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Trump's presidential paywall Data: Financial Modeling Prep, Binance. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals For years, Truth Social was President Trump's money-losing megaphone. Now his company is charging Wall Street clients up to $1.2 million a year for a license giving a split-second edge on posts that can — and frequently do — jolt global markets, Axios' Dan Primack and Zachary Basu write. Why it matters: Trump has transformed his second term into the most lucrative venture of his entire career, raking in more than $2.2 billion in 2025 from his family crypto empire, legal settlements and various licensing deals. Truth API, as the data feed is branded, is the logical endpoint of that profiteering: the presidency's unrivaled power to move markets, packaged and sold as a subscription. 🔎 Zoom in: The product offered a live demonstration of its value almost immediately (charted above). Hours after Truth API launched, Trump announced he'd canceled massive planned strikes on Iran. Oil prices fell nearly 5% when markets reopened. A March 23 post postponing strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure sent Brent crude tumbling nearly 11%. Trump's March 2025 announcement of a U.S. crypto reserve drove XRP up 27% and added roughly $300 billion to the global crypto market. His threat last October to impose massive new tariffs on China sent the S&P 500 down 2.7%. 🔄 How it works: The real-time feed from Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) went live Saturday, delivering Truth Social posts directly to institutional clients in milliseconds. A source familiar with the matter tells Axios that access to the platform's 10 top-trending accounts costs $60,000 to $100,000 per month. Customers seeking a broader range of accounts could pay more. At least five high-frequency trading firms have signed up, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump Media says customers also include financial news organizations. 💸 Follow the money: Trump Media is publicly traded, with Trump as its dominant shareholder. He is the sole beneficiary of a revocable trust that owns 41.5% of the company. Donald Trump Jr., the trust's sole trustee, controls the shares. Trump Media generated just $871,000 in revenue during the first quarter of 2026 and $3.68 million in all of 2025. Its shares have risen 7% since the eve of the API announcement, adding nearly $77 million to the paper value of Trump's stake. Between the lines: Customers are buying a fractions-of-a-second advantage. Truth API gives trading algorithms a direct, machine-readable feed they can act on before most investors receive a push alert or refresh their screens. 🥊 Reality check: TMTG says the posts are already public when they reach the API. What the company sells is the latency gap — the brief interval between publication and widespread awareness. The company explicitly markets the service to firms for which "the cost of a delay in information" is highest. A TMTG spokesperson told Axios: "Senate and House Democrats continue to mischaracterize Truth API either out of ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and nonpublic information."

THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 4 1944 Anne Frank captured 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family are captured hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1873 Colonel Custer and 7th Cavalry clash with Indians Arts & Entertainment 2006 “Talladega Nights” released in theaters Black History 1964 Slain civil rights workers found Colonial America 1753 George Washington becomes a Master Mason Crime 1892 Lizzie Borden’s parents found dead 2019 Dayton, Ohio shooting becomes second mass shooting in 24-hour period Exploration 1784 Russians begin to settle Alaska Immigration 1942 U.S. and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement Sports 1936 Jesse Owens wins long jump—and respect—in Germany 2012 Oscar Pistorius becomes the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympics U.S. Government and Politics 1790 Alexander Hamilton creates Coast Guard to intercept smugglers World War I 1914 U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I

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Antarctic Time Capsule A study published yesterday reveals a rich community of microorganisms living in the water flowing through Antarctica’s Blood Falls, suggesting the crimson waterfall may have ancient marine origins. See images. Genetic analysis of roughly 167 water, sediment, and air samples suggests that the newly discovered microbes belong to organism groups commonly found in the ocean. They are likely descendants of a marine community that became trapped beneath the Taylor Glacier when seawater flooded a valley millions of years ago. The trapped seawater appears to have formed a hypersaline brine with a lower freezing point, allowing the microbes to survive as Antarctica grew increasingly cold. Scientists believe the microbes have remained isolated and relatively unchanged since the flood, providing a rare glimpse into life before the modern Antarctic ice sheet. Prior research found that the waterfall's color comes from iron in the brine, which rusts when it comes into contact with oxygen (w/video).

Whale Song and Dance Male humpback whales appear to synchronize different parts of their songs with specific stages of their dives, according to research published yesterday. The findings offer the first evidence linking underwater movements to the structure of the elaborate courtship songs males sing during breeding season. Researchers attached temporary sound-and-motion tags to 16 humpback whales off Maui between 2018 and 2024, tracking both their dives and vocalizations. The whales repeated distinct song "themes" during specific phases of a dive, with some singing continuously for up to 16 hours (hear the songs, w/video). Scientists believe some themes evolved to attract mates, while others reflect physical constraints such as oxygen consumption and buoyancy. The findings could help researchers infer a whale's depth and behavior from acoustic recordings alone. Whale songs are among the few animal vocalizations passed down culturally rather than genetically, with new songs spreading across ocean populations. Could humans one day communicate with whales? Explore the idea (w/video).

Michigan Primary Matchup Michigan voters head to the polls today for statewide races, including the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in US history. The winner will face Republican Mike Rogers in November for the seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). More than $60M has been spent on the Democratic primary, with pro-Israel lobby AIPAC directing nearly $30M to support four-term Rep. Haley Stevens (D, MI-11). Stevens has highlighted her work on former President Barack Obama’s recession-era bailout for Detroit's automobile industry. She faces Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit public health official who emphasizes a progressive agenda, including Medicare for All. The race is largely seen as a referendum on Israel; a recent poll found nearly 60% of Democrats, including El-Sayed, believe the party is too supportive of the country. The latest polls largely show El-Sayed leading Stevens. A recent poll found El-Sayed trailing Rogers by 10 points, and a closer race between Rogers and Stevens.

