Donald Trump

NY Times - President Trump, a former real estate mogul who knows a few things about construction projects, says there is “no harder zoning thing to get” than a helipad. But he is building one at the White House, and building it fast.

Such projects usually require a developer to navigate a complex web of zoning laws, airspace regulations and environmental impact studies, while negotiating with town councils and fighting off community pushback. Construction at the White House can often face additional hurdles.

But Mr. Trump has encountered no such difficulties as he quickly proceeds with construction of a black granite helipad on the South Lawn. He has not asked Congress or any review panel, such as the Commission of Fine Arts, to approve the project.

Past presidents have involved Congress and review panels in changes to the White House grounds, though Mr. Trump has asserted that he has the right to undertake major construction projects, such as a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom, without congressional approval. That project is currently the subject of litigation.

A White House spokesman said in an email that “operational upgrades to the White House grounds, such as the helipad installation, do not require commission reviews.”

Data: American College of Sports Medicine; Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

Over 100 Democrats vote against mliitary aid to Israel

Anti War - Over 100 House Democrats on Wednesday voted in favor of an amendment put forward by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to cut $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel, marking a major shift as congressional Democrats grapple with growing skepticism of the US-Israel relationship among their voter base.

The amendment would have removed $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that provides foreign governments with funding to purchase US weapons, from the 2027 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

Massie’s amendment was defeated in a 104-314 vote, but more Democrats supported the effort than voted against it. A total of 103 Democrats voted yes, 98 voted no, 10 voted present, and four didn’t vote. Massie was the lone Republican to support the amendment.

The reflecting pool

The Washington Post -  The lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool peeled away in at least seven places along seams that were created when the material was applied in large rectangular sections, indicating likely problems in how it was installed, according to a Washington Post analysis of visuals and interviews with experts.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said vandals are to blame for the damage that appeared just two weeks after the $14 million renovation was completed in early June. “The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday. On Tuesday, photos emerged on social media that showed the pool had been drained in preparation for repairs.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made similar claims in television interviews in early July, saying on Fox News that vandals left gashes totaling 350 feet. “[The lining] didn’t peel off,” he said on CNN, adding that people were “literally trying to destroy part of a monument.”

Post reporters visited the Reflecting Pool on June 25 and identified seven locations where the lining — a waterproof membrane that was painted onto the concrete basin — had partially or entirely peeled away. The peeling occurred in irregularly shaped patches that stretched alongside the long edges of the pool. The pieces ranged in size from a few inches to as long as six feet. In one case, the concrete was visible underneath. (Reporters could not see the condition of the lining in the middle of the basin.)

By comparing the seven locations with satellite imagery, photos and videos taken during the renovation process, the analysis found that all of the failures occurred at the seams — lines between two areas that were painted at different times.

Refugees

UN Refugee Agency - At the end of 2025, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide was 117.8 million. The total number of forcibly displaced people decreased for the first time in a decade…. At the end of 2024, 122 million people were forcibly displaced.

At the end of 2025, there were 35.6 million refugees, or people in a refugee-like situation and in need of protection, under UNHCR’s mandate…. The number of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, including people in a refugee-like situation and other people in need of international protection, stood at 3 percent lower than at the end of 2024.

Children account for 29 percent of the world’s population, but 39 percent of refugees, people in a refugee-like situation and other people in need of international protection in 2025.  While the number of refugees decreased in 2025, the percentage of refugee children remained at 39 percent. Additionally, women and girls account for half the number of refugees or people in refugee-like situations…

4. By the end of 2025, 68.7 million people were internally displaced. About half of IDPs are from 5 countries: Sudan, Colombia, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan.   Internally displaced people (IDPs) are people forced to flee their homes, but they remain within the borders of their country

There were over 14.7 million refugees and IDPs who were able to return home, and 81,800 were resettled by UNHCR or through sponsorship pathways.

Weather

NY Times -  The strip of dense wildfire smoke can be seen on satellites stretching from the Upper Midwest and Canada, across the Great Lakes, through southern Ontario and New England and down to New York City. Some of it is even traveling out over the Atlantic Ocean and back up to the far eastern coastline of Canada.

