Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that he was putting an end to a program that had for nearly ten years allowed Chinese coders access to Department of Defense cloud systems.
Hegseth shared a video in which he described the &#8220;Digital Escorts&#8221; program — implemented under former President Barack Obama — under which Microsoft employed Chinese coders to &#8220;support sensitive DOD cloud systems&#8221; under the supervision of American contractors.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The use of Chinese Nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments is over. <a href="https://t.co/jZdcHwKho2">pic.twitter.com/jZdcHwKho2</a>
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1960824471683801206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Last month the Department of Defense was made aware of an Obama-Biden era legacy program called Digital Escorts,&#8221; Hegseth began. &#8220;For nearly a decade, Microsoft has used Chinese coders, remotely supervised by U.S. contractors, to support sensitive DOD cloud systems. The program was designed to comply with contracting rules but it exposed the department to unacceptable risk.&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, if you&#8217;re thinking &#8216;America First,&#8217; and common sense, this doesn&#8217;t pass either of those tests,&#8221; Hegseth continued. &#8220;So I initiated an immediate review of this vulnerability and I want to report our initial findings.&#8221;
Hegseth went on to explain that his review had determined that any benefits were not worth the potential risk of allowing Chinese nationals to have that kind of access to sensitive information, especially information pertaining to Defense Department.
&#8220;The use of Chinese Nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments? It&#8217;s over,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;We&#8217;ve issued a formal letter of concern to Microsoft documenting this breach of trust, and we&#8217;re requiring a third party audit of Microsoft&#8217;s Digital Escort program — including the code and the submissions by Chinese nationals.&#8221;
Hegseth also announced a separate investigation into the program and into all of the Chinese nationals who had been part of it: &#8220;Did they put anything in the code that we didn&#8217;t know about? We&#8217;re going to find out.&#8221;
&#8220;It blows my mind that I&#8217;m even saying these things, it&#8217;s such common sense,&#8221; Hegseth said as he once again reiterated his intent to remove all Chinese employees from access to DOD information. &#8220;We expect vendors doing business with the Department of Defense to put U.S. national security ahead of profit maximization &#8230; This never should have happened in the first place.&#8221;

DOD Secretary Hegseth And Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Caine Brief On Iran Strike

Pete Hegseth Kills Obama-Biden Program That Gave Chinese Coders Access To DOD Cloud Systems

Barack Obama

Communist China

Department of Defense

Joe Biden

Military

Pete Hegseth

Politics

President Trump fires a Biden-appointed Federal Reserve governor over an investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, setting up a historic legal showdown. In a surprising policy shift, President Trump calls for allowing hundreds of thousands of Chinese students into U.S. universities. The Department of Transportation cracks down on states that issue commercial driver&#8217;s licenses to truckers who are not proficient in English.
It’s Wednesday, August 27, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2>Trump Fires Fed Governor, Setting Up Legal Battle</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-965647" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump has fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee, citing a Department of Justice investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, a move that Cook is refusing to accept, setting up a historic legal showdown.
On Monday night, President Trump fired Cook &#8220;for cause,&#8221; citing a DOJ investigation into whether she committed mortgage fraud by allegedly claiming primary residence in two separate states to secure more favorable loan terms. &#8220;We need people that are 100% above board — and it doesn&#8217;t seem like she was,&#8221; Trump said.
Cook responded with a statement saying the president &#8220;has no authority to do so&#8221; and that she will not resign, announcing her intention to file a lawsuit. The move marks the first time in the Fed’s history that a president has removed a member of the board of governors and could set up a legal battle that goes to the Supreme Court.
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The shakeup at the Fed comes as the Trump administration made another major economic move, with the U.S. government acquiring a 10% stake in tech giant Intel for nearly $9 billion. The White House framed the move as a matter of national security, aimed at reviving the U.S. semiconductor industry and breaking America&#8217;s reliance on China.
<h2>Trump Calls for More Chinese Students in U.S. Universities</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-965645" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2.jpg 1920w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
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Topline: In a surprising policy shift that has drawn criticism from some allies, President Trump has called for raising the quota for Chinese nationals allowed to study in the United States to 600,000.
The president defended the move in a cabinet meeting, arguing that many less prestigious U.S. universities would not survive financially without the revenue from Chinese students. The proposal has drawn criticism from some conservatives who worry about the national security risks, including the theft of technology and research by students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The move also appears to contrast with the administration&#8217;s previously announced hardline stance. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would &#8220;aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students&#8221; who are connected to the CCP or are studying in &#8220;critical fields.&#8221;
<h2>DOT Cracks Down on Non-English-Speaking Truckers</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-965649" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.26.25-Wed-SH3.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Following a fatal crash in Florida caused by an illegal immigrant, the Department of Transportation is cracking down on states that issue commercial driver&#8217;s licenses to truckers who are not proficient in English.
The move comes after Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, killed three people in a crash caused by an illegal U-turn in a semi-truck. Singh had a Commercial Driver&#8217;s License (CDL) from a sanctuary state and was later found to be unable to properly identify most highway traffic signs.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that states currently in violation of an executive order requiring English proficiency, such as Washington, California, and New Mexico, have 30 days to come into compliance or risk losing federal funding. &#8220;We just want to keep drivers safe,&#8221; Duffy said. &#8220;Not in just red states, Americans drive in all states &#8230; and they deserve to be safe.&#8221;
In a related move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that the State Department has paused the issuance of work visas for foreign truck drivers. Rubio said the move was necessary because &#8220;the increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.”

