by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, July 16.
- Death threats and falsehoods among online abuse reported by land and climate defenders (These defenders are heroes!)
- America was already losing to China on clean energy. Trump just sealed its fate
- Ukraine celebrates Trump’s weapons reversal, but the ‘devil’s in the details’
- Republicans in Congress Shift to Backing Ukraine, Matching Trump’s Reversal
- Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv (“The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning”)
- Trump’s 50-day shift on Ukraine is a big deal — but probably not for Putin
- Russia more relieved than rattled by US tariff threat
- Ukraine’s prime minister resigns, opening the door to a broad government reshuffle
- The European Charm Offensive That Helped Turn Trump Against Putin (“Back-channel contacts, direct diplomacy and a multibillion-dollar weapons deal helped align the U.S. and Europe.”)
- US Tariffs at 30%? C’mon, Europe… Do Something
- Iran faces stiff sanctions if no deal by end of August, U.S. and allies agree
- At least 20 Palestinians killed in crush at food distribution site in southern Gaza
- Can Trump Deport People to Any Country That Will Take Them? (“A Yale Law professor on the Administration’s third-country deportation powers—and why the Supreme Court allowed it to send eight men to a prison in South Sudan.”)
- Trump Administration Resumes Third-Country Deportation Flights (“The five migrants on the latest flight, all from different countries, were sent to Eswatini, a small nation in southern Africa.”)
- US military to remove 2,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles (They never should have been there in the first place. Totally appalling.)
- The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE (“ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.” That’s completely insane.)
- The police militarization debate is over (“Quaint disputes about the proper role of police and military have been superseded by a more urgent threat: Donald Trump is creating his own, personal paramilitary force”)
- Four Homeland Security Agents Testified About Who’s Ordering Them to Arrest Grad Students
- Trump Says Drug Tariffs Likely by Aug. 1, Chip Levies Could Follow
- Trump says Fed renovations issue might be fireable for Powell (If Trump fires Powell, the US economy will be toast.)
- Trump’s attacks on the Fed are worse than you think (“Politicizing the Federal Reserve could unmoor inflation expectations and drive up borrowing costs.”)
- Trump Promised to End Inflation. He’s Bringing It Back Instead.
- Trump’s Rage Erupts as Inflation Rises and His Pollster Openly Panics (“As Trump downplays the new inflation numbers by venting at the Fed (even as his pollster delivers very bad news), an economist explains how he’s put us on a slow downward slide that will get much, much worse.”)
- Justice Dept. hits states with broad requests for voter rolls, election data (Totally unacceptable, but will states – including Virginia – tell DoJ where to shove it?)
- America’s famed ‘checks-and-balances’ governance system is failing (“We need counterstrategies against the Trumpists’ usurpation of what should remain separate powers”)
- Trump Is Winning the Battle to Undermine Democracy
- The Supreme Court Won’t Explain Itself (“In their decision allowing the Trump administration to dismantle the Department of Education, the justices didn’t offer one word of reasoning.”)
- Supreme Court Conservatives Tell Trump He Can Destroy the Education Department, as a Treat
- Supreme Court Keeps Ruling in Trump’s Favor, but Doesn’t Say Why
- Kennedy Claims Doctors Profit Off Vaccines. In Fact, Many Lose Money on Them. (“Experts said the health secretary’s remarks send a dangerous message: Don’t trust your physician.” RFK Jr. is a total nutjob.)
- Cuts to Wind and Solar May Undermine GOP’s Promise of ‘Energy Dominance,’ Critics Say (Yep, this will do the exact opposite of “energy dominance”)
- White House agrees to exempt PEPFAR from cuts
- Senate Republicans narrowly advance Trump’s $9 billion spending cut package
- Senate takes step forward on foreign aid, public broadcasting clawback
- Hawley introduces bill to reverse Medicaid cuts he voted for (Hawley is unfit to be a US Senator – or to hold any public office.)
- Roughly 6 in 10 Americans oppose Trump’s megabill, CNN poll finds (“Americans say, 61% to 39%, that they oppose the spending bill overall. Most, 58%, now say Trump’s gone too far in cutting federal government programs (up 7 points since February)”)
- Trump-Epstein controversy fractures GOP
- Trump Spirals After Being Asked if His Name Is in Epstein Files
- House GOP blocks second Dem attempt to release Epstein files
- Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans break with Trump on Epstein
- Johnson breaks with Trump, calls for DOJ to release Epstein files
- The FBI’s Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out
- Inside Hakeem Jeffries’ embrace of the Epstein strategy
- Trump Slaps MAGA Base: Only ‘Bad People’ Care About Epstein (“Trump ranted about the case that’s causing a serious headache for the president–and his supporters are in the firing line.”)
