Good morning, everyone. Republicans are being urged to distance themselves from Trump’s election-denial address as his administration dismantles key protections against cyberattacks and other election threats. Nearly all of the major claims in his speech have now been disputed. Meanwhile, Canadian wildfires continue to rage as U.S. Republicans push to declare Canada’s ambassador persona non grata and revoke Canadian officials’ visas. Iran has withdrawn from the memorandum of understanding, while fires burn near Moscow following Ukrainian strikes.
Some of you have said that I look especially burned out lately. The truth is, this past week has been a lot. Between the Epstein coverage, the Blanche hearing, Trump’s speech, and everything else, it has been a whirlwind, and many of you have felt it too. These are some of the messages I have received from people canceling their subscriptions over the past few days:
Here’s the news:
Trump speech/Elections:
Two days after Donald Trump devoted a heavily promoted prime-time address largely to disputed claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, alleged foreign interference, and the need to pass the SAVE America Act, Republican leadership is urging members of Congress to ignore the speech and the contents within it. Republican congressional leaders Mike Johnson and John Thune issued no statements about the speech, while “Fox & Friends” ignored it during its entire three-hour Friday broadcast, signaling discomfort within the party.
Although some Trump-aligned Republicans praised the address, GOP strategists and lawmakers privately suggested that revisiting the 2020 election would not help candidates facing voters primarily concerned about inflation, jobs, health care, and the cost of living. Documents released alongside the speech showed internal debate about China’s preference for Trump to lose in 2020 but reportedly still concluded that Beijing did not intend to interfere, while separate claims about 250,000 foreign nationals on voter rolls relied on disputed methods. Polling has found that only 29% of Americans believed Trump was focused on the right priorities, suggesting that his continued election fixation may be losing its political power even among dedicated Republican voters.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte initially wanted President Trump to name intelligence officials accused of concealing election interference during his prime-time address, according to Politico. A senior official said Pulte later backed away after realizing that publicly identifying those individuals could endanger their lives. The official accused Pulte of first intensifying Trump’s interest in the idea and then becoming frightened by its possible consequences. Trump ultimately delivered a more restrained speech than some aides had expected, despite his history of departing from prepared remarks to attack political opponents. The address still centered heavily on election conspiracy theories and repeatedly debunked claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Trump claimed that China illicitly obtained 220 million U.S. voter files, calling it potentially the largest compromise of election data in history. However, much of the cited information—including names, addresses, phone numbers, and party affiliations—is legally available through public requests, purchases, or downloads in many states. Access rules vary nationwide, with some states imposing eligibility or purpose requirements and others restricting records to certain organizations, but sensitive identifiers such as Social Security numbers are generally withheld. Election expert David Becker told CBS News that public voter-roll information alone would not be sufficient to create or alter registrations, which normally requires matching driver’s-license or Social Security data. It remains unclear whether Chinese actors relied entirely on public records and commercial databases or also obtained private information through computer intrusions.
The Trump administration has eliminated or sidelined thousands of federal employees and programs responsible for protecting elections. CISA lost nearly 1,000 workers—almost one-third of its staff—and ended partnerships that helped state and local election offices monitor cyberthreats, forcing them to rely more heavily on their own limited resources. The administration also dissolved the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, weakened the intelligence community’s Foreign Malign Influence Center, and closed a State Department office that countered foreign disinformation.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department redirected voting-rights personnel toward voter-roll maintenance and suspected fraud, and the White House removed the remaining leadership of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission. Administration officials say these changes reduce duplication, prevent politicized enforcement, and prioritize essential work, but state officials and Democratic lawmakers warn they leave elections more vulnerable to cyberattacks and foreign interference.
Mike Lindell, the Trump-endorsed candidate for Minnesota governor, is not registered to vote in the state where he is seeking office. The 65-year-old MyPillow CEO remains registered in Texas despite returning to Minnesota to launch his campaign. The situation is particularly notable because Lindell has made election security and voter-roll scrutiny central to his political identity. Unless he registers in Minnesota before the primary, he will be unable to cast a ballot for himself.
