Good morning. I’m heading out now for my morning rounds across Washington, D.C., to see what’s shifted overnight. Yesterday, federal checkpoints sprang up in parts of the city—by morning, they were gone. But the story isn’t. D.C. residents poured into the streets to confront federal law enforcement, and today we’re expecting an even heavier National Guard presence. I’ll be on the ground tracking every move.

If you value voices that refuse to back down, now is the moment to stand with them. The only reason I can keep chasing the hard stories, staying fiercely independent, and never playing nice with power is because of you. A subscription amplifies the work. A paid one keeps it alive. Both matter more than you think.

Subscribe

General news:

  • Donald Trump said he would ask Congress for “long-term” control of Washington DC’s police department, following his temporary takeover using a rarely invoked legal clause that limits such control to 30 days without congressional approval.
  • He suggested other Democratic-led cities might change their laws after his deployment of national guard troops and federal agents to DC.
  • The White House credited Trump’s actions for dozens of overnight arrests in Washington, though city leaders dispute the existence of a “crime crisis.”
  • Protests erupted in DC’s U Street corridor against law enforcement checkpoints, with crowds chanting “go home fascists” before the checkpoint was closed around 11 pm.
  • US wholesale prices rose 0.9% in July—well above expectations—driven largely by services inflation, marking the largest monthly gain since March 2022 and potentially reducing the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September.
  • Trump warned of “very severe consequences” for Vladimir Putin if he does not agree to a ceasefire at their upcoming Alaska meeting, without specifying what those penalties would be.
  • Trump joined a virtual meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders ahead of the Alaska summit, with Zelenskyy confirming Trump promised to call him after meeting Putin.
  • At the Kennedy Center, Trump announced he would personally host this year’s honors ceremony.
  • California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked Trump’s writing style to promote a press conference on countering Texas gerrymandering, scheduled for Thursday morning.
  • Melania Trump has demanded Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue, calling the remarks false, defamatory, and “extremely salacious,” after Biden claimed in an interview that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump—a claim her lawyer says has caused significant reputational and financial harm.
  • The Annals of Internal Medicine rejected US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s call to retract a large Danish study that found no increased health risks from aluminum in vaccines for children, with the journal’s editor and the study’s authors defending its design, data quality, and conclusions against Kennedy’s criticisms.
  • Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand woman, and her six-year-old son have been held in a US immigration detention centre in Texas for three weeks after being detained at the US-Canada border due to an apparent administrative visa error, with her family hopeful for their release by the end of the week.
  • The White House revealed Trump revoked a Joe Biden executive order promoting competition in the US economy, ending 72 initiatives to fight monopolies, with no publicity.
  • Trump’s nominee for head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, EJ Antoni, was present outside the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot.
    • Image

    Russia vs. Ukraine

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin met with top officials to prepare for his summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, praising what he called the US administration’s “sincere efforts” to end the Ukraine war, and suggesting Moscow and Washington could reach a nuclear arms control deal to strengthen peace.
  • Downing Street said the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska offers “a viable chance to make progress” if Putin demonstrates he is serious about peace, following UK PM Keir Starmer’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London.
  • Starmer and Zelenskyy emphasized unity and determination to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine after consultations with Trump.
  • Zelenskyy said they discussed in detail security guarantees to make peace durable, contingent on the US pressing Russia to stop hostilities and engage in genuine diplomacy.
  • Talks also covered weapons supply mechanisms, with Zelenskyy urging UK participation in NATO’s new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List funding scheme.
  • Ukraine’s drone production plans were discussed, with Zelenskyy stressing urgent financing needs due to their decisive role on the frontline and strategic impact.
  • The leaders also reviewed their bilateral partnership agreement from earlier this year.

    • Good news:

  • A $375 million agreement called the NWT: Our Land for the Future Trust will give 21 First Nations in Canada’s Northwest Territories stewardship over 150,000 square miles of land and water for long-term conservation, making it the largest deal of its kind in North America and a major step toward Canada’s goal of protecting 30% of its lands and waters by 2030.
  • Three Florida neighbors were honored by Boca Raton police for rescuing a pilot, an adult passenger, and two children from a burning small plane that crashed near their homes, using a hose, an axe, and quick action to pull everyone out before the fire spread.
  • Cozumel divemaster Manolo Acuña Zepeda was severely injured after pushing his group of divers out of the path of an illegally operated speedboat over Yucab Reef, and the dive community rallied to raise nearly $50,000 for his medical care, enabling his recovery and future return to diving.

    • See you this evening.

    — Aaron