President Donald Trump began levying higher import taxes on goods from nearly 100 other nations on Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats begins to create visible damage to the U.S. economy. These taxes, reaching a level not seen in the U.S. in almost 100 years, will have Americans paying an average of 18.3% more for imported products, the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center.
, the Trump White House is confident businesses will ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the U.S. economy as a manufacturing power.
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UN chief welcomes all efforts to end the war in Ukraine that respect its territorial integrity
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, asked for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the announcement of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said: “We’ll have to see what happens.â€
“But clearly, we do welcome all efforts that are that are intended to bring about peace in Ukraine in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council,†Haq said.
The U.N. Charter requires all 193 U.N. member states, including Russia and Ukraine, to refrain from using force against any other nation and to respect their sovereignty and territorial integrity. U.N. resolutions call for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to withdraw all its forces from the country.
Researchers laid off and science shelved as battle between Harvard and Trump administration continues
The loss of an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding at Harvard has meant that some of the world’s most prominent scientists and academics are laying off young researchers.
They are shelving years or even decades of research, into everything from . The funding cuts are part of a monthslong battle that the Trump administration has waged against some the country’s including , and Northwestern.
The administration has taken a particularly aggressive stance against Harvard, freezing funding after the country’s oldest university issued by a federal antisemitism task force.
And despite Harvard’s lawsuits against the administration, and between the warring parties, researchers are confronting the fact that some of their work may never resume.
Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio has collaborated with the U.S. government to collect blood samples taken from soldiers over the course of two decades for his groundbreaking research to identify the cause of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. Now that work is on hold indefinitely.
“It’s like we have been creating a state-of-the-art telescope to explore the universe, and now we don’t have money to launch it,†said Ascherio. “We built everything and now we are ready to use it to make a new discovery that could impact millions of people in the world and then, ‘Poof. You’re being cut off.’â€
United Nations chief calls US tariffs `disheartening news’
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes all trade wars “are ruinous and need to be avoided,†U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
The secretary-general stresses to all governments that at a time of trade wars “measures need to be taken to protect the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society who will certainly suffer as a result of the higher prices,†Haq said.
‘Speedway Slammer’ nickname for Indiana detention partnership sparks a backlash
Department of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½land Security Secretary Kristi Noem is promoting a deal with the state of Indiana to open 1,000 detention beds for immigrants facing deportation. DHS posted an image of an IndyCar-style race car emblazoned with “ICE†and the number 5, rolling past a barbed-wire prison wall.
“If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer,†Noem said.
Speedway, which hosts the Indianapolis 500 — put out a statement saying the town wasn’t involved, and IndyCar asked that its intellectual property “not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.â€
No. 5 is used by , the only Mexican driver in the series. DHS officials said they won’t stop promoting the nickname.
Senior FBI official who resisted Trump demands is ousted
A senior FBI official who served as acting director in the first weeks of the Trump administration and resisted demands to turn over the names of agents who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, investigations is being forced out of the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday.
The circumstances of Brian Driscoll’s ouster were not immediately clear, but his final day is Friday, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the personnel move by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Vance to meet with foreign secretary during UK trip
On Friday, the White House says Vance will meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House, a stately home in Kent, south of London.
The White House hasn’t detailed what’s on the agenda. But the meeting comes as the United Kingdom tries to come to favorable terms for steel and aluminum exports to the U.S., as the two sides work out details of a broader trade deal announced at the end of June.
and the in Gaza are also likely to be on the agenda amid debates between Washington and London about the best way to end those conflicts.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet at the White House on Friday
Trump is scheduled to meet Friday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The two nations have been working toward a peace treaty in their almost four decades of conflict and a possible peace deal is on the table, according to the official.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter conflict over territory since the early 1990s, when ethnic Armenian forces took control over the Karabakh province and nearby territories.
Alcohol trade groups ask for ‘toasts not tariffs’
A coalition of 57 U.S. associations and state guilds that represent businesses that make, import, distribute and sell alcohol, called the “Toasts not Tariffs Coalition†to keep the trade in U.S. and European Union spirits and wines free of reciprocal tariffs.
