Tariffs On -- A dozen Democratic-led states and five small US businesses have challenged the Trump tariffs in court, arguing that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not cover the president's tariffs, and that authority over setting them rests with Congress (per USA Today). The case ultimately is headed for the US Supreme Court. Scroll down this column for details.
FRIDAY 8/8/25
UKRAINE CEASEFIRE UPDATE: President Trump says he will host Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday, August 15, to discuss/negotiate a ceasefire deal over Russia’s war in Ukraine, NPR reports. There is no indication that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor anyone else from Ukraine’s government have been asked to participate. This follows a report in The Wall Street Journal that Putin told the Trump Russia will agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine hands over the Donbas region – the eastern portion of the country. European and Ukrainian officials were told of Putin’s demands by special envoy Steve Witkoff this week, according to the WSJ report. But the European and Ukrainian officials fear Putin is using the offer as a ploy to avoid new US sanctions and tariffs while continuing the war (a kind of “well, duh” explanation).
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Israel to Occupy Gaza City – The Israel government’s cabinet Friday voted to capture Gaza City and then hand it over to “Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday. Netanyahu had always said Israel needed one more military maneuver to complete its defeat of Hamas, according to The New York Times.
Netanyahu’s government has called for establishment of a civil government in Gaza “that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian authority,” NPR’s Morning Edition reports.
Meanwhile, Hamas warned Israel Friday that its government’s takeover of Gaza City amounts to “sacrificing” the remaining hostages still in Palestinian territory, The Guardian reports.
The Israeli cabinets move may be one maneuver too far, bringing yet another extension of the war, begun with Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel October 7, 2023, in order to preserve Netanyahu’s grip on power. Israel’s army already is depleted, according to the NYT report, fewer reservists are showing up for duty and the stock of munitions and spare parts is beginning to dwindle.
According to The Guardian, Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Germany has stopped exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Israel to reconsider its plan and urged release of remaining hostages, plus immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Egypt and Qatar are said to be mediating a framework to include release of hostages both dead and alive all at once, end of the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip, two anonymous Arab officials told The Associated Press.
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Against the Constitution – President Trump has ordered a “new and highly accurate CENSUS” via his Truth Social, Politico reports. There has never been a full US census conducted mid-decade before, nor has there been a census that has excluded non-citizens. The Constitution mandates that all residents of the US, regardless of citizenship, be counted in the census every 10 years.
“People who are in our country illegally will NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS,” Trump Truth Socialed.
Trump had tried to add a citizenship question during his first term for the 2020 census since used to determine the number of House seats in each state and help direct federal, state and local funding. The Supreme Court struck down the citizenship question in 2019 over procedural grounds.
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Deadline is Here – President Trump’s accelerated deadline to push Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine is here, with no indication of any economic sanctions to be imposed on Russia (other than a 50% tariff against India for its oil purchases). Trump is expected to meet with Putin, possibly in Moscow next week, although there are no details so far and no requirement that Putin meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of said talks. --TL
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THURSDAY 8/7/25
It's Tariff Thursday – Tariffs of 10% to 50% kicked in after midnight on about 90 countries. Your Brazilian-sourced cup of coffee could soon cost 50% more because President Trump feels simpatico with alleged Brazilian coup-plotter/former President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump also has threatened 100% tariffs on computer chipmakers unless they commit to some US production, MPR’s Marketplace reports.
The Trump White House can claim success in procuring some chipmaking in the US, thanks to the CHIPS Act passed during the Biden administration to assure some level of supply chain security after shortages suffered during the COVID pandemic.
India’s 50% … Like Brazil, India is hit with a 50% political-pressure tariff by the Trump administration. India’s problem, in the Trump administration’s assessment, is that it’s propping up Russia’s war machine just as the White House is trying to broker a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Trump’s erstwhile friend, Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin.
According to Marketplace, India purchased more than $47 billion worth of oil from Russia in 2024. With his authoritarian leanings, Prime Minister Narendra Moti, also has been considered an ally/friend of Trump. But Moti is resolute in sticking with Russia for its oil trade.
“I know I will have to pay a heavy price for it, but I am ready,” Moti said.
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Trump to Kremlin – President Trump plans to visit Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, The New York Times reports, with the goal of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. It is not clear at this point whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also will be present.
But the expected summit comes after US special envoy Steve Witkoff made progress this week in pushing Russia and Ukraine closer to a ceasefire agreement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Larry Kudlow, host of Fox Business’ Kudlow that Witkoff returned from the Kremlin with a better idea of conditions Putin considers necessary to end the war.
Art of the Ceasefire … “If there is a deal to end the war, the president is going to have to come in at the end and close it,” Rubio told Kudlow.
Rubio said both countries would have to concede some Ukrainian territory in the agreement, likely entailing Ukraine’s Crimea, which Putin claimed after Russia’s invasion there in 2014. Putin also expects Trump to concede to keeping Ukraine out of NATO and prevent further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Trump’s closing of the deal is double-edged.
“Putin wants to keep Trump as a resource for a possible transition to peace. Trump is needed to achieve Putin’s conditions,” pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov told the NYT. --TL
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...meanwhile...
WEDNESDAY 8/6/25
Two notable anniversaries:
•President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act in the Capitol Rotunda, August 6, 1965.
•On August 6, 1945, the US drops an atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Will Putin Cave This Time? – As Russia continues to ramp up attacks on Ukraine in its 3½ year-old war, US Envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow to meet with dictator/President Vladimir Putin ahead of President Trump’s Friday deadline for a ceasefire, The Wall Street Journal reports. Trump shortened his 50-day period following an apparent fallout with Putin to 10 days for reaching a ceasefire agreement under threat of “crippling new sanctions” against Russia, mostly targeting Russian oil customers China and India.
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Texas Democratic Exodus Update – Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove Democratic Houston Rep. Gene Wu, chairman of the Democratic Caucus, from office, The Texas Tribune reports. Wu over the weekend led an exodus of at least 50 Democratic state representatives to New York State, Chicago and elsewhere to prevent a quorum in the state legislature before voting on a redistricting map that would give President Trump five more Republicans in the US House of Representatives after next year’s midterms.
Democratic governors in New York, Illinois and California are considering special mid-decade gerrymandering of their own to counteract the potential Texas gerrymandering.
Democrats say the state legislation came directly from Trump’s White House, while Fox News accuses favorite boogeyman George Soros, and former Texas state legislator Beto O’Rourke of funding the exodus.
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No More COVID Vaccine – Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cancelled nearly $500 million in mNRA vaccine contracts Tuesday, The New York Times reports. First used for the COVID-19 pandemic, the mNRA vaccine shoots a fragment of the virus into the body to set off an immune response.
In May, HHS cancelled a $600 million contract with Moderna that would develop a bird flu vaccine. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa