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President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule would rescind a 2009 declaration that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. This “endangerment finding” is the legal underpinning of many climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

In a rare public outburst on the floor Tuesday, the senator from New Jersey took his Democratic colleagues to task, declaring his party “needs a wake-up call!”

Angrily screaming at two of his shocked Democratic colleagues, Booker blocked the passage of several bipartisan bills that would fund police programs, arguing that the Trump administration has been withholding law enforcement money from Democratic-leaning states.

“This is the problem with Democrats in America right now,” Booker bellowed. “Is we’re willing to be complicit with Donald Trump!”

The surprise Senate spat over bills that have broad bipartisan support — mental health resources and other help for police officers — strikes at the heart of the beleaguered Democratic party’s dilemma in the second Trump era: Do they cooperate where they can, or do they fight everything and shut down governance in the process?

▶ Read more about Booker and Democrats

Retailers rushing to stock up before expected tariffs has boosted activity at the port. The Georgia Ports Authority reported Tuesday that the port moved 5.7 million container units in the 2025 fiscal year, an 8.6% increase over the previous year.

The surge is partly due to the president’s promises to enact heavy tariffs on U.S. trading partners. However June saw a drop in container volumes amid ongoing uncertainty.

Other major U.S. ports also saw gains. The Port of Los Angeles reported its busiest June ever, while the Port of New York and New Jersey saw a 6.5% increase in container volumes from January through May.

▶ Read more about port activity and tariff uncertainty

FILE — Attorney Emil Bove sits on the day of a sentencing hearing in the criminal case in which President-elect Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, outside of New York Criminal Court in Manhattan in New York City, Jan. 10, 2025. (Brendan McDermid, Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Senate confirmed Bove 50-49 for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge Tuesday as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department.

A former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Bove was on Trump’s legal team during his New York hush money trial and defended Trump in the two federal criminal cases. He will serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Democrats vehemently opposed Bove’s nomination, citing his current position as a top Justice Department official and his role in the dismissal of the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

They also criticized his efforts to investigate department officials who were involved in the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In its push to remove transgender athletes from Olympic sports, the administration provided the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee a detailed legal brief on how such a move would not conflict with the Ted Stevens Act, the landmark 1978 federal statute governing the Olympic movement.

That gave the USOPC the cover it needed to quietly change its policy, though the protection offers no guarantee the new policy won’t be challenged in court.

Olympic legal expert Jill Pilgrim called the Trump guidance “a well thought-out, well-reasoned set of arguments for people who want to look at it from that perspective.”

“But I’d be pretty shocked if this doesn’t get challenged if there is, somewhere along the line, a trans athlete who’s in contention for an Olympic team or world championship and gets excluded,” said Pilgrim, who has experience litigating eligibility rules for the Olympics and is a former general counsel for USA Track and Field.

▶ Read more about the USOPC and the administration

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by more than 20 mostly Democratic-led states targets the administration’s efforts to cut Medicaid payments to the nation’s largest abortion provider.

The move comes in response to the package of tax breaks and spending cuts Trump signed this month. Part of the cuts focus on services such as cancer screenings and tests, birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted infections by ending Medicaid reimbursements for a year for major providers of family planning services.

The cuts apply to groups that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit say the provision’s language is unclear about which groups it applies to and it unconstitutionally retaliates against Planned Parenthood for advocating for abortion access.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which is named as a defendant, defended the provision.

“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care,” spokesperson Andrew G. Nixon said via email.

The Taiwanese government has called off the proposed stopover by President Lai Ching-te on his way to Latin America, The Associated Press has learned, a decision leading to conflicting accounts of the reason for the cancellation.

The cancellation is certain to hand a major diplomatic victory to Beijing and has drawn concerns from experts that the White House is setting a bad precedent for U.S.-China relations.

▶ Read more about the cancelation

FILE — Proctor & Gamble headquarters complex is seen in downtown Cincinnati, Thursday, July 9, 2015. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble offered an annual earnings outlook that was below analysts’ projections and said it would raise prices on about a quarter of its products in the U.S. in part due to higher costs from the president’s tariffs.

The assessment delivered Tuesday came a day after the Cincinnati-based maker of such products as Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper named current COO Shailesh Jejurikar as its next president and CEO.

