Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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Trump Blows Up Major Trade Talks with Deranged Letter

The warning was one of many threats Trump issued this week.

TACO Trump has unleashed another wild tariff swing, threatening huge new penalties for Canada in an unhinged letter peppered with random capital letters and catty insults.

The message to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was part of the administration’s fresh blitz to secure trade deals after postponing the original July 9 deadline to reinstate tariffs that were first announced in April.

The on-again, off-again tariff threats have earned Trump an infamous nickname among Wall Street brokers: TACO, or Trump Always Chickens Out.

“It is a Great Honor for me to send you this letter in that it demonstrates the strength and commitment of our Trading Relationship,” Trump began, foreshadowing a string of bizarre capitalization choices that would appear throughout the letter.

He went on to threaten a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods beginning Aug. 1 unless Canada decides to build or manufacture its products in the U.S.

“The United States of America has agreed to continue working with Canada, despite Canada having financially retaliated against the United States,” the letter continues, referencing the 25 percent tariff on American goods that Canada imposed in March.

Shortly after he returned to office, Trump announced that he would slap a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico for supposedly contributing to the fentanyl crisis in the U.S., but quickly put the plan on ice after the stock market got spooked.

In April, he unveiled a slew of tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners but paused their rollout until July 9 after his “Liberation Day” announcement sent the markets crashing.

“As you will recall, the United States imposed Tariffs on Canada to deal with our Nation’s Fentanyl crisis, which is caused, in part, by Canada’s failure to stop the drugs from pouring into our Country,” Trump said in the Thursday letter. “Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend that Trump would be sending out letters to several countries warning them that the tariffs will be reinstated on Aug. 1 unless they close a trade deal soon.

This time around, Trump warned Canada that “goods transshipped to evade this higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff” and that, “if for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that we charge.”

Trump also accused Canada of causing “unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States,” which he branded a “major threat” to the U.S. economy.

“If Canada works with me to stop the flow of Fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” he said. “These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country. You will never be disappointed with The United States of America.”

The president’s chaotic tariff rollout had provoked mockery but Trump has insisted that it’s all just part of his negotiating strategy.

“Don’t ever say what you said,” he told the reporter who brought up the nickname in May. “I usually have the opposite problem. They say I am too tough.”

In an X post, Carney committed to working with the Trump administration to meet the new deadline.

“Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses,” he said. “We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”

“Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries,” he added.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-drops-new-tariff-threats-to-canada-in-deranged-letter/?

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Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Falling Apart

Much like Trump and Musk’s relationship, the agency is reportedly a shadow of its former self.

The Department of Government Efficiency is looking very different without its billionaire leader.

The agency, no longer helmed by Elon Musk, has been beset by staff departures, legal headaches and bureaucratic obstacles.

Once guarded by armed security, the agency no longer has a sentry stationed at the entrance to its headquarters, according to Politico’s West Wing Playbook. The “Authorized Access Only” signs that once marked its floor in the elevators at the General Services Administration are also reportedly gone.

When Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, with Musk—a top campaign donor—closely by his side, the billionaire’s ham-fisted efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy through DOGE dominated the headlines. The department canned government contracts, gutted agencies and fired thousands of federal employees, often leaving chaos in its wake.

But nearly six months in, things look very different. At the end of May, Musk exited his high-profile role, citing the expiration of the 130 days he was allowed to serve as a special government employee. Days later, simmering tensions between Musk and Trump spilled aggressively into public view—and have repeatedly flared since.

According to Politico, at least eight members of the original core DOGE team have left government. The departures included Musk’s right-hand man, Steve Davis, and DOGE’s communications director, Katie Miller, who is married to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Both Davis and Miller left when Musk did.

About ten DOGE engineers have also left or are planning to leave, the newsletter said.

In March, Musk said DOGE had about 100 employees, and that he planned to double that figure. That doesn’t appear to have happened.

The White House defended DOGE’s mission in a statement to the Daily Beast, with deputy press secretary Harrison Fields insisting that Trump’s plan to “root out waste, fraud and abuse” is “moving full steam ahead.”

“Under the President’s leadership, every agency and department is executing this mission seamlessly and, as a result, has yielded more than $170 billion in savings for the American people,” he said.

The Trump administration has reportedly been scrambling to re-hire some of the people that were pushed out of their government jobs due to DOGE cuts, after understaffing became a significant problem.

Trump himself seems to have soured on DOGE’s approach a little, telling a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, “I would have done it differently, a little bit, maybe.”