Mount Rushmore cost less than one million dollars to construct. It took 14 years to build, from 1927 to 1941, and took 400 workers. James

Authorities arrest arson suspect in connection with one of the devastating Spokane wildfires SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Monday arrested a 37-year-old man they suspect of starting one of the devastating wildfires tearing through eastern Washington state as many residents were left wondering if their homes had survived. https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-spokane-washington-evacuate-8e42b37783bda01e7d004d71e546458e?

What is the unemployment rate in the US right now? Unemployment was at 4.2% in June 2026. That's a 0.1 percentage point decrease from the prior month. The unemployment rate is the percentage of people in the labor force who are actively looking for work but not currently employed. It's a common way to measure the health of the job market and economy. https://usafacts.org/answers/what-is-the-unemployment-rate/country/united-states/? Which US cities have the largest homeless populations? In 2025, over a quarter of people experiencing homelessness in the US were concentrated in two major cities: New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA. https://usafacts.org/articles/which-cities-in-the-us-have-the-most-homelessness/? One last fact In 2023, the largest share of government transportation and water infrastructure spending was for the nation’s highways ($249.16 billion). Water utilities came in second ($172.84 billion), followed by mass transit and rail ($99.21 billion).  Why are water utilities including and transportation spending measured together? That’s because they’re both basic infrastructure subcategories and are mainly funded through the public sector. Both involve large, long-lived physical assets managed largely by governments, so they use similar methods to measure the infrastructure’s value and how it depreciates over time.

