the FT notes from Treasury Department data published Friday.
‘[D]espite U.S. tariffs hitting levels not seen since the 1930s, the timidity of the global response to Trump has forestalled a retaliatory spiral,’ the FT says.” [Axios]
Employees at the nation's consumer financial watchdog say it's become toothless under Trump
“Once a powerful watchdog for financial wrongdoing, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has seen its enforcement efforts grind to a halt under the Trump administration. Employees report being unable to perform their duties, and investigations into financial misconduct are being undone.” Read More at AP News
₿ Charted: Bitcoin's big spike
Data: CoinGecko. Chart: Axios Visuals
“The whole crypto market is going up, with bitcoin setting new all-time highs almost every other day, Axios Crypto author Brady Dale writes.
Why it matters: Investors who have conviction about bitcoin or another cryptocurrency have a decent shot at doing well, provided they have the nerve to ride out some drops and stick around a while.
Bitcoin has been periodically setting new all-time highs ever since spot ETFs were approved in early 2024. It first broke $100,000 late last year.” [Axios]
Go deeper: Why investors lose money when bitcoin rises.
TECH
DoD contracts
“The Department of Defense has awarded contracts of up to $200 million each to OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, the agency said on Monday. Doug Matty, the DoD’s chief digital and AI officer, said the deals will help the agency develop AI workflows that will address critical national security challenges. Musk’s xAI also announced on Monday that it was making a suite of its products called ‘Grok for Government’ available to federal, local, state and national security customers. Just one week ago, xAI’s chatbot Grok pushed antisemitic tropes in its responses to some users’ queries. When asked by a user ‘who is controlling the government,’ the bot replied with an answer containing even more anti-Jewish tropes.” [CNN]
Pittsburgh plots AI boom
President Trump arrives to speak at the AI and energy summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh yesterday. Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP
“The AI arms race is here, and Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania are on the front lines, Axios Pittsburgh's Ryan Deto writes from yesterday's AI-energy summit in the city.
Why it matters: Pittsburgh has reinvented itself since the steel industry's collapse, staving off economic fallout. Those efforts haven't created a booming and fast-growing metropolis.
Now the region and state's biggest leaders are confident it could reach those heights if it can attract enough investment for AI.
President Trump spoke and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) hosted. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and dozens of leaders in tech, energy and diplomacy participated in the summit.
The big picture: Big investments unveiled in Pittsburgh — plus the C-suite and Cabinet wattage there — highlight how fueling data centers is a massive challenge and opportunity, Axios Generate author Ben Geman writes.
The numbers are eye-popping. The biggest announcement was Blackstone's plan to invest $25 billion in data centers and gas-fired energy in Pennsylvania.” [Axios]
Teens flock to companion bots
Data: Common Sense Media. Chart: Axios Visuals
“Nearly three-quarters of U.S. teens (72%) say they use AI for companionship, with more than half of those doing so every day, Axios' Megan Morrone writes from a new survey.
Why it matters: AI companions can be dangerous to young users, posing an ‘unacceptable risk,’ according to Common Sense Media, which published the findings.
By the numbers: 34% of teens who use AI companions report that they've felt uncomfortable with something the bot has ‘said or done.’
Most teens still prefer people to bots. 80% of AI companion users say they spend more time with real friends.
Over half (67%) still find AI conversations less satisfying than human conversations.” [Axios]
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Global AIDS funding to be pulled from Trump clawbacks request
“Senate Republicans will scale back the White House's $9.4 billion spending clawback request as they look to shore up their vote count.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who is leading the rescissions effort in concert with the White House, said Republicans will remove a $400 million cut to the global AIDS program known as PEPFAR, bringing the total amount of cuts in the package down to $9 billion.
Schmitt's comments came after White House Budget Director Russ Vought briefed senators during a closed-door lunch. Schmitt said the White House is on board with the change, which he said is currently the only one being made to the bill.