MRN 8.27.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Fed Governor Defies Trump, Chinese Student Deal & WH Clamps Down On Foreign Truckers

Department of Transportation

Donald Trump

Economy

Education

Federal Reserve

Jerome Powell

Sean Duffy

Truckers

Vice President JD Vance treated &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; anchor Kristen Welker to a whirlwind trip around the globe during an interview that went to air during Sunday morning&#8217;s broadcast — and he addressed everything from President Donald Trump&#8217;s domestic policy to the administration&#8217;s dealings with communist China and Russia.
For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
Vance sat down for a full interview with Welker, who questioned him about the recent negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
&#8220;The Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,&#8221; Vance said, adding, &#8220;We&#8217;re trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and Ukrainians to find a middle ground to stop the killing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;The Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>.
&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and Ukrainians to find a middle ground to stop the killing.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/b487LlfIyx">pic.twitter.com/b487LlfIyx</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959608502009184631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Vance gave some details on the concessions made by Russia, and went on to explain that Trump&#8217;s goal — rather than trying to deconstruct all the reasons the war started — was to &#8220;focus on the nit-picky details of now&#8221; and get to where they could stop the fighting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;[<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>] is not trying to focus on every nit-picky detail of how this thing started&#8230; He&#8217;s trying to focus on the nit-picky details of now — of what do the parties disagree on, what do they agree on, and how do you build a foundation from one side of that ledger to the… <a href="https://t.co/9C2aXYtFHM">pic.twitter.com/9C2aXYtFHM</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959609236175864214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Welker immediately challenged him on the Trump administration&#8217;s position with regard to China. Noting that China was one of the world&#8217;s biggest consumers of Russian oil, she pressed Vance on why the United States was not putting China under heavier sanctions.
&#8220;China&#8217;s actually the largest buyer of Russian oil,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Why no sanctions on China?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, obviously, we have a 54% tariff on the PRC right now, so we&#8217;ve already applied pretty hefty sanctions on the Chinese,&#8221; Vance shot back. &#8220;And we&#8217;ve had a number of conversations at all levels over the government to try to encourage the Chinese to be better partners and bring this war to a close.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NBC: &#8220;Why no sanctions on China?&#8221;
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;Obviously, we have a 54% tariff on the PRC right now, so we&#8217;ve already applied pretty hefty sanctions on the Chinese&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/IUeug9nkkU">pic.twitter.com/IUeug9nkkU</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959611584226967880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Welker continued to press, asking, &#8220;Where exactly is the pressure on Russia to do anything if you&#8217;re not right now imposing new sanctions?&#8221;
&#8220;The President has applied more economic pressure to the Russians to stop this war than Biden did in three years,&#8221; Vance replied. &#8220;This is how negotiation works.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;The President has applied more economic pressure to the Russians to stop this war than Biden did in three years&#8230; This is how negotiation works.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/89lsaNlz8u">pic.twitter.com/89lsaNlz8u</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959611642599104891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This is how wars ultimately get settled,&#8221; Vance continued. &#8220;They all end with some kind of negotiation &#8230; He&#8217;s not going to force these parties to walk through the door. All he can do is open the door and ask them to negotiate in good faith.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;This is how wars ultimately get settled&#8230; They all end with some kind of negotiation&#8230; He&#8217;s not going to force these parties to walk through the door. All he can do is open the door and ask them to negotiate in good faith.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/OcFx8ZCYGq">pic.twitter.com/OcFx8ZCYGq</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959612590490804407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Despite hearing it directly from President Donald Trump in recent weeks, Welker asked Vance to &#8220;guarantee&#8221; that there would not be American &#8220;boots on the ground&#8221; if it came to defending Ukraine in a more direct fashion.
&#8220;The President has been very clear. There are not going to be [American] boots on the ground in Ukraine,&#8221; Vance replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;The President has been very clear. There are not going to be [American] boots on the ground in Ukraine.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/21LqlibKcU">pic.twitter.com/21LqlibKcU</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959612715816604149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We don&#8217;t control what Russia does. If we did, the war would&#8217;ve been over seven months ago,&#8221; Vance continued. &#8220;What we do believe, though, is that &#8230; the President of the United States has a lot of cards left to play to apply pressure.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;We don&#8217;t control what Russia does. If we did, the war would&#8217;ve been over seven months ago. What we do believe, though, is that&#8230; the President of the United States has a lot of cards left to play to apply pressure.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qOvXQB9NEQ">pic.twitter.com/qOvXQB9NEQ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959613859490091462?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On the domestic front, Welker pressed Vance to defend Texas Republicans and their newly-drawn Congressional map — one that is likely to afford Republicans as many as five additional seats in the 2026 midterms. Vance pushed right back, arguing that Democrats had been gerrymandering their states to unfair advantage for decades and saying that Republicans only meant to tip the scales back into balance.
&#8220;All we&#8217;re doing, frankly, is trying to make the situation a little bit more fair,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Democrats have gerrymandered their states really aggressively. We think there are opportunities to push back against that, and that&#8217;s really all we&#8217;re doing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;All we&#8217;re doing, frankly, is trying to make the situation a little bit more fair,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a> on redistricting.
&#8220;Democrats have gerrymandered their states really aggressively. We think there are opportunities to push back against that, and that&#8217;s really all we&#8217;re doing.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/q06A8CkniT">pic.twitter.com/q06A8CkniT</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959614788557836519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We&#8217;re literally losing representatives for American citizens in order to give congressional representation to illegal aliens,&#8221; Vance added, explaining that illegal aliens were being counted in the census for the purposes of congressional apportionment, meaning that &#8220;they end up getting congressional representation that ought, by right, go to American citizens.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;We&#8217;re literally losing representatives for American citizens in order to give congressional representation to illegal aliens,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>.
&#8220;Republicans are trying to balance out the scales a little bit for basic fairness and for the integrity of our democracy.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/uxxDXQJege">pic.twitter.com/uxxDXQJege</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959618633765896314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a> on illegal aliens in the Census: &#8220;They do go in the congressional apportionment. That&#8217;s why California has so many more seats is because they count illegal aliens&#8230; They end up getting congressional representation that ought, by right, go to American citizens.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Lfu3kYaM6N">pic.twitter.com/Lfu3kYaM6N</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959619304350945548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And when it came to the deployment of the National Guard and the crackdown on crime in the nation&#8217;s capital, Vance once again laid out the reasoning in straightforward fashion. &#8220;Allowing vagrants and armed robberies to take over your city — that&#8217;s a policy choice. What President Trump is showing that if you just empower local law enforcement to arrest and prosecute the bad guys, we can take back American streets,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>: &#8220;Allowing vagrants and armed robberies to take over your city — that&#8217;s a policy choice. What President Trump is showing that if you just empower local law enforcement to arrest and prosecute the bad guys, we can take back American streets.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/upsNXlZDui">pic.twitter.com/upsNXlZDui</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959621293847753130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Watch the full interview below:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH IN FULL: <a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JDVance</a>&#8216;s interview on <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MeetThePress</a> <a href="https://t.co/s7s0eCZXAG">pic.twitter.com/s7s0eCZXAG</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959708596356239868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy Hosts Bilateral Talks With US Vice President JD Vance At Chevening House

