Agriculture secretary commits to ‘waiving red tape’ to allow ranchers to process and sell their own beef
Brooke Rollins, the president’s agriculture secretary said there would be “big announcements” next week in order to facilitate Donald Trump’s pledge to allow ranchers and farmers the ability to process their own food and avoid the “nasty monopoly” of large processing plants.
Rollins said it was a “matter of national security” that the US is able to “feed and fuel ourselves”. She outlined that her department would waive “red tape in processing” and expand ranchers ability to “sell across state lines”, as well as other measures.
The agriculture secretary previously defended the president’s decision to pause higher tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef.
Earlier this week she called the move “a very short-term fix” to “get lower cost beef on to American plates” in an interview with Spectrum News. However, Rollins admitted that she did not know where the beef would be imported from. “I am actually not part of any of those conversations, so I am not sure what that looks like. I think we’ll know very soon,” she said.
Key events
Hegseth considering summoning top military officials to Quantico for second time – report
Keely Aouga
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is considering inviting senior military personnel back for an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico this year, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Last September, Hegseth summoned military commanders to Quantico, where he delivered an astonishing keynote speech addressing a department-wide initiative to reform its so-called “woke” narrative.
“We became ‘the woke department’,” Hegseth said last year. “Not any more. We’re done with that shit.”
Among the many targets Hegseth attacked in his speech, he declared the end of “race- and gender-based promotions”, fat-shamed US troops and told them they couldn’t have beards, and said that if women could pass his “highest male standard” physical tests, “excellent. If not, it is what it is.”
A conservative strategist called for ‘getting rid of Trump’ three years ago. Could he be his next press secretary?
Jeremy Barr
In 2016, a month before the presidential election that Donald Trump would win, the longtime Republican strategist Scott Jennings described him as “a vulgar, crude, braggadocious, desperate-to-impress playboy who tends to view most everything through a sexual lens”.
After Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Jennings excoriated Trump’s conduct during the January 6 Capitol insurrection, saying he “clearly violated his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution to the best of [his] ability”.
When Trump was in the political wilderness in 2022, Jennings said the party “[needs] a new nominee”, later encouraging the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, to launch a primary challenge. “There’s only one strategy for getting rid of Trump: it’s to beat his ass,” he said the following year.
So why exactly is the 48-year-old conservative TV pundit being considered “an early favorite” to serve as Trump’s top spokesperson, replacing the departing Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary?
The answer can be traced to Jennings’s virtuosic ability to pivot (or shape-shift, as some critics might suggest) to land on the right political side.
As soon as it became clear that Trump would in fact win the Republican nomination, in early 2024, Jennings became a bigger supporter than ever. And over the last few years, Jennings has emerged as a star in his own right: CNN’s in-house Maga gladiator who is always game to appear on television and beat up any liberals that challenge him.
Highlighting his transformation, Jennings appeared onstage with Trump in 2025, telling a rally crowd: “Michigan, we were flying in here today and I said: ‘Look at these farms. I got to get a farm in Michigan, because when you own as many libs as I do, you gotta [get] a place to put them all.”
Jennings’s bombastic performances have made him a target of hatred for Democrats but won him praise – and, most importantly, attention – from conservatives, including those in Trump’s circles, even as the president still reportedly holds some reservations about picking him as press secretary.
Read Jeremy’s full analysis here:
Treasury department proposes revoking Iran’s access to UAE banks
Keely Aouga
The treasury department has proposed a rule that would revoke Iran’s access to UAE banks with ties to US financial institutions.
In a statement released today, treasury secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the US’s goal to cut Iran’s economic lifeline, under so-called Operation Economic Outcast.
“Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime,” said Bessent.
“We also warned that Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy access to the US dollar and the global financial system. Banque Misr UAE decided to find out the hard way, and today, we are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime,” he added.
According to the department, the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypts second-largest bank, play a critical role in Iran’s access to US dollars.
The treasury estimates that between January 2024 and June 2026, Banque Misr UAE processed approximately $1.8bn for 103 companies that are potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks.
The Central Bank of Egypt confirmed that the rule does not affect any other Egyptian bank, according to a statement obtained by the Associated Press. Similarly, it does not extend to the Banque Misr’s operations inside Egypt or to any of its overseas branches.
The sanctions come as Trump’s war against Iran passes surpasses its six-month mark, with no formal negotiations currently taking place.
