President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.
Senate Democrats are imploring Trump 's administration to intervene as Palestinians suffer and starve in Israeli-controlled Gaza, with more than 40 senators signing onto a letter Tuesday urging the resumption of ceasefire talks and sharply criticizing an Israeli-backed American organization created to distribute food aid. Trump has been playing more golf Tuesday in Scotland on the White House has called a working trip including meetings with world leaders.
Here's the latest:
Mike Waltz’s path to becoming ambassador to UN eases with support from key GOP senators
Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters Tuesday that they plan to vote in favor of confirming Waltz.
His nomination cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month, and his path to final confirmation now appears smoother with the support of two Republicans who previously opposed some of the president’s nominations.
Waltz was ousted as Trump’s national security adviser in May after he mistakenly added a journalist to a private Signal chat used to discuss sensitive military plans.
Trump lashes out at Senate tradition on judicial nominees, urges Grassley to end it
The president said he wants to end what he called the “‘Blue Slip’ SCAM” under which home-state senators weigh in on judicial and U.S. attorney nominations, something that carries significant weight for whether they proceed.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Democratic senators are using the tradition of stating their opinions of potential nominees to stop him from getting the federal judiciary he wants.
He criticized the Senate Judiciary chairman, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, for preserving the practice.
Trump said as a result of the “custom” only Democrats or “a weak and ineffective Republican” can get nominated. He called on Grassley to have the “Courage” to end it.
Senate confirms Susan Monarez as CDC director under Trump administration
Monarez, 50, was named acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after the president abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.
The Atlanta-based federal agency, which is tasked with tracking diseases and responding to health threats, has been hit by widespread staff cuts, key resignations and heated controversy over longstanding CDC vaccine policies upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
With Tuesday’s vote, Monarez becomes the first CDC director to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law.
Wife of Marine Corps veteran released from ICE custody
Mexican national Paola Clouatre was released following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs the president’s hard-line immigration crackdown.
Clouatre is one of tens of thousands of people who have been detained as the Trump administration presses immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
Emails reviewed by AP show that Kennedy’s office said Friday that it put in a request for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with husband Adrian Clouatre and their two young children.
Kennedy’s constituent services representative congratulated Adrian Clouatre on his wife’s release and thanked him for his military service.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously it has said it considered Clouatre to be in the country illegally.
Civil rights agency sued over handling of transgender worker discrimination complaints under Trump
Legal groups sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday, claiming it is unlawfully refusing to enforce federal workplace protections for transgender workers.
Led by Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, the agency charged with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination has moved swiftly to comply with the president’s executive order declaring two unchangeable sexes. The EEOC has dropped several lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers, stalled progress on some cases and subjected others to heightened scrutiny.
The lawsuit also says the agency halted payments to state and local civil rights agencies for investigating gender identity discrimination claims.
“The Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to erase protections for transgender people is cruel, and a violation of the law and the Constitution,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which alongside the National Women’s Law Center brought the case on behalf of Maryland LGBTQ+ advocacy group FreeState Justice.
The EEOC referred questions to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New whistleblower emerges against Trump lawyer ahead of confirmation vote
The Senate is set to vote as soon as Tuesday evening to confirm former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge despite vocal Democratic opposition and a new whistleblower complaint against him.
The whistleblower provided Congress with an audio recording of Bove that runs contrary to some of his testimony at his confirmation hearing last month, according to two people familiar with the recording. The audio is from a private video conference call at the Department of Justice in February in which Bove, a top official at the department, discussed his handling of the dismissed corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to transcribed quotes from the audio reviewed by AP.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the whistleblower has not made the recording public. The whistleblower’s claims were first reported by the Washington Post.
▶ Read more about the confirmation vote
— Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
Trump says Jeffrey Epstein ‘stole’ young women from Mar-a-Lago spa, including Virginia Giuffre
The president said Tuesday that the disgraced financier “stole” the women who worked for the spa at Mar-a-Lago, the latest evolution in his description of how their highly scrutinized relationship ended years ago.
One of the women, he acknowledged, was Giuffre, who was among Epstein’s most well-known sex trafficking accusers.
Trump’s comments expanded on remarks a day earlier when he said he banned Epstein from his private club in Florida two decades ago because his onetime friend “stole people that worked for me.” At the time he did not make clear who those workers were.
The president has faced an outcry over his administration’s refusal to release more records about Epstein after promises of transparency, a rare example of strain within his tightly controlled political coalition. Trump has attempted to tamp down questions about the case, expressing annoyance that people are still talking about it six years after Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial, even though some of his own allies have promoted conspiracy theories about it.