Spin Cycle: JD Vance Goes Around The World In 20 Minutes With ‘Meet the Press’

Spin Cycle: JD Vance Goes Around The World In 20 Minutes With 'Meet the Press'

JD Vance

Kristen Welker

Media

Meet the Press

NBC News

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

President Donald Trump said on Friday his administration will conduct a &#8220;major&#8221; tariff investigation on furniture entering the United States, a step toward imposing higher duties on a sector already seeing tariff-fueled price increases.
&#8220;Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,&#8221; Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Furniture retailer RH &#8212; previously known as Restoration Hardware &#8212; shares fell 7.5% in after-hours trading on Trump&#8217;s announcement.
Trump said the investigation will be completed within the next 50 days but other national security probes have taken significantly longer than that. A White House official confirmed that it would be conducted under the Section 232 national security statute.
The probe could serve as a backstop legal basis for existing tariffs if a federal appeals court strikes down &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; duties that Trump imposed on a broad range of U.S. trading partners in April, as well as import taxes imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico.
&#8220;This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union,&#8221; Trump said.
Furniture and wood products manufacturing &#8212; which employed 1.2 million people in 1979 &#8212; has fallen from 681,000 in 2000 to 340,000 today, according to government statistics.
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The United States imported about $25.5 billion in furniture in 2024, up 7% over 2023, with about 60% of those imports coming from Vietnam and China, according to Furniture Today, a trade publication.
New tariffs on imports from furniture-producing countries helped push up consumer prices for home furnishings by a steep 0.7% in July, according to Commerce Department data, though overall consumer price inflation was restrained by lower gasoline prices.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance, a trade group representing domestic furniture manufacturers and importers, including many companies that do both, had no immediate comment on Trump&#8217;s announcement.
But the High Point, North Carolina-based AHFA in April led an industry coalition in opposing new tariffs under Trump&#8217;s ongoing Section 232 investigation into lumber and wood products imports.
&#8220;As a strictly legal matter, there is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,&#8221; the group said in written comments to the Commerce Department.
&#8220;Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.&#8221;
Furniture would be the latest imported products targeted for a national security investigation by the Trump administration. On Thursday, it announced a national security probe into imported wind turbines and has previously targeted copper and other metals.
The department has opened numerous probes into the national security ramifications of imports of airplanes, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks, timber and lumber, critical minerals and drones.
The European Union won some relief from these potential new Section 232 tariffs as part of a joint statement on Thursday fleshing out their trade deal. The two sides agreed to limit any new U.S. tariffs on EU pharmaceuticals, lumber and semiconductors to the general 15% rate applied to most products from the bloc and will shield EU aircraft and parts, generic pharmaceuticals and drug chemical precursors from all new tariffs.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Bhargav Acharya; editing by Ryan Patrick Jones, Caitlin Webber and Diane Craft)

Carpenter

Trump On Tariff Investigation Into Furniture Imports: Bring ‘Business Back’ To U.S.

