Today in One Sentence. The Trump administration expanded sanctions on Iran and warned foreign governments and companies that they could lose access to the U.S. financial system if they continue doing business with Tehran; Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and auto parts to 50% starting Jan. 1, 2027; Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Jared Kushner to discuss potential cooperation if Democrats retake the House in the midterms; Trump plans to temporarily suspend tariffs on ground beef imports and allow up to 300,000 metric tons into the U.S. in an effort to lower record-high beef prices; and the Supreme Court allowed Trump to move ahead with mail-voting restrictions.

1/ The Trump administration expanded sanctions on Iran and warned foreign governments and companies that they could lose access to the U.S. financial system if they continue doing business with Tehran. Treasury sanctioned about 60 entities, individuals, and vessels, broadened secondary sanctions to cover digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping as part “Operation Economic Outcast,” which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called an “economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe.” The administration, however, stopped short of immediately penalizing major foreign financial institutions, including Chinese banks, with Bessent describing the move as a “warning shot” and giving countries a “cure period” to cut targeted ties. “Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” Bessent asked, while warning that the U.S. does not have “infinite patience.” He pledged to sanction a major financial institution by the end of the week and, when asked whether Chinese banks would be targeted, replied that “no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions.” Trump, meanwhile, is calling foreign leaders with “specific requests” to stop doing business with Tehran. (Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / Axios / Reuters / NBC News / NPR / CNBC / The Hill)

2/ Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and auto parts to 50% starting Jan. 1, 2027. The four-month delay leaves time for talks to resume after negotiations between the two countries collapsed. The threat followed separate 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods that took effect Saturday, which prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to promise “dollar for dollar” retaliation beginning Sept. 8. Trump, meanwhile, declared that Canada “will be treated like a State no longer!” and warned that “the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!” Carney, meanwhile, said Canada would return to negotiations when the U.S. came to the table “with the right attitude toward our industry and a true partnership.” (Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Bloomberg / NBC News / Reuters)

3/ Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Jared Kushner to discuss potential cooperation if Democrats retake the House in the midterms. Kushner reportedly discussed housing, immigration, and the cost of living with Jeffries, and suggested that he meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Jeffries didn’t acknowledge the meeting, but instead said that in “every conversation” with the Trump administration Democrats would demand “transformational policy change” on affordability, adding: “The question is whether Republicans will join us.” (New York Times / Associated Press / CNBC / CNN / NBC News / CBS News)

  • Trump urged South Carolina Republicans to “pretend” he’s on Tuesday’s ballot while campaigning for Sen. Darline Graham in her runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman. Graham, appointed to serve the remainder of her late brother Lindsey Graham’s term, failed to win the special Republican primary outright despite Trump’s endorsement. (Bloomberg / CBS News)

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused approvals for new data center buildouts. Less than a year after declaring Texas the “epicenter of AI development,” Abbott argued that developers “basically dug their own grave” by moving into communities without winning local support. Trump, meanwhile, argued that communities rejecting data centers are “making a mistake.” (Axios / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / Politico)

4/ Trump plans to temporarily suspend tariffs on ground beef imports and allow up to 300,000 metric tons into the U.S. in an effort to lower record-high beef prices. The additional imports would amount to roughly 2% to 3% of annual U.S. beef consumption, but agricultural economists questioned whether enough beef could be redirected to the U.S. within the 90-day window or noticeably lower prices. Trump nevertheless claimed that the move “will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.” Republicans and cattle groups, however, warned that cheaper imports could depress cattle prices and discourage ranchers from rebuilding a U.S. herd already near its smallest level since the 1950s. (Associated Press / NBC News / Politico / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Bloomberg / The Hill / CNN / Axios / NOTUS)

5/ The Supreme Court allowed Trump to move ahead with mail-voting restrictions. The conservative majority concluded that California and 22 other states lacked standing because the order itself hadn’t harmed them, yet. The 6-3 ruling addressed only whether the states’ challenge was premature, not whether Trump had authority to impose the rules that directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile citizenship lists, requires states to send eligible-voter rosters to the Postal Service, and calls for mail ballots to be sent only to voters on those lists using special bar-coded envelopes. However, a separate nationwide injunction against parts of the same order remains in place. Meanwhile, the Postal Service finalized rules requiring states to submit voter data and barcodes through a federal portal and use special bar-coded election mail envelopes. The agency maintained that it’s not deciding who is eligible to vote, checking citizenship, inspecting ballots, or counting votes. Trump has claimed the restrictions would combat voter fraud. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / Bloomberg / NBC News / Axios / Associated Press / Bloomberg / New York Times)