That comment follows weeks of tit-for-tat between the president and Musk. On Sunday, Trump said on social media that Musk had become a “TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” and that he had gone “off the rails.”

Musk had antagonized Trump by vowing to start a new “America Party” following the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which the tech mogul was fiercely opposed to.

“The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS,” Trump said of Musk’s idea in his Sunday Truth Social post.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musks-doge-is-falling-apart/?

ps:This should never have been allowed by congress! The only reason for DOGE was for Musk to undo all the investigations into his companies, etc.!!

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State Department lays off over 1,300 employees under Trump administration plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department fired more than 1,300 employees Friday in line with a dramatic reorganization plan from the Trump administration that critics say will damage America’s global leadership and efforts to counter threats abroad.

https://apnews.com/article/layoffs-diplomats-state-department-trump-rubio-bfdb86767b7bd5b6570819d404a7782e?

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How US views of immigration have changed since Trump took office, according to Gallup polling

Just months after President Donald Trump returned to office amid a wave of anti-immigration sentiment, the share of U.S. adults saying immigration is a “good thing” for the country has jumped substantially — including among Republicans, according to new Gallup polling. Read More.       President Trump visited Kerrville, Texas, today to survey the damage from deadly flash floods. "I've never seen anything like it," he said. "A little narrow river that becomes a monster." Go deeper.

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Judge orders Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops, arrests in California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.

https://apnews.com/article/california-immigration-stops-arrests-b4d59afc4aa6be4944e67f773aa34096?

Trump expected to deliver weapons to Ukraine through Nato allies

Donald Trump appears poised to deliver weapons to Ukraine by selling them first to Nato allies in a major policy shift for his administration amid frustrations with Vladimir Putin over stalling negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/11/trump-russia-ukraine-weapons?

ps:Why not just do it straight up!!

Trump defends Texas flood handling as disaster tests vow to shutter Fema

During a trip on Friday to look at the devastation caused by the catastrophic flooding in Texas, Donald Trump claimed that state and federal officials had done an “incredible job”, saying of the disaster that he had “never seen anything like this”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/11/trump-texas-flood-damage-fema?

Trump announces 30% tariffs against EU, Mexico to begin Aug. 1, rattling major US trading partners

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-eu-mexico-66bf84d97dcd69bbd1f1108e42283afd?

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Trump's great immigration peril

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos: Adam Gray/Getty Images and Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

This column by Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen is a new twist on their "Behind the Curtain" (BTC), which digs deep into the topics of highest import. We call this a BTC Extra — a living update on a transcendent topic, referring back to deeper reporting. The politics of immigration are shifting fast — again. Why it matters: Americans voted overwhelmingly in support of locking down the Southwest border. But now, with the border secure and deportations surging along with self-deportations, a strong majority are opposed to President Trump's tough-guy, kick-them-all-out approach to illegal immigration. ? A Gallup poll out yesterday shows about 70% of independents oppose Trump's approach. Only 30% of U.S. adults surveyed want immigration decreased — down 25 points from one year ago. A record-high 79% of those polled said immigration is good for the country, Gallup found. ? The big picture: Trump recognizes it's problematic — politically and practically — to deport people who came here illegally but now work and pay taxes. But Trump's in a real jam with his MAGA base, which opposes amnesty for anyone here illegally, even if they hold jobs, pay taxes and commit no crimes after arriving. Between the lines: That makes an easy compromise — like a way for those playing by the current rules to stick around — quite difficult for Trump. So it's unlikely he'll back down anytime soon — unless the politics grow truly untenable. Trump had second thoughts about Stephen Miller's maximalist approach after hearing from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and business leaders about the economic impact of the raids, Axios' Brittany Gibson reports. Trump's current solution: Make it easier to bring in new temporary immigrants to wash dishes or pick vegetables and fruits. We've previewed this growing jam in two previous columns: Trump's rising problem with businesses dependent on workers here illegally. Trump would need to overcome 40 years of precedent to truly oust all undocumented immigrants, even those vital to service businesses. ⚡ Axios White House reporter Marc Caputo just detailed a workaround to please worried farmers and hospitality businesses: Speed up visas for new temporary, migrant workers. The administration hopes employers will make major use of the new program as mass deportations continue to thin unauthorized labor from the workforce. But it's not clear it'll be enough to mitigate business fears. The bottom line: Axios' Stef Kight points out that polling shows Americans have more nuanced views about immigration than the political conversation reflects. And both parties struggle to find policies that don't lose the public. Go deeper: "Behind the Curtain: Trump's deportation gut-check." ps:These guys remind me of Hamas with there masks!!!!!

