Closing summary
This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day. Here are the latest developments:
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Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve the remainder of her late brother Lindsey’s term, defeated congressman Ralph Norman in a South Carolina Republican Senate primary. Graham was endorsed by Donald Trump and won the primary run-off over Norman, despite a debate flub, by nearly 5 percentage points.
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Pennsylvania’s governor Josh Shapiro, told reporters that he was late for a news conference on the deadly measles outbreak in Lancaster county because he had been on the phone scolding the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, for “spreading misinformation” about vaccines.
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The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could be demolished if repairs are not carried out, Donald Trump’s administration warned in a court filing on Monday. Lawyers for the US president said the national arts complex in Washington DC must undergo a $250m renovation or risk facing the wrecking ball.
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Democrats asked a federal court in Washington DC to block Trump’s executive order to restrict mail voting on Tuesday, arguing that the US Postal Service does not have the legal authority it claims in a newly published change to its rules which would allow it to decide not to deliver ballots mailed by some voters.
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Canada said it will implement 50% retaliatory tariffs on $20bn worth of US goods – following through on prime minister Mark Carney’s vow to match Trump’s duties “dollar for dollar”.
South Carolina’s population has increased by more than 700,000 residents over the last decade. That growth has fallen disproportionately in two areas of the state: the northern counties in congressman Ralph Norman’s district and the coastal communities of Horry County and its surrounding areas, represented by another Republican congressman, Russell Fry.
The people moving into South Carolina tend to be Republicans. But they’re not South Carolina Republicans, at least not yet. The web of relationships that the state’s political culture trades on for support hasn’t caught up to many of them yet.
South Carolina has no danger of turning purple, said Zachary Cogan of Lamar, a retired soldier and transplant from what he called the “communist” state of New York. “People who are coming here are, I would say 80-20 are red voters.”
They’re not moving to South Carolina for its politics, he said. “That might have been a third or fourth tier reason for them to come here. They’re coming here because of lower taxes, a better standard of living from what they’re going to import from the North, lower housing costs and the ability to do more things with less government interference. Those are the priorities for people like me. It’s not necessarily the state’s politics, more than it’s what the state has to offer somebody who wants to move here.”
Cogan was a Graham voter, he said.
“Both candidates will be fine candidates for the Senate, either way,” Cogan said. “I’ve heard a lot of criticism for Darline Graham, that, well, she’s going to be learning by experience. But you know what? Maybe more of our representatives need to go into the fray untainted by prior politics.”
Lindsey Graham’s long legacy in South Carolina has lingered beyond his death, influencing the vote for his sister Darline.
“Probably the main reason I voted today: the bypass road here in Aynor is named after my father, and Mr. Lindsey Graham came the day of the dedication,” said Julius H. Goodson, Jr. of Aynor, South Carolina. “This is back in 2011. He came from Washington that morning for the dedication. It rained on the parade.”
Aynor in the northeast corner of Horry County, is often forgotten by state leaders who focus on coastal development. Goodson, Aynor’s former fire chief, said he believed Graham had been different.
Graham was a “$1 million man,” Goodson said. “When he made a million dollars in Washington, he said he had enough. He was working for the people. And I think his sister … I think she’ll be good for South Carolina.”
Trump endorsement helps boost Darline Graham in primary to replace her late brother
The voters of the eastern corner of South Carolina proved decisive in the race to succeed the late senator Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday.
Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach, has grown tremendously over the last decade, and its Republican voting strength reflects it: it is likely to provide more than 10% of the state’s votes. As the votes were counted, the late senator’s sister, Darline Graham, was running nearly three to one ahead of far-right congressman Ralph Norman there.
Donald Trump visited Myrtle Beach on Friday to campaign for Graham. Voters appeared to respond.
“Who is going to back Trump?” said Bill Bullard of Conway who voted Tuesday morning with his wife Linda. “Who is going to support Trump? It’s just that simple,” he said.
They believed Graham had been undecided on her position on abortion, and would not have Trump’s leadership in office in the next presidency. The decision weighed heavily on their minds, he said. Trump’s endorsement mattered.
Republican senator Tim Scott, who holds the other South Carolina seat, also weighed in with support for Graham, and that may have mattered more. “His endorsement mattered a lot. It was the changing factor. We think the world of Tim Scott.”
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Darline Graham projected to win South Carolina Republican
Darline Graham, the sister of the late South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, has won a special Republican primary election to replace her brother on the November ballot for a full Senate term, according to an Associated Press projection.
