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  • Trump expands a voluntary pledge to protect consumers from high utility bills from AI data centers

    Trump expands a voluntary pledge to protect consumers from high utility bills from AI data centers

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday had governors and electricity companies join a voluntary pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills from data centers — a sign of how the artificial intelligence build-out has become a lightning rod of controversy before the midterm elections.

    The president first announced the pledge with leading AI and tech companies in March, but that initial commitment has done little to comfort voters who are already grappling with affordability issues as they worry about competing for electricity, water, and land with tech companies controlled by billionaires. It’s unclear, with electricity demand already growing, whether consumers would see genuine savings.

    Trump is doubling down on the pledge at a time when the broader social contract is being rewritten by AI, a technology that is evolving so quickly in its capabilities that governments are struggling over how to provide oversight.

    The president, in remarks about the pledge at the Environmental Protection Agency, called on the gathered executives and governors to sell the public on data centers, stressing that the cities and towns that do have them will be “rich.”

    “You have to convince your community,” Trump said. “You can’t fight it. You have to go with it.”

    The president added: “If you don’t take all that money, somebody else is going to take it. You might as well do it yourselves.”

    Concerns about data centers cross party lines

    The president promised that electricity prices would drop because of the nonbinding pledge, saying there would be a surplus of power. It’s not clear that data centers generating their own electricity will be sufficient to overcome the rising demand for electricity, but that did not deter Trump from saying that utility bills — a major concern for voters — will be lower.

    “Electricity bills for American families will actually come down,” Trump said. “They’re going to have a lot of electricity left over, and they’ll put that into the grid.”

    The White House said Thursday the pledge has been signed by 23 governors and at least 187 companies, including 55 utilities and 27 data center developers. Signers include some of the nation’s biggest utilities such as NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Southern Co., and Pacific Gas & Electric.

    Data center developers that have signed the pledge include Equinix, Digital Realty, and Prologis.

    A slowdown in data center construction could derail what has been one of the dominant drivers of U.S. economic growth, in addition to possibly ceding the U.S. edge in cultivating the technology to China and create national security risks.

    But AI’s increasing ability to perform basic tasks — such as driving, analyzing spreadsheets, and writing software — also potentially threatens millions of jobs. That has created mounting public resistance as tech companies concentrate historic levels of wealth in the hands of a select group of tycoons.

    The increased electricity demand could cause monthly utility bills to rise by 15% to 40% by 2030, according to a recent analysis by ICF, a consulting and technology services company.

    Opposition to data centers has spiraled into a bipartisan issue. Voters are worried about the environmental impact, use of AI in schools, and the prospect of data centers making their communities more expensive and less livable. Data center companies say their facilities help to generate tax revenues for school districts and reduce property tax burdens for homeowners.

    The opposition has spread into the Republican stronghold of rural Texas and led to frustration with Gov. Greg Abbott, who is now among the 23 Republican governors who signed Trump’s nonbinding pledge.

    Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, has been using the issue to challenge Abbott before the November election.

    “They are owned by the richest men in the world,” she said of data centers. “We’re all footing the bill. There are no rules. It is the Wild West of data centers.”

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed an order to ban construction of large server warehouses in her state for a year. In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a law that he said would prevent utilities from passing along energy costs from data centers to residential and small-business customers.

    Already, dozens of state legislatures or utility commissions have moved to put in place requirements that data centers pay the cost of their electricity, including new power plants or transmission system upgrades. But it’s not

    Tech companies are pushing growth of data centers

    In California, however, the industry opposes legislation designed to protect consumers from electricity price increases attributable to data centers, said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney for the Utility Reform Network.

    “It is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that the same tech companies signing the Ratepayer Protection Pledge are simultaneously opposing efforts at the state level to force them to deliver on their promises,” Freedman said.

    In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose computer chips are enabling the AI revolution, said America’s weakness is a lack of power generation for further developing the technology.

    Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI, and Amazon are among the companies that have already committed to the Trump administration’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” that consumers will not shoulder the cost of the data center build-out.

    Despite the pledge, there are challenges on addressing issues with electricity prices.

    The White House has complained that PJM Interconnection, which oversees electric power in 13 states from Virginia to Illinois, can’t ensure adequate electricity supplies at reasonable prices in the AI-driven boom.

    White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Thursday that PJM — the nation’s largest grid operator — has failed to implement a bipartisan statement of principles signed by the Trump administration and all 13 governors in the region.

    “The Trump administration strongly advises PJM and its member companies to proactively reform its stakeholder process, reform its board governance, and implement the Statement of Principles before it is too late,” Rogers said.

    There are efforts to formalize Trump’s pledge as law, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee approving a bipartisan bill. The bill would require data centers to bear the costs of grid upgrades.

