Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending for the day, but we’ll be back on Wednesday. Thanks for reading along with us. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will open a new migrant detention facility in Nebraska as part of President Trump’s ongoing efforts to bolster Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (Ice) detention network. The facility, located in the southwest part of the state, has been called “Cornhusker Clink” by the department and will hold undocumented migrants arrested by Ice. The project is a partnership between the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and Ice, adding up to 280 new detention beds.
National guard members from West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana began arriving in Washington on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports, to help with President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown on crime and homelessness. The Joint Task Force District of Columbia, the military unit overseeing the Guard, told the news wire that those troops will perform similar duties to local Guard members already on the streets. These tasks include protecting landmarks and crowd control.
The White House launched an official TikTok account, joining the social platform with more than 150 million US users. Reuters first reported the move. The first video posted by the White House on TikTok shows a video montage with a Trump voiceover saying: “Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.” More here.
Texas Democrats are tearing up the “permission slips” they signed in order to leave the chamber, joining state representative Nicole Collier ahead of Wednesday’s vote on the controversial Texas congressional redistricting maps. The slips are part of new surveillance protocols set by Texas Republicans in the House chamber, stating that Democrats would “be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated [Texas department of public safety] officer” who would ensure their return to the chamber.
National intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard said Tuesday she has stripped security clearances from 37 current and former national security officials, including some who worked on the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. In a memo posted on X, Gabbard accused the targeted individuals of having engaged in “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”.
Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Washington DC police systematically manipulated crime statistics to make the city appear safer than it actually is. The probe, anonymous sources tell the Washington Post, NBC News and Fox News, being conducted by the US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia under Jeanine Pirro, is the latest escalation between the Trump administration and DC officials over federal control of local policing. More here.
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will look for “anti-American” views, including on social media, when assessing the applications of people wanting to live in the United States. In an announcement, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles requests to stay in the United States or become a citizen, said it would expand vetting of the social media postings of applicants and that “reviews for anti-American activity will be added to that vetting”. More here.
‘Boston will not back down’: mayor hits back at Trump officials’ sanctuary city threats
Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu has hit back sharply at the Trump administration’s legal threats over sanctuary city immigration policies, declaring that “Boston will not back down”.
Wu told a news conference outside Boston’s city hall on Tuesday: “The US attorney general asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures. Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law. And Boston will not back down from who we are and what we stand for.”
Last week, the US Department of Justice sent letters to 13 states, from California to Rhode Island, and 22 local governments, from Boston to Seattle, that it has deemed “sanctuary jurisdictions”, threatening their leaders with prosecution for allegedly “undermining” and “obstructing” federal immigration enforcement.
The letters warned that they could lose federal funds or face legal action if they do not assist with Donald Trump’s sweeping, aggressive and highly controversial immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts.
Attorney general Pam Bondi has warned that she intends to prosecute political leaders who are not – in her view - sufficiently supportive of immigration enforcement.
Bondi’s letter asked recipients to provide a response by 19 August that “confirms your commitment with complying with federal law and identifies the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement”.
Read the full story by The Guardian’s Lucy Campbell here:
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lashed out at the American Academy of Pediatrics after it said that children ages 6 months to 23 months should receive a Covid-19 vaccine, in defiance of federal health officials.
In a post on the social media platform X, Kennedy accused the group of engaging in a “pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions of AAP’s Big Pharma benefactors.”
Kennedy posted donations from Covid mRNA vaccine drugmakers Pfizer, Moderna, Merck and Sanofi to the pediatricians’ Friends of Children Fund, which supports projects related to children’s health and health equity.
Kennedy argued that the donations constituted a conflict of interest because, according to him, they led to the recommendation that young children receive Covid vaccines.
Leading US economists urge peers to fight Trump’s attack on environment
Three leading US economists are urging their peers around the world to push back against Donald Trump’s attack on environmental laws.
In what amounts to a call to action to economists, the trio say rollback of environmental regulations is “inconsistent or antithetical” to fundamental principles of economics over how to allocate the world’s limited resources for the greatest possible value to society.
The economists, Catherine L Kling, Stephen Polasky, and Kathleen Segerson, say the Trump administration, by focusing on tearing down environmental protections, is likely to reduce rather than increase economic efficiency, and its policies are a threat to Americans and the rest of the world.
Writing in the journal Environmental and Resource Economics, they urge economists to challenge from an economic perspective the administration’s undermining of science on climate and the environment.
Read the full story here:
DHS announces plan for immigration detention center in Nebraska
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will open a new migrant detention facility in Nebraska as part of President Trump’s efforts to bolster Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (Ice) detention network.
The facility, located in the south-western part of the state, has been called “Cornhusker Clink” by the department and will hold undocumented migrants arrested by Ice. The project is a partnership between the Nebraska department of correctional services and Ice, adding up to 280 new detention beds.
“Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the state of Nebraska to expand detention bed space by 280 beds,” DHS secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“Thanks to Governor Pillen for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Nebraska’s Cornhusker Clink. Avoid arrest and self-deport now using the CBP Home App.”
Officials are repurposing the state’s minimum-security prison work camp in McCook, about 210 miles west of Lincoln.