Global Politics

Tariffs

Vietnam

The Trump administration on Tuesday said it was targeting more imports of Chinese goods, including steel, copper and lithium, for high-priority enforcement over alleged human-rights abuses involving the Uyghurs.
The Department of Homeland Security, in a post on X, said it was also designating caustic soda and red dates for high-priority enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
&#8220;The use of slave labor is repulsive and we will hold Chinese companies accountable for abuses and eliminate threats its forced labor practices pose to our prosperity,&#8221; U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said separately on X.
The Uyghur-related law restricts the import of goods tied to what the U.S. describes as China&#8217;s human-rights abuses and ongoing genocide in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
U.S. authorities say Chinese authorities have established internment camps for Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in China’s western Xinjiang region. Beijing has denied any abuses.
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The Chinese Communist Party has faced considerable backlash for nearly a decade over their efforts to detain the ethnic and religious minority Uyghurs.
&#8220;Treatment in the centers reportedly included food deprivation, psychological pressure, sexual abuse, medical neglect, torture, and forced labor,&#8221; notes <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10281">Congress.gov</a>. &#8220;Leaked Xinjiang police files, which included thousands of detainee records and images, important party directives, and police protocols, revealed the prison-like nature of the reeducation centers.&#8221;
Some detainees are forced to work in various industries, some of which are part of the global market.
In 2020, Disney was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/08/media/mulan-controversy-xinjiang-credits-intl-hnk">heavily criticized</a> for filming part of the live-action &#8220;Mulan&#8221; movie in Xinjiang province, near where detainment facilities are reportedly located. The company even thanked the &#8220;publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Committee&#8221; and the &#8220;publicity department of CPC Turpan Municipal Committee&#8221; in the credits of the film.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

0B166219-362D-4233-AD7A-B30075843200_1_201_a

U.S. Targets Steel, Copper, Lithium Imports Under Uyghur Forced Labor Law

Executive

Steel industry

Trump Administration

Uyghur

World

Speaking on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a <a href="applewebdata://952E91CB-AC1F-46A3-A670-13239822B5F5/v">warning</a> that the Trump administration would investigate who is buying land around U.S. military bases in the homeland.
“Congressional Republicans have introduced companion bills to halt Chinese purchases outright, and the Pentagon is aligning with USDA and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to identify and shut down high-risk acquisitions,” North Carolina journalist Sloan Rachmuth <a href="https://ncpoliticaltea.substack.com/p/secretary-of-defense-sounds-alarm">noted</a> on Substack.
“I want to know who owns the land around our bases and strategic bases, and getting an understanding of why foreign entities, foreign companies, foreign individuals, might be buying up land around those bases,” Hegseth asserted. “That’s something I should be paying attention to on behalf of the American people, on behalf of my department and on behalf of the president. It’s common sense. And so, food security, just like energy resilience, just like where we get our water, that’s all national security, especially in a contingency.&#8221;
“So we would be asleep at the wheel if we were not fully a party to an effort like this to ensure that our nation had the food supply it needs, but specifically our troops have what they need on our basis so that in those moments, you can rely on us here in the United States to provide that security,” he continued, warning, “So no longer can foreign adversaries assume we’re not watching and we’re not paying attention and we’re not doing something because we are.”
In April, Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) introduced the <a href="https://harriganforms.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Military_Installation_Retail_Security_Act_TEXT.pdf" data-extlink="">Military Installation Retail Security Act</a>, which would ban companies owned by enemy nations from operating retail stores on U.S. military installations. In October 2023, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3077/text">introduced</a> the “Protect Our Bases Act,” which would “require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to annually review and update the facilities and property of the United States Government determined to be national security sensitive for purposes of review of real estate transactions.” Chairman Scott <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/scott-colleagues-lead-effort-to-strengthen-review-of-foreign-land-purchases-near-sensitive-us-military-sites" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/scott-colleagues-lead-effort-to-strengthen-review-of-foreign-land-purchases-near-sensitive-us-military-sites&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1755270797423000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1a3bKXEB91EOCDYqR59CAy">reintroduced</a> the Protect Our Bases Act this June, with Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) all cosponsoring.
In the North Carolina Senate, lawmakers introduced the <a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/Senate/PDF/S338v1.pdf">NC Farmland and Military Protection Act</a>, which would bar any foreign government from buying land within a 25-mile radius of military installations. The North Carolina House is considering a similarly named bill, which would increase that radius to 75 miles. North Carolina is the home of Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, among other military bases.
“Agriculture is our largest industry, generating <a href="https://www.ncagr.gov/news/press-releases/2024/05/18/economic-impact-nc-agriculture-and-agribusiness-jumps-1111-billion-second-straight-year-strong?utm_source=chatgpt.com">$111 billion a year</a> and covering over 8 million acres. The military is our second-largest sector, adding up to $80 billion annually and supporting more than 650,000 jobs,” Rachmuth noted. “Allowing hostile governments to buy farmland near these sites is not just an economic risk — it’s a direct threat to operational security. Property near runways, radar stations, or training grounds can be used for surveillance equipment, drone staging, or subtle encroachment on military activities.”
In 2023, the people of North Dakota saw a Chinese plan for opening a corn mill near a sensitive military base and took matters into their own hands, blocking the project.
The Grand Forks City Council, aware that the U.S. military did not have jurisdiction to kill the project, voted unanimously in February 2023 to block Chinese food producer Fufeng Group from building the mill only 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base. In spring 2022, three North Dakotans sold the land for millions of dollars; the town’s mayor, Brandon Bochenski, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/01/chinese-purchase-of-north-dakota-farmland-raises-national-security-concerns-in-washington.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a> that the proposed $700 million plant would create more than 200 jobs, but also admitted there were national security concerns.
“The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) considered an October 2022 filing by the Fufeng Group to acquire certain assets in the vicinity of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Grand Forks Air Force Base is the center of military activities related to both air and space operations,” U.S. Air Force Assistant Secretary Andrew P. Hunter <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11704309/Air-Force-shoots-Chinas-plan-build-corn-15-miles-North-Dakota-base.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> North Dakota Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer in January.
“While CFIUS concluded that it did not have jurisdiction, the Department’s view is unambiguous: the proposed project represents a significant threat to national security with both near and long-term risks of significant impacts to our operations in the area,” he added.
“With regard to Fufeng, if you’re going to strategically decouple, that means we don’t want their investment,” Cramer <a href="https://www.am1100theflag.com/show-episodes/48874-6-03-22-whats-on-your-mind-hour-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last June.

