A House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Justice Department for the Jeffrey Epstein files, with three Republicans voting with Democrats on the panel. Earlier in the day, the committee chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), issued a subpoena for testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and other offenses. The House is expected to adjourn Wednesday, a day earlier than expected, for its five-week recess after Republicans, irate over the administration’s decision to not release more of the files related to Epstein, blocked most legislation from reaching the chamber floor for a vote this week. President Donald Trump, who has sought to change the subject, delivered a speech on artificial intelligence and unveiled three executive orders intended to boost the U.S. tech sector.

8:02 PM: The House subpoenas the Justice Department to release the Epstein files

The House of Representatives is set to issue a subpoena for the Justice Department to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the first notable action by House Republicans following a week of anxiousness by lawmakers who wanted transparency on the matter.

Three Republicans — Reps. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania), Brian Jack (Georgia) and Nancy Mace (South Carolina) — on the House Oversight subcommittee on federal law enforcement voted with all Democrats to approve the motion offered by Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania) on Wednesday.

The move now forces Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) to issue the subpoena, one day after another subcommittee approved issuing a subpoena for Ghislaine Maxwell’s testimony. Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and a convicted child sex offender, is expected to be deposed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee on Aug. 11.

The latest subpoena is the first action a GOP-led Congress has taken to force the Trump administration to release the Epstein files, days after President Donald Trump lambasted those seeking transparency on the matter as “stupid Republicans” for believing the “hoax.”

In retaliation, Republicans approved a motion for Comer to also subpoena testimony from many former federal officials Trump and his MAGA base consider foes. Those officials include former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former FBI directors James B. Comey and Robert S. Mueller III — who investigated Trump during his first administration — former attorneys general Merrick Garland, Loretta E. Lynch, Eric Holder, William P. Barr, Alberto Gonzales and Jeff Sessions.

Subpoenas also were approved to collect any communications that shed light on what former president Joe Biden and his administration knew about the Epstein files.

By: Marianna Sotomayor

7:47 PM: Trump administration reaches deal with Columbia University

Columbia University and the Trump administration have agreed to resolve a dispute over federal funding, people with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday evening.

For months, Columbia has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. It was the first to be singled out in the administration’s push to compel universities to adopt its agenda on issues including antisemitism and diversity initiatives.

By: Susan Svrluga and Emily Davies

7:44 PM: Judges order Abrego García’s release in Tennessee, return to Maryland

House Oversight subcommittee takes step to subpoena Justice Dept. for Epstein files

A federal judge in Tennessee on Wednesday ordered that Kilmar Abrego García be released from criminal detention as he awaits trial on human smuggling charges, while a federal judge in Maryland ordered that the Salvadoran migrant be returned to that state and placed under the same supervision that existed before he was wrongly deported in March.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland barred immigration authorities from taking Abrego into custody upon his release in Tennessee and ordered that the Trump administration give him at least three days’ notice if it moves to deport him to a country other than El Salvador, which administration officials have said they could do.

By: Steve Thompson

7:23 PM: White House escalates attack on Obama, relitigating 2016 grievances

The White House on Wednesday escalated its effort to portray former president Barack Obama and members of his administration as part of a vast “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine President Donald Trump, sending its top intelligence official to the White House podium to assert that they should be investigated for criminal wrongdoing.

“This is not about Democrats or Republicans. This has to do with the integrity of our democratic republic and American voters,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during an unusual appearance in the press briefing room.

By: Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Warren P. Strobel

6:33 PM: Social Security commissioner agrees to audit of phone line data, Sen. Warren says

Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano agreed to an independent audit of the reported wait times and backlog numbers by the agency’s inspector general’s office in a meeting Wednesday with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts).

Warren, who has launched a war room to respond to changes at the agency, said there have been disputes over the numbers that the agency has shared, and she asked the commissioner to publicly share more of the customer service metrics and request an audit from the IG office. The agency confirmed Bisignano had agreed to Warren’s request. The scope and timing of the audit has not yet been worked out. Warren said she would be following up with the commissioner to request a speedy response to her queries.

“More accurate data is absolutely essential to oversight, to holding the Social Security Administration accountable for the job they are required by law to do,” Warren told reporters after the meeting. “We can’t just have them say, ‘Oh yeah, we did fine.’ We actually need to see the numbers.”