👋 Good morning! Welcome back. In today's edition: Dodgers add Skubal, FIFA plan axed, college sports legislation, Aaron Donald buzz building, Women's Pro Baseball begins, Red Sox on fire, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚽️ FIFA fallout: FIFA president Gianni Infantino's controversial plan to allow private investors to buy a stake in the World Cup is dead on arrival, and the backlash has been so severe that it could ultimately result in Infantino being ousted from his post. 🎙️ Romo placed on leave: CBS Sports has placed Tony Romo on leave "until further notice" following his recent arrest for a suspected OWI (operating while intoxicated). With Romo on leave, JJ Watt will take his place in the booth alongside Jim Nantz. ⛳️ Kuwaki wins first major: Japan's Shiho Kuwaki bested Germany's Esther Henseleit in a playoff to win the Women's British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, capturing not only her first major championship but her first LPGA Tour title of any kind. 🏈 Clowney returns to Houston: Jadeveon Clowney is signing a one-year deal with the Texans, reuniting the pass rusher with the team that selected him No. 1 overall in 2014. Clowney, who tallied 8.5 sacks last year in Dallas, joins a defense that allowed the fewest yards in the NFL last season. 🏀 Phoenix adds Plum: The Los Angeles Sparks shipped Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury ahead of Sunday's WNBA trade deadline, making the five-time All-Star the highest-scoring player (23.9 ppg) ever traded midseason.   ⚾️ TRADE DEADLINE THE RICH, ONCE AGAIN, GET RICHER (Yahoo Sports) Baseball's unapologetic behemoth got even more imposing, infuriating and inevitable late Saturday night. Tarik Skubal, he of the back-to-back AL Cy Young awards, is now a Los Angeles Dodger. The rich, once again, have gotten richer, writes Yahoo Sports' Jake Mintz. The trade: All it took for the Dodgers to acquire the deadline's top prize was three prospects, and none inside their top four — a luxury granted by the fact that they simultaneously have MLB's best team and its best farm system. Detroit gets Double-A OF Zyhir Hope (L.A.'s No. 5 prospect), Triple-A RHP River Ryan (No. 7) and High-A RHP Brady Smith (No. 17). Los Angeles gets two months (plus the postseason) of arguably the best pitcher in the sport, as well as first dibs at signing him to a long-term deal. Embarrassment of riches: With Skubal and Shohei Ohtani in the fold, the 2026 Dodgers are now the first team with both a reigning MVP and a reigning Cy Young since the 2014 Tigers (Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer). And they're the first ever to boast reigning back-to-back winners of both awards. All in, this roster's laundry list of accolades is quite a sight to behold. 50 All-Star appearances 19 Silver Sluggers 9 Gold Gloves 6 MVPs 4 Cy Youngs 4 ERA Titles 3 Reliever of the Years 1 Pitching Triple Crown 1 Batting Title Good luck, hitters: Four of the eight lowest ERAs since 2022 (min. 50 starts) belong to Ohtani (2.53), Skubal (2.64), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.70) and Blake Snell (2.82), who form the backbone of the Dodgers' preposterous rotation. That talented group should continue to pair well with an offense that has, you'll never guess, the best average and OPS in the majors. Chasing history: The Dodgers are now overwhelming World Series favorites (+140) as they attempt to become the first team to three-peat since the 1998-2000 Yankees. The cost of that pursuit? An astonishing $611 million in payroll expenses ($430.5M) and luxury tax payments ($180.5M). Their tax bill alone is more than 14 teams will pay their entire rosters this season. More deadline deals: The Cubs acquired RHP Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays … the White Sox acquired RHP Luis Castillo from the Mariners … the Rays acquired RHP Freddy Peralta from the Mets … the Yankees acquired INF Luis García Jr. from the Nationals. Follow along with our live tracker before today's 6pm ET deadline.   🎓 CAPITOL HILL SEC, BIG TEN BACK COLLEGE SPORTS BILL NCAA president Charlie Baker (L) and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti during a Senate Judiciary Hearing. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) The following is an excerpt from Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Sign up here to get on the list. After weeks of negotiations, it appeared the Protect College Sports Act's chances of rallying the Big Ten and SEC's support this summer were slim. But a stunning about-face finally came at the eleventh hour, which could send the landmark legislation to the Senate floor next week. Big guns on board: The two conferences issued a statement of support for the bill as currently drafted on Friday night, revitalizing its fading pulse and ending the scramble around the bipartisan legislation designed to regulate the college sports industry. What we know: The key provisions of the bill have crystallized, according to reporting from Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. The cap: The money that schools can spend on players now includes the original $21.3 million cap, a $22.5 million retention pool, and $5 million to be spent on women's and non-revenue sports. Those pools total $48.8 million, a 129% increase. Related entities: The larger cap is intended to prevent circumvention by including all athlete deals with universities and associated entities, such as multimedia rights partners, corporate sponsors and apparel brands. Affiliated brands can ink deals with athletes outside of the cap, but they must attest that those deals are not school-funded or directed. Transfer and eligibility limits: The bill would grant the NCAA and conferences a limited antitrust exemption to re-implement the one-time transfer exception, standardize a five-year eligibility policy, and ban professional athletes from returning to college. Conference expansion: The legislation caps power conference membership at 19 schools and requires those programs moving from one power league to another to operate as an independent for five years. What we don't know: Schools have seemingly never played by the rules. Will formal codification from Congress be the silver bullet that ensures compliance? There are also still question marks about the bill's potential opposition from the plaintiffs in the House settlement. In other major NCAA news… College athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and exhausted their eligibility last season have been granted a federal preliminary injunction to play a fifth season, meaning hundreds of athletes who thought their playing careers were over could soon be headed back to campus. The NCAA plans to appeal the decision.   📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS Maybelle Blair throws out the first pitch. (Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images) Springfield, Illinois — The Women's Pro Baseball League debuted over the weekend, 72 years after the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League shuttered. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, the former AAGPBL player who inspired the league's mascot. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) Los Angeles, California — Could Aaron Donald really come out of retirement to play alongside Myles Garrett on the Rams? No decision has been made yet, but "things are going in the right direction, and if there's an arrow, it's trending upwards," said head coach Sean McVay. (Harry Figiel/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images) Chicago, Illinois — Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace in his Chicago Fire home debut, lifting his team to a 2-1 victory over conference foe Charlotte FC.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) ⚾️ 21-4 The Red Sox went a blistering 21-4 in July, logging the franchise's best-ever winning percentage in a full calendar month (.840). And after sweeping the mighty Dodgers, they're off to a 2-0 start in August. Historic turnaround: Boston (60-51) entered July in the basement of the AL East. They now have a solid grip on the AL's second wild card spot after becoming the first team in MLB history to enter a month 10+ games under .500 and leave that month 3+ games over .500. ⛳️ 7 aces Most golfers will never hit a single hole-in-one at any point in their lives. On Friday at the Rocket Classic, Matt Kuchar carded the seventh ace of his career, tied for the most on the PGA Tour since 2005. Fan for life: Kuch brought a young fan inside the ropes to fetch the ball from the cup, giving seven-year-old Casimer Daniewski a memory that will last a lifetime. 🏀 10 straight wins The first-place Lynx won their 10th straight game on Sunday, snapping the Fever's own five-game winning streak with a 108-100 victory in a clash between the league's top two offenses. As usual, ROY frontrunner Olivia Miles (28-4-6) led the way. Top of the standings: Minnesota (25-6) has built a comfortable four-game lead over Las Vegas (20-9) and Golden State (20-9), and sits 5.5 games ahead of Atlanta (18-10), Dallas (19-11) and Indiana (19-11).   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, AUG. 3 (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) 🎾 DC Open, Finals The rain-delayed finals will resume today (12pm ET, Tennis) in the nation's capital, where No. 1 Jessica Pegula leads Alex Eala, 6-4, 1-2. When that match ends, No. 3 Taylor Fritz will take on Spanish teenager Rafael Jódar in the men's final. Quick turnaround: All four players are also competing in the Canadian Open, which began Sunday in Montreal (men) and Toronto (women). But their schedules should not be affected, as those events also experienced rain delays. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Giants at Rangers (8pm, ESPN) … One of eight games today as teams take the field just after the trade deadline passes. 🏀 WNBA: Aces at Dream (7pm, NBCSN) … Fourth-place Atlanta goes for its sixth straight win in a matchup against second-place Las Vegas.   ⚾ TRADING PLACES TRIVIA TIME (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports) Tarik Skubal is just the sixth reigning Cy Young to be traded in the middle of the season, with the last such instance coming three years ago. Question: Which reigning Cy Young award winner was traded during the 2023 season? Hint: NL East to AL West. Answer at the bottom.   🍿 TOP PLAYS HIGHLIGHT REEL (MLB) Guardians right fielder Angel Martínez made a spectacular catch in foul territory on Friday night in Cleveland, leaping into the netting to secure the grab. Honorable Mention: ⚽️ MLS: Montreal's Brayan Vera with a wonder strike from way downtown 🏀 WNBA: Undrafted rookie Sydney Taylor wins it at the buzzer for Chicago 🎾 DC Open: Alejandro Tabilo with one of the best tweener lobs you'll ever see   Trivia answer: Justin Verlander (traded from the Mets to the Astros)