Canada fires:
President Trump and several Republican lawmakers threatened punitive action against Canada over wildfire smoke that has created hazardous air quality across parts of the United States. Trump accused Canada of failing to maintain its forests and suggested adding the costs of the pollution to existing tariffs. Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno introduced legislation that would sanction responsible Canadian officials, revoke their visas, potentially declare Canada’s ambassador unwelcome, and study a tariff-funded compensation program. Environmental experts rejected those proposals, arguing that extreme heat and climate change have dried Canada’s forests and made its wildfires more intense and difficult to control. Critics also accused Republicans of using Canada as a scapegoat while the Trump administration promotes fossil fuels, weakens carbon-emission regulations, and opposes renewable energy.
Dense smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed skylines across the Midwest and Northeast for a third consecutive day Friday, pushing air quality back to dangerous levels. The persistent haze has affected major population centers, including New York City, where smoke obscured the skyline and raised concerns about outdoor activity. The pollution could also threaten conditions surrounding the World Cup final, depending on how winds carry the smoke and whether it remains concentrated over the region. At the same time, nearly 9,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes across Oregon and Washington have created the potential for new wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. One meteorologist described the convergence of dense smoke in the East and heightened fire danger in the West as almost “cosmically unlucky.”
Iran:
Iran says it has formally withdrawn from the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and suspended all obligations under the agreement. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the United States of abandoning its own commitments, declaring, “We are no longer implementing them.”
The United States completed a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran, using fighter jets, drones, and warships against surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities. CENTCOM said the campaign is intended to degrade Iran’s military capabilities and has also targeted a port surveillance tower allegedly used by the Revolutionary Guard to track commercial vessels. Iran’s Health Ministry said U.S. strikes between June 27 and July 18 killed at least 50 people and injured more than 500, including women and children. The United Nations expressed concern about the escalation and condemned attacks on civilian infrastructure, although the United States has not confirmed Iranian allegations that it deliberately targeted civilian sites.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region, targeting sites in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, and other U.S.-aligned countries. Kuwaiti officials reported damage to a desalination plant and an oil facility, injuries to workers and firefighters, and a temporary closure of the country’s airspace, while several American service members were reportedly injured in attacks on Jordanian bases. Iran also claimed it struck U.S. facilities in Syria, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait, but CENTCOM and Syrian officials denied several of those claims, including allegations that American troops were killed at Syria’s Al-Tanf base. The Gulf Cooperation Council accused Iran of committing war crimes by deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure, while Iran insisted its retaliatory strikes would continue until security was restored along its southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed fighting has sharply disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with only eight vessels crossing Thursday—the lowest total in three weeks—and most using the Iranian-controlled route. Maritime experts said fear of missile and drone attacks has brought shipping conditions back to a “worst-case scenario,” while the U.S. said it redirected, disabled, or boarded several commercial ships as part of its blockade of Iranian ports. Brent crude rose above $88 per barrel, its highest level in a month, as markets reacted to the conflict and the collapse of the earlier U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. Diplomatic efforts continued as Kuwait consulted Pakistani mediators and Lebanon’s president traveled to Washington for talks aimed at stabilizing the region and addressing the conflict involving Israel and Hezbollah.
Ukraine:
Ukrainian drone attacks across Russia killed at least eight people and injured more than 60, according to Russian officials. The strikes hit two Wildberries warehouses in the Tambov and Moscow regions, as well as an oil depot near Noginsk, sparking major fires and forcing evacuations from a maternity hospital and residential building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the warehouses supplied sanctioned components used to manufacture Russian drones and navigation equipment.
Ukrainian drones blew up the 2nd largest Wildberries warehouse in Russia in the Moscow suburb of Elektrostal, 33 miles east of the Kremlin.
Thick black smoke blanketed Russia’s Moscow region and obscured the sun following a strike on an oil refinery.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that air defenses intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones across 19 regions, annexed Crimea, and surrounding seas overnight.