Graham, who was endorsed by Donald Trump and campaigned alongside the president in Myrtle Beach last week, defeated Ralph Norman, a congressman in the House Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing Republicans.
Graham led Norman 52% to 48%, or about 15,000 votes, with nearly 90% of the vote counted when AP made its call.
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Darline Graham's holds narrow lead Republican Senate primary in South Carolina
The Republican Senate primary in South Carolina has dramatically tightened, with Darline Graham, the late Lindsey Graham’s sister, holding a narrow 52% – 48% lead over far-right congressman Ralph Norman, with 65% of the votes counted. The margin is currently close to 10,000 votes.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro says he scolded Robert F Kennedy Jr for 'spreading misinformation' on vaccines
Pennsylvania’s governor Josh Shapiro, told reporters on Tuesday that he was late for a news conference on the deadly measles outbreak in Lancaster county because he had been on the phone scolding the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, for “spreading misinformation” about vaccines.
Kennedy, as we noted earlier, had visited Lancaster county in 2021 to deride vaccines in a region where an estimated 75% of Amish children are not vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella because of a conspiracy theory that the shot causes autism.
The first two Pennsylvanians to die from measles in 35 years during the current outbreak were both unvaccinated residents of Lancaster county.
“I’ve been sitting out in the parking lot talking to secretary Kennedy who reached out to me this morning, Shapiro said. “I was very very blunt with him and I made very clear that his actions, and the the rhetoric that’s coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania, and that there’s real-life consequences to spreading misinformation.”
“There’s real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions uh for our kids,” Shapiro added.
“Sharing conspiracy theories and misinformation does not help the cause of public health and it leaves people less healthy and less safe and it leaves parents in a position where it’s harder for us to do our jobs to protect our children,” the governor said.
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Police seize truck-mounted guillotine near US Capitol in Washington DC
The United States Capitol Police said they “seized a guillotine, which was spotted in the bed of a pickup truck” near the US Capitol on Tuesday.
The police said in a press release, accompanied by photographs of the device, that they arrested the driver of the pickup truck “for Carrying a Dangerous Weapon for being in possession of the guillotine”.
The suspect was identified as Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, of Julian, California.
Democrats sue to block US Postal Service from deciding which mail ballots to deliver
Democrats asked a federal court in Washington DC to block Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict mail voting on Tuesday, arguing that the US Postal Service (USPS) does not have the legal authority it claims in a newly published change to its rules which would allow it to decide not to deliver ballots mailed by voters whose eligibility it cannot confirm.
The US supreme court ruled on Monday that a request to block the implementation of Trump’s March executive order from 23 states, and the District of Columbia, had been filed too early, since the USPS had not yet issued a change to its rules.
In the suit, Democratic party officials, including the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, claim that the new USPS rule, set to go into effect on Wednesday, is unlawful.
“Today, we are taking strong, joint legal action to stop Trump’s unlawful attempt to restrict mail-in voting through the Postal Service. Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling did not say that Trump’s executive order attacking voting rights is constitutional. In America, the law is clear: States have the authority to run elections - not the president,” the Democrats said in a statement.
“We will not stand by while Trump and Republicans try to unnecessarily inject chaos and confusion into our elections, just weeks before voting begins. We are asking a district court to immediately stop the Trump administration from unlawfully disrupting mail-in voting in every state,” they added.
The Democrats also asked the court to hear their motion for a preliminary injunction to block changes to mail voting on September 4, which is the day the midterm elections begin with the first absentee ballots sent to North Carolina voters.
Darline Graham opens up early lead in South Carolina vote count
Polls have now closed in the Republican Senate primary in South Carolina, where voters were asked to replace their previous nominee, the late senator Lindsey Graham, with either his sister, Darline Graham, who was appointed to serve the remainder of his term, of Ralph Norman, a congressman in the House Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing Republicans.
Graham, who was endorsed by Donald Trump but struggled on the debate stage, leads 56% – 44%, with about 2% of the vote counted, of just over 9,000 votes.
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Obama, Bush and Clinton pay tribute to Dolly Parton
Three former US presidents, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, have added their voices, and those of their spouses, to the chorus of appreciation for the life of the late Dolly Parton.
In a message posted on social media, Obama wrote:
It’s hard to imagine many people having a bigger impact than Dolly Parton. Born in a one-room cabin, she earned 11 Grammys and an Emmy, built a business empire, helped millions of kids learn to read, and — as if that wasn’t enough — helped accelerate the research that led to the Moderna COVID vaccine. What a life. Michelle and I are thinking of Dolly’s family and her many, many fans.
