In as we speak’s difficulty:
▪ Turning tides on Israel, Gaza
▪ President raises extra Epstein questions
▪ Booker says Dems ‘complicit’ with Trump
▪ The US-China AI race heats up
The worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza is testing President Trump‘s Center East coverage, because the president faces stress from lawmakers on either side of the aisle and the worldwide neighborhood amid stories of famine within the besieged enclave.
Trump notably disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, acknowledging Monday that “actual hunger” is occurring. A United Nations-affiliated group that tracks food security worldwide this week issued a dire alert confirming a “worst-case” famine situation is unfolding throughout Gaza.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) stated the disaster in Gaza “might be” a political drawback for Trump, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.
“I believe that the American individuals on the finish of the day are a sort individuals. They don’t like seeing struggling, nor do I believe the president does,” Tillis stated. “For those who see hunger, you attempt to repair it.”
Trump informed reporters Tuesday whereas capping his journey to Scotland that he was “making an attempt to get issues straightened out” with Netanyahu and Gaza.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pushed again on the concept the president’s remarks this week characterize a break of their relationship.
“Let me guarantee you that there isn’t a break between the prime minister of Israel and the president,” Huckabee stated Tuesday on Fox News. “Their relationship, I believe, [is] stronger than it’s ever been, and I believe the connection between the U.S. and Israel is as robust because it’s ever been.”
Photos of ravenous kids — and stories of Israeli assaults on civilians lining up for humanitarian help — have led some members of Trump’s base to talk out in regards to the unfolding disaster in Gaza, including to stress on the administration to intervene. Trump has stated the U.S. will associate with Israel to run further meals facilities.
The growing unease amongst some of Trump’s staunchest supporters places a highlight on the administration’s shut ties with Israel and raises further questions on what precisely Trump will do to get help into Gaza. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) and MAGA-friendly podcast host Theo Von are amongst these in Trump’s orbit who’ve expressed alarm on the scenario.
Greene on Tuesday referred to the Israeli marketing campaign in Gaza as “genocide.” Comparable criticism has up to now been confined to the left, the place lecturers and activists in pro-Palestinian areas have accused the Israeli government of “ethnic cleaning.”
The White Home earlier this 12 months cracked down on pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, accusing faculties of enabling antisemitism and pledging to display screen international students’ social media accounts for anti-Israel sentiment of their visa functions.
The U.N. estimates almost 1 in 3 individuals in Gaza are going with out meals for days at a time. A minimum of 24 kids youthful than 5 have died from hunger-related causes in July, based on the World Well being Group.
“Fast, unimpeded” humanitarian entry into Gaza is the one strategy to cease quickly rising “hunger and dying,” the main worldwide authority on meals disaster stated this week.
▪The Hill: U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Tuesday his nation will acknowledge a Palestinian state in September if Israel doesn’t comply with a ceasefire in Gaza.
▪ Bloomberg News: Netanyahu and Trump criticized Starmer’s pledge to acknowledge the state of Palestine, saying it could reward Hamas.
▪NPR: His title is Mohammad Al-Motawaq. He’s 18 months outdated. And he’s ravenous in Gaza.
▪The Atlantic: The discount behind Gaza’s disaster.
A brand new Gallup poll measures Individuals’ approval of Israel’s army motion in Gaza at 32 p.c, the bottom level recorded because the query was first requested in November 2023. Whereas a majority of surveyed Republicans approve of Israel’s army actions in Gaza, the large divergence amongst political events is considered as threatening the longstanding bipartisan assist for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Democrats are stepping up stress on the administration whereas criticizing Netanyahu’s largely passive stance in response to the unfolding disaster in Gaza. A group of 40 Democrats wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and particular envoy Steve Witkoff urging the Trump administration to switch the Gaza Humanitarian Basis, an American non-profit established to ship meals help, and work with skilled multilateral teams.
Progressives have been probably the most important of Israel’s conduct in its warfare in opposition to Hamas, which adopted the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror assaults. Twenty-one months later, Israeli hostages stay in Gaza and the death toll of Palestinians within the enclave has eclipsed 60,000.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) broke with many Democrats on Monday when he introduced he wouldn’t assist any further help to Israel till the humanitarian disaster is addressed in a significant approach. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) is warning that Netanyahu has finished “irreparable harm” to Israel’s relationship with Democrats.