  • House again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran as some Republicans defect

    House again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran as some Republicans defect

    WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Donald Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain.

    The 214-208 vote requiring congressional approval for the war comes as the Senate is expected to consider a similar resolution later Thursday morning. Though the votes forced by Democrats are largely symbolic, they are meant as a strong signal to the Republican president that his support on Capitol Hill is chipping away as the war drags on and lawmakers in both parties have questioned his administration’s endgame.

    The war has had “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal,” said Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who led the resolution on the House floor.

    The resolution narrowly passed after four Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted with Democrats to end the war. But the vast majority of Republicans voted to back the war and cede congressional war powers to Trump.

    Trump has insisted that continued U.S. attacks against Iran do not mean a return to war or long-term action. After the first House vote to halt the war in early June, he posted on social media that it was “unpatriotic” and “meaningless.”

    Continued American airstrikes are occurring even as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed. The unpopular war threatens further worldwide economic disruption and is sending fuel prices up ahead of midterm U.S. elections this fall.

    Most Republicans vote to cede congressional powers

    As the House debated the resolution Wednesday evening, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) read out names of 18 service members killed since the war began.

    “To belittle this mission is to belittle and demean the very service these members gave their life for,” Mast said. “Their sacrifice was not meaningless. This operation is bringing reckoning for the hundreds of times Iran has attacked and killed people of the United States of America.”

    The top Democrat on the panel, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, said that presidents are supposed to make the case to Congress.

    The service members who died made the ultimate sacrifice for “an illegal unauthorized war that the American people don’t want,” Meeks said.

    As both chambers vote on whether to weigh in, the U.S. has carried out waves of airstrikes in recent days as the two countries clash over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas prices have spiked again, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators at a hearing Tuesday that the U.S. had spent $37.5 billion on the war so far. On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival and dignified transfer of the remains of four U.S. service members.

    “I do think the combination of the hearings, plus the fact that we are in this new escalatory phase where Americans have been killed, and Americans are experiencing the rising costs — I think it’s important that people be held accountable,” said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who is leading the Senate effort on Thursday. “And this is a very unpopular war.”

    Trump is watching Iran votes closely

    Republicans on both sides of the Capitol know that voting against the war can have a political cost, even as many of them have privately questioned the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict.

    In his post after the June House vote, Trump called the four Republicans who voted with Democrats “GRANDSTANDERS!” and said they should be “ashamed of themselves.”

    “They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories,” he said.

    When the Senate passed a war powers resolution on Iran for the first time in June, the president attended a GOP Senate luncheon the next day and called the Republicans who voted for it “losers.”

    Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who lost his Senate seat in a primary after Trump endorsed one of his opponents, told Trump directly that he needed to give more details to the public about the conflict. “This was supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months,” Cassidy said. “Our original objectives have not been achieved.”

    Trump argued back, Cassidy later told reporters, and he told the president that he wouldn’t change his vote until he got a briefing. The White House later relented, giving Cassidy a one-on-one meeting, and the Louisiana Republican changed his vote in a late-night do-over vote before the Senate left for a two-week recess.

    Cassidy wouldn’t say Wednesday whether recent developments would change his vote.

    Polling find Americans disapprove of the war

    Most Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the situation with Iran, according to recent polling. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted in July found that few Americans think the war in Iran has been worth fighting, and most aren’t confident that the U.S. military action in Iran and negotiations to end the war will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

    Only about two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the situation in Iran, according to the poll. Most Republicans, about 6 in 10, think the war has been worth fighting and are confident that the military action and ensuing negotiations will prevent Iran from development nuclear weapons, but a sizable share — about one-third — are unconvinced.

  • House votes for Department of War renaming as part of an annual defense bill

    House votes for Department of War renaming as part of an annual defense bill

    WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a defense policy bill that incorporates President Donald Trump’s request for a historic $1.15 trillion in spending for national security and that would designate the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

    It also would provide for a pay raise next year ranging from 5% to 7% for service members, depending upon their rank.

    The National Defense Authorization Act is generally one of the more bipartisan bills that Congress takes up on an annual basis. That’s not the case this year. The vote was 216-212.

    Democrats took issue with steep spending increases for the Pentagon as Republicans attempted to cut numerous non-defense programs through other bills. They also opposed some of the conservative social policy riders that were included.

    For example, the bill includes a prohibition on gender-related medical care under the military health program known as TRICARE. It also eases hurdles for service members to carry a privately owned firearm on base, following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s lead on the issue.

    Republican leaders’ decision to attach Trump’s elections overhaul bill to the defense bill upon its passing also amplified the partisan divide. Speaker Mike Johnson is working to accommodate Republican lawmakers who are angry that the Senate won’t pass the SAVE America Act and are insisting that it be included in must-pass bills until the Senate relents.

