Trump suggests there was no foul play in Graham’s death
Donald Trump was also asked why the FBI was looking into the death of senator Lindsey Graham.
Trump suggested that there was no foul play suspected, telling reporters at the White House that he did not see a lot of “evil” in Graham’s death.
He added that he was aware of the conspiracy theories going around regarding Graham’s death, and said he thought the FBI were “wasting their time” if it was looking into them.
Graham, 71, died on Saturday evening, after what his office called a “brief and sudden illness”. The chief medical examiner then preliminarily ruled on Sunday that he died of aortic dissection due to cardiovascular disease, though it will be some time for a comprehensive report is completed.
On Sunday, FBI director Kash Patel said the bureau was “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available”. It remains unclear why Patel said this and the FBI hasn’t commented further.
Around 20 agents from the FBI and other federal agencies attended Graham’s DC residence yesterday with US Capitol Police officers. Federal agents were continuing to investigate his death out of an abundance of caution, two law enforcement sources familiar with the scene told NBC News.
Trump also said he was briefed by doctors at the White House on Graham’s death.
This is something that is very almost undetectable … And if it happens, there’s not much you can do about it. Sounds unfortunate, but there’s not much you can do about it.
Key events
Closing summary
This wraps up another day covering the second Trump administration. We’ll be back on Wednesday. Here are the latest developments:
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On Iran: President Donald Trump has threatened to expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal amid a continuing dispute over the strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, he dropped his threat to charge a 20% toll on shipping for safe passage through the strait. US forces carried out strikes against Iran for a fourth day in a row and reimposed a naval blockade on the country’s ports in the strait of Hormuz. More here.
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Federal immigration officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice, according to a homeland security source, following two recent deadly shootings in Texas and Maine during which officials shot and killed immigrants in vehicles. More here.
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Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death. Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother’s current term. More here.
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A person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations. Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an “encounter” with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. More here.
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Supreme court justices requested $14.6m increase in security amid a rise in threats. Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives. More here.
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Top House Democrats split over a proposal to block aid for Israel’s military, with two of the party’s highest-ranking lawmakers saying they will oppose the effort while the chair of the progressive caucus encouraged his colleagues to back the defunding. More here.
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The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent. The bid to end clock-changing, dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, has bipartisan support, including the backing of Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors. Following the 308-117 tally in the House, the bill next goes to the Senate. More here.
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Senate Democrats blocked the advancement of a must-pass defense bill in protest of Donald Trump’s resumption of hostilities with Iran. The hold up of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) comes amid the fiercest exchange in fire between the countries in weeks, which has amplified frustration among Democrats that the US remains involved in the conflict despite the passage last month of a war powers resolution intended to force a ceasefire. More here.
Democratic senators Patty Murray and Chris Van Hollen called on acting US attorney general Todd Blanche to fulfill the commitment he made to meet with survivors of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The senators are referring to a commitment he made during a hearing in May while speaking with the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
He said he would meet with the survivors in response to the senators’ questioning at the hearing and, according to a letter by Murray and Van Hollen, Blanche has still not met with the victims.
“It has been nearly two months since then, and even though we provided the Department of Justice (the Department) with the point of contact for the Epstein survivors—and have followed up on this request multiple times—the survivors have not received the promised outreach”, reads the letter addressed to Blanche.
The senators requested a response by 28 July 2026, “confirming a date for the meeting with survivors you committed to hold”.
Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, as well as other lawmakers, called on the department of homeland security’s (DHS) inspector general to conduct a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited” investigation into the fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Maine.
The letter, addressed to inspector general Joseph Cuffari, also requested to include information in his investigation about the sequence of events, operational protocols and recording and documentation in relation to the shooting in Biddeford, Maine.
They also asked DHS to detail to what extent they “will collaborate with state or local agencies in carrying out the investigation”.
“Given the gravity of the situation and the understandable anxiety within the Biddeford community, we urge you to prioritize this investigation”, reads the letter signed by Collins, King, and congressmembers Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotions for seven senior navy officers, mostly women or people of color, according to a report from the New York Times.
Defense officials told the outlet that the promotion for the officers, five of whom are women or people of color, to two-star admiral rank was halted by Hegseth, marking the first time in more than a decade that a female active-duty naval officer will likely not be promoted to admiral this year.
The 22 officers on the initial list of two-star nominees were among the Navy’s highest performers, with careers spanning more than 25 years.
Rear Adm Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman ever to command the crew of one of the Navy’s 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, was among those removed for the promotion, officials told the Times.
In a similar move last month, Hegseth stripped nine navy officers, also including women and Black service members, of a promotion to become one-star admirals. The removal led to an overwhelmingly white slate of nominees.
US House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent
Rachel Leingang
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent.
The bid to end clock-changing, dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, has bipartisan support, including the backing of Donald Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors. Following the 308-117 tally in the House, the bill next goes to the Senate.