The agency had stopped reporting certain customer service metrics publicly after cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service had brought new concerns about the agency’s already struggling customer service system. Warren and other Democrats have urged Bisignano to bring back the public metrics and provide more information about the numbers the agency shares.

The agency has reported a drop in the average speed to answer on its main phone line, which does not account for how long people wait for a call back. That figure has also improved as more people receive AI responses to their calls.

Agency spokesperson Barton Mackey told The Post that the meeting was “productive” and Bisignano had “presented improved customer service metrics that are currently being realized on the phone, in field offices, and online.”

By: Meryl Kornfield

5:57 PM: Analysis from Dylan Wells, Campaign reporter

President Donald Trump said “we’re getting along very well with China” and that he has “a lot of respect for President Xi [Jinping].”

“We have a great relationship and we’ll see how it all works out. But we’re getting along with countries very — it’s really been pretty amazing,” Trump added, speaking at an AI summit in Washington. Trump on Tuesday teased that a potential trip to China is “not too distant.”

5:52 PM: Analysis from Cat Zakrzewski, Cat Zakrzewski covers the White House. Send her secure tips on Signal at cqz.17

President Donald Trump compared the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry to a baby.

“We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive,” he said at an AI summit in Washington. “We can’t stop it.”

5:51 PM: Analysis from Will Oremus, Technology news analysis writer; send him secure tips on Signal at willoremus.24

President Donald Trump called for a “common sense” approach to AI and intellectual property that would give tech companies leeway to train their AI models on copyrighted works. He said requiring U.S. tech firms to pay every creator would hurt their ability to compete with Chinese firms.

5:38 PM: Analysis from Cat Zakrzewski, Cat Zakrzewski covers the White House. Send her secure tips on Signal at cqz.17

5:29 PM: Analysis from Cat Zakrzewski, Cat Zakrzewski covers the White House. Send her secure tips on Signal at cqz.17

President Donald Trump kicked off his speech at an AI summit by acknowledging the “brain power” in the room. Top tech executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and the hosts of the “All-In” podcast, are seated in the front row.

5:02 PM: Supreme Court allows Trump to remove consumer product safety regulators

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission compliance investigator Stephen Gardner inspects a toy that arrived in a shipment from China, at an evaluation station in 2010. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer opened the box. (Photo by Ann Johansson/Corbis/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to remove the Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, allowing the administration to continue to seize control of the federal bureaucracy while litigation continues in the lower courts.

The Trump administration asked the justices to allow the president to remove three of the five members of the commission that regulates the safety of everyday consumer products, such as strollers and bicycles, and coordinates product safety recalls.

By: Ann E. Marimow and Justin Jouvenal

4:35 PM: Kari Lake moves to consolidate her power to dismantle Voice of America

Kari Lake has become the Trump administration’s point person for dismantling the Voice of America, which broadcasts pro-democracy news abroad.

Kari Lake, the Arizona Republican politician tasked with overseeing the Trump administration’s dismantling of Voice of America, has taken new steps to consolidate power at the agency.

On Tuesday, Lake locked Victor Morales — the acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA’s parent agency — out of his email and electronic systems, several people with knowledge of the decision told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. And according to a new court filing, Lake has ordered VOA Director Michael Abramowitz, who has been on administrative leave since March and is a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against her, to accept a new position in Greenville, North Carolina — or be fired.

By: Scott Nover

3:51 PM: House Oversight chair says he’s issued subpoena for Maxwell testimony

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Kentucky) said he issued a subpoena to hear testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and other offenses.

The deposition is scheduled to take place at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee on Aug. 11, according to a social media post from Comer.

The subpoena comes at a time when Republicans are experiencing relentless criticism from their base for not moving swiftly enough on releasing files related to Epstein.

Earlier this week, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) made a motion during a subcommittee hearing to subpoena Maxwell. The motion was agreed to unanimously.

By: Kadia Goba

3:44 PM: Gabbard sidesteps question on weaponizing intelligence

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters on Wednesday.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has said she wants to end what she called the weaponization of intelligence, sidestepped a question at Tuesday’s briefing about whether referring alleged evidence to the Justice Department to investigate former president Barack Obama and his administration were examples of weaponization.

“I think that’s a very disrespectful attack on the American people, who deserve the truth,” Gabbard said, accusing Obama of manufacturing a “fake intelligence document.”