The 2026 midterms are in 71 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 806 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. The Trump administration proposed a $103,265 fee for most new H-1B visa petitions. A federal judge struck down Trump’s earlier $100,000 fee, which was structured as a condition on entering the country, as an unlawful tax imposed without congressional approval. Trump’s new proposal, however, would apply more broadly to most new H-1B petitions, including many workers already in the U.S. The administration said the fee would raise about $8.8 billion annually to help fund the broader immigration system, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and immigration courts. (Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Politico / Washington Post)

  2. The Trump administration plans to revoke up to 200,000 business and tourism visas. If carried out, it would be the largest single mass visa revocation in U.S. history. The State Department, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to target B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought or are seeking asylum. (Associated Press / Axios / Reuters)

  3. Nevada sued the Trump administration over its plan requiring Arizona, California, and Nevada to cut their Colorado River water use by roughly 20% over the next two years. Nevada alleged that the Interior Department’s drought-management framework violates the rules governing the river and failed to consider the economic consequences of deeper cuts, which could eventually reach as much as 71% of its annual allocation. The Colorado River supplies roughly 90% of the water used by Las Vegas and the surrounding region. (Washington Post)

  4. Chief Justice John Roberts allowed Trump to continue building his White House ballroom, blocking a lower-court order that would have stopped the above-ground construction on the $400 million project. The one-sentence administrative stay didn’t address whether Trump acted lawfully when he demolished the East Wing or began construction without congressional approval. Two lower courts, however, ruled that he exceeded his authority and that Congress must authorize the project. (Reuters / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR / Axios / CNN)

  5. Ed Martin will leave the Justice Department to “fight Legal Battles for the upcoming Midterm Election, and the Presidential Election of 2028.” Martin, a Trump loyalist and “Stop the Steal” advocate, most recently served as Trump’s pardon attorney after Trump withdrew his nomination to permanently serve as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. “Proud to serve,” Martin said. “Fight Fight Fight.” (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / NBC News)

  6. The Pentagon fired the publisher, editor in chief, and a Middle East reporter at Stars and Stripes. The Pentagon accused them of insubordination after opposing Pentagon interference with the paper in a CBS interview. The firings also followed the Pentagon’s removal of the paper’s congressionally mandated ombudsman earlier this year and came the same day the department issued a new policy directing Stars and Stripes to avoid publishing material that would “adversely affect national security.” The military newspaper has long operated with editorial independence from the Defense Department. (CBS News / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press)

  7. Trump threatened a $5 billion defamation lawsuit against the Center for American Progress unless it retracts a report that Trump’s National Guard deployments had no effect on violent crime. The report found that violent crime was already declining before the deployments in Washington, Los Angeles, and Memphis and estimated they would cost taxpayers more than $1.7 billion if continued through the end of 2026. CAP’s general counsel called the defamation allegation “utterly absurd”: “Truth is not and cannot be defamation.” (The Guardian / Associated Press / New York Times)

  8. Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon will use a White House “Back to School” event to promote the administration’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department and expand school choice. McMahon has shifted some of the department’s responsibilities to other federal agencies and cut its workforce nearly in half as Trump pushes to return education authority to the states. The administration is also promoting a tax-law provision that, starting in 2027, will provide tax incentives for donations funding scholarships for K-12 public and private education. (ABC News)

  9. Natalie Harp described Trump as her “Guardian and Protector” in two 2023 letters, saying “You are all that matters to me” and asks Trump to “cuss me out” when she fails. The White House defended Harp, who serves as Trump’s special and executive assistant, as “one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump’s team.” Meanwhile, a review of her deleted social media posts found that she posted more than 150 times on Jan. 6, urged Republicans to “FIGHT FOR TRUMP,” promoted Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen, praised lawmakers who tried to block certification of Biden’s victory, and later shared false claims that the rioters weren’t Trump supporters and that Antifa had infiltrated the crowd before sharing Trump’s calls for the rioters to go home. (Daily Beast / CNN / CNN / Slate / New York Times)

  10. Trump on the bond market: “The ultimate intervention is our military, and if we have to use that, we will.” When asked whether his administration was considering additional action to bring down bond yields, Trump replied: “We have many types of intervention. That’s one.” He didn’t explain what he meant. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, announced it would at least double its purchases of longer-dated government bonds in an effort to push down borrowing costs that had reached multi-year highs. (Yahoo! News / HuffPost / MS Now / X / The Guardian / Bloomberg)