Election highlights: Darline Graham thanks Trump after beating Ralph Norman in South Carolina GOP Senate primary runoff
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Georgia voters chose a former Gwinnett County School Board chairman to fill the congressional seat previously held by Democratic Rep. David Scott, who died in April.
What to know today
- SOUTH CAROLINA: Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina's Republican Senate runoff today, NBC News projects, notching a crucial endorsement win for President Donald Trump.
- OKLAHOMA GOP GOVERNOR'S RACE: In Oklahoma’s GOP gubernatorial primary runoff, state Sen. Mike Mazzei, who was backed by Trump, beat state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, NBC News projects.
- DEMOCRATIC RACES: In Oklahoma’s Democratic Senate primary runoff, democratic socialist nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas beat minister Jim Priest in their runoff, NBC News projects. Also today, former Gwinnett County School Board Chairman Everton Blair defeated the late Rep. David Scott's daughter Marcye Scott, NBC News projects, in a special election runoff to fill the remaining months of the congressman's seat.
Trump-backed candidates bounce back after a shaky August
The two Trump-endorsed candidates on the ballot today won their primaries: Darline Graham in South Carolina and Mike Mazzei in Oklahoma.
It's a welcome turn of events for Trump, who has seen an unusually high number of his picks (six) lose Republican primaries this month, including three last week.
Mike Mazzei wins the Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma governor, NBC News projects
Former state Sen. Mike Mazzei has secured the Republican nomination for governor in Oklahoma, NBC News projects, a victory for Trump’s preferred candidate.
Mazzei narrowly defeated state Attorney General Gentner Drummond by about 2,000 votes in the GOP primary runoff.
Kornacki tries out his French for viewers tuning in from abroad
As he was waiting for more election results, Steve Kornacki talked about where some viewers are watching from abroad.
Viewers commented on a live feed that they were tuning in from Australia, South America, Ireland and even France — prompting Kornacki to try out some French.
"Bonjour," he said. "Is that good morning?"
"Bonsoir," or good evening, was next, followed by "Je m’appelle bibliothèque.”
So, French viewers, "good night" and "my name is library."
'I really hate it for the state': Ralph Norman reluctantly concedes to Darline Graham
Rep. Ralph Norman grudgingly conceded to Sen. Darline Graham tonight after the Senate GOP runoff in South Carolina.
"I did not prepare a concession speech. I'll tell you, that was not in the cards," Norman told a room of his supporters in Rock Hill. "But you know ... when you sign up, you either, you can win or you can lose."
Norman zeroed in on Trump's endorsement of Graham and the funding she received from super PACs.
"You know the president got involved. He has that right. That’s his prerogative," Norman said, sparking a series of boos from the crowd.
"Y’all, his policies are good," he said in response to the boos. "I never understood why he got in this race to beat, you know, but it is, it is what it is, and I’ll accept it."
Norman said, "All our money came from South Carolina and from my personal account."
"The other, my opponent's, the money came from outside PACs," he said. "We had $8 million spent against us. I couldn’t, we couldn’t come up with that much money, but people were great to me."
Norman reluctantly said he would back Graham in the general election while also saying of the outcome, "I really hate it for the state."
"I'm not supporting the Democrat. So I will support her, Darline, as best I can," he said.
GOP primary for Oklahoma governor too close to call
Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidates Gentner Drummond, left, and Mike Mazzei at a televised debate in Tulsa on Aug. 3. Jake Ramsey / AP file
Just a few hundred votes separate Mazzei, who is backed by Trump, and Drummond in the Republican primary runoff in Oklahoma's gubernatorial race. A little more than half of the expected vote has been tallied so far.
Sen. Darline Graham wins the Republican Senate primary runoff in South Carolina
Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s Republican primary runoff, NBC News projects, a victory for Trump, who recruited, endorsed and campaigned for her following her brother Lindsey Graham’s death six weeks ago.
Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks following her win, in Columbia, S.C., today. Megan Varner / Getty Images
Trump went all in for Graham, who is seeking a full six-year term after she was appointed to the seat by Gov. Henry McMaster. Trump held an in-person rally for her Friday in Myrtle Beach and a tele-rally last night, and his allied super PAC made a late $830,000 push to boost her.