Weather forecasters expect the smoke to darken skies again on Thursday across North America. As of Thursday morning, air quality readings surged to dangerous levels in many places, including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto…

Where is the air quality the worst? The worst air quality was in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario, where the wildfires were actively burning. The U.S. cities that had the worst readings on Thursday morning were Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland. But the air quality index was likely to reach unhealthy levels as far east as Toronto and New York throughout the day.

Word: What’s the saddest realization about growing older?

John Dean is a financial journalist, talk show host, and pianist

John Dean - I don’t know how “sad” it is, but an uncomfortable truth about getting older is the slow slide into irrelevance. The spotlight shines brightest on those between ages 20 and 40. In that age group, you know pretty well who the biggest actors and pop stars are, you’re up on most of the current trends, advertisers covet your attention, and most of your work colleagues probably speak the same “language” that you do.

I’m 62, and while I’m no Methuselah, I am one of the three oldest people in my company; and I’m THE oldest in my department by maybe 15 years. They have their own social circle and I have mine. Their interests just barely overlap my own, mainly sports team-related. I’ve been with this company for close to 30 years, which is longer than some of them have been alive. It’s an odd feeling.

The things that were important to me when I was their age don’t even register in many of their minds. They have nostalgia for the 1990s (!), which they call “an age of innocence, a simpler time.” Oy.

They don’t know who Johnny Carson was, or Ed Sullivan. They don’t remember a time without internet, cellphones, or air bags. Many have no first-hand knowledge of even 9/11. To them, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton might as well be Coolidge, Harding, and Hoover. All of these people and events that still loom large in my mind are of virtually no consequence to them.

This isn’t a bad thing, it’s an inevitable thing. We’re born, we have our time in the sun, and then we head out to make room for the next set of people.

As children, our world was small, confined to our knowledge and experiences. Our world then expanded as we grew, and we came to know a lot of things about a lot of things. As we age, though, our world slowly begins to shrink again, and we begin to lose touch with most of what is currently considered “important.”

I’m fine with that. I don’t need to know any Taylor Swift songs, or which celebrities said what on TikTok, or what the newest app or video game can do. I got off the cultural bus with just enough in my suitcase to keep me entertained forever, and I’m happy I don’t have to know anything more.  Life is good.

Social Security

Newsweek - A bipartisan group of senators has unveiled legislation designed to force Congress to address Social Security's approaching funding crisis.   The proposal, known as the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone (PROMISE) Act, would not immediately raise taxes, cut benefits or change eligibility rules. However, it would create a mechanism requiring lawmakers to vote on a plan to restore Social Security's long-term finances after years of political gridlock.

The legislation arrives as Social Security's retirement trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, one year earlier than previously forecast. At that point, beneficiaries would see an automatic benefit cut of roughly 20 percent if lawmakers don’t do anything.

…According to the latest trustees report, if lawmakers do nothing and the retirement trust fund becomes depleted in 2032, Social Security would still collect payroll taxes and continue paying benefits but would be able to pay only about 78 percent of scheduled benefits, resulting in an automatic reduction of 22 percent.

Meanwhile. . .

Newsweek-   Donald Trump's administration has been forced to refund nearly $80 billion in customs duties in 2026, after his tariffs were deemed unlawful and struck down earlier this year.

Jeffrey Epstein

Indpendent -   President Barack Obama’s former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler said Wednesday in testimony to Congress that it “was a mistake to deal with” Jeffrey Epstein but insisted she never witnessed criminal activities.

“I can see now that he used me and other respectable people to legitimize his standing,” Ruemmler, the former top lawyer at Goldman Sachs, told members of the House Oversight Committee, according to a copy of her opening remarks.

Ruemmler is the latest prominent figure called before the House Oversight Committee as lawmakers investigate the network of powerful people connected with Epstein. The bipartisan inquiry has already included testimony from more than a dozen high-profile witnesses, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former President Bill Clinton, as lawmakers examine how Epstein's wealth and influence may have helped shield him from scrutiny.