    The House bill is testing a normally bipartisan process

    Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he knows there were areas of disagreement, but he emphasized that Wednesday’s vote was a step in a long process. He promised to work in a bipartisan manner on a final product that can pass both chambers and be signed into law.

    Rogers said the United States needs to reverse decades of underinvestment and neglect in the nation’s armed forces and defense industrial base.

    “This bill will do that and much more,” he said. “It will build the ready, capable and lethal fighting force we need to deter China and other adversaries.”

    Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democratic lawmaker on the Armed Services Committee, said the defense spending the administration has asked for this year is approaching $1.6 trillion when including separate efforts to pay for the war in Iran and boost weapons stockpiles.

    “The American people are struggling to pay their bills and we’re going to put $1.6 trillion into the defense budget. It’s not a reasonable thing to ask,” Smith said.

    Smith also expressed concern about the war with Iran and that in supporting the defense bill, lawmakers are “de facto supporting this war with no end in sight.”

    “We are in an incredibly, incredibly dangerous time,” Smith said. “I want to maintain the bipartisan nature of this bill. I do. And I know that the chairman does. But if we’re going to do this, we’re going to need some Republicans to stand up to the president of the United States and say, ‘No. No, we’re not going to get you $1.6 trillion. No, we’re not just going to give you a blank check for a war that is totally out of control.”

    The White House backs parts of the legislation

    The spending increases authorized in the bill would not take effect until Congress follows up with a separate defense appropriations bill. The Senate has not yet approved its version of the defense measure. It’s possible a final product won’t be ready until after the midterm elections.

    The White House applauded the spending levels authorized in the House bill and the Department of War designation that it says recognizes the “willingness to fight and win wars on behalf of our nation.”

    The president issued an executive order last year renaming the Defense Department, but it’s up to Congress to make the change official. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the renaming could cost taxpayers as much as $125 million.

    The White House’s statement also said that the administration has a number of concerns with certain provisions in the bill and would work with Congress before a final bill is presented to the president. Among those concerns was a section of the bill it said would limit or undermine the president’s ability to name military installations and property.

    In 2023, during a national reckoning on issues of race in America, seven Army bases’ names were changed because they honored Confederate leaders. Last year, those bases reverted to their original names, but with different namesakes who share Confederate surnames. The Army found other service members with the same last names to honor.

  • As the president touts Trump Accounts, some families are still waiting for baby’s $1,000

    As the president touts Trump Accounts, some families are still waiting for baby’s $1,000

    WASHINGTON — At a rally Wednesday, President Donald Trump touted the $1,000 babies can receive when their parents open Trump Accounts in their names, seed money that Trump says will help give them “a really fair shot at the American dream.”

    “Think of that. The government is finally giving money back to our children,” Trump said to the crowd gathered at a Georgia high school

    Some parents who opened accounts earlier this month for their babies say they’re still waiting for their money. The accounts went live July 4, two days before Trump rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office.

    The tax-advantaged accounts can be opened for any child under the age of 18, and more than 7 million accounts are already active, Trump said Wednesday. Babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, get $1,000 in seed money from the U.S. Treasury. Most of those families receive their $1,000 in one or two days, the Treasury Department said.

    After the Trump Accounts are set up, parents, relatives, friends and employers can contribute to them. Some billionaires have also pledged philanthropic contributions to the accounts. The money is turned over to private firms that invest it in index funds, a type of mutual fund that tracks the performance of the stock market. The money can’t be accessed until the child turns 18, and only then for specific purposes, such as going to school, opening a business or buying a home.

    At the rally Wednesday, Rick Jackson, Georgia’s GOP nominee for governor, said he would push for state lawmakers to match the $1,000 in seed money from the federal government. Jackson, a wealthy businessman and CEO of a healthcare company, said he believes Georgia lawmakers will support that, but “if they don’t, I will personally donate it myself.”

    Boosters of the program say it’s a chance to give more Americans a stake in the stock market. They hope it will stem the rising popularity of democratic socialists, who seek to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy people to ease the cost of things like food and healthcare for low-income and middle-class Americans.

    Some parents were told it could take 4 weeks for the deposit

    For babies born since Trump took office last year, $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury is supposed to kick off the accounts. While some parents report receiving the money, others said in interviews and on social media they’re still waiting for their $1,000.

    Masaki and Kristina McLellan, new parents from Bergen County, N.J., said in an interview they were wary of signing up for the accounts because they worried it was a promotional stunt for the president. But the $1,000 incentive persuaded the couple, whose daughter Maya was born in late March, to start an account anyway.

    Masaki McLellan said he applied for the account July 6. At first, the application was rejected, but the account was activated after he called the Trump Account hotline. He was told he’d see the money in the account in 10 days. Now, he says, he’s been told it will take up to four weeks.

