Donald Trump held his first coronavirus press briefing in months as cases continued to surge across the United States, with 31 states now on travel advisories from New York.
While the president said the pandemic would get worse before it gets better and discussed updates on vaccines, unemployment insurance, testing platforms and masks, he took a surprising detour into the world of Jeffrey Epstein.
When asked about whether he thought Epstein's alleged collaborator would give up powerful men like Prince Andrew, Trump said he wished Ghislaine Maxwell "well". Twitter lost its collective mind.
Facebook, meanwhile, labelled posts from both Trump and Joe Biden as Mark Zuckerberg said there is "no deal" to allow the president to post unimpeded.
While attention has been refocusing on the resurgence of coronavirus, the president spent the morning tweeting about the stock market and the potential for mail-in voting fraud.
Trump signed an executive order targeting undocumented immigrants, excluding them from the US census. The move would help the redrawing of congressional districts in Republican's favour ahead of the upcoming election.
The administration defended sending federal troops to cities that remain in the throes of violence, but continues to stay silent on what, exactly, their mission is.
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Mask-wearing is patriotic, says Trump
After weeks of refusing to wear a face covering in public, Donald Trump has posted to Twitter a black-and-white photo of himself wearing a mask and encouraged Americans to do the same as the nation's coronavirus death toll tops more than 140,000, writes Alex Woodward.
The president – calling Covid-19 "the Invisible China Virus" – said that "many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance."
Pompeo in UK to meet Boris Johnson
Mike Pompeo is in London today, meeting Boris Johnson and the UK's foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.
They will discuss coronavirus and "shared security challenges", the secretary of state said in a tweet.
The big news in the UK today is the release of a governmental report into potential Russian election meddling, so that will probably come up.
Britain's recent decision to boot Huawei out of its 5G infrastructure will likely also be discussed - that will have been music to Mr Pompeo's ears, following his intense lobbying campaign against the Chinese firm.
China will be high on the agenda when Mr Pompeo meets the British leaders. Beijing has warned the UK today that it will "bear the consequences" of a decision to suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following the imposition of China's so-called "national security" law.
Trump pushes back on funding for tests
Donald Trump is pushing back on Mitch McConnell's plan to provide $25bn (£20bn) for coronavirus testing in his new trillion-dollar stimulus package, because he wants the Senate leader to include a large payroll tax cut.
At a White House meeting on Monday, the president said he wanted a full payroll tax repeal, according to a Republican who was present.
GOP leaders indicated only a partial repeal would be included in the coming bill.
Easing the payroll tax is dividing Mr Trump's party because it is used to finance social security and Medicare, and is already being deferred for employers under the previous virus relief package.
Supporters say cutting it now for employees would put money in people's pockets and stimulate the economy, but detractors warn it would do little for out-of-work Americans and add to the nation's rising debt.
Mr McConnell is trying to keep the bill's total price tag at $1 trillion.
Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, has said he expects the bill to pass by the end of the month.
Trump advisers are set to meet with Democrats today to discuss the new stimulus plan.
Trump resumes Covid-19 briefings
Donald Trump will resume his White House coronavirus press briefings, which he stopped in April, as the nation's infections surge past 3.7 million and deaths top more than 140,000, writes Alex Woodward.
The president announced that a briefing had been tentatively scheduled for 5pm on Tuesday, as he hailed the television ratings that he received for his previous ones.
"We had a lot of people watching ... in the history of cable television, there's never been anything like it," he said.
Cohen demands to be freed from prison
Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has demanded to be freed after he was taken back to prison.
Cohen, who in 2018 admitted campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, allegedly breached the terms of his house arrest after being released from jail initially.
The 53-year-old was taken to a federal jail on 9 July after refusing to agree to a gag order as a condition for serving his criminal sentence under home confinement, according to his lawyer.
Now, his lawyers say his first amendment rights have been violated because he had announced he was planning to publish a book about his dealings with Mr Trump - joining a long line of others in the president's orbit - before the November election.
Cohen's book, which he started writing after his conviction, describes his experiences with Mr Trump and addresses matters of "national concern and intense public interest", his attorneys said.
The American Civil Liberties Union and law firm Perry Guha LLP have joined the petition for Cohen to be freed from prison.
Biden says four black women in running for Democratic ticket
Joe Biden has said he has four black women under consideration as potential running mates for his presidential bid, writes Gino Spocchia.
In an MSNBC interview on Monday night, the presumptive Democratic nominee made his most detailed comments to date on the process to select a vice presidential candidate.
While he declined to name any of the four, Mr Biden told host Joy Reid that he was getting a “two-hour vetting report” on the contenders.
US Navy holds joint exercise with India
Indian naval vessels held joint exercises with the USS Nimitz in the Indian Ocean, the US Navy has said.
India's relations with China have been strained following a deadly clash on their disputed land border last month, prompting calls for closer security ties with the United States and its allies including Japan to balance regional security.
Rear Admiral Jim Kirk, commander of the Nimitz carrier strike group, said in a statement that Monday's drills helped improve interoperability of the two forces.
They were carried out near India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, near the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest shipping routes for trade and fuel, an Indian source said.
Later this year, India will host joint naval exercises with the US and Japan in the Bay of Bengal. Australia may also join.
China has previously opposed such multilateral exercises in the region.
'No special deal with Trump,' says Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said there is “no deal” between him and president Donald Trump, writes Andrew Griffin.
Facebook has seen a growing boycott from brands that argue the company has not done enough to tackle hate speech on its platform.