House votes for permanent daylight saving time

The Hill - The House on Tuesday passed with broad bipartisan support legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. The lower chamber voted 308-117 for the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025, which would make daylight saving time the permanent standard time. Twenty-two Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against the measure.

Trump impeachment symposium

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader and constitutional lawyer and scholar Bruce Fein will convene the second in a series of watershed symposia on the urgency of impeaching and removing President Donald Trump.

The symposium will be held on July 22, 2026, at the Senate Visitors Center, Room 201-00 in Washington, D.C.

Register to attend this event in person at this link.

The event will focus on criminal wars of aggression, murder, piracy, kidnapping, bribery, extortion, auctioning off pardons, refusing to faithfully execute the laws, abusing prosecutorial discretion to reward political friends or donors and to harass political opponents, employing government power to punish or silence critics, ruling by decree through bogus declarations of national emergencies, racist, xenophobic attacks on immigrants, and decapitating consumer welfare, health, safety, and environmental agencies.

The symposium will take place in Room 201-00 of the Senate Visitors Center from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with coffee available beginning at 11:00 am. Lunch will be served at 12:15 pm.

Pete Hegseth

NY Times -   Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color, to two-star admiral rank, current and former defense officials said. The highly unusual move means that for the first time in more than a decade, no female active-duty naval officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year, officials said.

The initial list consisted of 22 officers who were chosen by a promotion board made up of senior admirals. The board determined that the two-star nominees were among the Navy’s highest performers over careers spanning more than 25 years.

Among those removed was Rear Adm. Amy Bauernschmidt, who was chosen in 2020 to be the first woman to command the crew of one of the Navy’s 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

Mr. Hegseth did not provide a rationale for pulling Admiral Bauernschmidt or the other officers off the promotion list. But he has claimed in recent years that the military has focused too much on promoting people of color and women, at the expense of white men.

“Affirmative action promotions have skyrocketed with ‘firsts’ being the most important factor in filling new commands,” Mr. Hegseth wrote in the opening pages of his 2024 book “The War on Warriors.” “We will not stop until trans-lesbian Black females run everything!”

Mr. Hegseth’s book did not provide statistics to back up his claims. Women make up 21 percent of the active-duty Navy, but account for only about 7 percent of active-duty admirals.

ICE

 The Hill - President Trump on Wednesday said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should continue utilizing traffic stops, calling the tactic one of the agency’s “most important and effective” crime-fighting tools.

“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, praising the agency’s efforts to enforce his robust deportation agenda and taking a swipe at the previous administration’s border policies.

NY Times -   The father of a Colombian immigrant shot and killed by a federal agent in Maine on Monday described him as “a good person raised with strong values,” who worked two jobs to support his wife and 3-year-old daughter.

“He had a great vision for getting ahead, so many dreams to fulfill,” Omar Duran, the father of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, told Noticias Caracol, a Colombian news outlet, on Tuesday, speaking in Spanish. “My son is a wonderful son — I don’t know why they did that to him.”

Mr. Guerrero, 25, lived in Biddeford, a small city south of Portland, where he worked as a food delivery driver and a late-night cleaner at a veterinary clinic. Mr. Duran said his son was in the United States legally and was authorized to work.

On Wednesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Mr. Guerrero had “illegally entered the United States on Sept. 1, 2023, via the southern border and was released into the country under the Biden Administration.”

In the hours after he was killed on the block where he lived, details emerged to suggest that immigration agents may have mistaken him for another person. A spokesman for Senator Angus King of Maine said on Monday that Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, had told the senator that the agents had been looking for someone else.

Two Supreme Court justices make rare congressional appearance

NY Times -  Two Supreme Court justices, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett, made a rare appearance at the Capitol on Tuesday, ostensibly to answer lawmakers’ questions about the court’s request for millions of dollars to increase security amid rising threats against the justices and their families.

