Today in One Sentence. CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials to not attack NATO territory; Trump dismissed reports that Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was meant to warn Russia against attacking a NATO country; the U.S. reportedly has a “beyond critical” shortage of Patriot missile interceptors in Europe largely due to Trump’s war with Iran; U.S. intelligence indicates that Putin sees the U.S. as weakened by the Iran war; Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America”; ICE arrested a record 49,571 people in July; and Texas released an ICE officer who was charged with shooting a Venezuelan immigrant to Minnesota and then lying about .

1/ CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials to not attack NATO territory. During his secret trip to Moscow, Ratcliffe shared the U.S. assessment on Russia’s current military and economic position with FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, which argued that Moscow should negotiate an end to its war in Ukraine before conditions get worse. U.S. intelligence assessments, meanwhile, have indicated that Putin might test NATO with a limited attack, potentially against a Baltic state. Ratcliffe also urged Russia to reduce its military and economic support for Iran. (Politico / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / ABC News / Semafor / CNBC / CBS News / CNN)

2/ Trump dismissed reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was meant to warn Russia against attacking a NATO country, saying “there was no message and there was nothing unusual.” Trump called Ratcliffe’s visit “standard business” and “semi-routine,” saying the CIA director sees his Russian counterpart “once every six months or once every year” and that “they have a very good relationship.” When asked whether he was concerned Russia could test NATO with an attack, Trump said: “I am not concerned […] at all. There is no problem.” Later, when asked whether the U.S. had warned Putin about attacking NATO territory, Trump declined to discuss the visit but said: “They are not going to attack NATO territory.” Russia, meanwhile, reportedly launched a “massive” strike overnight on nine Ukrainian cities, killing at least two people and wounding 14 others. (Axios / The Guardian / Bloomberg)

3/ The U.S. reportedly has a “beyond critical” shortage of Patriot missile interceptors in Europe largely due to Trump’s war with Iran. After missiles were moved from Europe to the Middle East and fired during Iran’s drone and missile attacks, a U.S. official warned that American and NATO forces in Europe don’t have enough interceptors to stop a sustained ballistic missile attack and would have a “very limited” ability to defend against even a single strike. (Associated Press)

4/ U.S. intelligence indicates that Putin sees the U.S. as weakened by the Iran war, and could give Moscow an opening to escalate against American interests and allies in Europe. The intelligence preceded CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow this week, and follows reports of troop’s experiencing exhaustion and mental health issues, munition shortages, and the loss of about 25% of the military’s Reaper drones. (Washington Post)

5/ Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The order requires the federal government to use the new name and directs the Interior Department and U.S. Board on Geographic Names to update federal maps, documents and communications. The order, however, doesn’t compel Canada, international bodies, states or private companies to adopt it. When asked what message he was trying to send Canada, Trump replied: “No message. As you know, Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade.” He added: “They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state.” (Politico / Reuters / New York Times / Washington Post / Axios / NBC News / CBS News / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

6/ ICE arrested a record 49,571 people in July. For the first time in Trump’s second term, a majority of those arrested had no criminal convictions or pending charges, while about 4% had violent criminal convictions. Nearly 34,000 people were also deported in July, another second-term high. (The Guardian / New York Times / CBS News)

7/ Texas released an ICE officer who was charged with shooting a Venezuelan immigrant to Minnesota and then lying about it. A judge refused to order Christian Castro’s return to Minnesota, because Gov. Greg Abbott chose not to act on Minnesota’s request and Texas law limits detention in extradition cases to 90 days. Castro allegedly fired through the door of a home and shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg, and then falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and shovel. However, a joint ICE-Justice Department review found that officers had probably made “untruthful statements.” Minnesota officials, meanwhile, warned that Castro could flee to Mexico, citing calls from jail in which he discussed marrying a woman and buying a house there. (New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post)

⏰ Dept. of I Ran Out of Time Today: The U.S. is close to striking a “massive” deal for Venezuela’a oil fields, more than doubling U.S. oil reserves; Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly lied during two congressional hearings last year that his 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”; a Florida grand jury found that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer money to a charity tied to his wife; the Republican effort to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci for contempt of Congress has stalled; a federal judge declined to dismiss Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction; Trump disclosed making more than 1,000 stock transactions in June, including in energy companies directly affected by his ongoing war in Iran; and an Abu Dhabi royal referred to as the “spy sheikh” is a major shareholder in the company behind the Trump family’s crypto bank.

The 2026 midterms are in 68 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 803 days.