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Paranoid security state

Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photos via Getty Images

America's top national security agencies have been using polygraph tests, seeking employees' communications and threatening criminal investigations, all in the name of ferreting out leakers or ensuring loyalty, Axios' Dave Lawler writes. Why it matters: The recent headlines expose the deep mistrust between top national security officials and their own staffs — starting at the top, with a commander-in-chief who considers himself a victim of "Deep State" abuses. ? The FBI has subjected senior agents to lie-detector tests to find the sources for fairly innocuous news stories, and even to ask whether agents have ever disparaged Director Kash Patel, the N.Y. Times' Adam Goldman reports. A March memo from Joe Kasper, then chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stated that polygraphs would be used as part of a leak hunt. That probe devolved into a power struggle that saw Kasper himself ousted. Agencies all across the federal government have used the devices, which aren't considered highly reliable, for even fairly minor leaks, Reuters reports. In one case, FEMA staffers who attended a March meeting involving Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were subjected to polygraph tests after some contents of the meeting became public. The Department of Homeland Security said in March that it's using lie detector tests to try to find tip-offs ahead of ICE raids. A new unit under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is seeking email and chat records from employees across America's spy agencies, the WashPost reports. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios: "We certainly do not trust leakers who provide sensitive information to the media, or who commit felonies by leaking top secret intelligence."

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⚖️ Trump wins big on "shadow docket"

Data: Professor Steve Vladeck's newsletter, One First. Chart: Sara Wise/Axios The Supreme Court has handed President Trump a slew of major victories through an abbreviated process that doesn't require full-fledged briefings and arguments — and will likely continue to do so, Axios court watcher Sam Baker reports. The court's "emergency docket" (a.k.a. the shadow docket) has been the focus of its activity in Trump's second term, allowing him to proceed with plans to fire government workers, proceed with mass deportations and ban transgender people from serving in the military. The court's actions on those issues are all temporary. But even temporary orders are a significant win for Trump, allowing him to implement some of the most controversial parts of his agenda. ? How it works: The emergency docket is designed for questions that need a faster answer than the court's typical proceedings provide. It's often used, for example, by inmates requesting a stay of execution (which the justices almost always deny). A growing number of political issues are also finding their way onto the emergency docket. Some critics argue that the court is using the process to decide bigger questions than that process was designed to resolve. Where it stands: Lower courts have handed down scores of orders that temporarily block Trump from implementing parts of his agenda. That type of order gets appealed through the emergency docket — and the justices have overruled lower courts on several hot-button issues: Just last week, the court allowed Trump to proceed with plans for mass firings across the federal government. It allowed the administration to deport a group of undocumented immigrants to South Sudan, a war-torn country to which the migrants had no connection. The Supreme Court overruled lower-court orders that limited DOGE's access to Social Security records and made some of its work subject to the Freedom of Information Act. It also allowed the Pentagon to prohibit trans people from serving in the military. Keep reading.

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⏪ Trump's America on rewind

President Trump is turning back the clock on decades of change and revisiting long-settled issues, big and small — from globalization to vaccine research to the secretary of defense's title, the N.Y. Times' Peter Baker writes in a Sunday front-pager:

"It should come as no surprise that Trump would try to undo much of what President Biden did over the past four years. What is so striking in Trump's second term is how much he is trying to undo changes that happened years and even decades before that. At times, it seems as if he is trying to repeal much of the 20th century."

Trump wants to go back to "when coal was king and there were no windmills ... when toilets flushed more powerfully ... when there weren't so many immigrants ... when 'Cats' was the big hit on Broadway, not 'Hamilton,'" Peter writes.

• Trump also wants to reopen Alcatraz — and go back to calling the head of the Pentagon the "secretary of war," a title that was dropped in 1947, because he says "secretary of defense" is "politically correct."

Keep reading (gift link).

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? Summer firing wave

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

It's shaping up to be a summer of firings for tens of thousands of federal workers, now that the Supreme Court cleared the way for agencies to conduct layoffs, Axios' Emily Peck reports. Why it matters: The Trump administration says this is just a step toward better government efficiency. But opponents of the White House's chainsaw approach say the federal government's capabilities will be forever damaged by these cuts. ⚖️ Catch-up quick: Thousands of workers across 19 agencies, who received notice that they were being fired back in the spring, have been out on paid leave pending the results of the court challenge to their dismissals. The Supreme Court lifted a stay on their firings this week. Now these workers are just waiting for the axe to fall — again. The State Department got moving on reductions in force on Friday, only days after the Supreme Court ruling. A cable from Secretary of State Marco Rubio went out across the agency Friday announcing a reorganization that could lead to 3,000 departures. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly says: "Bloated operations often result in duplicative or even contradictory foreign policy. By reorganizing the Department of State, Secretary Rubio is ensuring that all actions align with the America First agenda that people voted for." Keep reading.

