Two women were killed Sunday in a shooting at a church in Lexington, Kentucky, authorities said, following a violent series of events that began with a traffic stop.
According to the Lexington Police Department, the suspect first shot a Kentucky State Police trooper after being pulled over. The trooper survived and is being treated at a nearby hospital, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement on social media.
"Please pray for everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence," Beshear wrote. "And lets give thanks for the swift response by the Lexington Police Department and Kentucky State Police."
After the initial shooting, police said the suspect carjacked a vehicle and fled the scene. No injuries were reported during the carjacking.
With help from the departments Real-Time Intelligence Center and Air Support Unit, officers were able to track the stolen vehicle to Richmond Road Baptist Church. There, police said, the suspect opened fire, killing two women, 72-year-old Beverly Gumm and 32-year-old Kristy McCombs, and wounding two men.
Officers shot and killed the suspect at the scene. Authorities say the shooter had a lengthy criminal history.
A historic lodge on the Grand Canyon's North Rim has been destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire, the park said Sunday.
The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost.
Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim, known as the White Sage Fire and the Dragon Bravo Fire. The latter is the one that impacted the lodge and other structures. The park initially was managing it as a controlled burn but then shifted to suppression as it rapidly grew to 7.8 square miles (20 square kilometers) because of hot temperatures, low humidity and wind, fire officials said.
No injuries have been reported.
Millions of people visit Grand Canyon National Park annually, with most going to the more popular South Rim. The North Rim is open seasonally. It was evacuated last Thursday because of wildfire.
Firefighters at the North Rim and hikers in the inner canyon were evacuated over the weekend. The park said along with the fire risk, they could potentially be exposed to chlorine gas after the treatment plant burned. Chlorine gas is heavier than air and can lead to blurred vision, irritation or respiratory problems if high amounts of it are breathed in, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rafters on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon also were told to bypass Phantom Ranch, which has a set of cabins and dormitories along the river.
The North Rim lodge was often the first prominent feature that visitors see, even before viewing the canyon. A highway ends at the lodge, which was known for its sloped roof, huge ponderosa beams and massive limestone facade. By walking across the lobby and descending a stairwell, visitors could get their first view of the Grand Canyon shining through windows across the Sun Room.
Meanwhile, officials reported progress in battling a second wildfire burning north of the Grand Canyon. Fire lines on the White Sage Fire that forced evacuations at the North Rim and in the community of Jacob Lake were holding, officials said. On the southern edge of the fire, hand crews and bulldozers were working uphill, and the spread of the blaze had been minimal.
But to the east and north, the fire has spread rapidly, with grasses and standing dead trees contributing to the fires intensity, officials said. The fire was pushing downhill toward the Vermilion Cliffs area, and crews were assessing opportunities to create buffer zones that help slow or halt the fires progress.
Jannik Sinner defeated two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first Wimbledon championship and reverse the result of their epic French Open final five weeks ago.
The No. 1-ranked Sinner earned his fourth Grand Slam title overall, moving him one away from No. 2 Alcaraz's total as the two young rivals separate themselves from the rest of the pack in men's tennis.
This victory also allowed Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, to put an end to several streaks for Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard.
Alcaraz had won the past five head-to-head matches between the pair, most recently across five sets and nearly 5 1/2 hours at Roland-Garros on June 8. Sinner took a two-set lead in that one, then held a trio of match points, but couldn't close the deal. That made Alcaraz 5-0 in major finals.
In addition to ending that piece of perfection, Sinner asserted himself in a match that featured moments of terrific play by both men, but also the occasional lapses.
Alcaraz stepped into the sunlight bathing Centre Court as the owner of a career-best 24-match unbeaten run. He had won 20 matches in a row at the All England Club, including victories against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals.
The last man to beat Alcaraz at Wimbledon? Sinner, in the fourth round in 2022.
Many people are looking for that nice, relaxing day at the beach this summer. But, if youre not careful, it could take a turn for the worse in the middle of this heat wave with the scorching sun.
Sometimes Im good and I remember sunscreen, beachgoer Jeffery Zimmerman told the Scripps News Group in San Diego.
Sometimes I will choose not to wear it, but I do end up regretting it later on, added Sadie Zimmerman.
It's very important that people are aware of the risks of being outside, especially during these summer months, said Dr. Charles Miller, assistant medical director & dermatologist at Kaiser Permanente.
Miller said its not only important for everyone going outside in the summer heat to put on sunscreen, but for those who work in it as well.
Such as lifeguards and construction workers to protect themselves from the sun because of where we live, we have a very high ultraviolet index on a scale of zero to 12, it's oftentimes over 10 or 11, Miller said. And long-term effects not only does it cause wrinkles and dark spots and blemishes that people don't like, but it can also cause skin cancer."
Dr. Miller said a good rule of thumb is to apply sunscreen with a SPF of 30 or higher, and it's best to do so even before heading out into the sun. And once youre out here, dont forget to reapply that sunscreen.
You may want to go the extra mile and make sure that your sunscreen has zinc in it because it does give you a little bit better protection, Miller said. There are some theories that some people say that if you use a chemical sunscreen first and then you put a zinc sunscreen over the top, that can be very helpful.
Some say the simple task of putting on your sunscreen is something that everyone should remember to do.
