Trump feedback to finish mail-in voting are a part of a technique to ‘sow mistrust’, says ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – one of many nation’s largest civil rights organisations – has issued an announcement criticising the the president’s posts to social media that threaten to finish mail-in voting and finish using voting machines. They deem his assaults as “a part of his technique to sow mistrust in our elections and stop voters from holding him accountable”.
Right here’s the complete assertion from Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Undertaking:
“Mail-in voting stays an important safeguard of our democracy. It ensures that voters with disabilities, these with out transportation entry, and others who depend on its flexibility and entry can train their proper to vote. President Trump’s makes an attempt to undermine a secure, confirmed, and dependable methodology of voting — that he himself makes use of — alongside along with his assaults on voting expertise, are simply one other a part of his technique to sow mistrust in our elections and stop voters from holding him accountable. We’re ready to guard mail-in voting in courtroom in opposition to unfounded and unconstitutional assaults, as we have now in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and different states. Entry to mail-in voting is important to a good and inclusive electoral course of.”
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European leaders have begun arriving at White Home. Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary normal, was the primary to reach, adopted by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Fee, and Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the UK.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is predicted to be final to reach.
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Democratic lawmakers in Texas have returned to the state, ending a walkout that broke quorum and blocked Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps on the behest of Trump.
Texas Home of Representatives minority chief Gene Wu, chairperson of the Texas Home Democratic Caucus, mentioned in an announcement that Democrats had returned and had “rallied Democrats nationwide to hitch this existential struggle for honest illustration.”
However Texas governor Greg Abbott on Friday already known as a second particular laws session in one other try to remodel the state’s congressional maps in an effort to present Republicans one other 5 seats in Congress.
Texas Home Democrats left the state earlier this month to disclaim Republicans the quorum wanted to vote on redistricting laws, a tactic taken a number of occasions however is normally unsuccessful.
Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, unveiled his personal redistricting plan on Thursday that he mentioned would give Democrats there 5 extra congressional seats.
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Newsmax to pay $67m to Dominion to settle 2020 election defamation lawsuit
Sam Levine
The conservative outlet Newsmax has agreed to pay $67m to Dominion voting techniques to settle a defamation swimsuit over lies about voting within the 2020 election.
The settlement got here because the case was headed to trial. Earlier this 12 months, Delaware superior courtroom choose Eric Davis dominated that Newsmax had defamed the voting expertise by broadcasting false claims about its tools after the 2020 election. A jury would have thought-about whether or not Newsmax was answerable for damages. Dominion had sued the outlet for $1.6bn.
“We’re happy to have settled this matter,” Dominion mentioned in an announcement to CNN.
In a prolonged assertion of its personal, Newsmax was defiant, saying it selected to settle not as a result of it was admitting wrongdoing, however as a result of it believed Davis wouldn’t give the corporate a good trial.
“Newsmax believed it was critically necessary for the American folks to listen to either side of the election disputes that arose in 2020,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement. “We stand by our protection as honest, balanced, and performed inside skilled requirements of journalism.”
Dominion obtained a $787.5m defamation settlement from Fox in 2023 on the eve of a defamation trial in Delaware.
Newsmax agreed to pay $40m to settle a defamation case in opposition to Smartmatic, one other voting tools firm, final 12 months. One America Information, one other far proper outlet, additionally settled a defamation case with Smartmatic final 12 months.
Fox is at present defending itself in a pending defamation swimsuit in opposition to Smartmatic.
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Trump feedback to finish mail-in voting are a part of a technique to ‘sow mistrust’, says ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – one of many nation’s largest civil rights organisations – has issued an announcement criticising the the president’s posts to social media that threaten to finish mail-in voting and finish using voting machines. They deem his assaults as “a part of his technique to sow mistrust in our elections and stop voters from holding him accountable”.
Right here’s the complete assertion from Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Undertaking:
“Mail-in voting stays an important safeguard of our democracy. It ensures that voters with disabilities, these with out transportation entry, and others who depend on its flexibility and entry can train their proper to vote. President Trump’s makes an attempt to undermine a secure, confirmed, and dependable methodology of voting — that he himself makes use of — alongside along with his assaults on voting expertise, are simply one other a part of his technique to sow mistrust in our elections and stop voters from holding him accountable. We’re ready to guard mail-in voting in courtroom in opposition to unfounded and unconstitutional assaults, as we have now in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and different states. Entry to mail-in voting is important to a good and inclusive electoral course of.”
