Trump issues tariff letters to six more countries
But before he meets with west African leaders, Donald Trump is now announcing more trade notices to several countries on Truth Social.
The US president is posting copies of separate letters addressed to Brunei, the Philippines, Iraq, Algeria, Moldova and Libya. Each country’s letter has its own tariff rate:
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30% on Algeria
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25% on Brunei
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30% on Iraq
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30% on Libya
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25% on Moldova
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20% on the Philippines
Key events
Lisa O'Carroll
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has not had his scheduled call with US trade representative Jamieson Greer yet, so those on standby for a possible announcement by Donald Trump today on a deal with the bloc may have some time to wait.
USAID review raised ‘critical concerns’ over Gaza aid group days before $30m US grant – CNN
An internal government assessment seen by CNN shows USAID officials raised “critical concerns” last month about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s ability to protect Palestinian peoeple and to deliver them food – just days before the state department announced $30m in funding for the controversial organization.
CNN reports that the “scathing” 14-page document outlines a litany of problems with a funding application submitted by the GHF, a US and Israeli-backed group established to provide aid following an 11-week Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip – despite grave concerns from international human rights organisations that it risks “aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide”.
Hundreds of starving Palestinian people seeking aid have since been killed by Israeli forces in chaotic scenes around private aid sites, including those operated by GHF.
Per CNN’s report:
The assessment flags a range of concerns, from an overall plan missing “even basic details” to a proposal to potentially distribute powdered baby formula in an area that lacks clean water to prepare it.
A USAID official came to a clear conclusion in the report: “I do not concur with moving forward with GHF given operational and reputational risks and lack of oversight.”
“The application was abysmal… it was sorely lacking real content,” a source familiar with the application told CNN.
Trump administration and Israeli officials have consistently downplayed and rejected criticisms about GHF.
The 14-page document outlining USAID’s outstanding questions and concerns was not sent to GHF before the funding was approved, according to another source familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN.
Instead, secretary of state Marco Rubio and the top political appointee for foreign assistance, Jeremy Lewin, pressed for the approval for US funding to be fast-tracked, the two sources said. It is unclear whether top political leadership read the full 14-page document. One of the sources said USAID staff had voiced concerns internally about working with GHF, especially given the humanitarian principle of ‘do no harm’.
In an internal memo dated 24 June – four days after the date listed on the assessment – a top political appointee at the state department, Kenneth Jackson, recommended that Lewin “waive the various criteria given the humanitarian and political urgency of GHF’s operations”. Both Lewin and Jackson were initially installed into government roles by Elon Musk’s Doge.
The state department announced the award two days later and sent GHF a document conveying requirements for the funds, including some related to concerns raised by USAID. Tranches of the $30m award will be released when GHF completes key tasks – including many typically required before funding is approved, like registering in the government system, pre-vetting partners and providing evidence of external audits.
As of last week, the funding had not yet been disbursed, state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
US agriculture secretary says Medicaid recipients can replace deported farm workers
Joseph Gedeon
The US agriculture secretary has suggested that increased automation and forcing Medicaid recipients to work could replace the migrant farm workers being swept up in Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, despite years of evidence and policy failures that those kinds of measures are not substitutes for the immigrant labor force underpinning American agriculture.
Speaking at a news conference with Republican governors on Tuesday, Brooke Rollins said the administration would rely on “automation, also some reform within the current governing structure”, and pointed to “34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program” as potential workers.
“There’s been a lot of noise in the last few days and a lot of questions about where the president stands and his vision for farm labor,” Rollins said. “There are plenty of workers in America”.
Trump signed legislation Friday creating the first federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid recipients, set to take effect by the end of 2026. Medicaid is a healthcare safety net program that currently covers pregnant women, mothers, young children and the disabled, with 40 states having expanded coverage to working poor families earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level.
However, agricultural experts and economists have repeatedly warned that neither automation nor welfare reforms can realistically replace the migrant workforce that dominates American farming.
According to USDA data, more than half of US farm workers are undocumented immigrants, and just under 70% are foreign-born.
And a March report from the Urban Institute found that most Medicaid recipients are either already working, exempt or face some sort of instability.
More on Trump's latest tariff notices set to take effect on 1 August
Callum Jones
Donald Trump had been scheduled to hike tariffs on dozens of countries today. But earlier this week he announced a delay to 1 August and has started announcing new rates that countries would face unless they strike a deal with the White House.
After announcing plans on Monday for US tariffs of up to 40% on goods imported from 14 countries, including Bangladesh, Japan and South Korea, Trump wrote to the leaders of a further six countries on Wednesday.
