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President Trump denies he’s considering firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but his administration has ramped up its criticism of the central bank’s $2.5 billion office renovation. WSJ’s Nick Timiraos explains why. Photo Illustration: Ryan Trefes

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250717/78d7a588-50d6-45d8-9c08-ee27e5c65371/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump denies he’s considering firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but his administration has ramped up its criticism of the central bank’s $2.5 billion office renovation. WSJ’s Nick Timiraos explains why.

How Trump Is Using Building Renovations as a Way to Oust Fed Chair Powell

Narrator: President Trump says he's not planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely.

Narrator: But in recent days, the Trump Administration has been ramping up its pressure on the Fed chair over a 2 1/2 billion dollar renovation of the Central Bank's office buildings overlooking the National Mall in Washington.

People are taking seriously. This is a credible threat to possibly try to remove the Fed chair.

He should have cut interest rates a long time ago.

Donald Trump had a closed door meeting earlier this week with Republicans, and he asked them, "Should I try to fire the Fed chair, Jay Powell?" And after people said yes, he said he was thinking about doing it.

Narrator: This isn't the first time Trump has considered ousting the Fed chair.

If I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me.

Narrator: In May, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration could fire agency officials, while also signaling the Fed chair was off limits.

Courts have said you can't do it over policy dispute, but you can do it for cause, which courts have generally interpreted as malfeasance or dereliction of duty. So this could be a pretext to try to fire Powell and say, well, this isn't over interest rates. This is over mismanaging your building costs. Courts may not uphold it, but this seems as if it could certainly be a pretext to try to seek a for cause removal of the Fed chair, which really has never been attempted before.

I think he's terrible. I think he's a total stiff. But the one thing I didn't see him is a guy that needed a palace to live in.

The Fed's building renovations are not new. If you go to Washington DC right now, you can see these construction cranes on the skyline. This is a years-old project. It's very expensive.

Narrator: On its website, the Fed says various factors have driven up the price of the project, including higher costs of materials and unforeseen conditions like asbestos and toxic contamination in soil. Some of the building's features, like rooftop spaces and new water features, were scaled back or eliminated as the project moved forward.

There's a commission in Washington DC. If you wanna build anything that's really in the core Downtown area, you have to go through the National Capital Planning Commission. And that's what the Fed did several years ago before this project started. They got approval. Trump last week put three of his senior White House advisors onto the planning commission. And to some people, it looks like a fishing expedition to try to go find other embarrassing revelations that you might be able to use to build a case to fire Powell or to just make life very uncomfortable for him. This issue was sort of lying in plain sight and it came up at a congressional hearing last month.

Can I just quickly say some of those are just flatly misleading. The idea of elevators, you know, it's the same elevator. It's been there since the building was built. So that's a mischaracterization. And some of those are no longer in the plans, you know, that's earlier. The plans have continued to evolve.

Let's say Trump posts online that he is firing Jay Powell. What happens next? No one really knows. It would be very messy. The Fed owns their own buildings. They have their own police force. They are self-funded. So that would provide some degree of protection to Powell, that he could continue to go to work until either a court rules, if he challenges this in court, until the Senate confirms his successor, or until his colleagues on the Board of Governors no longer recognize him as the chair. But it would be an institutional debacle, the likes of which we've never seen before.

Narrator: The building pressures have come as Trump pushes the Fed to lower interest rates to reduce government borrowing costs.

I think he does a terrible job. He's costing us a lot of money.

In the last few days, you've seen bank CEOs at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup all come out and say this is important. If you mess with the Fed's independence to get lower short-term interest rates, which is what happens when the Fed cuts interest rates, you could drive up longer-term interest rates. That could be bad for the economy, it could be bad for the banking system, it would be bad for financial markets. And so you're starting to see some of these stakeholders say, "Hold on here, don't go down this path."

President Trump disavowed support from Republicans who believe what he called the ‘Jeffrey Epstein hoax.’ Photo: Hu Yousong/Zuma Press

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250716/08639690-7a29-490d-8d16-34859c656ea6/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump disavowed support from Republicans who believe what he called the ‘Jeffrey Epstein hoax.’

Trump Calls Epstein Case a ‘Big Hoax’

It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.

Interviewer: Mr. President, I know you wanna move past all this intrigue over the Epstein files, but I do wanna ask you to clarify something you said this morning. You said this was all a hoax. Has your Attorney General-

A hoax.

Interviewer: Told you this was a hoax? What evidence have you seen of that?

No, it's not the Attorney General, no. I know it's a hoax, it says started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years. You had Christopher Wray and these characters and Comey before him, and it's a bad group. It started actually, look at the Steele dossier that turned out to be a total hoax. The 51 agents, the intelligence, so-called intelligence agents, it was a hoax. It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats' work.

President Trump said he is ‘not planning’ on firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, but that he hasn’t ruled anything out. Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein; File

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250716/11b01203-65c8-4bb9-8245-10de1115c835/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump said he is ‘not planning’ on firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, but that he hasn’t ruled anything out.

Trump Says He’s Not Planning to Fire Fed Chair Powell

Reporter: Mr. President, Jerome Powell, do you have plans, or you have your back considering firing Jerome Powell, and what's your justification if you're thinking about this to do this?

Well it's too late. He's always been too late, hence his nickname, Too Late. He's a terrible fed chair. I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him. But they did. So no, we're not planning on doing anything. We're very concerned. He's doing a little renovation for 2.5 billion of the Fed, building a renovation, and they have close to $900 million cost overrun, and it's a shame, but the biggest cost overrun is the cost overrun for interest rates because we should be paying three points lower, and we would save a trillion dollars a year in interest if that were the case, and all it is is the stroke of a pen. And that goes for his board too, because his board is not doing the job, 'cause they should try and rein this guy in. So he is doing a lousy job. But no, I'm not talking about that. Fortunately we get to make a change in the next, what? Eight months or so, and we'll pick somebody that's good and we'll pick somebody. I just want a fair job. We want to see lower interest rates. Our country deserves it.

Reporter: Are you completely ruling out the idea of firing Jerome Powell? I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud. I mean, it's possible. There's fraud involved with the 2.5, $2.7 billion renovation. This is a renovation. How do you spend $2.7 billion? And he didn't have proper clearance, et cetera, et cetera. So you know, that's going on. So, you know, there could be something to that, but I think he's not doing a good job. He's got a very easy job to do. You know what he has to do? Lower interest rates.

Reporter: Have you drafted a letter, send to if you decide that you are going to fire him? Have you drafted a letter?

No, I haven't drafted a letter.

Reporter: So you didn't show a letter to Republican lawmakers last night?

No, I talked about the concept of firing him. I said, "What do you think?" Almost every one of 'em said I should. But I'm more conservative than they are.

