{"id":6769,"date":"2026-08-03T05:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7799827\/the-latest-blanche-rescinds-fund-for-trump-allies-after-senators-threaten-to-block-his-ag-bid\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:30:13","slug":"the-latest-trump-says-new-talks-are-irans-last-chance-to-make-a-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6769\/the-latest-trump-says-new-talks-are-irans-last-chance-to-make-a-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Latest: Trump says new talks are Iran’s ‘last chance’ to make a deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump said Monday that newly planned talks between the U.S. and Tehran are the \u201clast chance\u201d for Iran<\/a> to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes<\/a>. Trump confirmed that the two countries were in contact and said he expects negotiations to address reopening the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. concerns about Iran\u2019s nuclear program. <\/p>\n

Trump said a day earlier he\u2019d called off major strikes<\/a> against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies, the latest in a pattern of threats and subsequent backpedaling<\/a> from the U.S. president.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 25 states sued the Trump administration<\/a> Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. The U.S. last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.<\/p>\n

Here is the latest:<\/p>\n

Sen. Chuck Grassley invites former special counsel to testify about Trump investigation<\/p>\n

Grassley says he has invited Jack Smith to testify before his panel on Sept. 22.<\/p>\n

In a social media post announcing the invitation, Grassley, the chairman of the Republican-led committee, said that the American people \u201cdeserve nothing less than full transparency + accountability\u201d related to the handling of the investigation into Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Grassley wants to ask Smith about records showing that his team obtained phone records of some lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well as the content of their text messages. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, last month referred Smith to the Justice Department for a possible false statement investigation related to testimony about the records.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for Smith say he testified truthfully and did nothing wrong.<\/p>\n

Smith conducted two investigations into Trump, including related to his retention of classified records, that resulted in indictments. Both cases were abandoned after Trump won back the White House.<\/p>\n

Trump Board of Peace officials meet congressional leaders as questions remain over Gaza peace plan<\/p>\n

Members of President Donald Trump\u2019s Board of Peace that is seeking and end to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza met with U.S. officials and lawmakers in Washington on Monday.<\/p>\n

The board members met with congressional staff and others to describe \u201ccurrent efforts to implement President Trump\u2019s Comprehensive Peace Plan\u201d and to work with Congress \u201cto advance peace, security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

No details of the meeting were disclosed in a brief statement issued by the the Board of Peace.<\/p>\n

The meeting took place as more senior officials from the Board of Peace met with top Israeli leaders in Israel.<\/p>\n

25 states sue over Trump administration\u2019s latest tariffs, citing Supreme Court ruling<\/p>\n

Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February.<\/p>\n

The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports produced by forced labor. The new tariffs took effect just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs President Donald Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,\u201d said New York Attorney General Letitia James.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump Washington surge opponents file complaint<\/p>\n

A group of activists opposing the continued law enforcement and National Guard presence in Washington submitted a letter Monday to the D.C. Superior Court chief judge asking that he assess the seriousness and racial aspect of cases being brought by prosecutors during the surge. <\/p>\n

Frankie Seabron, of CourtWatch DC, said 100 people a day were being taken into custody for minor crimes that would not have been pursued as vigorously before.<\/p>\n

\u201cJudges are not defenseless,\u201d she said, \u201cespecially when they know prosecutors are abusing their powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seabron\u2019s organization was one of several at a protest at Superior Court led by FreeDC. Ellen Hornstein with Lawyers Defending American Democracy also announced an ethics complaint had been filed last month against Jeanine Pirro with the Attorney Grievance Committee for the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The action cited her behavior in several cases, the reflecting pool vandalism case.<\/p>\n

Trump says Pirro \u2018folded like a cheap umbrella\u2019<\/p>\n

The president reiterated his disappointment with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro<\/a> for a court filing in which her office blamed a contractor\u2019s shoddy work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rather than vandalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess she choked. I don\u2019t know what the hell happened,\u201d Trump said, later adding that the former Fox News host \u201cfolded like a cheap umbrella\u201d in moving to drop criminal charges against the former Olympian accused of deliberately damaging the pool.<\/p>\n

