Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures but doesn’t offer details
Donald Trump has said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures after he ordered the US to scale back military exercises with South Korea.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why Kim had not responded to his overtures. Trump shot back at the reporter: “How do you know he hasn’t responded?” The reporter then asked again if he had.
“Um, yeah he has,” Trump said. Asked what stage the conversations with Kim were at, Trump said “it’s very positive”, but provided no further detail. He added:
Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect and we met on numerous occasions, actually two primary occasions, spoken and spent time. I understand him. He understands me.
Their relationship was a dominant theme during Trump’s first term, including a series of meetings between them, but has received less emphasis in his second term.
Key events
Summary
Closing summary
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Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
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Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach County voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times, which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot. In March, the president signed an executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of US Congress. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting, calling for restrictions on the policy for years and falsely claiming that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud. A federal judge has blocked the US Postal Service from implementing part of the executive order, although Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to intervene.
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A northern California county plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections. Shasta county, a conservative region home to 182,000 people, has emerged as a center of the US election denialism movement in recent years. California governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the state is investigating Peters’ hiring.
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CNN has shared a statement saying it stands behind reporter Kristen Holmes after Donald Trump repeatedly told the CNN reporter to “be quiet” and accused her of being “a fake reporter” during questioning over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Shortly after the president reprimanded Holmes, the White House invoked her children in a social media post further attacking the reporter.
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Donald Trump again threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of his effort to end the US-Israel war on Iran, as the two-month window to negotiate peace with Iran expired on Monday with no end to the conflict in sight. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News, the second time he has directed such a threat at Muscat, a longtime US strategic partner that has traditionally served as a key backchannel between Washington and Tehran.
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Trump said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had responded to his overtures after he ordered the US to scale back military exercises with South Korea. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked why Kim had not responded to his overtures. Trump shot back at the reporter: “How do you know he hasn’t responded?” The reporter then asked again if he had. “Um, yeah he has,” Trump said. Asked what stage the conversations with Kim were at, Trump said “it’s very positive”, but provided no further detail.
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Trump also claimed he had third-hand reports that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is “beautifully maintained” despite extensive accounts of deteriorating living conditions during its lengthy deployment in the strait of Hormuz. “The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time – a good period of time – but over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer,” Trump said, describing an exchange with a veteran, whom he did not name, over the weekend. It has been more than 250 days since the Lincoln has touched land, and reports have described shortages of supplies and water and plumbing problems. Several sailors have attempted to leap from the ship according to their reports, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon.
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In Israel, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met Benjamin Netanyahu for more than four hours after the Israeli prime minister rejected a US-backed peace plan for the Gaza war that included a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the devastated territory. Netanyahu has said he rejected any withdrawal that would take place before Hamas fully disarms. Kushner was said to have told Netanyahu not to create obstacles to a peace deal, US officials told media outlets. He also told Fox News that progress in getting Hamas to give up its weapons and move forward with a Gaza peace plan could materialize in about a month.
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Elsewhere, the US supreme court rejected for a second time Trump’s attempt to overturn a jury verdict in 2023 that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll, and later defaming her. The court announced the decision in an unsigned order, without providing an explanation. The decision leaves intact the $5m civil judgment against Trump, that was returned by the jury after the two-week trial in 2023.
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The House ethics committee announced that it is investigating Democratic representative Jimmy Gomez over allegations of sexual misconduct. The committee said in a statement that it is reviewing allegations that Gomez “engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of the Code of Official Conduct or any other applicable standard of conduct, including engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.”
South Korean president Lee Jae Myung says that a strong US-South Korea alliance and independent national defense are mutually necessary. He added that the Ulchi exercise is defense and not intended to attack North Korea or raise tensions.
During a cabinet meeting, Lee said that South Korea should pursue as planned the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean forces from Washington to a Seoul-led Future Combined Forces Command.
“A strong alliance makes the foundation of security stronger, and strengthening our own capabilities increases our value and necessity as an ally,” Lee said.
California governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the state is investigating news that Shasta County has hired Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections.
“She should still be in prison. The state is investigating this,” Newsom’s office said in a social media post.
My colleagues Dani Anguiano and Sam Levine have the full story:
CNN has shared a statement saying it stands behind reporter Kristen Holmes after Donald Trump repeatedly told the CNN reporter to “be quiet” and accused her of being “a fake reporter” during questioning over conditions onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
“Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House. This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people. Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of the free press. We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
Shortly after the president reprimanded Holmes, the White House invoked her children in a social media post further attacking the reporter.