“This is about keeping Nebraskans – and Americans across our country – safe,” governor Jim Pillen said in a statement.
The Nebraska facility is the latest in a string of new detention centers opened under the Trump administration. DHS recently opened “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, launched a new site in El Paso, Texas, and plans to detain up to 1,000 migrants at Indiana’s “Speedway Slammer”.
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National guard from other states start arriving in Washington
National guard members from West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana began arriving in Washington on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports, to help with President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.
The Joint Task Force District of Columbia, the military unit overseeing the Guard, told the news wire that those troops will perform similar duties to local Guard members already on the streets. These tasks include protecting landmarks and crowd control.
The task force said that incoming troops from other states will be staying at military base housing and hotels.
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is “hurting” the housing industry “very badly” and said he should cut interest rates.
“Could somebody please inform Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell that he is hurting the Housing Industry, very badly? People can’t get a Mortgage because of him. There is no Inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major Rate Cut,” Trump wrote.
Trump has previously called on officials to seize control from Powell if he fails to cut interest rates. Earlier this month, Trump said he would remove Powell “in a heartbeat,” arguing that the Fed’s interest rate was too high, but added that others have said Powell’s removal would “disturb the market”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump has been testing a sound system at the Rose Garden for an upcoming party.
Leavitt reposted a video on the social platform X from White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino. The video shows the White House patio with God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood in the background, a song that Trump frequently played during his campaign rallies.
Leavitt quoted Trump saying the party “will be the best event in the history of the White House.”
The Rose Garden renovations are part of Trump’s plans to renovate the White House, including an enormous $200m ballroom for hosting official receptions, one of the biggest projects at the White House in more than a century.
The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Raima Amjad report on how Ice used Marriott hotels to detain immigrants, despite the chain’s 2019 pledge not to cooperate:
A Sheraton hotel in Louisiana has been used by immigration officials to hold people who are being deported, in what appears to be a contradiction of a position Sheraton’s parent company, Marriott, took in 2019 when it said its properties would not be used in cooperation with Ice.
The Intercept first reported that the hotel, located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana, near a major deportation hub and airport used by Ice, had been used by immigration officials earlier this month to hold a father and his teenage son for four days after their arrest in New York. They were then deported to Ecuador. The Intercept cited phone-tracking evidence that had been shared with the publication and was later seen by the Guardian.
The evidence corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told the Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed Ice contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year.
The source added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families.
It is not clear whether Marriott has a formal contract with Ice or what the company knows about Ice’s use of the Sheraton in Alexandria. In one case that emerged last year, Marriott sued a New York-based franchise after the hotel entered a partnership with the city for it to be used as an immigrant shelter, saying it had done so without Marriott’s consent.
Read the full story by Oliver Laughland, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Raima Amjad here:
Secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that the US-Mexico border wall will be painted black at the request of President Donald Trump as an effort to deter immigration into the United States.
Noem, speaking at a news conference at the border wall, said that painting the wall black “will make it even harder for people to climb.”
“Black gets hotter in this weather, and in this heat, and in this sun,” she said. “When you touch something that’s hot during these kinds of temperatures, it’s very difficult to climb it.”
She added that Trump “wants to make it as difficult as possible” for migrants to cross the southern border.
Mike Banks, chief of the US Border Patrol, echoed Noem’s reasons for painting the wall black.
“The black is going to protect the wall from rusting,” Banks said, “and it makes it more difficult to climb.”
The move is the latest step in Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. During his second term, large sections of the border were designated as militarized zones, which allowed US troops to apprehend immigrants and others accused of trespassing on military bases. This shift also enabled additional criminal charges that could carry prison sentences.
The number of attempted illegal crossings has plummeted, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection.
White House launches official TikTok account
The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, joining the social platform with more than 150 million US users. Reuters first reported the move.
“The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Reuters as the site went live.
The first video posted by the White House on TikTok shows a video montage with a Trump voiceover saying: “Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.”
The video was posted at about 5:30pm ET. As I write this post, the account has about 1,400 followers.
Texas Democrats tear up 'permission slips' ahead of map vote
Texas Democrats are tearing up the “permission slips” they signed in order to leave the chamber, joining state representative Nicole Collier ahead of Wednesday’s vote on the controversial Texas congressional redistricting maps.
The slips are part of new surveillance protocols set by Texas Republicans in the House chamber, stating that Democrats would “be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated [Texas department of public safety] officer” who would ensure their return to the chamber.
The move follows a two-week quorum break that had delayed Republicans’ effort to redraw the state’s congressional districts to align with Donald Trump’s push to reshape the US House map in his favor before the 2026 midterm elections.
On Tuesday, Collier chose to remain confined inside the Texas house chamber until lawmakers reconvene on Wednesday, refusing to comply with what she condemned as a “demeaning” protocol.
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US to ‘root out anti-Americanism’ in reviewing immigration applications
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will look for “anti-American” views, including on social media, when assessing the applications of people wanting to live in the United States.
In an announcement, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles requests to stay in the United States or become a citizen, said it would expand vetting of the social media postings of applicants and that “reviews for anti-American activity will be added to that vetting”.