Democratic socialists notch another win in the Oklahoma Senate primary runoff
Nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas has won the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, NBC News projects, securing another win for the party’s democratic socialist wing.
Thomas, a 31-year-old member of the Chickasaw Nation, defeated attorney and minister Jim Priest, 70, despite being drastically outspent. The two advanced to a runoff after neither clinched a majority of the vote in the initial June primary.
Thomas will face GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, who will be heavily favored this fall to win the open seat to replace former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, now the secretary of homeland security. Oklahoma is a solidly Republican state that Trump won by 34 points in 2024.
Democrat Everton Blair defeats Rep. David Scott’s daughter in the special election for the late congressman’s seat
Democratic congressional candidate Everton Blair. Arvin Temkar / AP file
Former Gwinnett County School Board Chairman Everton Blair has won the special election to serve the rest of Rep. David Scott’s term in Georgia’s 13th District, NBC News projects, defeating the late congressman’s daughter.
Blair’s victory is an upset, as he trailed Marcye Scott during the first round of voting last month, 46% to 38%. The two advanced from a crowded all-party special primary election in July after no candidate received a majority of the vote.
In today's runoff election, Blair led 53% to 47% with 84% of the expected vote tallied.
Greenville County helps Norman narrow Graham's lead
Norman is counting on a big margin in Greenville County in the conservative northwest corner of the state. With the first batch of Election Day votes now tallied there, Norman leads the county 62% to 38%. But Graham is still holding on to a 4-point statewide advantage.
Trump's negative endorsement in Oklahoma versus his positive one in South Carolina
One dynamic I think we have seen this spring is the power of the Trump endorsement. Sometimes it seems particularly strong when it’s a negative endorsement, when it’s an "I want you to vote against this person."
I think there’s a little bit of that with how Trump has approached state Attorney General Gentner Drummond in Oklahoma's GOP gubernatorial runoff.
The dynamics for this race, like South Carolina, will be a test of Trump’s clout. Trump has endorsed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei, and he has really doubled down on it during this runoff period. But I think that, unlike in South Carolina, where Trump didn't really handle Rep. Ralph Norman this way, we see Trump really going after Drummond in Oklahoma.
We'll have to see if that works out in Mazzei's favor tonight.
County where Trump held his rally gives Graham a boost
Graham is leading Norman 73% to 27% in Horry County — home to Myrtle Beach, where Trump held his rally Friday.
In the initial primary this month, Rep. Russell Fry won the county with 42% of the vote, followed by Graham with 35%.
Polls close in Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s polls closed at 8 p.m. ET.
Graham consolidating support in a key county
In the first round of the primary two weeks ago, Florence County was one of the strongest areas for the third-place finisher, Rep. Russell Fry, who won 52% of the vote to Graham’s 26%. Tonight, Graham is winning 68% of the vote so far reported in the county.
Graham holds early lead in South Carolina
With about 11% of the expected vote in, Graham has opened up an early 14-point lead over Norman. As Steve has pointed out on the Kornacki Cam, she is hitting many of her benchmarks in key counties.
What has been reported so far is largely early vote, so Norman will need to make up significant ground with the Election Day vote.
Will Sen. Darline Graham face the same skepticism with primary voters that her brother did?
It has been such an interesting dynamic in the GOP primary race for the Senate seat in South Carolina because Sen. Darline Graham is Trump’s candidate, and of course, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, her brother, had a very good political relationship with Trump over the last decade or so. But the other thing we know about the Graham family name in South Carolina is that Lindsey Graham had a lot of trouble with Republican primary voters throughout his career.
Voters were very skeptical of him during the primaries, and often there was an uneasy relationship. When Lindsey Graham won in what proved to be his final campaign in a Republican primary this spring, in which he vastly outraised his opponent, he got only 56% of the vote.
What we know about the Election Day vote in Republican primaries, in contrast with the early vote and mail-in ballots, is that it tends to include more of the hard-core, pro-MAGA and pro-Trump voters.
Trump's endorsement is really the center of Darline Graham's campaign. But there is lingering skepticism when it comes to how the Graham names lands among poor Republican voters in South Carolina.
