Trump says he is ‘extremely happy’ with Hegseth performance, despite reports of clashes over munition shortages
On Truth Social, Donald Trump insisted that he was “extremely happy” with Pete Hegseth’s job performance as defense secretary.
“Everything has been extraordinary,” the president said, listing the capture of the now-deposed Venzuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and the ongoing war in Iran which has seen the price of gas steadily increase over the last six months, inflation reach a three-year high and a reported shortage in critical munitions.
“Pete is highly respected within the Military, and has made tremendous improvements, including getting rid of DEI, and increasing recruitment to historic levels,” Trump added, while dismissing any clashes with the Pentagon leaders as “fake news” spreading “false and completely unfounded rumors”.
This comes after the Washington Post’s earlier report that the president grew frustrated with Hegseth last week at a meeting at Camp David, about the extreme munitions shortages that pose a problem for the military options in Iran, according to two unnamed sources cited by the outlet.
Key events
Aram Roston
Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, has finally issued its first construction contract in the devastated territory: a project to build a rudimentary 150-person military outpost to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian.
The contract, which has not yet been finalised, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based firm that has previously carried out work with the US government in countries such as Iraq.
In an email, a Board of Peace official said the board and a group of Palestinian technocrats installed to oversee Gaza “are in the final stages of preparing several contract awards. None have been finalised.” The Palestinian group is known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
The official said “one prospective contract concerns facilities to support the international stabilisation force (ISF), which will assist in implementing the roadmap’s security and governance arrangements”.
The award comes just days after Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm, though there are considerable questions about how the group would give up its guns. Israel has opposed the plan, and increased airstrikes in Gaza after Trump’s announcement.
The Guardian reported in July that the board’s original Gaza reconstruction had shrunk dramatically from an ambitious blueprint to rebuild the whole territory to a small pilot project in the south of the strip.
The base now being planned is just 100 metres by 120 metres and is intended to house a contingent of Moroccan troops, who would rotate from a base in Israel, the source said. It would lie in the 60% of Gaza’s territory that the Israeli army directly controls. Israeli forces have also created a buffer zone beyond that area.
Trump denies US running short of munitions after reported clash with Hegseth
A reminder that we’re tracking the latest developments out of the Middle East, including the earlier news that Donald Trump hit back at media reports suggesting the US was running low on weapons after five months of war against Iran.
He said the US has “massive amounts of munitions, especially of certain types,” in a Truth Social post last night, adding: “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”
The Washington Post (paywall) reports that the president and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, clashed during a cabinet meeting at Camp David last Friday over the munitions shortages, with Trump reportedly demanding answers after being under the impression the issue “had been fixed”.
The shortages were part of the reason that Trump had to call off what he said would be “the biggest attack since World War II” in recent days, sources told the paper. Hegseth reportedly blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages and for Trump not being fully informed on the matter.
“Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” Trump continued in his post.
For more, our colleagues on the Middle East live blog are covering all the latest developments:
Meanwhile, my collegaue Stephen Starr has been speaking to voters in Wooster, Ohio – a part of Max Miller’s congressional district.
He reports that Republican voters in the seat are worried, according to local GOP official, Bill Heck – vice-chair of the Republican party of Medina county, which lies inside Miller’s district.
“I think a lot of our members and our steadfast Republicans are concerned,” he said. “I’m sure the president does not want to lose that seat. With 92 days left [to the election] it’s going to be really difficult for anybody to come in and take over the position – if appointed.”
A host of other Republican party county organizations and groups across Miller’s district, including the women’s branch of the Republican party of Cuyahoga county, asking if they thought the congressman should resign, did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment on the situation.
Heck, however, wouldn’t say if he thinks the congressman should step down.
“There is so much stuff flying around that we have not been able to decipher what’s real and what’s not. What we’re trying to determine right now is how much of this is credible and how much he can refute and recover from,” he said.
Before specific details of the allegations against Miller were recently made public and before Senator Moreno’s calls, Miller was expected to easily retain his seat, with pollsters suggesting in June the district leans Republican by five points.
Miller, 37, who had previously served as a presidential aide during Trump’s first administration, was endorsed by Trump in 2021 during his first campaign. But this week, reports emerged that the president’s support for Miller may be waning. The final day the Ohio Republican party could replace Miller with another candidate, if it decides to do so, is 12 August.
Read Stephen’s full report:
Moreno says he has sent daughter, granddaughter and wife ‘out of state’ for safety
As the calls continue to grow for Max Miller, a GOP congressman from Ohio, to resign from Congress over domestic abuse allegations against his ex-wife and daughter, his former father-in-law, Republican senator Bernie Moreno tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that he has now sent his daughter, Emily, as well as his granddaughter and wife “out of state to a secure place until such time as they feel safe”.
This comes as a congressional ethics committee launched an investigation into the allegations against Miller, while he has insisted that he will seek re-election for his seat in this year’s midterms.
