“Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired at least nine more Justice Department employees who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” Reuters reports.
Putin Urges Iran to Take ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has told both President Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium,” Axios reports.
“Russia has been Iran’s main diplomatic backer on the nuclear issue for years. But while Moscow publicly advocates for Iran’s right to enrich, Putin has taken a tougher position in private in the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.”
Trump Seems Content With Punishing Levies
“Even after President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs in April, some investors and supporters comforted themselves by arguing that the president’s goal was still to open global markets, not close them off,” the New York Times reports.
“The belief, promoted by Mr. Trump himself, was that he was using his tariffs as a lever to crack open foreign markets and the administration would soon deliver dozens of deals that would increase U.S. exports and help American businesses flourish abroad.”
“Three months later, that optimism is being replaced by doubts that Mr. Trump’s goal was ever to strike the kind of trade deals that would open up markets.”
The Secret Double Life of Trump’s Would-Be Assassin
CBS News “punctures Thomas Crooks’ secrecy to reveal the broadest portrait yet of the lonesome young student who tried to kill President Trump.”
Judge Blocks Sweeping Immigration Raids in L.A.
“A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Friday from making indiscriminate immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area and denying detainees the right to consult with a lawyer, dealing a temporary blow to the president’s high-profile crackdown on immigration,” the New York Times reports.
CNN: Judge orders Trump administration to stop immigration arrests in Southern California without probable cause.
FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood
“Two days after catastrophic floods roared through Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line,” the New York Times reports.
“The lack of responsiveness happened because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers.”
“The agency laid off the contractors on July 5 after their contracts expired and were not extended, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who has instituted a new requirement that she personally approve expenses over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until Thursday, five days after the contracts expired.”
Why MAGA is Right about Jeffrey Epstein
Tina Brown: “It’s rare that I agree with the MAGA conspiracy theory loonies, but, in the case of the Epstein files, they deserve an answer about why the full folder has not been released. I have never fully believed that Epstein committed suicide and my skepticism grows the more the mysteries accumulate.”
Exchange of the Day
President Trump was asked by a local Texas reporter about the government response to the deadly floods:
REPORTER: Several families we’ve heard from are obviously upset because they say that those warnings, those alerts, didn’t go out in time, and they also say that people could have been saved. What do you say to those families?
TRUMP: Well, I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess as Kristi said, a one in 500, once-in-1,000-year event. And I just have admiration for the job that everybody did. There’s this admiration. Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.
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Rules of Global Commerce Give Way to Chaos
“Six months into his new administration, President Trump’s assault on global trade has lost any semblance of organization or structure,” the New York Times reports.
“He has changed deadlines suddenly. He has blown up negotiations at the 11th hour, often raising unexpected issues. He has tied his tariffs to complaints that have nothing to do with trade, like Brazil’s treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, or the flow of fentanyl from Canada…”
“The resulting uncertainty is preventing companies and countries from making plans as the rules of global commerce give way to a state of chaos.”
Ukraine Says 40% of Russian Ammunition Is North Korean
“North Korea is now supplying as much as 40% of Russia’s ammunition for the war in Ukraine as the partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow deepens, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence,” Bloomberg reports.
“Kim Jong Un’s regime is also sending other weapons to Russia, including ballistic missiles and artillery systems.”
Assassination Attempt Defined Trump’s Political Comeback
Time: “As the ultimate symbol of Trump’s survival, the image encapsulates the central themes of his return to power: victimhood, strength, defiance.”
“But for the President and his allies, it also serves as a lodestar for his revolutionary and combative second-term agenda. A year later, the Butler shooting remains the defining moment for Trump and the Make America Great Again movement he leads. Pictures and illustrations of the scene on July 13, 2024, have since been sold on Christmas ornaments, car magnets, and t-shirts. They have graced the covers of books and magazines. And they have become a staple of the MAGA mythology.”
Said Steve Bannon: “The MAGA movement sees this very simply and powerfully: the hand of Divine Providence interceded on the plains of Butler. Trump was spared to do great things.”
Laura Loomer Sharpens Her Knives for Pam Bondi
“MAGA activist Laura Loomer has set her sights on ousting Attorney General Pam Bondi, as the White House fends off fury from the president’s base over its handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case and death,” Politico reports.
“Loomer called on FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino to ask for Bondi’s public resignation Friday morning, writing on social media that Patel and Bongino had clashed with Bondi over the investigation.”
Trump Weighs New Ukraine Aid Package
“President Donald Trump is weighing a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the first potential aid sent by the administration to the beleaguered country,” Politico reports.
“A new weapons package, which senior Republican lawmakers have sought, would underline the administration’s internal divisions over Ukraine assistance as its battle against Russia grinds past a third year.”
Pete Hegseth Gets a New Title
President Trump referred to Pete Hegseth as the “Secretary of War” in a Truth Social post.
Dan Bongino May Resign Over Jeffrey Epstein Files
“Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has told people he is considering resigning amid a major clash between the FBI and Justice Department over the continued fallout from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein memo,” CNN reports.
State Department Lays Off 1,300 Employees
“The State Department is laying off more than 1,300 employees as part of a sweeping reorganization plan that Trump administration officials say will cut down on unwieldy bureaucracy and modernize the agency,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The department on Friday began notifying the employees being let go, including more than 1,100 civil servants and around 250 foreign-service officers.”
FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified
“The United States Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as ‘full raw’ surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell the night before he was found dead. The release was intended to address conspiracy theories about Epstein’s apparent suicide in federal custody. But instead of putting those suspicions to rest, it may fuel them further,” Wired reports.
“Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by Wired and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro.”
“The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as ‘raw’ footage.”
