President Donald Trump said Thursday that a new agreement reached with Saudi Arabia for a civilian nuclear program will require the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords. Trump added that the new nuclear deal, which is expected to last 30 years and involve U.S. firms, does not allow for enrichment of uranium. But experts are concerned the deal lacks guardrails to prevent uranium enrichment to weapons-grade levels.
Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels are threatening to blockade Saudi Arabia, a threat that could widen the Iran war and further disrupt global oil supplies and international trade. The Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, as international oil spiked to $100 a barrel.
The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a largely symbolic warning to Trump for the second time. The 214-208 vote requiring congressional approval for the war comes as the Senate is expected to consider a similar resolution later Thursday morning.
A day earlier, the House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal in a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities, despite objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts. The Senate must now reach an agreement for it to pass.
Here's the latest:
Leavitt says Trump is ‘final dealmaker’ on potential US-Saudi nuclear agreement
The U.S. Energy Department and Saudi government announcement on Wednesday made no mention of the civil nuclear deal being contingent on the kingdom normalizing relations with Israel.
So Trump’s social media post on Thursday asserting that the deal was subject to the Saudis joining the accord — what would be a monumental achievement for the administration if it ever happens — was unexpected.
When asked by a reporter why the condition was not mentioned in the initial announcement, Leavitt said the president was the “final dealmaker” and has called on Saudi Arabia to join the accords “on numerous occasions.”
White House says Trump is losing patience with Thune
Asked if Trump is frustrated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Leavitt said, “The president spoke about this directly yesterday.”
She was referencing comments Trump made at a rally Wednesday in Georgia where he expressed frustration that his agenda is hampered in the Republican-controlled Senate by rules requiring 60 votes to advance most legislation — including the SAVE America voting bill he talks about often.
Trump’s Republican Party doesn’t have 60 members in the Senate.
The president told the rally, his voice rising as he spoke: “Everybody call John Thune at the Senate. He’s the leader of the Republican Party. And tell him to get this stuff approved.”
Leavitt added Thursday at the White House: “His patience is running out.”
Trump administration to announce new tariffs on Thursday
Leavitt said Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, will announce “later” on Thursday a new set of tariffs.
After the Supreme Court in February rejected Trump’s ability to declare an economic emergency to impose sweeping import taxes, Trump unveiled 10% global tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 that could only be in place for 150 days. Those replacement tariffs are set to expire Friday.
Greer in March launched a series of investigations using Section 301 tariffs from the Trade Act of 1974. Those taxes could replace the expiring tariffs.
The Section 301 investigations applied to countries with industrial excesses that disadvantage U.S. goods and trade partners that fail to adequately enforce restrictions on importing goods made by forced labor.
Tate brothers won’t get help from the White House
Asked whether the White House would intervene in the extradition of social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, press secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected the idea.
“No, we’ve already answered that question,” Leavitt said before moving on at a Thursday briefing.
The Tate brothers are fighting their extradition to the United Kingdom, where they’re accused of rape and sex trafficking. They were arrested by federal authorities on Saturday in Miami.
White House says Trump has been consistent in demanding Saudi Arabia join Abraham Accords
Leavitt said Trump’s assertion that Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords as part of a civilian nuclear deal is a position he’s long held.
“It will eventually, hopefully be finalized with the condition that the president spoke about this morning,” Leavitt said.
Saudi officials have yet to comment since Trump announced that the deal, announced Wednesday by the two countries, is subject to joining the accords.
But Leavitt made the case that the president’s decision is hardly surprising, saying “this is something he has raised in previous conversations and also said many time in the past” with Saudi officials.
Trump to deliver remarks at Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president will honor his friend and ally at a funeral service next week.
“On Tuesday afternoon, the president will deliver a tribute honoring the life and legacy of his dear friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, at the National Cathedral,” Leavitt said during a Thursday briefing.
Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, died July 11.
Trump is taking his next Cabinet meeting on the road
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump will hold a Cabinet meeting on July 31 — and there’s a twist with this one.
The president will host the Cabinet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains. Leavitt said the meeting “will be a lot of fun and something different for the Cabinet to experience together.”
Trump last visited Camp David in June to celebrate Father’s Day and his 80th birthday with family.
US to target cyber scammers and online ‘sextortionists’ with travel bans
The Trump administration announced Thursday it would begin revoking or denying visas to foreigners involved in cyber scams and online “sextortion” of minors, barring them and their family members from traveling to the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the policy was a response to Americans being bilked of at least $10 billion in 2024 in online investment scams by transnational criminal organizations, many of them with Chinese connections, and American children being specifically targeted by overseas predators.
“This policy targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams, and sextortion,” Rubio said. “By restricting visa issuance to those who are responsible for or complicit in these criminal enterprises, we are sending a clear message: The United States will go after those who prey on our citizens.”