In a statement, Bush wrote:
Laura and I, along with thousands of her fans, mourn the passing of Dolly Parton. We loved her music and her style. She was a great entertainer and even greater person. We respected her work to promote literacy, advance health, and strengthen communities. Dolly was a talented and hardworking American who will be missed.
Clinton said in a social media post:
Dolly Parton was one of a kind—a great songwriter and performer who told the stories of everyday Americans with honesty, humility, and heart. She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy. Hillary and I were big fans and first saw her in 1974, and will always be grateful for the music and the memories. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her legion of fans, and everyone who loved her.
Hillary Clinton said in a separate statement:
Dolly Parton did all the good she could, for all the people she could, for as long as ever she could. From her legendary songwriting to the Imagination Library—which sent 1 million books a month to children across the country—she was the best of America. Dolly, we’ll miss your great heart.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday sided with four Democrats running for Congress on Tuesday, by blocking the Federal Communications Commission from requiring television broadcasters to offer discounted advertising rates to political parties in the run-up to elections, a discount that currently only applies to candidates.
A three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that campaign finance statutes “are clear that neither political parties nor joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members can be entitled” to the discounted rates mandated by the FCC.
The Republican-controlled FCC had voted for a public notice that would allow party-controlled fundraising committees to get the discounted rates in the lead-up to midterm elections in November.
Four Democratic candidates who sued to block the FCC rule change: Jon Ossoff, a Georgia senator; Kristen McDonald Rivet, a Michigan congresswoman; former Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, who is running to return to the Senate; and former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, who is also running for a Senate seat.
The FCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee argued thayt the court lacked jurisdiction to review the FCC notice.
In June, the US supreme court struck down limits on how much party committees may spend in coordination with federal candidates but did not address whether they could get the lower advertising rates.
Since the Republican party has an enormous cash advantage over Democrats, the ruling, should it stay in place, would help to level the playing field in the broadcast ad war over the coming months.
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Democrat Ro Khanna calls for expanding supreme court and imposing term limits after justices lift block on Trump's order to restrict mail voting
Democrat Ro Khanna, the Silicon Valley, California congressman widely believed to be considering a campaign for the presidency in 2028, argued on Tuesday that the US supreme court decision to allow Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting means that the court, “has completely lost its moral authority” and needs to be reformed.
“We need to expand the court from 9 to 13 justices. We need to impose term limits on these justices. 18 years and you are out,” Khanna wrote in a social media post.
The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could be demolished if repairs are not carried out, Donald Trump’s administration warned in a court filing on Monday.
Lawyers for the US president said the national arts complex in Washington DC must undergo a $250m renovation or risk facing the wrecking ball.
“Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years,” they argued.
The warning came as Trump leaves a trail of destruction in Washington, demolishing the White House East Wing to make way for a $600m ballroom and ordering a renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool that resulted in algae blooms and a peeling liner.
The court filing represented the first time that Trump’s allies have raised the prospect of knocking down the Kennedy Center – a 100ft-high complex with a concert hall, opera house and theatre – as the dire alternative to closing it for two years of improvements. Such an aggressive move would be sure to face legal challenges, protests and an outcry from historic preservation groups.
The threat emerged on Monday as the administration urged a federal judge to reject a fresh legal challenge to Trump’s efforts to put his name on the Kennedy Center. The dispute has become part of a months-long battle over the president’s attempt to alter the memorial created by Congress in honour of John F Kennedy, the 35th US president who was assassinated in 1963.
A federal judge ruled in May that only Congress has the power to change the Kennedy Center’s name. But the centre’s board, now largely made up of Trump appointees, voted 20-3 on 13 August to change the building’s signage to read: “The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated by President Donald J Trump.” It also voted to name the grounds the “President Donald J Trump Plaza”.
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As our colleague Jessica Glenza reports, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed on Tuesday that the both of the people who died from measles were unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County.
Lancaster is the center of the current outbreak in Pennsylvania, and home to the largest population of Amish residents of any US county. The state health department reported in 2025 that while the overall rate of vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella for kindergarten children in Lancaster county was 90.5%, among the Amish population, the MMR vaccination rate there “was estimated to be around just 25%”.
Lancaster country also happens to be where, in 2021, Robert F Kennedy, the anti-vaccine activist now serving as US health secretary, “spoke to a crowd of approximately 1,500, discussing topics of public health, personal freedom and the dangers of vaccines for profit”, according to The Lancaster Patriot, a far-right, local newspaper catering to the self-described “Plain People” community of Amish and Mennonite residents.