So will Trump’s endorsement mean the Election Day vote will be more pro-Graham? Or will Norman benefit from the trend that primary voters were skeptical of Graham's brother?
We don’t know which way this will go just yet. As we say, there’s a lot of suspense here about how this is all going to play out.
Polls close in South Carolina and Georgia
"I voted" stickers in York S.C., today. Peter Zay / Anadolu via Getty Images
Polls are closed in South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate GOP primary runoff.
Polls are also now closed in Georgia for the House special election runoff.
Mike Lindell refuses to pay for recount in Minnesota GOP primary, files lawsuit against election officials
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a longtime 2020 election denier, sued the Minnesota secretary of state and election officials, claiming they changed the scope of a potential recount in the GOP gubernatorial primary this month.
Lindell, who lost Aug. 11 to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth by about 45,000 votes, said last week that he would pay $825,000 on Monday to cover the cost of a full hand recount and audit of the race, in which he finished a distant second despite an endorsement from Trump.
The deadline for payment came and went without the money from Lindell.
He told NBC News in a phone call today that he refused to pay after he was informed that a recount would focus on the ballots cast for him or Demuth, rather than every ballot cast in the seven-candidate Republican field.
Trump’s trade war with Canada imperils 2026 Republicans running in border states
As trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada collapsed over the weekend, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged the Trump administration to change course, calling the tariffs a “mistake” that would increase costs for Americans in her state.
“We produce a lot in Maine — our blueberries, our potatoes, our lobster, our lumber,” Collins told reporters Saturday. “That is processed across the border. If it comes back with a huge tariff on it, perhaps as much as 50%, that increases the cost of eating, building homes and merchandising our best-known products.”
Trump did not heed her call.
Supreme Court hands preliminary win to Trump on mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court handed Trump a political win by lifting a block on his efforts to limit who can receive mail-in ballots. It comes just 10 weeks before the critical midterms, with voters still deciding who’ll be on ballots in November. NBC News’ Ryan Nobles reports for "TODAY."
Iran inflicted billions in damage to U.S. intelligence sites, sources say
Iranian missile and drone attacks have inflicted damage on U.S. intelligence posts and surveillance hardware in the Middle East that is more extensive than any destruction America’s spy agencies have endured before and will cost billions of dollars to repair, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.
The Iranian strikes have forced Congress to find funds to restore the targeted facilities and prompted officials to weigh how to deploy personnel and intelligence resources in a region now facing a heightened threat from Tehran’s drone and missile arsenal, two of the people said.
Trump orders flags lowered in honor of Dolly Parton
Trump said on social media that he was ordering flags lowered to honor the life of Dolly Parton.
“Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM."
He called her death "a true loss for millions of people," adding, "There has never been anyone like her, and never will."
"Rest in Peace, Dolly!" he concluded. "The World loves you.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defends Trump's tariff policy toward Canada amid escalating trade war
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended Trump's tariff policy today toward Canada, arguing that the tariffs are meant to benefit U.S. dairy farmers who have been treated unfairly.
"The president has been very clear for the last year and a half that the way they treat our dairy farmers in America is just not, it is not going to continue any longer," Rollins told reporters at the White House.
She claimed that Canada sometimes puts 200% or 300% extra tariffs on U.S. milk and dairy product imports. When negotiations with Canada finish “today, tomorrow or whenever,” Rollins added, the U.S. will be in a “much better spot.” She made no reference to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. dairy.
Asked about American ranchers worried about the effect of suspending tariffs on ground beef, she downplayed their concerns, saying it is only a certain “supply chain gap” that the administration is trying to fill and pinning the shortage on past administrations' not caring about the cattle herd number.
Trump-backed House candidate removes mentions of the president from his website
Ralph Alvarado is running with Trump’s endorsement in a House district in Kentucky that Trump carried by double digits in 2024. But since he won the Republican primary in May, he has removed a series of pro-Trump messages and a photo of them standing together from his campaign website, according to an NBC News review.
Previously, the homepage of Alvarado’s site trumpeted his support for Trump, painting himself as an “AMERICA FIRST FIGHTER” in the state’s 6th Congressional District.