Any changes to the Senate product will necessitate another House vote ahead of a Friday deadline for action on the request.”
Read the latest at POLITICO
A major study shed new light on the cause of obesity.
“A surprising finding: People in wealthy nations like the U.S. burn about the same amount of calories each day as people in less-developed nations, but are far more obese.
What it means: Diet matters more than exercise. And Americans are eating too much, especially ultra-processed foods — here’s how to identify those.
Want to eat better? Avoid these six protein mistakes.”
Read this story at Washington Post
SPORTS
Swing-off! NL beats AL in first All-Star Game finish of its kind
“After the American League came back from a six-run deficit to tie the game 6-6, the National League -- led by MVP Kyle Schwarber -- prevailed by outhomering the AL at the conclusion of the 95th Midsummer Classic.” [MLB Breaking News]
WorldView
By Ishaan Tharoor with Rachel Pannett
Trump casts a growing shadow on the 2026 World Cup
Reece James of Chelsea FC lifts the FIFA Club World Cup trophy after their team's victory Sunday as President Donald Trump watches at MetLife Stadium. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
“There are photobombs and then there’s what happened this weekend in New Jersey. As the victorious soccer team assembled to lift its prize, President Donald Trump took center stage at MetLife Stadium alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Trump and Infantino then presented the gaudy gold sphere that was the trophy for the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup to the stars of Chelsea, a London-based team that happens to owe most of its sporting success and global fame to the largesse of a Russian oligarch.
But instead of moving aside and letting the athletes have their moment of triumph, Trump lingered, much to the visible bemusement of some of Chelsea’s players. Infantino tried to gesture to Trump to follow him and avoid being in the middle of the celebratory photo op, but the president either didn’t hear or heed his guidance. There he was, applauding and grinning right next to Chelsea captain Reece James as the latter lifted the trophy. Infantino relented and cheered along.
The moment was fleeting, but it struck observers of the game as deeply symbolic. Infantino helms an institution that is something like a secular Vatican (albeit with far more financial firepower). FIFA’s footprint is on every continent, its project has the affection of billions of devotees, and the internal workings of soccer’s global governing body are mysterious and shrouded in controversy. Yet FIFA’s boss has had to court Trump for months, spending more time with the president during his second term than any other president or prime minister in a bid to ensure the White House’s full support ahead of next year’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Miguel Delaney, chief football correspondent for Britain’s Independent newspaper, suggested we were witnessing ‘the full Trumpification of Infantino and FIFA,’ the further co-opting of a sport increasingly driven by the interests of major corporate backers and the influential sovereign wealth funds of a clutch of Arab monarchies dear to Trump. ‘There’s this brazenness to everything, as old norms and standards are cast aside,’ Delaney wrote, emphasizing the strangeness of Trump’s turn onstage. ‘Trump doesn’t even get to stand in the center of the Super Bowl presentation.’
In Europe, the traditional heartland of the soccer world, there’s a growing resignation that the global game has decidedly left its shores. Next year’s tournament in North America will be the first to showcase 48 national teams, a source of irritation among the sport’s purists. But in Infantino’s vision, it’s a prelude to even more ambitious future ventures, including the 2034 World Cup that will be hosted by Saudi Arabia, and a sporting calendar that will further incentivize some of Europe’s best clubs to enter tournaments far from their usual stomping grounds.
The shift is so palpable that even Sepp Blatter, Infantino’s predecessor who was forced to bow out of his post a decade ago amid corruption allegations, found cause for despair. ‘We have lost football to Saudi Arabia,’ Blatter recently said on German television. ‘We offered it, and they took it. Surprisingly, there is no opposition to this within FIFA.’
Trump may not be much aware of these dynamics, but he is now a part of them. He and Infantino ‘see eye to eye in their approach to power,’ suggested Kévin Veyssière, a sports geopolitics expert, to French daily Le Monde. ‘Infantino concentrates all power within FIFA, which is exactly what Trump dreams of in the U.S. And they share the same geopolitical vision, both focused on the Middle East, where they have economic interests.’