The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, reported Tuesday that the conclusions Gabbard is drawing are based on much thinner evidence than several previous investigations into Russia’s actions surrounding the 2016 election.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also chimed in after Gabbard spoke to wave off criticism of weaponization, and suggested the FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home (which was initiated because of Trump’s unlawful retention of classified documents) and his court appearances in New York (for cases related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels) were unjustified.

“When the former president of the United States, Donald Trump’s home, was raided, when he was forced to sit in a Manhattan courtroom in many other courtrooms across the country for crimes he never committed when he was, when he was impeached and indicted, and the entire country witnessed that. That’s the weaponization of justice,” Leavitt said.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term, once related to attempts to withhold military aid to Ukraine and pressure its government to investigate Joe Biden and the second for inciting the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate acquitted him in both impeachment trials.

By: Brianna Tucker

3:09 PM: Heading home, Democrats seek to exploit GOP divisions on Epstein files

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), center, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) at the unveiling of a statue of Johnny Cash on Capitol Hill on Sept. 24.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Democrats have been struggling to find a message that breaks through in the era of Donald Trump. Now, they have found one that has long been a rallying cry for the MAGA base: Release the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

With the House set to go home Wednesday for the August recess, Democrats intend to continue hammering their Republican colleagues on Epstein.

By: Marianna Sotomayor and Kadia Goba

3:07 PM: Trump administration improperly withheld Head Start money, GAO says

Children play in 2023 in a Head Start classroom in Frederick, Maryland.

The Government Accountability Office said Wednesday that the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Act by withholding congressionally appropriated funds to Head Start, the federally funded preschool program for children from low-income families.

The GAO found that between Jan. 20 and April 15, the Department of Health and Human Services distributed about 65 percent of what it had distributed during the same period last year to Head Start grantees — a drop of more than $825 million.

By: Laura Meckler

2:54 PM: Analysis from Dylan Wells, Campaign reporter

Asked at Wednesday’s White House briefing if President Donald Trump supports federal agencies contracting with Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, Leavitt said “I don’t think so. No.”

When questioned if the Defense Department should then cancel its contracts, Leavitt said she would talk to Trump about it.

The department announced earlier this month it would start using xAI’s chatbot Grok as part of a contract award worth up to $200 million.

2:49 PM: Hegseth Signal messages came from email classified ‘SECRET,’ watchdog told

Democrats appear to zero in on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the aftermath of the Signal chat leak.

The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen derived from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” people familiar with the matter said.

The revelation appears to contradict repeated claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach.

By: Dan Lamothe and John Hudson

2:30 PM: Republican at odds with Trump on Haitian migrants gears up for tough reelection

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14.

Republican Rep. Michael Lawler’s suburban New York district is home to one of the largest concentrations of Haitian immigrants in the country. President Donald Trump’s decision to crack down on them has put him in a difficult spot as he gears up for reelection, interviews with local leaders show.

Lawler, a moderate Republican who announced Wednesday that he will seek a third term rather than run for governor, has repeatedly objected to Trump’s move to revoke temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants and his order restricting travel from Haiti, a nation gripped by gang violence, political instability and extreme poverty.

By: Sabrina Rodriguez

2:17 PM: Trump officials accuse Obama of ‘treasonous conspiracy’ from White House podium

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington on July 17.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday repeatedly pushed the Trump administration’s thin claims that former president Barack Obama planned a “treasonous conspiracy” against President Donald Trump.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard later doubled down on the allegations from the podium.

“This is not about Democrats or Republicans. This has to do with the integrity of our Democratic republic and American voters," Gabbard said, before speaking at length detailing what she claimed was a “years-long coup” by Obama-era officials against Trump.

Gabbard said she had referred all of the documents to the Justice Department and FBI for criminal investigation.

Obama’s office issued a rare statement Tuesday dismissing the allegations as “a weak attempt at distraction” from the issues Trump is facing, including growing furor over his administration’s handling of documents in former financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking case.

By: Amy B Wang and Brianna Tucker

2:09 PM: Judge in Florida denies Justice Dept. request to release Epstein transcripts

A federal judge in Florida has denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the investigation of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein in that state.

The department — under increasing pressure from President Donald Trump’s political base — petitioned the court last week to release those closely held records of the testimony of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury. But in a 12-page opinion Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg said that she could not legally do so under guidelines governing grand jury secrecy set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which includes Florida.

