In negotiations with Republican senators whose support he needs to be confirmed as attorney general, Todd Blanche formally rescinded a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies. But a sweeping audit immunity plan conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization remains in place — given new parameters to appease the senators but still with the potential to wipe away millions of dollars of Trump’s back taxes.
Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” in moving to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said in response to the move that “you better not go before a federal judge and make allegations you can't back up.” Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were later seen entering the White House.
The president also said on Monday that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.
Here is the latest:
Attacks continue in Gulf region despite talks
A cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” early Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz , the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said, without providing further information on the ship. It suffered damage, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, which did not elaborate.
Yemen’s Houthis, meanwhile, fired at an airport in Saudi Arabia. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Iranian-backed rebels, said a drone hit a “sensitive target” at the airport in the southwestern city of Najran, without providing evidence.
Saree said the attack was in response to what he described as Saudi breaching of Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis recently announced a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea.
Qatar mediating talks between US and Iran
Despite conflicting claims, mediation efforts have been underway between the U.S. and Iran to wind down the war, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday.
“We’re looking into a diplomatic solution,” he said during a briefing, without elaborating.
UK foreign secretary to meet Rubio for talks on Hormuz and Ukraine
Ed Miliband will discuss work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with his U.S. counterpart in Washington on Wednesday.
Miliband said reopening the vital oil rote and securing a lasting ceasefire in the U.S.-Iran war are “essential to ease cost of living pressures on British families.”
Milliband said he and Rubio “will also discuss how we can continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine against Russia’s war,” as well as ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza and seek peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
It is the second meeting between the pair since Miliband was appointed two weeks ago by Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. They first met at an ASEAN conference in late July.
Comedian Jenny Yang uplifts immigrants, one grocery store at a time
Standup comic Jenny Yang is spending her summer turning cultural grocery stores into comedy clubs for a night in a response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The Good Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Standup Comedy Tour is using the unusual venues in immigrant enclaves and pairing with nonprofits to raise funds for Asian, Latino and Black communities. It’s grown to 20 performances and a possible comedy special on TV.
For one show in Minneapolis, the manager of a supermarket down the block from where an ICE agent fatally shot Alex Pretti fit 150 chairs near the checkout lanes so people could see her show.
Comedians are divided on whether stand-up should stand down on politics, but Yang says “I believe in punching up, not down.”
Rubio says progress made in Iran, Oman talks and deal on Strait of Hormuz could happen ‘very shortly’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that there has been progress made in talks between Iran and Oman on the status of the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with the vice president of Paraguay at the State Department on Tuesday, Rubio said that “suffice it to say, there’s been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We’re hoping that will happen very shortly.”
Rubio said ships continue to transit the strait but the U.S. would like to see more commercial traffic.
US job market continues to show strength despite bumpy economy
U.S. job openings fell slightly in June, but the labor market continued to show resilience to the Iran war’s economic shocks.
The Labor Department said employers posted 7.36 million vacancies, down from 7.54 million in May, in line with economists’ expectations. Layoffs were little-changed at 1.8 million, and the number of people quitting jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — rose slightly.
So far this year, companies, government agencies and nonprofits have added an average 92,000 jobs a month. That would have been mediocre in years past, but Trump’s immigration crackdown and Baby Boomer retirements mean fewer people are competing for work, so the economy doesn’t need as many new jobs to keep unemployment from rising. In fact, some economists believe the “break-even″ rate could be nearly as low as zero jobs.
Trump administration to close five smaller US embassies, consulates and other posts while opening others
The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to close five smaller U.S. embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions even as it steams ahead with plans to re-open shuttered posts in Libya and Syria and has re-opened the long-closed embassy in Venezuela.
In separate notices sent late last week to lawmakers, the State Department said it would close the U.S. embassy in the Caribbean island of Grenada, the consulates in Nagoya, Japan and Medan, Indonesia, the American Presence Post in Winnipeg, Canada and an embassy branch office in Douala, Cameroon.
The closures are expected to save the government roughly $4.4 million per year, according to the notices, which were obtained by The Associated Press.
Markets move, again, on Trump comments
Trump said he’s not happy with energy company profits, though it was the war he launched that enabled their windfalls.
Shares of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron all fell around 1% before the bell. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $1.87 to $81.90 a barrel.
Also possibly helping to push oil prices lower was comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC that “we are in talks with the Iranians.” Bessent added, “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”
Big oil reports bigger profits in Iran war windfall
Exxon Mobil on Friday reported that its second quarter profits doubled to $14.53 billion, while Chevron nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion.
Foreign oil companies are also posting massive increases in profits: Saudi Aramco on Tuesday reported a 44% year-on-year increase in second-quarter net profit to $32.69 billion, driven by higher prices for crude oil, refined products and chemicals. And London-based BP reported its profits more than doubled to $3.9 billion.
US markets poised to open with gains and oil prices slide again as Trump bashes Big Oil
Wall Street was poised to open higher and oil prices flipped to significant losses Tuesday after Trump criticized oil companies for using the Iran conflict to amass excessive profits.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%. Nasdaq futures jumped 1.1%. Oil prices slid close to 3% early Tuesday after Trump bashed big oil companies.