    Kristina McLellan said she was disappointed it was taking so long to fund her daughter’s account. But the infant has multiple other investments already compounding for her. Maya’s parents have already started a 529 college savings plan and a custodial brokerage account for her. The Trump Account is the third investment account in the little girl’s name.

    “We definitely want to give her options for her future and make sure she can choose what she wants to do,” said McLellan, a studio director for a local news station, who returns from maternity leave next week.

    The Treasury Department emphasized the McLellans’ case is unusual and said only a sliver of those who apply need customer support.

    Treasury says most parents wait only 1 or 2 days

    The Treasury Department said that the lag between opening an account and receiving the seed funding constitutes “standard processing time, like receiving a tax refund,” and that the overwhelming majority of parents are waiting only one to two days. But the department likes to give parents a conservative estimate for how long it might take for the money to be transferred, such as the estimate of up to four weeks given to the McLellans.

    “Trump Accounts level the playing field by allowing every parent to invest in their children’s future, not just wealthy families with trust funds,” the department said.

    The government also unveiled an initiative last month that permits child welfare agencies to open accounts on behalf of foster youth.

    “With roughly 1 million sign-ups per month before launch, Trump Accounts have become the most popular and successful government-backed savings product in U.S. history,” the Treasury Department said.

    On Wednesday, Trump called the accounts “the most consequential” part of his signature tax and spending cuts bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill.

    Trump faces pressure over his handling of the economy

    Trump’s stop in Georgia comes as he and fellow Republicans face pressure in the midterm elections for their handling of the economy. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, among the lower ratings of his second term, according to a June survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Trump pledged to lower costs, but his tariffs and the war in Iran have instead helped to increase prices.

    Trump Accounts are similar to baby bonds, championed by Democratic-led cities and states meant to shrink the wealth gap between low- and high-income children. But unlike most baby bonds, which generally target kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, Trump Accounts are available to families of all incomes.

    The program has faced criticism from those who say it does nothing to help families in a child’s first years of life, when children are most likely to experience poverty, homelessness, and hunger. And the Republican bill that created the program also slashed funding for programs that are disproportionately used by children, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

  • House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities

    House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities

    WASHINGTON — The House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections.

    House Republicans were divided over the plan, with conservatives wary because there are no offsetting budget cuts. But Speaker Mike Johnson plunged ahead, viewing the go-it-alone process as the best chance to usher President Donald Trump’s priorities through the split Congress, despite skepticism in the Senate.

    The vote tally was 216-214, with two Republicans and one independent joining Democrats in opposition.

    “Just bullets and bombs to finish the job,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington (R., Texas), the chairman of the Budget Committee.

    Democrats argued the money should be spent at home, particularly on efforts to lower costs for Americans.

    “Republicans plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on Trump’s failed war in Iran,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, this week. “Think about what we could spend with these resources instead.”

    Congress is at a standstill over the U.S. war against Iran — unable to stop Trump’s military strikes, but not having authorized the use of American military force — and politically torn over having to provide billions of taxpayer dollars to pay for it. Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s Iran strategy, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.

    The budget battle comes as Trump attended the dignified transfer of four service members killed in the Middle East, bringing the military death toll to 18. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators at a fiery hearing this week that the Pentagon is running short of cash, despite a massive $150 billion one-time allotment in last year’s big budget bill.

    Even as the House action advanced the resolution, Johnson’s strategy faces uncertainty in the Senate.

    The package has $60 billion for the Pentagon and $13 billion for other national security needs, $12 billion for farmers struggling under Trump’s tariffs, and $10 billion for voting law changes aligned with the SAVE America Act and proof-of-citizenship requirements that are Trump’s top priority.

    A once rare budget tool is now the norm in split Congress

    Republicans are relying on the budget reconciliation process, which enables approval on a majority vote in Congress, bypassing the Senate’s ability to filibuster the measure t o stall or kill it.

    Once rare, the reconciliation process is now Johnson’s preferred strategy for pushing proposals through Congress. It’s the way Republicans approved Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill last summer and funded Homeland Security this year over Democrats’ refusal to fund Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

    “No matter how you feel about current events, these funds are necessary to ensure our fighting forces remain ready, our troops are paid and our nation is safe,” said Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

    But House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Republicans have literally ripped food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans to sustain the Trump war machine.”

    Among those opposed was Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, a former Republican turned independent, who said he felt any war funding bill should be bipartisan. He also wanted to ensure Congress had a “much higher level of involvement” in bringing the war to an end, and he said this proposal did not set that process in motion.

    Republicans Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio also voted against.

    This is the third time GOP leaders have relied on reconciliation, dubbing this version 3.0, and it’s a lengthy process. If the House approves the budget resolution, it next goes to the Senate for a round-the-clock session to consider politically tough amendments — something senators would rather avoid in an election year.