Trump Throws GOP Into Full-Blown Civil War The rift between Trump and the Senate leader has lawmakers panicked. Republicans fear that tension between Donald Trump and the Senate’s top GOP lawmaker could sabotage the party’s midterm prospects. GOP lawmakers are frustrated by the charged silence between the president, 80, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, 65, who, according to Thune, speak only on an “as-needed basis.” “We need to be talking up the wins, talking about how crazy Democrats are, and instead we are knifing each other,” one GOP senator told CNN. At the root of the friction between the two men is Thune’s stated inability to pass Trump’s “Save America Act,” which would impose new proof-of-citizenship rules and other requirements that voting rights advocates say would disenfranchise large numbers of Americans. While the House of Representatives passed a version of the bill, the president’s flagship legislation does not have the votes to clear the Senate, where Democrats have also wielded the filibuster—the 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation. Privately, Thune has been direct with Trump about the legislation’s improbability. As a result, Trump has publicly blasted Thune over the impasse. Last week, when asked Wednesday whether Thune was still “the man for the job,” the president was coy. “We’re going to find out. I’ll let you know,” he said. Spokespeople for Thune and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thune, for his part, has also been repeatedly blindsided by the president. Trump moved to oust Sen. John Cornyn, a key Thune ally, in favor of MAGA-aligned candidate Ken Paxton. The president has also stalled the renewal of key surveillance authorities used by U.S. intelligence agencies in protest and refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill Republicans hoped to tout ahead of the midterms. The South Dakota senator has also been tasked with voicing concerns from GOP senators who are afraid to speak out against the president, making him a scapegoat in the eyes of the administration, lawmakers told CNN. “I would say we’re all longing for a relationship with the White House where we work more in harmony,” Republican Sen. John Curtis told the outlet. Sen. Jim Justice echoed a similar sentiment, calling the infighting “not really productive” in a statement to CNN. “There’s no point in going round and round and round.” Senators fear the standoff between Trump and Thune will only worsen following the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Thune ally and the president’s golf buddy. It also comes at a time when Republicans are trailing the Democrats by 8 points, according to a poll released by CNN last week. “If you don’t watch out, you’re gonna make things much, much, much worse because we’re gonna lose seats and that will make it worse for the president,” Justice said. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-john-thune-throw-gop-into-full-blown-civil-war/?

Trump’s Stunning Humiliation Over AG Exposed: Lawyer The rare rebuke of Trump’s political agenda has emerged as one of the strongest pushbacks from Congress in his second term. President Donald Trump’s rare political setback at the hands of his own party exposed the limits of his power, legal expert Andrew Weissman said. The Republican-controlled Senate has stalled on a vote to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president’s former personal defense attorney, to his role last week, after it became clear that he did not have enough support to be moved out of the committee for a full Senate vote. Several senators, most notably GOP Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, have been opposed to Blanche’s appointment until he can fully disavow the $1.8 billion Justice Department-brokered agreement Trump made with the IRS. Speaking on The Daily Beast Podcast with host Joanna Coles, Weissman said that while he ultimately believes Blanche will be confirmed, it is “useful to have the senators say there is a line, you know, beyond which I will not cross.” “Remember, there are two parts to the bogus settlement,” he elaborated. “And when I use bogus, that is a federal judge found that this whole ten-billion-dollar lawsuit was bogus and not and this was not in fact a ‘settlement.’” Weissman said the agreement consisted of two key provisions. The first was the creation of a fund that, according to reports, would compensate Trump allies. “The Department of Justice has now been doing that,” he said, “but not using the fund. They’ve been using other funds.” The second provision, he argued, is what has become the real sticking point. “There was this general release that only Todd Blanche signed,” Weissman said. “The acting attorney general giving an audit release of tax liability for Donald Trump, his family, and his companies.” Weissman suggested Trump was far more invested in preserving that portion of the agreement than the compensation fund. “The president seemed to be fine saying, ‘Hey, I’ll give up the fund because that’s money that’s not going to me,’” he said. “But when it comes to the tax audit ... ‘I’ll be damned if I’m giving up something for me that I got.’” The White House did not respond to request for comment. Trump has been lashing out at Tillis and Cornyn for not stalling Blanche’s confirmation, saying he will keep Blanche acting attorney general until January, when they are both no longer in office. “That seems to be the sticking point that you know, that’s the thing that Todd Blanche either isn’t willing to give up,” Weissman concluded. “Or isn’t willing to give up because Donald Trump isn’t willing to give it up.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-stunning-humiliation-over-ag-exposed-lawyer/?