The price increases, implemented starting next month, will be in the mid-single-digit percentages and will also be combined with improved features, CFO Andre Schulten told reporters on a call.

P&G said in April that it was doing whatever it could to reduce higher costs from tariffs, from shifting sourcing to changing formulation to avoid duties. Schulten said then that the company still would likely have to pass on higher costs to consumers as early as July.

P&G estimates that tariffs will increase its costs by about $1 billion before tax for fiscal 2026.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the university violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters to block their access to classes and other areas on campus in 2024.

The settlement comes nearly a year after a preliminary injunction was issued, marking the first time a U.S. judge ruled against a university over the handling of campus demonstrations against Israel and the war in Gaza.

UCLA argued that it had no legal responsibility because protesters, not it, blocked Jewish students’ access. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps.

But U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi disagreed and ordered UCLA to create a plan to protect Jewish students on campus. The University of California, one of the nation’s largest public university systems, has since created systemwide campus guidelines on protests.

The Trump administration joined the lawsuit in March as it opened new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at multiple campuses.

FILE — A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent looks on during a protest outside the Federal Building on June 13, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij, file)

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to direct county counsel to draft an ordinance barring officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks, with limited exceptions such as for medical protection or during undercover operations. Officers would also be required to visibly display identification and agency affiliation while out in public.

It is a response to recent immigration raids in which some federal agents refused to identify themselves or covered their faces.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, who co-authored the motion, said the raids under the Trump administration have sparked fear and residents have a right to know who is stopping, questioning or detaining them.

Hahn conceded that it is unclear if the county will be able to enforce the law when it comes to actions by ICE and other federal agencies.

Administration officials have defended the use of masks, saying immigration agents have faced harassment as they have gone about enforcement. They say agents are hiding their identities for their safety to avoid things like death threats and having their personal information made public.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a television interview at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters Tuesday that they plan to vote in favor of confirming Waltz.

His nomination cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month, and his path to final confirmation now appears smoother with the support of two Republicans who previously opposed some of the president’s nominations.

Waltz was ousted as Trump’s national security adviser in May after he mistakenly added a journalist to a private Signal chat used to discuss sensitive military plans.

The president said he wants to end what he called the “‘Blue Slip’ SCAM” under which home-state senators weigh in on judicial and U.S. attorney nominations, something that carries significant weight for whether they proceed.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Democratic senators are using the tradition of stating their opinions of potential nominees to stop him from getting the federal judiciary he wants.

He criticized the Senate Judiciary chairman, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, for preserving the practice.

Trump said as a result of the “custom” only Democrats or “a weak and ineffective Republican” can get nominated. He called on Grassley to have the “Courage” to end it.

FILE — Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arrives to testify before the Senate HELP Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

Monarez, 50, was named acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after the president abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.

The Atlanta-based federal agency, which is tasked with tracking diseases and responding to health threats, has been hit by widespread staff cuts, key resignations and heated controversy over longstanding CDC vaccine policies upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

With Tuesday’s vote, Monarez becomes the first CDC director to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law.

Mexican national Paola Clouatre was released following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs the president’s hard-line immigration crackdown.

Clouatre is one of tens of thousands of people who have been detained as the Trump administration presses immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Emails reviewed by AP show that Kennedy’s office said Friday that it put in a request for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with husband Adrian Clouatre and their two young children.

Kennedy’s constituent services representative congratulated Adrian Clouatre on his wife’s release and thanked him for his military service.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously it has said it considered Clouatre to be in the country illegally.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks after a town-hall style meeting, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Acworth, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

The U.S. representative and staunch Trump ally announced that she will not seek the office next year, putting an end to her flirtation with the race.

In a long social media post, Greene said she is turned off by a political “good ole boy” system and alleged that it is endangering Republican control of the state.

Greene chose earlier not to run for Senate under pressure from Republicans who feared she would hand a second term to Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.

But she told reporters she might instead run for governor during a June appearance at the Georgia Republican Party convention in Dalton, where she wore a “Make Georgia Great Again” hat and discussed state issues.

Greene said Tuesday that she would focus on the northwest Georgia congressional seat that she has held since 2020 but left open the door for a future campaign. One day she may run, she said, “but it won’t be in 2026.”

Legal groups sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday, claiming it is unlawfully refusing to enforce federal workplace protections for transgender workers.