    The budget resolution sets out instructions for the various committees to draft legislation, which Johnson hopes could be done this summer, with final voting on the package once lawmakers return after the August recess.

    Senators pan House’s budget and have their own ideas

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been noncommittal on the House package that also divides his own GOP majority, with some Republican senators preferring more money for the military and others demanding the costs be offset with cuts elsewhere.

    “We’ll see,” Thune said this week.

    Thune’s focus, at the moment, is avoiding another government shutdown. He wants the Senate to approve a stopgap funding measure, called a continuing resolution, to provide routine government funding before lawmakers leave for the summer break.

    If senators are unable to reach agreement on government funding, Thune has said he may hold onto the House’s budget resolution and use it later in the fall as a way to push the resolution through the Senate over objections. He wants to prevent a federal shutdown when current funds expire, Sept. 30.

    “It’s a possibility that, if necessary, we could pull that budget resolution passed by the House and use it to fund government,” Thune said. “I hope that’s not necessary.”

    Thune has also clashed with Trump over the president’s push for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voting. The measure, while popular among Trump’s most ardent supporters, does not have enough support among Senate Republicans for passage.

    It’s already against the law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and experts warn the proposed new rules could make it more difficult for eligible Americans to cast ballots.

  • Tropical Storm Bertha makes landfall on southern Louisiana with threatening winds

    Tropical Storm Bertha makes landfall on southern Louisiana with threatening winds

    Tropical Storm Bertha crawled into southern Louisiana on Wednesday, making landfall and packing strong winds far from its center after closing beaches from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi.

    The National Hurricane Center said Bertha made landfall in the afternoon in St. Bernard Parish, about 40 miles east of New Orleans. At landfall, the storm’s maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph.

    The wind and storm surge were the main threats for the Deep South states. Parks and piers were closed up and down the coast, as were some low-lying roads. A tropical storm warning stretched from Alabama to Louisiana, including New Orleans where extreme heat was adding to misery.

    Tropical storm force winds were felt as much as 160 miles from the center of the storm, the National Hurricane Center said. A wind gust of 44 mph was recorded at New Orleans Lakefront Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

    But the heaviest rains were staying offshore, reducing the risks of flooding, the center said.

    The storm will weaken now that it’s reached land and is unlikely to leave behind widespread damage, Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes said. The impact should be manageable for coastal communities, he said.

    Gov. Jeff Landry called the forecast “encouraging” but also warned residents to be prepared for some flooding.

    Storm surges up to 3 feet were possible in Louisiana and Alabama, forecasters said. Rain totals were forecast between 1 and 4 inches, with higher amounts possible in isolated areas.

    Bertha is expected to maintain tropical storm intensity until it reaches the Texas coast on Thursday, the hurricane center said.

    Tornado confirmed in Cape May County as storms swept through New Jersey

    Elsewhere in the U.S., a line of storms on Tuesday generated reports of tornadoes stretching from Cincinnati to New Jersey. Torrential rains caused flash floods that swamped homes, washed out bridges and led to water rescues in West Virginia, authorities said.

    Rare combination of tropical storm and heat warnings

    Southern Louisiana was under tropical storm and extreme heat warnings for much of Wednesday — a rare double dose of suffering, the National Weather Service said.

    It was the first time in at least two decades that’s happened in the area, the weather service said, citing records that date back to 2005.

    Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic season

    Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.

    Bertha could dump heavy rain on coastal areas of Mississippi that are still recovering from flooding brought by Arthur that destroyed and damaged homes.

    Hurricane Fausto in the Pacific is far from land

    In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Wednesday. The hurricane was hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

    It was forecast to gradually strengthen and the hurricane center said that ocean swells generated by Fausto were spreading along the Baja California coast and likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip tides.

  • Trump pays respects to 4 U.S. service members killed in the Middle East

    Trump pays respects to 4 U.S. service members killed in the Middle East

    DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — President Donald Trump on Wednesday honored the lives of four U.S. service members who were killed in the Middle East and returned to their families at an air force base in Delaware.

    The president saluted as four transfer cases carrying the service members’ remains were escorted off an airplane during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base. The ritual is one of the most somber duties of a commander in chief. It was the third that Trump has attended since he launched the war in Iran in February.

    Speaking at an event in Georgia hours later, Trump described the ritual as “the toughest thing I do.”

    “I’ve been there many times before,” he said of Dover. “This was, in particular, something very sad.”

    Earlier in the day, Trump said his message to families was simple: “We love you. We love your child,” Trump told reporters.

    Trump was accompanied at the dignified transfer by administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also present were Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.).

    During the ritual, transfer cases draped with the American flag and holding the remains of the fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to awaiting vehicles to take them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the service members are prepared for their final resting place.

