Donald Trump brushes off his supporters’ interest in the Jeffrey Epstein case, and House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks out. An ICE memo details how officials can deport immigrants to third countries. And Grok, the Elon Musk-owned AI chatbot, debuts two so-called “companions.”

Here’s what to know today.

Trump’s supporters won’t quit talking about Jeffrey Epstein

Donald Trump responded to mounting criticism of his administration’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s case, saying yesterday that he doesn’t understand the buzz. “He’s dead for a long time,” the president said when asked about frustration from his supporters. “He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.”

Earlier in the day, Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release “whatever she thinks is credible” on Epstein, while Bondi herself declined to answer questions about the issue. Though some have called for her to resign, Bondi was defiant during a press conference. “I’m going to be here as long as the president wants me to be here,” she said.

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Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson showed a rare break from Trump by joining other conservatives in calling for the release of documents. The administration “should put everything out there and let the people decide,” he told conservative commentator Benny Johnson yesterday. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and John Kennedy are among those who have also called out the Trump administration.

The uproar about the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case comes after the Justice Department and FBI released a memo last week saying they found no evidence that the late financier had kept an “incriminating ‘client list’” or evidence that would lead to the prosecution of third parties. Conspiracy theories that “Epstein didn’t kill himself” began to spread almost immediately after Epstein’s 2019 death in a New York City jail as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Trump also took to Truth Social last Saturday to urge people to move on. If he thought his words would put an end to things, he was wrong. Data from Google shows that searches for Epstein spiked after Trump posted. It was also notable that the post, on the president’s own social network, received many frustrated responses from supporters.

Data from Google shows that searches for Epstein spiked after Trump posted. It was also notable that the post, on the president’s own social network, received many frustrated responses from supporters.

Trump has used conspiracy theories for political gain since before he ran for president, like when he stoked false claims that Barack Obama’s birth certificate was fake. During his most recent presidential campaign, Trump said he would have “no problem” looking into an Epstein client list. And once he took office, Trump appointed people who have also promoted conspiracy theories to senior positions in his administration.

But now, Trump is bearing the brunt of those same conspiracies in an inescapable viral commotion.

Read the full story here.

More politics news:

• Republicans in Congress are racing to pass a $9.4 billion spending cuts package before a Friday deadline.

• Former DNC chair Jaime Harrison is back in the political arena with a new podcast. He spoke with NBC News about why one of his first guests will be Hunter Biden.

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the focus of a special legislative session starting next week would shift to flood relief, but his agenda shows lawmakers will be considering more than flood-related measures.

ICE restarts third country deportations with little notice

The Department of Homeland Security resumed third country deportation flights on Tuesday by deporting five immigrant detainees, all from different countries, to the small nation of Eswatini in Southern Africa. The resumption of third country deportations comes as ICE put out new guidance that its employees are allowed in certain circumstances to deport migrants to countries that are not their own in as little as six hours — and without assurances from the third country that they “will not be persecuted or tortured.”

But “in all other cases” where the U.S. has not received those assurances, ICE must follow certain procedures, including that officials must give immigrants a removal notice in a language the person understands and which tells them where the government intends to deport them. Read the full story here.

More immigration news:

• The Pentagon ordered the removal of half of the 4,000 National Guard troops who were mobilized in response to immigration protests in Los Angeles.

• New ICE guidance requires that people who entered the U.S. without legal authorization remain in immigration detention as they fight deportation proceedings in court — meaning they can’t get bond hearings and could potentially be detained for months or years.

• Immigration authorities want landlords to turn over leases and other information on their tenants, signaling a potential new front in the Trump administration’s efforts to locate people in the country illegally.

• ICE detained a father in Washington state who had been working to legalize his residency status in the United States. His pregnant wife pleaded, “I just want him home.”