Led by Acting Chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, the agency charged with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination has moved swiftly to comply with the president’s executive order declaring two unchangeable sexes. The EEOC has dropped several lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers, stalled progress on some cases and subjected others to heightened scrutiny.

The lawsuit also says the agency halted payments to state and local civil rights agencies for investigating gender identity discrimination claims.

“The Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to erase protections for transgender people is cruel, and a violation of the law and the Constitution,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which alongside the National Women’s Law Center brought the case on behalf of Maryland LGBTQ+ advocacy group FreeState Justice.

The EEOC referred questions to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Senate is set to vote as soon as Tuesday evening to confirm former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge despite vocal Democratic opposition and a new whistleblower complaint against him.

The whistleblower provided Congress with an audio recording of Bove that runs contrary to some of his testimony at his confirmation hearing last month, according to two people familiar with the recording. The audio is from a private video conference call at the Department of Justice in February in which Bove, a top official at the department, discussed his handling of the dismissed corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to transcribed quotes from the audio reviewed by AP.

The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the whistleblower has not made the recording public. The whistleblower’s claims were first reported by the Washington Post.

▶ Read more about the confirmation vote

The president said Tuesday that the disgraced financier “stole” the women who worked for the spa at Mar-a-Lago, the latest evolution in his description of how their highly scrutinized relationship ended years ago.

One of the women, he acknowledged, was Giuffre, who was among Epstein’s most well-known sex trafficking accusers.

Trump’s comments expanded on remarks a day earlier when he said he banned Epstein from his private club in Florida two decades ago because his onetime friend “stole people that worked for me.” At the time he did not make clear who those workers were.

FILE — Virginia Giuffre, center, holds a news conference outside a Manhattan court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

The president has faced an outcry over his administration’s refusal to release more records about Epstein after promises of transparency, a rare example of strain within his tightly controlled political coalition. Trump has attempted to tamp down questions about the case, expressing annoyance that people are still talking about it six years after Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial, even though some of his own allies have promoted conspiracy theories about it.

▶ Read more about Trump and Epstein

Trump’s statements over the last two days expressing alarm at the unfolding humanitarian situation in Gaza mark a break from his lock-step support for Israel.

They also bring him closer to some in his MAGA base, who have rejected the Republican Party’s longstanding, unequivocal support for Israel. Taylor Greene, for one, now calls what is happening in Gaza “genocide.”

But Greene’s comments do not represent MAGA as a whole. Podcaster Charlie Kirk, who leads the powerful Turning Point network, railed during his Monday show against what he deemed a “propaganda campaign trying to make it seem as if Israel is intentionally starving the people of Gaza.”

His show featured Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, who directs Israel365 Action and talked about what he called the “starvation lie.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said details would be forthcoming and that Trump “wants to alleviate suffering for the people of Gaza because he has a humanitarian heart.”

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce defended Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s work and said Trump would announce new plans once he returns from his trip to Scotland.

“The issue here is getting more food, more access, more everything. That has always been at the top of our list,” Bruce said, declining to discuss specifics at a briefing.

Democrats want a “large-scale expansion” of food and water into Gaza, channeled through established aid organizations. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said he’s “very skeptical” that Trump’s plans will do enough to address starvation among Palestinians.

“Could the U.S. set up food centers? Yes, but what about the World Food Program, Mercy Corps and all the groups have been doing it for decades? Why don’t we allow them to do it?” Kaine told The Associated Press.

China’s top trade official said Tuesday that China and the U.S. agreed to work on extending a deadline for new tariffs beyond the latest deadline of Aug. 12 for a comprehensive trade deal. The U.S. side said extension plans were discussed, but not decided.

Li Chenggang didn’t say how the extension would work. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged that such an extension was discussed, but said the U.S. team would head back to Washington and “talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. side expressed concerns that China is producing goods at a rate beyond what is sustained by global demand, and that China was purchasing Iranian oil and supplying Russia with dual-use tech that could be used on the battlefield.

▶ Read more about the US China trade talks

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., waits for a video interview at the Georgia Republican Convention in Dalton, Ga., Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the Georgia Republican posted on X Monday night. The staunch Trump ally previously called for an end to the war and pushed to cut U.S. defense aide to Israel.

