President Donald Trump is engaging in a flurry of trade activity as the clock ticks down to his Aug. 1 deadline. At 12:01 a.m. ET Friday, new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on U.S. imports from dozens of other nations.
Additionally, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump “at some point this afternoon or later this evening†will sign an order to .
Leavitt said countries that have not received a prior letter on tariffs from Trump or negotiated a trade framework will be notified of their likely tariff rates, either in the form of a letter or Trump’s executive order.
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Oregon attorney general sounds confident after hearing in lawsuit over tariffs
Dan Rayfield of Oregon, one of the states that filed suit, asserted that the judges “didn’t buy’’ the Trump administration’s arguments.
“You would definitely rather be in our shoes going forward,†Rayfield said.
He said Trump’s tariffs — which are paid by importers in the United States who often try to pass along the higher costs to their customers — amount to one of the largest tax increases in American history.
“This was done all by one human being sitting in the Oval Office,’’ Rayfield said.
Trump says he has been planning ballroom construction for some time
“They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years, but there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms,†the president told reporters. “I’m good at building things, and we’re going to build quickly and on time. It’ll be beautiful, top, top of the line.â€
He said the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,†he said. “It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.â€
Trump said the ballroom will serve administrations to come: “I think it will be really beautiful.â€
A look at colleges with federal money targeted by the Trump administration
Several elite colleges have made deals with the administration, offering concessions to the president's political agenda and financial payments to restore federal money that had been withheld.
Ivy League schools Columbia, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania reached agreements to resolve federal investigations. The Republican administration is pressing for more, citing the deal it negotiated with Columbia as a .
There is a freeze on billions of dollars of research money for other colleges including Harvard, which has been negotiating with the White House even as it fights in court over the lost grants.
Like no other president, Trump has used the government’s to push for changes in higher education, decrying elite colleges as places of extreme liberal ideology and antisemitism.
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Hawley says he had ‘good chat’ with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill
is brushing off the president’s quip that he’s a “second-tier†senator after the Missouri Republican’s proposal to by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote.
Hawley told Fox News late Wednesday that it’s “not the worst thing†he’s ever been called and that he and the president â€had a good chat,†clearing up confusion over the bill.
The misunderstanding, Hawley said, was that Trump would have to sell his Mar-a-Lago private club and other assets.
“Not the case at all,†Hawley said on “Jesse Watters Primetime.â€
ICE says it has made over 1,000 tentative job offers
The agency responsible for carrying out Trump’s agenda of mass deportations announced that Thursday as it following the passage of legislation giving ICE a massive infusion of cash.
Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the job offers were made after July 4, when when Trump signed into law and spending cuts that also included about $170 billion for border security and immigration enforcement over five years.
“Many of these offers were to ICE officers who retired under President Biden because they were frustrated that they were not allowed to do their jobs,†McLaughlin said.
The administration has been ramping up across the country, including in immigration courts, worksites, neighborhoods and elsewhere.
Trump ally Jeffrey Clark should be disbarred over 2020 election effort, disciplinary panel says
The former Justice Department official should be stripped of his law license, the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility ruled Thursday. Its recommendation now goes to the D.C. Court of Appeals for a final decision.
Clark Trump’s efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election and clashed with Justice Department superiors who refused to back his false claims of fraud.
In the second Trump administration, he has been serving as acting head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a part of the Office of Management and Budget that is responsible for reviewing executive branch regulations.
OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley said in a post on the social platform X that “this latest injustice is just another chapter in the Deep State’s ongoing assault on President Trump and those who stood beside him in defense of the truth.â€
Trump denounces Russia’s latest missile and drone attack on Kyiv
“Russia, I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing,†the president said as he took questions after an executive order signing at the White House. “I think what Russia’s doing is very sad. A lot of Russians are dying.â€
Trump said the U.S. plans to impose sanctions on Moscow but added, “I don’t know that sanctions bother him,†referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to travel to Russia after his current stop in Israel, Trump said.
Trump disses Harris as she returns to spotlight
The president jabbed at his 2024 opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, after she announced this week that she would not run for governor of California.
“Well, she can’t speak. She can’t talk. She can’t do an interview,†Trump said when asked about Harris’s political future during an executive order signing at the White House.
“I wouldn’t call her a skilled politician.â€
Trump also said Harris should have done more interviews during the campaign.
Harris is set to sit down with late-show host Stephen Colbert on Thursday night.
Trump pledges ‘no government dollars’ for ballroom renovation
The president said he and other private donors will pay for the ballroom renovations at the White House that his administration announced Thursday.
“No government dollars, no,†Trump said during an executive order signing at the White House.
He spoke of the benefits of adding a permanent, larger ballroom at the White House and added: “It’ll be a great legacy project.â€
Federal judges detail rise in threats, ‘pizza doxings,’ as Trump ramps up criticism
In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.
District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one profanity-laced one that called for his assassination.
McConnell, Jr. played a recording of the call during an unusual discussion Thursday where multiple federal judges discussed threats they have received — a notable conversation because judges usually only speak publicly from the bench and through their rulings, and rarely if ever, about personal threats and attacks. Salas and others said the number of attacks has escalated in recent months.
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Senate Republicans rally around former RNC chair’s bid for North Carolina Senate seat
“Michael Whatley has done an exceptional job leading the Republican ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥ Committee through historic campaign successes, and I’m excited to endorse him in his bid to become North Carolina’s next U.S. Senator,†Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on social media.
