This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day, with just 897 to go. Here are the latest developments:

“,”elementId”:”78cb158a-f483-43b5-93d7-effaf809e4df”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

n
• n

  One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.

n

• n

  The two new orders came just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down Trump’s previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, a right that has been guaranteed since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.

n

• n

  The orders were part of a quixotic campaign Trump has waged for more than a decade, since he promised to eliminate the right at a 2015 campaign event.

n

• n

  Despite an endorsement from Trump, congressman Andy Ogles, a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, was in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.

n

• n

  Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent meeting that they need to help JD Vance win the 2028 presidential election.

n

“,”elementId”:”07739967-9967-40c9-86b3-7ee801f6f4c5″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786067619000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”21.53 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786068066000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”22.01 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786068067000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”22.01 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”22.01″,”title”:”Closing summary”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7530c08f0851f2bc6ed45f”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Despite an endorsement from Donald Trump on Thursday, congressman Andy Ogles, a a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, seems to be in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.

“,”elementId”:”12f9fafd-0b84-4c96-a112-ae1f5763d37e”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

With nearly three-quarters of the votes counted in the party’s primary on Thursday night, Ogles trails Charlie Hatcher, a former state commissioner of agriculture, by more than 5 points, according to a running tally from the Associated Press.

“,”elementId”:”65eac369-ccf1-4881-bb29-55d76aadb00b”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Congressman Andy Ogles is doing a fantastic job representing the incredible people of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District!” Trump wrote on his social media platform as Tennessee Republicans went to the polls on Thursday. “Andy Ogles my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election. Election Day for the Republican Primary is TODAY. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR ANDY”.

“,”elementId”:”8d5ab114-9cff-49af-bf6a-f77a037cf653″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

An Ogles defeat would be the second loss of a Trump-backed candidate in a Republican primary this week.

“,”elementId”:”8c07fefe-5ea5-4f37-86da-5fb4aaf91deb”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786065088000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”21.11 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786067582000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”21.53 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786065957000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”21.25 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”21.25″,”title”:”Trump-backed Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles trails in Republican primary”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7518238f0821d9ede5c1c5″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The executive orders signed on Thursday by Donald Trump, in which he tries, again, to undermine the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution reaffirmed by the supreme court just five weeks ago, is part of a quixotic campaign he has waged for more than a decade.

“,”elementId”:”e99cc7e0-1f9d-477f-9270-751568b02ba6″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

At a Republican presidential primary campaign event in Orlando, Florida in November 2015, Trump hinted that he had a plan to end what he called the scourge of “anchor babies”, a derogatory term for children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States as citizens.

“,”elementId”:”e7377c56-0b70-4f7e-b970-eacf7fbb7afa”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“You can’t come into the country- you’re illegal, you come down, you sit down, you have your baby, and we take care of the baby for the next 85 years!” Trump said. “Everybody says, ‘Well, you need a constitutional amendment; it’ll take 15 years; it’ll never happen’. You don’t, you don’t. You need a simple act of Congress. You might not even need that.”

“,”elementId”:”8463f8df-4957-47a1-ac3e-521a230446b5″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

If elected, Trump promised the crowd at a resort near Disney World, “the anchor baby, birthright citizenship, it’s over, not going to happen.”

“,”elementId”:”5e577fb4-a299-44f8-bfac-ea42834ccceb”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Three years later, as president, Trump said in a televised interview with Jonathan Swan just before the 2018 midterms that he planned to issue an executive order to instruct federal agencies that children born in the United States to non-citizens were not entitled to US citizenship at birth.

“,”elementId”:”3e8aa4c1-1042-4c30-bca3-b423a76b2e45″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump told Swan in an interview excerpt posted online on 30 October 2018. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress,” Trump added, incorrectly, “but now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

“,”elementId”:”88e35710-0625-4cc9-a6f6-e15586a72cb3″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.VideoYoutubeBlockElement”,”source”:”YouTube”,”originalUrl”:”https://youtu.be/H0d21nQBY8o?si=jLeeX7m1o66zWc8o”,”caption”:”Donald Trump claimed he could undo birthright citizenship with an executive order in a 2018 interview.”,”elementId”:”cad88f50-1579-4da9-8404-836e1f801a33″,”width”:854,”embedUrl”:”https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/H0d21nQBY8o?wmode=opaque&feature=oembed”,”role”:”inline”,”url”:”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0d21nQBY8o”,”height”:480,”sourceDomain”:”youtube-nocookie.com”,”title”:”Trump immigration executive order: President wants to terminate birthright citizenship”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

As Swan reported at the time, Trump’s claim that he could undo the birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the constitution was a minority view among legal scholars, but was supported by a then-obscure figure: John Eastman, who had argued for decades that the amendment granting citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” should be read to exclude the children of people who are not US citizens when their child is born.

“,”elementId”:”f21c3a4f-0de9-4cf1-b6ed-2d0c99ca5587″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Eastman later claimed in a 2020 Newsweek op-ed that Kamala Harris was ineligible for the vice-presidency because she had no right to US citizenship at birth, since she was born in Oakland, California in 1964 to non-citizen parents who were, “subject to the jurisdiction” of their native lands of India and Jamaica.

“,”elementId”:”1d9c8747-9d61-4da1-90a0-124b0c4d0178″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In the 2018 interview, Trump called birthright citizenship “ridiculous,” and falsely asserted that the US is “the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen.” In fact, at least 30 nations grant citizenship this way. He also claimed that an executive order was in the process of being drafted.

“,”elementId”:”639dd951-1f4d-43b8-830b-f216a5a92637″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Although that order did not materialize until the start of Trump’s second term, his obsession with casting doubt on the citizenship of children born in the US to foreign parents has had a clearly political element from the start.

“,”elementId”:”41cd4db1-27d1-4e9e-9ed1-26788d94499b”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

After all, Trump’s original rise to political prominence was tied to his false claim that Barack Obama, born to an American mother and a Kenyan father in Honolulu, just two years after Hawaii became a state, might have been born outside the US.

“,”elementId”:”c70eb712-25b0-4842-8eec-9b9150adda62″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Then, after Joe Biden picked Harris as his running mate in 2020, Trump repeatedly refused to confirm that she was eligible for an elected office open only to “a natural born Citizen.”

“,”elementId”:”69af1038-ecb3-4f48-9d7c-236bb08c97d3″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Instead, Trump called the question Eastman raised about Harris’s citizenship at birth in his Newsweek op-ed “very serious” and a potential “problem” for her. He also praised Eastman as “a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer” and called him “brilliant”.

“,”elementId”:”b032a1d2-d90f-4539-8da5-38d2bc66d22a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Eastman, who went on to devise the fake electors scheme designed to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election, and gave an inflammatory speech before the Capitol riot on January 6 2021, was finally disbarred by the California supreme court in April, based on “clear and convincing evidence that he advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public.”

“,”elementId”:”99135f52-583c-4965-99a7-ab5e96193199″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786058787000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”19.26 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786064374000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”20.59 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786063508000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”20.45 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”20.45″,”title”:”Undeterred by a decade of failure, Trump’s obsessive campaign against birthright citizenship goes on, and on”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a75141c8f0821d9ede5c1ab”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The American Civil Liberties Union is not impressed by the legal reasoning of Donald Trump’s new executive orders in which he is once again attempting to restrict birthright citizenship, just five weeks after the US supreme court struck a similar order he issued last year.

“,”elementId”:”b1d74164-8aa8-4655-9738-86e84d4a7705″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In a statement, the ACLU blasted the president’s attempted end-run around the supreme court decision and predicted that the new orders will not survive a court challenge.

“,”elementId”:”a3e00dae-c83b-4c12-b4b3-562efe4452c2″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“The Supreme Court already decided this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution,” the deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Cody Wofsy, said. “Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one”.

