Highlights from Aug. 1, 2025
- STOCKS TUMBLE: U.S. stock indexes fell on the combination of new tariff rates for U.S. trading partners that have not made deals with President Donald Trump and employment figures that revealed weakness in the labor market stretching back into the spring.
- WEAK JOBS REPORT: Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics hours after the government agency reported that hiring in the U.S. slowed significantly over the past three months.
- NUCLEAR SUBS: Trump said he was positioning two nuclear submarines following “highly provocative” statements by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the country’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump says he is unlikely to pardon Sean Combs, citing rapper's 'hostile' attitude during his presidential campaign
Trump said during tonight's Newsmax interview that he was unlikely to pardon Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying that the musician who was convicted on two counts during his federal sexual abuse trial was "very hostile" during Trump's presidential campaign.
“I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well, but when I ran for office, he was very hostile," Trump said during the interview.
Combs was "sort of half innocent," Trump said, "I guess it wasn't as good as a victory."
Combs was acquitted this month of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with his federal trial on sexual abuse against women.
Asked if pardoning Combs was probably a no, Trump said: “I would say so, yeah.”
Trump in May said he would "certainly look at the facts" in Combs' case, and did not rule out a pardon.
Without discussing the nature of the case or the trial, Trump zeroed in on his perception of Combs' hostility toward him during his presidential campaign.
"We don't like to have things cloud our judgment, right? But when you knew someone, and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements," Trump told Newsmax. "So I don't know, it's more difficult. It makes it more -- I'm being honest, it makes it more difficult to do."
Trump did not provide details on the statements he attributed to Combs.
In recent months, Trump has pardoned other celebrities like reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and rapper NBA YoungBoy.
Former CIA analyst defends intel assessment on Russian election interference
A former CIA analyst who helped write the 2017 intelligence assessment about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election has defended the report’s findings and rejected accusations that it was a politically motivated effort.
In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Michael Van Landingham, said he and his colleagues were not under any orders to reach a certain conclusion in their assessment.
Landingham said that the assessment was based on both credible intelligence reports and publicly available information -- including state media coverage and statements by government officials.
The assessment found that Russia was waging an information war to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and that President Vladimir Putin wanted to see Trump prevail.
“So, over time, looking at those things, having a high-quality, clandestine source telling you that Putin was counting on Trump’s victory, having members of the Russian state saying Trump would be better to work with because of his views on Russia that don’t represent the U.S. establishment, all of those things gave us high confidence that Putin wanted Trump to win,” Landingham said.
He added that a year later, Putin publicly confirmed at a press conference in Helsinki that he had wanted to see Trump prevail over Clinton.
A former senior CIA officer who helped oversee the assessment, Susan Miller, also has defended it. She told NBC News last week that the Trump administration was “lying” when it claimed there was a plot to fabricate intelligence to sabotage Trump.
A bipartisan 2020 Senate intelligence committee investigation endorsed the conclusions of the 2017 intelligence assessment.
Trump says Hegseth is a 'great guy' when asked about potential bid for Tennessee governor
Trump said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a "great guy" when asked during a Newsmax interview that aired tonight about Hegseth's potential bid to seek political office in Tennessee next year.
"He's great guy. I'd be disappointed, though, I think he's doing a good job where he is," Trump said.
NBC News reported this week that according to two people who have spoken directly with Hegseth about the idea, Hegseth has privately discussed a run for governor in the state which has an open governor's race during next year's midterm elections.
A Pentagon spokesman previously denied that Hegseth was considering a run, telling NBC News in a statement that Hegseth's "focus remains solely on serving under President Trump.”
Trump says nobody has asked him to pardon Maxwell, and he doesn't know anything about the case
Trump said during an interview that aired tonight on Newsmax that he has the authority to give a pardon to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but claimed he doesn't "know anything about the case."
"I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it," Trump said when asked about using his pardon power for Maxwell. "I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it."
Trump’s comments are similar to those made when asked last week about pardoning Maxwell, saying then that he hadn’t thought about it and that he’s aware that he is “allowed to do it.”
Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in prison after she was convicted in 2021 in connection with recruiting and sex-trafficking minors.
The family of Virginia Giuffre, who was abused by Epstein and died of suicide earlier this year, urged Trump not to pardon Maxwell, saying that to extend clemency to Epstein's co-conspirator would be remembered as “one of the highest travesties of justice” in history.
Republican-led House committee postpones Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition
Congressional testimony by Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator and confidant Ghislaine Maxwell previously scheduled for mid-August will be postponed until at least October, the chair of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee indicated in a letter today.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in the letter obtained by NBC News that the committee would consider next steps after the Supreme Court in late September decides whether it will review Maxwell’s conviction as a sex offender.
The committee subpoenaed Maxwell for a deposition last month and scheduled it for Aug. 11, citing the “immense public interest and scrutiny” surrounding her case and Epstein’s.
In Friday’s letter, Comer reiterated his desire to interview Maxwell, calling her testimony “vital to the Committee’s efforts regarding Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, including the 2007 non-prosecution agreement and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein’s death.”
Supreme Court raises the stakes in a Louisiana redistricting case
The Supreme Court today expanded the scope of a Louisiana congressional redistricting dispute that has been pending for months by ordering new briefing on a legal question that could further weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act.
The court issued an order asking the lawyers to address whether, in seeking to comply with the 1965 law that protects minority voting rights, Louisiana violated the Constitution’s 14th and 15th Amendments enacted after the Civil War to ensure Black people were treated equally under the law.
If the court rules that the state did violate the Constitution, it would mean states cannot cite the need to comply with the Voting Rights Act if they use race as a consideration during the map-drawing process, as they currently can.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the UCLA School of Law. wrote on his Election Law Blog that the order “appears to put the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into question.” That provision bars voting practices or rules that discriminate against minority groups.
Vance 'completely aligned' with Trump on firing of labor statistics boss
Vice President JD Vance is "completely aligned" with Trump's decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer despite once voting for her confirmation, Vance's spokesperson said.
"President Trump has the right to hire and fire the people he wants to staff the government he was elected in a landslide to run," William Martin, a Vance spokesperson, said.
Vance was among the Senate Republicans who voted to confirm McEntarfer in 2024 after she was nominated to her post by President Joe Biden. She received overwhelming bipartisan support in the vote at the time, 86-8.
"The only thing his confirmation vote indicates is that he was at times willing to let nominations move forward even when he disagreed with them," Martin said.
Trump comments on 'open spot' at Fed after Biden nominee resigns
Trump commented today on the resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, which gives him the chance to nominate a replacement.
“We just found out that I have a open spot on the Federal Reserve Board," Trump said.
Kugler did not cite a reason for her departure in a letter to Trump that said she was “honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”
Kugler is set to return this fall to Georgetown University, according to a news release, where she has worked previously in several positions.
Her term was set to end in January.
Trump defends firing of labor statistics commissioner over 'phony' numbers
Trump told reporters that he believed unfavorable job numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today were "phony," and accused the agency of a history of fudging numbers to boost his political opponents.
“I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing,” Trump said.
The comments referred to his firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer earlier today.
Trump said — without providing evidence — that the labor statistics were "wrong," and accused McEntarfer of releasing "beautiful numbers" before the presidential election last year in the hopes of electing then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The president previously touted past jobs reports when they showed more favorable figures in April, May and June.
The agency said today that the economy had added just 73,000 jobs last month, and revised figures from May and June, saying fewer jobs had been added than previously reported.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, funder of NPR and PBS, says it will shut down after Congress cut money
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced today that it will begin shutting down, weeks after Congress canceled previously approved funding for the nation’s steward of public media access.
The CPB said in a statement that it will begin an “orderly wind-down” of its operations after nearly 60 years with the support of the federal government.
It said that most staff positions will conclude with the close of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small team of employees will remain through January 2026, it added. It did not specify how many people in total were being laid off.
“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” the corporation’s president and CEO, Patricia Harrison, said in a statement. “CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”