▶ Read more about Trump and Epstein
No details yet after Trump said the US would set up new food centers in Gaza
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said details would be forthcoming and that Trump “wants to alleviate suffering for the people of Gaza because he has a humanitarian heart.”
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce defended Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s work and said Trump would announce new plans once he returns from his trip to Scotland.
“The issue here is getting more food, more access, more everything. That has always been at the top of our list,” Bruce said, declining to discuss specifics at a briefing.
Democrats want a “large-scale expansion” of food and water into Gaza, channeled through established aid organizations. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said he’s “very skeptical” that Trump’s plans will do enough to address starvation among Palestinians.
“Could the U.S. set up food centers? Yes, but what about the World Food Program, Mercy Corps and all the groups have been doing it for decades? Why don’t we allow them to do it?” Kaine told The Associated Press.
China and US discussed possibly extending a deadline for new tariffs
China’s top trade official said Tuesday that China and the U.S. agreed to work on extending a deadline for new tariffs beyond the latest deadline of Aug. 12 for a comprehensive trade deal. The U.S. side said extension plans were discussed, but not decided.
Li Chenggang didn’t say how the extension would work. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged that such an extension was discussed, but said the U.S. team would head back to Washington and “talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. side expressed concerns that China is producing goods at a rate beyond what is sustained by global demand, and that China was purchasing Iranian oil and supplying Russia with dual-use tech that could be used on the battlefield.
▶ Read more about the US China trade talks
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls situation in Gaza ‘genocide’
By JILL COLVIN
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the Georgia Republican posted on X Monday night. The staunch Trump ally previously called for an end to the war and pushed to cut U.S. defense aide to Israel.
Her statement was aimed at Florida Rep. Randy Fine, who last week dismissed reports that children in Gaza were dying of starvation as “all a lie” and “Muslim terror propaganda.”
“Release the hostages,” Fine wrote. “Until then, starve away.”
Greene said it’s “disgraceful” for “a Jewish U.S. Representative” to be “calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children.”
Trump administration wants Harvard to pay far more than Columbia as part of settlement
The Trump administration is pressing for a deal with Harvard University that would require the Ivy League school to pay far more than the $200 million fine agreed to by Columbia University to resolve multiple federal investigations, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Harvard would be expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars as part of any settlement to end investigations into antisemitism at its campus, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Harvard leaders have been negotiating with the White House even as they battle in court to regain access to billions in federal research funding terminated by the Trump administration.
The White House’s desire to get Harvard to pay far more than Columbia was first reported by The New York Times, which said the school has signaled a willingness to pay as much as $500 million. Harvard did not immediately comment.
▶ Read more about Trump and Harvard
— Collin Binkley
Trump says he’ll likely meet with Chinese leader before the end of the year
The U.S. president has long been angling for a meeting with Xi Jinping, the leader of China, and expects to have one shortly.
“I would say before the end of the year,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. The president said he spoke by phone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the trade meeting in Sweden with Chinese officials.
That meeting resulted in the extension of the 30% tax the U.S. is charging on goods from China and the 10% tariffs that China is levying in retaliation, down significantly from tariff rates that reached triple digits earlier this year.
“He felt very good about the meeting there, better than he felt yesterday,” Trump said of his call with the treasury secretary.
Trump says he’s gotten no reaction from Russia to his new deadline for peace
The president says new tariffs intended to isolate the Russian economy will take effect in 10 days, but the president said he hasn’t heard from the Kremlin about it.
“I haven’t had any response. It’s a shame,” he said.
Trump says he could fly on airplane gifted by Qatar as soon as February
Trump said he’s been told he could take his first flight on the new plane as early as February.
Qatar gifted the president a plane earlier this year and the Air Force is converting it to be used as Air Force One. Next generation Air Force One aircraft under development are way behind schedule.
Trump has brushed off ethical concerns about his decision to accept such an expensive gift free of charge from a foreign government.
Trump clarifies his new deadline for Russia
The president told reporters that his new deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a deal to stop the fighting with Ukraine will be in 10 days. That gives Putin until Aug. 8 to reach a deal or face steep tariffs or sanctions from the U.S.
Trump had originally given Putin 50 days, but said earlier this week that he was shortening the deadline because he didn’t see any progress being made.
U.S. says no final word yet on tariff extension with China
By DIDI TANG
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said following two days of talks with China that the U.S. team would head back to Washington and “talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do,” meaning pause changes in tariffs beyond the Aug. 12 deadline.