    Fallen troops came from Hawaii, Texas, New York, and North Carolina

    Two U.S. Army soldiers killed in Iranian missile and drone attacks in Jordan were returned during the dignified transfer. The remains of a third service member who is believed to be the soldier missing after the Jordan attacks were also returned, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in Iraq during a detonation of an Iranian drone.

    The soldiers killed in Jordan were identified by the Defense Department as Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. The soldier who disappeared after the Jordan attacks is Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, N.Y., the Defense Department said.

    The soldier killed in Iraq was identified as Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, who lived in Spring Lake, N.C.

    Trump said Feehan’s family accepted an invitation to join him on Air Force One on Wednesday as he traveled to an event in Georgia, where the family lives. Speaking at the event in Marietta, Trump described Feehan as a “flawless” person who was “going all the way — he was going to be a general.”

    “We will carry Tyler’s memory in our hearts forever, and I just want to thank you,” he told Feehan’s parents during his remarks. “It’s an honor to have you here today.”

    Trump previously said the soldiers died while protecting America and other nations from Iran.

    “We feel very badly, but you know, those great people, those great patriots were out there fighting so that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. He added that the U.S. was striking Iran “in honor” of the fallen troops.

    Trump vows to retaliate for each U.S. death

    The U.S. has launched multiple retaliatory strikes against Iran as an interim agreement to end the war falls apart. Trump on Monday said that every time Iran kills an American soldier, “they will pay for that killing many times over!”

    Since the war began on Feb. 28, 18 U.S. service members have been killed.

    Trump on Tuesday said that while almost all the incoming fire in Jordan was stopped, some made it through.

    “They did slip something through in Jordan,” he said. “If we had other operators, you know, it would have not happened, unfortunately.” He added that “we let other people do the job — and sometimes it doesn’t work out so well.”

    Trump did not elaborate on his comments, and it was not immediately clear who he was saying was responsible for protecting U.S. forces in Jordan.

    Trump attended two previous dignified transfers since the outset of the war, most recently in March.

    Soldier had planned to marry fiancée and attend law school

    Feehan, a first lieutenant who was killed Saturday, will be posthumously promoted to the rank of captain and awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. He was assigned out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

    Feehan’s family said in a statement that their hearts were shattered by his loss. They remembered Feehan, who went by “Tivo,” as someone who “packed in more living” in his 25 years than most do in a lifetime.

    “He chased adventure relentlessly,” the statement said. “He believed deeply in the power of military service, especially what it builds in a person: discipline, leadership, character.”

    He planned to marry his fiancée and attend law school after his deployment. The family said they’re starting a scholarship in his name.

    Gonzales, who was killed Friday, was a private with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany. She graduated last year from Hebron High School in Carrollton, near Dallas, school officials said.

    Rampersad, a sergeant who was believed to have been killed in Friday’s attacks, was assigned to the 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany.

    In a brief statement, Rampersad’s family called her a “gentle giant” who “stood up for those who couldn’t fight for themselves.”

    “She loved her family fiercely and will live on in the hearts of everyone she touched,” the statement said.

    Deonne Jinkins, 22, a friend, said Rampersad “loved deeply, cared genuinely, and always made people feel seen and important.”

    Swinton, a sergeant who was killed Sunday, will receive a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and will be promoted to staff sergeant. He enlisted in the Army in 2017 and was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

  • June 1 trial date set for Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in his U.S. drug trafficking case

    June 1 trial date set for Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in his U.S. drug trafficking case

    NEW YORK — Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife will go on trial on drug trafficking charges next June, a judge said Wednesday, as their lawyers continue to object to the U.S. military action that snatched them from power.

    Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the June 1 trial date at the request of lawyers on both sides. Under the approved schedule, defense lawyers will begin filing requests in early September to challenge the indictment and the couple will return to the courtroom Nov. 17 for oral arguments on the motions.

    Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January.

    Neither spoke during Wednesday’s 15-minute hearing as each sat separately at a defense table, surrounded by their lawyers. Both have pleaded not guilty. They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.

    As he was led into the courtroom, the bespectacled Maduro greeted the judge’s staff and shook hands with lawyers for him and his wife. Noticeably thinner in a tan jail suit and with his thick mustache, he seemed upbeat, smiling and chatting with his lawyer. He listened to a Spanish interpretation of the proceeding through headphones and clasped his hands in front of him in a prayerlike gesture. He had a black pen wedged in his right fingers and sporadically jotted notes on a white pad.

    As deputy U.S. marshals led him out, he waved to someone in the gallery.

    President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation” in a criminal case first brought six years ago. Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.

    U.S. prosecutors say Maduro carried out a conspiracy to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to help drug kingpins.

    “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country,” he said in Spanish at his arraignment in January.

    Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, has said he expects to contest the legality of Maduro’s “military abduction.”

    During Wednesday’s hearing, Pollack said he will first challenge the indictment on sovereign immunity grounds because if that is successful, Maduro won’t have to continue litigating the case.