▪ The Hill: A bunch of outstanding Jewish Democrats, together with Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.), are main an effort to press the Trump administration to safe a ceasefire settlement in Gaza.
King warned that Israel’s harsh ways in Gaza are “disastrous” for its assist amongst world leaders and its standing amongst Individuals.
“They’re shedding the assist of a complete technology of Individuals. These younger people who find themselves protesting 10 or 15 years from now are going to be in Congress. It’s a self-inflicted wound, it’s pointless,” King said in a statement, including he thinks this sentiment is shared by colleagues on either side of the aisle.
“I believe all people is anxious about this,” he stated. “The president made a reasonably easy assertion.”
Sensible Take with Blake Burman
Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is gaining national attention after showing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, with Rogan at one level even suggesting a presidential run for the 36-year-old from Austin. Nevertheless, a run for Senate is what may come subsequent.
Talarico told me he’ll decide quickly, after Texas’s legislative session ends in August.
“I’m wanting on the U.S. Senate seat, and so I’m hoping to concentrate on that after I get by way of my present job,” Talarico stated.
Turning Texas blue is a dream for Democrats. It feels like we’ll know later this summer season if former Rep. Colin Allred (D), who misplaced to Sen. Ted Cruz (R) final cycle and is working once more, has a brand new main challenger or not.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 Issues to Know At the moment
- Hawaii got here away largely unscathed after an overnight tsunami warning prompted evacuations following an enormous 8.8-magnitude earthquake within the Pacific. President Trump urged people within the affected areas to “STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!”
- Extra particulars are rising in regards to the gunman who killed four people, together with a New York Metropolis police officer, in a capturing at a Manhattan workplace constructing on Monday.
- The Meals and Drug Administration’s high vaccine and gene remedy regulator was ousted Tuesday. Vinay Prasad, who had been within the position since Could, was a outstanding critic of pandemic-era vaccine coverage.
Main the Day
TRUMP TALKS EPSTEIN: The president offered new details — and raised extra questions — about his historical past with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein when he informed reporters aboard Air Pressure One on Tuesday that the disgraced financier “stole” staff from the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and that’s what led to their falling-out years in the past.
“Individuals had been taken out of the spa employed by him … once I heard about it, I informed him, I stated, ‘Hear, we do not need you taking our individuals, whether or not it was spa or not spa. I do not need you taking individuals,’” Trump stated. “After which not too lengthy after that, he did it once more. And I stated, ‘Out of right here.’”
The administration has confronted weeks of mounting stress to supply extra details about the Epstein case, which has lengthy been the topic of conspiracy theories. The DOJ and FBI’s insistence earlier this month that Epstein died by suicide and saved no “consumer record” has fallen flat amongst a lot of Trump’s supporters whereas Democrats additionally demand extra information.
Trump’s tempest revelations come because the Justice Division (DOJ) and members of Congress have sought more information from Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and confederate Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s serving 20 years behind bars for her position within the intercourse trafficking scheme.
Maxwell’s legal professional has stated she would solely converse with the GOP-led Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee if granted immunity for her testimony, an concept the panel swiftly rejected Tuesday.
▪ ABC News: Trump says Epstein ‘stole’ Virginia Giuffre and different younger girls from Mar-a-Lago spa.
▪ The Hill: Trump says Wall Road Journal needs to settle defamation lawsuit.
FED UP: The Federal Reserve will set interest rates Wednesday and is predicted to maintain charges regular, following an aggressive stress marketing campaign from Trump to decrease charges. Up subsequent: The tempest inflation figures come out Thursday, and the July jobs report will come out Friday.
HELPING HANDOUT: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) needs to give $600 “tariff rebates” to virtually all Individuals and their dependent kids — a proposal that would translate to a $2,400 enhance for a household of 4. However Hawley insists it’s not aimed toward relieving Individuals from Trump’s tariffs — it’s about former President Biden.
