Live updates: Trump threatens 100% secondary tariffs on Russia; Supreme Court allows mass layoffs at Education Department

An appeals court this evening granted a temporary pause on the termination of what's known as Temporary Protected Status for Afghans living in the United States.

The order from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which extends through next Monday, allows time for both parties in the lawsuit to brief the court on the issue, and for the court to issue a broader ruling before next week's deadline.

A federal judge in Maryland last week denied a motion seeking a similar pause.

About 11,000 Afghans continue to rely on the protection of Temporary Protected Status to live and work in the United States. They would have lost protection at midnight tonight if not for the court's ruling. TPS protection for Afghans was first granted in May 2022.

The Senate today voted 46-42 along party lines to confirm Whitney Hermandorfer, Trump’s first judicial nominee of his second term, to serve as an appeals court judge for the 6th Circuit. Twelve Senators — seven Republicans and five Democrats — did not vote.

Hermandorfer clerked for Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Samuel Alito, and for Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he sat on the D.C. Court of Appeals. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Hermandorfer said that “it would not be my role” to carry out Trump’s bidding.

Her background contrasts with another nominee in the Senate: Trump’s former personal lawyer Emil Bove, who is the president's pick to serve on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

During his first term, the Senate confirmed 234 judges nominated by Trump.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sent a letter today to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee about the central bank's headquarters renovation that has become a source of controversy in the Trump administration.

In the letter, obtained by NBC News, Powell told Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that the Fed takes “seriously our commitment to transparency.”

“We respect the critical importance of the constitutionally-derived congressional oversight of our activities, and we are committed to working collaboratively with you,” he wrote, adding that the Fed’s staff will discuss the project in further detail with the Senate Banking Committee soon.

The Trump administration has used the project’s overrun of its budget to argue that Powell is mismanaging the central bank, as the president's authority to fire Powell is “being looked into.”

Trump administration officials had already reviewed a criminal case against a Utah doctor accused of selling fake Covid vaccination cards and allowed it to proceed before Attorney General Pam Bondi suddenly intervened over the weekend and ordered the case dismissed, a defense attorney said.

Dr. Michael Kirk Moore was on trial last week in a case involving claims that more than $28,000 in Covid-19 vaccinations were destroyed as part of an alleged scheme involving the issuance of fake vaccine cards. Moore was indicted on the charges in 2023.

On Saturday, Bondi announced on the platform X that she was ordering the charges against Moore dismissed, writing that the doctor “gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so.” Bondi said the dismissal “would not have been possible” without Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and thanked Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Moore’s attorney, Kathy Nester, told NBC News that she submitted information about the case for review by Justice Department leadership earlier this year after Bondi announced the formation of a “Weaponization Working Group“ to investigate claims of federal law enforcement being used against Trump allies and advocates.

Read the full story here.

NBC News’ Morgan Radford sits down with Stacey Abrams to discuss her new book, “Coded Justice,” and its story about the ethical and legal questions about the development of artificial intelligence. The book’s release comes amid real-world discussions about AI’s impact, after Grok, social media platform X’s artificial intelligence, issued an apology for antisemitic posts it had made.

Democrats are echoing criticism from the right of how Trump and his administration have handled case files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a change from Trump’s first term, when Democrats swiftly condemned Trump’s unfounded conspiracy theories about the investigation into the financier and his death.

The party has spent days poking the bear after an administration memo knocked down conspiracy theories related to Epstein’s past activities and his suicide in 2019. In Congress, Democratic committees and lawmakers are demanding that the Trump administration release more documents related to the investigation into Epstein, accusing the president and his allies of either a cover-up or a cynical ploy to exploit conspiracy theories about Epstein for political gain.

And on the campaign trail, the Democratic National Committee and Democratic candidates — including ones running in places Trump won in 2024 — have been fanning the flames as some of Trump’s most prominent right-wing supporters threaten a revolt over the issue.

With MAGA-world seething, key members of his administration at odds, and Trump himself on the defense, Democrats are embracing the raw politics of the situation, despite their previous scolding.