Trump Hints at Crackpot Revenge Plot Against Canada The president signaled that a punishment was on the horizon. President Donald Trump hinted that a plan to seek revenge on Canada is in the works, but he won’t reveal it just yet. Trump, 80, affirmed his prior threats to a reporter during a press gaggle on Sunday who asked whether he had decided on a “punishment” for the country’s wildfire smoke. “I have, yeah,” he said. “You’ll find out about it soon.” The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. Last month, the president threatened to punish Canada after smoke from raging wildfires in Ontario wafted into the U.S., impacting the air quality in a handful of states across the Midwest, Northeast, and mid-Atlantic. Trump claimed that the U.S. was being “invaded” by the smoke and slapped a 50 percent tariff on a variety of Canadian imports, citing the country’s “discriminatory treatment of American products.” Canada bit back, rescinding its invitation for U.S. officials to attend the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CBS News last month that Trump’s actions hurt both nations, saying, “It’s unfortunate he took this avenue with his closest friend and ally.” Trump raged at Canada in a Truth Social post at the time. “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote. “I will call the Prime Minister during the day to find out what they are going to do about it. The cost is incalculable!” he continued. “Canada has refused to engage in basic Forest Management and Debris Removal, knowing that such refusal will lead to exactly this result.” “This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying,” Trump concluded. He later told reporters after the FIFA World Cup final that he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about the smoke while attending the match in New Jersey. “I told him, I mean, you got to stop these fires from coming in and, you know, poisoning our air,” he said. “Our air has been poisoned.” “I have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but, you know, we got to stop the fires up there,” Trump continued. “If we can help them, we’ll help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something or we should do some tariffs.” Carney, 61, laid out his nation’s firefighting plan in a post on X last month, detailing how over 5,300 firefighting personnel had been deployed, and how Canada was using data and advanced thermal imaging for real-time detection and mitigation. About 5.9 million acres of land have burned in this year’s wildfire season in Canada, according to government data. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-sounds-alarm-on-revenge-plot-against-canada-for-wildfire-smoke/? ps:How pathetic!!

Putin’s Desperate Plot to Fix His Humiliating Troop Crisis Exposed The strongman has a new plan for Russians who don’t want to join the war effort. Vladimir Putin’s army recruitment drive has taken a dark turn, according to watchdogs. Russian losses on the front line have been intensifying, with an estimated 30,000-40,000 troops dying every month. The tide of the Ukraine war appeared to turn in May, with Ukraine’s Defense Forces carrying out more offensive and counterattacking actions than Russian troops during a 24-hour period. Russian forces suffered 42,860 casualties in July alone, the highest monthly toll reported so far this year, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. As a result, Russian men have been even more reluctant to join the military. A panicked Putin has overseen a plan to force them to go. “Authorities have switched to a method of violence, when they catch men and send them off,” Artyom Klyga, a lawyer for the victims, told The Wall Street Journal. Authorities are using dirty tricks to get military-aged men to sign up. One method is detaining people on the streets, taking them to recruitment offices, and strong-arming them into signing up. Watchdogs and witnesses said some men are even beaten until they agree. “Just as many people have to somehow be brought into service, and the fewer there are who are ready to sign a contract, the more pressure they have to use,” Grigory Sverdlin, the founder of the antiwar nongovernmental organization Get Lost, told the Journal. Authorities had already tried throwing money at the recruitment problem, offering large windfalls to men willing to go to the front. But Ukraine’s rally, as well as dark tales of abuse within the Russian ranks, has dissuaded potential fighters. In some places, law-enforcement officials are working with recruitment officers to entrap their victims, insiders told the Journal. Vladislav Leonidov, from the southwestern region of Penza, said he witnessed one such trap. He was at a police station when he saw a man he knew who had gone missing. The man was scooped up by cops and told they needed to check his details at the office. When he got there, he was met by military recruiters who beat him then ferried him away to a recruitment office, Leonidov told the Journal. He was able to intervene during the man’s medical exam and get him released, he told the newspaper. “If we had come two hours later, he would have already been taken away,” Leonidov said. “They move very quickly.” Locals in Penza have revolted against the recruitment drive. “They beat you, they forced you!” a woman is seen shouting in one video of a forced recruitment exercise that went viral on social media. However, the Penza branch of the Interior Ministry denied anything fishy was taking place. It also threatened “legal consequences” against “those spreading false information.” “They haven’t forbidden me from continuing, but they’ve made it clear it’s in my best interests not to,” blogger Stanislav Morozov, who made a documentary about the forced conscription, told the Journal of an investigation into him by the Federal Security Service. He claimed that officers have another grim technique to get more sign-ups. They threaten to arrest people and plant drugs on them if they refuse to put pen to paper, he said. Another campaign has been spotted around Penza and other regions. Posters have been scattered around residential buildings offering residents around $1,300 to “bring a friend” to registration centers. Experts suggest these methods have been signed off by the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry. However, the strong-handed approach has not resulted in a noticeable bump in numbers on the front. U.S. officials have suggested that the Kremlin could still roll out another round of forced mobilization. This could spell trouble for Putin, too. “As soon as I’m given a weapon, I will shoot those who mobilized me,” Russian reserve officer Dmitry Rogin told the Journal. Russians are already unhappy, with a financial crisis growing as a result of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. A Financial Times analysis highlighted the growing impact of the punishing months-long Ukrainian drone campaign targeting critical Russian oil infrastructure and logistics hubs, reporting that oil and natural gas production capacity has been hit by 35 to 40 percent, pushing Russia toward its worst energy crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Residents of the Siberian city of Tyumen told independent outlet Meduza that they are being ignored as their city faced an “apocalypse” of polluted water, with residents falling ill and too afraid to bathe, shower, or wash food. “All the financing is going towards those three famous letters,” one resident told the outlet, referring to the Kremlin’s term for the war in Ukraine: the SVO, or “special military operation.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/putins-desperate-plot-to-fix-his-humiliating-troop-crisis-exposed/?