China’s trade officials earlier said that the two sides agreed to “pushing” for the tariff pause beyond the existing deadline.
Epstein’s former girlfriend may cooperate with Congress under certain conditions
By ERIC TUCKER
Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, say they are open to having their client cooperate with Congress but want her to be guaranteed immunity by lawmakers first.
Maxwell’s attorneys also say that any interview with members of the House Oversight Committee should be scheduled only after her petition for the Supreme Court to take up her case has been resolved. Maxwell is serving a long prison sentence in Florida after having been convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. She was questioned at a courthouse last week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued a subpoena for her deposition. In a letter to Comer on Tuesday, Maxwell’s attorneys say that though their “initial reaction” was that Maxwell would invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, they are now looking for ways to cooperate.
Was Trump’s trip for promoting his golf courses?
“I haven’t heard that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter on Air Force One.
Then he shifted the topic.
“Did you get to see my drive on the first hole?” he said. “Pretty long.”
Trump takes aim at the National Environmental Policy Act
By MELINA WALLING, MATTHEW DALY
A key goal of Trump’s plan to boost artificial intelligence and data centers is wiping away barriers to rapid growth. And that means taking aim at NEPA, a 55-year-old bedrock law that requires agencies to consider a project’s possible environmental impacts and allows public input before approval.
Data centers demand vast amounts of energy and water, arousing strong opposition. The AI Action Plan Trump announced last week would seek to sweep aside NEPA, giving “categorical exclusions” to data centers for “maximum efficiency” in permitting.
“It’s par for the course for this administration. The attitude is to clear the way for projects that harm communities and the environment,” said Erin Doran, senior staff attorney at environmental nonprofit Food & Water Watch.
▶ Read more on AI and federal permitting
Environmental groups say Zeldin’s action denies reality
By MATTHEW DALY
“As Americans reel from deadly floods and heat waves, the Trump administration is trying to argue that the emissions turbocharging these disasters are not a threat,’′ said Christy Goldfuss, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It boggles the mind and endangers the nation’s safety and welfare.”
Under Zeldin and Trump, “the EPA wants to shirk its responsibility to protect us from climate pollution, but science and the law say otherwise,’′ she added. “If EPA finalizes this illegal and cynical approach, we will see them in court.”
Zeldin: Climate change rules ‘cost Americans a lot of money’
By MATTHEW DALY
“There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” Zeldin said. “They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy.”
The EPA proposal must go through a lengthy review process, including public comment, before it is finalized, likely next year. Environmental groups are likely to challenge the rule change in court.
China’s top trade official says China and U.S. agree to extend pause on tariffs
By DIDI TANG
Coming out of two days of trade talks with the U.S. in Stockholm, Li Chenggang, China’s top trade official, told the press on Tuesday that the two sides agreed to continue the tariff pause after past the Aug. 12 deadline. That means the U.S. will continue to tax Chinese goods at 30%, and the Chinese side will keep taxing U.S. products at 10%.
Li said the two sides had “comprehensive and in-depth” discussions on microeconomic issues and that they agreed to keep close contact and “communicate with each other in a timely manner on trade and economic issues.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to speak with the press soon.
▶Read more on U.S.-China tariffs talks
Missouri Republicans consider following Texas’ lead on redistricting
Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe is considering whether to call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional districts. A similar effort is underway in Texas. The goal would be to try to increase Missouri Republicans’ current 6-2 advantage in congressional seats. Staff for Trump and Kehoe have had conversations about redistricting, a Kehoe spokesperson said Tuesday. And Kehoe has expressed being open to it.
To create another GOP congressional seat, Missouri state lawmakers likely would need to split up a Kansas City area district held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanual Cleaver. Republicans considered that plan in 2022 but opted against it, fearing it could backfire with losses by spreading GOP voters too thin and subject the state to lawsuits alleging violations of constitutional voting rights.
UK’s Prime Minister calls Cabinet meeting to discuss Gaza
Keir Starmer told his ministers on Tuesday that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution.”
Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Gaza also was on the agenda as Trump spoke with Starmer during his trip to Scotland, and said he’d insist to Israel that “I want them to make sure they get the food.”
Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
Zeldin calls it ‘the largest deregulatory action in the history of America’
By MATTHEW DALY
The EPA administrator described the proposed rule change on the “Ruthless” podcast ahead of an official announcement set for Tuesday in Indiana.