Trump posts update claiming Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool will open ‘in a few weeks’
This morning, Donald Trump posted an update on his botched – and never-ending – renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool (which has now cost over $16m), quoting a message he received from an interior department official alleging that it was “coming out great!” and would be open in a few weeks.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump quoted Greg Wischer as saying: “I visited the Reflecting Pool this morning, and pictures are included below of the pool reflecting and the American Flag Blue color.”
Wischer, according to Trump’s post, added: “Will be opening in a few weeks. Will be a beauty. NO VANDALS PLEASE.”
He also apparently said that the pool has been partially refilled so that National Park Service staff and contractors can flush its piping system. “After years of neglect by previous administrations, more than half of the 58 water supply ports were so clogged that they were deemed nonfunctioning. This work is ongoing,” Trump’s post quotes Wischer as saying.
Though Trump said that the message and the pictures were from this morning, as far as we can tell, the partial refilling of the pool referred to in the message was carried out two weeks ago, on Friday 7 August.
Indeed, pictures of the pool from this morning, when a March on Washington rally took place, show it very much empty again. Workers have been trying to patch up the sealant which is still peeling off.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the pool was “vandalized”, but a recent filing from US attorney Jeanine Pirro – an ally of the president – said the damage was caused by a “botched installation” from a contractor rather than vandalism. Trump has doubled down on his vandals claims nonetheless.
If you’re keen for more on this, my colleague Edward Helmore has this timeline of the saga.
Federal judge denies Trump’s third bid to move hush money case to federal court
Keely Aouga
A federal judge has denied Donald Trump’s attempt to erase his hush-money conviction in New York again.
Judge Alvin K Hellerstein rejected the president’s third bid to move the state court case to federal court and have it dismissed on presidential immunity grounds.
Hellerstein said in a ruling that the reasons Trump cited for renewing his request were “neither new nor legally sufficient’”.
Trump’s initial requested to transfer the case before trial was denied in July 2023. In September 2024, following Trump’s conviction, Hellerstein denied Trump’s bid again.
As we reported earlier, Fed chair Kevin Warsh indicated today that the US Federal Reserve is not done fighting high inflation, emphasizing, in his first major speech in the role, that it was “the Fed’s job to deliver stable prices”.
Warsh didn’t indicate where the Fed will take interest rates in the coming months, despite US inflation remaining stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target amid Donald Trump’s war against Iran. But his speech was taken by markets as a signal that rates may rise in the coming months, a move that may put him at odds with the president, who has aggressively called for rates to be cut.
My colleague Gaya Gupta has the story:
Trump announces he will sign an order to create a US Space Academy
In his remarks, Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order to create a US Space Academy, a new institution modeled on West Point and other top US military service academies.
“It’s clear that we need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, civil operators,” Trump said during a visit to Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, “and that’s why in a few moments we’re going to get an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy. It’s called the US Space Academy.”
He went on:
You think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy, and you think of the Coast Guard Academies. Great, they’re all great, but we’re going to have now the Space Force. We’re going to have an academy for what the people in this room love the most.
The president added: “A nation cannot be first on Earth if we’re going to be second in space. Just not going to happen. Somehow, it just doesn’t work that way.”
Trump also said Nasa has begun work on what he called the first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft, which he said was expected to launch on a mission to Mars in 2028. He said the vessel could be the first in a larger US fleet aimed at making space travel more routine.
Donald Trump is in Houston, Texas, today. He is about to present the four Nasa Artemis II crew members with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
We’ll bring you the latest lines.
Melody Schreiber
Anti-vaccine activists are trying to track down the families of two people, including at least one newborn, who died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania, as Governor Josh Shapiro tangles with Robert F Kennedy Jr over his “inaccurate and misleading claims”.
Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), suggested late on Wednesday that the deaths in the state may have been “fabricated” after a Republican coroner – an elected political office in Lancaster county – claimed one of the measles-associated deaths was unrelated to the virus, although the given cause would be consistent with measles.
Brian Hooker at Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization that until recently was led by Kennedy, said in a recent video that the organization is “trying to get boots on the ground” and “do outreach” in Pennsylvania.
Kennedy is “an anti-vaccine activist in the role of the most powerful public health person in this country”, said Paul Offit, an infectious diseases physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s like the world’s turned upside down.”
