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Trump says Mexico trade deal deadline extended for 90 daysDonald Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum have spoken on the phone this morning as Mexico seeks an agreement with its biggest trading partner ahead of Trump’s 1 August deadline.“Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper. Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.Trump said his administration would continue talking to Mexico over the next 90 days (“or longer”) with the goal of signing a trade deal.He had previously threatened Mexico with a 30% tariff rate.ShareUpdated at 16.34 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureMexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X:
We had a very good call with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and secured 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue.
ShareTrump says Mexico trade deal deadline extended for 90 daysDonald Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum have spoken on the phone this morning as Mexico seeks an agreement with its biggest trading partner ahead of Trump’s 1 August deadline.“Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper. Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.Trump said his administration would continue talking to Mexico over the next 90 days (“or longer”) with the goal of signing a trade deal.He had previously threatened Mexico with a 30% tariff rate.ShareUpdated at 16.34 BSTHere are some of the ways that Democratic senators say Doge managed to waste $21.7bn:
Paying about 200,000 federal employees not to work for as much as eight months, under the Deferred Resignation Program. This had the largest price tag, at $14.8bn. Also expensive was firing or putting on long-term administrative leave another 100,000-plus workers, which cost $6.1bn.
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The emails that some federal workers were required to send detailing what they had done each week cost $155m and amounted to “millions of hours of wasted time”, according to the report.
Donald Trump’s decision to freeze grants cost the energy department $263m in lost income from grants and fees for utility projects “supporting energy affordability and grid resilience,” the report said.
The food aid and medical supplies Trump refuses to distribute and now intends to destroy will cost $110m.
ShareUpdated at 15.58 BSTSenate Democrats accuse Doge of wasting $21.7bn, paying hundreds of thousands not to workDemocrats on a Senate investigative committee have blasted Donald Trump’s department of government efficiency (Doge) initiative for wasting money, paying hundreds of thousands of federal employees not to work and doing little to accomplish its stated goals.The report from Democrats on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is titled “The $21.7b Blunder”, and accuses Trump, Doge and its former head Elon Musk of wasting that amount of money by rapidly dismantling government functions without bothering to understand how they work.“With Elon Musk at its head for its first four months, it is unsurprising that DOGE modeled itself on a defunct corporate motto, seeking to ‘move fast and break things,’” the report reads.“Yet DOGE seems to have stopped there, never taking the time to fix — let alone understand— the things it had broken. By prioritizing disruption over governance and failing to identify solutions for any of the problems it purported to solve, DOGE has created its own forms of waste.”You can read the report here.ShareUpdated at 15.57 BSTHere’s more from the Guardian’s Sam Levine and George Chidi about the plans by Texas’s Republican-dominated legislature to redraw their congressional maps ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which have sparked outrage among Democrats and threats of retaliation:Republicans have unveiled a new congressional map in Texas that would allow the party to pick up as many as five additional congressional seats, an aggressive maneuver that has already met decisive outcry from Democrats and comes as the GOP tries to stave off losses in next year’s midterm elections.Republicans already hold 25 of Texas’s 38 congressional seats. But at the urging of Donald Trump, Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, called a special session this month to redraw the state’s congressional districts. After contentious hearings across the state, Republicans unveiled their proposed map on Wednesday.“We expected them to be greedy,” said Sam Gostomski, executive director of the Texas Democratic party. “The bottom line is, they are going to turn Texas into almost certainly the most gerrymandered state in the country.”Had the map been in place for the 2024 election, Trump would have carried 30 of the districts, while Kamala Harris would have carried just eight, according to data from Dave’s Redistricting App, an online tool that allows for analysis of voting districts.ShareTop House Democrat Jeffries in Texas as GOP moves to redraw congressional mapsToday we’ll also be keeping an eye on House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries who has been in Texas, meeting with Democrats in the state, as a redistricting showdown ensues.Yesterday, state Republicans released their proposed congressional map which would allow the GOP to pick up five seats in the state. They already hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts.Jeffries is expected to hold a press conference later today.ShareUS envoy visits Israel amid Gaza hunger crisisSteve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, is in Israel today meeting with prime minister Netanyahu.This will be Witkoff’s first public visit to Israel since May, and comes as the starvation crisis in Gaza escalates. It also comes as a number of allies – including Canada, France and the UK say they will reconginise Palestinian statehood if Israel fails to address the worsening humanitarian crisis and agree to a ceasefire with Hamas.Follow along with the latest updates in the region here.ShareIn response to the failed Senate vote yesterday to block arms sales to Israel, a number of lawmakers have reacted. Particularly senators who have grown increasingly concerned with Israel’s actions and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Democratic senator Lisa Blunt Rochester of Maryland joined senator Duckworth as a new supporter of suspending military sales to Israel. She said that “until Israel significantly shifts its military posture to end the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, I cannot in good conscience support further military aid and arms sales to Israel.”Senate Democratic whip Dick Durbin also explained his vote with similar reasoning. “Prime minister Netanyahu has gone too far. The humanitarian conditions in Gaza are appalling, unconscionable, and cruel,” Durbin said in a statement.However, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer voted “no” to block arms sales, adding that “I have also long held that security assistance to Israel is not about any one government but about our support for the Israeli people.”ShareUpdated at 14.23 BSTMeanwhile Trump posted on Truth Social today that the “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!”This comes after his remarks earlier this week acknowledging that there is “real starvation in Gaza.” An apparent break from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s who claims there is no starvation.Earlier this month the World Health Organization said there have been 63 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza in July. 24 of them are children under the age of five.ShareUpdated at 14.21 BSTSenate attempt to block Israel arms sales fails, despite increased Democratic supportA vote to block arms sales to Israel failed in the Senate late yesterday. But the effort, spearheaded by Senator Bernie Sanders, did see 12 new Democrats vote to stop the sale of American weapons to Israel. One of them is Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois –who served as a US army helicopter pilot in the Iraq war. She explained her decision in a statement:
My votes tonight reflect my deep frustration with the Netanyahu government’s abject failure to address humanitarian needs in Gaza and send a message to the Trump Administration that it must change course if it wants to help end this devastating war.
ShareUpdated at 14.02 BSTOne the eve of Trump’s tariff deadline, a federal appeals court will hear arguments from businesses who claim taxes on foreign imports are proving destructive. The plaintiffs claim the president sidestepped congressional approval when he implemented his “liberation day” tairffs back in April.Earlier, the President took to Truth Social to wish his legal team luck:
To all of my great lawyers who have fought so hard to save our Country, good luck in America’s big case today. If our Country was not able to protect itself by using TARIFFS AGAINST TARIFFS, WE WOULD BE “DEAD,” WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
My colleague Ed Pilkington has more on the background of the case hereShare
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