“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” said agency spokesperson Matthew Tragesser. “US Citizenship and Immigration Services is committed to implementing policies and procedures that root out anti-Americanism and supporting the enforcement of rigorous screening and vetting measures to the fullest extent possible. Immigration benefits – including to live and work in the United States – remain a privilege, not a right.”
The US Immigration and Nationality Act, which dates back to 1952, defines anti-Americanism, which at the time primarily focused on communists.
Read the full story here:
Donald Trump called on Texas Republicans in the legislature to pass the new congressional map “as is”, what he called “ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP.”
“With the Texas House now in Quorum, thanks to GREAT Speaker Dustin Burrows, I call on all of my Republican friends in the Legislature to work as fast as they can to get THIS MAP to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk, ASAP,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
In the post, he’s linked a Texas border security map to a push for the congressional map.
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California senator Adam Schiff, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest political opponents, formed a legal defense fund after the president threatened him with federal investigations.
Last week, FBI director Kash Patel declassified and released interview notes from a former House Intelligence Committee staffer. In 2017, the staffer accused Schiff of directing illegal leaks of classified information about Trump and Russia. Federal prosecutors had already investigated these claims during Trump’s first term and questioned the staffer’s credibility.
Still, Trump used the allegations to call on attorney general Pam Bondi to open an investigation into the California Democrat.
“I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it,” Trump said on Wednesday. “It was a hoax created by the Democrats, but in particular, Schiff, crooked Hillary, the whole group.”
The paperwork for the “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund” filed with the Internal Revenue Service is dated 14 August.
National intelligence chief says she has stripped security clearance of 37 current and former security officials
National intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard said Tuesday she has stripped security clearances from 37 current and former national security officials, including some who worked on the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
In a memo posted on X, Gabbard accused the targeted individuals of having engaged in “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”.
This move is the latest act in a series of retributions by the Trump administration against national security officials and political opponents he views as adversaries. In March, Trump revoked security clearances for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and several other Democrats and critics. The order also stripped access from former secretary of state Antony Blinken, former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, New York attorney general Letitia James – who prosecuted Trump for fraud – and Biden’s entire family.
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Here's a recap of the day so far
The US attorney for DC has launched a criminal investigation into the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for allegedly manipulating crime data, according to the Washington Post. It comes as the president repeatedly claims that crime in DC is the “worst its been”, and has accused city officials of issuing fake crime statistics.
In today’s White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt said that there will be “many discussions” with members of Congress when they return from recess about the president’s push to end mail-in ballots and the use of voting machines. She also said that the issue was a “priority” for Trump. A reminder that yesterday the president said that an executive order is being drafted to end mail-in voting. He also repeated baseless claims that the process is “corrupt”. Another reminder, the decision to end mail-in voting, and overhaul the way states conduct their elections is not up to the executive branch.
Also at today’s press briefing, Leavitt confirmed that Trump has ‘definitively’ ruled out American boots on the ground in Ukraine, but the US will help coordinate security guarantees. Leavitt added that Trump has directed his national security team to coordinate with Europe, and continue to discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia. My colleague, Lucy Cambpell, is tracking the latest here.
The White House also confirmed the latest batch of arrest data following the surge in federal law enforcement in DC. There have been over 450 arrests by federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital since 7 August, according to a White House official. The official also said that throughout this period, 68 firearms have been seized, and three known gang members have been arrested – including a MS-13 gang member.
Beyond Washington, Republican lawmakers in California filed an emergency petition with the state supreme court that seeks to block governor Gavin Newsom’s fast-track redistricting effort, designed to counter a redrawn congressional map sought by Donald Trump in Texas. The lawsuit argues that the state legislature is violating California’s constitution by advancing the bills before a required 30-day review period. This comes as Texas Democrats returned to the Austin state capitol this week, with a vote on the GOP-drawn redistricting plan scheduled for Wednesday 20 August.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is urging that children as young as six months and up to 23 months old receive the Covid-19 vaccine – a position that diverges from the current federal guidance given by the Trump administration’s health agencies.
The AAP released its updated childhood immunization schedule, which outlines recommendations for vaccines against Covid-19, influenza and RSV for individuals under 18.
“It differs from recent recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices of the CDC, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation,” the organization said in a statement.
The announcement follows a decision from health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in late May to halt CDC recommendations for healthy children to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Previously, the CDC advised vaccination for everyone six months and older with the latest available dose.
The CDC currently advises that Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged six months through 17 years should be determined through “shared clinical decision-making”.
The AAP recommends vaccination for anyone under 18 who is at higher risk of serious illness from Covid-19, resides in a longterm care or congregate living facility, has not previously been vaccinated, or shares a household with someone at elevated risk.
Trump says attorneys will investigate museums over 'woke' collections
The president announced on Truth Social today that lawyers from the administration will “go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities”, referring to the the ongoing showdown between the White House and many of the countries leading public and private higher education institutions.
The president railed against many of the permanent collections and exhibitions across the country’s museums, declaring them the “last remaining segment of ‘WOKE’”.
He added:
Everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future. We are not going to allow this to happen…We have the “HOTTEST” Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums.
This comes after the White House announced a review of the Smithsonian museums earlier this month – ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding – to ensure that they “reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story”.