“,”elementId”:”12c4674f-c13d-4e16-944c-5d1c7f3a0520″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:true,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786057756000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”19.09 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786058672000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”19.24 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786058672000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”19.24 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”19.24″,”title”:”ACLU calls Trump’s new executive orders on birthright citizenship doomed to fail in court”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a750c438f0851f2bc6ed3bd”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Donald Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent Oval Office meeting that they need to help his vice-president, JD Vance, win the 2028 presidential election.

“,”elementId”:”6adf8632-506c-489b-b442-c481bef7b92e”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump reportedly told the donors two weeks ago, the Post reported.

“,”elementId”:”36aa49b8-d53a-4ef2-ba1a-f38f75adb961″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Mr President,” a reporter asked, “there is a report that you told donors that they need to get JD Vance elected in 2028. Is that your official endorsement?”

“,”elementId”:”fa197ef3-537b-4c98-b72b-04a9f5f30a6d”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“No,” Trump answered.

“,”elementId”:”943785eb-d0b6-4ca9-bb41-788aea10d2c7″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“I heard about it a little while ago,” Trump continued, apparently referring to the report published on Thursday. “I think he’s great, but we’re way too early to even be thinking about that.”

“,”elementId”:”cac259a3-6104-4eea-85a1-350768dd06cb”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786055747000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”18.35 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786056362000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”18.46 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786056362000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”18.46 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”18.46″,”title”:”Trump refuses to confirm that he privately endorsed JD Vance for 2028 presidential race”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74feb98f0851f2bc6ed385″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The two new executive orders on birthright citizenship signed by Donald Trump on Thursday, just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down his previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, attempt to limit in two ways a right that has been enshrined in the constitution since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.

“,”elementId”:”22b95e00-f98e-4e5f-a21d-740da9ffa40d”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

One order bars the entry of foreigners allegedly traveling to the US “for the purpose of giving birth on American soil”, without saying how, exactly, that determination is to be made. (It might be worth noting here that such a policy, had it been in effect in 2001, might well have prevented Folarin Balogun, who was born that year to a mother visiting New York from London, from being born a US citizen and going on to represent the US in this summer’s World Cup.)

“,”elementId”:”73179157-e204-48cc-be0c-6604d2d29ef7″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The second order seeks to deny citizenship to the children of certain categories of non-citizens.

“,”elementId”:”7f4610e7-83e9-49bb-a0de-c358aac34a24″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The order excludes children born to any non-citizen parent in the following categories:

“,”elementId”:”b8bb1494-72e7-48d1-9c7f-81c8f15c2704″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

n
• n

  an alien enemy, “defined to include any member of a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization … or Specially Designated Global Terrorist”;

n

• n

  foreign government employees, including: ambassadors; other embassy or consulate employees who are nationals of that foreign country; anyone employed by a foreign government in an official capacity;

n

• n

  employees of international organizations that possess international-organization immunity;

n

• n

  people “engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship”.

n

“,”elementId”:”8c0f2ea3-7330-49fa-a15b-0fb58efacd0c”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The children of foreign ambassadors have long been excluded from birthright citizenship.

“,”elementId”:”0b434666-8ab7-4261-8013-1b57254cf248″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Somewhat redundantly, the second order also denies citizenship to the children of non-citizens “born in a territory or territorial waters of the United States where citizenship is not conferred by Federal statute”.

“,”elementId”:”9d09f65d-4e9f-4b38-b4ca-ff70c41d932c”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786052281000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”17.38 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786055063000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”18.24 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786054915000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”18.21 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”18.21″,”title”:”Trump orders his administration to deny entry to foreigners coming to US ‘for the purpose of giving birth on American soil'”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74f0028f08086f525bcbc7″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Speaking in the Oval Office earlier on Thursday, Donald Trump gave a wildly inaccurate account of the nature and timing of the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which enshrined the principle of birthright citizenship, as he sought to justify two new executive orders attempting to deny citizenship to a wider pool of children born on US soil to non-citizens.

“,”elementId”:”c8c44562-bfec-445b-8320-4356eb9a3284″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

As he discussed the orders, “Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” and “Ending Birth Tourism”, Trump called the supreme court’s decision to strike down his previous attempt to deny birthright citizenship through executive action “a very, very unfortunate decision.”

“,”elementId”:”d9aaf3f8-a559-4bbf-a3e1-793c9dfe683b”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“So we’re, making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” the president said. “This was meant for the babies of slaves. It was right after – one week or two weeks after – the Civil war ended.”

“,”elementId”:”1c2ce08f-72bd-4254-ba1f-13f091b079d8″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In fact, General Robert E Lee surrendered the largest of the Confederate forces on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. More than a year later, the 14th amendment was passed by Congress on 13 June 1866, and ratified on 9 July 9 1868.

“,”elementId”:”be316e30-c48c-4eff-b387-70d9aa9dd2c4″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Trump’s assertion that the framers of the amendment only intended it to apply to the children of former slaves was roundly rejected by the supreme court, not this year but in 1898, when the justices ruled 6-2 that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to parents who were both Chinese citizens, was a US citizen by birth.

“,”elementId”:”e3a59942-0e1f-4b5e-97b1-8b3c6dd5716e”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Despite that well-known precedent, which was discussed at length during the recent supreme court deliberations over Trump’s first attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of non-citizens, the president’s adviser, Stephen Miller, insisted that Trump was right.

“,”elementId”:”c8a00b4c-47b6-4a1a-b7d2-8dbe1bee1b4f”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“As the president mentioned, the 14th amendment was passed exclusively in the aftermath of the Civil War to to ensure that the children of slaves would be citizens. It had no other meaning and purpose outside of that,” Miller said.

“,”elementId”:”9c3ba35c-d910-4028-b913-d94862f71389″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump added. “And we’re actually the only country, of size, I think just about the only country period, that does birthright citizenship.”

“,”elementId”:”3c82cc2b-86ed-495c-953e-08a055793408″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

That too is wildly inaccurate. Thirty-two other countries, most in the western hemisphere, have birthright citizenship laws that are similar to US law, according to the Pew Research Center. About 50 more countries have more limited versions of birthright citizenship.

“,”elementId”:”40606771-357f-4607-9c90-e7a25092f586″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786048514000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”16.35 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786055340000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”18.29 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786052116000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”17.35 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”17.35″,”title”:”Trump gives wildly inaccurate account of 14th amendment to explain new orders restricting birthright citizenship”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74ecf38f0821d9ede5c0e4″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.

“,”elementId”:”78f47160-7e52-41eb-ad76-0f996b096cc8″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The ‌orders, which have not yet been made public, apparently expand the definitions ​of children the White House deems ineligible ⁠for birthright ​citizenship and ​seek to ban “birth ​tourism”, which the president claimed on Thursday is practiced by “hundreds of thousands” of people.

“,”elementId”:”b5e75eac-5ee9-4686-a1ac-2248eb86d0c0″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

That seems like a wildly inflated estimate. According to the Migration Policy Institute, the highest census-based estimate “puts birth tourism at 22,000 to 26,000 babies born annually on US soil, although government data show just 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024.”

“,”elementId”:”b66388ff-65e4-4636-907d-fc38b4ab75d7″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

For context, it seems worth keeping in mind that Trump’s own father, Fred Trump, was born a US citizen in 1905 to a non-citizen mother who arrived in New York from Germany six months pregnant. The president’s Scottish-born mother, Mary Anne Trump, later gave birth to her first two children, the current president’s older siblings, in the US before becoming a US citizen herself.