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Trump says he’s considering ‘taking away’ Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is considering “taking away” the U.S. citizenship of a longtime rival, actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a decades-old Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits such an action by the government.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rosie-odonnell-citizenship-835642a4d55a7897663c6ba89f42e606?

ps:What a piece of work!!

Furor over Epstein files sparks clash between Bondi and Bongino at the Justice Department

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department and FBI are struggling to contain the fallout from this week’s decision to withhold records from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which rankled influential far-right media personalities and supporters of President Donald Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-files-dan-bongino-bondi-trump-fbi-0f02f67b6c97fc50e4d93bc4dbf4c4d0?

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DOJ Lawyers Quit in Droves After Being Ordered to Defend Trump

Roughly two-thirds of Department of Justice lawyers tasked with fielding the constant legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s policies have quit in frustration.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4107102760313-doj-lawyers-quit-in-droves-after-being-ordered-to-defend-trump?

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? How Trump might try to defuse Epstein mess

President Trump isn't ready to course-correct over how his administration has handled the Jeffrey Epstein evidence, Axios' Marc Caputo writes.

• But officials and advisers are considering at least three ways Trump could try to defuse an issue that, for the first time, has put him crosswise with his online MAGA base.

Why it matters: Everyone in the administration realizes this is a disaster — except perhaps Trump, who asserted in a rambling Truth Social post over the weekend that Epstein is "somebody that nobody cares about." That got him "ratioed" on his own platform, a first.

Here are three possible routes the White House is considering to try to mitigate the damage, based on conversations with administration officials and top outside advisers:

1. Appoint a special counsel or investigative team to review the Epstein case top to bottom, and produce a report.
2. Remove redactions to already released documents related to the late sex offender, perhaps at the direction of the special counsel or investigative team.
3. Petition courts that have sealed Epstein-related records to unseal them in cases in which the administration can't.

? The big picture: These are ideas floating in MAGA's ether, but there's no consensus on how to proceed.

• There's general agreement not to proceed until Trump says to move forward. And right now, his Truth Social post is the policy: No more Epstein stuff.

"The president said to put this behind us, so we're putting this behind us," a top adviser said. "If he changes, then the policy changes. Period."

• Go deeper: "Gen Z MAGA wants results on Epstein," by Axios' Tal Axelrod.

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? Trump's "aggressive" Ukraine plan

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photos via Getty Images

President Trump will announce a new plan to arm Ukraine today that is expected to include offensive weapons, two sources with knowledge of the plans tell Axios' Barak Ravid. Why it matters: Sending offensive weapons would be a major shift for Trump, who had until recently been at pains to say he would provide only defensive weapons to avoid escalating the conflict. U.S., Ukrainian and European officials hope the weapons will shift the trajectory of the war and change Russian President Vladimir Putin's calculations regarding a ceasefire. Two sources told Axios they had reason to believe the plan was likely to include long-range missiles that could reach targets deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow. However, neither was aware of any final decision. The new initiative, which'll be rolled out in a meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, will involve European countries paying for U.S.-made weapons that will be sent to Ukraine. ps:Hopefully this will not be to late!! Personally I believe this has been intentional, to allow his bosom buddy to get as much land as he can before they decide to stop made an agreement with Ukraine!!!!!

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$70 billion in AI, energy announcements

Via X

President Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) will use a first-of-its-kind innovation summit in Pennsylvania tomorrow to announce $70 billion in AI and energy investments for the state, including thousands of new jobs, sources tell Mike. The inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, aims to ignite "Pennsylvania's incredible potential to power the AI revolution," McCormick says. Why it matters: In addition to Trump's attendance, McCormick has drawn energy and AI leaders from around the world, including 60+ CEOs, to showcase the economic and national-security benefits of building AI infrastructure such as data centers and power generation. ? Zoom in: McCormick will say the $70 billion in investment represents the "largest investment commitment in these industries in terms of dollars for the state and jobs created in the history of the Commonwealth," organizers tell Axios. "Anticipated investments include new data centers, new power generation and grid infrastructure to meet surging data center demand, along with AI training programs and apprenticeships for businesses," the preview says. Blackstone president and COO Jon Gray will announce a $25 billion investment in data-center and energy infrastructure development in Northeast Pennsylvania. Partial list of attendees.

