Trump news at a glance: Hegseth warns of ‘imminent' China threat, urging Asia to upgrade militaries
The US defense secretary, addressing the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, reiterated pledges to increase the US presence in the Indo-Pacific and outlined a range of new joint projects.
'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,' Hegseth said. 'There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent.'
Hesgeth said Donald Trump's administration had pushed European countries to boost their defensive spending, taking on a greater 'burden' of responding to conflicts in their region, and it was time for Asian nations to do the same.
The defense secretary, who in March was revealed to have told a Signal group chat that Europe was 'pathetic' and 'freeloading' on US security support in the region, told the Singapore conference it was 'hard to believe' he was now saying this but Asian countries should 'look to allies in Europe as a newfound example'.
'Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap … time is of the essence.'
Read the full story
If you want a bellwether to measure the broad impact of Donald Trump's tariffs on the economy, look to the state of Georgia.
So far, it's a mixed bag. The hospitality industry is facing an existential crisis and wine merchants wonder if they will survive the year. But others, like those in industrial manufacturing, carefully argue that well-positioned businesses will profit.
Read the full story
Australia's trade minister, Don Farrell, has described Donald Trump's trade tariffs as 'unjustified and not the act of a friend' after the US president announced he would double import duties on steel and aluminium to 50%.
'They are an act of economic self-harm that will only hurt consumers and businesses who rely on free and fair trade,' Farrell said.
Read the full story
US immigration authorities are collecting and uploading the DNA information of migrants, including children, to a national criminal database, according to government documents released earlier this month.
The database includes the DNA of people who were either arrested or convicted of a crime, which law enforcement uses when seeking a match for DNA collected at a crime scene. But most of the people whose DNA has been collected by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the agency that published the documents, were not listed as having been accused of any felonies.
Read the full story
Workers at the US Department of Energy say cuts and deregulations are undermining the ability for the department to function and will result in significant energy cost hikes for consumers.
Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will raise energy costs for American households by as much as 7% in 2035 due to the repeal of energy tax credits and could put significant investment and energy innovation at risk, according to a report by the Rhodium Group.
Read the full story
As the first Pride month under Donald Trump's second presidency approaches, LGBTQ+ businesses are stepping up, evolving quickly to meet the community's growing concerns.
The Guardian spoke with four queer business owners, and one message was clear: queer businesses are here to support the community now more than ever and spread joy as resistance.
Read the full story
Tensions among Bruce Springsteen's fanbase have spread to his home state of New Jersey because of what the rock icon has said about Donald Trump.
Springsteen has long been a balladeer of the state's blue-collar workers. But last year many of those same workers voted for the president. Now their split loyalties are being put to the test.
Read the full story
An undocumented man who was accused by the Department of Homeland Security secretary last week of threatening to assassinate Donald Trump may have been framed by someone accused of previously attacking the man, according to news reports.
As the Trump administration continues to exploit antisemitism to arrest protesters and curb academic freedoms, more American Jews are saying 'not in my name'.