“,”elementId”:”577b09d8-8e61-44f3-a1a1-895c95e5e51e”},{“displayCredit”:true,”_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement”,”role”:”inline”,”media”:{“allImages”:[{“index”:0,”fields”:{“height”:”1583″,”width”:”2404″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/2404.jpg”},{“index”:1,”fields”:{“isMaster”:”true”,”height”:”1583″,”width”:”2404″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg”},{“index”:2,”fields”:{“height”:”1317″,”width”:”2000″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/2000.jpg”},{“index”:3,”fields”:{“height”:”658″,”width”:”1000″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/1000.jpg”},{“index”:4,”fields”:{“height”:”329″,”width”:”500″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/500.jpg”},{“index”:5,”fields”:{“height”:”92″,”width”:”140″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/140.jpg”}] },”elementId”:”ee28f8be-cc9b-4b62-b611-95344e4ebf25″,”imageSources”:[{“weighting”:”inline”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d6b918fc1479739ca35ab952a5039756″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=63fdae7e0a9f60ab4b682b2b8b645472″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=498d4a4d1406bffdbe4f1a8d874c44d1″,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=96013337dff1468ae572d88b145064dc”,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fd64d7bdbf07c175d86fa87b86acccdf”,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0fb231598ffa715af0afa38646275048″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”thumbnail”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c02635b6851faa15bef0db85b85d80db”,”width”:140},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=140&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=9b170bdcc6041407ec2d7a9b2fd0a580″,”width”:280},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=120&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=1d1426de01817a6aad4de2100ea0f530″,”width”:120},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=120&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=03297c79b6d142241859691edb6af21e”,”width”:240}] },{“weighting”:”supporting”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=380&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=55d7fedc028e2f8b0f19755c61ff8e05″,”width”:380},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=380&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=e5abd6827a5b1e595f1668a65751008b”,”width”:760},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b061374b4bd8be82fa97ee23d8cdf58c”,”width”:300},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=300&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=c7397e9c728830616c9c5ca5105796f9″,”width”:600},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d6b918fc1479739ca35ab952a5039756″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=63fdae7e0a9f60ab4b682b2b8b645472″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=498d4a4d1406bffdbe4f1a8d874c44d1″,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=96013337dff1468ae572d88b145064dc”,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fd64d7bdbf07c175d86fa87b86acccdf”,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0fb231598ffa715af0afa38646275048″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”showcase”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=860&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=90030c258490163a8aedbc3ec95dbad7″,”width”:860},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=860&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=1b61d440059ad564518af47b0ba26d3e”,”width”:1720},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=780&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b7fc7a06242404ad1a4cb961e1e49299″,”width”:780},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=780&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=df8593598fcd81da70415edfbb7932cd”,”width”:1560},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d6b918fc1479739ca35ab952a5039756″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=63fdae7e0a9f60ab4b682b2b8b645472″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=498d4a4d1406bffdbe4f1a8d874c44d1″,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=96013337dff1468ae572d88b145064dc”,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fd64d7bdbf07c175d86fa87b86acccdf”,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0fb231598ffa715af0afa38646275048″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”halfwidth”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d6b918fc1479739ca35ab952a5039756″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=63fdae7e0a9f60ab4b682b2b8b645472″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=498d4a4d1406bffdbe4f1a8d874c44d1″,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=96013337dff1468ae572d88b145064dc”,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fd64d7bdbf07c175d86fa87b86acccdf”,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0fb231598ffa715af0afa38646275048″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”immersive”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1900&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=f1b7fe68354dd6557c81d78a9298501e”,”width”:1900},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1900&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=17df94e417d4a248584eb834e63d8007″,”width”:3800},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=404649b1db31f36c1baab9181256067c”,”width”:1300},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1300&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=6bc538171afccc85acb13f927b7ab1a0″,”width”:2600},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=5f90ba417f4daa285c2ab0eec0308b0c”,”width”:1140},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=1140&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8f88f03607d8db21c2fd1dc75705b476″,”width”:2280},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=980&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=41a57253b9ae12700fb9612e09e0dcf6″,”width”:980},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=980&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=317fd9b1b7e546d4a8ac78e90901a536″,”width”:1960},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=740&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=59bfc0ba800925042cf68df73e824486″,”width”:740},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=740&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=f96fadaafc3c285dc3cf36d00931e901″,”width”:1480},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=660&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=f5f32e8fccb16c85ab86a2e77f0b6685″,”width”:660},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=660&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=7b3b7f9dce5d07831680c0fea74d850c”,”width”:1320},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=480&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=993b7a9593e7d16c53407a48b2e1612c”,”width”:480},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cc7bd35ed5e6ce2449f7e90f1a4490e9684bfd46/0_0_2404_1583/master/2404.jpg?width=480&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=3554b21d91d355e9264560a44e1b28b2″,”width”:960}] }],”data”:{“alt”:”A file photo of Donald Trump with his parents, Fred and Mary Anne Trump.”,”caption”:”A file photo of Donald Trump with his parents, Fred and Mary Anne Trump.”,”credit”:”Photograph: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786047731000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”16.22 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786049446000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.50 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786048426000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”16.33 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”16.33″,”title”:”Trump signs new executive orders to deny US citizenship to children born to so-called “birth tourists””,”contributors”:[] ,”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74e77e8f0851f2bc6ed31b”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

n
• n

  Mitch McConnell announced today he has been discharged from the rehabilitation center where he’d been recovering after a fall left him hospitalized, extending the Republican senator’s weeks‑long absence from Capitol Hill. McConnell said he will continue his recovery at home. “On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period,” the senator said. “And I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business.” More here

n

• n

  Senator John Husted, a Republican from Ohio, has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for GOP congressman Max Miller to resign amid a deluge of domestic abuse allegations. Husted, who is facing a competitive election in November, noted that Miller’s re-election bid for his US House seat in Ohio does not benefit his family. “I believe Max would be making the right decision to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress to focus on what is in the best interest of his daughter,” Husted said in a statement. “Years from now, I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice for her.”

n

• n

  On Truth Social, Donald Trump insisted that he was “extremely happy” with Pete Hegseth’s job performance as defense secretary, dismissing any clashes with the Pentagon leaders as “fake news”. “Everything has been extraordinary,” the president added. “Pete is highly respected within the Military, and has made tremendous improvements, including getting rid of DEI, and increasing recruitment to historic levels.” This comes after the Washington Post’s earlier report that the president grew frustrated with Hegseth last week at a meeting at Camp David about the extreme munitions shortages.

n

• n

  Republicans on a Senate committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after a bitter hearing last week, where the retired public health official invoked the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and possible prosecution by GOP lawmakers. The vote was adopted along party lines. Senator Rand Paul, the panel’s Republican chair, will now seek a full vote in the Senate, where he will need 60 votes, or possibly send the resolution directly the justice department – who will then determine whether to pursue criminal charges.

n

“,”elementId”:”13315bc6-259f-4f5a-baaf-3167a87f489f”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:false,”summary”:true},”blockCreatedOn”:1786046334000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”15.58 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786047246000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.14 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786047246000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”16.14 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”16.14″,”title”:”Here’s a recap of the day so far”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74e04d8f0821d9ede5c09c”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Donald Trump continued to express his frustration with Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, after she dropped the alleged vandalism charges against David Hearn – the Olympic canoeist accused of pool damage that has now been attributed to faulty work by a contractor.

“,”elementId”:”8428b1f9-4eca-488b-8d7a-4356d17ee502″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said that Pirro made “a terrible decision”.

“,”elementId”:”477013da-8575-4229-9812-c91f7a161ca1″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“She said there was no vandalism. There was tremendous vandalism,” the president told the outlet. “So, she made a terrible mistake. I don’t understand why she did such a stupid thing.”

“,”elementId”:”079d3696-d72c-40b3-aa24-979ee524a508″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Earlier this week in the Oval Office, Trump said that Pirro “folded like an umbrella” when asked about his reaction to the justice department dismissing the case against Hearn, who faced a felony property destruction charge that carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine. Hearn pleaded not guilty last month.