Earlier this week, Moreno told reporters that the dispute between his daughter and Miller as “truly the seventh level of hell”, adding: “This has been a horrific experience for my entire family.”
Miller, for his part, posted a livestream video on Sunday defending himself against the abuse accusations and saying his former wife had “significant mental-health challenges”.
Blanche confirmation hangs in the balance as Senate recess looms
The confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general remains up in the air as we wait to see whether he has enough Republican votes in the Senate.
Earlier this week, two key GOP holdouts – John Cornyn and Thom Tillis – said they would now support Blanche after he assured them in writing that the proposed $1.8bn fund for Trump allies was dead. But Susan Collins, the moderate from Maine, announced she will vote no, citing Blanche’s role in creating the so‑called “anti‑weaponization fund”.
That leaves two remaining question marks: Lisa Murkowski, another moderate, and Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana senator who lost his primary to a Trump‑backed challenger.
Cassidy said in a radio interview Wednesday that he’s still undecided. “I’ve got to be convinced that he is an attorney general who just happens to have once been President Trump’s personal attorney, as opposed to President Trump’s personal attorney who is now the attorney general,” he said. “I think there’s a big difference between the two.”
With Mitch McConnell still not cleared to return to work after his fall at home and subsequent hospitalization, Blanche needs either Murkowski or Cassidy to get to 50 votes.
JD Vance can break a tie as president of the Senate – but without that, a failed confirmation would be a major setback for Donald Trump’s agenda.
Edward Helmore
Separately, another Senate committee says it obtained a backup copy of Anthony Fauci’s iPhone ahead of Republican lawmakers deciding to hold the veteran government health official in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions amid a hostile inquisition last week.
The phone was used by Fauci during his time as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including his time fronting the first Trump administration’s response to the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, chair of the Senate homeland security permanent subcommittee on investigations, said he had obtained a copy of the phone. “Hopefully, this device will address many of the questions he refused to answer at last week’s hearing,” Johnson wrote on social media on Wedensday.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the copy was transferred by the US Department of Health and Human Services, led by Fauci critic Robert F Kennedy Jr.
One quick note on the contempt resolution: Senator Rand Paul may try to send it straight to the Department of Justice, since advancing it in the Senate would require 60 votes. Republicans hold just 53 seats, making it almost certain to fall short of that threshold.
Senate committee holds Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress
The Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after a bitter hearing last week, where the retired public health official invoked the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and possible prosecution by Republican lawmakers, who have routinely vilified him for his handling of the Covid-19 response.
The vote was adopted along party lines.
This came after several attempts from some of the panel’s Democratic members to table today’s vote, all of these were rejected by the committee’s Republican majority.
Rand Paul, the committee’s GOP chair, will now seek a full vote in the Senate, or possibly send the resolution directly the justice department. The DoJ will then determine whether to pursue criminal charges.
Democratic senator Maggie Hassan, of New Hampshire, said while there is a “real need” for a “serious bipartisan examination into what went well and what went wrong during our country’s response to the pandemic”, last week’s hearing was ultimately designed to “target a single doctor and dedicated public servant, who has testified before Congress many times before, and they wanted to blame him for everything that went wrong during the pandemic”.
She also defended Fauci’s decision to pleas the fifth amendment, adding that he had “little choice but to invoke his constitutional right to not walk directly into a trap”.
During his opening remarks in today’s hearing, Republican Senator Rand Paul insisted that the vote to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress was not about his “opinions”, “policies” or “anything he said from a podium six years ago”.
“We are voting on whether a witness who has received the benefit of a sweeping federal pardon can be ordered by this committee to answer questions and then defy that order without consequence,” Paul said.
A reminder that even though Fauci received a presidential pardon as Joe Biden left office, anything the former public health official says after 19 January 2025 could expose him to certain perjury charges that Paul has pursued. As a result, Fauci invoked the fifth amendment 111 times throughout last week’s questioning from lawmakers.
My colleague Jessica Glenza reports that there is debate among experts about how far the fifth amendment extends. Some argue that once a person accepts a presidential pardon, they cannot invoke the fifth amendment for federal crimes. Without that right, Congress could hold a witness in contempt, which can lead to fines or – in the extreme – jail time. Others have argued that the right extends as long as there is a valid threat of prosecution, particularly by states.
In the Senate today, a vote to hold Anthony Fauci is scheduled for 8.30am ET in the homeland security and governmental affairs committee.
The Republican chair, senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, is hoping the panel’s GOP majority will vote in favor of the resolution, after Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (Niaid), consistently invoked the fifth during a rancorous hearing last week.
However, to guarantee holding Fauci in contempt of Congress, Paul will need 60 votes in the upper chamber before sending a criminal referral to the Department of Justice.