Catching up? Here's what happened on 30 May 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump administration takes blows from Epstein conspiracy community it once embraced
The Trump administration is stumbling as it seeks to unwind new details about the Jeffrey Epstein case, infuriating its key boosters with a memo concluding the deceased financier was not murdered and did not keep a list of clients. Figures in the Trump administration have long embraced and even promoted various conspiracy theories, including those swirling around Epstein's death. And they've actively courted influencers and voters who have peddled such matters. But the administration's pledges to release details about the case that some have suggested were held back by authorities — only to backtrack and conclude he died by suicide — have failed to satisfy those who fervently believe Epstein was killed to cover up his connections with high-powered figures. Critics say the Trump administration is in a mess of its own making. 'You couldn't try to hurt yourself worse, you couldn't try to discredit the FBI worse than what they've done — Pam Bondi, all of it,' said commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, referring to the attorney general — and nearly coming to tears in a video discussing the matter on Monday morning. 'The current DOJ under Pam Bondi is covering up crimes — very serious crimes, by their own description,' former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on his show released Tuesday. The interest in the case has dovetailed with Trump's selection of numerous figures who have fanned the flames of intrigue around his death. Vice President Vance has mused about how he 'died mysteriously in a jail,' and referenced Epstein's alleged client list, asking in 2021, 'What possible interest would the US government have in keeping Epstein's clients secret? Oh…' Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, in his past life as a conservative commentator, fueled speculation about his death, saying 'that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal, please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this.' And at his confirmation hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel vowed to release the Epstein files, saying he would 'make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened.' Epstein, accused in several cases of sex trafficking young girls, ran in high-powered circles with figures that included President Trump, former President Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew and a number of other celebrities and ultra-wealthy individuals. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been convicted of sex trafficking. But while Epstein and Maxwell were accused of abusing the victims themselves, the government did not accuse them of supplying victims for others. The files and evidence under court-ordered seal, the FBI memo released Monday said, 'served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third-parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing.' That assertion enraged those convinced that the duo ran an operation trafficking young girls to high-powered elites. 'So Jeffrey Epstein went to jail for trafficking kids to no one…. BS,' Newsmax host Carl Higbie posted on the social platform X. And they bristled at Bondi saying Tuesday she has 'no knowledge' of Epstein being a spy or intelligence agent, with provocateur Laura Loomer fuming: 'This is a lie. FBI documents from 2008 prove that Epstein PROVIDED INFORMATION FOR THE FBI 'AS AGREED UPON,'' though the FBI document Loomer quoted and shared did not say Epstein was an intelligence agent. The quiet rollout of the Monday memo stood in contrast to actions taken by the administration in February, when it invited social media influencers to the White House and gave them binders labeled 'The Epstein Files.' That move sparked backlash because the binders did not contain new revelations, but rather information that has long been public, such as pages from Epstein's address book. And then in May, Bongino changed his tune, telling Fox News the files were conclusive. 'I've seen the whole file. He killed himself,' Bongino said. Officials like Bongino are in the awkward position of backtracking after years of highlighting the case and lobbying for the release of information from the sidelines — riling up their viewers and supporters in the process. Now within the arena, the information on hand doesn't back their assertions — and they also have different considerations they didn't have to weigh when outside of government, such as not accusing people of wrongdoing without bringing charges. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who is leading a task force in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on 'Declassification of Federal Secrets,' such as on the assassination of former President Kennedy, called on the administration to do more. 'The American people deserve to know [the] truth [regarding] Epstein, regardless of who it impacts,' she wrote, adding that there is 'plenty of evidence' Bondi and Patel could release without disclosing information about victims. 'The American people should be free to come to their own conclusions. The Truth will always come out one way or another.' Bondi sought to play cleanup Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, where she was asked about some of the fresh theories spawned by Monday's memo. She explained a one-minute gap in a video from outside Epstein's prison cell released by the Justice Department, saying it was a standard issue where 'every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing.' The attorney general defended an interview she did in February in which she said documents were on 'sitting on my desk' to be reviewed related to the Epstein case, asserting she was referring to a variety of files that needed to be reviewed pertaining to Epstein, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s assassination and Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, rather than just simply Epstein's client list. Bondi added that the thousands of hours of video that were part of the Epstein case turned out to be child pornography and would not be released. Trump himself expressed exasperation with the focus on Epstein when it came up during the Cabinet meeting. 'Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking — we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable,' Trump said. One source close to the White House argued Bongino, in particular, has built up significant goodwill with the MAGA movement, giving him more credibility than figures like Bondi when he speaks about the Epstein case. 'If it were anyone other than Dan saying it, I think there would be a lot more distrust with it,' the source said. The source downplayed that the frustration on the right over the administration's handling of the issue could be a political liability. 'I don't think it's going to make people go, 'Oh, well, we're not voting for Republicans in the midterm because of what the DOJ has done,'' the source said. But the incident marks one of the biggest fractures between Trump and his rabid MAGA base — and one they are pledging they will not forget. 'We will continue asking about Epstein,' filmmaker and commentator Mike Cernovich posted in response to Trump scolding a reporter for asking about the disgraced financier. 'Trump is massively misreading his base on this,' conservative commentator Liz Wheeler added.
