Trump’s Cherry-Picked Inflation Boast

In one month, from May to June, overall inflation in the U.S. dropped at the “fastest rate in more than six years,” as President Donald Trump said in late July remarks. But he has repeatedly cited the statistic while wrongly suggesting that the inflation rate is now “way down” from when he took office. It’s not.

The big one-month drop came after several months of increases in the inflation rate that were largely due to high oil and gasoline prices caused by the war with Iran. When the U.S. and Iran were honoring a ceasefire agreement in June, those energy prices declined, helping to lower the rate of inflation.

“Energy prices are volatile,” Joseph E. Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told us in an email. “Any one-month change needs to be viewed in connection with other recent months, which have shown large increases.”

And the fact that oil and gasoline prices have risen again due to rekindled U.S. fighting with Iran could result in the rate of inflation increasing once again. As of Aug. 5, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland projected a minimal monthly increase in the inflation rate for July – not another monthly rate decrease.

In addition, the annualized rate of inflation in June still was higher than it was when Trump became president in January 2025.

VGA Battles Alabama Heat at RTJ Capitol Hill’s Senator Course as Flight Winners Rise to the Challenge

58 competitors take on one of Alabama’s toughest layouts as Hopkins, Gladfelter, Salter, Thomas and other flight champions emerge at Veterans Golfers Association event

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (08 July 2026) —  Before sunrise broke over Alabama, the competition was already stirring at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill.

At 5:30 a.m., darkness still covered the Senator Course, but Veterans Golfers Association competitors were arriving with clubs in hand and a challenging day ahead. By 7 a.m., 58 players were in position for opening ceremonies before taking on one of the RTJ Golf Trail’s most demanding layouts.

The combination of the Senator’s unforgiving design and Alabama summer weather turned the tournament into a test of golf, endurance and determination.

Temperatures climbed to approximately 95 degrees, with the heat index reaching roughly 103. Water, shade and any opportunity to cool down became nearly as important as finding fairways and greens.

Yet when the final scorecards came in, the competition produced standout performances across the VGA’s veteran, wounded veteran, senior, female and family divisions.

RFK Jr.’s Falsehood-Filled CNN Interview

In a contentious interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made several false, misleading, and baseless claims about the origins of Lyme disease and the respiratory syncytial virus, the COVID-19 pandemic, and what the science shows about autism, vaccination, and acetaminophen use during pregnancy.

On the Aug. 2 show, Kennedy had several disagreements with host Dana Bash, with Bash challenging the health secretary’s assertions and Kennedy saying that Bash was wrong. We’ll sort out the facts.

• Kennedy baselessly claimed that Lyme disease and respiratory syncytial virus infections came from lab research. There’s no evidence for this, and the diseases have long affected humans.
• The U.S. doesn’t have “the highest death rate from COVID of any nation on Earth,” as he said. It has the highest rate among large, wealthy nations, but is 14th among all nations, per one analysis.
• Kennedy asserted that effective treatments were suppressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely referring to ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, as he has before. Multiple clinical trials have shown that neither drug improved outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
• He falsely suggested that COVID-19 vaccines don’t protect children from the virus, asking Bash to cite “one study that shows that children were protected.” Multiple studies have shown that vaccination reduces the odds of infection and severe disease among children and adolescents.
• Kennedy said he has “never questioned the efficacy of the MMR,” or measles, vaccine. But on a few occasions, he has suggested the vaccine wasn’t that effective or that it wasn’t necessary.
• He brought up an unproven link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism. While some studies have found an association, they don’t establish causation, and a growing number of studies point away from acetaminophen as a cause of autism.
• Kennedy misleadingly said that scientists have not tested vaccines other than the MMR vaccine for autism. Scientists have tested many vaccines while investigating specific hypotheses for how the shots might cause autism. None of the studies has shown any credible link.

We sent HHS several questions about Kennedy’s claims, but we haven’t received a response.

Trump’s Continued Claims of Vandalism at Reflecting Pool Disputed by U.S. Attorney Memo

President Donald Trump continues to insist that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of vandalism, despite a Department of Justice motion filed on July 31 that placed the blame squarely on a contractor’s “botched” installation of the pool coating “and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Department of the Interior.