- CNN Data Guru Harry Enten Blown Away by Brutal Epstein Poll for Trump (“Just 4 percent of Republican-leaning respondents said they were satisfied, compared to 3 percent of the Democrat-leaning respondents.”)
- Donald Trump Loses His Grip on the Base (“After years of fanning the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy flames, Team Trump fails to deliver the goods.”)
- Trump says US attorney general should release any ‘credible’ information on Epstein
- The MAGA blowup over Pam Bondi has been a long time coming (“The Jeffrey Epstein kerfuffle is the culmination of deep-seated skepticism from the far right about the attorney general.”)
- How Elon Musk’s X is fueling the MAGA-Trump split (“Musk invited the conspiracists back on purpose. Now they’re dividing the GOP.”)
- Trump accuses Sen. Adam Schiff of mortgage fraud in new attack on critic (The headline should say “in new attack on US Senator.” Period.)
- Trump escalates revenge campaign with new attacks on Schiff
- NIH official fired amid probe of contract used to potentially hire spouse, officials say
- Trump, 79, forgets who is with him on Pittsburgh trip as rambling talk includes unlikely Unabomber story
- Trump tells Texas Republicans to redraw the state congressional map to help keep House majority
- Democrats Broach Potential Walkout to Block Texas Redistricting
- Trump’s Ultimatum for America’s Largest Public-Energy Provider (“Earlier this week, the White House told the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority to fire the CEO, or be fired.”)
- A Scion of Democratic Politics Defeats the Upstarts in an Arizona Primary (“Adelita Grijalva beat back charges of ‘legacy’ and embraced the memory of her father, Raúl Grijalva, to win the Democratic primary for the House seat opened by his death.”)
- When the Online Mob Came After Me—and My Kids (“Countless people have shouted at me that transgender people are mentally ill. They should look in the mirror. After all, sane, well-adjusted people do not message death threats to strangers for being LGBT. Or publicly slander transgender individuals as perverts, pedophiles, and unfit parents who should die brutally and burn in hell.”)
- ICE arrests surge in Northern Virginia, prompting emergency planning among immigrant families
- Sen. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine Slam Republican Attempts to Defund Public Broadcasting (“In FY24, Virginia received $99.4 million for public broadcasting, more than any other state in the nation”; “Rural communities often rely on public media as their only source of local news”)
- Video: As Inflation Heats Up, Sen. Mark Warner Compares Trump Administration to a “horror movie” – a “litany of lies brought to you by Donald Trump and a feckless group of Republican yes people”
- Spanberger raises $10.7 million in second quarter in Virginia governors race
- Spanberger extends financial advantage over Earle-Sears, has $15.2 million to spend (“Spanberger raised $10.7 million in the past three months, including almost $4.3 million between June 5 and the end of June. Earle-Sears raised $5.9 million, including $2.4 million since the last campaign finance reporting deadline, and finished June with $4.5 million in the bank.”)
- WATCH: In New TV Ad, Abigail Spanberger Highlights Law Enforcement Background
- Virginia 2Q25 Campaign Finance Reports Coming In…
- DNC Announces Initial Seven-Figure Investment into Virginia Coordinated Campaign to Help Virginia Democrats Win Up and Down the Ballot in November (“Donald Trump and Virginia Republicans have betrayed the Commonwealth.”)
- Virginia Senate Democrats Unite to Defend State Funded Universities from Federal Overreach as Republicans Remain Silent (Republicans, Including Those Representing University Districts, Refuse to Defend Their Own Institutions)
- Editorial: Falling to No. 4 on CNBC business ranking no reason to overreact
- Virginia’s prison ombudsman holds first stakeholder meeting
- One year in, Va. corrections ombudsman office on track to investigate misconduct allegations (“Buildout of staff and filing process has occurred in tandem with allegations of abuse or neglect from within state prisons”)
- State reasserts board of visitors’ importance after Trump forces out UVa’s Ryan
- University of Virginia faculty want more say in picking the next president. Here’s why that won’t happen. (“What we have is a culture clash between a liberal faculty and a conservative governing board.”)
- Students, faculty, and lawmakers rally behind GMU amid Trump administration civil rights probe (“The federal investigation into George Mason’s DEI policies sparks strong pushback, with supporters calling it a politically motivated attack on one of the nation’s most diverse public universities.”)
- Why attack colleges? To open students’ minds or blow up institutions? (“George Mason University makes no sense as a target for the Trump administration.”)
- Norfolk City Council postpones vote on Maury High School rebuild agreement
- Fairfax Co. police ask for the public’s help solving violent bus attack
- CWG Live updates: Storm chances rise again later today ahead of a hot Thursday
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