No, we did, we joked about it. In fact, we had 11 of the 12 people here yesterday, for a very big bill, having to do with crypto, et cetera, and other things. And all of the votes are going with us, every single vote. But during the conversation, when we were talking about it, I asked, "What would you do about that?" They all said would fire him.

Reporter: You mentioned fraud in an earlier answer. Are you saying you want to investigate the Fed chair for fraud related to this renovation?

Well, I think he's already under investigation. He spent far more money than he was supposed to on rebuilding. I didn't see him as being the kind of guy that would, you know, want to have parks, rooftop parks, and everything else on top of buildings, but who wants to spend that money for the Fed? The Fed is supposed to sit there and say where interest rates are going, and a couple of other very easy things to do, and he spent two and a half billion dollars. I think he's, you know, I think he's got some problems-

Israel says it is intervening to protect Syria’s Druze residents who have strong ties to Israel’s Druze community. Damascus called the attack a violation of sovereignty. Photo: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250716/e092a96e-eddb-4c9a-bca4-c32d13d3740e/3/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Israel says it is intervening to protect Syria’s Druze residents who have strong ties to Israel’s Druze community. Damascus called the attack a violation of sovereignty.

Israel Strikes Damascus Amid Escalating Sectarian Violence in Syria 

Yeah, it's complicated, obviously. These are historic longtime rivalries between different groups in the southwest of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community, and it led to an unfortunate situation, and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israel side and the Syrian side. So, we've been engaged with them all morning long and all night long with both sides. And we think we're on our way towards a real deescalation and then hopefully get back on track in helping Syria build the country and arriving at a situation there in the Middle East is far more stable.

Jensen Huang heaped praise on Chinese AI models and signed autographs a day after the Trump administration allowed Nvidia to resume selling one of its advanced chips to Chinese customers. Photo: Andy Wong/Associated Press

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250716/ae8116c5-1571-4dcf-a201-359ac3c87a36/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Jensen Huang heaped praise on Chinese AI models and signed autographs a day after the Trump administration allowed Nvidia to resume selling one of its advanced chips to Chinese customers.

Nvidia CEO Hails Chinese AI Technology After Trump Permits Chip Sales

Hi, Jensen.

Hi, Jensen.

Hi, Jensen.

Onlooker: This is a photo we took with you, like eight years ago. Can you sign it for me?

Yes, please.

Wow.

China is moving incredibly fast because the model layer with DeepSeek and Alibaba, Qwen and Moonshot, Kimi, right? All excellent technologies. Okay, where should we start?

Start.

We start here. No, let's start with the ladies first. President Trump was delighted to help celebrate a monumental day for NVIDIA, as you know. We achieved a $4 trillion market value. He was very proud of it, and he was very excited for me. And so he was telling everybody about that, and I told him about my trip here and he said, "Have a great trip." We spoke about China welcoming foreign companies to invest here and build businesses here, and that China is open and stable and those who are open and stable were probably the most important messages that I received.

Nvidia CEO Draws Rock-Star Reception in China After Chip Sales OK’d

President Trump praised the billions of dollars in investment pledged by some of the world’s biggest companies at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/10690b9c-f3a7-4114-a198-b59f50e73fac/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump praised the billions of dollars in investment pledged by some of the world’s biggest companies at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit.

Trump Touts Billions in AI Investments from Blackstone, Google

We're here today because we believe that America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology, and that includes being the world's number one superpower in artificial intelligence.

Energy to drive it. And that's why he campaigned on Drill, Baby, Drill because we need...

Today the Commonwealth is reclaiming its industrial heritage and taking its place at the forefront of the AI technological revolution. And as I said before, it's an expression I used all during the campaign and screamed it out, "We'll drill, baby, drill," and people went crazy. The investments being announced this afternoon include more than $56 billion in new energy infrastructure and more than $36 billion in new data center projects. And a lot more than that are going to be announced in the coming weeks, not even months. I think we could say weeks.

I will say that at Blackstone, we have enormous investments here, and we're very excited to announce that we're gonna make a further $25 billion investment in the Pennsylvania's digital and energy infrastructure.

Very soon.

On behalf of Google, I'm very pleased to be here in Pittsburgh to announce that Google is investing more than $25 billion in data centers and AI infrastructure across the states in this critical PJM region over the next two years.

President Trump said that Attorney General Pam Bondi has handled convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case ‘very well’ despite the backlash from Trump’s MAGA base. Photo: Al Drago/Press Pool; Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/f4bf45ac-6318-4d94-9c93-fa258fe6a869/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

President Trump said that Attorney General Pam Bondi has handled convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case ‘very well’ despite the backlash from Trump’s MAGA base.

Trump Says Attorney General Bondi Should Release ‘Credible’ Epstein Files

The Attorney General's handled that very well. She's given us just a very quick briefing and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen. And I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by the Biden, you know, and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through. We've gone through years of it, but she's handled it very well and it's gonna be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.

You said that he would support you releasing additional credible evidence from the Epstein investigation. Is that something that you are open to doing?

Let take that.

Yeah.

Let me take that first. This today is about fentanyl. This is about a wall of people right outside this room who have died from... I appreciate your question, but this today is about fentanyl overdoses throughout our country, and people who have lost loved ones to fentanyl. That's the message that we're here to send today. Nothing about Epstein. I'm not gonna talk about Epstein.

Former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the first time since he was ousted from his role and nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Photo: Ken Cedeno/Reuters

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/7feed94c-a090-4c6d-ac71-0c104cef8293/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the first time since he was ousted from his role and nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Senate Democrats Grill Mike Waltz Over Signal Leak 

In just six months, President Trump has brought dozens of hostages home, justice for our Abbey Gate Gold Star families, secured the border, denied Iran a nuclear weapon, brought ceasefires to conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Yet there is still tremendous work to be done.

We both know Signal is not an appropriate, secure means of communicating highly sensitive information. And yet, on March 24th, "The Atlantic" magazine published a series of Signal messages, including sensitive information about a US military operation against the Houthis in Yemen involving you and several other Trump officials. Were you investigated for this disclosure of sensitive operational information on Signal?

Thank you, Senator. And that engagement was driven by and recommended by the Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency, by the Biden Administration CISA guidance.

Senator Coons: I'm sorry.

And I have here, well, just the use of Signal.

Carry information on Signal.

The use of, no, excuse me. The use of Signal is not only as an encrypted app, is not only authorized, it was recommended in the Biden era CISA guidance.

You were sharing details about an upcoming airstrike and the time of launch and the potential targets. I mean, this was demonstrably sensitive information. And the question I asked was, were you investigated for this expansion of the Signal group to include a journalist?