According to a motion from U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to dismiss a felony destruction of property charge against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, it wasn’t until after Hearn was indicted that the Department of Interior provided prosecutors with “additional documents … indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor … and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”

“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 1. “I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM. … There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”

Bobby Singleton Elected Alabama Democratic Party Chairman in Decisive Leadership Vote

Alabama Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton ousts incumbent Randy Kelley with nearly 73% of the vote, promising a statewide organizational push, stronger candidate support and a 67-county listening tour.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton has been elected chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, winning a decisive victory Saturday that puts one of the state’s most prominent Democratic lawmakers in charge of rebuilding the party’s political organization ahead of the next election cycle.

Singleton defeated incumbent Chairman Randy Kelley during the Alabama Democratic Party’s organizational meeting in Montgomery, receiving 165 votes, or 72.7%, from members of the State Democratic Executive Committee. Kelley received 62 votes, or 27.3%.

The result ends Kelley’s four-year tenure as chairman. Kelley was elected to lead the state party in 2022.

Singleton entered the race in late July, arguing that Alabama Democrats needed to strengthen their organization, improve fundraising and provide more consistent support to Democratic candidates and elected officials throughout the state.

His election gives the party new leadership as Democrats confront a challenging political environment in Alabama, where Republicans hold every statewide elected office and command majorities in both chambers of the Legislature.

Opinion | Alabama Democrats Turn the Page as Bobby Singleton Takes Command of a Party Seeking a Reset

Singleton’s decisive victory for Alabama Democratic Party chairman signals a break from years of internal conflict, but rebuilding fundraising, communications and county-level organization will determine whether new leadership can translate enthusiasm into electoral relevance.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. | For the Alabama Democratic Party, the significance of Saturday’s leadership election may extend well beyond the selection of a new chairman.

State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton’s decisive victory over incumbent Chairman Randy Kelley represented something Alabama Democrats have struggled to produce for years: a leadership transition accompanied by a palpable sense of momentum rather than another debilitating factional war.

For a state party that has spent much of the past two decades battling internal divisions while Republicans consolidated their hold on Alabama politics, Singleton’s election offers Democrats an opportunity for an organizational reset.

Whether it becomes anything more than that will depend on what happens next.

Singleton enters the chairmanship promising to rebuild county organizations, reconnect the party with Alabama businesses and donors, strengthen relationships among the party’s constituencies and put more energy behind electing Democrats.

Those ambitions are substantial.

So are the problems he inherits.

Singleton Offers Alabama Democrats a Different Message

The contrast between Singleton and Kelley was apparent during Saturday’s State Democratic Executive Committee meeting.

Kelley made the case for another term by pointing to accomplishments under his leadership. Singleton instead delivered an energetic appeal centered on what the party could become.

It worked.

Alabama’s CHOOSE Act Expands School Choice as Ivey Highlights Yearby Family’s Education Journey

Gov. Kay Ivey points to a Phenix City family as evidence of the education savings account program’s reach, as more than 34,000 students gain approval for over $174 million in CHOOSE Act funding for the 2026-27 school year.

PHENIX CITY, Ala. | Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is putting a family story behind one of the most consequential education policies of her administration, highlighting the Yearby family of Phenix City as beneficiaries of the state's rapidly expanding CHOOSE Act education savings account program.

John and Cecily Yearby have five children, and three of their school-age children — Josiah, Jaci and Jeremiah — received CHOOSE Act support while attending The Rock Academy during the 2025-26 academic year. The family successfully renewed its application and is set to receive funding again for the 2026-27 school year.

The Yearbys' experience comes as Alabama's education savings account initiative moves into its second year with substantially broader participation. According to figures provided by the governor's office, more than 34,000 students were approved to use over $174 million in ESA funding for eligible educational expenses beginning July 1.

The administration is using families such as the Yearbys to make the case that school choice can provide alternatives for students whose academic, social or special-needs requirements may not be adequately served by a single educational model.

Paul Distorts Fauci’s Diary Entry About COVID-19 and Wet Market

Sen. Rand Paul has pointed to a line in Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diary to claim that the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases privately “knew” in January 2020 that the coronavirus did not come from a wet market, saying this contradicted Fauci’s public statements regarding a natural origin of the virus. That misconstrues Fauci’s original statement.