    The lawyers have said there are complex legal defenses that the court must address before a trial can begin.

    Maduro and Flores have not asked to be released on bail.

  • France recorded 5,700 more deaths than usual during its historic June heat wave

    France recorded 5,700 more deaths than usual during its historic June heat wave

    PARIS — France recorded at least 5,700 more deaths than usual during a historic heat wave last month, the public health agency said Wednesday, sharply increasing its estimates of the feared toll from record-shattering temperatures.

    Public Health France said regions hit by the heat from June 17 to July 2 recorded 21,674 deaths from all causes. But without a heat wave, those same regions would have been expected to have seen far fewer deaths, or 15,910, based on statistical modeling using data from previous years, it said.

    The difference between expected and actual deaths — a total of 5,764 — are therefore considered to be “excess” deaths during the heat wave, the agency said.

    It said the excess mortality, with 36% more deaths that would normally have been expected, was the highest from any heat wave since 2003. A historic heat wave that year caused an estimated 15,000 deaths in France.

    France registered its hottest-ever days on June 24 and June 25 this year — with a national average of 86 degrees — as well as record heat at night and peak temperatures that soared well above 104 in many places.

    Just over half of the unexpected deaths occurred during and in the immediate wake of that hottest period, over three days from June 25 to June 27, the public health agency said.

    “This unprecedented episode, characterized by its early onset, intensity, and duration, exposed nearly the entire population to extreme heat during a period when school and work activities were still in full swing,” the agency noted.

    All told, across Europe, extreme temperatures that hit exceptionally early and hard this year saw well over 10,000 more deaths at the height of the heat wave than would normally have been expected, according to figures that are still emerging across the continent.

    In France, the Paris region appears to have been hardest hit, recording 1,999 unexpected deaths — around 80% more than would otherwise have been anticipated without a heat wave, the French health agency said.

    Funeral service directors in Paris said they struggled to find places to store bodies before burial or cremation, with some mortuaries saying they were full and having to turn bodies away.

    Nearly half of the more than 21,600 people who died passed away in hospitals, which wrestled with surges of patients suffering from heat-related ailments. About a third died at home and the rest were mostly deaths in care homes for older people, the agency said.

    The latest estimated death toll, which the agency said will be updated later in the year with more complete data, was sharply higher than initial figures it had given. It had previously reported around 2,000 additional deaths from all causes for the week of June 22 to June 28, the peak in France of the heat wave that also broke temperature records in many other parts of Europe.

    Experts caution that it takes awhile for a full picture to emerge, and that many heat-related deaths will never formally be recorded as such. For example, a heart attack, which can be triggered by extreme heat exposure, especially in people who are older or have underlying health issues, may be listed on a death certificate simply as a heart attack.

  • The men behind Trump’s $3.47 gas: An NFL coach, a GOP fundraiser and two New Jersey brothers

    The men behind Trump’s $3.47 gas: An NFL coach, a GOP fundraiser and two New Jersey brothers

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his White House have enthusiastically promoted the Freedom Fuel Network, a chain of star-spangled convenience stores selling gas at $3.47 per gallon in honor of the 47th president.

    Untangling exactly who is behind the Philadelphia-area venture has proven difficult. Records indicate the chain, which was launched last month, is run by a disparate collection of businessmen that includes an NFL kicking coach, a GOP fundraiser and a New Jersey entrepreneur who this year was ordered, along with his brother, to pay civil damages for unlawfully taking more than 200,000 gallons of fuel.

    At Trump-promoted Freedom Fuel gas stations, prices are up and questions linger

    How the stations got Trump’s attention remains a mystery, and the four businessmen declined to — or could not be reached for — comment.

    What is clear: Trump loved the idea of cheaper gas. The president celebrated the network’s gas prices just before the busy July 4th travel period as consumers were grappling with higher oil prices sparked by the war with Iran.

    “I am pleased to announce that a VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast, is stepping up,” Trump wrote about the company on his Truth Social platform on July 1. “America has never been stronger than it is now, and Gas Prices will soon be back to the Record Low Prices Americans enjoyed at the pump before our very successful ‘excursion’ in Iran.”

    The White House followed up with a post on X a few days later that heralded the opening of the first Freedom Fuel station and produced a video showing patrons waving wads of cash and thanking Trump for reducing the prices outside a store festooned with American flags and a golden eagle logo.

    That station, located in Dresher, Pennsylvania, is owned by a subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital, an investment firm, records show. Trump has owned up to $25 million worth of Blue Owl stock, though his most recent financial disclosure says he has sold almost all of that stake.

    The White House denied Trump had any personal connection to the venture, but declined to say how the project was developed. It acknowledged having discussions with individuals who set up the network of gas stations.