The White House conducted an investigation, and my understanding is the Department of Defense is still conducting an investigation.

Was any disciplinary action taken?

From the White House investigation, Senator?

Senator Coons: Yes.

No, the use of Signal was not only authorized, it's still authorized and highly recommended.

Signal is useful because it's encrypted and a whole lot of people use Signal and there's nothing wrong for it. But as far as I know, Signal has not been approved for use by US government officials for the sharing of classified information. Is that correct?

That is correct, Senator.

Senator Kaine: Right.

Surprisingly, you've been on the White House payroll for the last few months. So throughout this hearing you've made assertations that if confirmed, you would root out waste and unnecessary overhead at the UN. So can you confirm for us whether you've been receiving a salary from the White House since being let go at the NSA?

Thank you, Senator. I was not fired. The president never said that, nor did the vice president. I was kept on as an advisor transitioning a number of important activities and now hope to be confirmed with the Senate's consent to be UN.

So you're saying you were not dismissed from your role as was publicly reported? Because it's also been publicly reported that you've been receiving almost $200,000 of the taxpayer money since you were dismissed from being the National Security Advisor.

Well, the reporting, Senator, is fake news, which shouldn't surprise anyone. The president was clear, his announcement was, I will nominate.

Senator Rosen: You know, fake news can't be the answer to everything.

Mr. Waltz, and the vice president was quite clear that.

Senator Rosen: No, we're gonna move on.

As two men are sentenced for cutting down the iconic British Sycamore Gap tree, WSJ’s Alistair MacDonald explains why the act stoked anger and a criminal investigation. Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images; Owen Humphreys/Zuma Press

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/3c8c0886-789c-4cf6-93a2-06798f6850d6/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

As two men are sentenced for cutting down the iconic British Sycamore Gap tree, WSJ’s Alistair MacDonald explains why the act stoked anger and a criminal investigation.

They Cut Down a Sycamore Tree. Now They Have a 4-Year Prison Term

Narrator: It was an act of destruction that sent shock waves through the United Kingdom and captured global headlines.

Reporter: One of Britain's most famous and photographed trees has felled overnight.

Reporter 2: Called The Sycamore Gap.

Reporter 3: Police say it was cut down as an act of vandalism.

Narrator: This tree's demise triggered a manhunt, stoked international anger, and culminated in a trial that gripped the UK.

Still think it was just a tree?

Go away.

Narrator: Here's why the destruction of this Sycamore tree earned two men international ire, and a more than four-year prison sentence. Located in Northeast England, The Sycamore Gap tree was a tourist attraction and one of Britain's most popular natural landmarks.

It was perfectly framed between these two helics. And then, in the background, was this ancient Roman wall, this UNESCO heritage site, and then, you've got the beautiful Northumberland countryside stretching in the distance all the way to Scotland. And it had become the symbol of the Northeast England. So, it was an attack on this region, in a sense.

Narrator: The more than 150-year-old tree was a favorite among photographers, and a place where people got married, spread ashes, or stargazed. It even made an appearance in the 1991 film, "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves."

I'm Home, woo!

So, you know, Kevin Costner, in some ways, spread the renown of this tree from the Northeast of England around the world.

Security: If you could just clear back a tad.

Narrator: Hours after the tree was felled, police were called to the scene, and news spread quickly.

The Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall-

Was destroyed overnight.

It was the sheer pointlessness of the act, I think, that bothered people. It's like, why? Why do that, it was this sort of mindless, sort of moronic act of felling this beautiful tree. If these people couldn't understand why.

Narrator: As the story spread, prosecutors say, "Friends Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham exchanged voice notes, appearing to revel in the public outcry they had caused."

Carruthers: News, news, news. I think it's gonna go wild.

It's gone viral. It is worldwide.

Narrator: But they weren't happy with all of the coverage, including a comment they spotted on Facebook, calling them weak.

Graham: Weak? Weak? Do they realize how heavy this is?

Carruthers: I'd like to see launch an operation like we did last night.

Narrator: Prosecutors say, "This CCTV footage shows Graham's car driving towards Sycamore Gap the night it was felled." And they say, "This footage from Graham's phone enhanced by the police, captured it coming down." The car was seen driving away from the scene of the crime about an hour later.

There was a lot of finger-pointing that went on as people tried to come up with their own culprits. And one local guy who had experience as a lumberjack was in fact arrested, later released, but he referred in a British paper to it being as if he committed a murder, that he became a pariah. That such was the notorious nature of this particular crime.

Narrator: The act of vandalism triggered a major criminal investigation.

So the police crisscrossed the North of England looking for chainsaws that could have taken part. And you know, the gentleman through before the ex-lumberjack that took his chainsaws in for questioning, and those chainsaws were actually found innocent of the crime.

Narrator: By October, the investigation led police to Carruthers and Graham, and they were charged with felling the tree. Both of them denied involvement. With the pair now facing trial, one of them turned on the other. Prosecutor said Graham made an anonymous call to police that would implicate his former friend.

911 Operator: What is it you're ringing about?

Graham: The Sycamore Gap.

911 Operator: All right, okay. So you're ringing with intelligence.

Graham: Yeah.

911 Operator: Right, okay, what is it you... What sort of information do you want to pass over?

Graham: So, one of the lads that had done it, Adam Carruthers, has got the saws back in his possession.

Narrator: Graham shared information about another potential piece of evidence, a trophy, the prosecution said.

911 Operator: So, he's kept part of the tree?

Graham: The, I believe it to be the wedge of the tree, yeah.

911 Operator: This may be the wedge.

Graham: Yeah.

911 Operator: Right, okay. Oh, dear. Awful.

The police were able to tie them to the crime, both through the positioning of their cell phone, and then later on, through the messages that they sent, and through photographs on that cell phone.

Narrator: During the trial, both pleaded not guilty. Graham said Carruthers took his car and phone, and claimed he wasn't there for the felling. The jury found both men guilty of two counts of criminal damage, for cutting down the tree and damaging Hadrian's Wall, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it fell on.

It was clearly a crime, but you know it, there are not many stiff penalties just for cutting down a tree. So I think they were looking for other things that they could get them on.

Narrator: On July 15th, they were sentenced to four years and three months in prison.

I think the prosecution was basically painting a picture of two guys who wanted to do something very notorious, essentially for a lark, that would test their skills as lumberjacks

Narrator: Efforts to continue the tree's legacy are underway. 49 saplings have been cultivated from the Sycamore, which are being gifted to individuals and community organizations. And where it once stood, there are signs of regrowth, giving hope that the tree will live on.