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Epstein files

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump expressed his frustration with many of the MAGA faithful for their response to the Justice Department's claims about Jeffrey Epstein. A recently released DOJ memo said the disgraced financier and accused sex offender was not murdered, nor did he leave a client list. The memo contradicted some of the conspiracy theories that were previously pushed by Trump and his top lieutenants. Some of the president’s biggest supporters, including far-right activist Laura Loomer and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, have blamed Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the case, but Trump took issue with that on Sunday. “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening,” he wrote on his social media site.

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Trump’s Weird Move at Club World Cup Final Baffles Soccer Stars

The president refused to leave the stage after presenting Chelsea with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy.

President Donald Trump is starting to make it a habit of doing weird things around pro soccer players.

The president attended the FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-German in a 3-0 upset.

Afterward, Trump went on stage to present Chelsea with the tournament trophy—and then refused to leave, standing front and center as the team hoisted it in the air to celebrate.

Video footage shows team captain Reece James preparing to lift the trophy as Trump stands next to him, in front of star midfielder Cole Palmer.

Palmer—who scored two goals and was named the tournament’s best player—puts out a hand to stop James, apparently so Trump can step aside first. But the president remains rooted to his spot, blocking the tournament MVP of all people.

James then turns and says something to Trump, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino tries to usher him off the stage, all to no avail. Once it becomes clear Trump isn’t going anywhere, James lifts the trophy over his head, and the players jump up and down and cheer.

Eventually, Infantino was able to push Trump back through the crowd of players so that at least he was behind them instead of in front, leaving the team members free to pass around the trophy amongst themselves.

Afterward the players seemed baffled by the president’s behavior.

“They told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage, and I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay,” James said, according to PA Media.

Palmer said he also knew Trump was going to be there, but that he didn’t know he was going to be on the stand with them during the trophy lift.

“I was a bit confused, yes,” he said.

The president apparently didn’t notice there was anything amiss about his trophy bombing and shared a photo of himself with the team on Truth Social that featured Palmer scowling.

Earlier in the evening, fans who packed the 80,000-person capacity MetLife Stadium had already booed Trump during the national anthem, and then again when he walked out on the pitch to present the trophy.

The president also gave a strange interview to broadcaster DAZN Football in which he declared, “I am having a really great time. Tremendous sport,” with all the enthusiasm of a hostage victim.

Sunday, however, wasn’t Trump’s first bizarre run-in with FIFA Club World Cup players.

Last month, members of the storied Italian club Juventus—which includes two U.S. Men’s National Team players—were forced to stand around awkwardly in the Oval Office while Trump discussed missile strikes, travel bans, and women playing men’s sports.

The president is friends with Infantino and had been promoting the FIFA club championships ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-weird-move-at-the-fifa-club-world-cup-final-baffled-soccer-stars-cole-palmer-and-james-reece/?

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Red State Governor Blasts Trump for Rural America ‘Betrayal’

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Trump’s trade and economic policies will have a “devastating” impact on his voters.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tore into President Donald Trump’s tariff policies for hurting the very voters who elected him.

In a Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Beshear, a Democrat, bashed Trump for creating “chaos” with his seemingly arbitrary trade policies, which is not what he believes his state’s residents had in mind when they voted for the MAGA figurehead. Trump won Kentucky by more than 30 points in the election.

“Now we have tariffs on countries if he doesn’t like who that country is prosecuting,” Beshear told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker. His comment referred to Trump threatening to institute 50 percent tariffs on Brazil for prosecuting ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.

“It is increasing costs,” said Beshear. “Many of them voted for Donald Trump because they thought that he would make paying the bills a little easier at the end of the week. And he’s just making it harder.”

Beshear said he is also seeing small businesses in his state lay off people due to rising raw material prices.

“And when a small business is laying somebody off, it’s somebody they go to church with; it’s somebody that their kids play soccer with,” said Beshear. “This is going to impact the economy in such negative ways.”

The governor also blasted Trump’s deteriorating relations with trade partners Canada and Japan, which he said was moving toward more trade with China.

“Japan invests in Kentucky at a level [of] almost no other state,” said Beshear, adding that the largest Toyota manufacturing facility is in his state.