Adelita Grijalva wins Democratic primary for Arizona House seat

The daughter of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva won the Democratic primary to fill his former House seat in Arizona, The Associated Press projects. Adelita Grijalva, a former member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, defeated activist Deja Foxx and former state Rep. Daniel Hernandez and is set to face Republican Daniel Butierez in a special election in September. Both Grijalva, 54, and Foxx described themselves as progressives, but fissures emerged during the campaign over the issue of generational change.

Raúl Grijalva won 12 terms representing Arizona’s 7th House District before he died in March at the age of 77. The heavily Democratic district encompasses most of Tucson and the state’s southern border. Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• A man is in custody after “American Idol” music supervisor Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca, were found dead in their Los Angeles home.

• An elite Chinese cyberspy group hacked at least one state’s National Guard network for nearly a year, the Pentagon found.

• TV personality Chip Gaines defended the inclusion of a same-sex couple in the new show “Back to the Frontier” after backlash from religious conservatives.

• Vance Boelter — the man accused of fatally shooting Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last month — was indicted on federal murder charges.

• “Severance” racked up 27 Emmy nominations, the most of any show this year, followed by “The Penguin” with 24 and “The White Lotus” with 23. See a full list of nominees.

• The National League defeated the American League in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game after the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber went 3 for 3 in the game’s first home run swing-off, following a 6-6 tie.

Staff Pick: Grok’s new chatbots seem designed to shock and entertain

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok turned heads last week for writing antisemitic social media posts on X. Now, Grok has introduced so-called “Companions” that interact with users. One is a flirty Japanese anime character named Ani who offers to make users’ lives “sexier.” The other is a red panda named Bad Rudi with a penchant for foul language.

Tech reporter David Ingram wrote that both bots criticized the Nazis and the action of xAI, the Musk-owned company behind Grok. But the graphic nature of the companions makes them outliers among other AI chatbots with a willingness to embrace hateful language and sexual content. Just look at snippets of Bad Rudi’s conversation with NBC News, in which the character advocated for stealing a yacht, overthrowing the pope and spiking a town’s water supply with hot sauce and glitter. — Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor

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Curious about which food is best for your young pup? Veterinarians recommend the best puppy food with all the proper nutrients and tell us which ingredients to avoid. And should cats eat wet food, dry food or both? Vets break down what you should know when choosing what to feed your feline friend.

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Today’s top stories

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that it will allow the Trump administration to resume dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The Court overruled a lower court that temporarily paused massive cuts at the department. Congress created the department by law and President Trump promised to shut it down without any change in that law, which is why opponents sued.

• 🎧 The court’s decision now means that roughly 1,400 Education Department workers will lose their jobs, NPR’s Cory Turner tells Up First. The work that those employees did, including helping local schools support kids with disabilities and children living in poverty, may also cease. The ruling isn’t the final word as the case continues to work its way through lower courts. The plaintiffs’ concern is that by the time they get a final ruling in court, it might not matter, as the harm to the department could be irreversible, Turner stated.

Some Trump supporters over the weekend were surprised when he urged them to move on from the Epstein files. The Justice Department and the FBI released a two-page memo last week stating they found no evidence to support conspiracy theories about the life and death of disgraced financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. They stated he really did kill himself in jail in 2019 and left no client list. This comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said on Fox News that she had the list on her desk.

• 🎧 Heading into the last election, a central concept of Trump’s MAGA ideology was the belief that there was a deep state cabal of shadowy figures protecting pedophiles and unsavory people running the government and obstructing Trump’s agenda, says NPR’s Stephen Fowler. Now, Trump has a baseless theory about the files, suggesting Democrats created them to target him. Fowler says it is uncertain if Trump’s shift on the topic has hurt his favorability with his supporters, but it does reiterate the stranglehold the president has on the shape and direction of the GOP.

Trump yesterday threatened to implement heavy tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow if the Kremlin doesn’t reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine by September. The president also promised Ukraine billions of dollars worth of U.S.-made military equipment, which NATO countries in Europe will pay for.