Trump’s Goons Reduced to Begging for Help as War Crisis Spirals The Department of Defense is running out of ideas as the war with Iran exhausts its stockpiles. The Pentagon just admitted—with about as much subtlety as a bomb going off—that it’s fast running out of ideas for Donald Trump’s war on Iran. “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” a member of the intelligence branch of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) pleaded in an email blast to military analysts last Wednesday, according to CNN. The network notes that the “crowdsourcing-style” query speaks to just how badly the Trump administration is scrambling to put an end to the conflict Trump promised would last “a few weeks,” and which has now entered its sixth month. The 80-year-old president signed a memorandum of understanding for a stay of hostilities on June 17 while negotiators worked out terms for a lasting peace. The temporary arrangement saw Iran promise to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway in the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of global oil supply passes. The U.S. pledged in exchange to lift sanctions, unfreeze assets, and underwrite billions of dollars in reconstruction. Even Republicans balked at the terms of the deal, which lasted just 21 days before negotiations collapsed and Iran resumed attacks on vessels in the waterway. The president declared his ceasefire “over” at a NATO summit on July 8. Things have only escalated in the weeks since, with Tehran firing its latest barrage of strikes against U.S. military assets in Jordan last Monday. American forces stationed in the region responded by Wednesday night, launching what CENTCOM has described as a “heavy wave” of attacks against targets in Iran. The country’s state media reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas and on the islands of Kish and Qeshm in the Persian Gulf. A couple and their 2-year-old child are thought to have been killed. CENTCOM’s frantic email plea went out that morning. Trump eventually called off any further strikes after an intervention from Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who called the president personally and asked him to scale down the hostilities. The Pentagon’s effort to workshop ideas for how to bring Trump’s war to an end comes after signs the department is fast running out of the munitions stockpiles it would need to continue the conflict at its current rate. Current and former officials at the Department of Defense told the Washington Post last month that training and maintenance are now being scaled down to save cash as the administration begs Congress to fork over $67 billion to make up the shortfall caused by the war. The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon for comment on this story. “U.S. Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways,” a spokesperson for CENTCOM told CNN in a statement. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pleads-for-help-with-trumps-iran-war-crisis-by-asking-troops-for-input-on-decision-making/?

Cypriot Coin found at Ashdod A silver-plated Cypriot coin dating to the mid-fifth century BCE has been discovered on Ashdod Beach. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported that the coin was minted in the ancient city of Salamis on Cyprus and is the first example of this type to be found in Israel. The artifacts was found by the Director of the Ashdod Beaches Department while searching for a patron’s lost property. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/cypriot-coin-found-at-ashdod/? High Places, Altars and the Bamah The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon—but none more so than the Book of Kings, where they play a prominent role in assessing the performance of a king. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar. A general understanding about the bamah and how it functioned can be gained by using evidence from the Biblical text as well as archaeology. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/high-places-altars-and-the-bamah/?

Parting shot: Bavarian Alps bliss Photo: Nancy Russo Our kinda recess: Reader Nancy Russo of Neenah, Wis., sent us this sunset over Mount Watzmann, seen from the picturesque village of Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps.

Recess makes a comeback Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images After decades of schools squeezing playtime out of the day, recess is back in play, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum writes. 🎒 Why it matters: Recess may look like a break from learning. But researchers say free play helps kids return to class healthier, calmer and more ready to focus. "Recess refreshes you. Recess helps you feel a little bit less cynical about what's going on," says psychologist Peter Gray, author of the forthcoming book "Restoring Childhood." 🧩 By the numbers: As of December, 12 states and Washington, D.C., had mandated school recess, while another 12 states required some form of physical activity, according to Johns Hopkins research. And recently, a new Oklahoma law requiring 40 minutes of recess each school day took effect in July. 🧠 The big picture: Unstructured play helps children practice social skills, manage stress and build stronger connections to school. Research has also linked recess to better behavior, attendance, classroom motivation and academic performance. 🤸 Reality check: Not all movement is recess. Broader "physical activity" laws can include after-school sports and gym class. Advocates say children also need time to play without being told how to do it. "Anyone who's ever spent even a day with a kid can recognize that if you kept them sitting all day, they'd go insane — they'd drive everybody else insane," says Hannah Thompson, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Zoom out: The decline in recess since the early 2000s is often tied to the testing-focused era that followed the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, when schools devoted more time to reading and math rather than play. Weekly recess time in U.S. schools fell by an hour between 2001 and 2019, according to education consulting firm EAB. 🔔 But the pendulum is swinging back. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently expanded its recess recommendation beyond elementary schools, calling for middle and high school students to get at least 20 minutes, too. Parent-led group Say Yes to Recess has become a national nonprofit, while support for the cause now stretches across the political spectrum. The bottom line: "More recess" isn't just a student council campaign promise. It's increasingly an essential part of the school day.