The group estimates that Trump’s 15% tariff on U.S. imports of EU wine and spirits could result in more than 25,000 American job losses and nearly $2 billion in lost sales.
“Many U.S. and EU spirits are recognized as ‘distinctive products’ and can only be made in their designated countries — Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey in the U.S., and Cognac in France,†the group wrote. “Similarly, wine is linked to its place of origin through American Viticultural Areas, appellations of origin or geographical indications. Consequently, production of these products cannot simply be relocated to circumvent tariffs.â€
Trump holding closed-door meeting as complaints about RFK Jr.’s mRNA vaccine announcement loom
Trump said he would discuss a controversial decision by his Health and Human Services Secretary to cancel $500 million worth of mRNA vaccine development research during a noon meeting on Wednesday.
A key Kennedy adviser, Dr. Robert Malone, is “Make America Healthy Again†supporters to use their social media channels to encourage Trump to uphold the cancellations.
But U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., among others, blasted Kennedy’s decision to end the vaccine research.
“It is unfortunate that the Secretary just canceled a half a billion worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested,†Cassidy .
10 ways Trump has boosted the Christian right
Trump has repeatedly delivered for . While he has made overtures to including Jews and Muslims, conservative Christians are among his highest-profile surrogates and appointees, and their impact is expanding.
“We’re bringing back religion in our country,†Trump contended on in May.
Progressive Christian critics say he’s eroding the separation of church and state, and advancing an ideology that Christian nationalists should dominate government.
“A president with a true Christian agenda would be most concerned with uplifting those in our country who have been cast aside,†said the Rev. Shannon Fleck. “Those most vulnerable among us are not these manipulators of Christianity that are seeking nothing but power.â€
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Poll shows waning Ukrainian support for continuing to fight
A published Thursday finds Ukrainians increasingly eager for a peace settlement. About seven in 10 Ukrainians surveyed in early July said negotiations should begin as soon as possible.
This enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022, when Gallup found about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to fight until victory. Now only about one-quarter hold that view.
The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents ages 15 and older living in Ukraine. Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded due to lack of access.
In Kyiv, opinions were divided on the usefulness of a Trump-Putin meeting without Zelenskyy. Some said Putin only wants to avoid U.S. sanctions.
Trump to sign executive order on race in college admissions
Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday requiring colleges to submit data to prove they do not consider race in admissions, according to a fact sheet shared by the White House ahead of the signing.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of , but said colleges may still consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.
The Trump administration is accusing colleges of using personal statements as “racial proxies.â€
Ex-Biden aide Dunn says Biden was an effective president
A former top Biden official is telling congressional investigators that he made all key decisions and was “fully engaged and clear†and “active†while in office.
“His ability to probe, to find the weakness in an argument, and to make well-informed decisions, did not change during my time in the White House,†former senior adviser Anita Dunn will say in her opening remarks before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday. “The President made it clear that decisions rested with him, and White House staff brought issues to him for him to decide.â€
The GOP-led committee is probing Biden’s cognitive fitness while president. Dunn’s testimony says she did not see White House staff making “key decisions or exercising the powers of the presidency†without Biden’s consent.
A crowd is protesting the vice president in Indianapolis
They’re gathering inside the Indiana statehouse Thursday morning ahead of Vice President JD Vance’s visit to discuss whether and how Republican leaders might increase the GOP’s 7-2 House advantage.
“I’m 75, and I never, never thought I had to worry about our democracy being taken apart from the inside,†said Linda Linn of Indianapolis, who held a cardboard sign warning the Indiana governor not to disenfranchise her. “I feel like we have to take action where we can.â€
The only two Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation plan a news conference Thursday afternoon at the statehouse to speak out against mid cycle redistricting.
Sen. John Cornyn says FBI has agreed to help find Texas lawmakers
The Texas Republican isn’t saying just how the FBI might help state law enforcement find the Democratic legislators who left Texas to block a vote on new redistricting maps. He had requested federal help on Tuesday.
Dozens of lawmakers left the state on Aug. 3 to deny Republicans the quorum they need to approve the maps. Some went to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts.
