The Justice Department and FBI's investigation finding no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was murdered – or kept a "client list" – caused infighting among parts of President Trump's administration and his supporters.
Why it matters: MAGA's fundamental distrust of the "deep state" sparked years of conspiracy theories over Epstein's suicide in prison while facing federal sex trafficking charges, so the investigation's findings blindsided Trump's base.
President Trump defended his administration's response to the Texas Hill Country flooding after surveying the damage and meeting with victims' families on Friday in Kerrville.
The big picture: The president's visit comes amid questions about the federal response to the flooding, as he has pushed to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
GIF: Purdue University Libraries/Purdue Research Foundation
A research team supported by Purdue University is hoping to solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries — the location of Amelia Earhart's long-lost plane, Axios Indianapolis' Justin L. Mack reports.
The expedition will confirm whether an anomaly seen in satellite imagery of Nikumaroro Island, which is about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is Earhart's plane.
"What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case," Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, said in a statement.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is taking his "benefits over billionaires" tour to South Carolina next week, holding town halls in GOP districts in the deep south.
Why it matters: It's a subtle and strategic sortie to a key Democratic primary state, all under the cover of winning the House in 2026.
Recently freed pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khaliltold CNN that the Trump administration tried to "make an example" of him with his arrest and immigration detention.
Why it matters: Khalil's detention was an early flashpoint in President Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses following Israel's operations in Gaza.
The Los Angeles Police Department can't detain, remove or fire less lethal weapons or chemical agents at journalists covering protests in the city, a federal judge ordered.
Why it matters: The temporary restraining order is a victory for the Los Angeles Press Club, which had accused city police of using excessive force against journalists, including Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi who was shot with a rubber bullet during a live broadcast in what appeared to be a deliberate attack.
The world is coming to terms with the new Trump-era reality: Everything is trade.
Why it matters: President Trump is threatening tariff hikes in the weeks ahead, with some of the most aggressive aimed at Canada and Brazil, over issues that have nothing to do with trade.
A week that was supposed to end tariff uncertainty instead marked a new front in Trump's trade war, with planned escalations all around the world and on key sectors, including copper.
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.
Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn't have a celebrity "client list," and that he wasn't murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.
Americans' attitudes toward immigration have softened in the past year, according to a Friday Gallup report.
Why it matters: A record-high share of U.S. adults said immigration benefits the country, despite the Trump administration's continued focus on strict enforcement policies.
Under pressure from worried farmers and hotel owners, the Trump administration is launching a program to streamline issuing visas for temporary, migrant workers to try to make sure fruits get picked, meat is packed and lodgings are cleaned.
Why it matters: President Trump's immigration crackdown has put his administration between a MAGA rock and a special-interest hard place.
Former President Obama is joining DNC chair Ken Martin for a high-dollar fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Friday evening, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: It's Obama's first fundraiser since the party's devastating 2024 losses, and it comes after a string of public headaches for the DNC leadership team.
The Trump administration is working carefully to stamp out conspiracy theories about "weather modification," wading into a viral, recurring debate that reignited in the wake of Texas' deadly flooding.
Why it matters: Some Trump allies have amplified baseless claims that cloud seeding or geoengineering caused the disaster, complicating the government's efforts to reassert scientific facts without alienating the MAGA base.
President Trump's criminal trials are behind him, but he's now crying "witch hunt" on behalf of ideological allies overseas.
Why it matters: Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil — set to go into effect Aug. 1 — in part because of the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for his efforts to overturn his loss in 2022, charges that mirror those Trump himself faced. That's an extraordinary intervention in a friendly country's political and judicial processes, with tens of billions in trade at stake.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shared insights Thursday into how the Supreme Court operates, including on offering dissenting opinions.
Why it matters: Jackson has emerged as a significant dissenting voice in the high court during President Trump's second term. She wrote 24 opinions and more dissents than any other justice in the term that ended last month, per SCOTUSblog data.
President Trump announced Thursday plans for a 35% tariff on goods imported from Canada that would take effect on Aug. 1.
Why it matters: The latest twist in the off-on trade war with Canada comes after the key trading partner rescinded its digital services tax to advance broader trade negotiations with the U.S. as it works toward an economic deal ahead of a July 21 deadline.
President Trump said mistakes were made in how the Secret Service handled the assassination attempt against him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year while reflecting on the incident in an interview clip shared Thursday.
The big picture: One year after the July 13, 2024, rally shooting, Trump said on FOX News' "My View with Lara Trump" that he's "satisfied" with the subsequent investigation.
President Trump is planning to sell weapons to NATO allies with the understanding that they will then provide them to Ukraine, three sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios.
Trump seemed to confirm those plans in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
Why it matters: This is a major policy shift from Trump as he grows increasingly disillusioned with Russia's Vladimir Putin. He had long rejected the idea of new arms packages for Ukraine in part to avoid becoming personally embroiled in the conflict.
Nearly a year on from the assassination attempt on President Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, the U.S. Secret Service announced major reforms designed to ensure "a tragedy like this can never happen again."
The big picture: The USSS noted in a report Thursday that "breakdowns in communication, technological issues, and human failure, among other contributing factors" led to the events of July 13, 2024, which left Trump with an injured ear, a Butler, Penn., rally-goer dead and two others injured.
The White House is pushing swing-seat lawmakers away from running for higher office, warning members in Iowa, New York and Michigan that they need to save the party's razor-thin majority.
Why it matters: PresidentTrump is trying to solidify the field early, using endorsements to keep lawmakers boxed out from statewide runs.
Sen. John Cornynwill have to keep praying for a President Trump endorsement in the GOP Senate primary in Texas, but today he got some direct intervention from a different source: his opponent's wife of 38 years.
Why it matters: The very public announcement from Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton that she would file for divorce from Texas AG Ken Paxton on "biblical grounds" might not save Cornyn, but it finally gives him an opening in a race that was slipping away.
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