Thursday Afternoon News Updates: Trump's Bluff Gets Called, the Economy Slows, and the World Cup Might Just Blow Up – 7/30/26
Your Thursday afternoon update is here
Hi all, Ben here. It’s Thursday, and there is a lot to get through, so let’s get right into it.
Thanks again to all those who continue to let me know you preordered the book I wrote with my brothers, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy. If you preorder your copy today, be sure to let me know in the comments!
Top stories we’re tracking:
Trump threatens to yank Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination after Cornyn and Tillis refuse to confirm him without a written revocation of Trump’s tax audit immunity and January 6th slush fund
Q2 GDP comes in at 1.5%, well below the 2.1% estimate, as Trump officials keep promising 4-6% growth
Treasury bond selloff after the Fed holds rates steady for a seventh straight month
MAGA senators and House members continue attacking Dr. Fauci
Saudi Arabia strikes Sanaa, Yemen, with the Houthis vowing retaliation
Iran claims strikes on US-linked bases in Jordan and Kuwait, alleging destroyed F-35s and American casualties
Qatar routes an LNG shipment through Iran’s shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz instead of the US-backed route
A US-owned LNG vessel is hit by drone strike off Egypt
Hundreds of Jordanians sign an open letter demanding US troops leave the country
NBC News reports Trump is privately furious with aides over the lack of an endgame in the Iran war
Russian missiles cross into Polish airspace as Poland’s PM warns the next 100 days could decide the Ukraine war
The State Department displays a map at a global health summit in Brazil with every African country mislabeled
UEFA’s 55 member federations unanimously vote to boycott the World Cup over FIFA’s plan to sell a stake to a private investor group led by Josh Kushner, Jared Kushner’s brother
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Now let’s dig into it.
