Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House’s Friday deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil. Earlier talks between Russia and Ukraine, and Russian and U.S. officials, made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
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‘Alligator Alcatraz’ challenged in federal court hearing
A federal judge is hearing arguments in Miami over whether to close Florida’s immigration detention center and stop further construction in the Everglades because environmental laws weren’t followed.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to issue a preliminary injunction, saying the wetlands habitat of protected plants and animals is threatened and billions of dollars’ in environmental restoration could be reversed.
It’s one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center, built at an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County. A second lawsuit, by civil rights groups, gets a hearing on Aug. 18. They say constitutional rights are being violated since detainees are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and their bond hearings have been canceled.
Kremlin gives its readout of Putin-Witkoff meeting
The Kremlin says Putin’s meeting with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday lasted about three hours.
The talks come as Russia faces a Friday White House’s deadline to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said it was a “useful and constructive conversation” about the Ukrainian crisis and “prospects for possible development of strategic cooperation between the U.S. and Russia.”
Infectious disease experts dismayed by Kennedy's cancellation of new mRNA funding
They say mRNA vaccines are safe and saved millions of lives during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic after the technology was developed during the first Trump administration. Future pandemics, they warn, will be harder to stop without it.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations. He notes that mRNA technology offers the potential advantages of rapid production, crucial if a new pandemic requires a new vaccine.
Shelving mRNA projects is short-sighted amid looming concerns about a bird flu pandemic, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. And scientists are developing many other uses of mRNA technology — at a White House event this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential use against cancer.
Trump puts new 25% import taxes on India
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the president on the country to 50%.
The tariffs would go into effect 21 days after the signing of the order, meaning that both India and Russia might have time to negotiate with the administration on the import taxes.
College applications outside US rise amid Trump crackdown
Trump’s widening crackdown on immigration and his pressure to reduce the dependence of U.S. colleges on international enrollment have students increasingly applying elsewhere.
Britain stands to gain the most, along with Canada and Australia. Hong Kong universities are fielding transfer inquiries. Countries hosting satellite campuses for U.S. colleges also could benefit.
While the U.S. remains the first choice for many, Trump policies including revoking the legal status of international students, pausing new visa appointments and screening applicants’ social media have made students fearful.
New international enrollment in the U.S. could drop by 30% to 40% this fall, depriving the U.S. economy of $7 billion in spending, according to an analysis of visa and enrollment data by NAFSA, an agency that promotes international education.
▶ Read more about how global enrollments are changing amid Trump crackdown
Vance to visit Indiana on Thursday
Vice President JD Vance will headline a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee in Indiana on Thursday and meet with Gov. Mike Braun, spokesman William Martin said.
Vance is expected to discuss redistricting with Braun as administration officials look to expand efforts to redraw congressional lines beyond Texas.
Braun, a Republican, told reporters that state leaders would have a “broad conversation” with Vance but that no commitments had been made to launch a redistricting effort.
Trump to highlight Apple’s plans to invest $100 billion more in US economy
Trump’s plans for Wednesday include a White House celebration of a commitment by Apple to increase its U.S. investments by $100 billion over the next four years.
“Today’s announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America’s economic and national security,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers.
Apple previously said it would invest $500 billion domestically. Trump has been criticizing the tech company and its CEO, Tim Cook, for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid his tariffs on China.
Where are we now with the Voting Rights Act?
The Supreme Court is deciding whether to consider an appellate ruling out of North Dakota that private individuals and entities cannot file voting rights challenges. Two other 8th Circuit panels have made similar rulings that only the U.S. Attorney General can enforce the act. Other circuits have ruled that there is a right of private action.
The Supreme Court is waiting to be briefed on a Louisiana case centering on whether drawing a district to benefit Black voters is constitutional. Other actions are happening at the state level, and an executive order by Trump and congressional legislation would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Voting Rights Act is under threat on its 60th anniversary
In 2024 the Turtle Mountain Band and the Spirit Lake Tribe formed a joint district for the first time. The future of the district is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sixty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson, with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. standing behind him, signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
The act protected the right to vote and ensured the government would fight efforts to suppress it, especially those aimed at Black voters. For many Americans, it was the day U.S. democracy fully began.
That was then.
The law has been slowly eroding for more than a decade, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear cases that will largely determine whether the law will have future anniversaries to mark.