Heavy rain flooded parts of the New York subway on Monday night, leaving commuters stranded on trains. The governor of New Jersey declared a state of emergency and advised people to avoid unnecessary travel. Photo: Juan Luis Landaeta/Reuters

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/ea218dc6-b2f3-41ac-a246-a489e60e77a1/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Heavy rain flooded parts of the New York subway on Monday night, leaving commuters stranded on trains. The governor of New Jersey declared a state of emergency and advised people to avoid unnecessary travel.

Watch: Commuters Trapped as Flash Floods Swamp New York Subway

Train Conductor: Attention, passengers. I'm gonna call this one in. I can't open the doors, it's not safe. Give me a second.

Thank you.

Onlooker: Bad flooding here in Nanuet. We have a BMW that's under water.

GPS: Turn around.

WSJ’s Gavin Bade explains President Trump's shifting trade and tariff tactics and their potential pitfalls. Photo: Hu Yousong/Xinhua via ZUMA Press

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250715/a51ae284-0a4b-41b0-985c-2478612c5721/3/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

WSJ’s Gavin Bade explains President Trump's shifting trade and tariff tactics and their potential pitfalls.

WSJ Trade Reporter on Why Trump’s Tariff Tactics Are So Unpredictable

President Trump's trade policy has been, in a word, erratic. Since April 2nd, we've seen him announce a tariff delay and then extend it. He's announced a Vietnam deal and then not released any documents. He has, at times, contradicted his staff, saying that he doesn't want deals when his staff does want deals.

Am I right when I say I really don't want deals, I just want the paper to get sent?

And the thesis from Trump's allies is that this is all by design.

In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order, instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world.

And remember Trump on April 2nd imposed these reciprocal tariffs and then a few days later, he put them on pause unexpectedly for 90 days. He set the July 9th deadline when those tariffs were supposed to come off. And then, of course, a day before said, "We're going to kick the can down the road three more weeks." Later that week, he was asked, "President Trump, why did you extend the tariffs?" And he said...

It's always been August 1st. That's why we're paying it. A statement was put out today, and I put it out just to make it clear, it wasn't a change, it was August 1st.

Their messaging on whether they actually want deals is pretty all over the place as well.

You know, we've seen lots of deals that have been finalized by our negotiators and then the president finds things that could make them better.

You know, the deals are already made. The letters are the deals. The deals are made. There are no deals to make. They would like to do a different kind of a deal, and we're always open to talk.

So Trump has multiple times said, you know, "I don't want deals. Well, actually, the letter is the deal." The letter being these missives that he posts up on Truth Social saying that, you know, "Beginning on August 1st, this country is going to pay this tariff rate." And then later in the letter says, "But, you know, we can keep talking, and if you treat the US better, then maybe we'll think about some adjustments to that tariff rate." Just remember, trade deals, even narrow ones like these, usually take months to years to negotiate, and they're trying to speed run all of this into just a few months. So the desire to cram all of this through in the, you know, beginning months of the administration to kinda set your marker and set the terms of the debate, it is certainly helping him to push forward negotiations and get more from other nations than he might have otherwise, but it also could be his whole trade agenda's undoing.

Some days the high-speed news cycle can bring more questions than answers. WSJ’s news explainers break down the day's biggest stories into bite-size pieces to help you make sense of the news.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani, announced that he will run as an independent in the general election for mayor of New York City. Cuomo was forced to resign as governor in 2021 amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied. Photo: John Lamparski/AFP/Getty Images

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250714/6ea59af6-6246-4ae4-9b5d-0899175b7c2c/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani, announced that he will run as an independent in the general election for mayor of New York City. Cuomo was forced to resign as governor in 2021 amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied.

Andrew Cuomo Says He'll Stay in NYC Mayor's Race Against Zohran Mamdani

The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it! For the next few months, it's my responsibility to earn your vote. So let's do this. I'll see you out there.

First responders rushed to Gabriel House in Massachusetts after a fire tore through the assisted living facility. Photo: Colin Furze/Reuters

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250714/ffc946f6-089a-4fc8-8d64-c9b90efc19a2/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

First responders rushed to Gabriel House in Massachusetts after a fire tore through the assisted living facility.

Fire at Massachusetts Assisted Living Facility Kills at Least Nine

I got the call this morning at about 6:30 that the place had been involved in a fire. Thankfully, I found out he was okay, but honestly, this doesn't exactly surprise me for this place. It hasn't been in the greatest condition. Their elevator was down for nine months before this. He was stuck in his room for nine months and now this, so.

In a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, President Trump announced he would impose 100% tariffs on Russia in 50 days if a peace deal isn’t reached. Photo: Evan Vucci/Associated Press

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In a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, President Trump announced he would impose 100% tariffs on Russia in 50 days if a peace deal isn’t reached.

Trump Threatens 100% ‘Secondary’ Tariffs on Russia

We are very unhappy, I am, with Russia, but we'll discuss that maybe a different day. But we're very, very unhappy with 'em. And we're gonna be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about a hundred percent, you'd call 'em secondary tariffs, you know what that means. But today we're going to talk about something else. And as you know, we've spent $350 billion approximately on this war with Russia and Ukraine, and would like to see it end. It wasn't my war, it was Biden's war, it's not my war, I'm trying to get you out of it, and we want to see it end. And I'm disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would've had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there. So based on that, we're gonna be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple. We make the best equipment, the best missiles, the best of everything. The European nations know that. And we've made a deal today, and I'm gonna have Mark speak about it, but we've made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons and they're gonna be paying for 'em. We, the United States, will not be having any payment made. We are not buying it, but we will manufacture it and they're gonna be paying for it. Our last meeting of a month ago was very successful in that they agreed to 5%, which is more than a trillion dollars a year. So they have a lot of money and they, these are wealthy nations, they have a lot of money and they want to do it they feel very strongly about it and we feel strongly about it too. But we're in for a lot of money and we just, we don't want to do it anymore, and we can't, but we make the best, and we're gonna be sending the best to NATO, and in some cases, to maybe at Mark's suggestion, if we go to Germany where they're gonna send early on missiles and they'll be replaced and NATO's gonna take care of it, it's gonna be coordinated by NATO and they're gonna work very much with Matt Whitaker who's right here is a great ambassador and Matt's gonna be coordinate. You better do a good job, Matt!

Matt: I will.