During his hour-long speech, Kennedy made the discredited claim that the largely unvaccinated Amish does not suffer from autism, and suggested that there was a government conspiracy to force the community to be vaccinated.
Speaking to the newspaper after his hour-long speech, Kennedy suggested that the push to get people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 was motivated by a desire “for money and control.”
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Here's a recap of the day so far
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Canada has said it will implement 50% retaliatory tariffs on $20bn worth of US goods – following through on prime minister Mark Carney’s vow to match Donald Trump’s duties “dollar for dollar”. The list of products affected by Canada’s retaliatory tariffs includes a 50% duty on American steel and aluminum. There is also a 25% tariff on cheese, fish and seafood, as well as several wood products.
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Meanwhile, Trump has claimed that the US Navy has informed him that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated” from within the international waters of the strait of Hormuz. The US and Iran have not exchanged air strikes for weeks, but attacks on vessels in the strait of Hormuz have continued as the two sides vie for control of the key maritime passage. It remains unclear how or when talks on ending the war between the two sides will resume.
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Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, has defended the president’s policy to suspend higher tariffs on foreign beef imports to help mitigate prices for consumers. This comes amid growing criticism among the Republican ranks that the move threatens to hurt the growth of the US cattle industry, which is already facing tough herding conditions. “This is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective, that he believed necessary to get lower cost beef on to American plates,” Rollins told Spectrum News.
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The president, and several lawmakers from both parties, have mourned the death of country music legend Dolly Parton. “This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The president added that he would order American flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout the country for one week beginning Tuesday.
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And in South Carolina, voters will decide whether they want to establish a Graham family dynasty as they go to the polls today in a Republican run off election, pitting Darline Graham against US Representative Ralph Norman. Trump has endorsed Graham and held a rally for her on Friday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, The primary election will be another in a series of tests of Trump’s sway with voters in this year’s midterm elections. The primary will decide whether the current Senator Graham or Norman will be the Republican nominee in the November election.
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New polling shows Democrat John Fetterman has gained popularity with Republicans
John Fetterman, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania who frequently breaks with his party and votes with Republicans, has seen his approval rating drop with Democrats over the last two years, while gaining popularity with the state GOP, according to a New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena poll.
Fetterman was the sole Democrat to vote no on several war powers resolutions to curb the Trump administration’s military action in Iran. Earlier this year, he voted to confirm Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Markwayne Mullin, and last year Fetterman routinely joined Republicans on key votes to keep the government open – while Senate Democrats withheld support for key appopriations bills to protest expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
New polling shows that while 74% of Democrats in the Keystone state had a favorable opinion of Fetterman in 2024 – two years after he won his Senate election – by 2026 that has falled to 22%.
Meanwhile, only 25 % of Pennsylvania Repbublicans viewed Fetterman favorably in 2024. That number has shot up to 73%.
Despite not confirming whether he would seek a second term in office, Fetterman recently said that he has no intention to switch parties. He has, however, issued a caveat – he would consider leaving the Democratic caucus if it became the “anti-Israel party”.
Fetterman has emerged as one of Israel’s most prominent advocates among Senate Democrats, even as others in the party back away from their traditional support for the country amid accusations that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government committed genocide in Gaza.
Trump and lawmakers react to Dolly Parton death
Donald Trump has reacted to the news that country music legend Dolly Parton has died.
“This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said he would order American flags to lowered to half-staff throughout the country for one week beginning Tuesday.
A number of US lawmakers from both parties honored Parton in tribute posts. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican senator from Parton’s home state of Tennessee, said that the singer-songwriter’s death “leaves a void that no one can ever fill. Dolly, we will always love you”.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, noted that Parton “was not only a talented musician” but also “a lifelong philanthropist and advocate for literacy, education, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare and disaster relief”.
He added: “Her music and humanity touched millions. She will be sorely missed.”
Follow along at our dedicated blog here:
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While we’ll be keeping an eye on the results of the South Carolina run off election today, that will determine the Republican nominee for the US Senate race, another contest that will test the strength of Donald Trump’s endorsement powers is happening in deep-red Oklahoma.
Here, a run off competition to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee is playing out. Trump’s pick – former state lawmaker and businessman Mike Mizzei – is up against Oklahoma attorney general Gentner Drummond.
The initial June primary saw Mizzei trailing Drummond by less than a single point – with neither receiving a majority of the vote.