Beyond the ambient politics surrounding the sport, there are myriad other concerns about next year’s tournament being staged in Trump’s America. Climate concerns are key — a number of games in the Club World Cup were disrupted by thunderstorms and lightning, while numerous players complained of the dangers of the continent’s scorching summer temperatures. ‘I don’t think I have ever played in such heat,’ Andreas Schjelderup, a Norwegian forward who plays for Portuguese giant Benfica, said after a game in Charlotte last month. ‘I don’t think it’s healthy, to be honest, but I managed to get through it.’
Off the field, there are other worries. ‘Will international fans and players be welcomed to stadiums in American cities that Trump has threatened over their more open immigration policies — and will the president be welcomed at an opening match played in Los Angeles, where he recently deployed National Guard troops?’ asked my colleague Matt Viser, who was at the Sunday match and heard boos rain down upon Trump from crowds in the stadium.
There’s no indication that Trump is about to scale back policies that have intimidated foreign travelers and scapegoated immigrant communities within the country. When I covered the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, I met numerous visitors from the developing world who suggested they wanted to attend the tournament in the Middle East because they doubted it would be feasible or accessible to travel to the United States four years later.
Rights groups are pressing FIFA to push Trump ahead of the tournament. ‘FIFA should publicly acknowledge the threat U.S. immigration and other antihuman rights policies pose to the tournament’s integrity and use its leverage with the U.S. government to ensure that the rights of all qualified teams, support staff, media, and fans are respected as they seek to enter the United States regardless of nationality, gender identity, religion, or opinion,’ Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last month.
‘We call on FIFA to use its influence to encourage the U.S. government to guarantee the fundamental rights of the millions of foreign visitors and fans who seek entry to the U.S. to attend the tournaments, and those of the constitutional rights of the many immigrants who already live, work, and contribute meaningfully to the cities selected to host them,’ declared a recent open letter signed by 90 civil society groups, most of which are based in the United States.
If Infantino is listening, it’s unclear what he’s doing to respond. As the scene on Sunday suggested, he may be tempted to keep smiling from the sidelines.” [Washington Post]
World's oldest marathon runner, Fauja Singh, dies at 114 after being hit by a car
“Fauja Singh, who became the oldest man to run a full marathon in 2011 at the age of 100 and was nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, has died after being hit by a car in his native village in India. He was 114.” Read More at AP News
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
1 film thing: Big "Superman" opening
Data: Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes. ("Zack Snyder's Justice League" premiered in 2021 on HBO Max.) Chart: Axios Visuals
“‘Superman's’ opening marks the biggest weekend debut ever for a solo Superman movie — one not part of a larger crossover or franchise team-up, Sara Fischer and Christine Wang write for Axios Media Trends.
Why it matters: The fate of the DC Comics franchise, and to a smaller extent Warner Bros. Pictures, is riding on the film's success.
The movie's $122 million domestic debut boasts the third-biggest opening of the year, behind "A Minecraft Movie" and "Jurassic World Rebirth." [Axios]
These are the nominees for the 77th Emmy Awards
“‘Severance’ separated itself from the field with 27 Emmy nominations Tuesday, while ‘The Studio’ led comedy nominees with a record-tying 23 in a dominant year for Apple TV+.” Read More at AP News
HISTORY
Roman-era mosaic panel with erotic theme that was stolen during World War II returns to Pompeii
“A mosaic panel on travertine slabs was returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii on Tuesday. A Nazi German captain had stolen it during World War II.” Read More at AP News
TRANSITIONS
“Lives Lived: Andrea Gibson was a master of spoken-word poetry who cultivated legions of admirers with intensely personal, often political works exploring gender, love and a four-year fight with terminal ovarian cancer. Gibson died at 49.” [New York Times]