“Individuals deserve a tax rebate after 4 years of Biden insurance policies which have devastated households’ financial savings and livelihoods,” Hawley stated in an announcement. “Like President Trump proposed, my laws would enable hard-working Individuals to learn from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this nation.”
The Trump administration’s dramatic tariff hikes this 12 months have generated almost $130 billion in federal income, which is able to develop by the top of the 12 months — relying on the place charges stick because the administration tries to hash out offers with further nations.
ON THOSE TRADE DEALS: The clock is ticking on Trump’s Friday deadline for nations to achieve agreements or face the hefty “reciprocal tariff” charges the White Home rolled out, after which delayed, earlier this 12 months.
“I believe the commerce offers are understanding properly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Pressure One on Tuesday throughout his return from Scotland. “Hopefully, for everyone, however for america, they’re very, superb.”
CHINA: U.S. and Chinese language negotiators left their latest meeting with out finalizing an settlement to increase a brief tariff truce previous Aug. 12, however Trump denied reports that he’s searching for a one-on-one with Chinese language President Xi Jinping to work out a take care of Beijing.
“The Pretend Information is reporting that I’m SEEKING a ‘Summit’ with President Xi of China. This isn’t right, I’m not SEEKING something!” Trump posted to Truth Social. “I’ll go to China, however it could solely be on the invitation of President Xi, which has been prolonged. In any other case, no curiosity! Thanks in your consideration to this matter.”
INDIA: Whereas speaking to reporters on Air Pressure One, the president warned that tariffs on India may go as excessive as 25 p.c.
“India has charged mainly extra tariffs than virtually some other nation. You recognize that, proper? Through the years,” Trump stated. “However now I am in cost, and also you simply cannot do this.”
▪ Axios: The worldwide financial system is surviving Trump’s commerce wars with stronger-than-expected development, based on the Worldwide Financial Fund.
▪ The Associated Press: Employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies final month, an indication that the American job market continues to chill.
▪ The New York Times: The president’s imaginative and prescient for reshaping world commerce is falling into place, however he’s embarking on an experiment that economists say may nonetheless produce damaging outcomes.
The place and When
- The president will take part in a invoice signing ceremony within the Roosevelt Room at 1:30 p.m. At 4 p.m., he’ll discuss “Making Well being Expertise Nice Once more” within the East Room.
- The Senate will convene at 10 a.m.
- The Home is in recess and resumes work in Washington on Sept. 2.
Zoom In
APPROPRIATIONS RACE: Senate Republicans are shifting swiftly to clear key hurdles to be able to cross the primary tranche of spending payments by the beginning of the August recess and get the ball shifting towards avoiding a authorities shutdown in two months.
The Hill’s Al Weaver and Aris Folley write that appropriators are crafting a three-bill package deal that covers full-year funding for the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Justice, the Meals and Drug Administration, rural improvement, army building and science companies — a choice that got here after a lot hemming and hawing throughout the chamber.
Republicans took a serious step on Tuesday by clearing two key holds on the package deal, giving them a transparent path on their aspect as they await phrase from Democrats in what they hope will sustain a bipartisan effort to get the measure throughout the end line within the coming days.
“[We] have primarily resolved the holds that should do with appropriations,” Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) informed reporters, lauding the “nice progress.”
WHISTLEBLOWER: The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, launching Trump’s former personal lawyer to a lifetime appointment on the bench amid a sequence of whistleblower complaints about his conduct. His nomination was confirmed with a 50-49 vote, with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Collins crossing the aisle to affix all Democrats in opposing his nomination.
“They reward a person, credibly accused of desirous to deceive judges, with a black gown and gavel of his personal,” Schumer stated on the ground after the vote. “And so they’re confirming him for one cause solely: Mr. Bove is loyal to Donald Trump, due to this fact Donald Trump needs him on the bench. The calculus is so simple as that.”
Bove, at the moment within the No. 3 position on the Justice Division, is the topic of three totally different complaints in latest weeks, with two alleging he recommended violating court docket orders and a 3rd saying he reportedly misled Congress on the dropping of bribery expenses in opposition to New York Mayor Eric Adams (D).
