wellnessfitpro
Trump and Zelenskyy hold closed-door meeting
Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under way. We’ll be looking out for a sense of US support for Ukraine and signs of changed posture from the Trump administration on Ukraine-Russia.
Key events
Speaking at the brief ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, Senate majority leader John Thune credited the late Lindsey Graham for his leadership on foreign affairs, calling him “a towering figure” in Congress and on the international stage.
He called the late senator a “fierce defender of Ukraine” and hailed him “as a powerful voice for the [anti-abortion] movement” and lauding his efforts to pass tax cut legislation.
“I look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again,” Thune said, visibly emotional as he concluded his tribute.
Lindsey Graham’s casket was brought into the Capitol rotunda short while ago by military service members as the two days of ceremonies and funeral services began at 10am ET.
Trump and Zelenskyy hold closed-door meeting
Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under way. We’ll be looking out for a sense of US support for Ukraine and signs of changed posture from the Trump administration on Ukraine-Russia.
Donald Trump to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, set for 9:30am ET on Tuesday, will be closed to the media, the New York Times is reporting.
The meeting is expected to be much more cordial than the one last year where Trump openly berated Zelenskyy and said, “you don’t have the cards”. The administration and rightwing influencers have shown a shift on Ukraine as of late, and Trump and Zelenskyy had a friendly meeting at a Nato summit earlier this month.
The Trump administration has appeared more supportive of Ukraine now than at any other point in the president’s second term. And Laura Loomer, a rightwing influencer and Trump ally, met with Zelenskyy last week.
Donald Trump says if Iran doesn’t make a deal ‘then I go back and I finish the job’
Ahead of a long day including separate meetings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a funeral service for Lindsey Graham, Trump called into Fox and Friends this morning to discuss the war in Iran and Graham.
“Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you,” Trump said of Graham. “I jokingly say, and there’s nothing funny about it, he’s never seen a war he didn’t like.”
In the call with Fox, Trump threatened attacks on Iran’s power plants and bridges. He also said the US is still in talks with Iran about a renewed deal.
“If they don’t make a deal, then I go back and I finish the job. But that’s going to take them forever to rebuild,” Trump said.
He said a power plant is “the hardest thing to build” while a bridge is the “longest thing to build”. He added that he didn’t want to attack the country’s desalination plants because that would be “hurting the people”.
“I could take out most of their bridges in less than an hour, less than an hour,” he said.
Group of scientists send letter supporting Dr Anthony Fauci as he prepares to face Senate committee
A group of more than 150 scientists sent a letter supporting Dr Anthony Fauci today, after US senator Rand Paul released diary entries from the former health adviser who helped lead the country’s response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Fauci is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday after Paul subpoenaed him.
In the letter, the scientists call for an end to the “witch hunt” of Fauci and vilification of scientists and public servants, citing budget cuts, grant terminations and devastated public health agencies alongside public harassment campaigns of individual scientists.
“Scientific research and evidenced-based public health are under attack by the Trump Administration and its allies in Congress. The attacks on science and public health are well-documented,” the letter says. “However, the Administration and its allies in Congress have not stopped at cutting budgets, terminating grants, eviscerating agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. They a waging a war on individual scientists, through public harassment, arrests, criminal indictment, and ongoing threats of prosecution.”
The letter says “conspiracy theories” about Fauci’s work on covid-19 have “led to a five-year period of harassment and threats of violence directed at Dr. Fauci and his family”.
Trump administration forced treatment on hunger striker in ICE detention, document reveals
The Trump administration subjected at least one person undertaking a hunger strike in immigrant detention to forcible medical treatment – engaging in medical practice that healthcare associations and international human rights groups have described as torture.
A document from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) health service agency, reviewed by the Guardian, confirms for the first time that the administration has used forced treatment on a hunger striker since Donald Trump began his second term.
The document, published online in February by the ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC), discloses that an unnamed patient who began hunger strikes between October and December of last year and “was subject to force feeding, hydration, or forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws”.
It also notes that at least seven detained people were on hunger strike this February, and that IHSC has forecasted a total budget of $4,504.75 for “external medical care” of hunger strike patients and a total budget of $168,928.01 for the fiscal year of 2026 based on costs from last year.
My colleagues Maanvi Singh and José Olivares have more here:
Ed Pilkington
Florida is preparing on Tuesday to carry out the state’s first double execution within a single day since the start of the modern era of the US death penalty in 1976.
Barring last-minute legal intervention, James Duckett, 68, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at noon on Tuesday at Florida state prison near Starke. Six hours later, Dominick Occhicone, 80, faces the same fate.