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Justice department launches investigation into DC police over allegedly 'manipulated' crime data – report
The US attorney for DC has launched a criminal investigation into the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for allegedly manipulating crime data, the Washington Post is reporting.
This investigation comes after NBC Washington reported that the MPD put police commander Michael Pulliam on leave in May, and began investigating him for allegedly making “questionable” changes to the city’s crime data.
Sources tell the Post that the justice department’s investigation is set to go beyond investigating Pulliam, and examine actions of other local officials.
The president has repeatedly claimed that crime in DC is the “worst its been”, despite a DOJ report that shows a 30-year low in violent crime in the nation’s capital.
Earlier this week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that an investigation was taking place, but did not give any specifics. “D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety. This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do,” he said.
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White House eyeing Budapest for peace talks with Zelenskyy and Putin – report
Leavitt was asked several times about the location of a meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin but wouldn’t divulge anything, refusing to comment on reports about Budapest and that the Kremlin had even suggested Moscow.
Politico is now reporting that the White House is planning for the summit to be held in Budapest, citing a Trump administration official and a person close to the administration.
This would probably be an uncomfortable choice for Zelenskyy given the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is a longtime Putin ally.
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CA Republicans ask state supreme court to block redistricting push
Republican lawmakers in California filed an emergency petition with the state supreme court that seeks to block governor Gavin Newsom’s fast-track redistricting effort designed to counter a redrawn congressional map sought by Donald Trump in Texas.
The Democratic-led California legislature set to work this week advancing a series of bills that they need to pass by the end of the week in order to get the redistricting measure on the ballot in time for a special election this November.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, argues that the state legislature is violating California’s constitution by advancing the bills before a required 30-day review period. Democrats, who hold a supermajority in both legislative chambers, introduced the redistricting bills on Monday and aim to pass them by Thursday.
“Instead of a months-long transparent and participatory process overseen by an independent citizens redistricting commission for such a sensitive matter,” the lawsuit states, “the public would be presented instead with an up-or-down vote on maps unilaterally prepared in secret by the Legislature.”
The Republicans’ case centers on when a bill is officially “introduced” under the state Constitution. In the lawsuit, the Republicans argue that the clock should start on after full legislative text is available, while Democrats say the initial drafts and bill numbers are sufficient to begin the review period. The Republicans also raise concerns about the potential impact of redistricting on Asian American and Hispanic communities, saying the rushed process limits input and debate.
The redistricting fight in California is part of a widening redistricting arms race pitting red and blue states against each other in a battle that was kicked off when Trump asked Texas to redraw its congressional map to help Republicans maintain control of the US House in the midterm elections. Texas Democratic lawmakers fled the state to deny Republicans the quorum necessary to pass their redistricting plan – and used their time to call on other blue states to respond.
After Newsom announced that California would ask voters to temporarily override the state’s independent redistricting commission and approve a US House map that would deliver five additional seats for their party in a tit for tat with Texas, the lawmakers returned to the Austin state capitol this week.
The Republican lawmakers asked the California state supreme court to weigh in by Wednesday.
Leavitt says Trump threat to end mail-in ballots is a 'priority', signals push after Congressional recess
In today’s press briefing Karoline Leavitt says that there will be “many discussions” with members of Congress when they return from recess about the president’s push to end mail-in ballots and the use of voting machines.
Leavitt says that the administration will also be “talking to our friends in state legislatures across the country to ensure that we’re protecting the integrity of the vote for the American people.”
A reminder that, legally, the decision to end mail-in voting, and overhaul the way states conduct their elections is not up to the executive branch. The US constitution gives states the power to regulate the “The Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections. Congress can override those rules by passing federal laws.
Yesterday, the president said that an executive order is “being written right now” to end mail-in voting. Trump repeated baseless claims that the process is “corrupt”.
Today, Leavitt doubles down on Trump’s plans:
I think Republicans generally, and the president generally, wants to make it easier for Americans to vote and harder for people to cheat in our elections. And it’s quite mind boggling that the Democrat party could stand in opposition to common sense. He wants to ensure election integrity…I can assure you, this is a priority for the president.
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In today’s press briefing Karoline Leavitt calls the new nominee for co-deputy director of the FBI, Andrew Bailey, “extremely qualified”.
“He’s been brought on as another set of very credible and experienced hands to work alongside the current deputy director, Dan Bongino”.
Bailey, who currently serves as Missouri’s attorney general, will share the role with Bongino, as the FBI continues to draw headlines over the ongoing case tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bailey said his last day in office will be 8 September. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe will announce his appointment for Bailey’s replacement on Tuesday.
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Leavitt adds that she doesn’t have a timeline for how long the national guard can expect to be mobilised in DC.
She notes that right now there is a meeting between agencies that comprise the taskforce managing the federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital.
The press secretary also repeats the latest statistics from the White House which claim that nearly half of all the non-immigration-related arrests have occurred in Wards Seven and Eight in DC (both of which have high crime rates). She also undermines recent reporting which showed few interactions have been witnessed in the parts of the city with the highest rates of crime.
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White House confirms 'no US boots on the ground in Ukraine'
Leavitt confirms the “president has definitively stated, US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies”.
When asked about the change of plan (moving from a trilateral meeting to a one-on-one meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy first), Leavitt adds: “he [Donald Trump] wants these two countries to engage in direct diplomacy. He said that from the very beginning.”