“,”elementId”:”750a998b-69ee-4d35-8efb-6f8789150583″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Pirro said her office only received interior department records that showed the pool’s lining was already failing before Hearn touched the water. Government lawyers, in a motion, said the materials pointed to “a rushed and flawed installation process,” with repeated lining failures during construction and “extensive peeling” throughout the reflecting pool.

“,”elementId”:”12fcbebd-e4b3-4e99-9ed3-c8eb634e7da4″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

On Wednesday, Trump had also said he had yet to “make a determination” about whether Pirro would stay in her role.

“,”elementId”:”ed74352f-0de6-435a-8d6d-b426dc17f62e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786044493000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”15.28 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786046324000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”15.58 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786046324000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”15.58 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”15.58″,”title”:”Trump repeats frustration about Pirro’s decision to drop reflecting pool vandalism case in NBC News interview”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74d6f18f0821d9ede5c07c”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Mitch McConnell announced today he has been discharged from the rehabilitation center where he’d been recovering after a fall left him hospitalized, extending the Republican senator’s weeks‑long absence from Capitol Hill. He said he will continue his recovery at home.

“,”elementId”:”d4a8797f-3d09-4522-914f-92c7dff1100c”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The Senate is set to wrap up legislative business this week before a five‑week August recess, but several agenda items remain – including a vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general. McConnell’s absence further narrows Republicans’ already tight path to approving Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.

“,”elementId”:”7d0a9b05-2d82-4686-945f-b37ecb497988″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period,” McConnell said. “And I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business.”

“,”elementId”:”6e94f897-e1f7-4db3-8004-a0e5c0f1d689″},{“displayCredit”:true,”_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement”,”role”:”inline”,”media”:{“allImages”:[{“index”:0,”fields”:{“aspectRatio”:”5:4″,”height”:”570″,”width”:”713″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/713.jpg”},{“index”:1,”fields”:{“aspectRatio”:”5:4″,”isMaster”:”true”,”height”:”570″,”width”:”713″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg”},{“index”:2,”fields”:{“aspectRatio”:”5:4″,”height”:”400″,”width”:”500″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/500.jpg”},{“index”:3,”fields”:{“aspectRatio”:”5:4″,”height”:”112″,”width”:”140″},”mediaType”:”Image”,”mimeType”:”image/jpeg”,”url”:”https://media.guim.co.uk/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/140.jpg”}] },”elementId”:”dccefd9e-4dd5-4d61-96ac-18b3b498e3b6″,”imageSources”:[{“weighting”:”inline”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6ec558eb4ce49f3d15b4da7a6df71316″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=391627d39f846bcc291f36aa099ca2a3″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=dbaff8503746771e97cef4519928f26a”,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=caa2a921fbc41ad1ede28f9d716b9353″,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=10d7bfedf006165af9d42a8c018cf518″,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8b2df596cc16539fd4b8311de2a75d35″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”thumbnail”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=06a0bdb9fda4190b3c927026a3df667c”,”width”:140},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=140&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=44f491099d13c1340ac1252abbfa6b1a”,”width”:280},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=120&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=342780b6a0f29bbfd0b33373d727e3f2″,”width”:120},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=120&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=087e8493502bd76df9ba83ed94dfae59″,”width”:240}] },{“weighting”:”supporting”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=380&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d1f81182e5a7d9f6a72006e57a13415a”,”width”:380},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=380&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=f3ebe5d17c9561cb0834a199aa5da0f3″,”width”:760},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=3db52363fe2624a32a8a748889e4a2b6″,”width”:300},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=300&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=a3204b562e862a171c6544ec46356a75″,”width”:600},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6ec558eb4ce49f3d15b4da7a6df71316″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=391627d39f846bcc291f36aa099ca2a3″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=dbaff8503746771e97cef4519928f26a”,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=caa2a921fbc41ad1ede28f9d716b9353″,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=10d7bfedf006165af9d42a8c018cf518″,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8b2df596cc16539fd4b8311de2a75d35″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”showcase”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=860&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=3da537d4f700b4594c2222040424cf63″,”width”:860},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=860&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=d42dad1499dfe5e6a91f8cef10852f6c”,”width”:1720},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=780&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e15a530dfecd007145866641e258afd1″,”width”:780},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=780&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=6cca78dc691ff02bdcaec78be6dfd9fd”,”width”:1560},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6ec558eb4ce49f3d15b4da7a6df71316″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=391627d39f846bcc291f36aa099ca2a3″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=dbaff8503746771e97cef4519928f26a”,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=caa2a921fbc41ad1ede28f9d716b9353″,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=10d7bfedf006165af9d42a8c018cf518″,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8b2df596cc16539fd4b8311de2a75d35″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”halfwidth”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6ec558eb4ce49f3d15b4da7a6df71316″,”width”:620},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=391627d39f846bcc291f36aa099ca2a3″,”width”:1240},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=dbaff8503746771e97cef4519928f26a”,”width”:605},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=605&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=caa2a921fbc41ad1ede28f9d716b9353″,”width”:1210},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=10d7bfedf006165af9d42a8c018cf518″,”width”:445},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=445&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=8b2df596cc16539fd4b8311de2a75d35″,”width”:890}] },{“weighting”:”immersive”,”srcSet”:[{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1900&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=920090ea24752c5d63d07e5e905d7ee1″,”width”:1900},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1900&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=251834ec73e83398c0e82eada034b8ca”,”width”:3800},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0adf33c00456afd9fa8783f96298099c”,”width”:1300},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1300&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=1d89998d343a905bb73100f63f51dcc2″,”width”:2600},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0fbc142c0b475e7c69beccce86378fb1″,”width”:1140},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=1140&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=ba293cb5552ed22775bee537d966087b”,”width”:2280},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=980&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=901064cfd9507d97b7f326c90c019e1f”,”width”:980},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=980&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=55730e0810fe6b371206101eeae829a5″,”width”:1960},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=740&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=ea9fc4561792747fc44d4818a58428da”,”width”:740},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=740&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=e42cbf2426f4759f0f1307abc4245bd0″,”width”:1480},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=660&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c7f8d1d397f56405b892d951d90bc327″,”width”:660},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=660&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=60acd719b0265256d6895fdf52e3f7e7″,”width”:1320},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=480&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b63e8f64ae998a18da5871b4dad506f1″,”width”:480},{“src”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/010b1e3781753eb23cda0f9d6b143d6d530932ad/0_36_713_570/master/713.jpg?width=480&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=767c076de7d1e839f649b62c24156315″,”width”:960}] }],”data”:{“alt”:”Mitch McConnell sits with his wife, Elaine Chao, while holding what appears to be the 12 July sports section of the Washington Post in a photograph released by his office that same day.”,”caption”:”Mitch McConnell sits with his wife, Elaine Chao, while holding what appears to be the 12 July sports section of the Washington Post in a photograph released by his office that same day.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Office of Senator Mitch McConnell/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

His 53‑day absence has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties. Last month, Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, publicly urged McConnell to release more information about his health, writing: “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”

“,”elementId”:”98a86628-0ff7-474c-a397-8a63172de16c”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

McConnell was admitted to the hospital on 14 June. His office initially offered few details, saying only that he was “continuing to improve”. A month later, McConnell disclosed that a fall at his home and a “mild case of pneumonia” had prompted the hospitalization and his extended time away. In late July, his office said he still had not been cleared to return to work.

“,”elementId”:”7c2b40ec-6532-48ce-9461-94ab7dabc42e”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786042097000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”14.48 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786044846000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”15.34 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786043457000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”15.10 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”15.10″,”title”:”Mitch McConnell discharged from rehabilitation center after fall that left him hospitalized”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74c7678f08086f525bcada”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Senator John Husted, a Republican from Ohio, has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for GOP congressman Max Miller to resign.