But it was the first time any of the justices answered questions from lawmakers since 2019, and the discussion before House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees quickly moved to other topics, including the court’s emergency docket, ethics rules and harsh rhetoric targeting the justices. Here are some highlights from the testimony. .

Heat wave

Patriotwise - March 2026 was the hottest March on record in the U.S., averaging more than nine degrees above the 20th‑century baseline and breaking nearly 20,000 daily heat records in a single month. Emergency room visits surged in hot cities, rising more than threefold in some places. Global data show heat‑related deaths have climbed sharply in recent decades, with international health bodies reporting large increases in mortality tied directly to extreme heat. Despite this, protection like cooling centers, home weatherization, and fair access to power remain patchy and often depend on local budgets and political will.

The Guardian -  As millions of Americans prepare for another brutal heatwave, it’s now harder to find information about ways to stay cool while saving energy and keeping utility costs down.

At least 1,662 Department of Energy webpages offering guidance on protecting the electrical grid during heatwaves have gone dark as of 3 July, according to a Guardian analysis of a list of deleted URLs provided by researchers at the Internet Archive, a non-profit that hosts a repository of more than a trillion archived webpages.

These removals are just the latest example of a broader pattern: information that conflicts with the administration’s priorities – from data on queer and trans youth to online resources from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – is being removed from federal websites and surveys.

The energy department deletions coincide with the Trump administration’s latest push to undermine federal climate regulations. At least 18 webpages were removed within days of the proposed rollback to energy efficiency regulations for home appliances like air conditioners and heaters.

If enacted, the proposed rollback would effectively undo decades of policies that have been proven to lower household utility bills and make it much harder for the energy department to update efficiency standards for new appliances under future administrations, advocates say.

Meanwhile. . .

Patriotwise -   More than 400 arrests and 44 injuries were reported after a massive teen takeover hit Newport Beach on July 4, 2026, with businesses looted and fireworks thrown at police. The Newport Beach Police Association said participants came “with the intent on causing harm, injury, and destruction,” with officers outnumbered more than 500 to 1. Similar violent gatherings struck Chicago, Raleigh, and Pensacola the same weekend, showing this is a growing national problem — not a one-city fluke.

Health

NPR - Ice cream is a summer favorite, and Dr. Zeke Emanuel says there’s no need to skip it. In his book Eat Your Ice Cream, he cites evidence suggesting that people who regularly enjoy the sweet treat face a lower risk of metabolic disease — a finding research called “the ice cream paradox.” 

Elections

News Guard Reality Check -   What’s happening: On July 9, President Donald Trump fired two Democratic members of the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission and previously pressured the third member, a Republican, to quit. The EAC has been an independent federal agency that certifies voting systems and develops election administration guidance for states. The move came as NewsGuard tracked its 380th false claim related to U.S. elections, underscoring how election misinformation continues to proliferate as the 2026 midterm cycle moves into high gear.

Explaining the firings, the White House said in a statement to The Associated Press, “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted.” It is unclear if or when Trump plans to nominate commissioners to the agency, who must be confirmed by the Senate. At full strength, the agency is run by four commissioners.

The action follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that said presidents can remove officials who lead agencies that are part of the Executive Branch.

Democrats quickly raised concerns. In a joint statement, Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Rep. Joe Morelle of New York said of the firings: “Purging commissioners just months before the midterm elections and further gutting support for our state and local elections officials is a blatant part of [Trump’s] plan to politicize our elections and enable more unlawful and dangerous election interference.”

A closer look: False claims about rigged elections, foreign election interference, voting procedures, and candidate records have been a mainstay of NewsGuard’s False Claims Fingerprints, a continuously updated database of false claims spreading online. Indeed, since 2019, NewsGuard has identified and debunked 380 false election-related claims.

During the 2024 presidential cycle, NewsGuard documented 100 false election claims, 24 of which originated as state-sponsored narratives from Russia and Iran, including one claiming that a Russian foundation’s investigation proved Democrats had a plan to rig the election. (In August 2025, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that the administration was dissolving the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which focused on countering hostile foreign efforts to subvert U.S. elections.)…

Following the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Democratic President Joe Biden, NewsGuard identified 51 viral false claims that were presented as evidence that the election had been stolen, many of them advanced by Trump himself. Voting Systems switched votes from Trump to Biden; and that Wisconsin had more votes than registered voters.