But Matt's gonna coordinate. He's a very talented guy. He's gonna coordinate everything. So in a nutshell, we're gonna make top-of-the-line weapons and they'll be sent to NATO. NATO may choose to have certain of 'em sent to other countries where we can get a little additional speed where the country will release something and be, it'll be mostly in the form of a replacement. And I'd like to have Mark, and again, just a highly respected, pretty young guy, pretty young guy for having had the career that he's had because he had a, he had an amazing career before going to NATO so, and we spent a lot of time together over the last couple of months. And if you could say a few words.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Now, Mr. President, dear Donald, this is really big, this is really big. You called me on Thursday that you had taken a decision and the decision is that you want to bring what it needs to have to maintain, to be able to defend itself against Russia, but you do want Europeans to pay for it, which is totally logical. And this is building on the tremendous success of the NATO summit, the 5%, but also the decision to keep Ukraine strong and the decision to increase our defense industrial production. So based on that, this is, that was Europe stepping up. This is again, Europeans stepping up. So I've been in contact with many countries. I can tell you at this moment, Germany, massively, but also Finland and Denmark and Sweden and Norway, we have Kingdom of the Netherlands, Canada, they all want to be part of this. And this is only the first wave. There will be more. So what we will do is work through the NATO systems to make sure that we know what Ukrainians need so that we can make packages. Of course in a way, we discussed it this morning with Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, in a way that of course the US will, on its stockpiles necessary to defend this country, that's absolutely clear. But it'll mean that Ukraine can get its hands on really massive numbers of military equipment, both for air defense, but also missiles, ammunition, et cetera, et cetera. So if I was Vladimir Putin today, and you're speaking about what you were planning to do in 50 days and this announcement, I would reconsider whether I should not take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously than I was doing at the moment, if I was Vladimir Putin. But when on Ukraine, I think this is really great news for that. So I really want to thank you for that. And it means European's paying for it. And again, I mentioned all these countries, we will deal with that. And exactly as you said, it might also mean that countries will move equipment fast into Ukraine and then the US later, tax selling it, because speed is of the essence here. So really, thank you, this is important.

You did a great job.

President Trump has not decided how many Patriot air-defense systems he will send to Ukraine, but said the weapons will be paid for by the European Union. Photo: Bonnie Cash/Bloomberg News; Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

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President Trump has not decided how many Patriot air-defense systems he will send to Ukraine, but said the weapons will be paid for by the European Union.

Trump Says U.S. Will Send Patriot Systems to Ukraine 

It'll be business for us and we will send them Patriots, which they desperately need because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening. So there's a little bit of a problem there and I don't like it.

Reporter: Are you gonna be announcing sanctions on Russia tomorrow?

We're gonna see what we will see tomorrow, okay? We have the Secretary General. As you know, Europe has announced sanctions, but I am very disappointed with President Putin. You know, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said, and he'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.

President Trump claimed that the U.S. made $25 billion last month, which he partially credited to tariffs. Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

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President Trump claimed that the U.S. made $25 billion last month, which he partially credited to tariffs.

Trump Vows Tariffs Will Reach ‘Extremely Strong’ Levels

We have tariffs pouring in at levels that we have never seen before, and they've only just started. That's really a small portion. It's mostly from cars and aluminum and steel, a little bit of lumber, but they'll really start in about another week. And then in about a month, they'll come in at levels that are extremely strong. And our country's making a lot of money. And our country made $25 billion last month. 25 billion. That hasn't done that in a long time. And a lot of that's done because of good management at number one. And maybe even more importantly, the tariffs that are pouring in.

Practically, it prohibits the trade. So, if you're talking about 30%, or 30% plus, there will be a huge impact on trade. It'll be almost impossible to continue the trading as we are used in the transatlantic relationship. And if you look at the impact this would have, so I have to say, the transatlantic supply chains would be heavily affected on the both sides of Atlantic.

These are countries that have been shut to us, but we've been open to them. In other words, they wouldn't let us do business there, but they would do business in our country, not a fair deal. So, the European Union is talking to us. They want to open up their country. I would say Japan to a much lesser extent in terms of opening up their country. Japan, as you know, and we're very close to Japan, but they sell us millions and millions of cars a year. We sell them no cars because they won't accept our cars and they won't accept much of our agriculture either, so. But, they're all changing their ways very, very rapidly.

After touring the flood-devastated areas of Kerr County, Texas, President Trump spoke with reporters about the emergency alert system. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

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After touring the flood-devastated areas of Kerr County, Texas, President Trump spoke with reporters about the emergency alert system.

Watch: Trump Defends Texas Emergency Response After Deadly Flooding

Reporter: Several families we've heard from are obviously upset because they say that the warnings, those alerts didn't go out out in time, and they also say that people could have been saved. What do you say to those families?

Well, I think everyone did an incredible job under the circumstances. This was, I guess Kristi said a one in 500, one in 1,000 years. And I just have admiration for the job that everybody did. There's just admiration. Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don't know who you are, but only a very evil person would ask a question like that. I think this has been heroism. This has been incredible, really, the job you've all done. It's easy to sit back and say, "Oh, what could have happened here or there?" you know. "Maybe we could've done something differently."

Reporter: What do we do next time, though, to make sure that people are alerted if they're dead asleep? Maybe an alarm system, maybe a siren system? You might know better than I, but what do we do going forward?

Yeah, you'll probably have to do that. You'll probably come up with something very unique because there is no system right now. There's been no... A thing like this has never happened that anybody knows, certainly not to this extent. But I know the governor and everybody is working on it.

We begin a session in 10 days. We will address every single question that you just asked. You mentioned some of the ideas. There are many more. And we want to hear... Most importantly, we have to devise a response that's right for this community, and this community has to weigh in and they need time to be able to convey that to us. But we're gonna work on alerts. We're gonna work on every single solution to make sure things like this don't happen again, not just in this community, but in other river basins across the state also.

Videos released by Yemen’s Houthi rebels showed what it said was the sinking of two Greek-owned ships. WSJ’s Benoit Faucon explains how the attacks show that the militant group remains a potent threat. Photo: Houthis Military Media Center/EPA/Shutterstock

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Videos released by Yemen’s Houthi rebels showed what it said was the sinking of two Greek-owned ships. WSJ’s Benoit Faucon explains how the attacks show that the militant group remains a potent threat.

Houthis Demonstrate New Tactics in Red Sea Vessel Attacks

It's potentially the worst 48 hours, even since the beginning of the conflict with the Houthis in November, 2023. Now they really have with Iran's support, the capability, which is the drones and now the sea drones included. They have the missiles that are basically, they have the technologies that were transferred from Iran, but what it gives them is political clout at home in their own territory. And they think popularity in the Arab world, they are the really the most active allies, of Iran right now attacking Israel. The one thing they do say, and they have said it in the past, is that they are focused on attacking Israeli connected vessels. Now that definition actually is very broad. Initially it was really vessels that were owned by Israeli companies or Israeli businessmen. But now it's actually broader. It's like any company which vessels have stopped in Israel, even though it's not the vessel that's being attacked. There was supposed to be no fighting. So effectively the military, especially the US military, has been completely taken aback and the companies had had to improvise way to rescue the crews.