Trump refused to say whether he\u2019d move to fire Pirro. But he also acknowledged that the contractor was \u201crushing\u201d to finish the project before July 4 \u2014 which didn\u2019t ultimately happen.<\/p>\n

And he suggested he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d the contactor working on it, contradicting his own comments from April when he said he chose the company involved since it had performed work at his golf course in Virginia.<\/p>\n

Trump avoids answering whether he supports MLB salary cap<\/p>\n

Baseball\u2019s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire Dec. 1 and there\u2019s growing speculation that there could be a lockout that jeopardizes the 2027 season<\/p>\n

The central point of contention is MLB owners push for a salary cap. Asked if he supported the owners push for a salary cap, Trump demurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019re going to talk about that at a different time,\u201d said Trump, a New York Yankees fan. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s a complex situation, but not too complex for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president previously has suggested that he views salary caps in pro sports favorably. Trump in June told reporters that \u201cif you don\u2019t have a salary cap, you don\u2019t have a sport\u201d and suggested MLB \u201cshould have done it a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump says he looks forward to meeting DC\u2019s new mayor<\/p>\n

Trump said he\u2019d welcome meeting with Janeese Lewis George, likely the next mayor of Washington, D.C., after he wrongly referred to her as a communist.<\/p>\n

Lewis George is a self-described democratic socialist and a member of the D.C. Council who won the Democratic mayoral primary in June. In the overwhelmingly Democratic city, she is likely to take the top spot in November\u2019s general election. She would succeed moderate Muriel Bowser<\/a>, who decided to step down after three terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not met her yet. I look forward to meeting her,\u201d Trump said of Lewis George.<\/p>\n

Trump says oil companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil made \u2018too much money\u2019<\/p>\n

The U.S. president said major oil companies are earning excessive profits because of high oil prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made too much money, too much money, \u201c Trump said. \u201cThey ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said he\u2019s not happy with profits reported by Chevron and Exxon Mobil, even though the higher margins reflected energy prices that had increased after Trump launched a war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed to oil and natural gas tankers.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s predecessor in the White House, Democrat Joe Biden, also attacked oil companies for their profits when inflation was a major problem with voters.<\/p>\n

Trump says he doesn\u2019t know what was agreed to on to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination<\/p>\n

The president said, \u201cI understand there\u2019s been a sign off\u201d but that \u201cI don\u2019t know what they agreed\u201d to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Todd Blanche agreed to reconfirm things that he\u2019s already said. And what he said was OK,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

Two Republican Senators who had blocked the confirmation of Blanche, the acting attorney general, to lead the Justice Department said they\u2019d reached an agreement to end the impasse.<\/p>\n

Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis said they struck a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d that could have been used to compensate Trump supporters who overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n

Despite saying he didn\u2019t know the details of the deal to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination, Trump defended the fund, saying his supporters had been \u201ctreated very unfairly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump defends his exemption from IRS audits because government was \u2018weaponized\u2019 against him<\/p>\n

The U.S. president defended an agreement to exempt him, his sons and his business from tax audits.<\/p>\n

The IRS had until Trump audited presidents since 1977, but the administration struck a deal to avoid audits of Trump as part of what was an initial agreement to end a lawsuit over the leaking of his tax records.<\/p>\n

Trump said that before he ran for president in 2016 that an IRS audit of him had been settled. He said the audit was then reopened and he used it during the campaign a decade ago to justify not releasing his tax returns as other candidates have done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went after me illegally and they did a lot of bad things to me like they did to other people,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt was weaponized against me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump says he\u2019s leaving the Rep. Max Miller situation to the families involved<\/p>\n

A day after telling reporters that he\u2019d look into the allegations against the Ohio congressman, Trump said he\u2019ll let the families \u201cfigure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very sad thing,\u201d Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office. \u201cI know Max. He\u2019s a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller is accused of domestic violence by his former wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who is close to Trump. Miller denies the allegations.<\/p>\n

The senator said Sunday that his former son-in-law should not serve in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, those families, I know they\u2019re working on it. It\u2019s a very sad thing,\u201d Trump said. \u201cEspecially when you know somebody so well to be going through that. But it\u2019s accusations, and I\u2019m going to let them figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump says new talks are \u2018last chance\u2019 for Iran to forge deal and avoid escalation of US strikes<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> said Monday that newly planned talks with Tehran are the \u201clast chance\u201d for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.<\/p>\n

Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address United States\u2019 concerns about it\u2019s nuclear program will begin in the next day or two.<\/p>\n

The Republican president says, \u201cThe first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization.\u201d Trump says that \u201dwill take a little while.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran\u2019s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions<\/a> and the difficulty of executing a war that is unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November\u2019s midterm election.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump signs executive order on military spouses<\/p>\n

The order creates the \u201cPresidential Military Spouse Commission\u201d to address issues facing troops and their families. Jennifer Hegseth, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s wife, will lead it, Trump said.<\/p>\n

The president said the new commission would \u201cdevelop suggestions to address particular challenges in housing, employment, health care, education, child childcare and just about everything else you can think of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the issues have been tackled in various forms by multiple administrations.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Hegseth\u2019s role mirrors that of other defense secretary spouses who have advocated for families while their husbands ran the Pentagon. Charlene Austin, Lloyd Austin\u2019s wife, sat on the advisory boards for the Purdue Military Family Research Institute, and Military Child Education Coalition.<\/p>\n

Trump calls Iran \u2018unbelievably duplicitous\u2019 with regard to peace talks<\/p>\n

Trump is venting about the status of peace talks with Iran.<\/p>\n

He criticized Iran’s leadership for claiming that its meetings with Oman on Monday were focused solely on establishing a temporary route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The president previously said he held off on a massive weekend strike against Iran because there was another framework for a ceasefire and the full reopening of the strait to oil and natural gas tankers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!\u201d Trump posted on social media Monday. \u201cThey ask for a meeting, some would say \u201cbeg,\u201d talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they\u2019re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they\u2019re only dealing with \u2018Oman.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said whether \u201cIran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking\u201d about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Breakneck pace in immigration courts is driving up deportation orders<\/p>\n

The Trump administration<\/a> is packing immigration<\/a> courtrooms with speedier hearings to clear a decades-long backlog in asylum claims. New data shows a historic rise in missed court dates and immediate deportation orders as judges struggle to keep up the pace.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of immigrants\u2019 cases a day are being assigned to individual judges as the number of \u201cmega\u201d master hearings significantly increase<\/a>. More than 1,300 were held in June alone, a nearly threefold jump from the previous June, according to Mobile Pathways, a nonprofit that tracks immigration court data.<\/p>\n

The data also shows that courts have severely cut preparation time in complex immigration proceedings, so people are missing hearings and being told they\u2019ve abandoned their asylum claims at unprecedented rates.<\/p>\n

Those who favor limiting immigration see this as a course-correction for a longstanding problem. But the nonprofit\u2019s chief operating officer says cases are being closed without being heard.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

GOP holdouts say they will vote to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination for attorney general<\/p>\n

Two Republican senators who threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s bid to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will vote to advance his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate the president\u2019s allies.<\/p>\n

The statement from Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis came after Blanche issued an order late Sunday formally rescinding the $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Cornyn and Tillis had said they would not support Blanche\u2019s nomination without written confirmation that the fund is dead.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump stands to profit off US policy announcements by selling fast access to his social media posts<\/p>\n

The president knows the world hangs on his every word. Now he wants you to pay for it.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Truth Social business began selling sneak peeks of his social media posts on Saturday, offering early access to market-moving news to Wall Street traders willing to pay up. The move raises the prospect of big profits for Trump\u2019s company, and big questions about insider trading and using public office for private gain.<\/p>\n

Similar fast-speed feeds are sold by other social media firms and media providers, but Truth Social doesn\u2019t just distribute the news, it makes it as Trump announces changes on everything from war to central bank leadership to tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this was the CEO of a public company, this would be jail time,\u201d said Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading.<\/p>\n

Initial sales details may be disclosed when Truth Social\u2019s parent company announces quarterly earnings.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 future is at stake as El-Sayed and Stevens make final push in Michigan<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s Senate primary in Michigan between congresswoman Haley Stevens<\/a> and public health official Abdul El-Sayed<\/a> is one of the clearest tests yet of where Democratic voters want their party to go.<\/p>\n