Member of Vance’s security team faces investigation for allegedly compromising information
A member of Vice President JD Vance’s security detail is being investigated for allegedly “compromising operational and information security,” according to the U.S. Secret Service.
Agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said the person faces an administrative investigation and “potential criminal inquiry” over alleged misconduct.
“While we will not comment on the specifics of this matter, one principle is unequivocal: any conduct that potentially threatens the safety of a protectee will not be tolerated,” Guglielmi said in a statement.
Vance’s office referred questions to the Secret Service.
China hands over fugitive to the US ahead of expected Xi-Trump meeting
Chinese police on Thursday handed over a wanted U.S. fugitive to American authorities at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
The case is part of law enforcement cooperation to implement “important consensus” between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Trump, the ministry said. Trump visited Beijing in May and Xi is expected to travel to the U.S. in September.
The ministry did not reveal the suspect’s name but said the fugitive was suspected of sexually assaulting minors and fatally shooting his wife in 2004. It said Interpol issued a red notice calling on law enforcement worldwide to capture the suspect the following year.
After a U.S. request, Chinese police conducted investigations and captured the suspect, the ministry said.
Trump has insisted continued US attacks against Iran don’t mean a return to war
Continued American airstrikes are occurring even as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed. The unpopular war threatens further worldwide economic disruption and is sending fuel prices up ahead of midterm U.S. elections this fall.
As the House debated the resolution Wednesday evening, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., read out names of 18 service members killed since the war began.
“To belittle this mission is to belittle and demean the very service these members gave their life for,” Mast said. “Their sacrifice was not meaningless. This operation is bringing reckoning for the hundreds of times Iran has attacked and killed people of the United States of America.”
The top Democrat on the panel, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, said presidents are supposed to make the case to Congress.
House again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran
The House on Thursday narrowly passed the resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain.
The 214-208 vote requiring congressional approval for the war comes as the Senate is expected to consider a similar resolution later Thursday morning. Though the votes forced by Democrats are largely symbolic, they're meant as a strong signal to the Republican president that his support on Capitol Hill is chipping away as the war drags on and lawmakers in both parties have questioned his administration's endgame.
The war has had “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal,” said Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who led the resolution on the House floor.
The resolution narrowly passed after a handful of Republicans voted with Democrats to end the war. But the vast majority of Republicans voted to back the war and cede congressional war powers to Trump.
Mideast oil producers step up plans to bypass the Strait of Hormuz
Before the war in Iran, roughly 15 million barrels of Persian Gulf oil were shipped each day through the Strait of Hormuz. Within a few years, much of that oil could bypass the strait.
As Iran's chokehold over the strait drags on and oil prices surge, countries across the Gulf are planning to spend billions of dollars to build pipelines enabling them to redirect more supplies to ports on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Mediterranean.
At least seven major pipeline projects are under construction, in the planning stage or being discussed as possibilities, according to government officials, oil companies and analysts. The war has been a wake-up call for Gulf oil producers, who are determined to become less dependent on a transit point that hugs Iran’s coast.
But alternatives to Hormuz are also vulnerable to disruption. And some alternative routes will take the oil on longer and more expensive paths to market.
Trump has talked up his push to extend the Abraham Accords
The project formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations. Trump has talked up the accords as key to his plan for bringing long-term stability to the Middle East.
But the aftermath of Israel's war in Gaza and the nearly 5-month-old U.S. and Israel war against Iran have complicated Trump's push to expand the accords.
Still, the Trump administration has made clear that it remains optimistic an agreement with Saudi Arabia on joining the accords can be sealed by the end of Trump’s second term.
Houthi attacks are a ‘double whammy’ on oil shipments
The Houthis’ SABA news agency said the rebels had struck two tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both. There were no reports of casualties.
It was their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week in retaliation for the kingdom's blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world's trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there.
The Houthi attacks put at risk oil shipments from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea and present a “double whammy” on top of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, said maritime data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
Brent oil’s price briefly tops $100 a barrel as stocks fall on Wall Street
Brent crude oil briefly topped $100 a barrel for the first time since May as increased fighting in the Middle East threatens to slow the global flow of crude.
Wall Street, meanwhile, is sinking early Thursday with sharp drops for two of its most influential stocks, Alphabet and Tesla.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.1% in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 415 points, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.7%.
Stocks sank under the pressure of rising oil prices, which raise costs for many businesses and divert their customers’ dollars away to pay higher prices for fuel.
Saudi nuclear deal is expected to last 30 years and involve US firms in program’s development
It could allow for the building of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia following a joint U.S.-Saudi study, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The agreement is expected to be submitted to Congress for review, according to the U.S. and Saudi governments.
The agreement doesn’t include the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which would allow for more monitoring, inspections and verification, according to a second person familiar with the decision.