Video from around the world on the latest news developments, with insight from Wall Street Journal editors and reporters. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said officials would work with the U.S. to secure a deal by Aug. 1, when the tariffs are due to come into effect. Photo: Cole Burston/Getty Images

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said officials would work with the U.S. to secure a deal by Aug. 1, when the tariffs are due to come into effect.

Trump Threatens 35% Tariffs on Some Canadian Imports

Canada's been a very difficult country to deal with over the years.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced a deal that aims to address the record number of migrants crossing the English Channel. Photo: Yui Mok/Pool

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U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced a deal that aims to address the record number of migrants crossing the English Channel.

U.K.’s Starmer and France’s Macron Announce Deal on Migrant Boat Crossings

So I'm pleased to announce our agreement today on a groundbreaking returns pilot. For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order. In exchange for every return, a different individual will have allowed to come here via a safe route, controlled, and legal, subject to strict security checks, and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally. This will show others trying to make the same journey that it will be in vain, and the jobs they've been promised in the UK will no longer exist because of the nationwide crackdown we're delivering on illegal working, which is on a completely unprecedented scale. So this is our plan together, hardheaded, aggressive action on all fronts to break the gang's business model, secure our borders, and show that by attempting to reach the UK by small boat will only end in failure, detention, and return.

What is very important to understand is this is a collaborative, cooperative, and comprehensive plan working from the origin country, the increasing and the adaptation of our bilateral action, and fight against, precise, this is illegal situation on your soil. And this is the efficiency on this new brand. And I'm totally committed to make it work because this is clearly our willingness and our common interest. And this pilot project, I will, I wanted to insist on one point, this is a deterrence effort, and beyond the figures you mentioned, the point, and what we want to do is precisely to have this determined effect vis-a-vis all these smugglers and all the traffickers in order to send a message that we are efficient and they have no more interest to try to play with the rules.

After President Trump threatened a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, WSJ Trade and Economic Policy Reporter Gavin Bade looks at how Trump is using tariffs to exert political control over other regions. Photo: Tom Brenner/Reuters

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After President Trump threatened a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, WSJ Trade and Economic Policy Reporter Gavin Bade looks at how Trump is using tariffs to exert political control over other regions.

WSJ Reporter on Why Trump's 50% Tariff Threat on Brazil is Different

Trump majorly upped the ante in this latest round of his trade war. He sent a letter to the Brazilian government saying that on August 1st, they will be charged a 50% tariff on all of their exports that go to the US. This would majorly disrupt, if not decouple, a trading relationship with a nation that was the 16th largest US tradig partner.

Brazil, as an example, has been not good to us, not good at all.

So this letter was really unique from the almost two dozen letters that Trump has sent to different trading partners so far. And that's because of the motivations behind it. Trump in this letter really said that the Brazilian government were treating former President Jair Bolsonaro unfairly and engaging in a politically-motivated witch hunt. This is the first time in this round of tariff salvos that we've seen him go to bat for a political ally, rather than taking trade irritants into account principally.

He's doing a fantastic job, great job. Brazil loves him and the USA loves him.

So Trump and Bolsonaro have been very close allies in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to Trump's first term when Bolsonaro was first in office. They really both tried to steer their countries in a more right-wing populous direction. Bolsonaro right now is on trial for the events that led up to the Brazilian version of their storming of the Capitol. That is why Trump is finding some fellow feeling with him. Trump, of course, thinking that he was politically persecuted for, we can say, original insurrection here on the US Capitol. So we haven't heard from Bolsonaro yet on this. We have heard from Lula, the sitting president, who said, "We're not going to accept any sort of foreign interference or tutelage," he said, "from other nations." And I think you could see Lula reacting to this quite bitterly. He's always been a critic of US intervention in Latin America, and has not been shy to cozy up to other powers. One of the other wrinkles to this trade letter was Brazilian treatment of US tech firms. And Trump dinged the government for what he said were unfair fines and unfair legal cases in the Brazilian court system against US social media platforms. This would be companies like Meta for instance. And so, in this letter, Trump did an interesting thing. He said that he would also direct US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, to open a tariff investigation into unfair trade practices related to these digital policies in Brazil. The extent to which this is a negotiating tactic with the Brazilian government, and to the extent this is a punitive move, a penalty for how they're treating Bolsonaro, I think that is the big question here, right? Trump sees tariffs as more than just a trade and economic tool, they're his cudgel for political control and political influence, and really, political domination over other nations, no matter what the irritant is. He views these as a really blunt force to exert American control over entire regions and entire economies. And I think that we will see in months and years to come if he has overplayed his hand with that tool, because tariffs, of course, a double-edged sword.

WSJ's Alexander Ward breaks down the relationship between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and how it's only now showing signs of souring over an elusive peace deal in Ukraine. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Getty Images

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WSJ's Alexander Ward breaks down the relationship between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and how it's only now showing signs of souring over an elusive peace deal in Ukraine.

WSJ Reporter Breaks Down Timeline of Trump-Putin Relationship

Trump has for a long time tried to be friendly and maybe even friends with Vladimir Putin.

I think I'd get along very well with Vladimir Putin. I don't know Putin. He said nice things about me. If we got along well, that would be good. And Putin and I get along fine. We get along very well. That's a good thing, not a bad thing.

But in recent days, Trump hasn't been just mad with Vladimir Putin.

I was very disappointed with my call with President Putin. I was very disappointed. We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin if you want to know the truth.

Here's how Trump's talk about Vladimir Putin and his actions towards Russia have changed dramatically over the years.

Do you like Vladimir Putin's comments about you?

Trump: Sure. When people call you brilliant, it's always good, especially when the person heads up Russia.

Donald Trump used to be kind of an admirer of Vladimir Putin, or if anything, he would say very nice things about the Russian president.

The fact that you say you can get along with him.

I think I'll be able to get along with him.

You think the day that you become President of the United States, he's gonna change his mind on some of these key issues?

Possibly, it's possible. I don't know, Matt, it's possible.

When Trump first joined the political scene, he was pretty open about wanting to revive relation with Russia. Russia had already invaded Ukraine in 2014, and there was a lot of discussion in Washington about whether the US should increase the pressure on Moscow or if there should be a more conciliatory measure, and that was Trump's whole MO during the 2016 election that Putin was not so much of a bad guy.

Will I get along with him? I have no idea. It's very possible.

He's a killer, though. Putin's a killer.

A lot of killers, we got a lot of killers. What you think our country's so innocent?

Well, Democrats used this moment to basically caricature Trump as some sort of Russian puppet.

Putin, from everything I see has no respect for this person.

Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.

No puppet, no puppet.

But it became a kind of meme.

We think you are the best candidate.

Sure.

The smartest candidate.

No doubt.

The Manchurian candidate.

I don't know what that means but it sounds tremendous.