A reminder that my colleague, Lucy Campbell, is covering the latest developments on Europe, and the war in Ukraine in detail. You can follow along here.
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White House heralds Trump as the 'peace president', disparages media coverage
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt has kicked off the White House briefing. She summarised the last week in foreign policy, and praises Donald Trump as the “peace president”, adding that without the president “this deadlock with Putin would not have been broken. He is the only one who could do this.”
She also quickly criticised the media’s coverage of Trump’s recent moves to end the war in Ukraine.
Diplomacy is a delicate process, and instead of reporting the facts about what is happening here at this White House and what is happening between this President and other leaders around the world, many outlets in this room continue to try to actively undermine the president and sabotage the efforts towards peace.
We’ll hear from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shortly.
She’ll take questions from reporters, and we can expect to hear more about the ongoing negotiations between the US and European allies about security guarantees for Ukraine; the federal takeover of the DC police and the increase in national guard troops from other GOP led states; and the president’s baseless claims undermining mail ballots and voting machines.
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Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10%
Household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, a new report has found, with its authors highlighting the impact of the president’s datacenter boosterism and cuts to clean energy projects as part of the cause.
The analysis comes as the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said he knows rising energy prices could be a political challenge for the GOP ahead of next year’s midterm elections, but claimed Democrats were to blame for the cost increases.
“The momentum of the Obama-Biden policies, for sure that destruction is going to continue in the coming years,” he told Politico in an interview published on Tuesday. “That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who’s going to get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office.”
Trump has repeatedly promised to lower utility bills. And in his Politico interview, Wright insisted that the Trump administration’s war on renewable energy is not inflating electricity costs.
But studies have found that Trump’s pro-fossil fuel, anti-renewable energy policies will raise prices. A July report from climate thinktank Energy Innovation, for instance, found that the Republicans’ spending megabill that the president signed last month could increase wholesale electricity prices by as much as 74%, largely due to its repeal of many Biden-era green energy incentives.
According to the new report from advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on an analysis of data from the US Energy Information Administration, those price increases are already beginning to take hold.
Air Force chief of staff General David Allvin announced yesterday that he plans to retire in the fall, a surprise move just halfway into his four-year term leading the military service, Politico reports.
He didn’t give a specific reason for leaving but, as Politico notes, he is now the fourth US military service chief to depart since Donald Trump took office in January (Trump fired the other three). Allvin’s retirement will mark the shortest tenure of an Air Force chief in over three decades.
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DC residents question troops’ focus on low-crime areas amid Trump takeover
As Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington DC’s police entered its second week, and six states vowed to send hundreds of additional national guard troops to assist the administration, residents questioned why federal agents seem to be largely patrolling high-profile but low-crime parts of the nation’s capital.
The Washington Post has tracked where federal forces are patrolling the city, finding that few interactions have been witnessed in the parts of the city with the highest rates of crime. The White House rejected that claim today, saying that “nearly half of non-immigration related arrests have happened in the most crime-hit areas in DC”, but before today, the White House had been releasing data showing many of their arrests were of undocumented immigrants, and few federal agents have been spotted addressing or responding to violent crime.
Instead, Washingtonians have seen officers from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other offices standing around prominent tourist sites and nightlife corridors, responding to minor disturbances and creating disturbances of their own.
Over the weekend, several military vehicles were seen outside Union Station, positioned next to where passengers find their ride share vehicles. The Department of Defense posted a photo of a tan Humvee outside the train station on X on Saturday and said: “This We’ll Defend.”
Federal agents and vehicles have also been spotted across the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial, where violent crime is virtually nonexistent. Visible confrontations between federal officers and protesters have also occurred along 14th Street, a popular nightlife destination.
Amanda Moore, a Washington-based writer and researcher, wrote on X early on Saturday morning that she witnessed “15 federal agents call an ambulance for a very, very drunk and sick girl” in Dupont Circle, another center of nightlife. Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute thinktank, joked on X, referring to the “department of government efficiency”: “I was wrong about Doge. The federal government is efficient now.”
In the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, which is home to a large Hispanic population, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) shared a video on Sunday of at least seven agents taking down a banner supporting immigrant neighbors from a public park. “Mount Pleasant melts Ice,” the banner read.
After removing it, a masked agent says: “Mine. We’re taking America back baby.” According to a local reporter and a neighbor’s surveillance camera footage, the agents left a dildo in its place. The banner was quickly replaced.
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Missouri attorney general to serve as co-deputy director of FBI
Attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel have tapped Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey to serve as co-deputy director of the bureau alongside Dan Bongino, Fox News reports.
Bondi told Fox News, of Bailey:
He has served as a distinguished state attorney general and is a decorated war veteran, bringing expertise and dedication to service. His leadership and commitment to country will be a tremendous asset as we work together to advance President Trump’s mission.
Three US destroyers will arrive off Venezuela coast as part of effort against drug cartels – report
Three US Aegis guided-missile destroyers will arrive off the coast of Venezuela in the next 36 hours as part of an effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters yesterday.
According to the sources, the ships are the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson.
Earlier this month, the New York Times (paywall) reported that Donald Trump had secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, providing an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels.