By: Jeremy Roebuck

1:47 PM: Speaker Johnson says House Republicans in ‘lockstep’ with Trump on Epstein

House Speaker Mike Johnson talks to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) tried Wednesday to fend off critiques that the controversy surrounding the release of files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has splintered the House Republicans.

Hours before the House was set to adjourn for its five-week recess away from Washington, Johnson said, “House Republicans stand for maximum transparency and truth.”

He argued that unlike Democrats who are trying to expedite a release of the files, House Republicans are “in lockstep with President Trump and his administration” on “pushing for the release of all credible information” without exposing information about Epstein’s victims.

Outrage from the MAGA base over the Trump administration’s initial reversal on making more documents public grew into fierce blowback for House Republicans. Many of them were so angered by Democratic attempts to force Republicans to vote on releasing the files — and in turn, defy Trump’s wishes — that a handful of GOP lawmakers froze House business twice over the past week. The latest protest this week prompted Johnson to decide to adjourn the House by Wednesday evening, one day before the scheduled yearly August recess.

“We will not be lectured on transparency by the same party that orchestrated one of the most shameless, dangerous political cover-ups in the history of the United States, and that was President Biden’s obvious mental decline,” Johnson said, taking aim at Democrats.

Johnson also tried to discredit a bipartisan resolution proposed by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California). House members will be forced to vote on it upon their return in September. Johnson said the resolution contains “legal issues,” but he did not elaborate. If passed by Congress, the measure would require the Justice Department to make all of its Epstein files public.

Johnson also argued that the resolution was irrelevant now that the Justice Department is seeking the release of grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. The House will “evaluate any necessary measures that Congress needs to undertake when that process is completed,” he said.

“There’s no point in having a vote today, because the administration is already doing everything within their power to release them,” Johnson said.

By: Marianna Sotomayor

1:14 PM: Their parents are fired feds. They want senators to listen to them.

Kathleen Borgueta, who used to work at USAID's Global Health Bureau waits, outside the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) last week with her son.

They trickled through security and into the foyer of the federal building with coloring pens and candy, stuffed animals and bouncy balls. Their parents brought snacks, years of public service and stories of how they had been abruptly terminated amid the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce.

There was the 12-year-old who had offered to sell his Pokémon cards to help the family budget. And his 8-year-old sister who said she could do without birthday presents. Their mom lost her job at the Administration for Children and Families and, for months, had been coming to Capitol Hill to try to get lawmakers to listen.

By: Olivia George

12:47 PM: Nearing a deal with Trump, Columbia expels and suspends student protesters

Columbia University disciplined more than 70 students for participating in a May protest of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, the school said Tuesday, days after university officials hoping to cut a deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding attended a meeting at the White House.

The university suspended or expelled more than two-thirds of the students sanctioned in connection with a demonstration at the university’s Butler Library, according to university spokeswoman Millie Wert. Some will have their degrees revoked, while others were put on probation.

By: Justine McDaniel, Susan Svrluga and Emily Davies

12:21 PM: U.S. nuclear and health agencies hit in Microsoft SharePoint breach

The National Institutes of Health in May.

The National Institutes of Health and the federal agency responsible for securing the nation’s nuclear weapons were among the victims in a global breach of Microsoft server software over the weekend, according to agency officials and other people familiar with the matter.

The NIH breach, which has not been previously reported, involved at least one Microsoft SharePoint server system, said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

By: Ellen Nakashima, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Joseph Menn

12:14 PM: GOP Rep. Crane reiterates call for releasing Epstein files during tele-town hall

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Arizona) at a House hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Arizona) reiterated his call for releasing files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case during a tele-town hall Tuesday night after a caller asked where he stands on the issue.

Raised early in the 35-minute call, the question underscored the growing pressure Republicans are feeling on the matter. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) plans to start recess Wednesday, a day earlier than planned, effectively blocking legislation that would reach the House floor this week.

“This is something that I think many of us have been passionate about for a long time,” Crane said on the call. “I mean, let’s, let’s be honest. We’ve got the most notorious pedophile, you know, child trafficker, you know, that just, you know, got busted and ended up, you know, losing his life.”

Crane added that he’s called for years to release the files.

Crane has signed on to the measure put forth by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) that would force the House to vote to release the files sometime in early September when members return to Washington following more than a month of in-district recess.