Donald Trump

Republicans against Trump  - ·Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the first images of a $1 gold coin featuring Donald Trump’s face, saying the U.S. Mint will start making the coin to “honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism.”  U.S. law prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency. 

The Congressional Insider -   President Donald Trump has made “communism” the center of his message as the country heads toward the 2026 midterm elections. In the last two weeks alone, a Reuters review found he used the word 81 times in public remarks, from Oval Office exchanges to major speeches at Mount Rushmore and on the National Mall. He tells voters that communism is “the most serious threat to our country since its existence” and “a mortal threat to American liberty,” ranking it above past wars and terror attacks.

Trump’s language has grown most intense around the nation’s 250th birthday events. At Mount Rushmore, he warned that communism is “the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11,” and vowed that “America will never be a communist country.” On July 4, speaking to thousands in Washington, he compared communism to a cancer that must be “cut out fast,” then promised that citizens would “vanquish” it and keep building a “bigger and better” America.

Alternet  - Donald Trump made the transition from millionaire to billionaire when, according to Forbes, his net worth reached $1 billion in October 1988. But in 2026, Trump's net worth is more than 6 times that amount: Forbes, earlier this year, reported a net worth of $6.5 billion for him. And that is President Trump alone; the number becomes even higher when one factors in other members of the Trump family — which, according to i Paper reporter Laura Trevelyan, keeps growing richer during the second Trump presidency.

In the past, most of Donald Trump's profits came from high-end real estate. But according to Trevelyan, tech and cryptocurrencies now play a major role in his wealth. In 2025, she notes, the Trump family "made $1.4bn (£1bn) from his family's cryptocurrency businesses alone."

Middle East

The Guardian - Donald Trump has threatened to expand US strikes on Iran next week to target civilian infrastructure including power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal. Trump made similar comments in March. Destroying civilian infrastructure such as power and water facilities would be illegal under international humanitarian law and would probably constitute a war crime.

The US president, meanwhile, has U-turned on a threat that ships would have to pay a 20% fee to the US for "security" in the strait of Hormuz. He said he had decided to scrap the toll "based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership", and touted "massive" investments. He said the US would continue to blockade Iranian ports.

Weather

Patriotwise - As a record-breaking “heat dome” bakes half the country and quietly kills dozens, many Americans are learning that the deadliest weather threat is not storms or floods, but the kind of extreme heat our leaders still treat like business as usual.

Nearly half of the United States faces “major” or “extreme” heat risk under a sprawling heat dome.

More than 1,300 temperature records fell over the July 1–4 holiday window across 40 states.

At least 44 deaths have already been tied to the July 4 heat wave, with New Jersey hit hardest.

Experts say extreme heat is America’s deadliest weather, yet many communities lack basic protection.

Starting in late June 2026, a massive high-pressure “heat dome” locked itself over much of North America, trapping hot air and driving temperatures far above normal across central and eastern states. Meteorologists warned days ahead that this was not routine summer heat, but a long-lasting event likely to break records and threaten lives. By June 28, the National Weather Service placed nearly half of the U.S. population—about 180 million people—under a “major” or “extreme” heat risk, a staggering share of the country.

Polls

InteractivePolls

@IAPolls2022

2028 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Harris: 48% Vance: 43% — Vance: 45% Newsom: 38% — Vance: 45% AOC: 38% —— Harris: 46% Rubio: 41% — Rubio: 40% Newsom: 36% — Rubio: 39% AOC: 38%

InteractivePolls

National Poll by Morning Consult Pres. Trump Approve: 45% (+2) Disapprove: 53% (=) VP Vance Favorability Favorable: 45% (+7) Unfavorable: 44% (-3) —— Generic Ballot Democrats: 46% (=) Republicans: 43% (+1)

Zogby Analytics