The Texas House issued civil warrants to detain and return them, but they’re not enforceable outside Texas. The Democrats also face mounting fines every day they remain absent, and threats from Rep. Gov Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to try to have them removed from office.
Trump plans to sign order letting people have crypto, private equity in retirement accounts
The White House says the president will sign an order that could change the composition of 401(k) plans, letting them invest in cryptocurrencies, private equity funds, real estate and other digital assets previously seen as too risky for everyday Americans approaching retirement.
The order asks the Labor Department to examine and update its guidance and asks other agencies to determine whether regulatory changes are needed to allow such investments.
Crypto can be extremely volatile, while private equity, real estate investment trusts and certain digital assets have often been for more sophisticated investors without immediate liquidity needs. It’s unclear how adding such investments would affect management fees, which have been trending downward as more 401(k) holders invest in index funds.
Trump wants Census to ignore some people, despite the 14th Amendment
Trump’s Truth Social post directing the Census Bureau to stop counting people seen as living in the country illegally fits his pattern of trying to reshape basic measures of how U.S. society is faring, whether they be monthly jobs figures or going into the 2026 midterm elections.
But there could be legal challenges to reshaping the census, which guides the distribution of $2.8 trillion in federal funds to the states for roads, health care and other programs.
The US Supreme Court effectively blocked Trump from adding to . The 14th Amendment says that “the whole number of persons in each state†should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, the process of allocating congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states based on population.
Ultra-processed foods make up a big portion of Americans’ diet, CDC finds
About 55% of Americans get more than half their calories from ultra-processed those super-tasty, energy-dense foods typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, according to .
Nutrition research has that ultra-processed foods make up a big chunk of the U.S. diet, especially for kids and teens. For the first time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023. For kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blames chronic diseases on such foods, saying “we’re poisoning ourselves.†Many studies have correlated this diet with obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but they haven’t been able to prove they directly cause these chronic health problems.
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Indiana governor not yet on board with mid-decade redistricting in state
Republican Gov. Mike Braun said in a television interview Thursday that he plans to discuss with Vice President JD Vance whether Indiana would redraw its congressional districts.
“I’m going to be listening to JD today and our two leaders of the legislature as well, and we’re going to have that discussion,†Braun said on Fox News.
Braun pointed to the Republican-led states of “Missouri, Ohio, Texas and maybe other states†that are looking to redistrict but said that “here, I think we’re going to look at it logically and do what makes sense.â€
Trump expected to honor Purple Heart recipients at White House
A group that represents recipients of the military medals honoring service members wounded or killed during enemy action says representatives are at the White House Thursday for a “historic tribute event†being hosted by Trump.
The National Purple Heart Honor Mission says medal recipients from conflicts including the Korean War, Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom will be available for interviews following a late afternoon event with Trump.
The White House hasn’t publicly given specifics on the event, other than that Trump is giving a speech. National Purple Heart Day is marked annually on August 7.
Trump meeting with Putin would hinge on Putin agreeing to meet Zelenskyy
The U.S. president is open to meeting with Putin as soon as next week but such a meeting would not happen if the Russian leader does not agree to meet with Zelenskyy, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said no location for a Trump-Putin meeting had been determined Thursday morning, and the U.S. still expects to impose secondary sanctions against Russia on Friday.
Trump plans to sign order to stop banks from banning customers based on politics
The White House says Trump on Thursday will sign an order to ensure that federal agencies “do not promote activities and practices†that enable banks to restrict their services based on political and religious beliefs.
The president has said that JPMorganChase and Bank of America rejected his deposits and that his supporters have been denied banking services.
The order says that financial regulators will remove “reputational risk†as a criteria for assessing account holders and that cases of discrimination can be referred to the Justice Department, and that the Treasury Department will develop a strategy to prevent the debanking of people due to politics.
Analyst: Employers are reluctant to expand — or reduce — their payrolls
While layoffs remain low by historical standards, there has been this year.