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The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, also said today that a potential government stake would not oblige US businesses to purchase Intel chips.
“The last thing we’re going to do is take a stake and then try to drum up business,” he told CNBC. “The stake would be a conversion of the grants and maybe increase the investment into Intel to help stabilize the company for chip production here in the US. There’s no talk of trying to force companies to buy from Intel.”
US pursuing stake in struggling chipmaker Intel, commerce secretary says
The US government is pursuing a stake in Intel, the US commerce secretary said today, confirming reports of discussions between officials and the company that have circulated for the better part of a week.
The Trump administration wants to convert funding from the Chips and Science Act, which funds research and manufacturing of semiconductor chips in the US, into equity in the struggling tech company, according to Howard Lutnick.
Intel was once a leader in producing computer processors, but is now seen as a laggard behind the likes of Nvidia, which last month became the first public company in history to scale a $4tn valuation after a stratospheric stock market rise.
The US commerce secretary criticized the structure of the Chips Act, signed into law in 2022 under Joe Biden, telling the CNBC financial news network:
Why are we giving a company worth $100bn this kind of money? What is in it for the American taxpayer? And the answer Donald Trump has is we should get an equity stake for our money. So we’ll deliver the money which was already committed under the Biden administration, we’ll get equity in return for it.
Shares in Intel rallied 7.5% in New York.
The conversion of the funding would not confer governing rights typical of a company’s largest shareholder to the federal government, according to Lutnick. “It’s not governance, we’re just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity. Non-voting,” he said.
Lutnick did say the goal of the equity stake would be much the same as that of the Chips Act, bluntly stating: “We need to make our own chips here. We cannot rely on Taiwan.”
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Texas house schedules vote for GOP-drawn congressional map for Wednesday
According to the Texas house calendar, a vote on the gerrymandered congressional maps, that led several Democratic lawmakers to break quorum, has been scheduled for Wednesday 20 August.
It’s already attracted the ire of Democrats who say that Texas Republicans have made mid-decade redistricting their priority, and sidelined efforts to provide relief for victims of the July floods that devastated parts of the state.
“They PROMISED flood victims’ families that they would ‘prioritize flooding above all else’,” said Democratic representative John Bucy III. “These special sessions have never been about helping Texans – they’re about helping Trump.”
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The US House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is making the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and her aggressive immigration enforcement tactics squarely in Democrats’ crosshairs for congressional investigation if they flip the House in the midterms.
Speaking on the Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller recently, Jeffries said Noem would be “one of the first people hauled up to Congress shortly after the gavels change hands” to answer for what he called the Department of Homeland Security’s troubling conduct.
“The lack of respect for due process, for the rule of law, the unleashing of masked agents on law-abiding immigrant communities, and the disappearing of people in some instances, to other countries without any real evidence that criminal behavior took place,” the New York representative said, outlining his concerns about Noem’s leadership.
Since taking office, Noem has aided Trump’s mass deportation efforts by unleashing workplace raids and facilitated fast-tracked removals. In her first 200 days as secretary, she announced that approximately 1.6 million undocumented immigrants had left the US, according to DHS data released last week.
In news from the campaign trail today, we have a Democratic challenger to Susan Collins, the long-serving Republican senator from Maine who is up for re-election in 2026.
A reminder that Collins is a noted moderate, and chair of the Senate appropriations committee, who frequently breaks with the party’s base on a number of key issues: voting against repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the recent $9bn rescissions package pushed by the president, and the confirmation of conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court.
Now, Collins is facing a challenge from Democrat Graham Platner – an oyster farmer, a marine veteran, and political unknown. In an advert launching his campaign today, Platner says he has watched as Maine has become “virtually unlivable” for working-class people. He adds that the “enemy is the oligarchy” and “the politicians who sell us out”. Platner calls out Collins’s perceived moderate stance as a “charade” in his launch video. “The difference between Susan Collins and Ted Cruz is that at least Ted Cruz is honest about selling us out and not giving a damn,” Platner says, addressing the camera from a pushboat.
Platner’s bid is considered a long shot in many ways. He’s never held or run for office, compared to Collins’s almost 30 years in the US Senate. And Platner might be at even more of a disadvantage if Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, throws her hat in the ring.
However, Platner is staffing up quickly and conscientiously. He’s hired progressive strategists who have experience “successfully running against establishment-favored Democrats”, according to Politico. This includes Morris Katz, an adviser for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor and media darling.
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As we reported yesterday, when the Texas house achieved quorum, Republican speaker Dustin Burrows announced that any Democrats who had left the state in protest – and for whom civil arrest warrants were issued – will only be given permission to leave the legislature if they agree to have a state trooper assigned to them to make sure they return.
However, representative Nicole Collier, of Fort Worth, refused and remained on the house floor Monday night, as my colleague Matthew Pearce reported earlier.
A short while ago, Collier posted a picture to X, showing her makeshift bedroom while she was locked inside the capitol on Monday night.
Representative Gene Wu, the Texas house minority leader also appeared to be supporting Collier throughout the night. Wu posted a picture of ramen, popcorn and dried fruit to X: “Thank you for all who are watching the @TexasHDC livestream. @NicoleCollier95 & I have snacks,” he wrote.