Should both killings be completed, it would be the first time since 2017 that a death penalty state has conducted more than one execution on the same day. On 24 April 2017 Arkansas administered lethal doses to two prisoners, Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, just three hours apart and amid chaotic scenes that suggested the procedures were botched.
In Florida itself, a review by the Associated Press showed that 1964 was the last time there were multiple judicial killing on a single day. You can read the full story here:
Citing a US official, CNN is reporting that Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been trying to secure an invitation to the White House for several weeks to talk about the war in Iran and to warn Donald Trump against giving into concessions in diplomatic talks with Tehran.
Trump, who has a complicated, often strained relationship with Netanyahu, had reportedly been reluctant to meet.
According to CNN, White house officials were frustrated at what they saw as Israeli efforts to leak to the press in order to “will a meeting into existence”, the official said. Lindsey Graham’s funeral offered a chance for a sit down between the two leaders.
Trump to meet Netanyahu and Zelenskyy in Washington
Robert Tait
The meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first between the two leaders since February, when they were in lockstep preparing for strikes against Iran that began on 28 February.
Since then, tensions between the pair have risen as the war has drifted inconclusively, with Trump calling the Israeli premier “crazy” and declaring: “Without me, there would be no Israel.”
Fueling the tensions between the pair is continuing uncertainty over Trump’s zigzagging approach to the regime in Tehran, which he once openly supported toppling – in line with the stance of Netanyahu, who has long plotted its overthrow.
Last month, the US signed a memorandum of understanding that was meant to institute a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict, during which Iran would reopen the strategically vital strait of Hormuz and negotiations would begin over the country’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu is not believed to have been consulted on the deal, which some analysts say took little account of Israel’s interests.
Netanyahu is also believed to be unhappy over a deal announced last week between the US and Saudi Arabia allowing for a civil Saudi nuclear program.
Zelenskyy’s presence is equally significant as it coincides with signs of a dramatic change of Trump administration posture in Ukraine’s war with Russia – with the White House appearing more supportive of Kyiv’s position than at any time since Trump’s return to office.
You can read more here:
Martin Pengelly
On Wednesday, in Lindsey Graham’s home state, ceremonies will begin with services and an F-16 flyover at the South Carolina state house in Columbia, followed by a procession to First Baptist Church for a public service.
A private family burial will take place in Pickens county, home to Central, the small town where Graham and his younger sister and Senate successor, Darline, were born.
Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline, was sworn in earlier this month to complete the remaining months of her late brother’s term, which expires in January.
She made history as the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate when she was appointed, which she described as an “honor”. “Lindsey has always been there for me,” she said. “And now, I will be there for him.”
Because Lindsey Graham won the Republican nomination last month, the state will hold a special primary to replace him on the ballot on 11 August. Darline, 62, will compete in this primary to decide the Republican nominee in November.
Donald Trump said he had encouraged her to run for a full six-year term representing South Carolina. After both of their parents died when Darline was only 13, Lindsey became her legal guardian and later adopted her, to ensure she could receive his benefits through his service as an air force lawyer.
Donald Trump to deliver tribute during Lindsey Graham’s funeral service
The late South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham will be eulogised during memorial services across Washington later today.
Graham, who died suddenly on 11 July, will be recognised with a ceremony in the Rotunda of the Capital and honored by his fellow senators.
Following the ceremony, Graham’s remains will be transported to the Washington National Cathedral for a funeral service starting at 2:00pm, which will include a tribute from the US president, Donald Trump, according to his office.
Graham’s remains will be taken to his home state of South Carolina for a second service on Wednesday. Members of the public can view both ceremonies via livestream.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will attend Tuesday’s funeral and are scheduled to meet Trump at a time when US policy towards the wars in Iran and Ukraine is in a state of flux.
Zelenskyy is expected to push for fresh supplies of anti-ballistic missiles during his visit, as well as to discuss ways of restarting frozen talks on ending the war, a senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency.
Graham met Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the day before his death, and had been in the process of advancing a Senate bill to strengthen sanctions on Russia. He was a staunch supporter of Ukraine, reportedly visiting the country at least 10 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Graham, who was a cheerleader for George W Bush’s war in Iraq, also staunchly backed Israel in the US congress even when it was carrying out what is widely considered to be a genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza. He also applauded Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites last year and to launch an unprovoked war against Iran in late February alongside Israel.
#Trump #Zelenskyy #hold #closeddoor #meeting #ahead #Lindsey #Graham #funeral #service #politics #live