“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling,” the White House wrote.
In a second social media post, it also called Holmes “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession” and added “These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump continued his years-long false claims of election fraud in the United States – including by implying that mail-in voting is insecure, the same day that Politico reported he himself voted by mail last week.
“Earlier this month, India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration — How can you have Elections in the U.S. without a valid Photo ID? India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than 1% voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document. We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now!” Trump wrote.
James Talarico, the Texas Democratic candidate for Senate, has hired a staffer from outgoing Republican senator John Cornyn’s office, NOTUS reported. Across the aisle shuffling of campaign staff is highly rare.
NOTUS reports that Talarico’s campaign has hired Jacob Smith, who worked as Cornyn’s deputy legislative director and policy advisor, for five years.
“I’ve worked for Republicans like Senator Cornyn my entire career, but this year I’m proud to be joining James Talarico’s campaign,” Smith said in a statement to NOTUS. He also criticized Republican nominee Ken Paxton, calling him “the most corrupt, self-dealing politician in Texas.”
Smith is not the first surprising endorsement Talarico has won – in June, Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who was part of Paxton’s defense team during the Republican’s historic impeachment trial in 2023 that ended in acquittal, endorsed Talarico and not his former client.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has proposed subsidising liability insurance for state and local police officers who enforce federal immigration laws, in an aim to shield officers who are accused of on-duty misconduct.
The Associated Press first reported the news, citing an ICE planning document detailing the policy.
According to the planning document, police officers would purchase liability insurance covering up to $500,000 – which could cover legal fees and settlements – for about $250 per year, and then be reimbursed that amount by ICE.
Dani Anguiano
A northern California county that has become a hotbed of activism for those who sow doubts about the reliability of voting machines plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections.
Clint Curtis, the top election official in Shasta county, told the Guardian he plans to hire Peters as a consultant to replace Brent Turner, his top deputy, who has been on medical leave. He said Peters would not have access to the county’s voting system. Plans to hire Peters were first reported by Action News Now.
Shasta county, a conservative region home to 182,000 people, has emerged as a center of the US election denialism movement in recent years. In 2023, the county’s governing body unsuccessfully sought to remake the voting process by cutting ties with the voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems and implementing a hand-count system that experts warned would be costly and far less accurate. The MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the leading promoters of falsehoods about election fraud in the US, said he would support the county’s effort. The state ultimately blocked Shasta’s plans. In addition, several candidates who lost their race for local office have embraced baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud and sued to overturn results.
Read our full report below:
Trump votes by mail amid his administration’s ongoing attacks on policy
Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach County voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times, which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot.
In March, the president signed an executive order restricting the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of US Congress. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting, calling for restrictions on the policy for years and falsely claiming that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud.
A federal judge has blocked the US Postal Service from implementing part of the executive order, although Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to intervene.
After Politico reported on the president’s ballot Monday afternoon, citing local voting records, the New York Times reported that it “could not access these records through the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website, which said that Mr. Trump’s voting record was ‘protected from public disclosure.’”
However, a White House spokeswoman later confirmed to the Times that Trump voted by mail, saying: “As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.”
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump continued his years-long false claims of election fraud in the United States – including by implying that mail-in voting is insecure.
“Earlier this month, India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration — How can you have Elections in the U.S. without a valid Photo ID? India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than 1% voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document. We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now!” Trump wrote.
Trump first registered to vote in Palm Beach County, Flordia in 2019. Since then, he has voted by mail in 2020, during a special election for statehouse earlier this year and last week, when he mailed his ballot on 13 August.
A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s effort to relocate the FBI headquarters to Washington DC, rather than a congressionally approved site in Maryland.
US District Judge Theodore Chuang sided with Marlyand’s attorney general and Prince George’s County, where the new FBI headquarters is slated to be located. Chuang wrote that the Trump administration’s selection of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington violated congressional measures requiring the General Services Administration to select one of three locations outside Washington.
“Maryland and Prince George’s County committed more than a decade of work to earn the FBI headquarters and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars. By blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to move the FBI to the Reagan Building and divert the funds Congress set aside for this project, the Court has cleared the path back to Greenbelt,” Maryland attorney general Anthony G. Brown said in a statement.