Whichever Republican secures the nomination, they are all but certain to clinch the overall victory in November over the Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. No Democrat has won the governor’s race since in twenty years.
Drummond, for his part, has received the ire of the president after he filed a lawsuit to block construction of a $4bn aluminium smelter factory in Inola, Oklahoma.
Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, has defended the president’s policy to suspend higher tariffs on foreign beef imports to help mitigate prices for consumers.
This comes amid growing criticism among the Republican ranks that the move threatens to hurt the growth of the US cattle industry, which is already facing tough herding conditions.
“This is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective, that he believed necessary to get lower cost beef on to American plates,” Rollins told Spectrum News.
However, the agriculture secretary said that she did not yet know where the beef would be imported from, noting that it was part of US trade representative Jamieson Greer’s remit.
“I am actually not part of any of those conversations, so I am not sure what that looks like. I think we’ll know very soon,” Rollins said.
Canada targets steel, fish and hundreds of other US goods in retaliatory tariffs
As we’ve been reporting, Canada today pledged to roll out “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of US goods next month, days after Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on roughly $20bn of Canadian goods, ranging from honey to hockey sticks, took effect.
Ottawa has released a list of more than 700 targets on goods ranging from fish and cheese to smartphones and steel imported from the United States.
The new tariffs on these products will carry rates of 15%, 25% or 50%. Canada’s tariffs on many US products would double from 25% to 50%, with the largest share of the new measures affecting steel and aluminum.
Some of the many US items Canada is now targeting include:
1. Live, chilled, dried, salted or in brine, smoked and frozen fish, crustaceans (e.g. lobster), molluscs (e.g. oysters, clams, mussels) and other aquatic invertebrates (25%)
2. Milk and cream in powder, granules or other solid forms, and whey (50%)
3. Cheese and curd products (25%)
4. Natural honey, molasses and baking mixtures (50%)
5. Perfume, makeup and hair preparations (50%)
6. Carpets (25%) and plywood (50%)
7. Toilet paper and facial tissues (25%) notebooks and envelopes (50%)
8. T-shirts, jackets, dresses, coats, gloves and other garments (50%)
9. Various metal products made of steel or aluminum, including wire, rods, tubes, pipes, foil, screws, nuts and bolts (50%)
10. Stoves, ranges, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing and drying machines, hairdryers, and other household appliances (25%) air-conditioning machines (15%)
11. Smartphones and video game consoles (50%)
12. Motorcycles (50%) and trailers (25%)
13. Fishing rods, golf clubs and exercise equipment (50%)
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Here’s Canada’s minister of finance and national revenue François-Philippe Champagne’s announcement of tariffs on $20bn worth of US goods, following through on PM Mark Carney’s vow to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar”.
Trump claims US has demined strait of Hormuz and warns Iran not to plant any more
Donald Trump has claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US Navy has informed him that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz”.
“Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” Trump claimed, adding that the US Space Force is monitoring the critical waterway and Iranian nuclear sites.
“There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect,” he said.
The US and Iran have not exchanged air strikes for weeks, but attacks on vessels in the strait of Hormuz have continued as the two sides vie for control of the key maritime passage. It remains unclear how or when talks on ending the war between the two sides will resume.
Oil transits through the strait were at 5m barrels per day on Monday, provisional data from ship-tracker Vortexa showed, down from more than 20m per day – or about one of every five barrels consumed worldwide – before the US and Israel launched the war in late February.
As I reported on Monday, we’re seeing a wave of Trump-friendly Republicans issuing rare rebukes of the administration – namely the decision to pause tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef imported to the US.
The president has said the move, announced on Friday, would “reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again”.
Most recently, Republican Senator John Barasso of Wyoming lamented the policy.
“Americans want US beef on the table – not foreign imports,” he wrote in a post on X. “Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don’t ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier – not harder – for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.”
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A federal judge has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal effort to throw out her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence, calling her claims “demonstrably meritless, and generally based on speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods”.
In a 67-page decision filed on Tuesday, US district judge Paul Engelmayer for New York’s southern district denied the former British socialite’s petition for relief, finding that Maxwell had failed to make a substantial showing that her constitutional rights were denied when she was convicted for her role in crimes linked to late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, who is serving out her punishment at a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, had petitioned the court to vacate her conviction on grounds that there were issues at her trial, including a juror who later revealed he was a sexual abuse victim and evidence she alleged was not made available to her defense team.