Read the full story here.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said today that he doesn’t consider the number of measles cases in the U.S. a public health emergency.

Speaking at a media availability at the Department of Agriculture, Kennedy said his department has teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “everywhere governors have requested it,” and that the agency was taking steps to take care of populations that don’t want to vaccinate.

“We’re making sure there are protocols for people who actually get measles. In the individual states...we are there for them, but I don’t at this point consider it a national emergency,” Kennedy said.

Measles cases in the U.S. reached 1,277 last week, a record since the disease was eliminated in the country 25 years ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that he had a "very good" phone call with Trump today and praised efforts to increase defense spending.

"Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace," Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X thanking Trump and the United States.

"We discussed the necessary means and solutions with the President to provide better protection for people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our positions. We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace," he added.

Trump has not publicly commented on the phone call.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that he will continue his run for New York City mayor after losing to Zohran Mamdani in last month’s Democratic primary.

“I’m in it to win it,” Cuomo said in a post on X.

Cuomo stepped down as New York governor in 2021 after being hit with numerous sexual harassment allegations, but had been considered the front-runner in the Democratic primary due to his longstanding political ties and influence in the Democratic establishment.

Read the full story here.

The Supreme Court today allowed the Trump administration to move ahead with plans to carry out mass layoffs at the Department of Education that were blocked by a federal judge.

The conservative-majority court, without any explanation, granted an emergency application from the administration that blocks the federal judge’s ruling.

The court’s three liberal members objected, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing a blistering dissenting opinion.

“When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it,” she wrote.

Read the full story here.

A group of Democratic state attorneys general is suing the Trump administration for withholding $6 billion in Department of Education funding to prepare for the school year.

"Defendants' unlawful actions have caused chaos in the Plaintiff States' educational systems," says the suit, which was filed in federal court in Rhode Island. Connecticut AG William Tong, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the administration had "declared war on America's children."

President Trump is threatening to hit the European Union and Mexico with new 30% import taxes that will take effect Aug. 1, and he says he’ll raise them even higher if any of the countries retaliate, something European leaders are now considering. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports for "TODAY."

The Justice Department released guidance today aimed at helping implement Trump's prior executive order to designate English as the country's official language.

The DOJ said it would "lead a coordinated effort across federal agencies to minimize non-essential multilingual services, redirect resources toward English-language education and assimilation, and ensure legal compliance with the Executive Order through targeted measures where necessary."

The DOJ also said the guidance would improve efficiency and reduce administrative burdens "by removing extensive translation services and de-prioritizing multilingualism over English proficiency."

"The Department of Justice will lead the effort to codify the President’s Executive Order and eliminate wasteful virtue-signaling policies across government agencies to promote assimilation over division," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Trump, along with first lady Melania Trump, will make an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. in September, where he will be hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Buckingham Palace said in a statement Sunday.

No American president has ever been invited for a second state visit. But Trump, a big supporter of the royal family, was hosted by Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2019.

Read the full story here.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired the senior ethics attorney at the Justice Department, according to a post on his LinkedIn page.

Joseph Tirrell posted the termination letter, similar to other letters received by DOJ personnel, he received Friday on the social network. The military veteran's name was misspelled “JOSPEH" in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg Law.

Tirrell wrote in the post that he'd been in the federal government for almost 20 years and was "responsible for advising the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General directly on federal employee ethics. I was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ethics program across the Department."

Statement

"70% of those arrested under President Trump’s ICE had criminal convictions or pending charges. We’re talking murderers, rapists, and child predators."

Trump told reporters at the White House that he has had friendly conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has become frustrated that Russia continued to attack Ukraine.

"I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done, and I always hang up say, 'Well, that was a nice phone call,'" Trump said. "And then missiles launched into Kyiv or some other city, and I said, 'strange.'"