“,”elementId”:”09e35566-abf6-49f4-a13e-1a27dbbc9f74″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Husted, who is facing a competitive election in November against former Senator Sherrod Brown, noted that Miller’s re-election bid for his US House seat in Ohio does not benefit his family.

“,”elementId”:”daaa0576-0b0f-4abd-89e8-8baf4d2cfe96″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“I believe Max would be making the right decision to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress to focus on what is in the best interest of his daughter,” Husted said in a statement. “Years from now, I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice for her.”

“,”elementId”:”6f921685-70a5-4f22-a7c2-bdb2241f84f2″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Miller would need to end his campaign by 10 August deadline to allow the state Republican party to pick a replacement nominee for the general election.

“,”elementId”:”4b17c332-68a1-4d10-beba-a10eeb0b1ec5″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Other GOP lawmakers today said that Miller should step down amid the deluge of accusations of domestic violence against him from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno – daughter of Republican senator Bernie Moreno.

“,”elementId”:”26b41945-5786-456f-b42a-55cfeb3368b5″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Senator Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana, called Miller a “degenerate sociopath” in response to a Mother Jones report that alleges Miller would routinely withhold his daughter’s favorite toy bunny from her while sharing custody with his ex-wife.

“,”elementId”:”bd235c99-13c7-46fb-a111-57cf1722d17d”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Max should step aside and seek help. Staying in this race makes it far more likely we lose this seat and hand Democrats a majority to impeach President Trump,” said Sheehy.

“,”elementId”:”ec4622b6-d1eb-4222-94dd-a6929d5e690e”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Meanwhile, Katie Britt, a Republican senator from Alabama, told Semafor that Miller should resign.

“,”elementId”:”02da1839-716e-43b5-8302-c782452b8709″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“When you watch those [Miller] interviews, if you have ever had anyone in your life that has experienced abuse, they were eerie,” Britt told the outlet. “But I stand with Bernie and supporting his daughter and his granddaughter, and hope that others will as well.”

“,”elementId”:”421c3a53-4bc5-4235-a707-d895d3b2d1d4″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786038119000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”13.41 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786048656000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.37 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786039975000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”14.12 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”14.12″,”title”:”Calls grow from Republicans for Max Miller to resign from Congress”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74be9a8f0851f2bc6ed1fb”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

On Truth Social, Donald Trump insisted that he was “extremely happy” with Pete Hegseth’s job performance as defense secretary.

“,”elementId”:”e34f7d71-7cad-4772-bc4a-0ee91d5de123″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Everything has been extraordinary,” the president said, listing the capture of the now-deposed Venzuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and the ongoing war in Iran which has seen the price of gas steadily increase over the last six months, inflation reach a three-year high and a reported shortage in critical munitions.

“,”elementId”:”60eca8a5-83fe-4382-aa6f-a2bdd41ab70f”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Pete is highly respected within the Military, and has made tremendous improvements, including getting rid of DEI, and increasing recruitment to historic levels,” Trump added, while dismissing any clashes with the Pentagon leaders as “fake news” spreading “false and completely unfounded rumors”.

“,”elementId”:”daa1a770-1c56-4386-98a0-4939e98d9386″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

This comes after the Washington Post’s earlier report that the president grew frustrated with Hegseth last week at a meeting at Camp David, about the extreme munitions shortages that pose a problem for the military options in Iran, according to two unnamed sources cited by the outlet.

“,”elementId”:”b6198694-a0aa-44e7-9410-d4e8b7039729″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786035866000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”13.04 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786036831000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”13.20 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786036831000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”13.20 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”13.20″,”title”:”Trump says he is ‘extremely happy’ with Hegseth performance, despite reports of clashes over munition shortages”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a74a4ed8f0851f2bc6ed0a0″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

A reminder that we’re tracking the latest developments out of the Middle East, including the earlier news that Donald Trumphit back at media reports suggesting the US was running low on weapons after five months of war against Iran.

“,”elementId”:”54561dfd-1806-4073-85e4-61f5b2b81307″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

He said the US has “massive amounts of munitions, especially of certain types,” in a Truth Social post last night, adding: “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”

“,”elementId”:”061f360a-b490-4440-b91c-91e8df7915fc”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The Washington Post (paywall) reports that the president and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, clashed during a cabinet meeting at Camp David last Friday over the munitions shortages, with Trump reportedly demanding answers after being under the impression the issue “had been fixed”.

“,”elementId”:”0dc84c48-fff3-47a7-9027-e4ac2dd2db73″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The shortages were part of the reason that Trump had to call off what he said would be “the biggest attack since World War II” in recent days, sources told the paper. Hegseth reportedly blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages and for Trump not being fully informed on the matter.

“,”elementId”:”3e431d28-cb0e-4810-bed5-bb1845da04c9″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” Trump continued in his post.

“,”elementId”:”90b27b21-6d5e-43fb-9493-373e9e7de649″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

For more, our colleagues on the Middle East live blog are covering all the latest developments:

“,”elementId”:”3b6f8260-2dc8-4fc0-815c-2ff73e6c87ca”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Iran says a deal with Oman to reopen the strait of Hormuz is close to being finalised – Middle East crisis live”,”elementId”:”01c1dd2e-dff6-422d-9502-3668a4408318″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/aug/06/iran-oman-strait-of-hormuz-yemen-houthis-israel-lebanon-gaza-us-donald-trump-middle-east-crisis-live-news”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786029293000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”11.14 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786032706000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”12.11 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786032386000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”12.06 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”12.06″,”title”:”Trump denies US running short of munitions after reported clash with Hegseth”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a749f338f08086f525bc877″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

As the calls continue to grow for Max Miller, a GOP congressman from Ohio, to resign from Congress over domestic abuse allegations against his ex-wife and daughter, his former father-in-law, Republican senator Bernie Moreno tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that he has now sent his daughter, Emily, as well as his granddaughter and wife “out of state to a secure place until such time as they feel safe”.

“,”elementId”:”bbd9f4a1-a6e5-4c30-b145-1d64dd61f536″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

This comes as a congressional ethics committee launched an investigation into the allegations against Miller, while he has insisted that he will seek re-election for his seat in this year’s midterms.

“,”elementId”:”1a348f0a-d985-402c-8fa5-038b2b183896″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Earlier this week, Moreno told reporters that the dispute between his daughter and Miller as “truly the seventh level of hell”, adding: “This has been a horrific experience for my entire family.”

“,”elementId”:”b8a9791e-58fa-4384-8c15-cfc7b499d412″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Miller, for his part, posted a livestream video on Sunday defending himself against the abuse accusations and saying his former wife had “significant mental-health challenges”.

“,”elementId”:”d4597041-a6a7-4965-9bf9-d8a772245d97″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786027827000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.50 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786028328000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”10.58 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786028328000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.58 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.58″,”title”:”Moreno says he has sent daughter, granddaughter and wife ‘out of state’ for safety”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7494cc8f0821d9ede5bd3e”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general remains up in the air as we wait to see whether he has enough Republican votes in the Senate.

“,”elementId”:”6a87d331-4dc7-4dc8-89e3-78260808d29a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Earlier this week, two key GOP holdouts – John Cornyn and Thom Tillis – said they would now support Blanche after he assured them in writing that the proposed $1.8bn fund for Trump allies was dead. But Susan Collins, the moderate from Maine, announced she will vote no, citing Blanche’s role in creating the so‑called “anti‑weaponization fund”.

“,”elementId”:”4f64ff30-8e80-42ac-8b31-69ba99bc6cd2″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

That leaves two remaining question marks: Lisa Murkowski, another moderate, and Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana senator who lost his primary to a Trump‑backed challenger.

