Trump News for Friday, August 1, 2025

‘House is gone. Cars are gone’: Paul Whelan’s life one year after his release from a Russian prison

Jennifer Hansler, CNN, CNN

For Paul Whelan, returning to life in the United States after more than half a decade of Russian imprisonment has been “interesting” – and not without its...

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to Lower-Security Texas Prison Where She’ll Be Housed With Two Famous Inmates

Kevin Dolak, Hollywood Reporter

Jeffrey Epstein's right-hand woman, incarcerated for 20 years and teeming with knowledge about the late financier, met with a Department of Justice liaison...

Court allows Trump to end union bargaining for federal workers

Nate Raymond, Yahoo Entertainment

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a judge's order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from stripping hundreds of...

Trump and the dollar are doing something we saw just before the October 1987 stock market crash

Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch

The current political environment and currency market disruption are disturbingly similar.

Trump's long history of bashing jobs report numbers dates back to 2016: ANALYSIS

Benjamin Siegel, Michelle Stoddart, Rebecca Jarvis, ABC News

Trump's history of criticizing the Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs report has surfaced in the wake of his decision to fire commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday.

Greg Gutfeld Is ‘Excited’ to Be on Jimmy Fallon Next Week

Opheli Garcia Lawler, Cracked.com

By Opheli Garcia Lawler Published: August 01st, 2025

States sue Trump administration after more hospitals stop treating transgender youth

Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR

A coalition of 16 states and D.C. argue in the lawsuit that the Trump administration is trying to effectuate a national ban on gender-affirming care for youth by intimidating hospitals and doctors.

Commissioner of Labor Statistics fired, because labor statistics were not to president’s liking

Nathan Yau, Flowingdata.com

The administration disagreed with the jobs count released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so the administration is firing the commissioner. For NPR, Scott Horsley reports: U.S. employers added j…

College Basketball Coach Blames Barack Obama For 'Dividing' United States

Chris Rosvoglou, The Spun

For the second time this week, Barack Obama has been called out by Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl's feud with Obama started earlier this week...

WATCH: Trump moves nuclear submarines in response to Russia's 'highly provocative' statement

ABC News

President Donald Trump has ordered two nuclear submarines to move into the “appropriate regions” in response to what he called Russia’s “highly provocative statements.”

Turns out the Trump economy is not doing so well after all

Eric Levitz, Vox

The US economy is bending — but not yet breaking — beneath the weight of President Donald Trump’s nationalist agenda. That is the story told by an avalanche of economic data released last week.  According to those new figures, employers are pulling back on hi…

A Beloved Oscar-Winner Just Praised ‘South Park’ on Social Media

JM McNab, Cracked.com

As if we needed another reason to like Marisa Tomei

A MAGA Attorney Hired Epstein’s Lawyer for His ‘Valuable’ Experience

Shane Harris, The Atlantic

A firm that represents Pete Hegseth and once represented Donald Trump now employs the co-executor of the disgraced financier’s estate.

Not With a Bang, but With a Truth Social Post

Tom Nichols, The Atlantic

The president is rattling a nuclear saber as a distraction.

Wow, that Sydney Sweeney jeans ad sure got people talking

Kyndall Cunningham, Vox

Declaring that an actor has great jeans should technically be a boring way to sell denim. And yet, an American Eagle ad featuring Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney and some poorly conceived wordplay has broken everyone’s brains.  Last week, the mall brand unveiled…

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Is Shutting Down

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

MAGA notches another win in its battle against anything good in America.

The jobs numbers were bad — so Trump fired the messenger

Andrew Prokop, Vox

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration got some ugly jobs numbers to…

Elon Musk Gave Millions to Trump After Publicly Blowing Up Their Bromance

Lucas Ropek, Gizmodo.com

Musk seems to still want to be in Trump's good graces, even after accusing the President of being in the Epstein files.

LinkedIn Joins The Parade Of Cowards: Quietly Strips Anti-Trans Protections To Appease MAGA Mob

Mike Masnick, Techdirt

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has quietly joined the parade of tech giants rolling back basic protections for transgender users, removing explicit prohibitions against deadnaming and misgendering from its hate speech policies this week. The change, first spotted b…

Public Broadcasting Has Always Been a Home for Comedy

Opheli Garcia Lawler, Cracked.com

The closure of Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a loss for jokes

WATCH: Inside the T-Rex World Championship races

ABC News

A new sport debuted on ESPN's "The Ocho" this year: T-Rex racing. ABC News' Danny New hosted the event and went behind the scenes to learn about the competitors.