So, it's always important to protect your skin. It's not worth it to get a little extra sunburn for what you're going to be in pain anyway, and it's miserable. And then you lose the tan because it peels away with the burn, so it's not worth it ever. It's never worth it, said beachgoer Haley Whitehead.
This story was originally published by Ryan Hill with the
Researchers found the video creators used up to a dozen different products in their daily skincare routines. Many products, however, have ingredients that can cause sun sensitivity, redness and allergic reactions.
They're warning parents to be careful of combining too many products because it how they interact can cause complications.
Experts say teens need to keep their skincare routines simple and read labels for overlapping ingredients that can increase the risk of irritation.
The EU will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.
This is now the time for negotiations, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday, after President Donald Trump sent a letter announcing new tariffs of 30% on goods from the EU and Mexico starting Aug. 1.
The EU Americas biggest trading partner and the worlds largest trading bloc had been scheduled to impose countermeasures starting Monday at midnight Brussels time (6 p.m. EDT). The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries.
Von der Leyen said those countermeasures would be delayed until Aug. 1, and that Trump's letter shows that we have until the first of August to negotiate. European leaders have urged Trump and von der Leyen to give negotiations more time.
We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution, she said. If they cant reach a deal, she said that we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared.
Standing alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, von der Leyen said the trade tensions with the U.S. show the importance of diversifying our trade relationships.''
Trump has said his global tariffs would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. Trump in his letter to the European Union said the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat.
U.S. trade partners have faced months of uncertainty and on-and-off threats from Trump to impose tariffs, with deadlines sometimes extended or changed. The tariffs could have ramifications for nearly every aspect of the global economy.
The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. Europes biggest exports to the U.S. were pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and spirits.
Trade ministers from EU countries are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss trade relations with the U.S., as well as with China.
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 30 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point, local health officials said, despite attempts by mediators to bring about a ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal.
Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Gaza's Health Ministry said Sunday that more than 58,000 people have been killed in the war. The ministry doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children. In the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 in a raid on northern Israel.
Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Children killed at a water collection point
In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said.
Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water. When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
He said Palestinians walk some 1.2 miles to fetch water from the area.
The Israeli military said it was targeting a militant but that a technical error made its munition fall dozens of meters from the target. It said the incident was being examined.
In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
The military had no immediate comment on that strike. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas.
Funeral held for Palestinian-American killed in the West Bank
In the West Bank, where violence between Israeli troops and Palestinians has been compounded by attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, funerals were held for a Palestinian-American and a Palestinian friend of his.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet, a Florida native, was killed after being beaten by Israeli settlers. Diana Halum, a cousin, said the attack occurred on his family's land. The Health Ministry initially identified him as Seifeddine Musalat, 23.
Musallet's friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest, according to the ministry.
On Sunday, their bodies were carried through the streets of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, a town south of where they were killed. Mourners, waving Palestinian flags, chanted God is great.
In a statement Saturday, Musallet's family said he was a kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man, working to build his dreams. It said he built a business in Tampa, Florida, and that he was deeply connected to his Palestinians heritage.
Musallet's family said it wants the U.S. State Department to investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it was aware of the reports of his death but had no comment out of respect for the family.
Israel's military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation.
Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence.
Florida Democrats are raising alarms over conditions at the states new immigration detention center, 'Alligator Alcatraz'. They say the facility is inhumane and an environmental threat to the Everglades.
On Saturday morning, a group of Florida Democratic members of Congress visited the facility for a brief, state-coordinated tour that lawmakers say was a sanitized effort to cover up whats really happening inside.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Floridas 25th congressional district, said the group had originally intended to make an unannounced visit, which is permitted under federal law. However, they believe the state caught wind of the plan and quickly arranged a controlled tour.
WATCH BELOW: Members of Florida Congress speak prior to their tour
Members of Florida Congress speak prior to their tour of 'Alligator Alcatraz'
We are here because the state set up what we expect to be a sanitized, cleansed, so-called tour, Wasserman Schultz said during a press conference outside the facility. They should not put humans in cages in the middle of swampland in the Florida Everglades. Its outrageous. Its inhumane.
The temporary facility, with a capacity of up to 3,000 detainees, was fast-tracked into existence just weeks after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier pitched the idea. He insisted that detainees would be treated fairly and processed swiftly.
We'll make sure people get the necessary due process, Uthmeier said. We'll get them in, get them out.
Lawmakers said theyve received credible reports of poor conditions inside, including inedible food infested with bugs, detainees forced to sleep under bright lights, and a lack of access to legal counsel.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Floridas 10th congressional district brought a binder filled with names and photos of detainees whose families have lost contact with them.
Frost says some detainees havent spoken to their attorneys at all. Others have only been able to talk at odd hours of the night. One detainee reported that their 'cage' had three phones, and two of them didn't work.
Frost also explained that the members were barred from bringing electronics inside the facility, which he believes was intended to prevent them from documenting what they saw.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who represents the 23rd district, described the entire setup as effing ridiculous, and slammed the facilitys logistics and capacity. This is not a facility that can take a high influx of people. Its a one-way road in and out. If anyone tried to design this from a logistical standpoint, this would never have happened, he said. The cruelty is the point.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz also noted that the individuals being held do not appear to be criminals. Donald Trump promised to round up the worst of the worst, he said. There are no criminals here, as far as we know. But we're gonna find out."
Floridas 9th district congressman, Darren Soto, focused on the economic impact. What theyre doing here is eliminating thousands and thousands of workers over the course of the next few months. And every Floridian is going to feel that, Soto said.