Los Angeles Times
26 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Protests ignite in Serbia against lithium mining
With a global turn to greener technologies in efforts to tame climate change, electric vehicles (EVs) are high in demand, even despite their recent slowdown . Concurrently, there is soaring demand for the crucial raw material, lithium, used in EV batteries. This demand has impacted local communities in countries like Serbia, which is home to large-scale lithium mining project proposals. Environmental protests have been a lightning rod for debates over the environmental sustainability and social cost of the green energy transition. The roots of discontent Since mid-2021, mass protests have rocked Serbia and spread across the entire country. These demonstrations have centered around the construction of a lithium mine by the company Rio Tinto in western Serbia. The Jadar lithium mine is one of the most important European deposits of lithium, with the potential to yield a great amount of the metal used in lithium-ion batteries. The Serbian government, eager to cash in on its economic potential, supported the mine and hailed the project as an economic boost to the nation and an attraction for foreign direct investment. However, the environmental and social concerns that the project raised galvanized the opposition straight away. Locally-led environmental organizations and activists protested against the ecological damage this mine would contribute to. Serbia's natural landscape of rich biodiversity and pristine rivers is in jeopardy of facing severe pollution from toxic chemicals and fears of poisoned water sources. Many are worried that the mine would mean the destruction of farmland and the displacement of local populations. One of the most debated aspects of the mine was the very method of extraction that would be applied. The Jadar project plans to house a refining plant near a river. Jadar utilizes large quantities of sulphuric and hydrochloric acids and sodium hydroxide in its refinement process; opponents claim that such a procedure poses a serious risk to the environment because of the probable hazardous chemical spill or leakage into nearby water systems. These protests reflected the broader public concern regarding the environmental cost of resource extraction and the perceived imbalance between economic development and ecological preservation. While the Serbian government insisted that the mine would bring employment and economic prosperity, protests shed light on an emerging conflict between the immediate gains from extracting natural resources and the environmental and social cost in the long run. The lithium demand and the electric car industry Lithium has some very critical properties in developing efficient and powerful EV batteries because of its high energy density and lightweight nature, the most significant being its relatively long life. Lithium demand has been rising at unprecedented rates during the last several years. The boom in the production of EVs has already begun to fuel an anticipated increase in demand that will exceed 500% by 2030. As legacy automobile makers like Ford of America and Volkswagen of Germany ramp up output of their EVs, and as the pure electric car startups Tesla and BYD continue to expand, growth in demand for lithium is bound to get stratospheric. This has turned into a race by mining companies and governments for access to the most valuable lithium deposits in each country. It is the growth of the electric vehicle market, looked upon as a solution for the climate crisis, that feeds into an upward spiral of demand for lithium and other critical minerals. This is the paradox underlying debates around lithium mining in countries like Serbia. Yet now it would appear that even the electric cars purported to help with the reduction of carbon emissions are now also clearly tagged with an environmental cost that comes with mining their mineral components. Potential consequences of the electric car market Protests against the mining of lithium in Serbia indicate that moving toward green energy sometimes can be rather intricate, if not contradictory at certain points. On one hand, new lithium mining projects have to be developed, a process of utmost importance for the fulfillment of the growing demand for EVs. Thus, with no assured predictable reasonable price for lithium supplies, the production of batteries for EVs could be bottlenecked, slowing down growth in electric vehicle marketplaces. The same analysts are of the view that the development of a secure supply of lithium is one of the key elements in the long-term success of this worldwide drive towards electric mobility. On the other hand, the cry of local communities and environmentalists over ecological and social concerns cannot be shrugged off. Mining lithium is often an ecologically disruptive process, whether in Serbia, Chile, or Australia. The treatment requires vast supplies of water, which can stress local water supplies in arid regions. Other, more area-specific long-term environmental impacts of mining, such as how the toxic chemicals used to perform the extraction will be disposed of, are concerns. These stresses suggest that resource extraction should work within a more sustainable methodology. In the case of Serbia, protests against the Jadar project seem to suggest that, in the future, local communities may increasingly be unwilling to bear the environmental costs of resource extraction–even if their gains are to the benefit of a larger global transition to green energy. This may raise consideration by governments and mining companies to reconsider their strategy related to lithium mining toward more community-sensitive engagement and environmental protection in undertaking their projects. The protests