$10 billion, 10 year US Army contract elevates Palantir to defense contracting royalty

Brandon Vigliarolo, Theregister.com

Crashes the multibillion-dollar DoD party alongside Boeing, Lockheed, and Raytheon There are no official criteria for what constitutes membership in the upper echelon of the US military industrial complex, but a $10 billion deal that consolidates dozens of co…

The Mystery of the Strong Economy Has Finally Been Solved

Rogé Karma, The Atlantic

Turns out it wasn’t actually that strong.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting announces it will shut down after Trump, Congress cut funding

Yahoo Entertainment

What do Trump's new tariffs mean for the economy? Experts weigh in

Max Zahn, ABC News

Stocks tumbled on Friday in response to the sweeping new levies.

Designer Debuts Lead Milan SS26 Schedule & Tariff Anxieties Rattle Brands in this Week's Top Fashion News

info@hypebeast.com (Hypebeast), HYPEBEAST

SummaryThis September, Milan Fashion Week SS26 will feature a wave of new creative directors making debuts. Key shows will include Demna's debut for Gucci, Dario Vitale for Versace, and Louise Trotter for Bottega Veneta. In the meantime, Pharrell Williams als…

Putin not swayed by US' Ukraine war ultimatum

BBC News

The Russian president says Moscow's initial tough demands must be met, despite a looming US sanctions deadline.

Remember running the mile in school? The Presidential Fitness Test is coming back

Rachel Treisman, NPR

The Cold War-era test was a staple of school gyms for half a century before the Obama administration replaced it. Trump says his focus on childhood fitness is for both physical and patriotic reasons.

Smithsonian explains why a Trump reference was removed from impeachment exhibit

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, USA Today

"A future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments," according to a statement from the Smithsonian.

Why open-source AI became an American national priority

Clément Delangue, Hugging Face, VentureBeat

To reflect democratic principles, AI must be built in the open. If the U.S. wants to lead the AI race, it must lead the open-source AI race.

Apple’s Tim Cook Talks Trump Tariffs and AI

Bruce Gil, Gizmodo.com

Apple and other tech giants reported their quarterly earnings this week

Trump actually has a tariff strategy this time. It could still go terribly wrong.

Andrew Prokop, Vox

Four months after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff hikes threw the global economy into chaos, we got a sequel — but there appears to be at least somewhat more of a method to Trump’s tariff madness this time around. Trump is using the threat of…

Why Nintendo didn’t raise the price of the Switch 2 (yet)

Andrew Webster, The Verge

Just about every piece of hardware that Nintendo sells is getting a little more expensive in the US - with the exception of the Switch 2. That includes all models of the original Switch, a bunch of accessories, and even a motion-activated alarm clock. The cha…

It's Seriously Funny What The Scottish Government Announced Two Days After Trump Left

Matt Stopera, Buzzfeed

Oh, I'm expecting an epic 2 AM'er about this one.View Entire Post ›

Trump said he will fire Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner hours after disappointing July jobs report

Allie Kelly, Business Insider

Trump said Friday he will fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following a disappointing jobs report.

El Salvador’s Crypto President Could Stay in Power for Decades After Changes to Constitution

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

Trump's buddy in Central America may become a dictator for life.

Brett Kavanaugh says he doesn’t owe the public an explanation

Ian Millhiser, Vox

Justice Brett Kavanaugh defended the Supreme Court’s recent practice of handing victories to President Donald Trump without explaining those decisions, while speaking at a judicial conference on Thursday. For most of its history, the Supreme Court was very ca…

Fox News AI Newsletter: Your own personal 'superintelligence'

Fox News

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

ICE recruits former federal workers to join its ranks amid hiring spree

Ximena Bustillo, NPR

The push to rehire retired workers comes as the administration has also sought to downsize large swaths of the federal government through mass layoffs and other changes.

US, NATO developing novel funding mechanism for Ukraine weapons transfers

Gram Slattery, Mike Stone and Phil Stewart, Yahoo Entertainment

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. and NATO are working on a novel approach to supply Ukraine with weapons using funds from NATO countries to pay for the...