Wasserman Schultz said the facility was built without proper environmental permitting, despite its location in a sensitive Everglades ecosystem. She called the construction of such massive infrastructure in the area an outrageous imposition on the states restoration efforts.
The groups were originally told they would be taking one 90-minute tour. Late last night, they got an email saying they will now only be given a 30-minute tour, and they will be split up into 3 groups.
Despite the limitations of Saturdays tour, lawmakers said they plan to return again on their own terms.
I have no doubt well be back at a date and time of our choosing, Moskowitz said.
This article was written by Emma Romano for Scripps News West Palm Beach.
Investigators said they arrested the operator, Rosa Mena, 50, after a patient suffered partial facial paralysis following Botox injections.
WATCH BELOW: Port St. Lucie woman accused of operating unlicensed med spa in backyard shed
Port St. Lucie woman accused of operating unlicensed med spa in backyard shed
Neighbors said they were surprised by what investigators said was happening in Mena's backyard.
"I thought she just did a regular business," neighbor John Jones said.
Police arrested Mena on several charges on Wednesday.
"The interior of the shed appeared to be in a fashion that would resemble a med spa or doctor's office," Port St. Lucie police officer Brittany Holly said. "However, it still is a shed."
The investigation started May 30 when a victim called police, telling officers she received 62 units of Botox from Mena, which led to facial paralysis.
Investigators said the victim returned two times for follow-up treatments with no improvement.
"Total red flag for me," neighbor Nalin Patel said. "Who would go into a shed to get procedures done like that?"
Investigators said that after the unsuccessful reversal of their paralysis, the victim became suspicious and asked Mena for her license.
Police said Mena provided a phlebotomy license with the date censored.
"It was expired, which, regardless, does not give her the certification or proper license to keep conducting any sort of cosmetic procedure," Holly said.
Her family didn't want to talk about the allegations.
Neighbors hope the victim recovers from the injections.
"It's terrible for the patient," Patel said. "Hopefully, she recovers 100 percent."
Mena is facing nine charges, including aggravated battery, practicing medicine without a license and fraud.
She made her first appearance in court, where a St. Lucie County judge issued a $95,000 bond.
This article was written by Tyler Hatfield for the Scripps News Group in West Palm Beach.
A military installation in Virginia has returned to its former name but with a new honoree, as Fort Gregg-Adams was officially renamed Fort Lee during a ceremony Friday morning.
"We mark the transition between two proud chapters in our installations history," Fort Lee Garrison Commander Col. Rich Bendelewski said at the ceremony.
The name change is part of President Donald Trump's directive to restore the original names of seven military bases that were previously renamed due to their Confederate ties.
While the base has reclaimed its original name, it now honors a different historical figure. Rather than Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the installation now pays tribute to Private Fitz Lee, a Black soldier from Dinwiddie County who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions as a Buffalo Soldier during the Spanish-American War in Cuba.
"Horribly wounded as a result. He actually is awarded his Medal of Honor not in Cuba, but in Fort Bliss, Texas while he is in the hospital recovering from wounds. Eventually he moves to the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas area," Fort Lee command historian Tim Gilhool said. "[He] unfortunately, tragically dies at the age of 33."
While officials were unable to find any descendants of Lee, but representatives from the county where he was born in and the regiment he served with were on-hand to recognize his honor.
"Names shape legacy and today that legacy bears the name, again, of a Dinwiddie son who stood for something greater than himself," Dinwiddie County Administrator Kevin Massengill said.
Members of groups associated with the Buffalo Soldiers attended the ceremony, expressing pride that the base now honors someone who served with such distinction.
"This is a great honor for us and it's actually very wonderful to be here to participate in this event," 9th/10th Horse Cavalry Association National President Nina Amos said.
Despite the name change, military officials emphasized that the legacies of Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams for whom the base was named two years ago will not be forgotten.
"Their stories will remain vital parts of this installation and our museum collections," Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue of Fort Lee, said. "We are committed to ensuring their legacies are preserved and honored as they help shape the post its accomplishments and our ethos into the center of excellence it is today."
Base leadership displays and names for Gregg and Adams will remain on site, including gates and street signs. Officials are also developing plans to further highlight the story of Private Fitz Lee and the Buffalo Soldiers throughout the installation.
This article was written by Cameron Thompson for Scripps News Richmond. This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
The Justice Department and FBI are struggling to contain the fallout and appease the demands of far-right conservative personalities and influential members of President Donald Trumps base after the administration's decision this week to withhold records from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.
The move, which included the acknowledgment that one particular sought-after document never existed in the first place, sparked a contentious conversation between Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino at the White House earlier this week that threatened to permanently shatter relations between the two officials and centered in part on a news story that described divisions between the FBI and the Justice Department.
The cascade of disappointment and disbelief arising from the refusal to disclose additional, much-hyped records from the Epstein investigation underscores the struggles of FBI and Justice Department leaders to resolve the conspiracy theories and amped-up expectations that they themselves had stoked with claims of a cover-up and hidden evidence. Infuriated by the failure of officials to unlock, as promised, the secrets of the so-called deep state, Trump supporters on the far right have grown restless and even demanded change at the top.
Tensions that simmered for months boiled over on Monday when the Justice Department and FBI issued a two-page statement saying that they had concluded that Epstein did not possess a client list, even though Bondi had intimated in February that such a document was sitting on her desk, and had decided against releasing any additional records from the investigation.