When Welker asked about the passage of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and support for a provision that would raise Medicaid work requirements, Beshear called the requirements a “ruse.”

“What they are doing is doubling the paperwork on everyone. Not just abled-bodied adults, but everyone,” said Beshear. “What they are hoping is that parents with a special needs child who are really busy don’t check a box, and then they get kicked off their coverage for six months or more.”

Beshear added, “It is wrong. It’s cruel. But it’s also going to be devastating to rural economies.”

Beshear, who told Welker that he plans to “take a look” at running for president in 2028, estimated that 200,000 people in his state will lose their medical coverage to give a tax break “to wealthy people who live in urban areas.”

He added, “It is going to hit all over the United States. It is a betrayal of rural America.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/red-state-gov-andy-beshear-blasts-trump-for-rural-america-betrayal/?

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Trump says he wants to deport ‘the worst of the worst.’ Government data tells another story President Donald Trump frequently speaks at public appearances about the countless “dangerous criminals” from around the world he says entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration. He promises to expel millions of migrants in the largest deportation program in American history to protect law-abiding citizens from the violent threats he says they pose. But government data around ongoing detentions tells a different story. Read more.

Why this matters: The latest ICE statistics show that as of June 29, there were 57,861 people detained by ICE, 41,495 — 71.7% — of whom had no criminal convictions. That includes 14,318 people with pending criminal charges and 27,177 who are subject to immigration enforcement, but have no known criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.   Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, called the assessment that ICE isn’t targeting immigrants with a criminal record “false” and said that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has directed ICE “to target the worst of the worst—including gang members, murderers, and rapists.” She counted detainees with convictions, as well as those with pending charges, as “criminal illegal aliens.”   Research has consistently found that immigrants are not driving violent crime in the U.S. and that they actually commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Judge orders Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops, arrests in California   Lawmakers visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ after being blocked   Nursing homes struggle with Trump’s immigration crackdown

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Trump celebrates harsh conditions for detainees on visit to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Donald Trump on Tuesday toured “Alligator Alcatraz”, a controversial new migrant detention jail in the remote Florida Everglades, and celebrated the harsh conditions that people sent there would experience.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/01/trump-alligator-alcatraz-immigration-florida?

‘Reality TV spectacle’: outrage as federal agents raid LA neighborhood with horses and armored cars

Dozens of federal officers in tactical gear and about 90 California national guard troops descended on a historic immigrant neighborhood in Los Angeles on Monday – mounting a sweeping show that local leaders denounced as a “reality TV spectacle” and intimidation tactic.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/los-angeles-park-federal-officers-national-guard?

LA school district demands inquiry after Ice officers filmed urinating on campus

A Los Angeles school district is demanding an investigation of an incident last month during which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents gathered at a local high school before a raid and were seen publicly urinating on school grounds, not far from where elementary school students were attending summer classes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/04/los-angeles-ice-officers-urinating?

After 47 years in the US, this Iranian mother was taken by Ice from her yard. Her family just wants her home

Kaitlynn Milne says her mother is usually always up first thing in the morning, hours before the rest of the family. She enjoys being productive in the quiet hours around sunrise. It’s an especially optimal time to do yard work, when the rest of her New Orleans neighborhood still sleeps and she can count on peacefully completing chores.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/03/ice-iran-donna-kashanian?

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Build the wall (with AI). In order to tap into more than $6 billion in funds allotted to border technology, Trump’s budget requires new border surveillance towers to be certified "autonomous." According to The Intercept, the stipulation essentially grants the weapons firm Anduril — founded by longtime Trump supporter Palmer Luckey, who launched into politics by funding an anti-Hillary Clinton meme machine in 2016 — a monopoly on building a “virtual wall of sensor-laden surveillance towers” for U.S. Customs and Border Protection as the federal government’s only approved border tower vendor. 

? Venture capital heads to the Wild West. Andreessen Horowitz, the $45 billion Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded by Trump ally Marc Andreessen, is the latest company to leave Delaware, following Elon Musk’s temper tantrum against the business-friendly state after a judge quibbled with his insanely large compensation package. The firm announced it would reincorporate in Nevada, which has been trying to woo businesses by dismantling shareholder protections and corporate regulation. 

• Andreessen Horowitz cited concerns over Delaware’s bias “against founders and their boards,” even after Delaware passed sweeping legislation (written by Meta, as reported by The Lever) to protect companies’ founders and their boards at the expense of their shareholders in March.