It would be helpful to know the deceased patients’ ages and more information about their deaths, he added. “By not having that information, it allows fertile ground for the kind of conspiracy theory that RFK Jr puts out there, where he said in some posts that these weren’t measles deaths.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a Thursday post on X that it was “working to determine what actually occurred”, including “whether the two reported deaths were caused by measles”. The HHS did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about whether Kennedy recommends the vaccine or whether the newly confirmed CDC director, Erica Schwartz, would make a statement about the outbreak and the need for vaccination.
Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, pushed back on the president’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.
“The Great Lakes are Great Lakes, and we should leave them that way,” Tiffany, who currently serves as a congressman and was endorsed by Donald Trump in his gubernatorial race, said at a campaign event in Green Bay.
A reminder that on Wednesday Trump signed an order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, making it Lake America, amid his escalating trade war with Canada. However, Trump has no authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake, nor to compel Canada, international legal bodies, international mapmakers or the rest of the world to adopt a new name.
Over the weekend, negotiations between Washington and Ottawa collapsed and the US imposed a 50% tariff on several Canadian imports, with Trump threatening another round of 50% duties on Canadian steel, trucks, cars and auto parts to take effect in the new year. Carney hit back with 25-50% tariffs on hundreds of US goods.
Trump to forego visit to ground zero for 25th anniversary of 9/11 – report
Donald Trump will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks by delivering remarks at the Pentagon instead of visiting ground zero, according to a report by CNN.
Citing two unnamed sources briefed on the plan, CNN reports that the president is not attending the ceremony at the World Trade Center, in part, because he wants to speak on the occasion, and there is a longstanding policy that politicians are not permitted to speak at the anniversary event in New York.
Trump will be at the Pentagon, which was the site of another attack on the same day, while vice-president JD Vance will attend the memorial in Manhattan, according to CNN’s sources.
Ed Pilkington
Autism groups and researchers have reacted with alarm to a federal research roadmap drawn up by advisers handpicked by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, fearing it will promote unproven fringe therapies at the expense of promising genetic research.
A slew of scientific bodies and groups within the autism community are warning that the 336-page plan risks deflecting federal dollars away from potentially groundbreaking genetic research in favor of unreliable alternative therapies.
There is little or no evidence, they say, that many of the proposed treatments work, or that they even fit the definition of autism.
“So much of the plan is fringe science that is absolutely not ready for prime time,” said Helen Tager-Flusberg, an emeritus professor at Boston University and founder of the Coalition of Autism Scientists.
Alliances of autistic people are especially worried that the plan could make it easier for them to be sent to institutions. The plan calls for government agencies to try out “supported-living models” such as “farmstead or campus-based communities”, which the groups fear could revive forms of institutional confinement.
The strategic plan is the work of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a body that for 25 years has advised US health secretaries on federal efforts related to autism.
In January, Kennedy overhauled the panel, replacing prominent experts with several anti-vaccine advocates who have promoted dangerous remedies for autism including the heavy-metal removal process known as “chelation therapy” and the use of industrial bleach.
The strategic plan completed its public consultation last week, inviting comments from the autism community, researchers and clinicians. Those comments will now be considered before a final version is crafted.
Warsh says Fed will have ‘work to do’ on high inflation unless prices ease
Kevin Warsh has warned that there are concerning signs that US inflation is running too high, meaning the Federal Reserve may have “work to do” unless price pressures ease.
In his speech to the Jackson Hole symposium today, the chair of the Federal Reserve pointed to signs that some prices are rising rather faser than the central bank’s 2% target.
Warsh indicated that he is more concerned about inflation, than the labor market, declaring that “the Fed’s predominant focus right now should be on prices.”
My colleagues are covering the latest here:
Agriculture secretary commits to ‘waiving red tape’ to allow ranchers to process and sell their own beef
Brooke Rollins, the president’s agriculture secretary said there would be “big announcements” next week in order to facilitate Donald Trump’s pledge to allow ranchers and farmers the ability to process their own food and avoid the “nasty monopoly” of large processing plants.
Rollins said it was a “matter of national security” that the US is able to “feed and fuel ourselves”. She outlined that her department would waive “red tape in processing” and expand ranchers ability to “sell across state lines”, as well as other measures.
The agriculture secretary previously defended the president’s decision to pause higher tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef.
Earlier this week she called the move “a very short-term fix” to “get lower cost beef on to American plates” in an interview with Spectrum News. However, Rollins admitted that she did not know where the beef would be imported from. “I am actually not part of any of those conversations, so I am not sure what that looks like. I think we’ll know very soon,” she said.