For many, this includes Facebook’s decision to allow Mr Trump’s to post unimpeded, in contrast to Twitter, which has added labels to the president’s tweets.
Trump appears at fundraiser without mask
Trump administration imposes sanctions on Chinese companies
The US has brought trade sanctions against 11 Chinese firms that are allegedly complicit in human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province, writes Gino Spocchia.
The announcement on Monday brings more pressure on Beijing over the situation in the north-west of the country, where an estimated one million Uighurs are thought to have been detained.
The companies will be banned from buying US goods and technology.
Wilbur Ross, the US secretary of commerce, said in a statement: "This action will ensure that our goods and technologies are not used in the Chinese Communist Party's despicable offensive against defenceless Muslim minority populations."
Biden to unveil caregiving proposal to boost economy
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will on Tuesday detail his plan to help Americans return to work by making childcare more affordable and care for the elderly more accessible.
Mr Biden, who will face Donald Trump in November's election, is set to announce the measures at a campaign event in New Castle, Delaware.
As part of the plan, all 3-year-old and 4-year-old children will be able to access free pre-school and 3 million jobs in the healthcare and education sectors will be created.
The proposal will cost $775 billion over a decade and will be funded by tightening tax enforcement and by rolling back tax breaks for real estate investors.
Fox News analyst calls Trump's use of federal forces in Portland 'unconstitutional'
An analyst for Fox News has said that the Trump administration's decision to send federal forces into Portland to stop protests there was unconstitutional, writes Andrew Naughtie.
Andrew Napolitano, a judicial analyst for the news outlet, added that the actions in the city over the weekend were "just plain wrong".
His comments came amid growing anger about camouflage-clothed troops arresting people in Portland without explanation.
Ted Wheeler, the mayor of the city, has complained about the federal government's actions, saying that the troops have made the situation worse.
Trump says US is 'doing very well' in string of coronavirus tweets
Donald Trump has said that his country is coping well with the pandemic in a series of unlinked tweets on Tuesday morning.
The president wrote in one message that the US was "doing very well", while other countries were "suffering greatly" from the pandemic.
In another of the five tweets he posted in quick succession on Tuesday, Mr Trump also claimed that good progress was being made on "vaccines and therapeutics".
As well as writing about Covid-19, he criticised sports stars who take the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Florida teacher union sues officials over forced return to school
Florida's largest teachers union has sued state officials for ordering a return to in-person schooling, writes Matt Zapotosky.
The move came two weeks after Mr Trump tweeted that all schools must open in the autumn.
The law suit brought by the Florida Education Association on Monday asked the judge to prevent the state governor and the education commissioner requiring students to return to school without first reducing class sizes and guaranteeing protective supplies for educators.
Covid-19 deaths in US increase for second consecutive week
The US coronavirus death toll has risen for a second week in a row, with more than 5,200 people dying from the virus in the seven days up to 19 July, according to Reuters.
This figure is 5 per cent higher than the number of fatalities from Covid-19 during the previous week.
The country reported more than 460,000 coronavirus cases last week, almost 15 per cent more than the number of infections recorded two weeks ago.
Across the country, 8.5 per cent of tests came back positive in the week up to 19 July, well above the 5 per cent level which the World Health Organization considers worrying.
Trump mingles without mask after promoting them as 'patriotic'
A video taken at a congressional candidate's fundraiser shows Donald Trump and other senior Republicans in close proximity without masks, writes Andrew Naughtie.
The event, which was held at the Trump International Hotel near the White House, was a fundraiser for Madison Cawthorn, a congressional candidate in North Carolina.
The footage shows South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and Mr Cawthorn also not wearing face coverings.
On Monday, the president described mask as "patriotic" when social distancing was not possible.
Pentagon chief plans to visit China this year amid tensions
The US defence secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that he hoped to visit China by the end of the year to discuss matters of shared interest.
"Before the year is out, I hope to visit the PRC [People's Republic of China] for the first time as secretary in order to enhance cooperation on areas of common interest, establish the systems necessary for crisis communications and reinforce our intentions to openly compete in the international system," he said.
Mr Esper made the remarks while also condemning Chinese maritime activity in the South China Sea.
Kanye West posts rambling tweets day after launching presidential campaign
Rapper Kanye West wrote a series of tweets late on Monday in which he claimed his wife wanted to lock him up on medical grounds and he compared himself to Nelson Mandela.
The messages, which were largely deleted a few hours later, came the day after he launched his bid for the US presidency at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina.
West, 43, a former supporter of Donald Trump, has confused voters with the move, with some suggesting that it is merely for publicity.
Last month, entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted his support for the rapper's presidency bid.
Pompeo discusses 5G with Johnson
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo discussed 5G telecommunications with British prime minister Boris Johnson during a meeting in London on Tuesday, a week after the Chinese firm Huawei were banned from the UK's 5G network.
The pair had a "candid discussion on issues ranging from 5G telecommunication to our negotiations for a U.S.-UK free trade agreement," according to a tweet posted by Mr Pompeo.
Their meeting came amid growing tensions between both countries and China, after Washington and London criticised Beijing for the new national security law it imposed on Hong Kong last month.
Democrat leader calls for details on Republican Covid-19 bill
Chuck Schumer, the senate minority leader, has called on the Republicans to release a detailed plan of its coronavirus legislation.
Mr Schumer's comments came shortly before lawmakers and Trump administration officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
The Democratic leader told CNN: "The Republicans don't seem to have their own act together. It's hard to negotiate when the president says one thing, Senate Republicans say another and many of them are divided."
"We hope they're going to be unified and present something to us, present something to us in detail," he added.