• 🎧 NPR’s Charles Maynes says the president’s change of tone on Russia was quite a shift. A big driver in this shift is Trump’s frustration with and even a sense of betrayal by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president said he thought he had a peace deal with Putin four separate times, only to see Russian attacks in Ukraine continue. Some in Moscow see the 50-day grace period provided for the ceasefire as a sign that Trump isn’t ready to give up on Russia.

Living better

Frank Frost found camaraderie in a cycling group in the U.K. that his doctor recommended he try. They call themselves the “Chain Gang” and members look after each other, he said. “We’re all of a certain age,” says Frost. ” We don’t leave anybody.”

Frank Frost

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Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

Doctors are writing “social prescriptions” to get people engaged with nature, art, exercise and volunteering in the same way they would prescribe pills or therapy. Research has shown it can help with mental health, chronic disease and dementia. The method worked for Frank Frost. He gained weight and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his 50s. A doctor found out he used to love riding a bike as a kid and gave him a prescription for a 10-week cycling course for adults getting back into cycling. The prescription led to Frost developing friends, losing 100 pounds and getting his diabetes under control. Julia Hotz, the author of The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging, shares details on the health approach:

• 🚲 Health providers in around 30 countries are practicing social prescribing to address symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, chronic pain, dementia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and more. A growing number of U.S. providers are also embracing the approach.
• 🚲 Social prescribing can save money due to a reduction in emergency room visits and repeat visits to primary care physicians. Health care systems have acknowledged that it can be cheaper to cover weeks of Zumba classes than medication over the course of a lifetime.
• 🚲 People interested in social prescribing can visit the map on Social Prescribing USA’s website to find a list of organizations and health systems involved in this practice.

Picture show

Evelyn del Rosario Morán Cojoc, an artist from Guatemala, creates a mural that depicts traditional foods from her Mayan culture — like that floating ear of corn and three yellow beans. She teaches art to kids across the country, encouraging them to depict their indigenous traditions.

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The theme of this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., was youth and the future of culture. The event showcased a diverse range of talent. A 26-year-old Bolivian rapper infused his unique style into Spanish hip-hop by incorporating words from his father’s indigenous language. Two refugee weavers made a traditional bag as they work to revitalize their ancient art form. A Guatemalan artist created a mural that highlights her Mayan culture. A Mexican American dad and his two daughters demonstrated techniques for shaping a guitar passed down from their great-grandfather. The Goats and Soda team sat down with the four ensembles to talk about their craft, the youth they mentor and the cultural traditions they’re keeping alive. Read what they had to say and see photos of their craft.

3 things to know before you go

Andrew Cuomo speaks during an election party following the primaries at the Carpenters Union in New York City on June 24, 2025.

John Lamparski/AFP via Getty Images

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1. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that he is relaunching his campaign for New York City mayor, this time as an independent candidate. (via Gothamist)
2. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended his police minister after serious allegations linking him to organized crime.
3. Los Angeles is now three years away from the Olympic Games, and to commemorate the occasion, organizers yesterday released a preview of the competition schedule. (via LAist)

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

Donald Trump said he has sealed an agreement with Nato allies that will lead to large-scale arms deliveries to Ukraine, including Patriot missiles, and warned Russia that it will face severe sanctions if Moscow does not make peace within 50 days.

After a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump said they had agreed “a very big deal”, in which “billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States, going to Nato … And that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

Speaking in the White House alongside a clearly delighted Rutte, the US president said the arms deliveries would be comprehensive and would include the Patriot missile batteries that Ukraine desperately needs for its air defences against a daily Russian aerial onslaught.

“It’s everything: it’s Patriots. It’s all of them. It’s a full complement, with the batteries,” Trump said.

He did not go into any more detail, but made clear the weapons would be entirely paid for by Washington’s European allies, and that initial missile deliveries would come “within days” from European stocks, on the understanding they would be replenished with US supplies.

