American Democracy's Safety Nets Are Now Snares
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Fox News
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- Fox News
Trump's 25th week in office set to include visit to Texas' devastated Hill Country, third Netanyahu meeting
President Donald Trump's 25th week back in the Oval Office in his second term is expected to include a trip to Texas to survey the tragedy and damage imposed after floodwaters devastated Hill Country, a third White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and ongoing tariff negotiations. Trump announced Sunday that he signed an emergency order to assist Kerr County, Texas, which was devastated on the Fourth of July by flash floods that have led to dozens of deaths and others missing in the area. "I just signed a Major Disaster Declaration for Kerr County, Texas, to ensure that our Brave First Responders immediately have the resources they need," Trump announced on Truth Social Sunday. "These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing. The Trump Administration continues to work closely with State and Local Leaders." "Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was on the ground yesterday with Governor Greg Abbott, who is working hard to help the people of his Great State," he added. "Our incredible U.S. Coast Guard, together with State First Responders, have saved more than 850 lives. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!" Trump told the media he likely will head out to Texas and meet with locals devastated by the flooding and assess the damage later in the week. "We wanted to leave a little time," Trump told reporters Sunday from New Jersey when asked if he planned to visit Texas. "I would have done it today, but we'd just be in their way. Probably Friday." At least 80 people are dead from the flooding, which first gripped the area on the morning of Independence Day, while at least 41 others are still missing as of Monday morning. "This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people are there, and they didn't see it," Trump explained. "It's, I guess they said once in 100 years they've never seen anything like that. I mean, people are trying to blame the school. They're trying to blame the camps. It's just a horrible thing." Trump called the deadly flooding a "catastrophe." "I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe, and it's just so horrible to watch," Trump said. Israel's Netanyahu will visit with Trump at the White House later Monday to discuss Israel reaching a ceasefire with Gaza. The meeting comes after the Trump administration collaborated with Israel for the successful strikes on a trio of Iranian nuclear facilities in June. Israel had launched preemptive strikes on Iran in mid-June, launching a "12-day war" between the two nations that ended following the U.S. strikes. Trump's meeting with Netanyahu comes after he expressed his disapproval with Israel, as well as Iran, after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran June 24 that was followed by the nations continuing to trade strikes. Both countries launched accusations at each other that they had violated the ceasefire before Trump slammed expressed his discontent in comment to the media. "I'm not happy with them," Trump said at the White House June 24. "I'm not happy with Iran either, but I'm really unhappy with Israel going out this morning." The ceasefire was upheld. The Monday meeting is expected to focus on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, and has continued raging despite a previous ceasefire agreement early in 2025. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump is seeking to resolve the conflict between both Israel and Gaza and secure the release of the remaining American hostages in Gaza. "It's heartbreaking to see the images that have come out from both Israel and Gaza throughout this war," Leavitt said. "And the president wants to see it end. He wants to save lives and, however, the main priority for the president also remains to bring all of the hostages home out of Gaza. As you know, his tireless effort has brought home many of the hostages, including all of the American hostages who were held there." A 90-day pause on tariffs was set to end July 9, after Trump first announced reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations back in April. Trump told reporters Sunday from New Jersey that his administration will begin sending letters to other nations Monday notifying them that higher tariffs will now take effect Aug. 1. "It could be 12, maybe 15" letters, Trump told reporters Sunday. "And we've made deals also, so we're going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made." The ongoing tariff negotiations follow Congress passing Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which advances the president's agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt, and Trump signing it into law Friday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined Fox News' Shannon Bream Sunday and explained the new Aug. 1 deadline, warning that tariffs will revert to April levels if foreign countries don't make a trade deal by the start of August. "Is it fair to say there's a bit of a pause on the July 9th deadline for some of these trading partners?" Bream asked. "I don't think it's a bit of a pause because I think what's happened is there's a lot of congestion going into the home stretch and, as a part of the trade team, what's great about having President Trump on our side is he's created maximum leverage," Bessent responded. "By telling our trading partners that they could boomerang back to the April 2nd date, I think it's really going to move things along over the next couple of days and weeks," he added.
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
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‘Grant's Enforcer' Review: A 19th-Century War on Terror
Amos Akerman may be the most consequential attorney general you've never heard of. Under President Ulysses S. Grant he gave federal teeth to the new 14th Amendment, personally leading a successful judicial battle against the Ku Klux Klan's war of terror across the Reconstruction-era South. Akerman was an unlikely hero. Originally from New Hampshire, he built his legal career in Georgia, owning 11 slaves and serving as a Confederate supply officer, though he harbored moral qualms about slavery and repudiated it after the Confederate defeat. He joined the Republican party and came to Grant's attention as a staunch advocate of biracial government. Guy Gugliotta's briskly written 'Grant's Enforcer' retrieves him from generations of unfair neglect. After the Civil War the South experienced a racial revolution; freed people became citizens in 1868 amid a grassroots surge of political engagement. At least 2,000 blacks held public office, from small towns to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. From the beginning, they were subject to attack by embittered whites; by the end of the decade, revanchists had formed the nation's first organized terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan's origin is well-documented. Founded in Tennessee in late 1865 as a sort of Confederate veterans' fraternity that favored grotesque costumes and rituals, it was soon taken over by a formidable group of former officers who recognized its political potential. By 1868, it had spread across most of the South to become the de facto paramilitary arm of the Democratic party, and what started out as racist foolery became a systematic strategy of terror. Flogging, lynching and rapes were employed to scare Republicans away from the ballot box, destroying the South's embryonic two-party system and restoring white political control. It was highly effective: Intimidated juries wouldn't convict, frightened witnesses refused to testify. Almost everywhere, the organization was helmed by leading citizens—property owners, doctors, lawyers, even ministers. The few thousand federal troops who remained in the South were far too thinly spread to maintain the peace.
CNN
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Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide and there's no ‘client list,' Justice Department says
After months of touting the impending release of new, blockbuster information on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the Justice Department is set to announce Monday that there is no evidence he kept a 'client list' or was murdered, a department official said. The admission would renege on promises from President Donald Trump, who previously spoke about releasing more governmental files on the disgraced financier, as well as go against years of conspiracy theories pushed by the right wing. The Justice Department does not plan to release any new documents in the matter. Axios was first to report details of the DOJ and FBI's decision. The department has also released 10 hours of jailhouse security footage that shows no one entered Epstein's jail cell on the day he died by suicide. Right-wing media figures have, for years, suggested that the government is hiding secrets relating to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Some of those individuals breathlessly pushed the theory that Epstein kept a 'client list' as blackmail against powerful figures who he helped commit similar crimes. After being confirmed as attorney general earlier this year, Pam Bondi quickly embraced those theories, saying in a February interview on Fox News that a client list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.' She continued, 'that's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that.' Soon after, in conjunction with the White House, the Justice Department released a series of documents related to the Epstein investigation – almost all of which were already available in the public domain. The administration even invited influencers to get a 'scoop' on the documents at the White House, and photos from the day show those influencers walking out of the White House with white binders labeled 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1.' Bondi promised more information would be coming, and FBI agents – many of whom were assigned to work on national security matters – were ordered to work around the clock in a frantic effort to review documents and other evidence for public release. But soon the department stopped mentioning the release, much to the chagrin of supporters who inundated the DOJ and FBI's social media with demands for new information. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, both of whom publicly questioned the investigation before being tapped for their roles, even started mentioning in interviews that there was no evidence Epstein was murdered. Bongino in May said the jailhouse video, now posted online, is 'clear as day.' This story is breaking and will be updated.