Her petition, which came before the massive Epstein-related document dump by the federal government, also raised the 2007 non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors in Miami and Epstein, which she claimed protected her from prosecution. Maxwell was not named in that agreement.
In the decision denying the petition, Engelmayer wrote that the “vast majority” of grounds on which Maxwell made her appeal “are procedurally barred – either because Maxwell made and lost the same arguments on direct appeal, or because she could have made such arguments on appeal but elected not to do so”.
Maxwell previously lost an attempt to overturn her conviction, centered on the government’s non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, in the US supreme court when the justices declined to hear her appeal.
The list of products affected by Canada’s retaliatory tariffs includes a 50% duty on American steel and aluminum. There is also a 25% tariff on cheese, fresh and frozen fish and seafood, as well as several wood products.
Canada is also implementing a 25% tariff on household appliances, such as washing machines, hairdryers and stoves. There is also set to be a 50% tariff on video games consoles.
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Canada launches 50% retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of US imports
Canada has said it will implement 50% retaliatory tariffs on $20bn worth of US goods, following through on prime minister Mark Carney’s vow to match Donald Trump’s duties “dollar for dollar”.
The new tariffs will take effect from 8 September and will impose duties of 15%, 25% and 50% across 700 products, the Canadian government said in a statement.
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On Monday, we reported that the supreme court lifted one of the injunctions blocking Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at curbing mail‑in voting.
As we’ve reported, the justices did not rule on the legality of the order itself – which directs the Department of Homeland Security to assemble a “state citizenship list” and instructs the US Postal Service to accept mail ballots only from people on that list.
Instead, in a 6–3 emergency decision with the liberal justices dissenting, the court said the injunction should be paused because the challengers sued prematurely. At the time, USPS had not yet detailed how it would decline to deliver ballots mailed by voters who are not on the federally approved list.
That changed last week, when USPS issued a final rule spelling out those steps – opening the door to fresh legal challenges.
“Please don’t overreact to the Roberts Court decision on the contemplated USPS ballot moves,” said Norm Eisen, co‑founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, which is leading one of the challenges. “They simply held that the injunction came too early, before a final rule.”
A second nationwide block from a federal judge still blocks USPS from implementing the order, and the supreme court did not address that one on Monday.
Trump blasts Canada as 'most difficult and unreasonable' country he deals with
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has continued to blast Canada for “ripping off” the US “for decades”.
“They have been charging our Farmers 400% Tariffs, and more. They have driven many wonderful U.S. companies out of business. For 10 years they wouldn’t certify Gulfstream Jets, until I got involved. They wanted 100% of the market for Gulfstream’s Canadian competitor,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable. They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”
Canada prepares for retaliatory tariffs: 'We're not waiting by the phone'
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s trade minister, said that Canada will likely unveil its retaliatory tariffs today on US imports after trade talks collapsed over the weekend – and 50% duties on $20bn worth of Canadian goods took effect.
“Our preference was to find a deal that benefits both countries,” LeBlanch said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. “We still believe that’s possible. But in the meantime, we’re not waiting by the phone.”
We’ll bring you the latest from Ottawa as the latest duties are announced.
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A new rule proposed by the Trump administration aims to kill public notification for datacenter air pollution, public health advocates warn, and allow emission permits to be issued behind closed doors.
The datacenters are often sources of nitrogen oxide, which helps form ozone, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, among other pollutants.
The Clean Air Act requires “minor” air polluters to disclose to the public via state agencies how much pollution their proposed project will release, but the proposed new rule from Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would dismantle that protection for datacenter proposals. Instead, it would make disclosure voluntary at state and some local officials’ discretion.
Many state political establishments support datacenters, and observers say it is unlikely most would voluntarily require big tech to disclose the information. The move is likely intended to curb criticism and public oversight of datacenters, said Joe Goffman, a former assistant administrator for the EPA’s office of air and radiation.
Without this data, communities won’t know what they’re breathing once a datacenter is built, and will have less ability to fight back in court or in public relations battles. Goffman said the Clean Air Act is supposed to offer “an ironclad promise” to give the entire US public a voice on these issues.
“The administration is basically saying: ‘You all may have thought this was an ironclad promise, but it no longer is,’” Goffman added. He co-authored comments on the proposed rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Network. The EPA just closed the public comment period, and the rule could face a legal challenge if finalized.
Trump also noted claimed today that the Iranian regime is “not paying large segments of their military while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting”.
This comes after the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced “unprecedented” sanctions against countries that continue to do business with Iran.
“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent said on Monday.