🚨 Johnson's latest September problem Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) is heading toward what Republicans see as an almost inevitable censure after the House Ethics Committee concluded he violated House rules over sexual harassment toward staffers. ⚡️ Why it matters: Unlike past censure fights that devolved into partisan warfare, Republicans see little path for Edwards to avoid punishment. House GOP leadership has not formally weighed in on the Ethics report released today, but in May, Speaker Mike Johnson called the allegations "serious" and "concerning." 💬 "Whether you're talking about a Republican or a Democrat, everyone is due due process. If an allegation is made against someone, that is not reason for expulsion or disciplinary action, people get a chance to present their case." "That's what the House Ethics Committee is all about," Johnson told reporters at the time. 🚗 Driving the news: The House Ethics Committee found Edwards violated House rules by "failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers," according to its 25-page report. The findings follow our reporting that Edwards singled out two young female staffers in their 20s for special attention that multiple sources described as inappropriate. The bipartisan committee recommended that Edwards be censured after concluding he "violated the Code of Official Conduct by failing to act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House." That vote is likely to happen after the House returns from recess on Aug. 31. What they're saying: Republicans are signaling the outcome may not be in much doubt. One House Republican, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), told us she will vote to censure Edwards. "Sexual harassment is completely unacceptable," Luna said. A House GOP leadership aide told us they don't see a path in which Edwards isn't censured. Zoom out: Sabato's Crystal Ball shifted Edwards' reelection race in North Carolina's 11th District from "lean Republican" to "toss-up" Thursday. House GOP leaders are closely watching the race, a source told us, and Democrats view it as a prime pickup opportunity. "If a bipartisan ethics committee has acknowledged that there was some wrongdoing, I think it's going to be problematic for his campaign," retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters. 🗳️ Democratic challenger Jamie Ager has significantly outraised Edwards, and a censure on Edwards' record could further complicate his reelection prospects. ⏰ Flashback: The last time the House Ethics Committee recommended censure was in 2010 for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). The bottom line: House censures have become increasingly common in recent years, and they're typically partisan exercises. Edwards' case could be different, with bipartisan support appearing likely after the Ethics Committee's findings. — Kate Santaliz

🔥 Senate's SAVE snub Senate Majority Leader John Thune is trying to pack the Senate's final week before the August recess with votes. One item missing from his agenda: President Trump's top legislative priority, the SAVE America Act. Why it matters: Schedules reveal priorities. Thune and Trump's are misaligned. "I don't think my leadership wants to do it," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said of a third reconciliation package, which would include parts of the SAVE Act. "I think they're making a huge mistake." Thune, for the most part, is deferring to new Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who will meet with committee Republicans tomorrow morning. Johnson is also keeping his options open, telling us it's "possible" a vote on a budget resolution could happen this week. Some of his committee members are prepared to go further. "I will do everything possible to have a vote on the budget resolution," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told us. "I think we need to stay here until we vote on it and figure out a way to get it across the finish line." Driving the news: Thune told reporters today that his immediate focus is avoiding a shutdown. First up: A short-term funding bill through Dec. 11. Then: A package of 74 nominees, a bipartisan Russia sanctions package and the crypto market structure CLARITY Act. "And then we'll see from there," he said. 👀 What to watch: The question is whether pressure builds to add a vote on a budget resolution, which would kick off another reconciliation process and include elements of SAVE. The resolution also includes farm aid and defense funds for the Iran conflict. The White House has been pushing the Senate to get it done. ⚖️ Leaders will have to weigh whether demands from the White House and the base are enough to force a vote, even if it fails. 🌎 Zoom out: In March, Trump called for the SAVE Act to "go to the front of the line." Last week, he demanded that Thune cancel the August recess unless the act passed, openly wondering whether Thune was the right majority leader if he couldn't deliver the bill. "Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!" Trump said on Truth Social. 🔎 Zoom in: Thune says his August agenda is dictated by Senate reality, not White House urgency, deferring to Johnson on the likelihood of a budget resolution moving this week. And he is strongly hinting at keeping senators in D.C. to vote into the weekend — or even next week — if Democrats and Republicans don't come together on agreements to expedite their priorities. If they run out of time, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to officially take the position could slide until September — as could other priorities like a bipartisan college sports package. The bottom line: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been threatening to put GOP senators on the record about whether they want to leave town without moving on a third budget reconciliation bill. But Thune is keeping his options open. Asked if he'll face such a vote, he demurred. "That's a good question. We'll find out," he said. — Hans Nichols and Sted W. Kight