President Trump Hosts Purple Heart Day Event

Hegseth Warns U.S. Enemies: ‘I Want To Know Who Owns The Land Around Our Bases’

Military Bases

U.S.

President Trump secures a massive trade deal with the E.U. and brokers a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia. A possible motive emerges for the New York City mass shooting that left four dead. A decline in the U.S. birthrate spells trouble for the country and the economy. 
It’s Wednesday, July 30, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2>Trump Touts Trade and Peace Deal Triumphs</h2>
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Topline: President Trump returned to the White House on Tuesday night following a successful trip to the United Kingdom, where he finalized a massive trade deal with the European Union and brokered a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. 
The White House is calling the trip a “winning streak” for the president. Under the terms of the trade agreement, the European Union will remove significant tariffs on American goods and purchase $750 billion of United States energy exports during the president’s term in office. The E.U. will also invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the same period. The deal is expected to provide American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers with unprecedented market access to Europe. 
President Trump also announced on Monday that Thailand and Cambodia had reached a ceasefire after he warned them that continued conflict would jeopardize any potential trade deals with the U.S. The president has now brokered approximately one peace deal or ceasefire per month since taking office. 
Meanwhile, a third round of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China concluded in Sweden without a specific agreement. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the talks as &#8220;constructive,&#8221; suggesting that Trump’s recent deals with Japan and the E.U. have given the U.S. leverage, putting China in &#8220;more of a mood for a wide ranging discussion.&#8221; 
<h2>Motive Emerges In Midtown Manhattan Mass Shooting</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-954103" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/MRN-7.30.25-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Four people are dead, including an NYPD officer, after a gunman opened fire in a midtown Manhattan office building on Monday in New York&#8217;s deadliest mass shooting in 25 years.
The 27-year-old shooter stormed the lobby of the skyscraper at 345 Park Avenue, killing four people before taking his own life. According to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a suicide note found on the gunman suggests he was targeting the NFL headquarters located in the building. The shooter, who had a history of mental health problems, claimed in the note that he was suffering from CTE, a brain disease linked to head trauma, from playing football. However, he only played in high school.
The shooter was armed with an M-4 rifle, a style of weapon that is banned under New York’s strict gun laws. Following the attack, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) called for a nationwide ban on semi-automatic rifles.
The shooting came as officials in Cincinnati gave an update on a separate, brutal street brawl that went viral over the weekend. Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge blamed social media and journalists for misrepresenting the incident and making the investigation more difficult. The city&#8217;s Democratic mayor, Aftab Pureval, accused the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Justice of politicizing the attack by investigating it for potential hate crime charges. 
<h2>U.S. Faces a ‘Birth Dearth’</h2>
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Topline: The U.S. birthrate fell to an all-time low in 2024, according to a new CDC report, prompting concerns about the future of the nation&#8217;s culture and economy. 
The CDC’s annual report revealed that the U.S. fertility rate dropped to 1.59 children per woman last year, a 19% decline in the last 20 years. This is significantly below the 2.1 rate needed for a generation to replace itself, and it means fewer babies were born in America in 2024 than in 1964, when the population was nearly half its current size. 
The decline is attributed to several factors. Socially, women are waiting longer to have children, with the average age of a first-time mother now at 27.5, up from 22 in 1980. Biologically, fertility rates have also fallen. The average man&#8217;s sperm count has dropped 62% since 1970, a decline linked to rising obesity rates and exposure to &#8220;forever chemicals&#8221; like PFAs. 
The Trump administration views the trend as a crisis. Vice President JD Vance has called the low birthrate an &#8220;existential threat to America.&#8221; The administration has responded with executive actions to reduce the cost of in-vitro fertilization, expand the Child Tax Credit, and has proposed a &#8220;Baby Bonus&#8221; that would provide a $5,000 cash payment to parents for each new child.