While Iran’s currency, the rial, dropped to a new low on Monday, it’s unclear how the US plans to roll out new secondary sanctions to target those trading with Iran. This week, Bessent evaded reporters’ questions about a timeline or whether China – the largest importer of Iranian oil – would be targeted.
“We are level-setting with every country to tell them our expectations. We know who they are. They know who they are,” he said.
On Truth Social, however, the president shot down assertions that the US talks with Canada collapsed in part due a proposed trade deal that would have weakened French language protections.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!” he wrote. “In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec.”
As my colleague Leyland Cecco reports, Quebec – Canada’s predominantly French-speaking province – has long sought to protect its distinct identity, at times with laws that clashed with the federal government and the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms.
In recent years those rules have also frustrated US negotiators, who have framed them as trade irritants. Bill 96, for example, requires products sold in Quebec to have a French description and for trademarks using generic terms to be translated into French, while Bill 109 compels media services such as Netflix, Spotify and Apple to promote and prioritize French content for Quebec users.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. As of now, he doesn’t have any public events, but we will let you know if anything changes and opportunities arise for him to speak with the press.
If Ralph Norman becomes the nominee in South Carolina and goes on to win the November election, he has a reputation in the House of Representatives of putting up resistance, at least temporarily, to some Republican leadership demands, which could preview how he would operate as a senator.
Norman, 73, a longtime real estate developer, has spent nearly a decade in the US House. He mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor, finishing third in a June primary.
He has been a leading member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, but endorsed the more moderate Nikki Haley in her 2024 failed presidential bid.
Nonetheless, Norman supports many of Trump’s initiatives, including a nationwide tightening of requirements for casting votes throughout the US, which Democrats say would make it more difficult for eligible citizens to participate in elections. Norman has also backed Trump in opposing congressional constraints on the US war against Iran.
For her part, Darline Graham used a Myrtle Beach rally alongside Trump to try to recover from what has been cast as a debate misstep when she said she was not knowledgeable about national security issues, on which her late brother had expertise.
“Guilty as charged,” Graham proclaimed at the rally. Instead, she focused her remarks on her stances on domestic issues, including Trump’s immigration clampdown and anti-abortion advocacy – matters that likely are higher on South Carolina voters’ list of concerns than foreign policy.
She had never held public office until her appointment to the Senate, having previously held positions advocating for people with physical disabilities.
South Carolina, a deep red state, has overwhelmingly embraced Trump in all three of his runs for president and is not likely to play a role in the Republican-Democratic battle for the control of Congress.
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Darline Graham and Ralph Norman head to South Carolina’s Senate runoff
Voters in South Carolina will decide whether they want to establish a Graham family dynasty as they go to the polls today in a Republican primary pitting Darline Graham against US Representative Ralph Norman.
Graham, 62, is the sister of Lindsey Graham, who died at the age of 71 on 11 July, having served in Congress for 31 years – 23 of those in the US Senate. She was appointed to finish his Senate term that expires at the beginning of January.
The primary will decide whether the current Senator Graham or Norman will be the Republican nominee in the 3 November election, facing Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, for a six-year Senate term.
Donald Trump has endorsed Graham and held a rally for her on Friday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, The primary election will be another in a series of tests of Trump’s sway with voters in this year’s midterm elections.
MAGA INC, a super PAC that supports Trump, has spent $827,711 (£607,000) in support of Graham, according to its filing on Monday with the Federal Election Commission.
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Trump claims US could rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid Canada trade war
Donald Trump has claimed he is considering renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” as the trade war with Canada escalates.
Lake Ontario lies on the border between the two countries, with New York state on one side and Toronto, the capital of Canada’s Ontario province, on the other.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
This is not the first time Trump has attempted a nationalistic renaming of a geographical feature. In January 2025 Trump issued an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.
Mexico argued the US cannot legally change the Gulf’s name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.
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US military transport plane lands in Moscow
The Kremlin said it had no information on a US military transport plane landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport earlier today.
Reuters reported that data from the flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed that the large Boeing Globemaster had flown direct from Riga, in Latvia, and landed in Moscow at around 7am GMT. The news agency was unable to verify whether it carried any cargo or passengers.
The aircraft had arrived in Riga on 23 August from the US Camp Springs airbase near Washington DC, data from Flightradar24 showed.
The last direct flight of a US registered jet to Russia from Europe took place in January this year, carrying special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner for peace talks with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.
The Kremlin said last week that there was no information yet on another visit to Moscow by Kushner and Witkoff, as talks between the US and Russia on Ukraine have largely stalled amid the war in Iran.