The department did disclose a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself in jail, but even that raised the eyebrows of conspiracy theorists because of a missing minute in the recording.
It was hardly the first time that Trump administration officials have failed to fulfill their pledge to deliver the evidence that supporters had come to expect.
In February, conservative influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked The Epstein Files: Phase 1 and Declassified." But the binders contained information that had largely already been in the public domain.
Afterward, Bondi said an FBI source informed her of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the bureau to provide the full and complete Epstein files. She later said officials were poring over a truckload of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI.'
But after a months-long review of evidence in the governments possession, the Justice Department determined in the memo Monday that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted. The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims, and only a fraction of it would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.
The Trump administration had hoped that that statement would be the final word on the saga, with Trump chiding a reporter who asked Bondi about the Epstein case at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
But Bondi and Bongino had a tense exchange the following day at the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
Part of the clash centered on a story from the news organization NewsNation that cited a source close to the White House as saying the FBI would have released the Epstein files months ago if it could have done so on its own. The story included statements from Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel refuting the premise, but not Bongino.
The news publication Axios was first to describe the conversation.
Blanche sought to stem the fallout Friday with a social media post in which he said he had worked closely with Patel and Bongino on the Epstein matter and the joint memo.
All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo. The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memos composition and release is patently false, he wrote on X.
Also Friday, far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is close to Trump, posted on X that she was told that Bongino was seriously thinking about resigning and had taken the day off to contemplate his future. Bongino is normally an active presence on social media but has been silent since Wednesday.
The FBI did not respond to a request seeking comment, and the White House sought in a statement to minimize any tensions.
President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims, said spokesman Harrison Fields. This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity. Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all.
Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic's buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls' summer camp in a Special Flood Hazard Area in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects.
That designation means an area is likely to be inundated during a 100-year flood, one severe enough that it only has a 1% chance of happening in any given year.
Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors and longtime owner Dick Eastland when historic floodwaters tore through its property before dawn on July 4.
The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by FEMA, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.
But Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMAs flood map determinations, said it was particularly disturbing that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation.
Its a mystery to me why they werent taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone, she said.
Camp Mystic didnt respond to emails seeking comment and calls to it rang unanswered. The camp has called the flood an unimaginable tragedy and added in a statement Thursday that it had restored power for the purpose of communicating with its supporters.
FEMA exempted buildings at old and new sites
In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camps buildings from the hazard area. Records show that those buildings were part of the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe, which was devastated by last weeks flood.
After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 from the designation. Those buildings were located on nearby Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020 as part of a major expansion and suffered less damage in the flood.
Campers have said the cabins at Cypress Lake withstood significant damage, but those nicknamed "the flats at the Guadalupe River camp were inundated.
Experts say Camp Mystic's requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camps insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating or adding new structures under less costly regulations.
Pralle said the appeals were not surprising because communities and property owners have used them successfully to shield specific properties from regulation.
Analysis shows flood risks at both camp sites
Regardless of FEMA's determinations, the risk was obvious.
At least 12 structures at Camp Mystic Guadalupe were fully within FEMA's 100-year flood plain, and a few more were partially in that zone, according to an AP analysis of data provided by First Street, a data science company that specializes in modeling climate risk.
Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, said FEMA's flood insurance map underestimates flood risks. That's because it fails to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks. First Street's model puts nearly all of Camp Mystic Guadalupe at risk during a 100-year flood.
The buildings at the newer Cypress Lake site are farther from the south fork of the flood-prone river but adjacent to Cypress Creek. FEMA's flood plain doesn't consider the small waterway a risk.
However, First Streets model, which takes into account heavy rain and runoff reaching the creek, shows that the majority of the Cypress Lake site lies within an area that has a 1% chance of flooding in any given year.
In a statement, FEMA downplayed the significance of the flood map amendments.
Flood maps are snapshots in time designed to show minimum standards for floodplain management and the highest risk areas for flood insurance, the agency wrote. They are not predictions of where it will flood, and they dont show where it has flooded before.
An arduous' appeal process can help property owners
Property owners challenging FEMA's map designations hire engineers to conduct detailed studies to show where they believe the 100-year flood plain should actually be drawn. That is a pretty arduous process that can lead to more accurate maps while making it easier for future construction, said Chris Steubing, executive director of the Texas Floodplain Management Association, an industry group that represents floodplain managers.
Pralle, who reviewed the amendments for AP, noted that some of the exempted properties were within 2 feet of FEMA's flood plain by the camp's revised calculations, which she said left almost no margin for error. She said her research shows that FEMA approves about 90% of map amendment requests, and the process may favor the wealthy and well-connected.
A study she published in 2021 with researcher Devin Lea analyzed more than 20,000 buildings that had been removed from FEMA flood maps. It found that the amendments occurred more often in places where property values were higher, more white people lived and buildings were newer.
Camp expanded after tremendous success
FEMA had cautioned in its amendments that other parts of Camp Mystic remained on the flood map, and that any future construction or substantial improvement would be subject to flood plain management regulations.
County officials not only allowed the camp to keep operating, but to dramatically expand.
Considered Texas royalty after decades of taking care of the daughters of elite families, Camp Mystic owners Dick and Tweety Eastland cited the tremendous success of their original camp in explaining the need for a second site nearby.