This was my night, bonnet and all, in the #txlege. #thisisme pic.twitter.com/46YgqbMUk8
— Nicole Collier (@NicoleCollier95) August 19, 2025
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Key event
My colleagues, Jakub Krupa and Matthew Pearce, are tracking the latest developments following the president’s busy day of foreign diplomacy at the White House. A reminder that Trump met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday, along with a cadre of European leaders.
We’re watching out for more details about a possible meeting between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, and more negotiations between the US and European allies about security guarantees for Ukraine.
Just a short while ago, Donald Trump wrapped up a phone interview with Fox News, where he repeated his warning that Putin would face a “rough situation” if he did not cooperate in the peace process.
“I hope President Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation.
“And I hope that Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility.”
Trump also said that while Europeans were “willing to put people on the ground,” the US focus was on air operations.
We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably if you could talk about by air, because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have.”
Follow along for more.
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Trump administration speechwriter linked to hate speech online – report
A speechwriter for the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come under scrutiny after he was linked to hate speech online.
Eric Lendrum compared the circumstances of American conservatives to that of enslaved people and Jewish people in Nazi Germany, and in his podcast claimed that the racist great replacement conspiracy theory was “real”, the news outlet Notus reported.
Notus reported that Lendrum began working at the DHS, which is headed by Kristi Noem, in March this year, after previously working at the Department of the Interior during the first Trump administration. The DHS has been at the forefront of Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigration during his second presidency.
In the gap between his government roles, Lendrum was a frequent online presence, hosting a podcast, posting on X and Telegram, and writing a blog on the website American Greatness. In one post from December 2021, Lendrum defended people who participated in the January 6 insurrection, claiming they faced “persecution for their patriotism”.
“It has been said that the most surefire way to create an authoritarian regime is to completely dehumanize a significant portion of the population, so that their subsequent enslavement by the state will not face any larger resistance,” Lendrum wrote. “It was true during slavery, it was true during the Holocaust, and it is true now.
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More than 450 arrests since surge of federal law enforcement in DC, White House says
There have been over 450 arrests by federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital since 7 August, according to a White House official.
The official says that throughout this period, 68 firearms have been seized, and three known gang members have been arrested – including a MS-13 gang member.
They add that 48 homeless encampments have been cleared, since earlier this month.
On Monday 18 August, the official confirmed to the Guardian that federal officers made 52 arrests.
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Trump approval rating at lowest level of second term – poll
According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, Donald Trump’s approval rating sits at 40% – the lowest level of his second term so far. It’s a seven percentage point drop since his inauguration in January.
The survey – which was conducted over six days in the middle of August – showed that only 42% of respondents approved of the president’s performance on crime, while 43% said he was doing a good job on immigration policy.
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Two more GOP-led states send national guard troops to DC
The Republican governors of Louisiana and Tennessee will send hundreds of their national guard troops to assist federal law enforcement in DC – to help assist the president’s “crime crackdown”.
They join Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina – who have all sent national guard troops to DC.
In a statement, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry announced that he would send 135 troops to assist the president’s “mission of restoring safety and peace in our nation’s capital”. He added that “our capital is a reflection of our nation’s respect, beauty, and standards. We cannot allow our cities to be overcome by violence and lawlessness.”
It’s important to note that New Orleans, Louisiana’s largest city, actually had the second-highest rate of homicide throughout the entire country in 2023 and 2024, according a recent report from Rochester Institute of Technology – which uses FBI and local agency data.
Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, a spokesperson for Tennessee governor Bill Lee said that the governor had granted a request from the Trump administration for the state’s national guard members “to assist with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities, and traffic control”.
This means that six Republican states have now sent national guard troops to the capital. The Trump administration has underscored that soldiers will not be making arrests, but assisting law enforcement and protecting federal buildings.
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Today will be an arguably quieter day for the president – his only agenda item today is a bill signing at 1pm ET. This won’t be open to the press, but we’ll let you know if that changes.
Otherwise, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold a press briefing, also at 1pm ET today.
A federal judge in Miami issued a split decision in a lawsuit over the legal rights of detainees at the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, dismissing part of the suit and also moving the case to a different jurisdiction.
US District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz issued the decision late Monday, writing in a 47-page ruling that claims the detainees at the facility don’t have confidential access to their lawyers or to hearings in immigration court were rendered moot when the Trump administration recently designated the Krome North processing center near Miami as a site for their cases to be heard.
India Walton has a warning message for progressive Democrats during Donald Trump’s second presidency: don’t water down your politics to win over the establishment.
The Democratic socialist who stunned the Democratic establishment by defeating a four-term incumbent mayor in the Buffalo, New York, primary in 2021 believes moderating her leftwing message cost her the general election. It’s a lesson that carries new weight now that Zohran Mamdani secured his own victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary earlier in the summer and inspired thousands of other progressive candidates to also run for office.
After disrupting the political base in the US by beating incumbent mayor Byron Brown in Buffalo’s Democratic primary, she says she pivoted toward the center – and lost.
Read the full story here:
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Victorinox, maker of Swiss army knives, is considering moving part of its production to the US to lessen the impact of import tariffs on its business, the company’s CEO told the Wirtschaftswoche business magazine.