Her statement was aimed at Florida Rep. Randy Fine, who last week dismissed reports that children in Gaza were dying of starvation as “all a lie” and “Muslim terror propaganda.”

“Release the hostages,” Fine wrote. “Until then, starve away.”

Greene said it’s “disgraceful” for “a Jewish U.S. Representative” to be “calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children.”

FILE — People walk between buildings, Dec. 17, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

The Trump administration is pressing for a deal with Harvard University that would require the Ivy League school to pay far more than the $200 million fine agreed to by Columbia University to resolve multiple federal investigations, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Harvard would be expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars as part of any settlement to end investigations into antisemitism at its campus, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Harvard leaders have been negotiating with the White House even as they battle in court to regain access to billions in federal research funding terminated by the Trump administration.

The White House’s desire to get Harvard to pay far more than Columbia was first reported by The New York Times, which said the school has signaled a willingness to pay as much as $500 million.

Harvard did not immediately comment.
▶Read more about Trump and Harvard

The U.S. president has long been angling for a meeting with Xi Jinping, the leader of China, and expects to have one shortly.

“I would say before the end of the year,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. The president said he spoke by phone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the trade meeting in Sweden with Chinese officials.

That meeting resulted in the extension of the 30% tax the U.S. is charging on goods from China and the 10% tariffs that China is levying in retaliation, down significantly from tariff rates that reached triple digits earlier this year.

“He felt very good about the meeting there, better than he felt yesterday,” Trump said of his call with the treasury secretary.

The president says new tariffs intended to isolate the Russian economy will take effect in 10 days, but the president said he hasn’t heard from the Kremlin about it.

“I haven’t had any response. It’s a shame,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pauses, during a video address to commemorate Russian Navy Day at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 27, 2025. (Mihail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Trump said he’s been told he could take his first flight on the new plane as early as February.

Qatar gifted the president a plane earlier this year and the Air Force is converting it to be used as Air Force One. Next generation Air Force One aircraft under development are way behind schedule.

Trump has brushed off ethical concerns about his decision to accept such an expensive gift free of charge from a foreign government.

The president told reporters that his new deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a deal to stop the fighting with Ukraine will be in 10 days.
That gives Putin until Aug. 8 to reach a deal or face steep tariffs or sanctions from the U.S.

Trump had originally given Putin 50 days, but said earlier this week that he was shortening the deadline because he didn’t see any progress being made.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said following two days of talks with China that the U.S. team would head back to Washington and “talk to the president about whether that’s something that he wants to do,” meaning pause changes in tariffs beyond the Aug. 12 deadline.

China’s trade officials earlier said that the two sides agreed to “pushing” for the tariff pause beyond the existing deadline.

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, say they are open to having their client cooperate with Congress but want her to be guaranteed immunity by lawmakers first.

FILE — Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Maxwell’s attorneys also say that any interview with members of the House Oversight Committee should be scheduled only after her petition for the Supreme Court to take up her case has been resolved. Maxwell is serving a long prison sentence in Florida after having been convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. She was questioned at a courthouse last week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued a subpoena for her deposition. In a letter to Comer on Tuesday, Maxwell’s attorneys say that though their “initial reaction” was that Maxwell would invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, they are now looking for ways to cooperate.

“I haven’t heard that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter on Air Force One.

Then he shifted the topic.

“Did you get to see my drive on the first hole?” he said. “Pretty long.”

President Donald Trump waves after the opening ceremony for Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, Scotland Tuesday, July 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A key goal of Trump’s plan to boost artificial intelligence and data centers is wiping away barriers to rapid growth. And that means taking aim at NEPA, a 55-year-old bedrock law that requires agencies to consider a project’s possible environmental impacts and allows public input before approval.

Data centers demand vast amounts of energy and water, arousing strong opposition. The AI Action Plan Trump announced last week would seek to sweep aside NEPA, giving “categorical exclusions” to data centers for “maximum efficiency” in permitting.

“It’s par for the course for this administration. The attitude is to clear the way for projects that harm communities and the environment,” said Erin Doran, senior staff attorney at environmental nonprofit Food & Water Watch.

▶Read more on AI and federal permitting

“As Americans reel from deadly floods and heat waves, the Trump administration is trying to argue that the emissions turbocharging these disasters are not a threat,’’ said Christy Goldfuss, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It boggles the mind and endangers the nation’s safety and welfare.”