? Credit Unions are not the good guys. Navy Federal Credit Union — the country’s largest credit union, which services veterans and active duty service members — will no longer have to refund $80 million to its customers for illegally charging them overdraft fees on their accounts. Trump’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved to dismiss the case against them last week. The Lever revealed that the largest credit unions made nearly $4 billion charging their members unnecessary overdraft fees last year. Navy Federal Credit Union collected more than $724 million in overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees last year, more than any other credit union.

Protecting Planned Parenthood. A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the Trump administration's move to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for services unrelated to abortion (abortion services are already blocked from Medicaid funds). The ruling is the first known instance of a federal judge limiting enforcement of any part of the big, beautiful bill.

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More than 20 states sue Trump administration over frozen after-school and summer funding

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — More than 20 states sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday over billions of dollars in frozen education funding for after-school care, summer programs and more.

https://apnews.com/article/boys-girls-club-trump-grant-freeze-6f5bd3204d2973784d466e3f0fdb38b4?

Trump threatens Russia with tariffs and boosts US weapons for Ukraine

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened Russia with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance toward Moscow after months of frustration about unsuccessful negotiations for ending the war. Read More.

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MAGA Demands Trump Use Teen Sex Accused Gaetz to Probe Epstein

The push comes as the idea of a special counsel is being war-gamed in the White House.

President Donald Trump is under pressure from his MAGA base to appoint right-wing firebrand Matt Gaetz as a special prosecutor to investigate the Epstein case as rage continues over a potential cover-up.

Months after Gaetz was forced to withdraw his nomination to be Trump’s attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct with an underage girl, the former congressman is being touted as the man MAGA wants put in charge of examining the crimes and death of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Matt Gaetz would be the best,” former Trump strategist Steve Bannon said on stage with conservative activist Charlie Kirk at this weekend’s Turning Point USA summit.

“Matt Gaetz would be a no brainer, right?” Kirk added to rapturous applause by the crowd.

The push to appoint a special prosecutor and release a full report to the public is one of several options being war-gamed by White House insiders as a way of potentially staving off the backlash Trump faces over the Epstein saga.

Tensions flared last week after the administration determined that Epstein, who died in prison while awaiting trial in 2019, didn’t have a celebrity “client list” and was not murdered as many in MAGA world believe.

But if Trump decided to appoint a special counsel, Gaetz would be a controversial choice given a congressional ethics committee report released last year found he regularly paid women for sex; had sex with a 17-year-old; broke Florida’s statutory rape laws; and frequently used illegal drugs.

Gaetz had consistently denied wrongdoing, but was forced to withdraw his nomination for attorney general amid the scandal, paving the way for Trump to pick Pam Bondi to be Trump’s chief lawmaker instead.

Gaetz now hosts his own show on One America News Network, and continues to be an outspoken MAGA conservative.

A fierce Trump loyalist, he is divisive even within his own party, having orchestrated the far-right coup to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023.

Meanwhile, Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case has threatened to turn into a political crisis for the president after she clashed with FBI deputy director Dan Bongino last week, resulting in Bongino not showing up to work on Friday as he pondered whether to stay in the job.

Bongino is yet to surface publicly, however Trump on Sunday said he had spoken to him and that he “sounded terrific” and “I think he’s in good shape.”

The president also took to social media to defend Bondi, who has been the subject of much of MAGA’s rage for overpromising and under-delivering on the files.

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump wrote Saturday.

“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”

Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, has been lobbying Trump for a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of the issue.

But he too suddenly became embroiled in the Epstein scandal after former First Buddy Elon Musk suggested on X that the MAGA warrior was also on a notorious Epstein “list”—something Bannon strongly denies.

Earlier this year, during his epic breakup with Trump, Musk had also accused the president of being in the files, but subsequently removed the post from his social platform.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-demands-trump-bring-in-child-sex-probe-gaetz-to-probe-epstein/?

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Trump Fans Torch Their MAGA Hats Over Epstein ‘Cover-Up’

Far-right influencer Nick Fuentes has led the charge, describing the burnings as “the only language Trump will understand.”

MAGA has found a new way to express its fury over the infamous “Epstein files.”

President Donald Trump’s fevered support base has been in an uproar after the Departmnet of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed in a memo July 6 the disgraced financier kept no “client list” and likely died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, rather than being murdered, in 2019—the subject of widespread conspiracy theories among Trump’s supporters.