“,”elementId”:”b58f07fa-22f3-466b-9485-26ba27c56d3c”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Cassidy said in a radio interview Wednesday that he’s still undecided. “I’ve got to be convinced that he is an attorney general who just happens to have once been President Trump’s personal attorney, as opposed to President Trump’s personal attorney who is now the attorney general,” he said. “I think there’s a big difference between the two.”

“,”elementId”:”9af98aad-4d9a-4cde-a01d-2d232143ad33″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

With Mitch McConnell still not cleared to return to work after his fall at home and subsequent hospitalization, Blanche needs either Murkowski or Cassidy to get to 50 votes.

“,”elementId”:”bd11e27e-7f22-42a8-86c8-b4fb55688252″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

JD Vance can break a tie as president of the Senate – but without that, a failed confirmation would be a major setback for Donald Trump’s agenda.

“,”elementId”:”eda1eced-e679-430a-8504-6aa6507bd8f2″}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786025164000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.06 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786026557000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”10.29 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786026557000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.29 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.29″,”title”:”Blanche confirmation hangs in the balance as Senate recess looms”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7482f08f08086f525bc6c2″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Republicans on a Senate committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress on Thursday. This comes after a bitter hearing last week, where the retired public health official invoked the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and possible prosecution by Republican lawmakers on the homeland security and governmental affairs committee – who have routinely vilified Fauci for his handling of the Covid-19 response.

“,”elementId”:”bbc176a6-380e-4d46-8849-239fe89d53a9″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The vote was adopted along party lines.

“,”elementId”:”a4a48a6c-efb8-41e7-b0de-f209345d9cc3″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

This came after several attempts from some of the panel’s Democratic members to table today’s vote, all of these were rejected by the committee’s Republican majority.

“,”elementId”:”72d0fb36-f98e-4037-95fe-9bb2c42d78f8″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Rand Paul, the committee’s GOP chair, will now seek a full vote in the Senate, or possibly send the resolution directly the justice department. The DoJ will then determine whether to pursue criminal charges.

“,”elementId”:”c5536c83-f2ae-43b5-925c-ed4deecaa35a”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786020592000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”08.49 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786049216000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.46 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786022400000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”09.20 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”09.20″,”title”:”Senate committee holds Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a746b158f0851f2bc6ecd51″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Wealthy Republicans on the west coast received an emailed invitation in July to an upcoming fundraiser titled “Keep the Senate”. The email, obtained by the Guardian, described the event as a “private roundtable and dinner with the National Republican Senatorial Committee” where donors can pledge $50,000 for seats at the head table, and mingle with legislative heavy hitters from Capitol Hill including the Senator majority leader, John Thune, and Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate in Michigan with Donald Trump’s endorsement.

“,”elementId”:”420d08f0-b520-4af5-8241-effa680a3b91″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

One of the organizers listed on the invite was defense industry tycoon Palmer Luckey, the 33-year-old co-founder of sprawling weapons manufacturer Anduril Industries.

“,”elementId”:”f393fd9a-bf73-4f61-aa29-0f53f014ecbc”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The invitation is one of dozens of emails obtained by the Guardian that unravel Luckey’s vast Maga political fundraising over the last seven years.

“,”elementId”:”0e0c33cf-0206-4a66-b6a8-6ed46a470a83″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

A longtime GOP donor and activist who spoke on condition he not be identified in order to preserve his political relationshipssaid Luckey is now the “godfather of Republican fundraising on the west coast”.

“,”elementId”:”5f3b0b4a-9ccd-4b25-a5f8-62c4a735594e”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“If you’re raising campaign money in California, you have to go to Palmer Luckey,” he said. “Luckey is the top tier. There are others who are important below him but no one at his level.”

“,”elementId”:”9b5bb3ae-eed1-4048-b3b4-656f5df6de70″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Exclusive: Emails reveal Palmer Luckey’s political fundraising as his company wins sole-source contracts”,”elementId”:”2c8daa03-e236-49a3-bb69-ae80e5e257a2″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/06/exclusive-palmer-luckey-political-fundraising”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786014485000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”07.08 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786017108000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”07.51 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786017108000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”07.51 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”07.51″,”title”:”Exclusive: Emails reveal Palmer Luckey’s political fundraising as his company wins sole-source contracts”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Aram Roston”,”imageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2026/07/27/Aram_Roston.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=eed6b0f8ddd35161684a6bd7a09baa21″,”largeImageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2026/07/27/Aram_Roston,_L.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=30fe8d501968658c8d666cee61c5b49f”}] ,”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a745e3c8f0851f2bc6ecc83″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Senior Democrats have accused Donald Trump’s administration of giving a green light to violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, warning that its policies created “a climate of impunity and unbridled violence” that endangers both Palestinians and US citizens.

“,”elementId”:”4cc755a9-b73a-4e7d-97c9-db648edd149f”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In a letter seen by the Guardian, a group of 19 Democratic senators and representatives call for the restoration of sanctions against extremist settlers and demand independent US investigations into the deaths of nine US citizens killed in the West Bank since 2022.

“,”elementId”:”b30caafc-ad7f-4b27-824b-e766f8558212″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The letter, signed by Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren among others, is addressed to Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary.

“,”elementId”:”406a2d4f-c3db-4d36-98cc-46aa0f71edb9″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

It argues that Trump’s promise last year that “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank” has been undermined by events on the ground. “In practice,” the Democrats write, “violent settlers and the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government have proceeded to rapidly extend Israeli control over civilian populations in the region.”

“,”elementId”:”2a453281-7e94-48c2-9bfc-b427a9b61ce3″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

More here:

“,”elementId”:”8fc781f2-c566-4918-bb06-6c9f20b16e11″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Top Democrats accuse Trump officials over Israeli settlers’ ‘unbridled violence’”,”elementId”:”39622794-9f53-4874-9817-9acd34191a23″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/06/democrats-trump-west-bank-israeli-settlers”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786013078000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”06.44 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786015553000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”07.25 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786015553000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”07.25 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”07.25″,”title”:”Top Democrats accuse Trump officials over Israeli settlers’ ‘unbridled violence’”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”David Smith”,”imageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/05/25/David_Smith.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=96a67219643c746ee727051afdf7395a”,”largeImageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/05/25/David_Smith.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8e678f807c7b80aae11b03fbc186f49b”}] ,”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7469b68f08086f525bc562″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Katie Miller, an erstwhile Trump administration official and wife of Stephen Miller, once relied on Dr Anthony Fauci to get through Covid. Now, she’s calling for his imprisonment – a reversal that illuminates the politicization of Fauci and of public health writ large, a trend that could have major repercussions for America’s preparedness for future crises.

“,”elementId”:”91afc269-3b05-4af5-891c-17e550a837cf”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

A US Senate committee will vote on Thursday morning over whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after the physician and former public health official invoked his fifth amendment rights during a Senate hearing last week focused on Fauci’s actions during the Covid pandemic.

“,”elementId”:”1af715ab-bb0f-4471-b13f-b618f29a5bac”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The invocation of the worst days of the Covid pandemic come as midterms loom and the administration struggles to address several infectious outbreaks, including cyclosporiasis and Ebola.

“,”elementId”:”17718c97-02af-4de0-be27-be1fe0407bf7″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Rand Paul, a senator, released contemporaneous notes that Fauci took during his time in public office, which Paul called Fauci’s diary, that reveal the confusion and fear of the time and illuminate the private episodes of a man who became known as America’s doctor.

“,”elementId”:”9d6cff05-7053-492a-8919-e7312f0b1401″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“By focusing entirely on one human being and by calling him all sorts of names, including ‘evil’, and by calling for him to be jailed, it abdicates Republicans’ own responsibility in the US response to the pandemic, which was under President Trump,” said Gavin Yamey, director of the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at Duke University. “I think that this is all aimed at riling up the base ahead of the midterms and at washing their hands of any culpability themselves in the mass death event of Covid.”