“They made too much money, too much money,” Trump said on Monday. “They ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price.”
FIFA executives distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup plan
Two senior FIFA executives — coaching great Arsène Wenger and CEO-like secretary general Mattias Grafström — distanced themselves Tuesday from their boss Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors through a money-making subsidiary to be launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of Trump.
Wenger said in a statement he knew nothing of the $20 billion plan and that it was “absolutely necessary” to drop the proposal, and Grafström sent an email to all FIFA staff — seen by The Associated Press — calling the last week a “sad and reproachable series of events.” He also said it created “turmoil which is difficult to comprehend and accept.”
Neither directly named their boss nor offered support for Infantino, who has not commented in public on the schism in soccer since a FIFA statement Saturday announcing the proposal had been dropped.
What to watch as primary voters choose nominees
Michigan is testing the direction of the Democratic Party, as voters choose between a progressive standard-bearer and an establishment-backed candidate for the U.S. Senate. Abdul El-Sayed, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, is up against four-term Rep. Haley Stevens, supported by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Democratic and Republican voters in Michigan are also choosing nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state, voters are settling a host of races, including a key rematch between Democrats in a Missouri House contest. Virginia Democrats who lost a court battle over trying to redraw districts to their advantage are picking candidates they hope can defeat Republicans in the fall.
Trump and Newsom, mocking and taunting
As Trump flies to California he’ll likely throw barbs at the governor, eyed as a likely candidate for the next Democratic presidential nomination.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said the president plans to “draw a sharp contrast between his commonsense agenda and the radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom.”
Trump routinely mocks Newsom using a derogatory nickname. Newsom taunts the president in turn.
The Democrat wrote on social media on Monday that California is raising its minimum wage next year to $17.40 an hour, more than double the federal minimum. “Donald Trump and the GOP are still defending a $7.25 minimum wage while workers scrape by. Pitiful,” Newsom wrote.
The economy is on Trump’s agenda in California and Nevada
Trump ’s rare visit to California and Nevada is meant to draw contrasts with Democrats on the economy, border security and crime in support of Republicans in November elections that will determine whether party control of Congress.
But he’s struggled to connect with voters on the economy as elevated inflation and feelings of uncertainty have overshadowed the stock market gains he often talks about, along with a low national unemployment rate.
Trump is headlining a Republican National Committee fundraising dinner at a golf club his family owns in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump will discuss the economy at Red Rock casino in Las Vegas.
Only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy in an AP-NORC poll conducted in late July, while 69% characterized the state of the economy as “poor.”
25 states sue over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old ones
Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February.
The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports produced by forced labor. The new tariffs took effect just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs President Donald Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.
“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Joining New York in the lawsuit announced Monday are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Trump accounts were closed in 2021 due to concerns over possible money laundering, Capital One says
Bank accounts held by Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend.
The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies shortly after he was sworn into office a second time. Trump alleges that Capital One illegally closed his accounts for political reasons, following the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
Capital One wants the lawsuit dismissed.
“The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance,” the bank said in the court filing. The term “AML” is an abbreviation for anti-money laundering.
Trump has sued Capital One, as well as JPMorgan Chase, for allegedly debanking him after he left office in 2021. Debanking occurs when banks shut down customer accounts because they believe they pose financial, legal or reputational risks to the banks.
New talks are ‘last chance’ for Iran to forge a deal and avoid escalation of US strikes, Trump says
Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war — but this time, he insists it’s different.
The president on Monday said that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.
Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations will focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address the United States’ concerns about its nuclear program. He told reporters they would likely learn about the status of the negotiations “today or tomorrow.”
“The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization,” the Republican president said. “And that will take a little while.”
While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that’s unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election.
Trump says Pirro ‘folded like an umbrella’ in bid to drop Reflecting Pool vandalism charges
Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” in moving to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Speaking at an unrelated Oval Office event, Trump ducked questions about whether he’d fire Pirro, a former Fox News host and longtime ally he handpicked as top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital. But the president kept up his drumbeat of sharp criticism, saying he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism.
“Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question after he signed an executive order for military spouses. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”
As Blanche’s path to confirmation is cleared, Trump’s tax audit immunity remains in place
In negotiations with Republican senators whose support he needs to be confirmed as attorney general, Todd Blanche formally rescinded a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate Trump’s political allies.
But a sweeping audit immunity plan conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization remains in place — given new parameters to appease the senators but still with the potential to wipe away millions of dollars of Trump’s back taxes.
In a document Blanche sent to the lawmakers Sunday, he said the audit immunity, struck as part of a deal to resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, would not protect the president from the examination of future tax filings. Instead, he noted, it “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the lawsuit’s settlement.
For the holdout GOP lawmakers who opposed both the fund and the audit deal, those assurances were enough and are expected to clear the way for Blanche’s confirmation to serve as attorney general.