The expansion included new cabins and a dining hall, chapel, archery range and more. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers between its two locations when a state licensing agency conducted an inspection on July 2, two days before the tragedy, records show.
FEMA referred questions about the expansion to local officials, who didn't reply to messages seeking comment.
Steubing, a longtime municipal engineer in Texas, said the rain and flooding that hit Kerr County in a matter of hours were so much more intense than anything in its history that it's hard to call the flood plain management a failure.
Local officials likely believed they were following existing regulations when they allowed the camp to keep growing, but then Mother Nature set a new standard," he said.
You could have built things 2 feet higher, 3 feet higher, and they still might have gotten taken down, he said.
The devastating floods in central Texas have left families and communities in urgent need of support. Scripps News and the Scripps Howard Fund are partnering to provide critical relief to those impacted. Every dollar donated
One week after a catastrophic flooding swept through Texas' Hill Country, survivors and residents are looking for ways to put their lives back on track. And for many of them, that means help from the federal government and FEMA.
Scripps News spoke with former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Friday, to learn more about how FEMA typically responds to natural disasters such as the floods in Texas.
After a disaster like this, what kind of funding will be made or has been made available to her county and the city of Kerrville and to individual citizens first for rebuilding, but also for making massive changes for flood prevention in the future?
"There's a few different types of funding that can become available," Criswell said. "First, for those families and those individuals that have been impacted and they can register for assistance and they can get funding and financial assistance for things like repairs to their homes, temporary lodging items that they may have lost, some of the immediate needs that they have."
"And so they have a resource to help jumpstart that recovery process. But that works in conjunction with their insurance and with some of the other nonprofit agencies that might be out there from the public infrastructure side of things, then we would reimburse or FEMA will reimburse that community for the rebuilding of the damaged infrastructure, whether that's roads or bridges, whether that's water treatment facilities or public buildings."
They also have an opportunity to rebuild old into a higher standard and so they can spend additional funding with the 75% federal cost share, 25% state and local to actually build it up to a higher standard," Criswell said. "So it doesn't so they don't have the same impact perhaps in the future."
We've come to learn in the past few days that Kerr County did apply to the state of Texas for some of the FEMA funds that had come in for previous storms but then were denied. Could you shed some light on what goes into making those decisions and how much does the federal government have any influence over what the state then decides on how to distribute those funds?
"Based on these disaster declarations, the state is given basically a grant of money that they can use for different projects, and then the state will go out to their counties and their local jurisdictions to submit requests for that money to do different mitigation projects," Criswell said. "It's completely up to the state to determine which ones fit within their priorities and how to allocate that funding."
"FEMA's involvement just comes in to make sure they're eligible, along with an appropriate federal guidelines like procurement and environmental reviews and so forth, to be able to use that funding. But the state makes the final determination on how they want to invest that mitigation dollars."
Watch the full interview in the video above.The devastating floods in central Texas have left families and communities in urgent need of support. Scripps News and the Scripps Howard Fund are partnering to provide critical relief to those impacted. Every dollar donated
A farm worker has died following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid this week on a farm in Ventura County, California, according to the United Farm Workers union.
The union confirmed on Friday that one worker had died and others had been critically injured. The union said several other workers, among them U.S. citizens, were unaccounted for following the incident.
One of the farms was growing cannabis under a license in the state. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agents were executing a warrant at the farm.
Glass House Farms confirmed on Thursday that ICE agents were present and that it "fully complied with agent search warrants."
According to the United Farm Workers union, authorities held workers on the farm for eight hours. Some of the workers say authorities forced them to remove footage of the immigration raid from their phones before they were released.
Photos and video of the incident show protesters confronting federal agents. Agents threw canisters that appeared to release white and green smoke, while some protesters appear on video to throw rocks at vehicles carrying federal agents.
The Department of Homeland Security says authorities arrested roughly 200 people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally during the raids.
"These violent and cruel federal actions terrorize American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families," United Farm Workers union said in a statement on Friday. "There is no city, state or federal district where it is legal to terrorize and detain people for being brown and working in agriculture. These raids must stop immediately."
President Donald Trump on Friday called on federal officials to arrest protesters who throw projectiles at federal vehicles.
"I am directing Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, to instruct all ICE, Homeland Security, or any other Law Enforcement Officer who is on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so," President Trump wrote on social media on Friday. "I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public. I never want to see a car carrying a Law Enforcement Officer attacked again! AUTHORIZATION IMMEDIATELY GRANTED FOR ARREST AND INCARCERATION."
Russia pounded Ukraine's capital with another major missile and drone attack overnight into Thursday, killing at least two people and causing fires across Kyiv a day after the heaviest drone attack so far in the more than three-year war, Ukrainian officials said.
In another tense and sleepless night for Kyiv residents, with many of them dashing in the dark with children, pets and blankets to the protection of subway stations, at least 22 people were wounded, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Administration.
The night was punctuated with the chilling whine of approaching drones that slammed into residential areas, exploded and sent balls of orange flames into the dark during the 10-hour barrage. Russia fired 397 Shahed and decoy drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles at Kyiv and five other regions, authorities said.
"This is a clear escalation of Russian terror: hundreds of Shahed drones every night, constant missile strikes, massive attacks on Ukrainian cities," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday, as Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles than the same month last year.
At least 13,580 civilians, including 716 children, have been killed and more than 34,000 wounded since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor began on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.N. said.