MRN 7.30.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Trade Tour De Force, Midtown Tower Attack, U.S. Birth Rates Hit Record Low

Birth Rates

European Union

Free Trade

Manhattan

Mass Shooting

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will crack down on illegal vapes entering the U.S. from China, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told ABC News.
&#8220;[What] we have been doing is laughable,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to start confiscating and seizing. We&#8217;re going to take this seriously.&#8221;
The illegal e-cigarettes appeal to children and teens through bright colors and fruit- and candy-based flavors, according to Makary. The vapes are often disguised as handheld video game consoles, highlighters, or smartphone cases, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/fda-head-warns-illegal-vaping-products-china/story?id=123977131">reported</a>.
&#8220;There is no approved vaping product in the United States that has a video game,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;There is not an approved vaping product in the United States that has one of these cutie fruity flavors.&#8221;
The only legal e-cigarette flavors are menthol and tobacco, Makary said. There are only 39 authorized e-cigarette products in the U.S.
&#8220;Eighty-five percent of the vaping products sold in the vape stores are illegal according to the FDA&#8217;s list,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t even know what&#8217;s in some of these vaping products.&#8221;
Makary said stopping illegal vapes is a &#8220;top priority&#8221; for the agency.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized about two million illegal vape products last month, ABC News reported. The vapes are worth about $34 million.
&#8220;This is just a small fraction of the seizures we have here,&#8221; CBP official Eric Everson told the outlet.
Over 90% of Chinese vape products imported to the U.S. in 2024 were not reported in American import data, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-is-flooding-america-with-illegal-vapes-and-more-than-90-fly-under-the-radar">reported</a>. Experts say Chinese manufacturers intentionally mislabel their products to avoid duties, tariffs, and FDA regulations.
In late 2023, CBP agents <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ecigarettes-elf-bar-fda-teen-vaping-434dc600866cf2a626aa8c7a0063ac43">seized</a> $18 million worth of illegal vapes mislabeled as shoes, toys, and other items.
The influx of illegal vapes led Attorneys General from 27 states to <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/IACIO/2025/04/10/file_attachments/3226671/2025.04.09%20-%20Letter%20on%20Chinese%20E-Cigarettes.pdf">write</a> a letter to the Trump administration asking for help &#8220;combating the flood of illegal Chinese products — including illegal Chinese e-cigarettes marketed to minors.&#8221;
&#8220;Illegal, flavored Chinese e-cigarettes are flooding the U.S. market in flagrant disregard of State and federal laws. The products have never been approved by the FDA and target America’s youth,&#8221; the Attorneys General wrote in April. &#8220;They are often brought into the country in mislabeled packaging or shipped in a manner specifically designed to evade detection by the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.&#8221;

Disposable Vapes For Sale In London

‘Top Priority:’ FDA To Crack Down On Illegal Chinese Vapes

trade

A dual citizen of China and the United States pled guilty on Monday to stealing American missile defense technology for the Chinese government. 
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/engineer-pleads-guilty-stealing-chinese-governments-benefit-trade-secret-technology-designed">announced</a> that 59-year-old Chenguang Gong pled guilty to theft of trade secrets. Gong, a former engineer who lives in San Jose, California, admitted to stealing information developed by the U.S. government for detecting nuclear missile launches, tracking ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and technology to assist fighter jets evade heat-seeking missiles. 
Gong, who faces up to 10 years in prison upon sentencing, is currently free on $1.75 million bond. 
In his plea agreement, Gong said that he transferred 3,600 files from the Los Angeles area research and development company where he worked and moved them to personal storage devices, including a personal laptop. The file transfers took place between March 2023 and April 2023, when he was fired by the company, which was identified as a victim of Gong.
The files contained blueprints for infrared sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect missiles and blueprints for sensors for American military aircraft to combat heat-seeking missiles. Some of the files were later discovered at Gong’s private residence, the Justice Department said. 
The information on the files was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to prosecutors.
From 2014 to 2022, Gong applied for multiple “talent programs” run by the Chinese government while working for major American technology companies.  
The Justice Department said that China “established these talent programs as a means to identify individuals who have expert skills, abilities, and knowledge of advanced sciences and technologies in order to access and utilize those skills and knowledge in transforming the PRC’s economy, including its military capabilities.”
Gong sent in applications to the talent programs that mirrored technology produced by his employers. For example, in September 2020, Gong submitted an application for “low light/night vision” image sensors that had the model number of a sensor produced by a defense industry company he worked for from 2015-2019, according to investigators. 
The Justice Department also said that Gong took several trips to China to meet with talent program managers. In a 2019 email, Gong admitted that he “took a risk” to fly to China “because [he] worked for…an American military industry company.”
The guilty plea comes as government officials have attempted to crack down on intellectual property theft by China. It is estimated that Chinese-backed IP theft costs American companies between $300 to $600 billion per year.

HONG KONG-CHINA-HANDOVER-ANNIVERSARY

Chinese National Admits To Stealing Missile Defense Blueprints For Communist China