    “The Administration is not involved in the company, nor has the Administration given the company any funding. There is no other entity or person subsidizing the lower gasoline costs,” the White House wrote in a statement.

    Blue Owl owns about a third of the Freedom Fuel properties, though the company said it leases the stores to independent contractors and “is not involved in the tenant’s operations or business decisions.”

    Fourteen stations in the 25-location network are controlled by companies linked to Shamikh and Syed Kazmi, two brothers who have been dogged by a string of civil misconduct accusations, including fraud, records show.

    Shamikh Kazmi is leasing eight of those stations from Blue Owl, according to state records and people familiar with the businesses who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The Associated Press was able to link the brothers to six other Freedom Network locations through records that show they listed those stations’ addresses as headquarters for other ventures or supplied those locations with fuel.

    A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the project, said that no one at the White House who was in conversations with Freedom Fuel Network had specifically spoken or worked with Syed Kazmi, a claim that indicates discussions occurred with the other brother, Shamikh.

    The Kazmis have marketed themselves as “top tier” petroleum distributors and gas station operators, with over 75 years of experience and a deep well of corporate affiliations, according to an archived version of the website for one of their companies.

    Public records offer a more nuanced portrait, showing the Kazmis have been repeatedly sued by companies they had dealings with.

    The brothers have legal issues

    Legal filings detail a series of judgments against the Kazmis, who failed to comply with a court order and have been accused of obscuring their finances and dodging service processors as a growing list of former suppliers and franchisors sought payment.

    In February, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered the Kazmis to pay over $600,000 to a fuel supplier that accused the brothers of stealing gas. The supplier alleged in court filings that it cut the brothers off after they refused to sign a new contract. But the Kazmis exploited a security lapse and gained access to the supplier’s fuel depot. Over a ten-day period in August 2021, tanker trucks absconded with more than 230,000 gallons of fuel, according to the supplier’s court filings. A judge ruled in the supplier’s favor, finding the brothers unlawfully took the gas.

    The fuel supplier says it has yet to receive payment.

    Syed Kazmi was hit with a $380,000 judgment two years ago in a suit brought by 7-Eleven, the convenience chain, which accused him of “dishonest, unethical, immoral” conduct while operating a franchise in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, that was flagged for unsanitary conditions that included trash issues and a rodent infestation. The company also said “tens of thousands of dollars” of cigarettes ordered from 7-Eleven on credit had gone missing.

    A federal judge held a company operated by Shamikh Kazmi in contempt in 2022 in a trademark case brought by BP America.

    Though BP had severed ties with Kazmi’s Diwan Petrol two years prior to the legal action, the corporation’s signage had not been removed from the gas station despite a court order to do so. The judge authorized U.S. Marshals to accompany BP workers to remove it.

    A man who answered a call to a number listed for the Kazmi brothers said he was not the right person to talk to and instead directed inquiries to the Freedom Fuel Network’s website. But that website has no contact information, phone number or mailing address. A request for comment submitted through an online contact form was not answered.

    Company formed in a state known for opacity

    Records from Delaware, a state known for offering incorporators a large degree of opacity, show the Freedom Fuel Network was registered on June 23. The document forming the company was signed by Randy Brown and Yoni Gontownik.

    Politico and the website The Newsground reported that Brown is a senior special teams coach with the Baltimore Ravens. He has also served as the elected mayor of Evesham Township, a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia, where a Freedom Fuel Network station is located.

    Brown, a Republican, considered a run for Congress in 2021, telling a local newspaper he was a conservative and a “proud Trump supporter.”

    Gontownik is a former investment director at Mercuria, a Swiss-owned commodities trading firm. He and his wife live in northern New Jersey and have been active with the pro-Israel political action committee NORPAC, including hosting fundraisers for Republican members of Congress.

    Gontownik and Brown did not respond to requests for comment.

    Experts say gas likely sold for a loss

    Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said Freedom Fuel’s rock bottom promotional price meant the chain was likely selling the gas at a loss.

    “It’s not unusual for retailers to have prices that are different than a market when they’re looking to make a splash,” said Lenard, whose association’s members account for most U.S. retail fuel sales, adding that such a splash typically lasts “a matter of hours or a matter of days.”

    Social media posts and gas-price checking websites show that the per-gallon rate advertised at Freedom Fuel locations began creeping up this week.

    A Freedom Fuel station in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, for example, on Thursday was selling regular gasoline for $3.82 a gallon. That was 27 cents cheaper than at a Sunoco station across the street.

    The Freedom Fuel Network posted a note of thanks to its website this week, crediting Trump’s “strong endorsement” for the “explosive growth” of their business.

    “Despite the misinformation and baseless speculation circulating,” the statement reads, ”let us set the record straight: Freedom Fuel Network is proudly lowering its prices to benefit our community.”