6 months ago
Updated Aug. 1, 2025, 9:33 AM EDT
What to know today
- STOCK MARKET DIPS: U.S. stock indexes dipped as President Donald Trump set new tariff rates for trading partners who have not made deals with the U.S., including countries such as Switzerland, which now faces a 39% tariff, and Canada, which faces a 35% hike on all goods not covered by a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
- TARIFF DEADLINE DELAYED: Trump formalized tariffs and trade deals Thursday, making deals official with several trade partners, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom. New duties are set to take effect next week, rather than the initial Aug.1 deadline.
- GAZA FOOD CENTERS' INSPECTION: Special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are visiting food distribution sites in Gaza today.
- MUSK DONATIONS: Tech billionaire Elon Musk gave millions of dollars to the main PACs supporting House and Senate Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. The donations come after his public rift with Trump and despite his threats to start a new political party.
What a Senate floor clash between two Democrats says about where the party is headed
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., clashed with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., this week when Booker, in a fiery floor speech, tried to block a package of police funding bills as he called for greater resistance to Trump’s policies.
Afterward, Booker alluded to his efforts in the face of criticism from Cortez Masto saying, “What’s bothering me right now is we don’t see enough fight in this caucus.”
In an interview, Cortez Masto had her own message.
“I don’t need a lecture from anybody about how to take on and push back and fight against Donald Trump,” Cortez Masto said.
Read the full story here.
Stocks sell off sharply in premarket trading in response to Trump's sweeping new tariffs
U.S. stock indexes saw sharp sell-offs in premarket trading today after Trump revealed a sweeping new set of tariffs late Thursday.
Traders bet that the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-focused Nasdaq would each decline about 1% today over fears that the new import taxes Trump was imposing would cause global economic growth and corporate profits to decline, while possibly reining in inflation. Among the hardest hit were Taiwan, which will now see 20% duties; Canada, whose rate rose from 25% to 35% for goods not covered by the USMCA trade agreement; and Switzerland, at 39%. Much of the rest of the world now faces a 10% baseline rate.
Analysts have calculated that the average effective tariff rate imposed on all goods being imported into the U.S. is now 15%, the highest level since the 1930s.
While today's market reaction is more muted than the historic sell-off that occurred following Trump's initial unveiling of country-by-country tariffs in his April "Liberation Day" speech, the cloud of uncertainty over the world economy remains in place as the president has suggested still more tariffs are coming on pharmaceutical products, semiconductors and critical minerals.
“Uncertainty about trade hasn’t gone away," James Pomeroy, HSBC global economist, said in a note today. He added: "Global trade flows look set to remain choppy in the coming months, making it harder to gauge how both the US and the rest of the world are coping with these elevated import taxes.”
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff share update about their visit to Gaza today
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff both shared updates on social media about their joint trip to the Gaza Strip this morning.
Huckabee said in his post on X that they visited the enclave to "learn the truth" about aid sites set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. He also said that they received briefings from the Israel Defense Forces and "spoke to folks on the ground."
"GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!" Huckabee wrote.
Witkoff said in his post on X that they spent more than five hours inside Gaza and he said the visit's purpose was to give Trump "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza."
Both of their posts featured photos of their visit, which showed Huckabee in a flak jacket and helmet while Witkoff wore a flak jacket and a black MAGA hat.
Swing voters who were key for Trump in 2024 have mixed reviews so far
Bridget Bowman and Dylan Ebs
Ray, a New York voter in his mid-30s, backed Trump last year after having voted for Joe Biden in 2020, pointing to Trump’s pledges to boost the economy. Now, he is not happy with the results on all of those pledges.
“President Trump has made a lot of promises that he’s not really cashing out,” Ray said.
But Scott, a 29-year-old Missourian who also flipped from Biden in 2020 to Trump in 2024, said he’s “happy” with Trump’s presidency so far.
“In general, he’s keeping his promises,” Scott said.
The two men’s opposing views of Trump’s presidency underscore the wide range of opinions among swing voters who helped return Trump to the White House — and who may hold the key to the results of future elections, too.
Both men were among eight voters who spoke to NBC News again in recent days after detailing their hopes for the Trump administration back in January. NBC News is not using the last names of some of the eight voters to allow them to speak more freely about national politics.
Read the full story here.
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