Washington Post: “The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza passed 60,000 on Tuesday, local health authorities said.”
“It is a figure public health analysts, doctors and conflict casualty monitors say is likely to be a significant undercount, as Israel’s ground operations and attacks on hospitals have upended the enclave’s health care infrastructure.”
A new Washington Post poll found that most Americans are paying at least some attention to news about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“Americans largely disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue, with most Democrats and independents disapproving and Republicans expressing a mix of approval and uncertainty. Most Americans strongly support releasing all files in the Epstein case and suspect the documents contain embarrassing information about Trump, Democrats and billionaires.”
“Democrats have a rare bright spot in their party’s existential crisis: 2026, at least to them, looks pretty good,” Axios reports.
“The party is full of angst over how to retake the White House and win back the voters they lost to President Trump over the past decade. But they feel increasingly sanguine about taking back the House next year.”
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“Over the last six months, the United States has left behind the global trade order that persisted for decades in favor of something drastically different and largely untested,” the New York Times reports.
“Formidable economies like the European Union and Japan have abruptly made peace with higher tariffs on their exports, acquiescing to President Trump’s demands in order to avoid damaging trade wars and to coax even steeper U.S. duties down just a little bit.”
“As major economies fall in line to sign agreements that include the highest tariffs in modern history, the president’s vision for global trade is rapidly being realized. That new normal uses America’s economy as leverage, with other countries accepting tariffs of 15 to 20 percent to do business with the United States. Even higher rates will be imposed on exports of critical products, like steel, or on certain adversarial countries, like China.”
Politico: Trump got his tariff hike. The rest remains murky.
CNBC: Trump’s tariffs could soon bring higher food prices for some Americans.
“JD Vance wanted the Jeffrey Epstein files released. He repeatedly called for ending American military assistance to Ukraine. And he warned against the United States becoming involved in any overseas conflicts,” the New York Times reports.
“But that was all before he became President Trump’s vice president.”
“In his first six months in the role, Mr. Vance has emerged as a warrior for Mr. Trump, vigorously promoting and defending the president while twisting away from his past stances on a range of topics.”
Washington Post: The tough task of selling Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ falls to JD Vance.
“Jerome Powell has rarely had it easy during his tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve. Under his watch, the central bank has had to navigate through two global trade wars, a once-in-a-century pandemic, multiple geopolitical conflicts overseas and the worst inflation shock in decades,” the New York Times reports.
“But with just nine months to go until his term as chair is up, Mr. Powell’s circumstances have become particularly precarious.”
“Mr. Powell is facing relentless attacks from the White House and the recurring threat of being ousted by President Trump, while a handful of candidates openly jockey to replace him. He must grapple with all of this while managing divisions in his own ranks about when to lower interest rates again after a long pause.”
“President Trump’s tariff rollout has taken numerous twists and turns since launching earlier this year. The stakes are climbing ahead of Aug. 1, Trump’s self-imposed deadline for reaching trade deals,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A new standard of 15% tariffs on foreign goods appears to be taking shape. The European Union agreed to that level, as did Japan last week.”
“But the outlook for many top U.S. trading partners has yet to come into clear focus. Trump has threatened, for example, to raise tariffs on Canada to 35% from the current 25% if the two countries don’t strike a deal by Friday. And a 90-day truce between the U.S. and China expires in mid-August, at which point Trump’s tariffs on China could soar.”
Politico: Trump keeps Canada guessing as trade deadline looms.
The U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) added a 51st state to the union on Monday when it released an ad that misspelled Georgia, Mediaite reports.
“Federal Reserve officials expect they will need to resume lowering interest rates eventually—they just aren’t ready to do so Wednesday. The questions dividing them center on what evidence they need to see first, and whether waiting for that clarity turns out to be a mistake,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The central bank had a united front when officials paused rate cuts earlier this year after President Trump’s tariffs raised fears of renewed inflation. But with tariff-related price increases proving milder than many feared and signs that hiring may be softening, officials on the rate-setting committee are now fractured into roughly three camps over whether to resume easing.”
Charlie Cook: “Even a scandal like the Epstein files, which sucks up all the oxygen in Washington, is unlikely to affect an election almost 500 days away.”
The Atlantic profiles Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
“Crockett is testing out the coarser, insult-comedy-style attacks that the GOP has embraced under Trump, the general idea being that when the Republicans go low, the Democrats should meet them there. That approach, her supporters say, appeals to people who drifted away from the Democrats in 2024, including many young and Black voters…”
“Perhaps inadvertently, Crockett seemed to be acknowledging something I heard from others in my reporting: that the forthrightness her supporters love might undermine her relationships within the party. Some of Crockett’s fellow Democrats worry that her rhetoric could alienate the more moderate voters the party needs to win back.”
Former Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) “said Monday that he’s mulling another run for Congress in the competitive district representing southern Macomb County, Rochester and Rochester Hills,” the Detroit News reports.
“Harvard University has signaled a willingness to meet the Trump administration’s demand to spend as much as $500 million to end its dispute with the White House as talks between the two sides intensify,“ the New York Times reports.
“According to one of the people, Harvard is reluctant to directly pay the federal government, but negotiators are still discussing the exact financial terms.”
“A new reality is settling in for the global economy: President Donald Trump’s tariffs — set at levels once considered mostly unthinkable — are here to stay,” NBC News reports.
Said Trump: “We’re going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world, and that’s what they’re going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can’t sit down and make 200 deals.”
A Fairleigh Dickinson poll finds the race to be the next governor of New Jersey is close, with Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill holding an eight-point lead over Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli among likely voters, 45% to 37%, and 16% still undecided.
“If Texas lawmakers follow through on President Trump’s call to redraw state congressional maps to help the Republican Party, New York leaders say they want to be ready to respond in kind,” the New York Times reports.
“Democrats in the State Assembly and Senate will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would allow New York to redraw its own congressional lines mid-decade — instead of every 10 years, linked to the U.S. census — if another state does so first.”
“A new whistleblower has come forward to challenge the federal judicial nomination of Emil Bove, sharing evidence with lawmakers suggesting the controversial former attorney for Donald Trump and current top Justice Department official misled lawmakers during his confirmation hearing last month,” the Washington Post reports.
“The whistleblower — whose existence has not been previously reported — presented documentation that contradicts claims Bove made before the Senate Judiciary Committee about a Justice Department prosecution.”
Politico: Bove’s nomination not yet derailed by new whistleblower complaint.
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Sen. Sherrod Brown met in Ohio this weekend, as Brown weighs a possible comeback bid to flip a GOP Senate seat in the state,” Axios reports.
“Schumer has lobbied Brown for months to run. Fresh off a major recruiting victory in North Carolina, he wants to expand that luck to Ohio.”
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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