▶ Read more on this critical juncture for American democracy
Here are the states now considering early redistricting
1. Texas — Gov. Gregg Abbott is threatening Democrats with arrests, fines and removal after they left the state to deny a quorum.
2. California — Democrats could reshape their own district maps to cut away five Republican seats.
3. Missouri — Gov. Mike Kehoe is eyeing a Kansas City Democrat’s district to expand the 6-2 GOP advantage.
4. New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul said if Texas proceeds, “we must do the same.”
5. Wisconsin — Democrats want the courts to force a redrawing
6. Maryland — Majority leader David Moon plans to trigger redistricting if Texas or any other state does it
7. Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s considering early redistricting
8. Ohio — must redraw its maps before the 2026 midterm elections, and could expand its 10-5 advantage
9. Indiana — Gov. Mike Braun said Vice President JD Vance’s visit will include talk of redistricting, which he said looks like “it’s going to happen across many Republican states.”
More states consider redrawing congressional maps
The Texas Republicans’ push to redraw congressional maps to secure five more House GOP seats for Trump has kicked off a no-holds-barred battle between blue and red states.
Changing congressional maps to ensure one party’s victory over another — called gerrymandering — has typically been done more furtively, since both parties have feared a backlash if voters think the system is rigged. But Trump’s call for Texas redraw its maps mid-decade for blatantly partisan purposes has blown the lid off.
Gerrymandering, once a feared accusation, has now become a battle cry.
Why Texas Democrats fled and how Republicans want to punish them
A walkout by Texas House Democrats is stalling redrawn political maps that President Donald Trump wants before the 2026 elections to bolster Republican chances of keeping its U.S. House majority.
Since leaving the state on Aug. 3 to block a vote in the Texas Capitol, dozens of Democrats have scattered to Chicago, New York and Boston and faced escalating threats from Republicans who have signed civil arrest warrants and mobilized state troopers.
Trump said Tuesday the FBI “may have to” help to bring back Texas Democrats, who have not said how long they are prepared to hold out. But they’ve signaled no intention of quickly returning home.
▶ Read more things to know about Trump’s effort to secure House control through redistricting
Per Trump’s order, Park Service and Hegseth order Confederate statues restored
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that a statue commemorating the Confederacy would be returned to Arlington National Cemetery. And the National Park Service announced Monday that the statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate brigadier general, would return to Washington’s Judiciary Square.
The Pike statue was pulled down with ropes and chains on Juneteenth in 2020 as part of mass protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
In 2022, an independent commission recommended that the Arlington memorial be removed. It features a Black woman depicted as “Mammy” holding what is said to be the child of a white officer, and an enslaved man following his owner to war. Hegseth said it should “never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history — we honor it.”
▶ Read more on these Confederate statues
Trump threatens federal takeover of DC after attack on DOGE’s ‘Big Balls’
Two 15-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the attempted carjacking and beating of one of the most prominent members of the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump responded with a threat to seize control of the nation’s capital.
Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” was assaulted around 3 a.m. Sunday by a group of teenagers attempting to carjack him and a woman police identified as his significant other.
The attack provided new fuel for long-standing Republican efforts to challenge Washington’s autonomy. Trump posted: “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run.”
▶ Read more on Trump’s response to this street crime in DC
Trump weighs in on Texas Democrats fleeing state to halt vote
The president said the FBI “may have to” have a hand in bringing back lawmakers who left Texas in order to prevent a vote on redistricting maps that aim to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called on the FBI to help locate and arrest the Democrats under civil arrest warrants. Legal experts say enforcing consequences against the Democrats would be difficult.
RFK Jr. cancels $500 million in funding for vaccines
The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding related to 22 projects that utilize mRNA technology, including projects developing vaccines that fight respiratory viruses like the flu and COVID-19.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary and a longtime vaccine critic, said Tuesday that he wants the U.S. to move away from mRNA vaccines and called on the department to start “investing in better solutions.” Experts say evidence shows mRNA technology is safe and effective.
Judge rules Trump administration can’t reallocate $4 billion meant for disaster mitigation
A federal judge in Boston granted a preliminary injunction sought by 20 Democrat-led states while their lawsuit over the funding moves ahead.
FEMA said in April that the agency would end the program, which provides funds to strengthen infrastructure against potential storm damage.
Later, the agency said it was only evaluating whether to end the program or not, but the states argue that the threat of losing the funding alone has put numerous projects at risk of being canceled, delayed or downsized.
The Associated Press