By: Kadia Goba

11:50 AM: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he is ‘disenchanted’ with Jerome Powell

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is “disenchanted” with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, as President Donald Trump and administration officials attack the central bank for not lowering interest rates.

During an interview with Bloomberg, the Republican from Louisiana was asked about whether he would support Trump firing Powell and said he was unclear on the legal authority to remove the Fed chief from his role.

“But I will tell you that I have been, can I use the word disenchanted?” Johnson said in the interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors.

Johnson also shared that he is open to amending the Federal Reserve Act, which passed in 1913 and established the central banking system and its governing laws.

“There is probably some need to reform, but we would have to study that very carefully before Congress got involved in any way to the extent we have jurisdiction over it. You would not want to do it in a reckless manner,” he said in the interview.

By: Brianna Tucker

11:29 AM: Analysis from Dylan Wells, Campaign reporter

During remarks Wednesday on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) framed the upcoming congressional recess as the “Epstein recess,” citing a decision by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to adjourn a day early rather than deal with a vote related to releasing files in the case of Jeffrey Epstein.

“The ghost of the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein is haunting our Republican colleagues so much so that Speaker Johnson decided to cut bait and send the House home to escape discussions about Epstein instead of doing their jobs like grown-ups,” Schumer said.

11:27 AM: State Department opens new investigation into Harvard’s use of J-1 visas

People walk between buildings on the Harvard University campus on Dec. 17.

The State Department said Wednesday it has opened a new investigation into Harvard University’s eligibility as a sponsor of visas through the Exchange Visitor Program, marking another escalation in the Trump administration’s ongoing battle with the Ivy League institution.

“To maintain their privilege to sponsor exchange visitors, sponsors must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programs in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

“The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,” Rubio added.

The Exchange Visitor Program provides nonimmigrant visas, also known as J-1 visas, for those coming to the United States in various educational and cultural capacities, including as students, professors, au pairs, camp counselors, interns and researchers.

President Donald Trump has targeted Harvard, among other universities, by freezing federal funding and trying to revoke its ability to enroll foreign students as his administration seeks to exert greater control over the private institution to bring it into alignment with its political agenda.

By: Amy B Wang

11:21 AM: Democratic House leaders preview Epstein messaging they’ll use while in recess

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusett) speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

Democratic House leaders offered a preview at a news conference Wednesday of their likely messaging during the upcoming recess on the controversy that has consumed Washington over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“Republicans are running away, all to avoid the release of the Epstein client list, all to cover up for pedophiles in this hollowed-out version of the Republican Party,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) said. “They run out of town to hide sex crimes for the rich and famous.”

Asked if the Epstein fallout might overtake their messaging against President Donald Trump’s tax bill, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said both issues are evidence of the GOP’s focus on their billionaire donors.

“What billionaires, what well-connected donors, what elite people are they trying to protect? Why haven’t Republicans released the Epstein files to the American people? It’s reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing to protect the lifestyles of the rich and shameless, even if that includes pedophiles,” Jeffries argued. “Republicans are focused on their billionaire donors. That was the centerpiece of the one big, ugly bill, and it’s what explains Republican refusal to release the Epstein file.”

By: Dylan Wells

10:44 AM: Protests await Trump’s arrival in Scotland this week

Trump International Golf Links sits among sand dunes on the Scottish coast. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For The Washington Post)

President Donald Trump is used to being trailed by protests wherever he goes in the United States.

He will probably experience the international angle when he travels to his golf courses in Scotland this week.

Officials in Scotland are preparing for raucous protests around Trump’s golf courses in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire when the president visits later this week.

“Activists who oppose the US president will draw a literal — and probably offensive — line in the sand,” reports the Times. “The protesters are hoping to get as close to Trump’s course as possible, hanging banners and flags along the roads and inscribing a huge message on the beach that will be visible from the air. It is not clear what the message will be.”

Trump will meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit, and the White House press secretary told reporters that they will discuss a possible trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom. Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to the United Kingdom again in September for a state visit and meeting with King Charles III at Windsor Castle.

By: Matthew Choi and Dan Merica

10:22 AM: Column: China’s strategy? Let Trump cook.

President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping during the 2019 G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

It’s cringe for an elder millennial to use Gen Z parlance, but there are times when a colloquialism just hits. That’s the case when gauging China’s evolving view of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Beijing sees Trump’s disruptive actions — his gutting of institutions of U.S. soft power, his launching of trade wars, his steady eroding of trust in the U.S. alliance system — as acts of self-sabotage that need no Chinese prompting.