— Collin Binkley and Aamer Madhani
House Republican accuses Smith of lying about Trump probe and refers him for possible prosecution
A key Republican lawmaker says he believes special counsel Jack Smith may have lied to Congress while testifying about his investigation of Trump and the Justice Department should consider prosecuting him. Lawyers for Smith deny the allegation and say he testified truthfully.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, referred Smith to the Justice Department on allegations he made false statements during closed-door testimony about whether he had obtained records of lawmakers while investigating Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.
The referral, sent Wednesday, centers on a December 2025 exchange in which Smith was asked about subpoenas that prosecutors had issued for the toll records of some Republican lawmakers as part of the investigation. Toll records show the time, date, length of call and phone numbers involved but do not reveal the content of the communication.
Trump threatens ‘major military punishment’ if Yemen’s Houthis keep attacking ships
President Trump says he is “very disappointed” in Yemen’s Houthis and has threatened “major military punishment” against the Iran-backed rebels if their attacks on ships continue.
The president said on social media Thursday that “if they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves.”
Trump said the Houthis had previously been acting “very responsibly” after facing U.S. strikes last year in response to rebel attacks on commercial vessels. “Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night,” he said.
Rubio says lots of work ahead to get to Venezuelan elections
There’s a place for exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado in Venezuela’s future government if that’s what the people want, the U.S. secretary of state said.
Rubio noted that a lot of work is needed to create the conditions for an election following the U.S. raid that ousted leader Nicolás Maduro in January, including security on the streets, creating an electoral council to accurately count the votes, a free press and more.
“There’s a lot of change to happen,” Rubio told reporters. What it “requires is patience, persistence. We have to stay on top of it, because these transitions do take some time. They don’t need to take a decade or even five or seven years, but they take more than a few weeks.”
As acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s government and members of the opposition-controlled 2015 National Assembly, which the U.S. earlier recognized, head into a reconciliation process, Rubio said the U.S. is “there to facilitate it, not to dictate it.”
Rubio says effort to end war in Ukraine needs new ideas
The Trump administration is poised to help end the “senseless war” in Ukraine but Rubio acknowledged there’s no quick path to a deal.
After holding talks in Manila with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Rubio told reporters that diplomacy will require sustained effort and new ideas.
Rubio alluded to how U.S.-mediated talks have stalled, calling them “unsuccessful or at least unfruitful” in the past but insisted that President Trump was committed to the work “if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible.”
“That’s been the challenge — an end that both sides can accept. And we’ve tried and we’ll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a middle ground that brings this about. And we’re prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself,” Rubio said.
Rubio strikes darker tone about renewed fighting with Iran
“The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters while traveling in the Philippines.
He insisted Iran is “begging” for a deal but Trump “doesn’t see a lot of utility in responding to their overtures at this point, because, frankly, Iran is clearly not ready to make a deal, at least not one they’re willing to to live by.”
A day earlier. he said the U.S. was open to diplomacy.
Trump on Wednesday warned Iran that the U.S. will destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded by saying the country’s defense doctrine was an “eye for an eye.”
“The president’s policy is a head for an eye,” Rubio said. “They will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing.”
Trump says Saudi nuclear pact requires kingdom to normalize Israel relations through Abraham Accords
In a post on social media, the Republican president said the deal doesn’t allow for enrichment of uranium. Nonproliferation experts have raised concerns that the deal fails to include guardrails to prevent enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels.
Trump’s post said the agreement “will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.” He added that “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”
Trump has sought to build on the 2020 agreements, which expanded the number of Arab states with diplomatic ties with Israel.
House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities
The House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections.
House Republicans were divided over the plan, with conservatives wary because there are no offsetting budget cuts. But Speaker Mike Johnson plunged ahead, viewing the go-it-alone process as the best chance to usher Trump's priorities through the split Congress, despite skepticism in the Senate.
The vote tally was 216-214, with two Republicans and one independent joining Democrats in opposition.
Democrats argued the money should be spent at home, particularly on efforts to lower costs for Americans.
Congress is at a standstill over the U.S. war against Iran — unable to stop Trump's military strikes, but not having authorized the use of American military force — and politically torn over having to provide billions of taxpayer dollars to pay for it. Most Americans disapprove of Trump's Iran strategy, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.
Democrats press ICE on oversight, say 1 officer referred for discipline over use of force
One Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been referred for discipline over a use-of-force incident since the beginning of the Trump administration, said Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee after a briefing with ICE officials Wednesday about body cameras, vehicle stops and training.
The closed-door briefing for committee members comes in the wake of two shootings in which ICE officers shot and killed two immigrants they were trying to arrest, raising concerns over the agency's tactics at a time that it's ratcheting up its arrests.
The shootings in Maine and Houston over the span of a week have led to fierce criticism that there's not enough oversight of the agency key to President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after retaking office, and in the Maine shooting, family members of the ICE officer who opened fire say he had a history of violent behavior and never should have been given a badge and gun.
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