Key events
Nick Robins-Early
Donald Trump on Wednesday celebrated a commitment by Apple to increase its investments in US manufacturing by an additional $100bn over the next four years.
Apple’s plan to up its domestic investment comes as it seeks to avoid Trump’s threatened tariffs, which would increase the tech giant’s costs as it relies on a complex international supply chain to produce its iPhones. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, warned during an earnings call in May that the tariffs could cost the company up to $900m that fiscal quarter alone.
After Cook gifted Trump a US-made souvenir with a 24-karat gold base at the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president praised the corporation, telling reporters: “Companies like Apple, they’re coming home … This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in America also are made in America.”
Cook said many components of the iPhones are already made domestically, including glass, semiconductors and face ID, but that final assembly of the devices would remain overseas “for a while”. In an earlier statement, Cook had said the new investments involve work with 10 companies across the US that produce components used in Apple products.
Apple had previously said it intended to invest $500bn domestically, a figure it will now increase to $600bn. Apple also claimed that it would directly hire 20,000 US workers over the next four years.
Stephanie Kirchgaessner
JD Vance’s team had the army corps of engineers take the unusual step of changing the outflow of a lake in Ohio to accommodate a recent boating excursion on a family holiday, the Guardian has learned.
The request from the US Secret Service was made to “support safe navigation” of the US vice-president’s security detail for an August outing on the Little Miami River, according to a statement by the US army corps of engineers (USACE).
Vance was spotted in the south-western Ohio area on 2 August, his 41st birthday, according to social media posts that noted he was seen canoeing on the river, a tributary that Caesar Creek Lake feeds into.
One source with knowledge of the matter who communicated with the Guardian anonymously alleged that the outflow request for the Caesar Creek Lake was not just to support the vice-president’s Secret Service detail, but also to create “ideal kayaking conditions”. The Guardian could not independently confirm this specific claim.
The news raises questions about whether Vance’s office was potentially exploiting public infrastructure resources for his personal recreation at a time when the Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in foreign aid, scientific research and government jobs as part of its “efficiency” drive.
The vice-president’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
David Smith
Leading Democrats are sounding the alarm over Donald Trump’s reported plan to divert funds from the US nuclear arsenal to convert a luxury jet gifted by Qatar into a new Air Force One.
The US president provoked an outcry in May when it emerged that he would accept a $400m Boeing 747-8 jet as a free gift from the Qatari royal family. Stripping down and securing the plane so it can transport Trump for a few years will cost taxpayers an estimated $1bn.
Now Democrats are seizing on media reports that the retrofit will be part funded by money redirected from Sentinel, a nuclear missile modernisation programme already running years behind schedule and said to be 81% over budget.
In a letter obtained by the Guardian, senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Ed Markey and Adam Schiff, along with representatives John Garamendi and Jamie Raskin, demand answers from Troy Meink, the secretary of the air force.
The letter reminds Meink that, in testimony to the Senate armed services committee, he acknowledged the Qatari plane needs “significant modifications” to meet Air Force One standards. These are likely to include defences against threats ranging from surface-to-air missiles to a nuclear blast, secure and reliable communications systems and protections against counterintelligence.
The Democrats write: “In June, you told Congress that the cost of retrofitting the Qatari Boeing 747-8 ‘wouldn’t be anywhere near’ the reported $1 billion estimate. Do you still believe this to be the case?”
Switzerland’s government will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to decide its next move after its president returned home empty-handed from an 11th-hour trip to Washington aimed at averting a crippling 39% US import tariff on Swiss goods.
An urgent meeting of the seven-member Federal Council – Switzerland’s governing cabinet – will take place in Bern in the early afternoon, the government said a post on X.
Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter left Washington on Wednesday without a new deal and did not meet with US president Donald Trump or any of his top trade officials, two sources told Reuters.
Her proposal for a 10% tariff rate was rejected by US officials, one of the sources added.
Negotiations between Switzerland and the United States over tariffs will continue, but more time is needed to strike a deal, according to a Swiss source familiar with the discussions.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he may use the National Guard to police the streets of Washington, DC, and a White House official said federal law enforcement would increase its presence in the city this week.
The threat – and the move to follow through on it – is the latest step by Trump and his administration toward taking over running the city that serves as the seat of the US government.
“We have a capital that’s very unsafe,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have to run DC This has to be the best-run place in the country.”
A White House official told Reuters that operational details about the increased federal presence were still being finalized.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa held a telephone call with US president Donald Trump on bilateral trade and the two countries’ trade negotiating teams will have more detailed talks, Ramaphosa’s office said on Thursday.
South Africa tried for months but failed to negotiate a trade deal with Washington ahead of Trump’s deadline. US imports from South Africa now face a 30% duty.
“The two leaders undertook to continue with further engagements, recognising the various trade negotiations the US is currently involved in,” Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement.
“Respective trade negotiating teams will take forward more detailed discussions.”
Kremlin aide says Putin-Trump meeting is likely to take place next week, RIA reports
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States president Donald Trump is likely to take place next week, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov as saying on Thursday.
More on this development as we get it.
Trump’s higher tariffs hit major US trading partners
The US Customs and Border Protection agency began collecting the higher tariffs of 10% to 50% at 12.01am EDT after weeks of suspense over Trump’s final tariff rates and frantic negotiations with major trading partners that sought to lower them.