Putin leveraged Trump's sweet talk of Russia in order to flatter Trump. US intelligence shows, including US intelligence assessments during Trump's presidency is that Russia did interfere in the election or to at least harm Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. Trump refuses to even admit that point because in his mind it seems that to admit that would mean there's an asterisk on his 2016 election win.

I believe that President Putin really feels, and he feels strongly, that he did not meddle in our election. What he believes is what he believes. What I believe is that we have to get to work.

Trump was actually quite tough on Russia. There had been an increase of sanctions because of the Ukraine war, and Trump even was the first president to send offensive weapons in order to fight Russia in its war. So there was already a seed in there where Trump did not like being called weak on Russia. Trump's 2024 messaging on Russia was a little different and Trump made this case that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war that had expanded dramatically during the Biden administration.

If I'm president, I will have that war settled in 1 day, 24 hours.

And it's been interesting to watch Trump in these first six months, because he has been able to get a ceasefire in Gaza that did break, but he did also stop a growing fight between Pakistan and India. He also brokered a deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. But the one place he's still unable to make it happen is the one place he promised he could do quickly and that was the Russia-Ukraine War.

You've now been in office for five months and five days. Why have you not been able to end the Ukraine war?

Because it's more difficult than people would have any idea. Vladimir Putin has been more difficult.

Trump keeps calling for a ceasefire and has even at one point put on Truth Social, "Vladimir, STOP!" Putin has only responded with more missiles and more bombings of Ukraine, and that has clearly angered the President.

I said, "When are we gonna end this Vladimir?" I'd known him for a long time now. I said, "When are we gonna end this bloodshed? This blood bath?" It's a blood bath.

Yeah, I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin, and it just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people.

What we're seeing now is Trump realizing that his efforts to end the war, that his own boast that he could end the war because he knew both Putin and Zelensky well from his first term, that those boats aren't panning out and it is a promise he has not yet fulfilled and his anger is spilling out into public.

A lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.

Does it portend some sort of radical policy shift where all of a sudden a Trump led United States is going to pressure Russia in a way that it hasn't, that it's going to support Ukraine in a way that Trump has not yet done so? It's hard to know, but for right now, in this moment, Trump is as angry at Putin and at Russia that he's ever been. And that can make this quite the pivot point, not only for Trump's foreign policy, but for Trump's presidency.

A video released by Yemen’s Houthi rebels showed what it said was the group’s July 6 attack on the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Magic Seas. Photo: Houthis Military Media Center/Shutterstock

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A video released by Yemen’s Houthi rebels showed what it said was the group’s July 6 attack on the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Magic Seas.

Watch: Houthis Attack Greek-Owned Vessel in the Red Sea

WSJ reporter Matthew Luxmoore reports that President Trump seems to have soured on Vladimir Putin, but with U.S. security assistance to Ukraine hanging in the balance, will it last? Photo: Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

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WSJ reporter Matthew Luxmoore reports that President Trump seems to have soured on Vladimir Putin, but with U.S. security assistance to Ukraine hanging in the balance, will it last?

WSJ Analysis: Trump Loses Patience with Putin, Weighs Sending Patriots

We're not happy with Putin, I'm not happy with Putin, I can tell you that much right now.

Conor: It definitely seems from Trump's public statements that he's souring on Putin, he's losing his patience, he really hoped that Putin would show a willingness to end this war, and at least make some kind of concession to the Ukrainian side in these negotiations that have been brokered by the Trump administration. That, of course, hasn't happened. Russia's position has hardened even over time, definitely hasn't lessened, and Trump has made it quite clear that he is losing patience.

Putin is not, he's not treating human beings right, he's killing too many people. So we're sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine and I've approved that.

Conor: "The Wall Street Journal" has reported that he's considering sending another Patriot missile system to Ukraine, which is direly needed in the country right now amid these constant attacks on Ukrainian cities by Russia. Those are the two things that Trump has quite strongly hinted. The imposition of possible new sanctions on Russia and the provision of a new Patriot system or other weapons.

The Senate is passing and passed very, very tough sanctions, but yeah, I'm looking at it.

Conor: Sanctions issues, of course, one that Trump has been putting off for many months now, despite the fact that a lot of Republicans have pushed him to consider this move, he has kind of parried this encouragement from some US Congressman by saying that he is waiting to see if Russia is going to be engaging around the peace talks table, and, you know, he has said that he doesn't wanna to impose sanctions on a country that he expects to make concessions. But, of course, now I think it is becoming quite clear to him that Russia is not willing to make concessions on Ukraine, and that is why he's saying that he's quite seriously considering signing this sanctions bill, of course, would be quite a big blow to Moscow, depending on what the sanctions will be, but that is something definitely that Russia doesn't want.

That was a war that should have never happened, and a lot of people are dying, and it should end.

Conor: The Russian side, as they say publicly, and as Putin also knows himself, Trump is quite prone to changing his position on a regular basis, some Russian officials have responded by pointing to the fact that he has kind of flip-flopped over Ukraine and Russia on numerous occasions since his inauguration. I think they will be watching cautiously and I think they will not be taking any drastic measures on making any drastic statements in response to Trump.

At least three people died after a flash flood struck a mountain village in New Mexico on Tuesday, according to officials. The emergency comes days after deadly floods in neighboring Texas left more than 100 people dead. Photo: Kaitlyn Carpenter/Associated Press

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At least three people died after a flash flood struck a mountain village in New Mexico on Tuesday, according to officials. The emergency comes days after deadly floods in neighboring Texas left more than 100 people dead.

Watch: House Swept Away by Flash Floods in New Mexico

Oh my gosh. Y'all look.

Oh no. Oh no.

Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

Survivor: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

Oh.

Oh my gosh.

Oh no..

Oh.

Survivor: Oh my God.

Survivor: Oh, the puppy.

You know, we got a lot of rain. We had a 20, over 20 foot rise in the river gauge. Just a big rain that just hit us all of a sudden, you know, we were tracking it all day. It didn't look like it was gonna be this massive, but it was. It hit hard. It hit fast. We did breach all of our bridges. We did lose some more homes.

Rescue efforts continued days after flash floods devastated regions of central Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at least 161 people remained missing several days after the natural disaster. Photo: Salgu Wissmath for The Wall Street Journal

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Rescue efforts continued days after flash floods devastated regions of central Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at least 161 people remained missing several days after the natural disaster.

Texas Flooding: At Least 161 People Remain Missing, Gov. Abbott Says

Know this. We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for.

Hundreds of first responders remain along the Guadalupe River in Kerr County working to reunite families. The large search and rescue effort including local, state, federal, and volunteer agencies continue.