By: Ishaan Tharoor

10:04 AM: Analysis from Amy B Wang, National politics reporter

President Donald Trump is once again attacking Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell for not lowering interest rates, a day after suggesting Powell could serve out his term, which ends in May.

“Families are being hurt because Interest Rates are too high, and even our Country is having to pay a higher Rate than it should be because of ‘Too Late,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform, using his derisive nickname for Powell.

9:50 AM: Silicon Valley’s bet on Trump starts to pay off

President Donald Trump speaks about AI infrastructure alongside Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 21, 2025.

Silicon Valley’s risky bet on President Donald Trump is starting to pay dividends.

The White House on Wednesday plans to reveal how it will position the United States to lead a global race to develop artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the American tech sector, according to two people familiar with the rollout who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public.

By: Cat Zakrzewski and Hannah Natanson

9:23 AM: Bound for Beijing, E.U. leaders are in a fix between Trump and Xi

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top leaders are traveling to Beijing for a meeting on Thursday marking 50 years of diplomatic ties with China — relations that at the moment are more a source of stress than celebration.

The relationship has long been strained by trade disputes and China’s support for Russia, its human rights abuses including in Xinjiang and Tibet, repression of democratic freedoms, particularly in Hong Kong, security issues in the South China Sea and alleged tolerance of intellectual property theft.

By: Ellen Francis and Kelly Kasulis Cho

9:01 AM: Liberal group launches billboard campaign urging release of Epstein files

The politics around Jeffrey Epstein may be coming to a roadway near you.

Indivisible, the liberal grassroots organization launched during President Donald Trump’s first term, started a billboard campaign Tuesday urging key House Republicans to back the release of files related to Epstein’s legal cases and death. The billboards target Rep. Virginia Foxx in North Carolina, Rep. Scott Perry in central Pennsylvania, Rep. Derrick Van Orden in southwestern Wisconsin and Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina.

“Republicans in Congress want nothing more than for this issue to quietly disappear. We won’t let that happen,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. “We’re launching these billboards in the heart of their districts to shine a light where they’re desperately trying to keep us in the dark. These billboards will help expose the rot and force accountability from the people who’ve enabled Trump’s agenda at every turn.”

The Indivisible effort highlights how eager Democrats are to keep Epstein in the news. After Republicans pushed Epstein conspiracy theories for years, Attorney General Pam Bondi said this month that there is no Epstein “client list,” despite her earlier suggestion that she had one on her desk.

By: Matthew Choi

8:42 AM: Ukraine’s top commander asks Trump to help take the war to Russia

Oleksandr Syrsky, commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, in Kyiv on Saturday.

KYIV — Ukraine urgently needs the United States and Europe to transfer more air defense systems and missiles to Kyiv, Ukraine’s commander in chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky said in an interview with The Washington Post — and without a Biden-era ban on deep strikes against Russian military targets.

Syrsky’s call for ramped-up support comes amid a devastating wave of Russian attacks against Ukrainian cities this summer, with Moscow pummeling civilians nightly with ballistic missiles and armed drones.

By: Siobhán O'Grady and Serhii Korolchuk

8:30 AM: EPA drafts rule to strike down landmark climate finding

Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin speaks during a Cabinet meeting on April 30 at the White House.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to rescind a landmark 2009 legal opinion that greenhouse gas emissions put human health at risk, which underpins many of the government’s actions to combat climate change, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision was not yet public.

The “endangerment finding,” which determined that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare, provides the legal justification for regulating them under the Clean Air Act.

By: Jake Spring

8:09 AM: Lawler says he won’t run for New York governor, clearing GOP path for Stefanik

Rep. Michael Lawler (R-New York) has decided to run for reelection in his swing district.

Rep. Michael Lawler (R-New York) said he has decided to run for reelection to the House, forgoing a run for governor and clearing the way for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) to potentially face Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) next year.

“While I fundamentally believe I am best positioned to take on Kathy Hochul and offer New Yorkers a real choice for governor, I have made the decision to run for re-election to the House and continue the important work I’ve been doing over the past two and a half years,” Lawler said in a statement Wednesday.

Stefanik has indicated that she wants to run for governor but has not made a formal announcement. In a statement this week, she criticized Hochul’s record and said she would make an announcement after November.

