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Trump insists that Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Russia is ‘semi-routine’ despite mounting speculation
The president claimed that CIA director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow this week is “semi-routine”.
Reports surfaced today, but the Trump administration had not formally announced the trip, but various outlets captured the flight tracking data of the US government jet and the Kremlin later confirmed the meeting – but noted that Ratcliffe did not hold talks with Vladimir Putin, who was informed of the meeting. It was not clear the purpose of the visit, but Trump sought to tamper concerns. “I hate to disappoint people,” he said.
“Rumors are saying Putin’s is going to test Nato resolve all the way,” Beck said. But the president dismissed any speculation that the meeting was in regard to a possible escalation from Russia.
“He is not in there for any of the things that you said,” Trump said. “Now something may come out of it. We’re working very hard to get that war [in Ukraine] ended.”
Key events
US designates Palestinian Action group a terrorist organization
The US treasury department has designated Palestine Action as a global terrorist group and imposed expanding US financial sanctions against the British-based organization.
“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” said Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”
This comes after the UK also deemed Palestine Action as a terrorist group last year, which means that any involvement or support for the organization is considered a criminal offense in Britain.
For some context, the last time a CIA director visited Moscow was in November 2021, when William Burns – Ratcliffe’s predecessor – traveled to Russia to warn against an invasion of Ukraine, that ultimately took place months later.
In a briefing after the meetings, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that he had “nothing to add” about the talks.
“How much this will impact the overall process of recovering our bilateral relations from the profound crisis they’re currently in, it is premature to say,” Peskov said.
The president also spent time blasting Canada again after collapsed trade talks over the weekend has led to a back-and-forth of tariffs from both countries.
“They have taken advantage of the United States for many decades,” Trump said in his interview with Glen Beck. “They take advantage of us as though they were a state, and they’re not a state. And they’ve taken our car industry and they’ve taken our agriculture industry.”
He also repeated his threat to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.
“You know, people thought I was kidding. Maybe I wasn’t because the last one you saw was the Gulf of Mexico,” the president said, referring to an executive order he signed last year to rename the body of water the “Gulf of America”.
Trump insists that Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Russia is ‘semi-routine’ despite mounting speculation
The president claimed that CIA director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow this week is “semi-routine”.
Reports surfaced today, but the Trump administration had not formally announced the trip, but various outlets captured the flight tracking data of the US government jet and the Kremlin later confirmed the meeting – but noted that Ratcliffe did not hold talks with Vladimir Putin, who was informed of the meeting. It was not clear the purpose of the visit, but Trump sought to tamper concerns. “I hate to disappoint people,” he said.
“Rumors are saying Putin’s is going to test Nato resolve all the way,” Beck said. But the president dismissed any speculation that the meeting was in regard to a possible escalation from Russia.
“He is not in there for any of the things that you said,” Trump said. “Now something may come out of it. We’re working very hard to get that war [in Ukraine] ended.”
Donald Trump is now speaking with Glen Beck, the conservative radio host.
He started by paying a tribute to the late country star Dolly Parton. “To lose her, it’s like you lose a member of the family,” Trump said. “She wasn’t a very political person. She really liked me.”
Trump touts primary success after Republicans win elections in South Carolina and Oklahoma
The president also took a moment to congratulate himself and the two candidates he backed in run-off elections on Tuesday – Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei.
“I supported and ENDORSED two so-called ‘underdogs’ yesterday, one from South Carolina, and the other from Oklahoma, and they BOTH WON. Two great people!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mizzei won the GOP primary in the Oklahoma governor’s race, after the president threw his race behind the former state lawmaker and businessman. Trump’s support, however, was as much about pushing Mazzei to secure a victory as it was ensuring that his opponent Gentner Drummond, the Oklahoma attorney general, lost.
Trump has blasted Drummond throughout the race – calling him a “fake Republican” – after he sued to block construction on the president’s prized aluminium smelter in the state.
Donald Trump is in Washington today, and we’ll hear from him shortly when he takes part in a live radio interview with conservative commentator Glen Beck at 9am ET. He’ll then spend much of the day in closed-door meetings.
ICE agent charged with shooting in Minnesota could be released from Texas jail
An ICE agent charged in Minnesota with firing his gun through a house door, striking a man in his leg, and then lying to justify the shooting, could walk out of a South Texas jail on Thursday if a federal judge does not intervene.
Christian Castro, an agent for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the 14 January wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Minnesota authorities have been seeking to have him extradited since his arrest, but he remains in custody in Brownsville, Texas, a city bordering Mexico, AP reported.
Texas law says he must be released after 90 days of detention, which is Thursday.
Minnesota’s governor and attorney general filed a lawsuit asking a judge to compel Texas to return Castro to their state and to keep the Cameron County sheriff from releasing him until his extradition.
Tom Perkins
The Trump administration has approved two new datacenter chemicals to which exposure can result in “sudden death” and a range of other serious health risks, like cancer, eye corrosion, neurological damage and reproductive harm, a new lawsuit warns.
The two compounds approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for import and immediate use in facilities across the US are photoacid generators that also appear to be Pfas “forever chemicals”, though it is unclear because much of the EPA documents are redacted. Some Pfas are commonly used in the production of semiconductors.
The EPA acknowledged in its approvals that it does not know the level at which the chemicals are “acutely lethal” or cause other serious health damage, but the agency still approved them anyway, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, an attorney with the Earthjustice nonprofit, which filed the suit.
In consent orders approving the chemicals that were reviewed by the Guardian, the EPA also concedes that the chemicals present an “unreasonable risk” to workers and the public, but still approved them.
That violates the law, Kalmuss-Katz said. If there is an “unreasonable risk”, then the Toxic Substances Control Act requires the EPA to “prohibit or limit the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use, or disposal of such substance or to prohibit or limit any combination of such activities to the extent necessary to protect against an unreasonable risk”.
New data shows record number of arrests and deportations of immigrants in the US
Maanvi Singh
The Trump administration arrested and deported a record number of immigrants in July, according to newly released government data – apprehending an average of 1,500 people and removing 1,100 people daily.
This latest data confirms what attorneys and immigrant advocates have been seeing across the US – although the administration has moved away from the high-profile, militarized raids that came to define its immigration enforcement approach last year, it is quietly ramping up its operations.
“The way that people are being detained is far less flashy, but we are still continuing to see arrests,” said Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at the southern California-based immigrant services group ImmDef. “It’s just on a quieter scale instead of, you know, 10, 12 officers making one arrest, you have a handful of officers pulling someone over.”
Overall, 49,571 people were arrested last month, according to government data obtained by the Deportation Data Project – the highest number since October 2022, and a 15% increase from the previous record set in June of this year.
Despite the administration’s insistence that it is targeting criminals, a record number of people caught in the surge of arrests in July had no prior criminal history. July was the first month during the second Trump administration that the majority of people – 51% of arrestees – had no criminal convictions or charges, according to the Guardian’s analysis.
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