in Serbia will also have a broader contagion effect on the electric vehicle industry and raise further scrutiny of the environmental and ethical impact associated with lithium sourcing. That could eventually force companies, in the long term, to invest more in sustainable methods of mining and reprocessing spent batteries or even the development of new, less environmentally damaging battery technologies. Debates over the true cost of EVs are going on around the world as society reflects on the environmental demand the transition to green energy presents. As the desire for EVs, and thereby lithium-ion batteries, grows, this demand will continue to bear down on raw materials. What is happening in Serbia makes clear the complex trade-offs involved in the pursuit of a more sustainable future; mining lithium is crucial to EVs and a more environmentally sustainable future, while the protection of local ecosystems and respect for community rights ensures a fair distribution of benefits from resource extraction. In the future, the EV industry is likely to see increased pressure to respond to environmental challenges through better practices in mining, increased supply chain transparency, or through innovation in battery recycling and alternative technologies. The protests in Serbia voice a loud and clear message–that the quest for environmental sustainability needs to be holistic in that it takes into account not only the end goal of having cleaner cars and lower carbon emissions but also all social and ecological costs entailed in reaching that very end. It is only through such an approach that the electric vehicle industry will fully realize its potential to provide a solution for climate change while limiting the environmental and human tolls of the transition. Related
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Trump Media Stock Sank 15.2% Last Month but Is Gaining in July
Trump Media stock saw a double-digit sell-off last month despite a bullish rally for the broader market. The company continued to make moves in the crypto space, but new ETF filings and other developments didn't result in gains for the stock. Trump Media's share price has seen some recovery momentum in July's trading. 10 stocks we like better than Trump Media & Technology Group › Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT) stock lost ground in June's trading despite a very strong bullish backdrop for the broader market. The company's share price fell 15.2% across the stretch, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The S&P 500 gained 5% in the month, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 6.6%. While signs emerged in June that macroeconomic conditions could be aligning to power a sustained rally for the stock market, Trump Media wasn't able to participate in the bullish momentum. There weren't any major developments that suggested big new challenges for the company last month, but sell-offs across the stretch suggested that investor confidence in the company's cryptocurrency strategy was wavering. Trump Media kicked off June's trading with sell-offs following a report about a recently launched stablecoin affiliated with the Trump family. According to CNBC, the USD1 token has seen relatively soft adoption following its launch in March. While weak adoption for the USD1 stablecoin doesn't necessarily have substantial and immediate implications for Trump Media, the token was created by World Liberty Financial -- a company the Trump family owns a majority stake in through another one of its businesses. As the month progressed, Trump Media submitted filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) detailing the creation and foundations of its Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF. Per the disclosures, the new exchange-traded fund (ETF) will have 75% of its assets invested in Bitcoin and the other 25% invested in Ethereum. While the new ETFs could turn into performance drivers for the company, the news about the funds failed to spur any significant bullish momentum for Trump Media stock. On the other hand, there was an indication that the company believed its shares were undervalued after the sell-off. The company submitted a filing on June 23 revealing that its board of directors had authorized $400 million in stock buybacks. Following last month's sell-off, Trump Media stock has seen some recovery momentum in July. The company's share price is up roughly 6% in the month so far. On Monday, Trump Media announced that it had launched its Truth+ streaming platform globally. The Newsmax channel has also been made available internationally through the Truth+ apps. While the company has monetized its social media and streaming businesses at very low levels, it has continued to make pushes to expand their reach. Trump Media stock has also seen gains in conjunction with The Truth Social Crypto Blue Chip ETF, which the company submitted filings for yesterday. The ETF will hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cronos, and XRP. Bitcoin will account for 70% of the fund's invested assets, while Ethereum, Solana, Cronos, and XRP will account for 15%, 8%, 5%, and 2%, respectively. There are no signs that the company is abandoning its social media businesses, but it looks like cryptocurrency investments are becoming the bigger focus. Before you buy stock in Trump Media & Technology Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Trump Media & Technology Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $695,481!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $969,935!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,053% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Trump Media Stock Sank 15.2% Last Month but Is Gaining in July was originally published by The Motley Fool