Ghislaine Maxwell moved to minimum-security women's prison in Texas

BBC News

Maxwell is at the centre of controversy over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case.

President Trump says he will fire BLS commissioner after July jobs report disappoints

Myles Udland, Yahoo Entertainment

President Trump on Friday said he planned to fire the commissioner of the BLS, which publishes the monthly jobs report.

President Trump fires BLS commissioner after July jobs report disappoints

Yahoo Entertainment

Trump says he gave new orders to US nuclear submarines in response to an ex-Russian president's 'foolish' talk

Jake Epstein, Business Insider

The US president hit back at Medvedev's "highly provocative statements" referencing nuclear capabilities. "Words are very important," Trump said.

Feds Launch Experiment to Have Medicare Cover GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs

Ed Cara, Gizmodo.com

The federal government is expected to start a 5-year-long experiment that will provide some limited coverage of obesity medications.

He Was Asked About His Tattoos And A TikTok Video In Court. Five Days Later, He Was In A Salvadoran Prison.

Melissa Sanchez, Techdirt

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. In the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, I spent a few weeks observing Chicago’s immigration court to get a sense of how things were changing. On…

Colbert Cancellation Had Nothing to do with Skydance, Skydance Says

Opheli Garcia Lawler, Cracked.com

By Opheli Garcia Lawler Published: August 01st, 2025

Trump to Build White House Ballroom to Address National ‘Schlopping’ Emergency

Susan Rinkunas, Jezebel

Barf Bag: “They've always wanted to have it," per our Big Dumb president. Is this kind of like how, in his telling, the people yearned for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade?

A Federal Judge Just Called Out the Trump Administration for Lying to the Supreme Court

Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine

Almost as soon as Trump returned to the White House, the Justice Department began lying to federal courts in an effort to conceal its flagrant lawbreaking.

Trump eyes bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian nations into Abraham Accords, sources say

Gram Slattery, Yahoo Entertainment

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration is actively discussing with Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing that nation and some Central...

People Are Rolling Their Eyes Into Oblivion After Hearing Karoline Leavitt's Latest Claim About Trump

Ed Mazza, Buzzfeed

"We are North Korea now," one user said.

WATCH: Flight attendants in Alaska Airlines door plug incident sue Boeing

ABC News

Four flight attendants who were onboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, where the door plug blew out in January 2024, are now suing Boeing.

WATCH: NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 has launched to the International Space Station

ABC News

The American-Japanese-Russian crew of four rocketed from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. They’ll replace colleagues who launched to the space station in March as fill-ins for NASA’s two stuck astronauts.

Trump's impeachments have been removed from a Smithsonian exhibit, for now

Scott Neuman, NPR

The Smithsonian says a reference to President Trump's impeachments that was removed last month will be restored once the exhibit is updated.

Canada trade team could quit DC talks after Trump tariffs, says Carney adviser

David Ljunggren, Yahoo Entertainment

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Canadian team working on a trade deal with the United States could walk away from talks in the wake of a U.S. decision to impose a 35% ...

White House lobbying for a Nobel prize for Trump takes a farcical turn

Yahoo Entertainment

Don’t Vibe Check Me, Bro; Or How To Deal With Comments In An Era Filled With Post-Factual Nazis

Tim Cushing, Techdirt

A whole lot of bad faith arguing continues [and is amplified!] now that Donald Trump has somehow regained his position as The Person Most Likely To Abuse His Power While Serving As The Most Powerful Man In The World. [Cut to yearbook photo of an 18-year-old D…

Bureau of Prisons moves Ghislaine Maxwell to prison camp in Texas

Aaron Katersky, Jack Date, ABC News

The Bureau of Prisons has moved former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a federal prison camp in Texas.

Kyiv hit with Russian attack: What it felt like on the ground

Bartley Price, The Hill

Our NewsNation coverage from Ukraine will continue through next week.

You Should Get All Those Switch 2 Accessories Now Before They Get Even More Expensive

Kyle Barr, Gizmodo.com

The original Switch is also getting more expensive due to “market conditions.”

Trump Revives the Presidential Fitness Test to Torment a New Generation of Kids

Ed Cara, Gizmodo.com

The original iteration of the test was implemented by President Dwight Eisenhower.