El-Sayed is a progressive backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders who\u2019s run against much of the Democratic establishment. Stevens is backed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and has made electability and experience central to her case.<\/p>\n

The winner faces Republican Mike Rogers<\/a> in November for an open seat Democrats likely need to hold to take control of the Senate next year.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump decries negative public polling and claims he\u2019s never been more popular<\/p>\n

The U.S. president said on social media that independent surveys showing low approval ratings are false \u2014 denying a clear trend of lower support for Trump because of inflation and the Iran war, among other issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been,\u201d Trump asserted, providing no data to back up his claim.<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a> found that just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump. That survey from late July also showed a drop since the start of Trump\u2019s second term in adults who \u201cstrongly approve\u201d of him.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the evidence of multiple surveys, Trump said his popularity is based on his income tax cuts, his job numbers, his efforts to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and his use of American military force in Venezuela and Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump going to Los Angeles on Tuesday and speak in Las Vegas on Wednesday<\/p>\n

The White House said the president will go to California and Nevada to talk up the economy and border security and slam Democrats ahead of the November elections.<\/p>\n

Trump on Tuesday will attend a Republican National Committee dinner at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the president is slated to talk about the economy at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Falling oil prices help calm Wall Street\u2019s inflation worries, while chip stocks get back to sinking<\/p>\n

Oil prices are easing and helping to calm Wall Street\u2019s worries that inflation could potentially get even worse. That has U.S. stock indexes rising early Monday, but several major chip stocks are falling again including Micron and AMD.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 625 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. The price of a barrel of Brent crude fell 5.1% to $83.42 after Trump said over the weekend he would hold off on ordering new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region. Treasury yields fell.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump overhaul could gut Head Start preschool quality standards<\/p>\n

The Trump administration is planning a dramatic overhaul of Head Start<\/a> that would gut its quality standards, two people familiar with the deliberations said.<\/p>\n

Head Start, established in the 1960s to help fight poverty, has long been considered by experts to be a gold standard for early education. It has more than 100 pages of regulations that cover everything from child-to-teacher ratios and child health screenings to family engagement.<\/p>\n

The Republicans would replace these with around a dozen pages of rules that leave most specifics to state and local law, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is not yet public and they feared reprisal.<\/p>\n

The draft rules would require more documentation from homeless or unemployed parents, and an early version would have barred even the U.S. citizen children of parents who are in the United States illegally.<\/p>\n

\u25b6 Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
President Donald Trump carries an umbrella as he exits Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, on return to Washington. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from left, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Vice President JD Vance attend a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
FILE – Rioters supporting President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo\/John Minchillo, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
People hold signs in protest during a vigil for Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, a Colombian national who was shot and killed by an ICE agent, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump said Monday that newly planned talks between the U.S. and Tehran are the \u201clast chance\u201d for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes. Trump confirmed that the two countries were in contact and said he expects negotiations to address reopening the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. concerns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":6770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"8e205637-1b25-4779-9ac1-a2ccb4a4e6f9","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"","published":"2026-08-03 05:11:24","updated":"2026-08-03 14:15:54","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1303,1292,1304],"tags":[],"region":[1442,1280,1282,1301],"class_list":["post-6769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politics","category-world","region-brandon","region-canada","region-manitoba","region-world"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6769\/the-latest-trump-says-new-talks-are-irans-last-chance-to-make-a-deal\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"The Latest: Trump says new talks are Iran’s ‘last chance’ to make a deal","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6769\/the-latest-trump-says-new-talks-are-irans-last-chance-to-make-a-deal\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/6769\/the-latest-trump-says-new-talks-are-irans-last-chance-to-make-a-deal\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-3f72f345fa9f43b23f35fdb92f4eb090cc48db7fd6432d594a6840a8a086adb6.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-3f72f345fa9f43b23f35fdb92f4eb090cc48db7fd6432d594a6840a8a086adb6.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-08-03T12:11:24Z","datePublished":"2026-08-03T12:11:24Z","dateModified":"2026-08-03T21:30:13Z"},"rendered":"