“We need to burn our MAGA hats, I think that’s a solution. That’s the only language Trump will understand. He needs to be abandoned at this point,” white nationalist and avowed Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes said in a clip from his podcast shared on X. “The message needs to be this: ‘We’re done, we don’t understand. The radical right is f---ing furious. We are done.’”

The MAGA-verse has since taken up Fuentes’ call, posting videos torching their iconic red caps in backyards, firepits, and even on BBQ grills. “We’re not gonna play with these anymore,” one person said in a clip widely shared on X. “MAGA hats are off, America First hats are on.”

“This is a great representation of what’s left of MAGA,” the user added toward the end of the video, surveying the ashes on the pile. “Just burnt my MAGA hat,” another person posted along with a similar video. “Why the f--k would you go to that island? @realDonaldTrump.”A former Epstein associate in his own right—in August 2017, Epstein told Trump biographer Michael Wolff that Turmp was his “closest friend”—Trump for years courted conspiracy theorists and far-right influencers convinced the late pedophile was just one actor in an expansive sex trafficking ring and that Democrats orchestrated death in prison to shield his wealthy allies.But his pledges on the campaign trail to release previously unknown details of Epstein’s case have now backfired spectacularly, with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino—a true believer in the Epstein cover-up and previously a luminary in the conspiratorial world of conservative podcasting—threatening to resign over Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the case. Trump’s efforts to calm the storm have fallen largely on deaf ears. During a Tuesday cabinet meeting, he angrily berated reporters for continuing to discuss “this creep” Epstein, and wrote on Truth Social over the weekend that “we’re on one team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening,” further urging followers to “LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB—SHE’S GREAT!”Despite those overtures, interest in what remains of the findings in the Epstein case to be released to the public has only continued to mount, with CNN finding an almost 2,000 percent surge in Google searches on the late financier over the past seven days alone.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-fans-are-torching-their-maga-hats-over-jeffrey-epstein-fury/?

ps:This what "MAGA" is all about?? How sad!!

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Trump Aides Scramble to Find an Escape From His Epstein Nightmare Before It Gets Worse

The president’s advisers have apparently hit on four ways they could seek to defuse the carnage sparked by the Department of Justice’s latest findings on the disgraced financier’s case.

President Donald Trump’s advisers have been frantically at work trying to diffuse the carnage that has followed the latest Justice Department (DOJ) and FBI findings on the Jeffrey Epstein case.

MAGA has been in a tailspin after the DOJ and FBI found that no “client list” of powerful associates exists for the disgraced financier and that he died by suicide, rather than being murdered, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019—both the subject of whirling conspiracy theories among Trump’s base. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the rumored client list was “sitting on my desk right now” awaiting review in February, which has now put her in the crosshairs as the president’s supporters demand blood and allege a cover-up.

To quell the rising tide of outrage, White House aides have hit on four different ways the Trump administration might attempt to quell the chaos, inside sources told both Politico and Axios on Monday.

As a first option, which has received fervent backing from far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and MAGA OG Steve Bannon, who served as the president’s chief strategist during his first term, Trump could appoint either a bespoke investigative team or special counsel to review all prior DOJ and FBI findings on Epstein’s crimes, compiling a full report to then be released to the public.

Under a second proposal, the DOJ would release unredacted versions of documents already in the pubic domain under the supervision of a task force or special counsel.

As it pertains to records related to Epstein’s crimes that have been sealed by the courts, White House aides might also seek to petition federal judges in an effort to have those documents unsealed and made available for public review.

Yet a fourth course of action has been proposed by an unnamed MAGA ally who has lobbied for Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, to stage a no-holds-barred press conference, presumably in the dim hope it’ll exhaust press and public interest in the case.

The wider problem at all play here, according to a Sunday X post from Trump legal adviser Mike Davis, is that a good portion of the Epstein files is “largely unreleasable, for many reasons,” including the fact that rules on criminal procedure generally make it “illegal for government attorneys to disclose grand-jury materials” given these are usually kept “secret to protect victims, encourage witnesses to testify, and protect the falsely accused.”

Whatever option the White House chooses to pursue, it would want to move fast if Politico’s interview with Democratic Rep. Marc Veasey is anything to go by.

“I think [Trump is] trying to protect some billionaire friend of his. That’s what he lives for more than anything else in the world: protecting billionaires,” the Texas congressman, who is set to introduce legislation calling for the full release of the ‘Epstein Files’ later Monday, told the outlet.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.

If you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-aides-are-scrambling-to-find-an-escape-from-his-jeffrey-epstein-nightmare-before-it-gets-worse/?