Donald Trump is in Washington today, and will spend most of the day in meetings that are closed to the press. Later, at 7pm ET he’ll hold a reception the Rose Garden for Team USA. We’ll bring you the latest lines as that gets under way.
Exclusive: Emails reveal Palmer Luckey’s political fundraising as his company wins sole-source contracts
Aram Roston
Wealthy Republicans on the west coast received an emailed invitation in July to an upcoming fundraiser titled “Keep the Senate”. The email, obtained by the Guardian, described the event as a “private roundtable and dinner with the National Republican Senatorial Committee” where donors can pledge $50,000 for seats at the head table, and mingle with legislative heavy hitters from Capitol Hill including the Senator majority leader, John Thune, and Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate in Michigan with Donald Trump’s endorsement.
One of the organizers listed on the invite was defense industry tycoon Palmer Luckey, the 33-year-old co-founder of sprawling weapons manufacturer Anduril Industries.
The invitation is one of dozens of emails obtained by the Guardian that unravel Luckey’s vast Maga political fundraising over the last seven years.
A longtime GOP donor and activist who spoke on condition he not be identified in order to preserve his political relationships said Luckey is now the “godfather of Republican fundraising on the west coast”.
“If you’re raising campaign money in California, you have to go to Palmer Luckey,” he said. “Luckey is the top tier. There are others who are important below him but no one at his level.”
Top Democrats accuse Trump officials over Israeli settlers’ ‘unbridled violence’
David Smith
Senior Democrats have accused Donald Trump’s administration of giving a green light to violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, warning that its policies created “a climate of impunity and unbridled violence” that endangers both Palestinians and US citizens.
In a letter seen by the Guardian, a group of 19 Democratic senators and representatives call for the restoration of sanctions against extremist settlers and demand independent US investigations into the deaths of nine US citizens killed in the West Bank since 2022.
The letter, signed by Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren among others, is addressed to Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary.
It argues that Trump’s promise last year that “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank” has been undermined by events on the ground. “In practice,” the Democrats write, “violent settlers and the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government have proceeded to rapidly extend Israeli control over civilian populations in the region.”
More here:
Why making Anthony Fauci the enemy will harm US public health for years
Melody Schreiber
Katie Miller, an erstwhile Trump administration official and wife of Stephen Miller, once relied on Dr Anthony Fauci to get through Covid. Now, she’s calling for his imprisonment – a reversal that illuminates the politicization of Fauci and of public health writ large, a trend that could have major repercussions for America’s preparedness for future crises.
A US Senate committee will vote on Thursday morning over whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after the physician and former public health official invoked his fifth amendment rights during a Senate hearing last week focused on Fauci’s actions during the Covid pandemic.
The invocation of the worst days of the Covid pandemic come as midterms loom and the administration struggles to address several infectious outbreaks, including cyclosporiasis and Ebola.
Rand Paul, a senator, released contemporaneous notes that Fauci took during his time in public office, which Paul called Fauci’s diary, that reveal the confusion and fear of the time and illuminate the private episodes of a man who became known as America’s doctor.
“By focusing entirely on one human being and by calling him all sorts of names, including ‘evil’, and by calling for him to be jailed, it abdicates Republicans’ own responsibility in the US response to the pandemic, which was under President Trump,” said Gavin Yamey, director of the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at Duke University. “I think that this is all aimed at riling up the base ahead of the midterms and at washing their hands of any culpability themselves in the mass death event of Covid.”
And it comes after substantial cuts to the public health infrastructure; misinformation has spread at the highest levels of the government, and growing outbreaks of measles, whooping cough, cyclosporiasis, Ebola, and more.
“This is an extraordinarily good way to distract people from the very deliberate destruction of the US public health system,” Yamey said.
Senators set to vote on holding Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.
Fauci, a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic, had invoked the fifth amendment and refused to answer questions at a high-profile Senate committee hearing on the origins of Covid-19.
The hearing had been called by Republican senator Rand Paul, who has investigated Fauci for years – and who Fauci accused of having an “unhinged obsession” with him. Ahead of the hearing, Paul released what he described as Fauci’s “diary”, in which he described Trump as “rambling”, “crazy”, “desperate”, “bumbling”, “incompetent”, “an idiot”, “a true embarrassment”, “totally nuts” and “truly an obnoxious adolescent”.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Robert F Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services has also provided a copy of Fauci’s phone to the Republican-led Senate panel. Kennedy had written a conspiratorial book attacking Fauci in 2021 that sold more than a million copies – thanks in part to blurbs from fellow non-scientists Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Alan Dershowitz and Tony Robbins.
Scientists and Democrats have rallied behind Fauci, with a group of 155 scientists signing an open letter calling for the government to stop the “vilification and harassment of many American scientists”.
“This is only going to deter other scientific experts from public service,” Gary Peters, a Democratic senator of Michigan, said.
More to come.