The New Era That Wasn’t View in browser Fundamental realignments in the way Americans vote are rare, but predictions that they have occurred are not. Nearly as soon as Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential race in November 2024, people started saying the election represented a new era. “Trump just realigned the entire political map. Democrats have ‘no easy path’ to fix it,” announced NBC News. The election had been very close. Trump won slightly more electoral votes than Joe Biden had in 2020 (312 to 306), but he also won fewer total popular votes and a smaller percentage of the vote. This was still significant because it was the first time in three tries that Trump had captured a plurality of the electorate, but the case for realignment hinged less on raw numbers than on demographic breakdowns. The Republican Party had strengthened its grip on the white working class and had done historically well with young voters—young men in particular—and Hispanic voters. Writing in The Atlantic in May 2025, the pollster Patrick Ruffini argued that a new era of politics had dawned, in which Trump had broken Democrats’ solid grip on minority voters. “The realignment of the working class, which helped Trump win in 2016, would not stop with white voters. In 2020 and 2024, the realignment came for nonwhite voters,” he wrote. “In an era of nationalized politics and growing polarization, the social basis for Democratic majorities is looking more and more tenuous.” The Democratic Party’s problems remain very real, but for the moment, Trump and the GOP have more serious ones. The most glaring one is Trump’s deep personal unpopularity. In the current polarized and dyspeptic political environment, all presidents seem to be unpopular, but Trump is in a different league. A CNN poll released last week measured Trump at 34 percent support, matching the low he reached in that poll following the January 6 insurrection. Still, that was better than his showing in the AP-NORC survey, which found his approval at 33 percent, just one point above a 2017 low. Quinnipiac University found Trump at 32 percent, the lowest ever in that poll. These broad strokes are ugly enough, but digging into polling results shows particular deterioration with the particular groups that were supposed to be at the center of the Trump 2024 realignment. Consider young voters. Kamala Harris won a slim majority of them in 2024, a huge drop from the 25 percent margin that Biden enjoyed four years earlier. The Yale Youth Poll found in May that 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 22 and 72 percent of voters ages 23 to 29 disapproved of Trump. Echelon Insights also found that younger voters disapprove of Trump more than the general population—the number has fallen 37 percent since the start of this administration. Polling from the Harvard Institute of Politics found that young voters are especially skeptical of expanded presidential power and claims of “national emergency”—two staples of Trump’s approach to governance. One reason Trump’s numbers have sunk so much among young people is his poor performance among young men. A popular explanation was that a feminized, woke Democratic Party had driven them away and into the arms of Trump and a growing manosphere of influencers. To the extent that that was true, it was ephemeral. These voters are still wary of the Democrats, but they’ve soured on Trump as well. The Yale Youth Poll found that men under 30 were one of the two groups that had turned the most against Trump since last fall. Trump is also bleeding support among Black and Hispanic voters, and especially men, as Bloomberg Government reports. In 2024, Trump won almost half of Hispanic voters, but polls show Republicans drawing 27 to 35 percent support in the midterms, which would be their worst performance with the group since the Democratic-wave year of 2018. Equis, a pollster focused on the demographic, finds Latino approval of Trump is lower than that of non-Latino voters. A May poll found that a quarter of Hispanics who voted for Trump in 2024 wouldn’t do so again. The decay has even reached Trump’s core supporters. A New York Times review of polling data found in June that white working-class voters’ views of the president’s handling of the economy were tanking. During the first two years of his first term, these voters rated him higher than the overall population; now they rate him much worse. In February 2016, Trump boasted about his backing among the least-educated voters, saying, “I love the poorly educated.” They don’t love him back: Echelon finds his approval down to 41 percent among those with a high-school education or less. Polling from the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism finds a shrinking Trump base and less personal connection to Trump, which is a particular problem for a personalist leader and movement. Republican strategists are now worried that even consistent GOP voters might not turn out in November, according to The Washington Post. As the poll analyst G. Elliott Morris has written, several convincing explanations existed for Trump’s 2024 victory that didn’t involve realignment, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, global anti-incumbent sentiment, and the peculiar dynamics of Biden’s ill-advised decision to run and his late exit from the race. But the foremost was inflation. Americans were angry at the Democratic Party because of persistently higher prices. Now Trump is losing support for the same reason. Not only has Trump not ended inflation, as he promised—in June, it ran at 3.5 percent—but his decisions, especially the Iran war, have driven prices higher. Voters were willing to give Trump a chance because of their disgust with Biden. Now they’re seeing the results, and they don’t like them. This was perhaps foreseeable. Although some observers believed a sea change had occurred, the Brookings Institution scholar (and Atlantic contributor) Jonathan Rauch concluded on November 9, 2024, that the result did not represent “a pro-MAGA realignment or a sweeping repudiation of Democrats. Rather, this was an ordinary election.” He added, prophetically, “While the Republicans undoubtedly scored a clear victory, they may be tempted to claim a stronger mandate than the voters intended to deliver—and they may respond with policies that are more extreme and disruptive than the public wants or expects.” Now the realignment looks nearly as moribund as GOP chances in the midterms. Related: Patrick Ruffini: American realignment Trump crashes into reality

FAA certifies Boeing's new 737 Max 7 jetliner for flight after years of delays The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday approved the smallest model of Boeing's Max jetliners for commercial service nearly a decade after the aircraft manufacturer first unveiled the plane. Read More.

🍿 1 fun thing: Spidey beats Avengers Left to right: Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon at last week's L.A. premiere of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" swung to a record-setting $360 million domestic opening weekend, topping the $357 million mark set by 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" (not adjusted for inflation). The Tom Holland-led flick finds the webslinger protecting New York City with renewed anonymity, new powers and new enemies. 💰 "Brand New Day" looks likely to overtake "Toy Story 5" for the top-grossing movie of the year, with Woody and Buzz's latest adventure sitting at $461.7 million. Go deeper.

🕯️ Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the first Republican woman to represent Texas in Congress, has died at 83. N.Y. Times obit (gift link).

🤖 The White House said today that it met its deadline to establish a voluntary framework for evaluating advanced AI models. But it won't say what the framework contains, who's seen it or when companies will start using it. More from Maria Curi. 25 states sue over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old ones WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-25-supreme-court-import-taxes-120895adbee7ae06157cd5f4bf5c7583? Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool standards, leaving states to set the rules President Donald Trump's administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start that would gut its quality standards, upending the hallmarks of the early education program for impoverished children, two people familiar with the deliberations said. Read More. Trump accounts were closed in 2021 due to concerns over possible money laundering, Capital One says Bank accounts held by President Donald Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend. Read More.