▪ The Hill: Democrats on the Senate Well being Committee launched an investigation on Tuesday into Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s firing of all members of a Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel.
▪ The Hill: The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Susan Monarez, a longtime authorities scientist, to steer the CDC.
FLOOR FIGHT: Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) blew up at fellow Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) in a heated back-and-forth on the Senate floor Tuesday, accusing members of his get together of being “prepared to be complicit” with Trump.
Booker, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, stated the Democratic Get together wants a “wake-up name” and that some colleagues who’re elected to defend the Structure are prepared to “look the opposite approach” and let some blue states endure so long as their states don’t get dinged as properly.
CAMPAIGN: Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) referred to as it a “five-alarm fireplace.” As Texas Republicans transfer ahead with a extremely uncommon plan to redraw congressional traces in the midst of the last decade, Lone Star State Democrats see it as an effort to shut them out of federal power.
There’s clear precedent: A questionably authorized marketing campaign of mid-decade redistricting in 2003 is a giant a part of the rationale why Texas’s state authorities is each totally pink and its politics so completely polarized. GOP efforts that 12 months shifted Texas’ congressional delegation from a strong Democratic majority to at least one that has been 2-to-1 Republican ever since.
Now as Democrats make good points in previously Republican suburbs, the state GOP — with a robust push from Trump — is racing to lock of their dominance by destroying not less than 4 or 5 Democratic districts.
▪ The Hill: Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) Senate marketing campaign introduced it raised greater than $3.4 million within the 24 hours since launching Monday.
▪ CNN: Cooper gave Democrats a high Senate recruit in North Carolina. Now they’re looking for extra.
▪ The 19th: Michigan has been a pipeline for girls in energy. Will that proceed in 2026?
Elsewhere
TECHY SUBJECTS: Synthetic intelligence (AI) may change into extra prevalent in faculties, however questions stay about the most effective methods to encourage college students’ use of the highly effective expertise. Trump unveiled a number of AI plans, together with for Ok-12 faculties, final week — a transfer advocates say may both be a turning level or fleeting fascination.
The Hill’s Lexi Lonas Cochran reports that the subsequent steps will rely upon non-public market buy-in, addressing moral and information issues and guaranteeing educators have the right coaching with AI.
“That is actually the primary time the U.S. authorities has explicitly positioned AI schooling as a nationwide safety difficulty, and it’s actually a very long time coming,” stated Alex Kotran, co-founder and CEO of the AI Training Undertaking.
Kotran famous that China — not the U.S. — has been main AI in schooling since 2017.
HOW THE WHITE HOUSE SEES IT: The Trump administration’s view that the U.S. is locked in a fierce battle with China over AI dominance has permeated the administration’s main insurance policies on the highly effective expertise.
“The USA is in a race to attain world dominance in synthetic intelligence,” an introduction to the plan from a number of key Trump officers reads. “Whoever has the most important AI ecosystem will set world AI requirements and reap broad financial and army advantages.”
▪ The Wall Street Journal: AI Is wrecking an already fragile job marketplace for faculty graduates.
▪ TechCrunch: OpenAI launches Research Mode in ChatGPT.
▪ The New York Post: 21 states warn JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, BlackRock’s Larry Fink to scrap ‘woke’ environmental targets.
Opinion
- The Trump presidency takes a greater flip, by columnist Bret Stephens, The New York Times.
- Hamas won’t ever give up, by columnist William A. Galston, The Wall Street Journal.
The Nearer
And eventually … 🌎 It’s a chook, it’s a airplane — it’s a brand new radar satellite tv for pc, constructed by NASA and India’s area company!
The NASA-ISRO Aperture Radar mission, or NISAR, set to launch this morning, will take flight from Satish Dhawan Area Heart on India’s southeastern coast. The satellite tv for pc’s mission? To exactly map almost all of Earth’s land and ice areas, right down to the inch.
As a result of NISAR makes use of radar alerts, it might probably sense deformations in Earth’s floor and will present early warning of impending pure disasters — together with volcanic eruptions and landslides. The satellite tv for pc may even observe ice sheets and flood zones, serving to rescue groups in impacted areas.