California

Department of Justice

Espionage

Spying

President Trump continues his assault on Fed Chair Jerome Powell. With the Big Beautiful Bill signed into law, the House GOP lays out their next set of priorities. And, Trump unveils a $100 billion energy investment in Pennsylvania – which he hopes will spur America&#8217;s tech dominance over China.
It’s Thursday, July 17, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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<h2>Trump Threatens To Fire Fed Chair</h2>
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Topline: As the Federal Reserve continues to hold interest rates steady, President Trump is once again threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Jerome Powell was first appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve by Donald Trump himself back in 2017, but ever since 2019, he’s drawn the consistent ire of the president. Trump says he was too slow to cut rates during the pandemic, and felt Powell intentionally kept rates high ahead of the 2020 election to try and hurt the economy and his re-election odds.
Now Trump is furious with Powell once again over his hesitation to cut rates despite low inflation and strong labor numbers — for his part, Powell has expressed concerns that Trump’s tariffs will spur inflation, and he doesn’t want to cut rates if the economy is about to slow down.
Trump has repeatedly hinted that he could fire Powell — however, because the Federal Reserve is meant to be independent of Congress and the White House, the president is only allowed to remove its chair with cause. Policy disputes aside, the White House believes they could have cause in the form of a $2.5 billion renovation plan for the Federal Reserve that Powell approved. Trump says Powell has wasted taxpayer money on a “palace” for himself and hinted that the project could constitute fraud.
“I don’t rule out anything,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/1945520191883948337">said</a> when asked if he would fire Powell, although he noted such a move would be &#8220;highly unlikely.&#8221; “It&#8217;s possible that there&#8217;s fraud involved with the $2.5 billion-$2.7 billion renovation. &#8230; And he didn’t have proper clearance. So there could be something to that.”
On Tuesday night, Trump reportedly floated the idea to his allies in Congress, showing conservative House members a draft letter informing Powell he’d been fired that he was prepared to send. He then polled those 12 members for their thoughts – 11 reportedly advised him to fire Powell. But by Wednesday, the president <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1945513505941241860">seemed</a> to be having second thoughts. “We’re not planning on doing anything. We’re a little concerned.”
<h2>Congressional Round-Up</h2>
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Topline: After the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, congressional Republicans are focusing on new legislative priorities.
On Tuesday, the Republican Study Committee hosted a “new media row” on the Hill, an opportunity for outlets like The Daily Wire to speak to their members one-on-one. That includes House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who spoke to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan about the concerning rise of violent political rhetoric on the Left. Scalise was badly injured at a mass shooting by a left-wing activist at the 2017 Congressional baseball game — he’s particularly sensitive to this issue.
“You&#8217;re seeing people attacking our law enforcement, including ICE agents, and they&#8217;re spurred on by a lot of the rhetoric from the Left,” Scalise told The Daily Wire. “That&#8217;s got to stop.”
Scalise also addressed the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein controversy – he told The Daily Wire he trusts President Trump will &#8220;straighten things out … I haven&#8217;t been privy to those documents, the classified information. Others have, but look, I trust Donald Trump and his judgment. And ultimately, I think he&#8217;s going to get the right answers.”
“The cartels are going to go where the money is, and they&#8217;re going to go where they&#8217;re going to find the most lax state laws where they can take advantage,” said New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who’s been fighting to keep drugs and criminals from pouring through our northern border. She said she’s particularly worried about the problem in light of recent developments in New York City. “New York City is facing a major crisis, which is going to impact not just the state, but all of us. Obviously, the election of a Marxist antisemite, like Zoran Mamdani … these are the kind of people that are helping, aiding and abetting the criminal cartels that are trafficking children, trafficking women.”
Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack said her biggest priority was imposing background checks for Congress. “We’ve seen situations where individuals who have ties to foreign nations, different organizations that have terrorist funding have made their way in through different offices … I think the American people deserve to know who&#8217;s working on their behalf. It&#8217;s pretty simple, but you would not believe the resistance that we&#8217;re getting.”
Several other lawmakers also spoke at length with The Daily Wire – stay tuned to hear more about protecting kids, women’s sports, the Middle East, the Texas floods, and why Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) never wears a suit jacket.
<h2>Pennsylvania Receives $100 Billion In AI Investments</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-948249" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump is directing $100 billion to artificial intelligence infrastructure in Pennsylvania. A summit held at Carnegie Mellon University was billed as a chance to showcase the state’s “potential to power the A.I. revolution.”
AI investment is picking up rapidly in the state of Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1945209947962118191">said</a> that he had received pledges worth over $90 billion for new AI and energy investment in the Keystone state. By Wednesday, that number had risen to more than $100 billion, including an investment from the asset manager Blackstone, which wants to bankroll $25 billion worth of new data centers and energy infrastructure in the state.
Pennsylvania is a key swing state located in the center of the Rust Belt – the old industrial heart of the United States – but electoral concerns aside, many of the same factors that helped the state rise to prominence in the industrial era have become relevant again in the AI age. Old industrial sites generally have ready access to water and electricity, which data centers consume huge amounts of for cooling and power generation – some data centers <a href="https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/issues/magazine-issue/article/2024/03/engineers-often-need-a-lot-of-water-to-keep-data-centers-cool">require</a> millions of gallons of water per day and AI is <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/">projected</a> to account for more than 20% of global power consumption by ~2030.
Pennsylvania also sits on top of the Marcellus Shale formation – that means plentiful natural gas ready to be tapped into, and less money spent on pipelines to get it to power plants to fuel the data centers. A deactivated coal plant in Homer City, Pennsylvania, is being rebuilt into the largest natural gas-fired power plant in the world – <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945515122551566624">according</a> to President Trump – and the nuclear plant at <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/26/1104516/three-mile-island-microsoft/">Three Mile Island</a> is being reactivated to exclusively power Microsoft data centers.
The U.S. leads the field in AI research and development, but China has emerged as a major competitor. China is investing heavily in new power stations to build out its already substantial lead over the U.S. In 2023, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-do-china-and-america-think-about-the-energy-transition/#:~:text=China%20is%20very%20reliant%20on,that%20level%20of%20solar%20installations.">Brookings Institution</a>, China had over twice the electricity generation that the United States has and was on track to greatly increase that.