Under Zeldin and Trump, “the EPA wants to shirk its responsibility to protect us from climate pollution, but science and the law say otherwise,’’ she added. “If EPA finalizes this illegal and cynical approach, we will see them in court.”

“There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” Zeldin said Tuesday on the “Ruthless” podcast. “They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy.”

The EPA proposal must go through a lengthy review process, including public comment, before it is finalized, likely next year. Environmental groups are likely to challenge the rule change in court.

Coming out of two days of trade talks with the U.S. in Stockholm, Li Chenggang, China’s top trade official, told the press on Tuesday that the two sides agreed to continue the tariff pause after past the Aug. 12 deadline. That means the U.S. will continue to tax Chinese goods at 30%, and the Chinese side will keep taxing U.S. products at 10%.

Li said the two sides had “comprehensive and in-depth” discussions on microeconomic issues and that they agreed to keep close contact and “communicate with each other in a timely manner on trade and economic issues.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to speak with the press soon.

▶Read more on U.S.-China tariffs talks

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announces a special legislative session during a press conference, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at his Capitol office in Jefferson City, Mo.. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe is considering whether to call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional districts. A similar effort is underway in Texas. The goal would be to try to increase Missouri Republicans’ current 6-2 advantage in congressional seats. Staff for Trump and Kehoe have had conversations about redistricting, a Kehoe spokesperson said Tuesday. And Kehoe has expressed being open to it.

To create another GOP congressional seat, Missouri state lawmakers likely would need to split up a Kansas City area district held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanual Cleaver. Republicans considered that plan in 2022 but opted against it, fearing it could backfire with losses by spreading GOP voters too thin and subject the state to lawsuits alleging violations of constitutional voting rights.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street on the day the cabinet was recalled to discuss the situation in Gaza, in London, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Toby Melville, Pool Photo via AP)

Keir Starmer told his ministers on Tuesday that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution.”

Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Gaza also was on the agenda as Trump spoke with Starmer during his trip to Scotland, and said he’d insist to Israel that “I want them to make sure they get the food.”

Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

By The Asssociated Press

The EPA administrator described the proposed rule change on the “Ruthless” podcast ahead of an official announcement set for Tuesday in Indiana.

Zeldin had called for a rewrite of the endangerment finding in March as part of a series of environmental rollbacks.’ A total of 31 key environmental rules on topics from clean air to clean water and climate change would be rolled back or repealed under Zeldin’s plan.

The EPA also called for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions that were designed to encourage automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Trump has finished a round of golf at the new Trump-branded course he ceremonially opened earlier Tuesday in the village of Balmedie.

He’s boarded the Marine One presidential helicopter that will take him to the airport and Air Force One for the return flight to Washington.

Donald Trump Jr. walks past Marine One, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, outside the MacLeod House at Trump International Golf Links, near Aberdeen, Scotland. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Rooke said that space is being increasingly militarized as nations compete for access to valuable minerals, satellite dominance and control over new energy sources that could be developed on the moon, including helium 3, a material that could be used to generate huge amounts of clean energy. Control over the moon in the next few decades could determine which country emerges as the globe’s next great superpower, cyber analyst Joseph Rooke said.

That’s leading to increased competition between the U.S. and its partners and Russia, China and its allies. China and Russia have announced plans to build a nuclear plant on the moon in coming years, while the U.S. is planning missions to the moon and Mars. Artificial intelligence is likely to speed up the competition, as is the demand for minerals and energy that AI requires.

In this image taken from NASA video, the Pace (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) satellite detaches from a SpaceX rocket in orbit, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (NASA via AP)

Hackers are increasingly targeting satellites as the space-based communication platforms take on greater economic and national security roles, a leading cyber analyst says.

Satellites now drive global positioning systems and digital networks vital for the global economy, communications, and military operations. Disrupting those satellites or the industrial supply chains that support their development would cause significant damage to an opponent’s economy and defense, said Joseph Rooke, director of risk insights at the firm Recorded Future, who led an online discussion Tuesday about the militarization of space.

“The race is back on,” Rooke said. “If you dominate Earth’s energy needs, that’s game over.”