At a White House lunch with religious leaders later in the day, Trump said the deal was “fully approved, fully done”.

“We’ll send them a lot of weapons of all kinds and they’re going to deliver those weapons immediately … and they’re going to pay,” he said.

At his meeting with Trump, Rutte said there was a significant number of Nato allies – including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada – ready to rearm Ukraine as part of the deal.

“They all want to be part of this. And this is only the first wave. There will be more,” he said.

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said last week that Berlin was ready to acquire additional Patriot systems.

Trump claimed there was one country, which he did not name, but which had “17 Patriots getting ready to be shipped”. Monday’s deal would include that stockpile, or “a big portion of the 17”, he said.

Such an arms delivery would represent a significant reinforcement of Ukraine’s air defences. Kyiv is currently thought to have only six Patriot batteries, at a time when it is coming under frequent and intense Russian drone and missile bombardments.

At the same time, Trump expressed increased frustration with Vladimir Putin, whom he accused of giving the impression of pursuing peace while intensifying attacks on Ukrainian cities. He gave the Russian president a new deadline of 50 days to end the fighting or face 100% tariffs on Russian goods, and more importantly, sweeping “secondary tariffs”, suggesting trade sanctions would be imposed on countries who continue to pay for Russian oil and other commodities.

“The secondary tariffs are very, very powerful,” the president said.

The announcement marked a dramatic change for the administration, both in substance and tone.

The Trump White House had not only made clear it would continue its predecessor’s policy of continuing to supply Ukraine out of US stocks, but the president and his top officials have been derisive about Kyiv’s chances of prevailing.

On Monday, Trump delivered his most admiring language on Ukraine and its European backers to date, with Rutte on one side and the US vice-president, JD Vance, the administration’s biggest sceptic on US involvement in Europe, on the other.

“They fought with tremendous courage, and they continue to fight with tremendous courage,” Trump said of the Ukrainians.

“Europe has a lot of spirit for this war,” he said, suggesting he had been taken by surprise by the level of commitment shown by European allies at the Nato summit in The Hague last month. “The level of esprit de corps spirit that they have is amazing,” he said. “They really think it’s very, very important.

“Having a strong Europe is a very good thing. It’s a very good thing. So I’m okay with it,” he said.

Trump described his deepening disillusion with Putin, and suggested his wife, Melania, may have played a role in pointing out the Russian leader’s duplicity in talks over a peace deal.

“My conversations with him are always very pleasant. I say, isn’t that a very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night,” Trump said. “I go home, I tell the first lady: I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation. She said: Really? Another city was just hit.”

Ukrainian regional officials reported at least six civilians killed and 30 injured by Russian bombing in the past 24 hours. The country’s air force said Moscow had attacked with 136 drones and four S-300 or S-400 missiles.

“Look, I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy. It’s been proven over the years. He’s fooled a lot of people,” Trump said, listing his predecessors in the White House.

“He didn’t fool me. But what I do say is that at a certain point, ultimately talk doesn’t talk. It’s got to be action,” he said.

Russian officials and pro-war bloggers on Monday largely shrugged off Trump’s announcement, declaring it to be less significant than anticipated.

Konstantin Kosachev, a senior Russian lawmaker, wrote on Telegram that it amounted to “hot air”.

It was broadly welcomed in Kyiv, where there has been longstanding and deep anxiety about Trump’s intentions. Andrii Kovalenko, a member of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, posted a one-word response: “Cool.”

There was still scepticism however, over whether even the promise of new weaponry for Ukraine combined with the threat of trade sanctions would be enough to halt Russia’s offensive.

Illia Ponomarenko, a Ukrainian journalist and blogger wrote: “How many Ukrainian lives could have been saved if, from the very beginning, Trump had listened to wise and honest people about helping Ukraine, instead of the artful lies of that cannibal Putin on the phone?”.