Abdul El-Sayed pushes back in Fox News interview: ‘Not here to fight a culture war’
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Michigan, tangled with Fox News host Jesse Watters in an interview yesterday, repeatedly pivoting from “culture war” questions to refocus on affordability in his state.
“You want to bring up all this culture war,” El-Sayed told Watters during the 25-minute interview. “I’m not here to fight a culture war. I’m here to fight the affordability crisis that people are facing.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants to 'partner with the U.S.' but says 'Canada has to stand up for their sovereignty'
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a CNN interview that he wants "to partner with the U.S."
"It’s unfortunate that it’s gotten to the place that he wants to attack Canada unprovoked, and I just — I do not understand it," Ford said, referring to Trump.
Ford addressed his “heated” exchange with Trump yesterday by underscoring a possible resolution: “It’s time to get back to the table and let’s negotiate a fair deal, because it’s hurting the U.S., it’s hurting Canada, and we just want to make sure that we have a fair deal.”
Ford brushed off Trump's post criticizing him yesterday, saying, "I think it’s a lot of rhetoric," and underlining Canada's and Ontario's importance to the U.S. economy. He also pushed back on Trump's Truth Social posts this morning, including a post suggesting Lake Ontario be renamed Lake America, by saying, "I can’t roll over."
"My job is to protect Ontario and Canada, and ironically, protecting the American people," he said.
Earlier today, Trump also asserted that "Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable" country he deals with.
"Canada has to stand up for their sovereignty," Ford said, responding to the post. He later added that he believed Trump "wants to hurt the American people."
Asked whether he would be willing to cut Ontario’s exports of electricity and critical minerals to the U.S., Ford said that "everything is on the table right now." He followed up, though, by saying he was "more than happy to send them more if we get a fair deal."
Ford is a prominent Trump critic, and he has repeatedly bashed him publicly.
Trump administration floats demolition of Kennedy Center
The Trump administration is, for the first time, threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center if the arts institution isn’t allowed to follow its plans for the site, including adding Trump’s name to the front of the building.
“Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down, with a determination to follow on what to build on the site, such as a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River that has been proposed, by some, for many years,” Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Mayers wrote in a court filing yesterday.
The Kennedy Center in Washington on Jan. 10. Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images file
Any potential outdoor amphitheater would “fail to adequately honor” President John F. Kennedy, the filing says, “but would be simpler and more economical to build, operate, and maintain.”
The Justice Department filing describes the Kennedy Center as “structurally unsound, fundamentally unsafe, and embarrassing to the Nation’s Capital.” That is not the kind of language the center’s executive director, Matt Floca, has used in recent months to describe what the center believes are necessary renovations.
Iran vows retaliation after U.S. widens sanctions, fueling fears of escalated war
Iran has vowed to retaliate against widened U.S. sanctions, saying Washington should “expect an attack” in response to the measures.
“We know how to play the game, too,” Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said in an interview televised by state media late yesterday as he condemned the U.S. measures as an “economic terrorist attack.”
Sen. Darline Graham casts her vote in South Carolina primary runoff
After she cast her vote at a polling place in Lexington, South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham said she is feeling “confident” about her race. “We’ve been working real hard this morning and just super excited, looking forward to tonight,” she told reporters.
NBC News also spoke with two voters — one who supports Graham and another who views her lack of political experience as disqualifying.
“I think the most important thing to me about the election is someone with experience,” said Carey Roof, who voted for Rep. Ralph Norman. “That’s the problem. ... We need somebody in there who’s just got a little bit more experience.”
Roof said Trump’s endorsement did not factor into his decision “at all.”
“I think that whoever goes in there needs to be independent, whether it’s Republican or Democrat. They need to vote what’s right for the country,” he said.
Mike Brazell, another GOP voter, said he sees Graham's being a newcomer in Washington as a plus.
“One of the main things for me is that she’s not part of the establishment,” he said.
“She’s going up there, to me, fresh, and she’s going to learn. ... You have to start from somewhere. You just don’t go in totally informed about the military, about the border, just those issues. She’ll learn,” he added.