Two rounds of direct peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations have yielded no progress on stopping the fighting. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday there is no date for a possible third round of negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the U.S. and Russia have exchanged new ideas for peace talks after he met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Malaysia on Thursday.
Russia aims to sap Ukrainian morale
Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses with major attacks that include increasing numbers of decoy drones. The previous night, it fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones, topping previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks.
"The continued increase in the size of strike packages is likely intended to support Russian efforts to degrade Ukrainian morale in the face of constant Russian aggression," the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Wednesday.
In tandem with the bombardments, Russia's army has started a new drive to break through parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where short-handed Ukrainian forces are under heavy strain at what could prove to be a pivotal period of the war.
"At present, the rate of Russian advance is accelerating and Russia's summer offensive is likely to put the armed forces of Ukraine under intense pressure," Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at military think tank RUSI, wrote in an assessment published Wednesday.
The pressure has caused alarm among Ukrainian officials, who are uncertain about continuing vital military aid from the United States and U.S. President Donald Trump's policy toward Russia.
"Partners need to be faster with investments in weapons production and technology development," Zelenskyy said Thursday. "We need to be faster with sanctions and put pressure on Russia so that it feels the consequences of its terror."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a Ukrainian recovery conference in Rome that German officials "stand ready to acquire additional Patriot (air defense) systems from the U.S. and make them available to Ukraine."
The U.S. last week halted some shipments of weapons, including crucial Patriot systems, to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much.
"The Americans need them themselves in part, but they also have a great many of them," Merz said.
Meanwhile, the U.K. government announced the delivery to Ukraine of more than 5,000 Thales air defense missiles under a 19-year financing agreement, supported by a 2.5 billion-pound ($3.4 billion) credit guarantee.
Some Ukrainians lose almost everything
In Kyiv, Karyna Holf, 25, was in the living room near the window when she heard a whistling sound from the incoming weapon. Moments later, little was left of the room but debris.
"After such a shock, when you know from your own experience what it's like to lose everything," she said. "I don't even know what comes next. All I have now is a backpack, a phone, a winter coat that's it. This is my whole life now."
Holf said she was grateful to have her parents to turn to, but added, "There are people who have no one at all."
One Kyiv subway station worker said more than 1,000 people, including 70 children, took refuge there. One of them was 32-year-old Kyiv resident Alina Kalyna.
"The drone attacks a year ago were one thing, and now they're a completely different thing. We're exhausted," she said. "I sleep poorly, I recover poorly, in fact I no longer recover, I am just somehow on a reserve of energy, of which I have a little left, I just somehow live and exist," Kalyna said.
5,000 drones produced a month
Russia routinely fires more drones in a night than in a whole month a year ago, and analysts say the drone barrages are unlikely to let up.
Russia is now producing more and better drones, including some using artificial intelligence technology, according to the Atlantic Council. Its factories are manufacturing more than 5,000 drones a month, the Washington-based think tank said this week.
"For the first few years of the war following (Russia's) 2022 invasion, Ukraine's dynamic tech sector and vibrant startup culture helped keep the country a step ahead of Russia despite the Kremlin's far greater resources," the Atlantic Council said of the countries' drone development. "In recent months, however, it has become increasingly apparent that the initiative has passed to Moscow."
Ukraine urgently needs more interceptor drones to take down Russia's Shaheds as well as Patriot missile systems to counter Russian missiles.
The U.S. has resumed deliveries of certain weapons, including 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so that they could provide details that hadn't been announced publicly. It's unclear exactly when the weapons started moving.
Ukraine has also invested in drones, developing its own long-range weapons that can hit Russian soil.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Thursday that it shot down 14 Ukrainian drones overnight. Two people in the Belgorod region were injured by falling debris, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Visitors and staff at two national parks in the U.S. West have been evacuated because of wildfires.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles southwest of Denver, closed Thursday morning after lighting sparked blazes on both rims, the park said. The wildfire on the South Rim has burned 2.5 square miles, with no containment of the perimeter.
The conditions there have been ripe for wildfire with hot temperatures, low humidity, gusty winds and dry vegetation, the park said, adding that weather will remain a concern Friday.
The Grand Canyon's North Rim in Arizona also closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby.
The fire began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area, fire officials said. It has burned about 1.5 square miles with zero containment.
It's easy to be fooled by Charlene Kirby's kindness and laughter, but the 75-year-old woman is full of remarkable grit.
Just look at her career as a first responder and emergency room nurse, or her work on a remote piece of land in McCoy, Colorado.
"I was born and raised right here," Kirby said about McCoy. "We're halfway between Vail and Steamboat Springs in the middle of nowhere."
One night in early June is perhaps most emblematic of the resilience found within Kirby.
The character qualities Kirby refined throughout her career prepared her for the night of June 7.
"I've always been really calm. Well, I should take that back. That was a lie," Kirby said with a laugh. "I had a terrible temper when I was younger, but most of the time I'm calm."
Kirby was pulling weeds and cleaning up tree limbs in preparation for her grandson's wedding, which will take place on her property. She decided to take the debris to a gully on her property.
"I hooked up the trailer to the side-by-side, and I went up to where I was going to dump this," Kirby recalled. "Well, when I got to the crest of that hill, the side-by-side wouldn't go over... When I let off the gas, it rolled backwards into the trailer, which jackknifed. So I got out, and I took out some stuff, thinking, 'Well, maybe it's too heavy.' Got back in, still couldn't quite make it over that crest."