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Morning Brief: Trump Vs Fed Chair, Congressional Chats, $100 Billion Investment In Pennsylvania AI

Artificial Intelligence

Congress

Inflation

President Donald Trump&#8217;s Education Department opened an <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-opens-foreign-funding-investigation-university-of-michigan">investigation</a> into the University of Michigan&#8217;s foreign funding on Tuesday, weeks after two Chinese nationals with ties to the university were charged by the Department of Justice for smuggling biohazards into the United States.
Michigan has a &#8220;history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence&#8221; and &#8220;recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage,&#8221; according to the Education Department&#8217;s Office of General Counsel (OGC) Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore. The Department of Education said that it will look into whether UM is in compliance with federal law after &#8220;a review of the university’s foreign reports revealed inaccurate and incomplete disclosures.&#8221;
&#8220;Unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars in foreign funding in UM’s disclosure reports have been reported in an untimely manner and appear to erroneously identify some of UM’s foreign funders as ‘nongovernmental entities,’ even though the foreign funders seem to be directly affiliated with foreign governments,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;OGC will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the American people know the true scope of foreign funding and influence on our campuses.”
The Education Department is demanding that UM hand over tax records, documents, and lists of all gifts detailing any agreement with foreign governments within 30 days. The Trump administration also wants the names and contact information &#8220;of all university research personnel and contract personnel, undergraduate and graduate, involved in bilateral or multilateral research collaborations with non-U.S. research institutions.&#8221;
&#8220;Today’s investigation into UM reflects the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to hold colleges and universities accountable for failing to comply with federal disclosure laws on foreign funding, consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,&#8221; the department stated.
Last month, two Chinese scholars at the university were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alarming-pattern-another-chinese-national-arrested-for-smuggling-biological-materials-into-u-s">arrested</a> and charged by the DOJ for attempting to smuggle “biological materials” that could potentially wipe out crops into a laboratory at Michigan. The DOJ said the arrests are &#8220;part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.&#8221; Michigan, which <a href="https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/research-annual-reports/fy24-research-annual-report/fy24-news-release/">boasts</a> of being one of the top public research schools in the world, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-policies-under-review-after-chinese-researchers-charged-with-smuggling-biohazards?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=University+Policies+Under+Review+After+Chinese+Researchers+Charged+With+Smuggling+Biohazards">said</a> last month that it was “actively reviewing all relevant policies” after the arrests of the Chinese nationals.
FBI Director Kash Patel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-arrest-chinese-scholar-for-attempting-to-smuggle-pathogen-used-for-agroterrorism-into-u-s">called</a> the arrests &#8220;a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.&#8221;
Earlier this year, UM ended its partnership with the Chinese Shanghai Jiao Tong University over national security concerns after the FBI <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/us/5-chinese-nationals-charged-with-covering-up-midnight-visit-to-michigan-military-site">said</a> that five Chinese UM students attempted to mislead investigators about a suspicious late-night trip they took to a Michigan military base in 2023.

Michigan

Trump Admin Probes University’s Foreign Funding After Chinese Biohazard Smuggling Arrests

Department of Education

Investigation

University of Michigan

Former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) challenged the United Nations over policy positions that coddle Communist China and unfairly attack Israel, saying that if he is confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to the UN, he will work to change that and &#8220;make the UN great again.&#8221;
Waltz delivered his opening statement on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he argued — among other things — that the United Nations should no longer treat China as a &#8220;developing nation&#8221; when it boasts the world&#8217;s second-largest economy.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nominee <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgwaltz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaelgwaltz</a>&#8216;s opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
&#8220;I&#8217;m confident under <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>&#8216; leadership, we can continue to spread peace and prosperity — and I&#8217;m confident we can Make the U.N. Great Again.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Ao1uE8pQp9">pic.twitter.com/Ao1uE8pQp9</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945134303328845991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
After offering thanks to his family and military colleagues for their support, Waltz jumped immediately to how his experience as a Green Beret veteran would inform his ability to work within the United Nations and advance President Donald Trump&#8217;s agenda and vision within the global body.
Referencing his prior field experience with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Waltz noted that often the money and resources were mismatched — and said that he would direct efforts toward correcting those imbalances wherever possible.
Waltz went on to say that many Americans had become disillusioned with the United Nations, arguing that it had &#8220;drifted from its core mission&#8221; — and that a refocusing was in order. &#8220;We must return to the UN&#8217;s charter and first principles &#8230; and focus on peacekeeping, not nation-building.&#8221;
&#8220;Countering China, absolutely &#8230; is critical,&#8221; he continued, promising to work alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio to &#8220;challenge&#8221; China&#8217;s influence. &#8220;It’s absurd that the world’s second-largest economy is treated as a developing nation in most UN agencies that gives China favorable status.&#8221;
Waltz concluded by saying that it was equally important to push back against the &#8220;pervasive&#8221; antisemitism in the United Nations, pointing out the fact that in just the last decade alone, the General Assembly had passed &#8220;154 resolutions against Israel versus 71 against all other nations combined.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m confident under [Trump&#8217;s] leadership, we can continue to spread peace and prosperity — and I&#8217;m confident we can Make the U.N. Great Again,&#8221; he said.

Rep. Michael Waltz

‘Make The UN Great Again’: Waltz Challenges Antisemitism, China Favoritism At United Nations

'Make The UN Great Again': Waltz Challenges Antisemitism, China Favoritism At United Nations

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