“,”elementId”:”4c6df583-5692-4c94-99c9-5fe477e6bab9″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

And it comes after substantial cuts to the public health infrastructure; misinformation has spread at the highest levels of the government, and growing outbreaks of measles, whooping cough, cyclosporiasis, Ebola, and more.

“,”elementId”:”04c581b7-dd35-4972-89d9-45582c514827″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“This is an extraordinarily good way to distract people from the very deliberate destruction of the US public health system,” Yamey said.

“,”elementId”:”ee1f634c-31e2-440d-9e1f-3bbb6f3b13a7″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Why making Anthony Fauci the enemy will harm US public health for years”,”elementId”:”baed5748-aefd-477e-ad0c-8a6b49ac6cd8″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/06/anthony-fauci-republicans-harm-public-health”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786014134000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”07.02 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786014275000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”07.04 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786014276000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”07.04 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”07.04″,”title”:”Why making Anthony Fauci the enemy will harm US public health for years”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Melody Schreiber”}] ,”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”},{“id”:”6a7450318f08086f525bc40e”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.

“,”elementId”:”afe031bf-5e0b-43c2-8710-4946c361b7da”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.

“,”elementId”:”232507e3-d037-4f9d-b1b6-c7af5c8212cf”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Fauci, a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic, had invoked the fifth amendment and refused to answer questions at a high-profile Senate committee hearing on the origins of Covid-19.

“,”elementId”:”c43fb4db-ca0f-4e17-9861-4a62c16598c1″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The hearing had been called by Republican senator Rand Paul, who has investigated Fauci for years – and who Fauci accused of having an “unhinged obsession” with him. Ahead of the hearing, Paul released what he described as Fauci’s “diary”, in which he described Trump as “rambling”, “crazy”, “desperate”, “bumbling”, “incompetent”, “an idiot”, “a true embarrassment”, “totally nuts” and “truly an obnoxious adolescent”.

“,”elementId”:”bdc45595-2686-41d2-8c30-d6e726aa8aa0″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Robert F Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services has also provided a copy of Fauci’s phone to the Republican-led Senate panel. Kennedy had written a conspiratorial book attacking Fauci in 2021 that sold more than a million copies – thanks in part to blurbs from fellow non-scientists Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Alan Dershowitz and Tony Robbins.

“,”elementId”:”02d5b265-8bf1-449e-9c9a-34a430c4f493″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Scientists and Democrats have rallied behind Fauci, with a group of 155 scientists signing an open letter calling for the government to stop the “vilification and harassment of many American scientists”.

“,”elementId”:”e844d682-a289-4174-af85-1d20e93462be”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“This is only going to deter other scientific experts from public service,” Gary Peters, a Democratic senator of Michigan, said.

“,”elementId”:”aa0d676f-a1b6-4a44-8bb6-25f9c5bdc977″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

More to come.

“,”elementId”:”b9a9dfec-2fc2-4a6d-b7fa-f8df363f423b”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1786013078000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”06.44 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1786012670000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”06.37 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1786013078000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”06.44 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”06.44″,”title”:”Senators set to vote on holding Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 6 Aug 2026 22.01 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 6 Aug 2026 06.44 EDT”}],”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”,”renderingTarget”:”Web”,”serverTime”:1786114060212}”>

Key events

Closing summary

This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day, with just 897 to go. Here are the latest developments:

• One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.

• The two new orders came just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down Trump’s previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, a right that has been guaranteed since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.

• The orders were part of a quixotic campaign Trump has waged for more than a decade, since he promised to eliminate the right at a 2015 campaign event.

• Despite an endorsement from Trump, congressman Andy Ogles, a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, was in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.

• Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent meeting that they need to help JD Vance win the 2028 presidential election.

Trump-backed Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles trails in Republican primary

Despite an endorsement from Donald Trump on Thursday, congressman Andy Ogles, a a virulently anti-Muslim Tennessee Republican, seems to be in danger of losing his re-election bid to a primary challenger backed by the state’s governor, Bill Lee.

With nearly three-quarters of the votes counted in the party’s primary on Thursday night, Ogles trails Charlie Hatcher, a former state commissioner of agriculture, by more than 5 points, according to a running tally from the Associated Press.

“Congressman Andy Ogles is doing a fantastic job representing the incredible people of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District!” Trump wrote on his social media platform as Tennessee Republicans went to the polls on Thursday. “Andy Ogles my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election. Election Day for the Republican Primary is TODAY. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR ANDY”.

An Ogles defeat would be the second loss of a Trump-backed candidate in a Republican primary this week.

Undeterred by a decade of failure, Trump’s obsessive campaign against birthright citizenship goes on, and on

The executive orders signed on Thursday by Donald Trump, in which he tries, again, to undermine the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution reaffirmed by the supreme court just five weeks ago, is part of a quixotic campaign he has waged for more than a decade.

At a Republican presidential primary campaign event in Orlando, Florida in November 2015, Trump hinted that he had a plan to end what he called the scourge of “anchor babies”, a derogatory term for children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States as citizens.

“You can’t come into the country- you’re illegal, you come down, you sit down, you have your baby, and we take care of the baby for the next 85 years!” Trump said. “Everybody says, ‘Well, you need a constitutional amendment; it’ll take 15 years; it’ll never happen’. You don’t, you don’t. You need a simple act of Congress. You might not even need that.”

If elected, Trump promised the crowd at a resort near Disney World, “the anchor baby, birthright citizenship, it’s over, not going to happen.”

Three years later, as president, Trump said in a televised interview with Jonathan Swan just before the 2018 midterms that he planned to issue an executive order to instruct federal agencies that children born in the United States to non-citizens were not entitled to US citizenship at birth.

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump told Swan in an interview excerpt posted online on 30 October 2018. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress,” Trump added, incorrectly, “but now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

As Swan reported at the time, Trump’s claim that he could undo the birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the constitution was a minority view among legal scholars, but was supported by a then-obscure figure: John Eastman, who had argued for decades that the amendment granting citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” should be read to exclude the children of people who are not US citizens when their child is born.

Eastman later claimed in a 2020 Newsweek op-ed that Kamala Harris was ineligible for the vice-presidency because she had no right to US citizenship at birth, since she was born in Oakland, California in 1964 to non-citizen parents who were, “subject to the jurisdiction” of their native lands of India and Jamaica.

In the 2018 interview, Trump called birthright citizenship “ridiculous,” and falsely asserted that the US is “the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen.” In fact, at least 30 nations grant citizenship this way. He also claimed that an executive order was in the process of being drafted.

Although that order did not materialize until the start of Trump’s second term, his obsession with casting doubt on the citizenship of children born in the US to foreign parents has had a clearly political element from the start.

After all, Trump’s original rise to political prominence was tied to his false claim that Barack Obama, born to an American mother and a Kenyan father in Honolulu, just two years after Hawaii became a state, might have been born outside the US.

Then, after Joe Biden picked Harris as his running mate in 2020, Trump repeatedly refused to confirm that she was eligible for an elected office open only to “a natural born Citizen.”

Instead, Trump called the question Eastman raised about Harris’s citizenship at birth in his Newsweek op-ed “very serious” and a potential “problem” for her. He also praised Eastman as “a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer” and called him “brilliant”.

Eastman, who went on to devise the fake electors scheme designed to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election, and gave an inflammatory speech before the Capitol riot on January 6 2021, was finally disbarred by the California supreme court in April, based on “clear and convincing evidence that he advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public.”

ACLU calls Trump’s new executive orders on birthright citizenship doomed to fail in court

The American Civil Liberties Union is not impressed by the legal reasoning of Donald Trump’s new executive orders in which he is once again attempting to restrict birthright citizenship, just five weeks after the US supreme court struck a similar order he issued last year.