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Forward of a busy afternoon on the White Home, right here’s an inventory of the European leaders arriving shortly. They’ll additionally participate in a bigger assembly with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni
French president Emmanuel Macron
UK prime minister Keir Starmer
German chancellor Friedrich Merz
Finnish president Alexander Stubb
NATO secretary normal NATO Mark Rutte
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Up to date at 11.48 EDT
DC’s mayor exhibits indicators of pushback since federal takeover
In current days, DC mayor Muriel Bowser has proven small however concerted indicators of pushback in opposition to the Trump administration following final week’s federal takeover of the Metropolitan police division (MPD), and deployment of nationwide guard Troops.
Over the weekend, Bowser posted on X: “American troopers and airmen policing Americans on American soil is #UnAmerican”.
This got here only a day after the DC legal professional normal Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Trump White Home, alleging a “hostile takeover” of town’s police when drug enforcement administrator Terry Cole was named “emergency police commissioner”. The justice division in the end agreed to maintain DC police chief Pamela Smith in cost, after a federal choose threatened to dam the order.
At a press convention on Friday, Bowser mentioned she was “inspired” by the administration’s resolution to renege on the administration of the MPD. She additionally described final week’s federal takeover as “unsettling and unprecedented” in a letter to residents printed on social media. Bowser additionally characterised the administration’s actions as an “authoritarian push”, having taken a measured strategy to the president’s invocation of Part 740 of the House Rule Act.
Muriel Bowser departs the E Barrett Prettyman US. Courtroom Home in Washington, DC after a listening to on Friday, August 15, 2025. {Photograph}: Bonnie Money/UPI/ShutterstockShare
Up to date at 12.04 EDT
Trump is constant to rail in opposition to his critics on Fact Social, repeating his widespread chorus that the battle in Ukraine would have “by no means occurred” if he have been president in 2022.
“I’m doing unsuitable on the Russia/Ukraine MESS, that’s Sleepy Joe Biden’s battle, not mine,” he wrote. “Regardless of all of my light-weight and really jealous critics, I’ll get it carried out — I all the time do!!!”
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The president has simply posted on Fact Social forward of right this moment’s conferences with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a key group of European leaders on the White Home. In his put up, he raged in opposition to the “faux information”, saying they wouldn’t credit score him even when he obtained Russia to “give up”.
Right here’s his put up in full:
I’m completely satisfied that if Russia raised their palms and mentioned, ‘We surrender, we concede, we give up, we are going to GIVE Ukraine and the good United States of America, essentially the most revered, revered, and highly effective of all nations, EVER, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and all the things surrounding them for a thousand miles, the Faux Information Media and their Democrat Companions would say that this was a nasty and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump, one of many worst days within the historical past of our Nation.’ However that’s why they’re the FAKE NEWS, and the badly failing Radical Left Democrats. Thanks to your consideration to this matter!!!
My colleague, Jakub Krupa, is overlaying the lead-up to those essential conferences intimately.
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Up to date at 10.27 EDT
Trump’s plans to focus on mail-in ballots and voting machines have little authorized standing
Sam Levine
Donald Trump mentioned on Monday that he’ll lead a motion to do away with mail-in ballots, however as president, there’s little he can legally do to tackle the apply.
The US structure provides states the facility to control the “The Occasions, Locations and Method” of federal elections. Congress can override these guidelines by passing federal legal guidelines. The structure provides the president no energy in setting federal elections requirements and courts have already blocked a March government order searching for to unilaterally change election practices.
Maybe previewing a authorized argument, Trump mentioned on Fact Social on Monday “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Authorities in counting and tabulating the votes.” That’s not what the structure says and isn’t an interpretation of the regulation that courts have ever endorsed.
Trump additionally instructed on Monday he would finish using voting machines, however supplied few particulars about what the choice could be. He mentioned he would substitute them with “watermarked paper”. A number of localities within the US have tried utilizing hand counts to confirm poll totals, however have discovered them to be expensive, take extra time and fewer correct than utilizing voting tabulators. Almost all the ballots solid within the 2024 election have been solid on paper.
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Up to date at 12.02 EDT
Texas Home to reconvene second particular session right this moment
As California plans to struggle again in opposition to Texas’s efforts to redraw their maps, Democrats who left the Lone Star state to interrupt quorum in protest have now returned dwelling from varied blue states.
In an announcement, Texas Home minority chief Gene Wu, who can also be chair of the Texas Home Democratic Caucus, mentioned: “We killed the corrupt particular session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to hitch this existential struggle for honest illustration — reshaping your entire 2026 panorama”
The Texas Home is ready to reconvene and try to realize quorum at 12pm CT right this moment. The state’s governor, Greg Abbott, instantly known as a second particular session on Friday, saying that Home Democrats have been “delinquent” and that he’ll “proceed to make use of all obligatory instruments to make sure Texas delivers outcomes for Texans”.
