Today in one sentence: The Trump administration will provide over $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs; as many as 463 separated parents were deported without their children; Trump claimed that he is "concerned" Russia "will be pushing very hard for the Democrats" in the midterms; and two top Trump donors paid Rick Gates more than $300,000 for help navigating the new administration.

1/ The Trump administration will provide over $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs from China and other countries in Trump’s escalating trade war. The aid package, expected to go into effect by Labor Day, provides assistance to soybean farmers, dairy farmers, pork producers, and others. Hours before the announcement, Trump tweeted that “Tariffs are the greatest!” (Washington Post / Politico / Associated Press)

  • How to tell if the trade war starts to hurt the economy. Early indicators include executive surveys and futures markets. If you want a dashboard for evidence of economic damage from the trade war, here’s what should be on it. (New York Times)

  • Trump urged farmers to “be a little patient” with his trade policies, urging people not to believe the news, because “what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” (Washington Post)

2/ The Trump administration deported as many as 463 parents without their children, who were taken from them at the border. Those parents may not be eligible to be reunited with their children. The report to U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw said the 463 cases do not represent the final tally of migrant parents who have been deported while their children remain inside U.S. detention centers. (Washington Post / NBC News)

3/ Trump claimed in a tweet that he is “concerned” Russia “will be pushing very hard for the Democrats” in the midterm elections, because “no President has been tougher on Russia than me.” Last week, Trump cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia tried to help him get elected. Trump also told reporters “no,” he doesn’t believe Russia was still a threat. Trump capped his tweet off with “They definitely don’t want Trump!” He offered no evidence to support his claims. (Reuters / The Hill / Washington Post)

  • Russian hackers broke into “hundreds” of secure networks owned by U.S. electric utilities, where they could have caused blackouts, according to the Department of Homeland Security. (Wall Street Journal)

4/ Trump would agree to an interview with Robert Mueller as long as there were no questions about obstruction of justice, according to Rudy Giuliani. The only questions Trump would be willing to answer, according to Giuliani, are about potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Mueller has not responded to Giuliani’s proposal. (Bloomberg)

  • Fake news host Alex Jones threatened that Robert Mueller is “going to get it, or I’m going to die trying, bitch” during an episode on Infowars. “It’s going to happen, we’re going to walk out in the square, politically, at high noon, and he’s going to find out whether he makes a move man, make the move first, and then it’s going to happen,” Jones said, miming a pistol with his hand. (The Hill)

  • Facebook said Alex Jones’ rant doesn’t violate its community guidelines. The show was live-streamed on Jones’ personal, verified Facebook page, which has nearly 1.7 million likes. Jones accused Mueller of participating in child rape and pantomimed shooting the special counsel. (BuzzFeed News)

  • ✌️ How to delete Facebook. First, download your archive by going to “Settings,” click “Download a copy of your Facebook data” at the bottom of General Account Settings, and then click “Start My Archive.” When you’re ready to delete your account, click this link, which will take you to the account deletion page. Once you delete your account, it cannot be recovered. (The Verge)

5/ Two top Trump donors paid Rick Gates more than $300,000 for help navigating the new administration. Tom Barrack, a friend and business associate of Trump’s, paid the former Trump campaign aid $180,000 over nine months, while Elliott Broidy, a top donor for Trump, paid Gates at least $125,000 over five months. In the final months of 2017, Michael Cohen arranged a $1.6 million payment to silence a former Playboy model who became pregnant during an affair with Broidy. Gates also received nearly $37,000 from the Trump campaign leading up to the election for “strategic consulting,” despite been a volunteer. The campaign later claimed the payment was reimbursement for “travel, meals and other appropriate expenses.” Gates pleaded guilty in February to financial fraud and lying to investigators, and is cooperating with Robert Mueller’s investigation. (New York Times)

  • Robert Mueller plans to call witnesses from the IRS, FBI and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in Paul Manafort’s trial. The trial on bank and tax fraud begins July 31st. (Politico)

6/ Richard Burr: There were “sound reasons” for the FISA court to approve surveillance on Carter Page. The Senate Intelligence Committee chairman’s comments put him at odds with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who spearheaded the memo on FISA abuses. (CNN)

  • The Kremlin wants to “let the dust settle” before accepting Trump’s invitation to hold a summit with Putin in Washington later this year. (Reuters)

poll/ 47% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while 44% have a favorable view. 72% of Republicans view ICE favorably, while 72% of Democrats view ICE unfavorably. (Pew)

poll/ 71% of voters believe Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, while 23% say the ruling should be reversed – the highest level of support for the decision in the poll’s history, which dates back to 2005. 88% of Democrats, 76% of independents and 52% of Republicans support the ruling. (NBC News)

poll/ 51% of Americans believe that Russia has compromising information on Trump. 35% of voters don’t believe Moscow has compromising information on the president. Among Republicans, 70% don’t believe there is compromising information. 52% of voters say Trump’s summit with Putin in Helsinki was a failure for the U.S., with 73% saying it was a success for Russia. (Quinnipiac)

poll/ 58% of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing with 38% of voters approving. 82% of Republicans and 72% of white evangelical Christians approve. (Quinnipiac)

Notables.

  1. High school students broke out into a “lock her up” chant while Jeff Sessions was addressing a student leadership summit. The top law enforcement officer in the country stopped, chuckled, and repeated the words “lock her up.” (CNN)

  2. A federal appeals court upheld the right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense – the sixth U.S. circuit court to interpret the Second Amendment this way. (Reuters)

  3. An unofficial shortlist of possible replacements for Sarah Huckabee Sanders is starting to emerge, although she says she has no plans to step down. At the top of the list is former Fox News host Heather Nauert, who is the current State Department spokeswoman. (Politico)

  4. Paul Ryan on Trump’s threat to revoke security clearances of former top officials who have criticized him: He’s just “trolling people.” (Washington Post)

  5. Ivanka Trump will close her fashion brand due to frustration with restrictions required to avoid conflicts of interest while she is serving in the White House. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / New York Times)

  6. States purged almost 16 million voters from the rolls between 2014 and 2016 – four million more voters than removed from 2006 to 2008. (Brennan Center for Justice / ABC News)

Last year today: Day 186: Beleaguered.