Last week, the government reported that U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 expected. Worse, revisions to the May and June jobs figures shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
“The ‘no hire/no fire’ theme in the labor market remains firmly intact,†analysts for Jeffries wrote in a note to clients.
Intel’s stock tumbles after Trump says its CEO must resign
Intel’s shares are tumbling before Thursday’s opening as traders react to a Trump social media post that said “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately.â€
“There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!†Trump posted.
The president reacted after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army.
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A modest rise in filings for jobless benefits, despite tariffs uncertainty
Jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 2 rose by 7,000 to 226,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, slightly more than the 219,000 new applications that economists had forecast.
The report is the first government labor market data release since Trump fired the head of the agency that tallies the monthly jobs numbers after a that sent financial markets spiraling downward. It suggests employers are still retaining workers despite economic uncertainty related to U.S. trade policy.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 500 to 220,750. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of July 26 jumped by 38,000 to 1.97 million, the highest level since November of 2021.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine — and Europe — must have seats at the table
A meeting between Putin and Trump on the war would be a departure from the Biden administration’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine†— a key demand from Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said he planned calls with European leaders Thursday to discuss the latest developments amid a flurry of diplomatic activity.
European countries must also be involved in finding a solution to the war on their own continent, he said on Telegram.
“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war,†he added.
Vladimir Putin says he wants to meet directly with Trump next week
The Russian president said Thursday that the United Arab Emirates might serve them as a meeting site. He spoke on the eve of a for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3-year-old .
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov had earlier brushed aside the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining the summit, something the White House . Putin has of a meeting to clinch a breakthrough.
“We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive,†Ushakov said, adding that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s suggestion of a meeting including Ukraine’s leader “was not specifically discussed.â€
World stock markets mostly climb
. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.9% to 24,137.51. In Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.8% to 7,693.36, while Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 9,138.96.
The future for Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, and S&P 500 edged 0.5% higher. In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7% to 41,059.15.
More than 60 countries and the European Union face tariff rates of 10% or higher
Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. Trump signed an Wednesday to place an on India for its purchases of , bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on to 50%, to go into effect later this month.
Trump has used tariff threats to exert political pressure
Trump has directly tied Brazil’s to the trial of his embattled ally, former Brazilian President , who is currently under house arrest. And the White House has placed the tariff rate on at 35%, saying Canada had failed to “do more to arrest, seize, detain or otherwise intercept ... traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs.â€
Trump says he will change the Census counts to exclude immigrants in the US illegally
Trump posted on Truth Social that he has “instructed†the Commerce Department to change the way the Census Bureau operates.
The president says it will be based on “modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,†an indication that he might try to inject his politics into survey work that measures everything from child poverty to business operations.
Trump stressed that as part of the changes, people in “our Country illegally†will be excluded from Census counts.
Tariffs to affect more than half of Indian exports to the US
American consumers and businesses buy pharmaceutical drugs, precious stones, and textiles and apparel from India, among other goods. The U.S. ran a $45.8 billion trade deficit in goods with India last year, meaning America imported more from India than it exported, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A top body of Indian exporters said Thursday the latest U.S. tariffs will impact nearly 55% of the country’s outbound shipments to America and lead to exporters losing long-standing clients.
“Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins are already thin,†S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said in a statement.
Trump move
Trump to discuss vaccines Thursday, talks up Operation Warp Speed against COVID
The president was asked about his top health official, Robert Kennedy Jr., and said he plans a meeting to discuss vaccines.
“We’re gonna look at that. We’re talking about it,†Trump said of the funding cuts.
He also praised his first-term effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Operation Warp Speed. He said that push was “considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country, but added, “That was now a long time ago. And we’re on to other things.â€
Trump said of Thursday’s planned meeting: “We’re looking for other answers to other problems, to other sicknesses and diseases.â€
Trump says he plans to put a 100% tariff on computer chips
The president said Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on computer chips, likely raising the cost of electronics, autos, household appliances and other goods deemed essential for the digital age.
Trump said companies that make computer chips in the U.S. would be spared the import tax.
During the , a shortage of computer chips increased the price of autos and contributed to an uptick in overall inflation.