"And after that happens three or four times, you say, 'The talk doesn't mean anything,'" Trump added, going on to note that his conversations with Putin are "always very pleasant."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has asked the independent inspector general who oversees the central bank to review the costs of the Fed's ongoing Washington, D.C., headquarters renovation project and any other related matters that the inspector general deems appropriate, a person familiar with the matter tells NBC News.

In recent days, Trump and his top officials have seized on the long-running renovation as an example of what they say is Powell's "mismanagement of the Federal Reserve System."

Even as it appears that the administration could be laying the groundwork to fire Powell "for cause," Trump has said he does not plan to fire the Fed chief. Nonetheless, the administration's attacks against Powell continued through the weekend.

Trump addressed a bill being considered in Congress that, if passed, could lead to steeper sanctions on Russia.

"I'm not sure we need it, but it's good that they're doing it," he said. He added a moment later that he didn't want to say lawmakers "don't need it, because I don't want them to waste their time."

"It could be very useful, we'll have to see," Trump said.

The president added that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., "is coming over later on to talk."

The Senate isn’t expected to vote on the sanctions until next week.

The White House issued a public statement of support today for the Justice Department and FBI leadership that has been ripped over its handling of the "Epstein files."

“President Trump has assembled an incredible team of Law and Order patriots," the statement by spokesperson Harrison Fields said, name checking Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Director Dan Bongino "and the countless other heroes of our law enforcement community" who are "dedicated to executing President Trump’s agenda of protecting civil rights, safeguarding communities, holding criminals accountable, and defending victims."

"This work will continue in lockstep and with unprecedented success,” the statement said.

Trump said the U.S. will send weapons to Ukraine through NATO, which will pay for and distribute them, and threatened secondary tariffs targeting Russia if a ceasefire deal isn't reached.

"We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days," Trump said. "It's very simple, and they'll be at 100%."

Secondary tariffs are on countries that do business with the targeted country.

The foreign minister of Denmark said that member states found Trump's threat to hit European imports with 30% sanctions "absolutely unacceptable and unjustified."

"The E.U. remains ready to react, and that includes robust and proportionate countermeasures if required," Lars Rasmussen said, adding later that Europe does "not want a trade war" with the U.S.

“The clear impression was that we were very, very close in agreement in principle," he said. "Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible due to this presidential letter, but it is still our major vision that we should reach an agreement, but we also want to send it here signal that it must be a fair deal for everybody.”

Maros Šefčovič, European Commission trade chief, also called the 30% rate "absolutely unacceptable," arguing that the level "is absolutely prohibitive to any trade."

Šefčovič said that the European Council would share a list of potential retaliatory tariffs with members.

It’s hot election summer — at least according to young Democrats who are organizing behind youthful and progressive candidates in a series of off-year, summertime primaries.

First was Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old state legislator who won New York’s Democratic mayoral primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Now, a special election for a vacant congressional seat in southern Arizona is grabbing attention in part because of a young Democrat’s campaign.

Read the full story here.

As Trump weighed U.S. involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran last month, some influential members of his online MAGA army began to question what he was doing.

But few were prominent enough to face a direct response from the president.

“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, ‘IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question at the Group of Seven summit the same day. “Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.”

In the course of a few weeks, Trump has faced a surprising level of pushback from prominent supporters as he moved to strike nuclear facilities in Iran, floated a new policy to allow undocumented farmworkers to remain in the United States and castigated allies for demanding more information related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Even in that environment, Carlson, regarded as a MAGA standard-bearer, stood out.

Read the full story here.

Immigrants being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in at least seven states are complaining of hunger, food shortages and spoiled food, detainees and immigration advocates say. They say some detainees have gotten sick; others say they have lost weight. In one facility, an incident involving detainees reportedly broke out in part because of food.

The food problems come amid overcrowding at ICE facilities tied to the Trump administration’s push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests. While capacity data isn’t publicly available for every ICE detention facility, nationwide figures on the availability of beds show a system beyond its overall capacity. As of mid-June, ICE was detaining nearly 60,000 people, almost 45% above the capacity provided for by Congress.

Read the full story here.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, is continuing to express openness to exploring a 2028 bid, telling journalist Chuck Todd, "I got one office left in me."