When Kirby took her foot off the gas, the trailer jackknifed. She put on the emergency brake and tried to straighten the trailer.
"I was standing right behind the side-by-side, and I was pulling straight the trailer to straighten it out. And the side-by-side started running backwards over me. So, I started running backwards, and then I turned to run, and that's when I fell," Kirby explained. "Miracle number one, the trailer jackknifed again, and the side-by-side did not run over the top of me, but when I fell, I knew I broke my femur. I could feel it."
Kirby screamed so loudly she assumed people in McCoy would have heard her.
"After I got done screaming, I was laying on my backside, and I thought, 'Well, I can't lay here.' And you're really not supposed to move a [broken] femur, because you could sever your femoral artery," Kirby said, utilizing her medical knowledge. "I just started pulling myself. In my mind, I was going to get home, I was going to drag myself in my basement and call 911, because I have a phone down there."
She pulled herself, inch by inch, in the direction of her home. Night fell, and new fears entered Kirby's mind.
"My older son, Rick, had been getting onto me about walking my dog in the dark because we have a mountain lion that's back up here behind the house," Kirby said. "I was like, 'Lord, I need your help.' So I started saying the 23rd Psalm: 'Though I walk through the valley shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.' And then I said, 'Lord, please cover me with your angels. Please cover me and give me your protection. Give me my angels to help me get out of this.'"
It's difficult for Kirby to truly explain what happened next, but she said a strong sense of peace washed over her. Then, it started raining.
"I get really cold. I just really start shaking hard. And it was like, 'Am I in hypothermia? Am I going into shock? Because you can lose a lot of blood into that space. Or am I just in pain?' I'm like, 'Well, I'm probably all three,'" Kirby said. "I pulled my sweatshirt up over my head, and I started breathing into my sweatshirt, and it would warm me up."
She continued to crawl more like an inchworm and less like an army crawl, in her own words.
"I kept saying, 'You can do one more inch. Nope, do one more inch,'" Kirby recalled.
The sun rose, and Kirby began praying that her son would arrive earlier than usual to irrigate and feed the steers. Her son arrived roughly an hour earlier than he normally would.
"When I heard him, I knew he would think I was dead because I couldn't move at all anymore. So he drove up, and he got out of the pickup, and he was like, 'Mom?' and I'm like, 'I'm alive,'" Kirby said.
Kirby was so close to home that her beloved dog, Sadie, was whimpering from within her invisible fence on the property.
Her son called for an ambulance, and many of the people who responded knew Kirby personally.
"I had dirt in my nose, in my ears, on my teeth, in my hair, all down the front of me. My oldest son said, 'Mom, when they turned you over to put you in the ambulance, your belly was full of dirt and gravel, and you had a big old rock right in your belly button.' That's a visual you're going to live with for a while," Kirby said, laughing. "I wish somebody had taken a picture, actually, because I have no idea how bad I looked."
Kirby had surgery on her hip and top of the femur on the evening of June 9. She received rehabilitation for her leg at Castle Peak in Eagle. After three weeks, she was able to return home on July 3, just in time for her grandson's wedding.
"The doctor said, 'Well, you'll be at the wedding. You just won't be dancing.' I was like, 'Watch me,'" Kirby said with a smile. "I don't know if there's a stronger word than grateful or blessed... Everybody's like, why? How in the world did you survive that night? And I'm like, there's no doubt in my mind, that's because God was with me the whole time."
While Kirby was at the rehabilitation center, a patient she treated back in 1982 came to visit.
"Very rarely does a patient say thank you," Kirby said. "You know, so very rarely do you ever get to see, especially in the ER, those patients again. So, that's always to me I love that."
For Kirby, her story of surviving that awful night is indicative of the culture found in the McCoy community.
"I have a friend. She had a branch through her calf," Kirby remembered. "Said, I have a splinter in my leg, and the docs are going, 'You must be from McCoy...' Is it an easy life? No, it's not an easy life, but it's a rewarding life."
The State Department is set to dismiss more than 1,300 employees as part of the Trump administrations initiative to downsize the federal government, according to recent reports. This move is anticipated to impact a range of programs, including those aiding the relocation of Afghan refugees who were U.S. allies during the Afghanistan war.
The affected individuals include civil servants and foreign service officers. This reorganization, months in the making, became possible following a recent Supreme Court ruling that resolved legal hurdles surrounding the cuts.
Critics, including ex-diplomats, warn that these reductions could undermine Americas global standing. The decision comes shortly after the dismantling of USAID and will impact other State Department sectors, notably refugee resettlement efforts.
The Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, responsible for aiding tens of thousands of Afghan refugees allied with the U.S. military during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, is slated for elimination. Approximately 200,000 Afghan refugees arrived in the U.S. after American forces withdrew in 2021, while more than 200,000 others remain in limbo in other countries, awaiting U.S. resettlement.
Afghan Evac, a nonprofit addressing this issue, expressed concern over the ramifications of these cuts. Founder Shawn VanDiver described the move as "a great betrayal," emphasizing a loss of trust among wartime allies and veterans.
The State Department defends the layoffs, arguing they are necessary for increased operational efficiency.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated, "Certainly, the decision that the American people made last year that Donald Trump's vision about what the world should be, in the context of how America can be great again... it has to change."
