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“Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he couldn’t predict when the fighting with Iran would end or when gas would return to $3 a gallon,” the Washington Post reports.
“President Donald Trump originally said the war, which began Feb. 28, would last four to six weeks. In July, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he hoped gasoline could average $3 a gallon nationwide by Labor Day.”
“Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he is ‘looking forward’ to meeting with former President Joe Biden while in New York City next week for the 25th anniversary of 9/11,” Fox News reports.
Said Vance: “I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations and, you know, it’ll be great. We’ll have a great time with Joe Biden and the other presidents.”
“Pentagon official Emil Michael on Thursday said that Anthropic is still considered a ‘supply chain risk,’ a day after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the company is ‘back on the right side,'” Axios reports.
“The Trump administration is not entirely aligned on one of the world’s leading AI labs following months of fighting over how the military can use its models.”
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries could be on a collision course with progressives and grassroots activists who are demanding Congress pass legislation to pause the construction of new data centers. Jeffries, who is set to become speaker if his party wins the House majority in November, hasn’t weighed in on whether he will push a moratorium,” NOTUS reports.
“Polls show Americans have recoiled from President Donald Trump’s directive to become the ‘world’s No. 1 superpower in artificial intelligence’ and the recent blitz of data centers. Democratic candidates across the country are campaigning on a pledge to pause or ban the construction of new data center projects.”
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced new legislation Thursday calling for a permanent ban on superintelligence alongside a renewed demand for a pause on advanced AI development,” Axios reports.
“Sanders is the first prominent American politician to call for an outright ban on superintelligence as Big Tech companies release increasingly powerful AI models that they themselves admit they may not be able to control.”
“Minnesota congressional candidate Matt Little (D) is eyeing an ambitious goal this week: More than 13,000 handshakes in eight hours, which would be a new world record,” NOTUS reports.
“He said it’s been on his mind for more than a decade: a record so untouched it has only been held by two other people, an influential governor and one of the nation’s most formative presidents.”
“Administration officials Thursday announced they would soon begin work to build President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, his most significant change to Washington’s skyline,” the Washington Post reports.
“America has fought a lot of wars since I’ve been alive. Forty-two years. And we have won almost none of them until Donald J. Trump became the president.”
— JD Vance, speaking to reporters.
Vice President JD Vance said advice from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “is what got him on his weight loss journey,” Fox News reports.
“He said he called Kennedy and told him he was thinking of giving up sugar.”
Said Vance: “Bobby Kennedy says, ‘No, no, no, no, I’ve got something that’s way better than that and way more intense.’ And basically… I eat a lot of high protein stuff and I eat a lot of sauerkraut.”
He added: “So my advice to you is that if you want to lose weight, call Bobby Kennedy. And if you want to enjoy what you eat, do not call Bobby Kennedy.”
“House Republicans’ national campaign arm is joining with embattled GOP Rep. Max Miller to buy TV airtime as allegations of domestic abuse against him put the previously safe north Ohio seat into play,” Politico reports.
“The Trump administration on Thursday again asked the Supreme Court to let it move ahead with restrictions on mail ballots before this year’s the midterm elections in November,” the Associated Press reports.
“The government filed an emergency appeal asking the court to intervene after a judge in Boston handed down a new decision blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order for two weeks.”
“The justices previously allowed the president’s plan to move ahead, but they have not decided whether it is legal.”
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday returned fire after Trump administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed Ottawa tanked trade talks with the U.S. for political purposes,” CNBC reports.
Said Carney: “I don’t think, with all respect, appointed, unelected Cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics.”
“Thomas Ross, a Republican candidate for state representative in Missouri, is facing a federal charge over allegations he instructed his former campaign manager to plant cocaine and amphetamines on a political opponent,” CBS News reports.
“A fierce internal battle is developing among House Democrats for a job that might not even be open next Congress,” Politico reports.
“Reps. Sara Jacobs of California and Lauren Underwood of Illinois are expected to seek the caucus vice chair post. The job is currently held by Rep. Ted Lieu of California, who is expected to step aside only if Democrats prevail in the midterms — allowing Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to become speaker and other members of the party leadership to step one rung up the ladder.”
“The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services grew to the biggest gap in 16 months in July, as America imported more electronics to feed the country’s artificial intelligence boom,” the New York Times reports.
“Vice President JD Vance downplayed the scope of the conflict in Iran, which is now in its seventh month, saying he would not describe it as ‘a war’ just days after military strikes intensified in the region,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Vance: “I wouldn’t call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting.”
Fox News: Vance refuses to put a clock on Iran conflict as key question keeps U.S. forces engaged.
“Less than two years into his Senate term, Jim Justice is seriously considering launching a campaign to return to the governor’s mansion,” Politico reports.
“The West Virginia Republican is exploring a 2028 gubernatorial primary challenge to Gov. Patrick Morrisey.”
“Vice President JD Vance defended his friendship with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, rejecting pressure from some Republicans to distance himself from the conservative iconoclast,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Vance: “Tucker is a friend, despite the fact that we disagree on a number of things. And I’m not going to play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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