Prosecutors cite Diddy's freak offs in opposing his latest bail try: He's no 'ordinary John'

Laura Italiano, Business Insider

Bail? Not for Diddy, the feds say, turning the rap mogul's "just a John" argument on its head by dredging up the drugs and violence of freak offs.

Trump’s Tariffs Expected to Cost Apple an Additional $1.1 Billion

Jeremy Gray, PetaPixel

Apple has spent nearly $1 billion paying tariffs already, and expects to pay even more next quarter, primarily to China. [Read More]

Alex Jones Claims Trump Officials Have Asked Him to Stop Talking About Jeffrey Epstein

Matt Novak, Gizmodo.com

The InfoWars host says he's been asked "what do you want?"

Trump Melts Down in Unhinged Revenge Rant: ‘They Must Pay’

Yahoo Entertainment

Shockingly bad jobs report reveals a months-long stall and may trigger Fed rate cuts soon. ‘Powell is going to regret holding rates steady’

Jason Ma, Yahoo Entertainment

"September is a lock for a rate cut and it might even be a 50-basis point move to make up the lost time."

Video of shocking scene at EV charging station sparks outrage: 'They need to run cameras'

Robert Crow, Yahoo Entertainment

"This behavior will surge and become a major point in the culture wars."

Stocks tumble after Trump unveils sweeping new tariffs

Max Zahn, ABC News

Trump signed an executive order late Thursday slapping tariffs on 70 countries.

US officials on rare visit to controversial Gaza aid distribution site

Willem Marx, NPR

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee inspected an aid distribution center operated by the U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah.

Stock markets drop as Trump unleashes new round of global tariffs

Rafael Nam, NPR

Stocks slumped after Trump announced tariffs on a wide range of countries. A weaker-than-expected jobs report magnified the concerns about how these import taxes would impact the economy.

Children’s YouTube Influencer Ms. Rachel Plans to Have a Survivor From Gaza on Her Show

Lucas Ropek, Gizmodo.com

The extremely popular entertainer has received backlash for her criticism of Israeli policies.

Bosnian Serb leader Dodik vows to defy political ban, write to Trump

Reuters, Yahoo Entertainment

Milorad Dodik was responding to a ruling by Bosnia's appeals court upholding a sentence handed down to him for defying the orders of the international peace ...

EU brands turn to obscure customs clause to soften blow of Trump's tariffs

Elisa Anzolin, Mimosa Spencer and Dominique Patton, Yahoo Entertainment

PARIS/MILAN (Reuters) -L'Oreal and a growing number of European fashion and cosmetics companies are exploring use of an obscure, decades-old U.S. customs...

Trump Infrastructure Bill Revamp To Net Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk Billions In New Subsidies For Broadband They Can’t Really Deliver

Karl Bode, Techdirt

There’s $42.5 billion in broadband grants are headed to the states thanks to the 2021 infrastructure bill most Republicans voted against (yet routinely try to take credit for among their constituents). But Republicans, despite a supposed feud between Trump an…

Bill Burr Launches Full Character Attack Against Ben Shapiro and MAGA Podcast Bros

Opheli Garcia Lawler, Cracked.com

In a new interview, Burr says Shapiro ‘doesn’t even know what woke is’

CFP 2025: 32 teams can make the College Football Playoff

Heather Dinich, ESPN

Using ESPN Analytics, Heather Dinich breaks down the 32 teams that can make the playoff.

Trump says Powell is a 'moron' and calls for the board to 'assume control' of the Fed, soon after it kept rates steady again

Thibault Spirlet, Business Insider

Trump escalated pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell in a Truth Social post on Friday, urging the Fed's board to intervene and slash interest rates.

Trump sets new tariff rates and deadlines. And, rabbis speak out on starvation in Gaza

Suzanne Nuyen, NPR

Trump signed executive orders setting updated tariff rates on more than 65 countries. And, more than 1,000 rabbis and Jewish leaders signed a public letter decrying starvation in Gaza.

10 Friday AM Reads

Barry Ritholtz, Ritholtz.com

Happy August! My end-of-week morning train WFH reads: • Almost Every Corner of Emerging Markets Is Surging as Dollar Sinks: After more than a decade as an afterthought in investing circles, developing assets are having a moment as Trump roils the dollar. (Blo…

Tyra Banks—and Her Dubious Hygiene—Belongs on Daytime TV

Audra Heinrichs, Jezebel

This week, Tyra Banks joined Jenna Bush Hager as the guest co-host for the fourth hour of the Today show, and we've learned...a lot.