“As I have previously stated, I am focused on supporting strong Republican local and county candidates on the ballot this November to lay the groundwork with a strong team for next year,” she said. “I will make a final decision and announcement after this year’s November election which we are all focused on.”

Lawler, one of the few House Republicans to represent a swing district that then-Vice President Kamala Harris won in November, now enters a fraught campaign to hang onto his seat. Several Democrats are running to try to unseat him.

In a Wednesday morning interview on Fox News, Lawler cited his ability to prevail in such a competitive district as one of the reasons he decided to seek reelection.

“My seat was determinative of [GOP] control of the House back in 2022 and again in 2024," Lawler said on “Fox & Friends.” “I’m one of only three Republicans that won a seat that Kamala Harris also won. Keeping the House majority is critical if we are going to move this economy in the right direction.”

Hochul, meanwhile, has criticized Lawler for his vote on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and immigration legislation, which included historic cuts to Medicaid.

“This is the same Mike Lawler who caved to Trump the minute he asked to rip away New Yorkers’ health care. Of course he doesn’t have the spine to face me,” Hochul said in a statement.

By: Amy B Wang and Kadia Goba

7:56 AM: Tariffs hit U.S. companies hard, but businesses absorb them for now

General Motors expects that tariffs will reduce its annual profit $4 billion to $5 billion this year.

The Trump administration’s tariffs are hitting companies that do business in the United States. But prices haven’t reflected them yet in many cases.

In earnings reports, multiple companies on Monday and Tuesday blamed tariffs for hurting their bottom lines, including automakers General Motors and Stellantis.

By: Margot Amouyal and Shannon Najmabadi

7:36 AM: Analysis: Why you probably don’t live in a competitive congressional district

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) speaks at her campaign headquarters in front of a map of competitive congressional races.

Odds are, you do not live in a competitive House district.

According to the Cook Political Report, 365 of the 435 House districts are “solidly” Republican or Democratic. The National Republican Congressional Committee has only 18 members of 219 on its “Patriot” program for vulnerable incumbents, plus two vulnerable open seats. Democrats have 26 members of its 212 in its equivalent Frontline program. Cook ranks only 18 seats to be true toss-ups.

By: Matthew Choi and Dan Merica

7:16 AM: Trump’s norm-breaking closeness to DOJ helped fuel Epstein furor

President Donald Trump, flanked by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington on June 27.

President Donald Trump made it clear from the first days of his second term: The traditional distance between the White House and Justice Department that was intended to keep politics out of law enforcement would be no more.

He signaled in speeches that he would work closely with his law enforcement leaders to carry out his campaign promises to shake up the justice system.

By: Perry Stein

6:29 AM: Obama’s office: Trump administration’s treason claims are a ‘distraction’

Former president Barack Obama arrives at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20.

Former president Barack Obama’s office issued a rare admonishment Tuesday of the Trump administration’s claims that Obama administration officials planned a “treasonous conspiracy” aimed at the current commander in chief, calling the allegations “a weak attempt at distraction.”

On Friday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — whose position has traditionally been apolitical — released declassified documents that she said show Obama and his national security team “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.”

By: Maegan Vazquez, Warren P. Strobel and Sabrina Rodriguez

6:15 AM: Trump says U.S. has a deal with Japan to lower proposed tariffs

President Donald Trump gives a speech at a reception for Republican members of Congress in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has clinched a trade deal with Japan, reducing the tariffs he had planned to impose on goods from a major trading partner as his deadline for negotiations nears.

Trump posted on his Truth Social social media site Tuesday evening that he would impose a 15 percent duty on Japanese imports, down from the 25 percent he threatened earlier this month.

By: Jacob Bogage, David J. Lynch, Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Rebecca Tan

6:00 AM: Judges’ move to oust Trump U.S. attorney pick Habba triggers a showdown

President Donald Trump shakes hands with interim U.S. Attorney in New Jersey Alina Habba in the Oval Office of the White House on March 28, 2025.

Federal judges in New Jersey declined Tuesday to appoint Alina Habba, President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney in the state, to continue serving in that role, delivering a resounding rebuke to one of his administration’s most polarizing Justice Department appointees and teeing up a showdown over who would lead the office.

A panel of the state’s U.S. district court judges made the announcement in a brief order that did not offer any explanation for its decision.

By: Jeremy Roebuck