Zeldin had called for a rewrite of the endangerment finding in March as part of a series of environmental rollbacks.’ A total of 31 key environmental rules on topics from clean air to clean water and climate change would be rolled back or repealed under Zeldin’s plan.
The EPA also called for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions that were designed to encourage automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Trump begins trip back to Washington after Scotland visit
Trump has finished a round of golf at the new Trump-branded course he ceremonially opened earlier Tuesday in the village of Balmedie.
He’s boarded the Marine One presidential helicopter that will take him to the airport and Air Force One for the return flight to Washington.
Shooting for the moon — to control its clean-energy sources
Rooke said that space is being increasingly militarized as nations compete for access to valuable minerals, satellite dominance and control over new energy sources that could be developed on the moon, including helium 3, a material that could be used to generate huge amounts of clean energy. Control over the moon in the next few decades could determine which country emerges as the globe’s next great superpower, cyber analyst Joseph Rooke said.
That’s leading to increased competition between the U.S. and its partners and Russia, China and its allies. China and Russia have announced plans to build a nuclear plant on the moon in coming years, while the U.S. is planning missions to the moon and Mars. Artificial intelligence is likely to speed up the competition, as is the demand for minerals and energy that AI requires.
Space race ‘back on’ as nations compete for energy, minerals
Hackers are increasingly targeting satellites as the space-based communication platforms take on greater economic and national security roles, a leading cyber analyst says.
Satellites now drive global positioning systems and digital networks vital for the global economy, communications, and military operations. Disrupting those satellites or the industrial supply chains that support their development would cause significant damage to an opponent’s economy and defense, said Joseph Rooke, director of risk insights at the firm Recorded Future, who led an online discussion Tuesday about the militarization of space.
“The race is back on,” Rooke said. “If you dominate Earth’s energy needs, that’s game over.”
House Republicans’ campaign arm urges members to ‘sell our wins’ during August break
The monthlong August break “is a critical opportunity to continue to define how this legislation will help every voter and push back on Democrat fearmongering,” the National Republican Campaign Committee’s memo says.
Republicans could face constituents after the first months of their complete control of the federal government, which they used to pass, among other things, a massive tax and spending bill. Most U.S. adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, according to an AP-NORC poll.
“The best defense is a good offense,” the NRCC memo says. “Think of creative events” to connect with voters, such as round tables, visiting a local hospital or “work the counter at a local store and chat about your work to lower costs.”
A ‘kill shot’ to invalidate all climate regulations
David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it’s virtually “impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding (to the 2009 standard) that would stand up in court.”
Doniger and other critics say that if it somehow does stand up however, this “kill shot” would erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to tackle climate change.
“The Endangerment Finding is the legal foundation that underpins vital protections for millions of people from the severe threats of climate change, and the Clean Car and Truck Standards are among the most important and effective protections to address the largest U.S. source of climate-causing pollution,’′ said Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Zeldin’s EPA proposal follows an executive order
Trump’s executive order directed the agency to submit a report “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding.
Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have hailed the EPA proposal as a way to undo rules they say are economically damaging.
Three former EPA leaders have criticized Zeldin’s proposal, saying it would endanger the lives of millions of Americans and abandon the agency’s dual mission to protect the environment and human health.
“If there’s an endangerment finding to be found anywhere, it should be found on this administration because what they’re doing is so contrary to what the Environmental Protection Agency is about,” said Christine Todd Whitman, who led EPA under Republican President George W. Bush.
Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency moves to repeal finding that allows climate regulation
Trump’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed on Tuesday the revocation of a scientific finding key to U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.
The proposed EPA rule rescinds a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
This “endangerment finding” is the legal underpinning of a many climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. Zeldin said he’s thrilled to end what he called “the Holy Grail of the climate change religion” as the EPA “does its part to usher in the Golden Age of American success."
Higher US tariffs a price Europe was willing to pay for its security
France’s prime minister described it as a “dark day” for the European Union. Commentators said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s handshake with Trump amounted to capitulation. But Europe depends mightily on the United States, and not just for trade: Its security is at stake.
Mirroring Trump, Von der Leyen gushed that the arrangement she endorsed to set U.S. tariffs on most European exports at 15%, which is 10% higher than currently, is “huge.”
A month after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ingratiated himself with Trump by referring to him as “daddy,” the Europeans again conceded that swallowing the costs and praising an unpredictable president is more palatable than losing America. U.S. allies are convinced that should he win his war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to take aim at one of them next.
▶ Read more on Europe’s realpolitik reaction to the EU-Trump trade deal
The Associated Press