"When I got nervous about running for Congress or mayor, I'd think back at things my dad and mom had said. You never want to look back and say, 'I woulda, coulda, shoulda,'" he said.

Emanuel added that he feels he has "something to offer that others don't."

Emanuel previously told NBC News that if he decides to run, "the only interest group I would focus on is the middle class and their American dream, and their children’s shot at it."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a "productive conversation" with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who serves as the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

"We discussed the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer," Zelenskyy said today in a post on X. "This includes strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, joint production, and procurement of defense weapons in collaboration with Europe. And of course, sanctions against Russia and those who help it."

"We hope for U.S. leadership, as it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its unreasonable ambitions are curbed through strength," Zelenskyy added, going on to express gratitude for U.S. support.

Trump said last night that the U.S. would be sending Patriot missiles to Ukraine to aid in its defense and has teased a "major statement" on Russia today.

Trump will meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House today after teasing in an NBC News interview last week that he would make a “major statement” on Russia.

Asked yesterday whether he would be announcing new sanctions on Russia, Trump did not say, but criticized Putin.

“He’ll talk so beautifully and then he’ll bomb people at night,” Trump said of Russia’s president. “We don’t like that.”

Trump told NBC News last week that the U.S. would send weapons to NATO, which would pay for and distribute them. 

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said yesterday that the president’s authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was “being looked into.”

Asked in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” whether he believes Trump has the authority to fire Powell, whom the president has repeatedly bashed over interest rates, Hassett said, “That’s a thing that’s being looked into.”

“But certainly if there’s cause, he does,” Hassett added.

Read the full story here.

King Charles III will host Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace yesterday.

The Trumps accepted an invitation from Charles to make a state visit to the United Kingdom from Sept. 17-19. The first couple paid an official visit to the UK and met the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2019, during Trump’s first term in office.

Former President Joe Biden said he was behind the decision to commute the sentences of more than 4,000 people and issue dozens of pardons toward the end of his term, pushing back on Republican claims that his aides used an autopen to issue the reprieves, in an interview with The New York Times.

“They’re liars. They know it,” Biden told the Times. “They’ve lied so consistently about almost everything they’re doing. The best thing they can do is try to change the focus and focus on something else. And this is a — I think that’s what this is about.”

In the final weeks of his presidency, Biden set the record for most presidential pardons and commutations after reducing the sentences of roughly 1,500 people convicted of nonviolent crimes in December, and around 2,500 additional people in January as part of an effort to help "equalize" sentencing disparities.

He also issued pre-emptive pardons to people he felt would be targeted by Trump's administration, including members of the House panel that investigated the January 6 Capitol attack, Dr. Anthony Fauci and several members of the former president's family, including his son Hunter Biden.

Trump said yesterday that the U.S. is sending Ukraine badly needed Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia’s intensifying aerial attacks.

Trump did not give a number of Patriots he plans to send to Kyiv but said the European Union was “going to pay us 100% for that, and that’s the way we want it.”

Read the full story here.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, today announced that she raised over $4 million for her campaign and over $7 million for the state Democratic Party in the first half of 2025 ahead of her re-election bid.

In a statement, Hochul's campaign manager, Preston Elliott, said that donations in the first six months of the year came from every county in the state "as she fights back against Donald Trump and delivers real progress toward a safer, more affordable New York."

The fundraising haul comes as Hochul gears up for a competitive election in what is normally a deep-blue state. Republicans are eyeing New York as a potential flip opportunity, hoping that one of two GOP House lawmakers — Reps. Mike Lawler or Elise Stefanik — run for governor. Both have publicly confirmed that they are exploring campaigns for that office.

But before she reaches the general election, Hochul must first face a Democratic challenger in the primary: Her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, has launched a campaign.

Hochul is seeking a second full term. She became governor in 2021 after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned following allegations of sexual harassment. In her first gubernatorial campaign, in 2022, Hochul beat former GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin by more than 6 percentage points.