How American Power Should Be Deployed

Garry Kasparov, The Atlantic

America’s retreat and its threat to democracy

Why has India vowed to protect its farmers in the face of tariff threats?

Rajendra Jadhav, Yahoo Entertainment

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday slapped a 25% tariff on Indian goods after prolonged talks that got bogged down over access to India's labour...

Clocks fall back earlier this year: When daylight saving time ends

Liesel Nygard, MassLive.com

Mark your calendars! Daylight saving time is ending earlier this year.

Justice Department ups the incentive for companies to rat out their own employees

Jacob Shamsian, Business Insider

The Justice Department introduced a new policy that takes some risk off the table for reporting employees potentially commiting crimes.

Trump's executive order seeks to remove homeless from streets. What is seen in Erie County

Nicholas Sorensen, Erie Times-News, GoErie.com

On July 24, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing homelessness and crime on U.S. streets. How will it help Erie County?

China's military tried to buy Nvidia chips for AI servers and a robot dog, documents show

Charles Rollet, Business Insider

Chinese military records show attempts to buy banned Nvidia chips for its AI projects. Find out more about what they reveal.

What is the U.S. destroying $9.7 million worth of? Find out in the quiz

Holly J. Morris, NPR

This week was full of mysteries. If you're a super sleuth who followed the news, you'll be well on your way to a perfect score.

Fuming Trump Trashes Republican for Refusing to Do His Bidding

Cameron Adams, Daily Beast

President Donald Trump has fired off another warning shot at one of his regular GOP critics—Maine Senator Susan Collins. Trump warned Republicans that they...

European drugmakers fall after Trump raises stakes over US drug price cuts

Ankur Banerjee, Yahoo Entertainment

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Shares of European drugmakers slipped on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump sent letters to major pharmaceutical firms to cut drug...

Russia launches 6,400 drones, missiles into Ukraine in record-breaking month

David Brennan, ABC News

More than three years into Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainians across the country retreat each night to bomb shelters and metro stations in a nightly ritual.

U.S. Tariff Hike Could Push Rolex Prices Up Nearly 40%

info@hypebeast.com (Hypebeast), HYPEBEAST

SummaryEffective August 7, U.S. imposes 39% tariff on Swiss importsSwiss watchmakers could face significant price hikes or absorb costs, boosting pre-owned demandPart of Trump’s tiered overhaul: 10% baseline, 15% for pacts, Canada’s tariff now 35%The White Ho…

8 million student-loan borrowers on Biden's SAVE plan now face interest charges again after a yearlong pause

Ayelet Sheffey, Business Insider

Interest charges for student-loan borrowers on Biden's SAVE plan will resume. The Trump administration recommends they switch to a new repayment plan.

Virginia Giuffre's family expresses shock over Trump saying Epstein 'stole' her

The Associated Press, NPR

Her family's statement is the latest development involving Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges, and the Republican president.

Stephen Colbert’s Big Interview with Kamala Harris Shows Neither Can Change

Opheli Garcia Lawler, Cracked.com

By Opheli Garcia Lawler Published: July 31st, 2025

US lowers tariffs on major tech exporting nations - but buyers will still pay more

Simon Sharwood, Theregister.com

Malaysia's attitude of 'This could be worse and our neighbours are copping it too' is a typical response World War Fee US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced new tariff rates that reduce the import duties on goods from several major tech-producing na…

Jim Cramer Calls United Parcel Service Stock’s Plunge “Frightening”

Syeda Seirut Javed, Yahoo Entertainment

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently talked about. During the episode, Cramer called the company’s recent quarter ...

Trump unveils tariff rates set to take effect next week

Max Zahn, Michelle Stoddart, Meghan Mistry, ABC News

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday, slapping tariffs on most of America's trading partners set to take effect next week.

Federal judge delays expiration of TPS for Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Nepalese

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR

The Trump administration has said the conditions in the three countries have improved, therefore the immigrants can return back to their homelands. But federal Judge Trina Thompson suggested Trump's motives are discriminatory.

Kavanaugh Admits Trumpy Shadow Docket Rulings Are Tearing SCOTUS Apart

William Vaillancourt, Daily Beast

Justice Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged that the recent flurry of short, unexplained rulings in the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has caused a rift among...