Earlier in the day, a House rules committee approved the rule to advance the bill on a 6-4 vote.
Most US states change clocks twice a year, springing forward in the spring and falling back in the fall with the goal of extending daylight hours. Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t participate in the clock-changing.
The bill, sponsored by Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican representative, would make daylight saving time the new permanent standard time. It would lead to later sunrises and sunsets, giving more daylight in the evening hours during darker times of year. Under the proposal, states would have the option to opt out and remain on permanent standard time.
MS NOW is reporting that Donald Trump is planning to deliver a primetime speech that will focus on voting machine security and alleged efforts by foreign nations to influence US elections.
Two senior administration officials who spoke with the outlet said that, although the speech is not final, Trump is expected to release declassified intelligence documents on both subjects.
The move could signal a further attempt by the US president to falsely claim that he won the 2020 election. Trump has repeatedly questioned voting machines in states where he baselessly claimed voter fraud, with the aim of conducting a recount.
A former acting director of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in an interview that the agency should “take a hard look” at or consider a halt on conducting vehicle stops, which officials have ordered to do until further notice.
“I think it is absolutely time that we take a hard look, if not a moratorium, on vehicular stops, until such time as we can decide, you know, what do we need to do to prevent this from re-occurring,” said John Sandweg in an interview with CNN News Central.
The comments come after two deadly shootings by immigration officials in Texas and Maine, respectively, and immigration officials have been instructed to suspend most vehicle stops.
“I don’t know of any exigent circumstances that said the only way to take them into custody is to execute that high-risk vehicular stop,” Sandweg added. “Wait until they arrive at their destination. Wait until they leave their residence”.
Trump says strikes in Iran will continue until he says it’s enough
Kate Lamb
Speaking in an interview on Fox News, president Donald Trump said that strikes will continue on Iran until “I say it’s enough”.
They [Iran] have some fight left but they don’t have much.”
Trump also told Fox News that he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not make a deal.
Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump said. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
Supreme court justices request $14.6m increase in security amid rise in threats
Shrai Popat
Supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives.
Barrett and fellow supreme court justice Elena Kagan made the case for increased security in rare House testimony to discuss the court’s budget request. The last time a sitting justice answered questions on Capitol Hill was 2019.
Barrett outlined examples of how her security had increased since joining the court, particularly after the Dobbs decision was leaked in 2022. Barrett said she had to take a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.
“My security detail sent me home with a bulletproof vest, and I carried it into my house, put it into my bedroom, dropped it down on a table, turned around, and my 12-year-old son was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, and he wanted to know what it was and why I had it,” she said.
Darline Graham Nordone is the first senator from South Carolina to have graduated from a historically Black college or university (HBCU), according to South Carolina congressman James Clyburn.
In 2009, she earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from South Carolina State University, the state’s only public HBCU.
“Her appointment marks a significant milestone for our state”, Clyburn said in a statement on social media. “A 2009 graduate of South Carolina State University, Senator Graham Nordone becomes the first woman and the first HBCU graduate to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate”.
“This is a testament to the progress our nation continues to make in expanding opportunities for women to serve at the highest levels of public office”, he added.
After Senate Democrats blocked the advancement of a defense bill earlier today, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats will “not go along” with Donald Trump’s continuing hostilities with Iran.
“Donald Trump is dragging America deeper into a war in Iran with no authorization, no plan, and no exit strategy. Democrats will not go along”, Schumer said in a statement on social media, reposting a news article about the hold-up of the National Defense Authorization Act.
“Senate Democrats just sent a clear message: the day after Trump notifies the extension of this unauthorized war, defies bipartisan majorities in Congress, and refuses to level with the American people about the cost, the mission, or the endgame, we will not proceed as if business is usual while our servicemembers’ lives are at risk and Trump drives costs for groceries and gas out of control”, he added.
Man killed by semi after fleeing from immigration officials in Florida
José Olivares
A person died during an encounter with federal immigration officials on Tuesday morning in Florida, a state highway patrol spokesperson confirmed, marking the third death in one week linked to immigration enforcement operations.
Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had an “encounter” with four men in a vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store along a busy road in St Augustine, Florida, the highway patrol spokesperson said. As the four men fled from the agents, one of them ran into the busy road and was struck by a semi truck. The person died at the scene.
“The pedestrian was struck by the tractor trailer in the right lane and sustained fatal injuries on scene,” said Master Sgt Dylan Bryan, a Florida highway patrol spokesperson, in a statement. “The tractor trailer immediately stopped and attempted to render aid to the victim.”
Tuesday morning’s death marks the third immigration enforcement-related death in one week, as ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) face significant backlash and public outcry following two shootings in Texas and Maine respectively.
Nine environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the Trump administration over its decision to alter the definition of the word “harm” in the Endangered Species Act, a move they argue weakens protections for endangered wildlife.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Seattle, the groups challenged a 10 July rule issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service that rescinds a longstanding interpretation of the word.