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USS Abraham Lincoln to dock in Thailand after record deployment
Despite reports over poor conditions on board the US Navy aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln, which will dock in Thailand next week following a period of more than 200 consecutive days of deployment, Donald Trump claimed the ship was “beautifully maintained”.
Earlier this month, the president berated Kristen Holmes, a CNN reporter, insisting that she “be quiet” and describing the reporting of poor conditions on board as fake news.
“The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time – a good period of time – but over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer,” Trump said, describing an exchange with a veteran, whom he did not name.
“He happened to be an admiral, retired. He said, ‘I’ve been on ships that are out there much longer than that, sir. And I know people on the Lincoln, they say it’s beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.’ And other people went out and they found out that to be true,” said Trump.
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USS Abraham Lincoln to dock in Thailand next week
The US Navy aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln will dock in Thailand next week, following a prolonged deployment in the Middle East during the Iran war, a Thai official said on Tuesday.
The Lincoln, which left the Middle East on Saturday, has not make a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democrats, amid reports of concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard.
The ship, which has roughly 5,000 sailors and marines aboard, will be in Thailand for “rest and recreation after their long sea journey,” the official said, asking not to be named. A Thai Navy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview last week, the wife of a sailor onboard the USS Lincoln told the Guardian as the deployment has stretched on and on, she has noticed a change in her husband’s messages. “There’s less hope in the way he talks and less positive things that he has to say,” she said.
“He’s just exhausted,” she added. “It’s a long, long deployment and it takes a toll.”
Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening mental health, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon.
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Republican and Democratic politicians have called on the Trump administration to bar American citizens and businesses from supporting Chinese and Russian civilian intelligence and security agencies, Reuters reports.
Congress approved a law in 2018 banning Americans from providing support to foreign military intelligence agencies but leaving the door open to such aid for similar civilian-led organisations. In 2019, Reuters revealed the United Arab Emirates had hired over a dozen former US intelligence operatives to hack dissidents, journalists, and Americans.
Rules implementing a 2022 congressional measure to bolster controls have not yet been finalised, leaving “glaring loopholes that harm US national security and foreign policy interests,” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican John Cornyn wrote in a letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Opening summary
Canada said it will announce its response to Donald Trump’s new tariffs, as the neighbours that used to be close allies spiral into a trade war.
Canadian PM Mark Carney said on Monday that while American negotiators saw the French language in Canada as an “irritant … in Quebec, these are rights,” days after receiving widespread praise from political leaders for rejecting a US trade proposal that many perceived as weakening the country’s Francophone culture.
The prime minister’s remarks came hours after Trump showed little interest in retreating from the spat, posting on social media that Canada had been “ripping off the United States of America for years” and threatening a swath of new, economically devastating tariffs on cars and trucks.
Carney instructed his negotiators to walk away from trade talks last week. Tariffs on an array of Canadian products took effect over the weekend, affecting around 5% of Canada’s exports to the US, and Canada said it will retaliate in early September.
Quebec’s premier, Christine Fréchette, said Carney had made the right decision in walking away from talks that looked to cross a “red line” for Francophones. On Monday, Trump’s top trade representative, Jamieson Greer, called reports that French language protections were up for debate a “a funny fake story”.
“That is not true,” Greer told CNBC. “I like the Quebecois and I like that they speak French.”
Also in US news today:
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Darline Graham and Ralph Norman face South Carolina voters yet again in a special Republican primary runoff to replace the late Lindsey Graham in the Senate, one month after his sudden death. Darline Graham is a political newcomer now serving as interim replacement for her brother. She has struggled to define herself to voters who routinely backed her brother. Norman has stressed his experience servicing in state and federal office.
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Tulsa businessman Mike Mazzei is hoping to win a hotly contested Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma governor against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Trump has endorsed Mazzei and sharply attacked Drummond. The winner will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson in a vote to be governor of the deeply conservative state.
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The Supreme Court is siding with the Trump administration in a case over Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting, though it remains unclear how much can be implemented before the fast-approaching midterm elections. The US Postal Service laid out its plan for implementing the order last week, but time is running short to impose major changes.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Trump had congratulated Ukraine on its independence day. The message that Zelenskyy shared on X read: “Let us seize this moment to end the conflict and build a durable, lasting peace that unleashes the tremendous potential of Ukraine for generations to come.” Zelenskyy said on Sunday that his country is receiving substantially fewer Patriot defence systems, even as Russian ballistic attacks are increasing.