The leaders of Brazil and India vowed not to be cowed by Trump’s hardline bargaining position, even while their negotiators sought a reprieve from the highest tariff levels.
The new rates will test Trump’s strategy for shrinking US trade deficits without causing massive disruptions to global supply chains or provoking higher inflation and stiff retaliation from trading partners, Reuters reported.
After unveiling his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs in April, Trump has frequently modified his plan, slapping much higher rates on imports from some countries, including 50% for goods from Brazil, 39% from Switzerland, 35% from Canada and 25% from India. He announced on Wednesday a separate, 25% tariff on Indian goods, to be imposed in 21 days, over India’s purchases of Russian oil.
“RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TAKE EFFECT AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!,” Trump said on Truth Social just ahead of the deadline. “BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, LARGELY FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR MANY YEARS, LAUGHING ALL THE WAY, WILL START FLOWING INTO THE USA. THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STOP AMERICA’S GREATNESS WOULD BE A RADICAL LEFT COURT THAT WANTS TO SEE OUR COUNTRY FAIL!”
Oliver Milman
Across the US’s fabled but overstretched national parks, unusual scenes are playing out this summer following budget cuts by Donald Trump’s administration. Archeologists are staffing ticket booths, ecologists are covering visitor centers and the superintendents of parks are even cleaning the toilets.
The National Park Service (NPS), responsible for maintaining cherished wildernesses and sites of cultural importance from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty, has lost a quarter of its permanent staff since Trump took office in January, with the administration seeking to gut the service’s budget by a third.
But the administration has also ordered parks to remain open and accessible to the public, meaning the NPS has had to scramble remaining staff into public-facing roles to maintain appearances to the crowds of visitors. This has meant much of the behind-the-scenes work to protect endangered species, battle invasive plants, fix crumbling infrastructure or plan for the future needs of the US’s trove of natural wonders has been jettisoned.
“It’s nearly impossible to do the leadership role expected of me,” said one superintendent who heads a park in the western US who didn’t want to be named for fear of retribution from the administration.
“I’m doing everything now. That means I regularly have to make sure the doors are open, I have to run the visitor center, I have to clean the bathrooms. I’d say I’m cleaning the bathroom on a weekly basis now because there’s no one else to do it.”
This sort of triage situation is occurring across the 433 sites and 85m acres – including 63 national parks and an array of battlefields, monuments and cultural sites – that make up the national park system in the US, multiple current and former NPS staff have told the Guardian, risking long-term degradation of prized parks.
Opening summary: Vance to visit Indiana to discuss redistricting
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics as JD Vance prepares to visit Indiana on Thursday to discuss redistricting with Republican leaders.
The vice president’s trip comes as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on GOP states to redraw congressional boundaries and give the party more winnable seats in the 2026 midterm elections. In Texas, Democrats who left the state in an effort to block a new congressional map from being implemented say they experienced a bomb threat at their Illinois hotel on Wednesday morning amid the standoff.
Vance is scheduled to hold private meetings with Gov. Mike Braun and others before attending a GOP fundraiser on Thursday night in the solidly Republican state. Braun had earlier told reporters he expects to discuss several matters with the vice president — including redistricting — but said no commitments have been made.
“It looks like it’s going to happen across many Republican states,” Braun said. As Associated Press reports, Indiana is staunchly Republican, outnumbering Democrats in Indiana 7-2, limiting the possibilities of squeezing out another seat.
Opponents of any redistricting attempt are planning to make their objections known on Thursday with protests and a news conference by the two Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation. The constitutionality of the move would also almost certainly be challenged in court.
We’ll bring you all the developments throughout the day. In other news:
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Donald Trump has claimed “great progress was made” during talks on ending the war in Ukraine between his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday. The three-hour talks came two days before a deadline the US president set for Russia to reach a peace deal in the war or face fresh sanctions.
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The White House is placing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, bringing total tariffs up to 50%, in retaliation for the country’s purchase of oil from Russia, according to an executive order signed on Wednesday morning. India has 21 days to respond to the potential tariffs before they go into effect. The tariffs will be tacked on to a 25% tariff on India Trump set last week as a “penalty” for the country’s trading relationship with Russia.
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A new report has found hundreds of reported cases of human rights abuses in US immigration detention centers. The alleged abuses uncovered include deaths in custody, physical and sexual abuse of detainees, denial of access to attorneys, and child separation.
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Trump on Wednesday celebrated a commitment by Apple to increase its investments in US manufacturing by an additional $100bn over the next four years. Apple’s plan to up its domestic investment comes as it seeks to avoid Trump’s threatened tariffs, which would increase the tech giant’s costs as it relies on a complex international supply chain to produce its iPhones.
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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa held a telephone call with US president Donald Trump on bilateral trade matters, Ramaphosa’s office said in statement.
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Switzerland’s government will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to decide its next move after its president returned home empty-handed from an 11th-hour trip to Washington aimed at averting a crippling 39% US import tariff on Swiss goods. An urgent meeting of the seven-member Federal Council – Switzerland’s governing cabinet – will take place in Bern in the early afternoon, the government said a post on X. Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter left Washington on Wednesday without a new deal and did not meet with Donald Trump or any of his top trade officials, two sources told Reuters.
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The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is expected to plead not guilty when he’s arraigned in federal court on Thursday, his attorney said. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted 15 July on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away.
