Axios

The United States has expelled two Cuban diplomats from Washington after U.S. officials stationed at the American Embassy in Havana "reported incidents which have caused a variety of physical symptoms," per the AP.

• The details: Some Americans posted at the embassy in Havana — who lived in housing owned and maintained by Cuba, as do all foreign diplomats — experienced mysterious symptoms that reportedly include potentially permanent hearing loss.
• The cause: Though the investigation is still occurring, American investigators believe there's a possibility that the Cuban government — or someone sympathetic — may have placed devices that emitted sounds outside the range of human hearing inside or around the homes of those affected.
• Why it matters: Trump already cancelled some portions of the détente that began under the Obama administration, and these allegations could cause the relationship to deteriorate further.

Wisconsin isn't projected to break even on its $3 billion incentive package for a proposed Foxconn plant for at least 25 years, per a legislative analysis, Reuters reports.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been saying this investment will bring jobs and be good for the economy. Foxconn claims it will employ 1,000 people this year, and more in future.

Why it matters: The cost of the deal has already led to criticism, and this projection will provide more fuel to the critics. Democratic Rep. Peter Barca has already said it shows legislators need more time to examine the deal.

In a tweet on Wednesday, President Trump claimed his order to renovate and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal is responsible for it becoming "far stronger and more powerful than ever before."

Why it matters

He may not be responsible for how strong the American nuclear arsenal stands today. The assertion that it's already been modernized during Trump's presidency "is misleading at best, considering the process could take years," The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and John Wagner wrote Wednesday.

The FBI raided the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort last month with a warrant to obtain documents for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, per Carol D. Leonnig, Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman at The Washington Post.

• The timing: The raid came in the predawn hours of July 26, the day after Manafort's appearance in front of Senate Intelligence Committee staffers.
• What was seized: The scope and significance are unknown, though WashPost cited "people familiar with the search" said Manafort had already provided some of the documents to Congress. "Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well," Jason Maloni, Manafort's spokesperson, told Axios.
• Why it matters: It raises the possibility that Mueller is trying to build a more expansive case against Manafort — unconnected to the 2016 election and possibly tied to his foreign lobbying — in order to flip him against other top Trump team members.

President Trump's advisor and military analyst Sebastian Gorka told Fox and Friends Wednesday morning that the threat from North Korea is comparable to the Cuban Missile Crisis and that this is the time for the country to fully support the administration's decisions.

"These are the trying times," he said. "During the Cuban Missile Crisis we stood behind JFK. This is analogous to the Cuban Missile crisis, we need to come together."

The number of monthly deportations during the first five months of President Trump's administration is below those recorded during any year of Barack Obama's presidency, per Politico.

• By the numbers: U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement deported about 16,900 people each month from February through June. Obama's slowest year came in fiscal year 2016 with 20,000 deportations each month while his peak was in fiscal year 2012 at 34,000.
• Other tactics: Even though deportations are down, the Trump administration has greatly increased the number of illegal immigrants picked up via arrest rates and removal orders.
• The impact: Immigration courts have seen their caseload expand by almost 100,000 during the current fiscal year as a result of the Trump administration's policies, significantly adding to a backlog that began during the Obama years.

John McCain, typically a supporter of a hawkish foreign policy, told KTAR radio Tuesday that President Trump's threat to rain "fire and fury" down on North Korea was a mistake:

"I take exception to the President's comments because you gotta be able to do what you say you're gonna do...In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt's saying, which I think is something that should've applied because all it's going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation. I think this is very, very, very serious…The great leaders I've seen don't threaten unless they're ready to act and I'm not sure President Trump is ready to act...It's the classic Trump in that he overstates things."

That position was shared by Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, who tweeted "Nuclear deterrence is only effective if threats are deemed credible, bluster hurts our national security posture."

North Korean state media reports that the country is considering firing missiles at the island of Guam, per Reuters. Guam is a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific with a population of about 160,000, and home to three U.S. military bases.

North Korea's military spokesman reportedly said Pyongyang would conduct a pre-emptive operation if there are signs of U.S. provocation.

The news broke just hours after President Trump warned of "fire and fury" if North Korea made any further threats. Earlier today, The Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence has concluded North Korea has missile-ready nuclear weapons.

President Trump attacked The Washington Post and The New York Times via Twitter today for what he views as their reluctance to cover the Phoenix tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch last June:

The impetus: Trump's tweet was spurred by the American Center for Law and Justice's release of FOIA-obtained emails from the Department of Justice and FBI, which the organization claims shows that both newspapers collaborated with the DOJ and FBI to bury the story. ALCJ's chief counsel is Trump's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow.

Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon after reports surfaced that North Korea has successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead that the North "best not" threaten the U.S., or else face "fire and fury" from the U.S.

The full statement: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. Thank you."

Trump on North Korean threat: "They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before." pic.twitter.com/meWtD2aQ2a — Axios (@axios) August 8, 2017

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Morning Joe on Tuesday that he feels President Trump's tweets "are designed to distract."

In response to Trump's barrage of tweets sent from his vacation, Sen. Blumenthal said he can't explain the President's obsession with him, and that he is even more determined now to protect the special counsel.

After this weekend's New York Times report that Vice President Mike Pence might be assembling a shadow 2020 presidential run, GQ imagined what a Pence presidency might look like. The biggest takeaway? Those closest to Pence insist that he's really not angling to be POTUS — at least not right now — and the God-fearing veep is focused on keeping his boss "on the path."

• How the GOP establishment views a Pence presidency: An unnamed strategist told GQ, "I've got one word if you were to compare a potential Pence presidency with the current one: boring. And that's with three O's: boooring. That is not meant as a criticism."
• But Trumpism wouldn't be dead as Pence would likely need to appeal to Trump's fervent core base by maintaining some of his populist policies, like the border wall and a renegotiation of NAFTA.