I'll be going down on Friday with the first lady, who would be taking a trip and we don't want to get in anyone's way because, you know, that's what happens. The president goes, and I don't want anyone to focus on us.

President Trump signaled that he’s ‘very strongly’ looking at sanctions on Russia amid stalled peace talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP

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President Trump signaled that he’s ‘very strongly’ looking at sanctions on Russia amid stalled peace talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war.

Trump Says Putin Throws ‘Bulls—’ at U.S. About Ending Ukraine War

We got a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you wanna know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.

Reporter: Do you wanna sanction him? Lindsey Graham has a sanctions bill on Russia. Do you want him to move ahead with that?

I'm looking at it, yeah, no, I'm looking. The Senate is passing and passed very, very tough sanctions, but yeah, I'm looking at it.

And you'd sign that?

It's an optional bill, it's totally at my option. they passed it, totally at my option, and to terminate, totally at my option, and I'm looking at it very strongly. We're sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I've approved that.

Reporter: So who ordered the pause last week?

I don't know, why don't you tell me?

Reporter: Just sort of turning back to Russia, if there's anything that you would signal about your displeasure with them.

Well, I'm just, look, I'm very unhappy with them. There's no reason for this. It's turned out to be tougher, but it's only tougher, and I will say, the Ukrainians were brave, but we gave them the best equipment ever made. We gave them the anti-tank busters that knocked out tanks, I mean, you just aim them in the direction of the tank and the tank is gone. We gave them missiles, the latest and the greatest, they were able to shoot down a lot of things that would've normally wiped out, you know, probably would've been a very quick war, would've been a war that lasted three-four days, but they had the benefit of unbelievable equipment. And Europe gave them too, we gave them far more because, Biden shouldn't have done that, he should have equalized, and we should have given them the same or we should have given actually less than Europe, it affects Europe much more than us, but we're in there for over $300 billion.

In a cabinet meeting, President Trump said that U.S. trading partners would need to start paying tariffs on August 1. He also previewed tariffs on copper and Brics-aligned nations. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/Press Pool

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250708/3c8379a0-02b8-480a-a9a3-ac06439f8af7/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

In a cabinet meeting, President Trump said that U.S. trading partners would need to start paying tariffs on August 1. He also previewed tariffs on copper and Brics-aligned nations.

Trump Stands Firm on Aug. 1 Tariff Deadline, Previews Steep Copper Levies

Reporter: On tariffs again, on August 1st, you've said is the deadline. What incentives do countries have to negotiate? It seems that deadline keeps moving April 2nd. Now it's-

We didn't move. No, no. It's always been August 1st. That's what we're paying. A statement was put out today, and I put it out just to make it clear it wasn't a change. It was August 1st. We don't change very much. You know, every time we put out a statement, they say, "He made a change." I didn't make a change. Clarification, maybe. No, August 1st they pay, and everybody pays. Everybody has to pay. And the incentive is that they have the right to deal in the United States. If they don't want to, they don't have to pay, and they don't have the deal here.

So you saw 14 letters went out yesterday. You should expect another, anywhere from 15 to 20 letters to go out over the next two days, really setting down tariff lines for the key driving countries.

I believe the tariff on the Capitol are gonna make it 50%.

Panel Member: 50%.

Brics was set up to hurt us. Brics was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar as the standard, take it off as the standard. And that's okay if they wanna play that game, but I can play that game too. So anybody that's in Brics is getting a 10% charge.

Reporter: Is that immediate, sir, or-

Yeah, pretty soon.

Reporter: Is that if they engage in some behavior?

Well, if they're a member of Brics, they're gonna have to pay a 10% tariff just for that one thing. And they won't be a member alone. And if we lost the world standard dollar, that would be like losing a war.

As President Trump delays his trade deadline and threatens countries with up to 40% tariffs, WSJ Senior Reporter Jon Emont looks at the impact on companies in Asia and the wider world economy. Photo: WSJ; Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

https://video-asset.barrons.com/video/20250708/fbbdeea3-3272-49f4-9c29-f339ed150057/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

As President Trump delays his trade deadline and threatens countries with up to 40% tariffs, WSJ Senior Reporter Jon Emont looks at the impact on companies in Asia and the wider world economy.

WSJ Senior Reporter Explains Trump's Hardball Tariff Negotiations

Three months after Donald Trump announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on nearly every country in the world, threatening to dramatically raise tariff rates if negotiations weren't successful, he's come back with about two dozen letters that he's posted on social media in typical Trumpian fashion, reiterating that he will essentially impose more or less the same rates that he established in April if negotiations aren't successful over the next couple of weeks. Today offers a reprieve to Asian exporters because they've received a couple more weeks to continue negotiating with Trump before the tariffs go into effect. But on the other hand, this reignites the trade war in a very potentially devastating way for a lot of economies in the region that rely quite heavily on exporting to the United States.

Others we met with, and we don't think we're gonna be able to make a deal, so we just send them a letter. If you wanna play ball, this is what you have to pay.

Two very important United States trading partners, Japan and South Korea, were informed that starting August 1st, goods that they exported to the United States would have a tariff rate of 25%, which is quite high. And then a range of other economies that are also quite important. Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, Bangladesh also received letters. The letters were all quite similar in tone and wording. There was a range, typically in about the 25% to 40% range in Asia, where countries learned that essentially starting August 1st, if nothing changes, they're gonna have to pay very hefty tariffs.

I'm saying here it is, congratulations. Welcome to the United States. I hope you make a lot of money and you're gonna pay us money.

I've spoken to business leaders in the region, and they're of two minds. So some of them are taking this very seriously and are extremely worried that the power threats that were laid out in the letters are going to be imposed. One Bangladeshi garment exporter told me that she was feeling shattered, that 35% tariffs that are threatened of Bangladesh, that would be really tough for her business. And others think this is just sort of a ploy and a gambit by Trump to extract greater concessions in the weeks ahead. And we shouldn't take it too seriously, and we should just take a big deep breath.

We've seen a lot of positive developments in the right direction, but the administration, the president and his trade team want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker.

For somebody shopping at Walmart or going online and buying goods on Amazon, if these tariff rates stay high on nearly every country that makes things for the United States, it's pretty impossible to imagine anything other than prices going up pretty substantially. It hasn't really showed up in the data yet, but some of the tariffs haven't really come into effect yet. If things stay the way they've been laid out today, it would weigh on consumer's wallets. No question. What this could do is this could end up reducing trade, you know, making goods more expensive, making Americans think a lot harder about purchasing decisions than what they decide to buy. And therefore, it could have devastating effects on Asian economies and certainly impact how rich Americans feel. Of course, there's also the possibility that, you know, some negotiations are successful over the coming weeks and that the tariff rates are dropped and that, you know, nothing really changes. I suppose that there's a range of possibilities.