In a statement, the ACLU blasted the president’s attempted end-run around the supreme court decision and predicted that the new orders will not survive a court challenge.

“The Supreme Court already decided this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution,” the deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Cody Wofsy, said. “Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one”.

Trump refuses to confirm that he privately endorsed JD Vance for 2028 presidential race

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Donald Trump refused to confirm a Washington Post report that he told donors at a recent Oval Office meeting that they need to help his vice-president, JD Vance, win the 2028 presidential election.

“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump reportedly told the donors two weeks ago, the Post reported.

“Mr President,” a reporter asked, “there is a report that you told donors that they need to get JD Vance elected in 2028. Is that your official endorsement?”

“No,” Trump answered.

“I heard about it a little while ago,” Trump continued, apparently referring to the report published on Thursday. “I think he’s great, but we’re way too early to even be thinking about that.”

Trump orders his administration to deny entry to foreigners coming to US ‘for the purpose of giving birth on American soil’

The two new executive orders on birthright citizenship signed by Donald Trump on Thursday, just five weeks ago after the US supreme court struck down his previous order denying citizenship to the children of non-citizens, attempt to limit in two ways a right that has been enshrined in the constitution since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.

One order bars the entry of foreigners allegedly traveling to the US “for the purpose of giving birth on American soil”, without saying how, exactly, that determination is to be made. (It might be worth noting here that such a policy, had it been in effect in 2001, might well have prevented Folarin Balogun, who was born that year to a mother visiting New York from London, from being born a US citizen and going on to represent the US in this summer’s World Cup.)

The second order seeks to deny citizenship to the children of certain categories of non-citizens.

The order excludes children born to any non-citizen parent in the following categories:

• an alien enemy, “defined to include any member of a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization … or Specially Designated Global Terrorist”;

• foreign government employees, including: ambassadors; other embassy or consulate employees who are nationals of that foreign country; anyone employed by a foreign government in an official capacity;

• employees of international organizations that possess international-organization immunity;

• people “engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship”.

The children of foreign ambassadors have long been excluded from birthright citizenship.

Somewhat redundantly, the second order also denies citizenship to the children of non-citizens “born in a territory or territorial waters of the United States where citizenship is not conferred by Federal statute”.

Trump gives wildly inaccurate account of 14th amendment to explain new orders restricting birthright citizenship

Speaking in the Oval Office earlier on Thursday, Donald Trump gave a wildly inaccurate account of the nature and timing of the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which enshrined the principle of birthright citizenship, as he sought to justify two new executive orders attempting to deny citizenship to a wider pool of children born on US soil to non-citizens.

As he discussed the orders, “Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” and “Ending Birth Tourism”, Trump called the supreme court’s decision to strike down his previous attempt to deny birthright citizenship through executive action “a very, very unfortunate decision.”

“So we’re, making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” the president said. “This was meant for the babies of slaves. It was right after – one week or two weeks after – the Civil war ended.”

In fact, General Robert E Lee surrendered the largest of the Confederate forces on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. More than a year later, the 14th amendment was passed by Congress on 13 June 1866, and ratified on 9 July 9 1868.

Trump’s assertion that the framers of the amendment only intended it to apply to the children of former slaves was roundly rejected by the supreme court, not this year but in 1898, when the justices ruled 6-2 that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to parents who were both Chinese citizens, was a US citizen by birth.

Despite that well-known precedent, which was discussed at length during the recent supreme court deliberations over Trump’s first attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of non-citizens, the president’s adviser, Stephen Miller, insisted that Trump was right.

“As the president mentioned, the 14th amendment was passed exclusively in the aftermath of the Civil War to to ensure that the children of slaves would be citizens. It had no other meaning and purpose outside of that,” Miller said.

“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump added. “And we’re actually the only country, of size, I think just about the only country period, that does birthright citizenship.”

That too is wildly inaccurate. Thirty-two other countries, most in the western hemisphere, have birthright citizenship laws that are similar to US law, according to the Pew Research Center. About 50 more countries have more limited versions of birthright citizenship.

Trump signs new executive orders to deny US citizenship to children born to so-called “birth tourists”

One month after the United States supreme court struck down his first attempt to restrict the guarantee of birthright citizenship enshrined in the US constitution, Donald ⁠Trump signed ⁠executive orders ​on Thursday that aim to deny ⁠US citizenship to children born in the United States to so-called “birth tourists”.

The ‌orders, which have not yet been made public, apparently expand the definitions ​of children the White House deems ineligible ⁠for birthright ​citizenship and ​seek to ban “birth ​tourism”, which the president claimed on Thursday is practiced by “hundreds of thousands” of people.

That seems like a wildly inflated estimate. According to the Migration Policy Institute, the highest census-based estimate “puts birth tourism at 22,000 to 26,000 babies born annually on US soil, although government data show just 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024.”

For context, it seems worth keeping in mind that Trump’s own father, Fred Trump, was born a US citizen in 1905 to a non-citizen mother who arrived in New York from Germany six months pregnant. The president’s Scottish-born mother, Mary Anne Trump, later gave birth to her first two children, the current president’s older siblings, in the US before becoming a US citizen herself.

Here’s a recap of the day so far

• Mitch McConnell announced today he has been discharged from the rehabilitation center where he’d been recovering after a fall left him hospitalized, extending the Republican senator’s weeks‑long absence from Capitol Hill. McConnell said he will continue his recovery at home. “On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period,” the senator said. “And I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business.” More here

• Senator John Husted, a Republican from Ohio, has joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for GOP congressman Max Miller to resign amid a deluge of domestic abuse allegations. Husted, who is facing a competitive election in November, noted that Miller’s re-election bid for his US House seat in Ohio does not benefit his family. “I believe Max would be making the right decision to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress to focus on what is in the best interest of his daughter,” Husted said in a statement. “Years from now, I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice for her.”

• On Truth Social, Donald Trump insisted that he was “extremely happy” with Pete Hegseth’s job performance as defense secretary, dismissing any clashes with the Pentagon leaders as “fake news”. “Everything has been extraordinary,” the president added. “Pete is highly respected within the Military, and has made tremendous improvements, including getting rid of DEI, and increasing recruitment to historic levels.” This comes after the Washington Post’s earlier report that the president grew frustrated with Hegseth last week at a meeting at Camp David about the extreme munitions shortages.

• Republicans on a Senate committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after a bitter hearing last week, where the retired public health official invoked the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and possible prosecution by GOP lawmakers. The vote was adopted along party lines. Senator Rand Paul, the panel’s Republican chair, will now seek a full vote in the Senate, where he will need 60 votes, or possibly send the resolution directly the justice department – who will then determine whether to pursue criminal charges.

Trump repeats frustration about Pirro’s decision to drop reflecting pool vandalism case in NBC News interview

Donald Trump continued to express his frustration with Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, after she dropped the alleged vandalism charges against David Hearn – the Olympic canoeist accused of pool damage that has now been attributed to faulty work by a contractor.

In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said that Pirro made “a terrible decision”.

“She said there was no vandalism. There was tremendous vandalism,” the president told the outlet. “So, she made a terrible mistake. I don’t understand why she did such a stupid thing.”

Earlier this week in the Oval Office, Trump said that Pirro “folded like an umbrella” when asked about his reaction to the justice department dismissing the case against Hearn, who faced a felony property destruction charge that carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine. Hearn pleaded not guilty last month.

Pirro said her office only received interior department records that showed the pool’s lining was already failing before Hearn touched the water. Government lawyers, in a motion, said the materials pointed to “a rushed and flawed installation process,” with repeated lining failures during construction and “extensive peeling” throughout the reflecting pool.

On Wednesday, Trump had also said he had yet to “make a determination” about whether Pirro would stay in her role.