The monthlong August break “is a critical opportunity to continue to define how this legislation will help every voter and push back on Democrat fearmongering,” the National Republican Campaign Committee’s memo says.

Republicans could face constituents after the first months of their complete control of the federal government, which they used to pass, among other things, a massive tax and spending bill. Most U.S. adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, according to an AP-NORC poll.

“The best defense is a good offense,” the NRCC memo says. “Think of creative events” to connect with voters, such as round tables, visiting a local hospital or “work the counter at a local store and chat about your work to lower costs.”

David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it’s virtually “impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding (to the 2009 standard) that would stand up in court.”

Doniger and other critics say that if it somehow does stand up however, this “kill shot” would erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to tackle climate change.

The Rockport Power Plant operates Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Rockport, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

“The Endangerment Finding is the legal foundation that underpins vital protections for millions of people from the severe threats of climate change, and the Clean Car and Truck Standards are among the most important and effective protections to address the largest U.S. source of climate-causing pollution,’’ said Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Trump’s executive order directed the agency to submit a report “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding.

Conservatives and some congressional Republicans have hailed the EPA proposal as a way to undo rules they say are economically damaging.

Three former EPA leaders have criticized Zeldin’s proposal, saying it would endanger the lives of millions of Americans and abandon the agency’s dual mission to protect the environment and human health.

“If there’s an endangerment finding to be found anywhere, it should be found on this administration because what they’re doing is so contrary to what the Environmental Protection Agency is about,” said Christine Todd Whitman, who led EPA under Republican President George W. Bush.

Trump’s EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed on Tuesday the revocation of a scientific finding key to U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

The proposed EPA rule rescinds a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

This “endangerment finding” is the legal underpinning of a many climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. Zeldin said he’s thrilled to end what he called “the Holy Grail of the climate change religion” as the EPA “does its part to usher in the Golden Age of American success.’’

President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as they meet at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

France’s prime minister described it as a “dark day” for the European Union. Commentators said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s handshake with Trump amounted to capitulation. But Europe depends mightily on the United States, and not just for trade: Its security is at stake.

Mirroring Trump, Von der Leyen gushed that the arrangement she endorsed to set U.S. tariffs on most European exports at 15%, which is 10% higher than currently, is “huge.”

A month after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ingratiated himself with Trump by referring to him as “daddy,” the Europeans again conceded that swallowing the costs and praising an unpredictable president is more palatable than losing America. U.S. allies are convinced that should he win his war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to take aim at one of them next.

▶ Read more on Europe’s realpolitik reaction to the EU-Trump trade deal

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Federal Reserve, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave its short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday for the fifth straight meeting, likely deepening the divide between how Chair Jerome Powell and his chief critic, Trump, see the economy.

The Fed itself, to be sure, is increasingly divided: Many economists expect two Fed board members appointed by Trump to dissent in favor of cutting rates, the first such vote against the chair since 1993.

Trump says that because the U.S. economy is doing well, the Fed should cut rates, as if the U.S. is a blue-chip company that should pay less to borrow than a risky start-up. But Fed officials — and nearly all economists — see it the other way: A solid economy means rates should be relatively high, to prevent overheating and a burst of inflation.

▶ Read more about Trump and the Federal Reserve

Shoppers make their ways down an aisle lined with clothing and shoes in a Costco warehouse Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Sheridan, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose two points to 97.2 in July, up from 95.2 the previous month. That’s in line with analysts’ forecasts.

In April, American consumers’ confidence in the economy sank to its lowest reading since May 2020 amid anxiety over the impact of Trump’s tariffs.

A measure of short-term expectations for income, business conditions and the job market rose 4.5 points to 74.4, however that’s still well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. And consumers’ assessments of their current economic situation inched down by 1.5 points to 131.5.

A help wanted sign shows at Illinois Air Team Test Station in Lincolnshire, Ill., Tuesday, May 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies last month as the American job market continues to cool. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that job openings in June were down from 7.7 million in May.

Layoffs were little changed. But the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects elsewhere — dropped again.

Why? It’s partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023, and partly because uncertainty about Trump’s trade wars is paralyzing hiring managers.

The economy has been generating 130,000 jobs a month this year, down from 168,000 last year and 400,000 a month on average during the recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns.

▶ Read more about the U.S. jobs picture