The origin of the virus that causes COVID-19 hasn’t been definitively proven, so the question remains open. But the scientific evidence supports a natural spillover from an infected animal to humans rather than a leak from a lab.

In January 2020, Fauci indicated that he believed the virus most likely has a natural origin – an idea that he has consistently expressed for years.

Paul has clashed with Fauci over the origin of the coronavirus since 2021. The Republican senator from Kentucky — who has been conducting an investigation of the origins of COVID-19 as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — has accused Fauci of approving research in China that could have produced the coronavirus. There is no evidence that’s true.

Major Driver of Worsening Canadian Wildfires Is Climate Change, Not Forest Mismanagement

President Donald Trump has blamed improper forest management for Canadian wildfires whose smoke drifted into the Midwestern and Northeastern U.S. earlier this month. But climate change — and not a lack of “Debris Removal,” as Trump suggested — is the main factor leading to worsening Canadian wildfires and smoke pollution, experts from both sides of the border told us. 

Large-scale strategies to manage Canada’s vast boreal forest — part of the belt of high-latitude forests circling the North Pole — would be both infeasible and likely ineffective at solving the problem, they said.

Trump claimed in a July 17 Truth Social post that Canada is “not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!”

Trump’s Numbers, July 2026 Update

Our latest update in this series provides economic and other metrics of President Donald Trump’s second term so far.

• Job growth remains slower, with a total of 716,000 jobs created as of June. The unemployment rate remains slightly higher at 4.2%. 
• Inflation worsened to 3.5% in June, and gasoline prices have risen to more than $4 per gallon after a ceasefire with Iran dissolved. 
• Average weekly earnings of private-sector workers, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.3%.
• The economy grew 2.1% in the first quarter of 2026, matching the 2025 full-year growth.
• Consumer sentiment hit a new record low in May but has improved slightly since.
• Home prices have continued to creep up. The median sales price in June was 3.1% higher than two years ago.
• The number of apprehensions at the U.S. border with Mexico decreased about 91%, and refugee admissions have plummeted.
• There wasn’t much change in the percentage of the population lacking health insurance, as of 2025.
• The trade deficit for the most recent 12 months was down 17.8% compared with 2024.
• The number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters declined by 18.1%, according to preliminary FBI figures.
• The S&P 500 went up 23.6%.
• About 5.8 million fewer people are receiving federal food assistance.
• The public debt is up about 10.7%.

This is the second quarterly update in our “Numbers” series for Trump’s second term. Expect additional updates to be published every three months for the remainder of his presidency, as we did for his predecessors, starting with President Barack Obama in 2012.

These are just some of the many economic and social statistics that indicate how the U.S. is faring.

We present the numbers without commentary. Depending on the reader’s perspective, some may seem positive, negative, or neither. We also make no judgment on how much credit or blame the president should receive.

One Big Beautiful Bill Not (Yet) Driving ACA, Medicaid Declines

Multiple Democratic lawmakers have claimed that 8 million Americans have lost healthcare coverage as a result of the Trump-backed budget reconciliation bill that passed a year ago, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But experts told us the enrollment declines seen to date are largely due to other factors — including other Trump administration policies.

Enrollment in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace has indeed declined by about 8 million since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. But most of the healthcare-related provisions of the OBBBA — which are eventually expected to cause millions of people to lose insurance — haven’t yet taken effect.

The decline in Affordable Care Act enrollment came after the expiration of more generous subsidies at the end of last year made premiums more expensive, leading many people to drop coverage. Democrats have sought to tie the expiration of those subsidies to other healthcare cuts in the OBBBA, but they were set to lapse whether or not that bill passed. 

It’s less clear why Medicaid enrollment has fallen, but experts told us confusion over the OBBBA, fear of Trump’s immigration crackdown, pressure on states to address purported fraud, state-level restrictions and other factors could all be playing some role.

“We’re seeing this before the direct effects of H.R. 1 are kicking in,” said Joan Alker, a research professor at Georgetown University and director of the school’s Center for Children and Families, referring to the bill number of the OBBBA.