Whatley previously served as chair of the Republican ´ºÉ«Ö±²¥ Committee and North Carolina Republican Party. He received warm endorsements from his would-be GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill, and promises of support from the party’s main Super PAC.
Cory Gardner, a former senator and chair of the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC, said Whatley “was instrumental to re-electing President Trump†and that he thought Whatley was “will be an outstanding senator for North Carolina.â€
Whatley faces what will likely be an intense and pricey Senate race against Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s former two-term Democratic governor. Democrats were blunt in response to news of Whatley’s announcement.
“Welcome to the race. You’re going to lose,†said Lauren French, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic-aligned Super PAC.
Trump kicks off sports event
The president on Thursday lauded several athletes as he launched a new sports council aimed at improving America’s fitness.
Trump is signing an order to reestablish the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. He will also reinstate the fitness test that was commonplace for decades for schoolchildren.
Among the athletes at the Roosevelt Room of the White House include pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau and Swedish golfer Annika Sorenstam.
“This is an important step in our mission to make America healthy again,†Trump said.
Watchdog finds Trump administration illegally delayed school funds
The Trump administration delayed funding for energy efficiency improvements at public schools in violation of federal law, according to a legal opinion Thursday from the Government Accountability Office.
Democrats seized on the finding as another sign the administration is illegally withholding billions of dollars previously approved by Congress.
It’s the fourth time in recent weeks the watchdog has found that the Trump administration was in violation of a 1974 law that lays out the procedures presidents must follow to reduce, delay, or eliminate funding approved by Congress.
Congress approved $500 million for the energy efficiency program, with $100 million to be made available from 2022 through 2026. The legal opinion finds that DOE has been fulfilling obligations made in previous years. But that was not the case for 2025 funds.
“Denying schools funding for energy efficiency upgrades that save them money isn’t just illegal, it’s stupid and harmful,†Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a press release. “And it’s time President Trump stop blocking this funding alongside all the other key investments he’s holding up.â€
EPA delays methane emission rule for oil and gas drilling
The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying implementation of a Biden-era rule aimed at restricting planet-warming methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. The agency says the 18-month delay will allow energy companies time meet new inspection requirements and other provisions of the .
The Biden administration rule targeted the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for contributing to global warming. The Trump administration has sought to reverse those policies in pursuit of what officials call U.S. “energy dominance.â€
On Tuesday the EPA proposed that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight . The rule would rescind a 2009 declaration that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
GAO issues final report documenting federal response to COVID-19 pandemic
Here are some of the highlights from a final report about the COVID-19 pandemic issued Thursday by the Government Accountability Office:
The federal government provided about $4.65 trillion for response and recovery efforts through six different bills. Almost all that money has been spent.
The full extent of fraud within the relief programs will never be known with certainty, but estimates indicate hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulent payments were disbursed.
Fraud-related charges have been brought against at least 3,205 defendants. Of those, 2,331 defendants have been convicted as of the end of March.
About 18% of adults in the U.S. aged 18 and older had experienced long COVID, and about 5% were currently experiencing it at the time of a Census Bureau survey conducted last year.
Public health impacts have continued. For example, about 450 deaths were reported in March 2025.
Congress had required GAO to report regularly on the pandemic’s impact as part of the CARES Act passed in the first months of the outbreak.
White House walks back Treasury Secretary’s statements on SSA privatization
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said a new children’s savings program President Donald Trump signed into law through the One Big Beautiful Bill “will help supplement, not substitute Social Security.â€
Leavitt made the statement after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a forum hosted by Breitbart News, Wednesday, said that the new investment accounts open “a back door for privatizing Social Security.â€
Hours after the interview the Trump administration said it was committed to protecting Social Security.
And on Thursday on CNBC, Bessent said the Trump accounts will serve as an “incredible supplement†to Social Security and “not a replacement.â€
Democrats and Social Security advocates have launched attacks at Bessent and the White House for his statements.
Former Biden aide testifies to ex-president’s fitness for office
Mike Donilon, the top Biden aide who is testifying before House investigators Thursday, defended the former president’s ability to serve as commander-in-chief.
“What I saw, day in and day out, was a leader who was deeply engaged and in command on critical issues, both at home and abroad,†Donilon told the Oversight committee in his opening statement, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
Donilon continued in his opening remarks that “every president ages over the four years of a presidency and President Biden did as well, but he also continued to grow stronger and wiser as a leader as a result of being tested by some of the most difficult challenges any President has ever faced.â€
The aide, known as Biden’s chief strategist who worked with him for more than four decades, said he believed Biden was the best person to be president from his first day in office and the last.
Donilon is among a coterie of former aides who are appearing before the House committee as part of its investigation into Biden’s competency for office. Another former top Biden aide, Steve Ricchetti, appeared before the committee earlier this week.
Trump to sign executive order Thursday to impose new tariffs
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump “at some point this afternoon or later this evening†will sign an order to impose new tariff rates starting midnight on Friday.
Leavitt said at Thursday’s news briefing said that countries that have not received a prior letter on tariffs from Trump or negotiated a trade framework will be notified of their likely tariff rates, either in the form of a letter or Trump’s executive order.
Leavitt did not say what the baseline tariff rate would be under the order.
White House announces ballroom construction to begin in September
Trump has said for months that he will build a ballroom at the White House, citing lack of space to hold major functions.
The 90,000-square-foot space will be located where the East Wing currently sits and would be able to seat 650 people.
The East Wing currently is home to several offices, including the first lady’s. Those offices would be relocated during construction.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her briefing Thursday that the president and other donors have committed to raising approximately $200 million to build the ballroom.