“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” Trump wrote.
A string of delays and rate changes have frustrated businesses in the US and around the world.
The latest Truth Social social media posts come after Trump vowed to issue trade announcements pertaining to “a minimum of 7 Countries” today. It appears he might be one short of his stated goal, but more announcements may come later in the day.
Trump issues tariff letters to six more countries
But before he meets with west African leaders, Donald Trump is now announcing more trade notices to several countries on Truth Social.
The US president is posting copies of separate letters addressed to Brunei, the Philippines, Iraq, Algeria, Moldova and Libya. Each country’s letter has its own tariff rate:
-
30% on Algeria
-
25% on Brunei
-
30% on Iraq
-
30% on Libya
-
25% on Moldova
-
20% on the Philippines
Trump to host west African leaders after region grapples with sweeping US aid cuts
Donald Trump will host five west African leaders at the White House for a lunch meeting on Wednesday after his administration took significant steps to reshape the US’s relationship with Africa.
The meeting will include leaders from Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. It comes after sweeping US aid cuts and the dismantling of USAID, a federal agency that provided civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Wednesday’s lunch should include discussions about economic development, security and democracy, according to the Associated Press. The Trump administration has said it wants to shift from aid to partnerships with nations that can help themselves.
In other political news, the Associated Press (AP) reports that Edward DiPrete, a former Republican governor of Rhode Island who was later jailed for corruption, died on his 91st birthday, his former chief of staff said.
DiPrete, a Republican, served as the state’s 70th governor from January 1985 until January 1991. But later he became the first and only former Rhode Island governor to go to prison after pleading guilty to bribery, extortion and racketeering charges from his time as the state’s chief executive, according to the AP. He served one year in prison.
After his 1999 release, DiPrete said he hoped Rhode Islanders would still remember his accomplishments as governor.
“I hope historians 25 years from now will say that was a good period in time from a person who did make some mistakes, no question, and did some things he paid dearly for,” he told the AP at the time.
Senate committee advances Trump's pick for CDC director with party-line vote
A Senate committee advanced Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, bringing her one step closer to final confirmation, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
The health committee voted 12-11, along party lines with Democrats in opposition, to poise Monarez to become the first CDC director to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law, according to the AP. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.
Prior to the CDC, Monarez was largely known for her government roles in health technology and biosecurity.
The committee’s action comes after months of turmoil at the CDC due to no leader at the helm of the agency tasked with tracking diseases and responding to health threats. The CDC has also been hit by widespread staff cuts, resignations and controversy over longstanding vaccine policies upended by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
“Unfortunately, Dr. Monarez — who has served as Trump’s acting CDC director — has done nothing to stand in the way” of Kennedy’s actions, senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the former White House physician for Joe Biden, refused to answer questions from a Republican-led House committee that is investigating the former president’s health in while in office, The Associated Press reports.
O’Connor invoked the fifth amendment and doctor-client privilege on Wednesday while appearing before the House oversight committee, according to the doctor’s attorneys.
Republicans are conducting an investigation into Biden’s actions in office, questioning whether the former president’s use of an autopen may have been invalid. Biden has strongly denied that he wasn’t in a clear state of mind at any point while in office, calling the accusations “ridiculous and false.”
Los Angeles joins ACLU lawsuit against Trump's immigration raids
The city of Los Angeles and other southern California municipalities are joining a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration aimed at halting immigration raids that have spread panic among immigrant communities and sparked widespread protests.
The lawsuit, filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union, accuses federal agents of using unlawful police tactics such as racial profiling to meet immigration arrest quotas set by the administration.
The legal action by Los Angeles marks its first formal effort to halt the raids after the administration sued the city in June for limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“These unconstitutional roundups and raids cannot be allowed to continue,” Los Angeles city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto told reporters last night, flanked by officials from municipalities joining the lawsuit including Los Angeles County, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, Pico Rivera, Montebello, Monterey Park and West Hollywood.
Trump infamously called national guard troops and US marines into Los Angeles in June in response to protests against the immigration raids, marking an extraordinary use of military force to support civilian police operations within the US.
Troops have continued to work alongside federal agents, with national guard forces on Monday sweeping through MacArthur Park near downtown Los Angeles in an operation criticized by the city’s mayor Karen Bass.
According to the ACLU lawsuit, federal immigration authorities have carried out illegal actions in southern California that include warrantless arrests by masked, anonymous agents and denying legal counsel to people held in a “dungeon-like” facility.