“We are looking into carrying out directly on site individual processing steps at the end of the value chain, such as the final cleaning and packaging of commercial knives,” Carl Elsener said in an interview.
“That would reduce the value of the goods on which we have to pay customs duty by 10% to 15%,” he added.
Switzerland has been particularly hard hit by Washington’s trade policy under president Donald Trump, who earlier this month ratcheted up U.S. tariffs on Swiss imports to 39%.
The US is an important market for Swiss machinery, watches and chocolate.
Victorinox, which makes commercial knives as well as its well known pocket knives, generates 13% of its revenue in the country.
SoftBank has agreed to invest $2bn (£1.5bn) in Intel, amid reports that Donald Trump’s administration is also considering a stake in the struggling US chip maker.
The Japanese technology investor announced the multibillion-dollar deal on Tuesday, in a move expected to give it a 2% stake in the business.
Shares in the chip maker, which is listed in New York, rose by more than 5% in after-hours trading, while shares in the Tokyo-listed SoftBank dropped by about 4%. Intel is valued at more than $100bn.
The US government is reportedly also considering taking a stake in Intel. It could be as high as 10%, according to Bloomberg.
Read the full story here:
Department of Justice to begin handing over Epstein files to Capitol Hill
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has agreed to provide to Congress documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, a key House lawmaker said Monday, announcing a move that appears to avert, at least temporarily, a potential separation of powers clash, AP reports.
The records are to be turned over starting Friday to the House oversight committee, which earlier this month issued a broad subpoena to the justice department about a criminal case that has long captivated public attention, recently roiled the top rungs of Donald Trump’s administration and been a consistent magnet for conspiracy theories.
“There are many records in DoJ’s custody, and it will take the department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,” the Kentucky representative James Comer, the Republican committee chair, said in a statement. “I appreciate the Trump administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.”
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A Florida man who fatally stabbed a friend during an argument in 2022 over Donald Trump’s businesses having gone bankrupt, is facing possibly spending the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of murder.
Donald Jamesbrown Henry, 38, awaits a sentencing hearing tentatively scheduled for October after jurors found him guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the killing of Shawn Popp, whose death came to be regarded by some as an example of the havoc that politics can wreak on interpersonal relationships in the US.
Henry’s conviction, under Florida law, requires him to serve at least 16 years and nine months in prison without the possibility of parole. The state’s maximum punishment for second-degree murder is life imprisonment.
Read the full story here:
Hurricane Erin is forcing evacuations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it threatens to whip up wild waves and tropical force winds. Forecasters say the monster storm will turn away from the eastern U.S. and won’t make landfall, but they predict it will churn up dangerous rip currents along North Carolina’s barrier islands and could swamp roads with waves of up to 15 feet.
Coastal flooding is expected to begin today and continue through Thursday on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Erin was a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds early Tuesday.
Texas Democrats shadowed by law enforcement officers to stop them repeating protests
Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Matthew Pearce and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news over the next few hours.
We begin with news that Texas Democrats who ended a walkout found themselves shadowed by law enforcement officers to keep them from repeating the protest that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts and fulfil President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps.
Republicans in the Texas House forced returning Democrats to sign what the Democrats called “permission slips,” agreeing to around-the-clock surveillance by state department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor. However, Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier, of Fort Worth, refused and remained on the House floor Monday night.
The Democrats’ return to Texas puts the Republican-run Legislature in position to satisfy Trump’s demands, possibly later this week, as California Democrats advance new congressional boundaries in retaliation.
Lawmakers had officers posted outside their Capitol offices, and suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa said one tailed her on her Monday evening drive back to her apartment in Austin after spending much of the day on a couch in her office. She said he went with her for a staff lunch and even down the hallway with her for restroom breaks.
“We were kind of laughing about it, to be honest, but this is really serious stuff,” Plesa said in a telephone interview with Associated Press. “This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and really performative theatre.”
Collier, who represents a minority-majority district, said she would not “sign away my dignity” and allow Republicans to “control my movements and monitor me”.
“I know these maps will harm my constituents,” she said in a statement. “I won’t just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination.”
The tit-for-tat puts the nation’s two most populous states at the center of an expanding fight over control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The battle has rallied Democrats nationally after infighting and frustrations among the party’s voters since Republicans took total control of the federal government in January.
In other developments:
Donald Trump has ruled out a ceasefire in Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies visited the White House to push for US-backed security guarantees as part of any long-term peace deal. The US president, who only last week warned Russia of “very severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin failed to agree to a halt to the fighting, made clear on Monday he had reversed his position. More here.
Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he will step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI. Bailey will share the role with deputy director Dan Bongino, as the FBI continues to draw headlines over the ongoing case tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bailey said his last day in office will be 8 September. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe will announce his appointment for Bailey’s replacement on Tuesday.
Donald Trump on Monday announced that lawyers are drafting an executive order to eliminate mail-in voting, days after Vladimir Putin told him US elections were rigged because of postal ballots. In a White House meeting alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said: “We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail in ballots because they’re corrupt.” More here.
The number of people eating at restaurants in Washington DC has plummeted since Donald Trump deployed federal troops to the city, according to data, as the president’s purported crackdown on crime continues. More here.