For decades, the agencies interpreted the term to include “significant habitat modification or degradation” that injures or kills protected species by impairing their ability to feed, breed or find shelter.
The new rule rescinded that definition, and the environmental groups are challenging determinations that “maintaining a freestanding definition of ‘harm’ is unnecessary,” and degrading a habitat does not qualify under the Endangered Species Act as an illegal “take” of endangered and threatened wildlife.
“This action restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed,” secretary of the interior Doug Burgum said in a statement last week.
ICE identifies Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero as man agents fatally shot in Maine
Sam Levine
The man killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maine on Monday has been identified as Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
An immigration agent shot and killed the 26-year-old Colombian man on Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, after reportedly ramming into his car.
By Tuesday ICE had reportedly ordered its agents to stop conducting most vehicle stops for now, according to a source at the Department of Homeland Security. .
Many of the case’s circumstances remained unclear.
Immigrant rights activists said Durán Guerrero, who was married and had a young child, had a social security number and was authorized to work in the United States. Asked about his immigration status, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, issued a statement that referred to Duran Guerrero as “a Colombian national” but did not explicitly address his immigration status.
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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In rare congressional hearings, supreme court justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified in front of lawmakers to discuss the court’s budget request, particularly the need for increased security for the judiciary. In the House, the justices confirmed that each member of the bench was assigned “between four and eight members of the security detail”. Barrett also how her security had increased since joining the court, particularly after the Dobbs decision was leaked in 2022. The justices also expressed a desire to work out how the court’s code of conduct could be more transparent when it comes to possible ethical violations, and noted the need to update cybersecurity infrastructure to protect against opinion leaks.
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Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to fill his Senate seat on Tuesday after, just three days after his sudden death. Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor. The state GOP will hold a special contest on 11 August to choose a new Senate nominee, who will face off against Democrat Annie Andrews in the November midterms
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Hundreds of people have been protesting in Maine today over the killing of a Colombian man by an ICE officer, after federal officials appeared to shift their narrative about the deadly encounter. The Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer, “fearing for public safety”, shot and killed the man yesterday in Biddeford while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the US illegally and had a final order of removal from the country.
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Following the fatal shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero by a federal immigration agent in Maine, the Guardian has learned that officials have been instructed to stop pulling over vehicles until further notice. A homeland security source confirmed the directive after the fatal shooting in Biddeford, and in Houston, Texas, where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was also shot by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas, less than a week ago.
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Donald Trump was also asked why the FBI was looking into the death of senator Lindsey Graham. Trump suggested that there was no foul play suspected, telling reporters at the White House that he did not see a lot of “evil” in Graham’s death. He added that he was aware of the conspiracy theories going around regarding Graham’s death, and said he thought the FBI were “wasting their time” if it was looking into them. The chief medical examiner preliminarily ruled that Graham died of aortic dissection due to cardiovascular disease, though it will be some time for a comprehensive report is completed.
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Also today, Trump dropped his threat to charge a 20% toll on shipping for safe passage through the strait of Hormuz waterway. The president said the so-called “reimbursement fee” he only announced 24 hours earlier, would be replaced by “trade and investment deals” with Gulf states, which would see “billions and billions of dollars” pour into America. Centcom went on to announce additional strikes on Iran.
Anna Betts
Mahmoud Khalil filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Trump administration officials and several pro-Israel groups, accusing them of conspiring to target him and others as punishment for their support of Palestinian rights.
The former Columbia University graduate student became the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech after he was detained last year. A permanent US resident, Khalil is also fighting in court against the government’s effort to deport him.
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Khalil, alleges that the Trump administration coordinated with Betar and Canary Mission, two pro-Israel online surveillance groups, in selecting “targets of the conspiracy”.
“This case is about far more than what was done to me. It’s about a coordinated, ongoing campaign to punish, silence, and intimidate anyone who dares to speak out for Palestinian liberation,” Khalil said at a press conference on Tuesday announcing the lawsuit.
“It’s about exposing the network of organizations, political actors, and institutions that work together to criminalize solidarity with Palestine and to make an example of those who refuse to stay silent.”
Betar US publicly claimed credit for Khalil’s arrest, and the Guardian reported last year that the group had said it had submitted “thousands of names” to the administration for similar treatment. More information about the government’s reliance on the groups emerged last year during a trial surrounding the government’s campaign against pro-Palestinian scholars.
Khalil’s lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, names several top Trump officials, including White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, secretary of state Marco Rubio and former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, as defendants, as well as the conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar.
During a Senate appropriations committee hearing today, justice Elena Kagan apologized for any procedural issues in the way the court submitted their increased budget proposal. She attributed this to the court’s sudden loss of US marshal protection.
“We thought that we were going to have US marshal protection at our residences for another six months, and all of a sudden learned from the justice department that that was going to be impossible, and so we had to do some sort of quick footwork to try to get additional monies in order to cover that six month gap,” Kagan told senators today.