In the meantime, over the weekend, a Texas choose barred former congressman Beto O’Rourke and his political group from sending cash out of the state after it fundraised for the Democratic state lawmakers who left Texas.
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Up to date at 12.00 EDT
Washington DC eating places undergo sharp drop in diners since Trump crackdown
Adam Gabbatt
The variety of folks consuming at eating places in Washington DC has plummeted since Donald Trump deployed federal troops to town, in line with knowledge, because the president’s purported crackdown on crime continues.
Analysis by Open Desk discovered that restaurant attendance was down every single day final week in contrast with 2024, with the variety of diners dipping by 31% on Wednesday, two days after Trump ordered the nationwide guard to patrol Washington.
Trump introduced the transfer on 11 August, claiming that Washington had been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of untamed youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless folks”. His claims contradicted official statistics which present that violent crime within the capital is at a 30-year low.
Information from Open Desk exhibits that the variety of folks making on-line reservations dropped by 16% on Monday in contrast with the earlier 12 months. The quantity fell by 27% on Tuesday and 31% on Wednesday, as navy automobiles and armed troops have been deployed to town.
On Friday, Democrats launched a joint decision to finish what they described as “egregious assaults on DC dwelling rule”, stating that Trump was overreaching in his actions in Washington.
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Up to date at 09.32 EDT
California legislature to think about particular election and new map proposals
State lawmakers in California are set to return from recess right this moment to get to work in contemplating a particular election in November, and approving a brand new congressional map.
That is a part of the general redistricting race that California governor Gavin Newsom pushed for with the intention to offset Texas’s efforts to redraw their very own map and choose up 5 extra GOP home seats within the course of.
Legislators have a deadline for the top of this week – 22 August – to approve these payments.
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Up to date at 08.48 EDT
My colleague, Jakub Krupa, is bringing you the newest developments as Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels to the White Home right this moment for a gathering with the president, in addition to a wider sit-down with Trump and a cadre of European leaders.
The president is ready to welcome these leaders at 12pm ET on the White Home, Trump will then greet Zelenskyy at 1pm ET, earlier than holding a bilateral assembly with him at round 1:15pm ET. We will then anticipate a photograph alternative with all of the leaders and the president at round 2:30pm ET, adopted by a wider assembly at 3pm ET.
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Up to date at 08.16 EDT
Anna Betts
As the brand new tutorial 12 months is about to start at most universities throughout america, many worldwide college students are navigating a mixture of nervousness and uncertainty because the Trump administration’s crackdown on larger training and immigration continues.
The Guardian requested worldwide college students learning within the US to share how they’re feeling as they put together to return to campus. Some described how coverage shifts have derailed their tutorial plans, whereas others mentioned that they have been now reconsidering whether or not the US is a spot the place they need to pursue their tutorial futures.
“Leaving the US after I obtain my diploma is more and more a prime precedence,” mentioned Andre Fa’aoso, a 20-year-old pupil from Auckland, New Zealand, who’s getting into his third 12 months at Yale College.
“I’ve not been considering too far into the longer term as a result of I do know coverage settings are topic to alter in a single day, and I’d get up to search out Yale on the heart of a feud with the administration, with my proper to review and stay within the US used as a pawn to leverage concessions from universities.”
Whereas Fa’aoso is trying ahead to resuming his research, he mentioned that his return to the US “is shadowed by a real nervousness about what it could be prefer to undergo the US border in simply over two weeks”.
“I’m remaining optimistic that I’ll undergo with no hitch,” he mentioned, including: “However part of me has been getting ready for what would possibly occur if I get pulled into secondary screening or detained for some arbitrary motive, and I’m not alone in that thought course of.”
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Trump says he’ll signal order concentrating on mail-in ballots, voting machines forward of 2026 elections
Donald Trump mentioned on Monday he would signal an government order forward of subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections, saying he would lead “a motion” concentrating on mail-in balloting and voting machines throughout the nation.
“I’m going to guide a motion to do away with MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and likewise, whereas we’re at it, Extremely Inaccurate, Very Costly, and Significantly Controversial VOTING MACHINES,” he wrote in a social media put up
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Up to date at 08.47 EDT
The US particular envoy to Lebanon mentioned Monday that his staff would focus on the long-term cessation of hostilities with Israel, after Beirut endorsed a US-backed plan for the Hezbollah militant group to disarm.
Tom Barrack, following a gathering with Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, additionally mentioned Washington would search an financial proposal for post-war reconstruction within the nation, after months of shuttle diplomacy between the US and Lebanon.
Barrack can also be set to satisfy with prime minister Nawaf Salam and speaker Nabih Berri, who usually negotiates on behalf of Hezbollah with Washington.
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Up to date at 08.44 EDT
