President Trump reversed himself on charging a 20% toll for transiting cargo through the Strait of Hormuz, the AP reports. He now says on social media that his reversal was “based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership” and the Gulf states will make “Trade and Investment Deals” into the U.S. and investments “will be […]

“House Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House are hoping to push a narrow reconciliation bill through the House by the end of next week that would include very few Republican priorities and focus mostly on defense and farm aid,” NOTUS reports. “The working plan is for the bill to have sections from four committees: […]

“Writer E. Jean Carroll has been paid more than $5.6 million that she was owed as part of a federal civil jury verdict holding President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, a court filing showed Tuesday,” CNBC reports.

“Warren Buffett has stopped donating money to the Gates Foundation, ending a two-decade philanthropic partnership following revelations about interactions between the ‌Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” Reuters reports.

“Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) has spawned some social media mockery after a clip of her sounding hyper-Midwest while talking about how she will ‘stick it to ’em!’ went viral,” Mediaite reports. Said Stevens: “I am gonna be workin’ on our behalf, I am gonna be tellin’ the stories on our behalf. And you better believe […]

“Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said that her split with President Trump over her push for the Epstein Files Transparency Act could have been the tipping point in her failed gubernatorial bid,” NewsNation reports. Said Mace: “It may have ended my political career.”

“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told fellow Democrats Tuesday he will oppose an amendment aimed at cutting off U.S. aid to Israel, wading directly into a contentious issue that is dividing the party,” Politico reports.

“Many of the smartest people in the world warned governments, companies and people Monday that they need to be ready for the deep impact that artificial intelligence is going to have on the economy,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “More than 200 economists, researchers and tech leaders said artificial intelligence could transform the economy for […]

“President Donald Trump signed an executive order drastically shrinking the size of two national monument areas in Utah on Monday,” Fox News reports. “The order applies to the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, shrinking their total coverage by roughly 90% from 3 million acres to 300,000. The areas were established as federal monuments […]

“The late Sen. Lindsey Graham was known as a champion of American military power, strong global alliances, conservative jurisprudence and more,” Politico reports. “Cryptocurrency regulation? Not so much.” “So when President Donald Trump suggested in a Truth Social post Monday that the Senate should pass a long-brewing crypto bill in ‘honor of Senator Lindsey Graham,’ […]

“Kevin M. Warsh is set to reiterate his commitment to bringing down inflation at his first congressional hearing since becoming chairman of the Federal Reserve,” the New York Times reports. ”However, he has yet to indicate whether he supports higher interest rates to achieve that goal.”

“President Trump has been trying to force Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz for months, turning to everything from airstrikes and naval blockades to negotiations and threats to destroy a ‘whole civilization.'” CBS News reports. “But restoring oil tanker traffic in the vital Middle East shipping corridor to prewar flows likely will require […]

Despite an erroneous report from one of the Supreme Court’s most respected correspondents, the long-anticipated retirement of a conservative justice still hasn’t happened. For months, the assumption has been that Justices Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito — perhaps both — would step down while Republicans still control the White House and the Senate. Join now […]

Paul Krugman: “Are we back at war with Iran? Did the war ever stop? The U.S. is, once again, bombing Iran while Iranian drones strike shipping. Iran, giddy with its success in defying America, is demanding sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, while Donald Trump is saying no, he owns the Strait and will collect […]

“With President Trump’s approval ratings languishing and Democratic candidates polling well, Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor, could become the state’s first Democratic governor in 16 years after November’s election,” the New York Times reports. “Yet as governor, Mr. Sand would be unable to block Republican priorities if the GOP wins a supermajority in the state […]

“Consumer prices posted their biggest decline in more than six years during June as a sharp swoon in energy prices provided at least temporary relief from this year’s inflation surge, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday,” CNBC reports.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) still isn’t ready to rally behind billionaire Rick Jackson’s (R) bid for governor, Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. “In his first interview since his defeat in the Republican runoff, Jones wouldn’t say whether he would even vote for Jackson in November and warned that the party’s nominee must repair a […]

“Behind a string of recent leftist victories in Democratic primaries across the country is a growing ecosystem of progressive media consulting firms and strategists positioning themselves ahead of a wide-open 2028 presidential cycle,” NOTUS reports. “One of those firms, Middle Seat, has quietly racked up a string of victories by working with what have turned […]

“Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office released a photo Sunday night in an effort to answer weeks of questions about his health. In it, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican smiles beside his wife, Elaine Chao, while holding what appears to be that day’s Washington Post Sports section,” the Washington Post reports. “But the image did not end the […]

“Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday, hitting their highest levels in a month, as an escalating pattern of strikes and counter strikes between the United States and Iran rattled markets,” the New York Times reports.

“The always unconvincing ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is all but dead,” Bloomberg reports. “What is indisputable is that the geopolitics of the Middle East have been indelibly changed by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered a series of once unthinkable events, culminating in the U.S.-led war on Iran that is reshaping […]

Punchbowl News: “How’s this for election-year governing?” “With the political winds howling in their face, House Republicans are gearing up to send the Pentagon tens of billions of dollars in new funding for a seemingly endless Iran war that’s bottoming out in public opinion polls.” “The new Pentagon money may not be offset by spending […]

G. Elliot Morris: “In our June Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll, we asked 2,000 Americans to rate both parties on a 0-to-100 ‘feeling thermometer’ scale (where 0 represents ‘cold’ and 100 ‘warm’ toward a figure/party), and about one in five registered voters put both parties below 50.” “This is the group we’ll call the ‘double haters’ […]

“President Donald Trump just threw out a demand of a 20% reimbursement on cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, or roughly $30 million on full supertankers carrying oil,” Bloomberg reports. “That’s based on current oil prices of about $80 per barrel. Supertankers can hold about 2 million barrels of crude.” “In contrast, Iran had […]

“Hunter Biden says he is ‘grateful that the rule of law prevailed’ in a defamation lawsuit that recently netted him a judgment of $1.7m in punitive damages from former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne,” The Guardian reports.

“President Donald Trump is ‘very serious’ about his plan to impose a 20% toll on cargo transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that it’s a plan he’s wanted to move forward with for months,” Semafor reports. “The president has long flirted with the idea of charging a toll, wondering back in April ‘why shouldn’t’ […]

“Iran seems to be playing Donald Trump at his own game,” CNN reports. “The president complained Monday that the Islamic Republic can’t be trusted to honor an agreement, rebuking its rulers for one of his own signature moves.” “‘It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it,’ he told Fox […]

“President Donald Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was drained Monday to make repairs and that it ‘will be refilled and put back into service soon,’ again claiming that vandals gashed the pool’s lining,” CNN reports. USA Today: From blue to green to empty, a look at the DC Reflecting Pool saga.

“Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg left the door open to a potential 2028 presidential run during a visit to Iowa, but said he is focused on the 2026 midterm elections,” USA Today reports. “After rallying phone bank volunteers with Democratic congressional hopeful Sarah Trone Garriott in Des Moines on July 13, the former mayor […]

“Americans’ confidence in 14 of the nation’s core institutions is at or near all-time lows, according to new Gallup polling,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Trust in America’s institutions is being pulled apart by a widening partisan gap, with Republicans far more confident than Democrats in the Trump 2.0 era of mass societal disruption.”