Can Trump actually change the name of Lake Ontario?
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America as a trade war between the U.S. and Canada escalated.
Lake Ontario has been called Lake Ontario since at least the 1600s. Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images file
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said on Truth Social, hours before Canada unveiled retaliatory tariffs in response to the sweeping 50% tariffs on U.S. imports from Canada that went into effect over the weekend.
But can Trump actually do that?
Ohio man arrested, accused of threatening Rep. Randy Fine of Florida
An Ohio man was arrested and charged with “interstate transmission of a threat to injure” Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla.
The criminal complaint said that on the morning of Aug. 18, which was primary day in Florida, Alex Justin Miller sent a “true threat to a U.S. Congressman via email.”
The congressman was not named in the DOJ release, but Fine posted a screenshot of the email on X.
He also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, the FBI, Capitol Police and local law enforcement for “taking immediate action and tracking down and arresting the perpetrator within 36 hours.”
Usha Vance responds to El-Sayed's comments about her
Second lady Usha Vance responded to Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has faced criticism for a post implying Vice President JD Vance's grandfather would have disliked her.
"So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…" El-Sayed said in a post to X, reposting a video of Vance talking about his grandfather as Vance criticized the Michigan Democrat.
Usha Vance appeared to brush off El-Sayed's comment in an interview on Fox News, saying that someone showed her the post and she "kind of laughed."
"Because, yes, I never met JD’s Mamaw and Papaw, but I do know and love the children that they raised," she said. "You know, his mom, his aunt and uncle, and they have never been anything but incredibly loving."
She continued, saying that her husband's aunt "is like a second mother to me."
"I have to think that if they raised children like that, they would have been loving as well, and I would have really, really, really loved to have met them," she said.
Usha Vance and Vice President JD Vance at the White House in May. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images file
El-Sayed's post had included a clip of Vance saying, "I'd love to go back in time and tell my Papaw that there's a man who claims to stand for working people who says not only should we have Shariah law, but if you criticize it, you're a white supremacist." El-Sayed has not called for imposing Shariah in the U.S.
DOJ says it's monitoring polling locations in South Carolina in today's runoff election
The Justice Department said that it's deploying staff to monitor polling sites in South Carolina during today's GOP primary runoff for Senate.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the civil rights division said in a statement that it's part of an effort to "ensure election transparency."
The DOJ said that the poll monitors are stationed in Charleston County, South Carolina. The department noted it has sent more than 80 people to seven states and more than 200 locations to monitor polling sites during this year's primary election cycle. Monitors were recently deployed to Michigan and Minnesota, for example.
The DOJ said it plans "to monitor compliance with federal civil rights laws in communities across the country."
Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on American imports
Canada announced it will impose between 15% and 50% tariffs on U.S. imports, the latest move in an escalating trade war with the longtime allies.
The individual product rates for tariffs are “based on the matching U.S. rate for the same goods,” a Canadian release said.
The tariffs will apply to about $20 billion worth of U.S. imports and “will focus on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, that are most impacted by U.S. tariffs,” the release said.
The tariffs are set to go into effect just after midnight on Sept. 8.
François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian minister of finance, said at an event to announce the tariffs that "Canada's counter tariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market."
"It's all about fairness," he said. "It's all about level playing field. It's all about supporting Canadian workers and Canadian businesses."
Mélanie Joly, Canada's minister of industry, said that "we live in a much more complicated and dangerous world," adding that Canada has "been on the front lines before," pointing to previous tariff battles with the U.S.
"When tariffs were imposed the first time, Canada acted quickly," she said. "We stood up for Canadian workers and businesses, and we supported the industries on the front lines. And we strengthened our economy so that Canada could weather the uncertainty. We were there then, and we are here now."
Trump says mines have been removed from the Strait of Hormuz
Trump said in a Truth Social post that the Navy informed him that "all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz."
NBC News has not yet verified the claim.
"Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed," he said in the post.
Trump added that U.S. Space Force was monitoring the strait and Iranian nuclear sites.
"There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect," he wrote. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Transit through the major shipping route has been drastically reduced since the war began. Iran has attacked ships, and the decrease in traffic has led to increased oil and gas prices.