In response, 10 Democratic senators from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressing their concerns and seeking answers regarding the layoffs. A protest, titled "Save U.S. Diplomacy," is scheduled for later today outside the State Department to voice objections to the cuts.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50% on Wednesday for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the U.S. leader's use of tariffs.
Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020.
This Trial should not be taking place, Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!
There is a sense of kinship as Trump was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The U.S. president addressed his tariff letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who bested Bolsonaro in 2022.
Bolsonaro testified before the countrys Supreme Court in June over the alleged plot to remain in power after his 2022 election loss. Judges will hear from 26 other defendants in coming months. A decision could come as early as September, legal analysts say. Bolsonaro has already been ruled ineligible until 2030 by the countrys electoral authorities.
Brazils vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, said he sees no reason for the U.S. to hike tariffs on the South American nation.
I think he has been misinformed," he said. President Lula was jailed for almost two years. No one questioned the judiciary. No one questioned what the country had done. This is a matter for our judiciary branch.
For Trump, the tariffs are personal
Trump also objected to Brazil's Supreme Court fining of social media companies, saying the temporary blocking last year amounted to SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders. Trump said he is launching an investigation as a result under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which applies to companies with trade practices that are deemed unfair to U.S. companies.
Among the companies the Supreme Court fined was X, which was not mentioned specifically in Trump's letter. X is owned by Elon Musk, Trump's multibillionaire backer in the 2024 election whose time leading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency recently ended and led to a public feud over the U.S. president's deficit-increasing budget plan. Trump also owns a social media company, Truth Social.
The Brazil letter was a reminder that politics and personal relations with Trump matter just as much as any economic fundamentals. And while Trump has said the high tariff rates hes setting are based on trade imbalances, it was unclear by his Wednesday actions how the countries being targeted would help to reindustrialize America.
The tariffs starting Aug. 1 would be a dramatic increase from the 10% rate that Trump levied on Brazil as part of his April 2 Liberation Day announcement. In addition to oil, Brazil sells orange juice, coffee, iron and steel to the U.S., among other products. The U.S. ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to the Census Bureau.
Trump initially announced his broad tariffs by declaring an economic emergency, arguing under a 1977 law that the U.S. was at risk because of persistent trade imbalances. But that rationale becomes problematic in this particular case, as Trump is linking his tariffs to the Bolsonaro trial and the U.S. exports more to Brazil than it imports.
Trump also sent letters Wednesday to the leaders of seven other nations. None of them the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka is a major industrial rival to the United States.
Most economic analyses say the tariffs will worsen inflationary pressures and subtract from economic growth, but Trump has used the taxes as a way to assert the diplomatic and financial power of the U.S. on both rivals and allies. His administration is promising that the taxes on imports will lower trade imbalances, offset some of the cost of the tax cuts he signed into law on Friday and cause factory jobs to return to the United States.
Trump, during a White House meeting with African leaders, talked up trade as a diplomatic tool. Trade, he said, seems to be a foundation for him to settle disputes between India and Pakistan, as well as Kosovo and Serbia.
You guys are going to fight, were not going to trade, Trump said. And we seem to be quite successful in doing that.
On Monday, Trump placed a 35% tariff on Serbia, one of the countries he was using as an example of how fostering trade can lead to peace.
Trump said the tariff rates in his letters were based on common sense and trade imbalances, even though the Brazil letter indicated otherwise. Trump suggested he had not thought of penalizing the countries whose leaders were meeting with him in the Oval Office Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau as these are friends of mine now.
Countries are not complaining about the rates outlined in his letters, he said, even though those tariffs have been generally close to the ones announced April 2 that rattled financial markets. The S&P 500 stock index rose Wednesday.
We really havent had too many complaints because Im keeping them at a very low number, very conservative as you would say, Trump said.
Tariff uncertainty returns with Trump's letters
Officials for the European Union, a major trade partner and source of Trump's ire on trade, said Tuesday that they are not expecting to receive a letter from Trump listing tariff rates. The Republican president started the process of announcing tariff rates on Monday by hitting two major U.S. trading partners, Japan and South Korea, with import taxes of 25%.
According to Trump's Wednesday letters, imports from Libya, Iraq, Algeria and Sri Lanka would be taxed at 30%, those from Moldova and Brunei at 25% and those from the Philippines at 20%. The tariffs would start Aug. 1.
The Census Bureau reported that last year that the U.S. ran a trade imbalance on goods of $1.4 billion with Algeria, $5.9 billion with Iraq, $900 million with Libya, $4.9 billion with the Philippines, $2.6 billion with Sri Lanka, $111 million with Brunei and $85 million with Moldova. The imbalance represents the difference between what the U.S. exported to those countries and what it imported.
Taken together, the trade imbalances with those seven countries are essentially a rounding error in a U.S. economy with a gross domestic product of $30 trillion.
The letters were posted on Truth Social after the expiration of a 90-day negotiating period with a baseline levy of 10%. Trump is giving countries more time to negotiate with his Aug. 1 deadline, but he has insisted there will be no extensions for the countries that receive letters.
The tariff letters are worded aggressively in Trump's style of writing. He frames the tariffs as an invitation to "participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States," adding that the trade imbalances are a major threat to America's economy and national security.
The president threatened additional tariffs on any country that attempts to retaliate. He said he chose to send the letters because it was too complicated for U.S. officials to negotiate with their counterparts in the countries with new tariffs. It can take years to broker trade accords.
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