Other news:
Assistant Treasury Secretary Kenneth Kies is reportedly leaving the Trump administration after clashing with White House officials over a potential request involving the IRS. According to The Wall Street Journal, Kies warned that the request might violate Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits White House officials from directing the IRS to begin or end an audit or investigation of a specific taxpayer. Kies served simultaneously as Treasury’s top tax-policy official and the IRS’s acting chief counsel, giving him significant authority over tax policy and enforcement. He previously worked as a tax lawyer for Trump but recused himself from the president’s lawsuit against the IRS, which was later dismissed following a controversial $1.8 billion agreement that reportedly included protections against future audits. Neither the precise White House request nor the official reason and timing for Kies’ departure has been publicly confirmed.
Billionaire financier Leon Black’s voluntary interview with the House Oversight Committee ended in less than an hour after lawmakers served him with subpoenas for nondisclosure agreements and a second appearance, prompting his attorneys to end the session. Black denied knowing about or participating in Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse and trafficking, saying their relationship centered on Epstein’s professional advice and access to influential people. He defended paying Epstein approximately $158 million for tax and estate-planning services, claiming the advice saved him between $1 billion and $2 billion, though he later paid the U.S. Virgin Islands a $62.5 million settlement over his financial support of Epstein. Questioned about a suggestive poem he wrote for Epstein’s 50th-birthday book, Black acknowledged that Epstein knew attractive women around the world but denied they were truly “best friends,” despite describing him that way in the message.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that New Jersey’s bans on semiautomatic rifles classified as “assault firearms” and magazines holding more than 10 rounds violate the Second Amendment. It is the first federal appellate ruling to strike down a state prohibition of this kind and goes further than a 2024 decision that invalidated only the state’s AR-15 ban. The ruling conflicts with decisions from other appellate courts, including one that upheld Illinois’ semiautomatic-weapons ban just a week earlier. New Jersey’s attorney general called the decision legally incorrect and said the state is considering its options, while the NRA celebrated it as a historic victory. The widening disagreement among lower courts comes as the Supreme Court prepares to decide whether state bans on semiautomatic rifles are constitutional.
Paul Pelosi, the 86-year-old husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run after allegedly striking an unoccupied parked car in Napa County, California, and leaving without providing his information. Police later located him nearby in a vehicle with significant damage consistent with the July 3 collision. Authorities said alcohol did not appear to be involved, and Pelosi was not arrested at the scene. He also faces a lesser charge for making an unlawful turn and could receive up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both when he appears in court August 14. A family spokesperson said Pelosi apologized to the car’s owner and promised to pay for the damage; he previously pleaded guilty to driving under the influence following a separate 2022 crash.
The Justice Department has concluded that the federal law banning TikTok from government devices no longer applies to the version currently operating in the United States. Its legal opinion argues that Congress targeted TikTok’s former ByteDance-controlled ownership structure, which changed after mostly American investors acquired a majority stake in January 2026 and reduced ByteDance’s share to 19.9%. Federal employees may now download the app on official devices, although individual agencies retain the authority to prohibit it for security, productivity, or workplace-policy reasons. The new U.S. venture has promised stricter cybersecurity protections, American-based algorithm training, and ongoing source-code reviews by Oracle. Some lawmakers and rival technology investors remain skeptical that the restructuring adequately addresses national-security concerns, and a legal challenge to the deal is still pending.
Two U.S. Forest Service employees were rescued after being zip-tied and held at gunpoint for nearly 15 hours inside a trailer in Northern California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Authorities say Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, used one victim’s phone to announce the hostage-taking, threaten violence, and demand to speak with the FBI. Local and federal teams used drones to locate the trailer before crisis negotiators secured the employees’ release early Friday; Henrichsen and his 23-year-old son, Phoenix, surrendered shortly afterward. Officials said Joseph Henrichsen possessed an AR-15 and claimed to have grenades during the standoff. Both men face federal kidnapping charges carrying possible sentences of life in prison, while investigators are still working to determine their motive.
China and Japan are advancing reusable-rocket technology, challenging SpaceX’s longtime dominance in recovering and relaunching boosters. SpaceX stood alone in this capability for nearly a decade, allowing it to reduce launch costs and maintain a major competitive advantage. Blue Origin joined the field last year by successfully landing one of its boosters on an offshore platform. Recent Chinese and Japanese recovery efforts suggest reusable spaceflight is becoming an increasingly global capability. Experts say the growing competition could significantly lower launch costs and usher in a new era for the commercial space industry.
See you soon.
— Aaron