There are no indications that the war with Iran is any closer to being resolved after talks fell apart, and it remains unclear whether they will resume in a focused way.
Trump posts picture of Lake Ontario renamed 'Lake America'
Trump posted a picture of a map with "Lake Ontario" crossed out and replaced with the words "Lake America." The image also included an American flag over Canadian territory.
Earlier today, he posted that the U.S. was "giving serious consideration" to renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America."
Tensions between the U.S. and its longtime ally have spiked in recent days after trade talks fell apart, with each side announcing plans to impose tariffs on the other. Even before the latest trade tensions, Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as a "51st state," angering Canadians.
This isn't the first time Trump has suggested renaming U.S.-adjacent bodies of water. The president previously signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America."
Trump then sought to ban The Associated Press from White House coverage when the news outlet, which has a large international audience, continued using the name Gulf of Mexico.
Canada prepares to retaliate on Trump's 50% tariffs
After Trump imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods, Canada is saying it has leverage. “We have what the world wants,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said. Meanwhile, Trump’s pressure campaign on Iran is underway with what he calls “economic D-Day,” slapping fresh sanctions on 60 foreign entities and threatening to cut off countries unless they stop doing business with Iran. NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez reports for "TODAY."
CIA Director John Ratcliffe flies to Moscow
CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Russia today to holds talks in Moscow, a source with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
The source declined to say who Ratcliffe was meeting with or the focus of the talks in Moscow.
CBS News reported earlier on the CIA chief’s unannounced visit. The CIA declined to comment.
A U.S. military C-130 cargo plane landed in Moscow after a stop earlier today in Latvia, according to a U.S. official.
Mystery as U.S. military transport plane lands in Moscow
Mystery swirled around a U.S. military transport aircraft that landed in Moscow today, according to tracking data.
It was not known who was on board the plane and why it was in Russia. When asked, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not have information about the aircraft.
U.S. military officials, the White House, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to questions about the flight’s mission.
Canada to unveil retaliatory measures against Trump’s latest tariffs
The Canadian government will lay out a slate of retaliatory trade moves today in response to Trump’s latest wave of tariffs.
Canada’s finance minister and other senior officials will make the announcement at an event in Ottawa, Ontario, at 11 a.m. ET, according to the nation’s finance ministry.
Graham does not say if she would have voted to certify the 2020 presidential election
Graham dodged a question at a campaign event yesterday about whether she would have voted to certify the 2020 presidential election like her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, did.
"I think our election system is broken," she said, not directly answering the question. "That’s why I think it’s so important that we get the SAVE America Act passed. That’s why I wanted to stay through recess to get that done."
Graham did not respond to an attempt by the reporter to follow up, instead calling on the next reporter to ask a question.
The SAVE America Act is a top priority for Trump. If passed, the controversial bill would reshape how elections are run in the U.S., including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter identification at the polls. The legislation has not had enough support to exceed the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate.
Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election, not Joe Biden.
Sen. Darline Graham answers questions at a campaign office yesterday. Sean Rayford / Getty Images
Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to toss conviction and warns against further appeals
A judge rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to throw out her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
In a decision made public today, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said Maxwell’s claims were all meritless, and all or almost all were frivolous.
U.S. cancels South Korea marine drills over tied-up forces in Iran war
The U.S. has canceled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, Seoul’s Marine Corps said yesterday, after Washington cited constraints on the availability of U.S. forces due to the war with Iran.
The U.S. Marine Corps formally notified its South Korean counterpart in June that force availability would be constrained for the division-level exercise, known as Ssangyong, a South Korean Marine Corps spokesperson told a news briefing yesterday.
The allies remain in close consultations on resuming the drills, the spokesperson said. He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.
The cancellation of the amphibious landing drill follows Trump’s surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday, citing the cost and Seoul’s refusal to take part in the Iran war.
Deportees who refused to exit a U.S. flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea
Six people who were deported by the U.S. to Liberia last week resisted getting off the plane and instead were sent to Equatorial Guinea, another African nation that signed a third-country deportation agreement with the Trump administration, a person on the plane and a lawyer in contact with the six said yesterday.
Under a series of often secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of people to two dozen countries that aren’t their own as it pushes ahead with its immigration crackdown, advocates say. Immigration lawyers say the practice is being used as a legal loophole to indirectly return some asylum seekers to countries they fled.
The group who refused to get off the plane in Liberia include four Cuban men, a Brazilian man and a Cameroonian woman, the person and lawyer said. Meredyth Yoon, litigation director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said they were told they would be returned to the U.S. but instead were flown to Malabo city in Equatorial Guinea.
Some arrived in chains and in extreme distress, Yoon said, including one of the Cuban men, who she said has a large abdominal growth and uses a colostomy bag that must be drained regularly. There is no medical staff at the hotel in Equatorial Guinea where the six are being held, alongside around 40 other deported migrants, Yoon added.
U.S. strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months
After a pause of more than two months, the U.S. military announced yesterday that it had carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs.
It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing alleged drug boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command says the campaign has resulted in the destruction of 64 speedboats, three “low-profile” ships and a semisubmersible craft.
The command said on social media yesterday that forces “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.” The military said the strike occurred Sunday, and it marked the first since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela killed thousands of people.
As with most of the military’s statements, Southern Command did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.
Graham provides no details on 'affordability' plans: 'We'll see when I get there'
Graham deflected a question yesterday about her specific plans or legislation proposals to address affordability, responding, "We'll see when I get there."
Her comments at a campaign event came after she responded to another question about whether she's tried to become more informed on national security in the aftermath of her widely criticized answer on Taiwan and the South China Sea during her debate against Norman last week.
“You know what I’ve done in the last week? I’ve gone around this entire state talking to as many people as I possibly can, and you know how many of them brought up Taiwan or national security? Not one," Graham said. "They’re talking about the rising cost of healthcare and affordability. So that’s what’s important to me.”
Sen. Darline Graham at a campaign event yesterday. Sean Rayford / Getty Images
Trump suggests renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America'
Trump suggested in a Truth Social post this morning that Lake Ontario should be renamed "Lake America" as the trade war between the U.S. and Canada escalates.
"The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer," Trump said in the post. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Trade talks with Canada fell apart days ago, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to implement tariffs on American imports into Canada. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said the U.S. will respond to Canadian retaliation.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been especially critical of the Trump administration. He told The Associated Press in an interview this week that "everything is on the table," including cutting off the U.S. from electricity and critical minerals from Ontario.
Trump, too, has taken aim at Ford, calling him "the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford," he said in a Truth Social post. Rob Ford was a Canadian politician who served as the mayor of Toronto.
"I don't respond to a dictator like president Trump," Doug Ford said, when asked by a reporter yesterday for comment on the post.
Abdul El-Sayed distances himself from Hasan Piker’s comments on Israel and Jewish Americans
The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, distanced himself yesterday from progressive commentator Hasan Piker, who suggested that some pro-Israel rhetoric may lead to backlash against American Jews.
The controversy could complicate El-Sayed’s campaign as he tries to unify Democrats in a battleground state that will help decide control of the U.S. Senate.
A Senate runoff in South Carolina puts Trump’s clout to the test
Tonight in South Carolina, Republican voters will once more head to the polls to select a nominee for the Senate. Trump, rallying for his preferred candidate, has urged his faithful to pretend that it is his name on the ballot.
Trump’s endorsement faces major tests in today’s primary runoffs
Amid a shaky August for his preferred candidates, President Donald Trump’s influence will be tested yet again in two major primaries today.
Trump quickly threw his weight behind appointed Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., when she announced her bid to run for a full term after the sudden death of her brother. But Graham’s candidacy has faced skepticism from some of the state’s staunchly conservative base, exacerbated by a late misstep at a recent debate.
The president’s endorsement is also on the line in Oklahoma’s tense Republican gubernatorial runoff, where former state Sen. Mike Mazzei faces off against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond. And in Oklahoma’s Democratic Senate primary runoff, voters will decide whether to nominate a democratic socialist in the deep-red state.
Today’s other notable race is a special House runoff in Georgia to fill the remaining months of late Democratic Rep. David Scott’s term.
