We’re going to quickly pivot from Trump’s press conference to share that Jay Clayton’s nomination hearing has officially been canceled for Wednesday. according to the Senate intelligence committee chair, Tom Cotton.
Trump directed Clayton to not appear at the hearing scheduled for this afternoon, according to Cotton.
In a post on X, the Republican senator wrote:
double quotation mark It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.
The Associated Press has succinctly summarized the stakes of the intelligence director nomination,. why even Republicans are wary of Trump’s interference in today’s hearing:
Hanging in the balance is not only the director of national intelligence,. also section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), which permits spy agencies to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States.
National security officials across both major political parties have for years described Section 702 as vital for gathering intelligence that can disrupt terror attacks. espionage operations, though some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have raised concerns over the government’s use of information about Americans that is incidentally collected through the program.
Clayton’s Senate confirmation hearing was expected to be fast-tracked because of the program’s lapse. Democrats had said they would not renew Fisa until Trump withdrew the selection of Bill Pulte.
Trump’s post suggested that debate to revive Section 702 could be indefinitely postponed.
Republican senator Thom Tillis. who is retiring from his North Carolina seat at the end of his term in 2027, told Punchbowl reporter Laura Weiss that Jay Clayton was on track to have a good hearing before Donald Trump interfered with the proceedings.
“Now we’re in a posture where it may be the reason 702 doesn’t get reauthorized,” Tillis said. “That’s a mistake.”
But Tillis also doesn’t think Trump is intentionally creating an issue. “I think somebody’s not dialing the president in to the complexities of what he’s done.”
It’s worth noting a slight sense of Trump’s frustration with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu as he says he “gets a little excited sometimes”,. they “have a little dispute over Lebanon”.
“Bibi, you don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah,” he says.
Meanwhile, Trump is still on Iran.
He says the deal will be signed shortly; maybe tomorrow, maybe Friday.
We’re going to quickly pivot from Trump’s press conference to share that Jay Clayton’s nomination hearing has officially been canceled for Wednesday. according to the Senate intelligence committee chair, Tom Cotton.
Trump directed Clayton to not appear at the hearing scheduled for this afternoon, according to Cotton.
In a post on X, the Republican senator wrote:
double quotation mark It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today. Mr Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.
Donald Trump has begun his press conference at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.
The US president swiftly pivots to Iran, saying his deal “achieves everything we set out to accomplish. … much more.”
“If we didn’t do this deal. we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years … you would never have the Hormuz strait open, you would never have success,” he says.
He pats himself on the back for killing the high-ranking Iranian military officer Qassem Suleimani in 2020.
He says the G7 summit was “a chance to discuss the details of this historic agreement”,. says he kept getting praise for it from all leaders he met.
FBI director Kash Patel has been accused of directing more than $1m in taxpayer-funded bonus payments to a small circle of loyalist agents as part of a “personal slush fund”. may have violated federal law.
Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking member of the House judiciary committee, alleged Patel had authorized substantial recurring payments to agents in his inner circle. security detail.
According to information received by the House judiciary minority committee. some agents received payments of nearly $8,000 every two weeks, despite already earning at the federal salary ceiling. While the exact total received by each individual remains unclear. the committee says it can confirm a number of agents received at least five such payments in consecutive pay periods, amounting to close to $40,000 per person.
The pace of disbursements was so rapid. the committee says, that FBI reserve accounts set aside for bonus payments were drained dry, causing some payments to bounce back from exhausted funds.
“Why are these agents receiving extra pay simply for doing their jobs?” Raskin wrote in a 15 June letter to the FBI director. “Are they, in fact, collecting bonus compensation for engaging in actions outside of their duties and outside of the law?”
He added: “We write to find out precisely how much slush fund largess you have put on the American taxpayer’s tab.”
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment. As the minority. Democrats have no authority to compel the bureau to hand over documents, though they would gain that power if they retake the House in November’s midterm elections, as some forecasts suggest they may.
The main beneficiaries, according to Raskin, were agents serving on Patel’s “Director’s Advisory Team”. The unit was created in 2025. tasked with examining internal documents and government materials to expose and discredit federal law enforcement officials who had investigated Trump and his allies.
Here’s Joseph’s report:
Donald Trump is due to hold a news conference soon to cap off his participation in the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains. France, before heading to a dinner at Versailles with European leaders.
I’ll bring you all the key lines from that once it gets under way. though Trump offered a little preview on his Truth Social platform a short while ago:
double quotation mark The trip was a Great Success but, mostly what people wanted to talk about, is the fact that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon,. that the Strait of Hormuz will immediately be opened!
The US senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia said Republicans called a special legislative session to consider redistricting a distraction from issues. affect Georgia voters.
Republicans “do not want to be held accountable for doubling the healthcare premiums of Georgians all across the state”. Warnock said. “Not doing anything to address the housing affordability crisis we have in our state. Meanwhile, utilities are going up. And this is the result of the Republicans’ policies.”
Though the US Senate is in session, Warnock came to Atlanta to address observers at the state capitol.
He said later at a press conference organized by the voting rights advocacy organization Fair Fight:
double quotation mark Today is a dark day in Georgia history. All of this was made possible by a supreme court ruling … The supreme court has taken a side in a partisan fight. To say that you cannot have majority-minority district,. to say at the same time you can have partisan gerrymandering, ignores why we have a Voting Rights Act in the first place.
We’ve come today with a very clear message. This is Georgia. We know our history. This is the state of John Lewis.
Warnock is pastor of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist church, home of Martin Luther King Jr. Warnock took a dim view of legislators who would gerrymander away the voting power of Black voters while invoking King’s legacy on his birthday.
double quotation mark Keep Dr King’s name out of your mouth while you’re doing it. You cannot remember Dr King and dismember his legacy at the same time.
The Senate majority leader. John Thune, has reiterated that the intelligence committee chair, Tom Cotton, will move forward with Jay Clayton ’s confirmation hearing for the position of director of national intelligence today, after Donald Trump abruptly said he was “cancelling” the hearing in the early hours of this morning.
“All I know is that Chairman Cotton is planning to proceed. as you all know, with the hearing,” Thune told reporters. “And then from there on. we’ll just have to take it a day at a time until we get more clarity on kind of what the White House position is, I guess.”
Asked why he thinks Trump is doing this, Thune replied bluntly: “Good question.”
In bizarre comments earlier, Donald Trump referred to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, as a “beautiful-looking man” and “an angel”.
Telling reporters the US. India were close to reaching a trade deal, Trump added that Modi was a “killer” and a tough negotiator. “He’s tough as they come, so he gets you by surprise,” he said of Modi.
And glossing over tensions between the two countries over the last year (from the punitive tariff Trump slapped on India for buying Russian oil to the recent deaths of three Indian seafarers in US strikes on commercial tankers in the strait of Hormuz). Trump said of his relationship with Modi: “We cannot be closer.”
Strikingly. Trump also said that if anyone were to attack India, the United States would be there to help them, “without having a contract”. That is a pretty bold statement to make, particularly in Europe, where the Trump has questioned whether the US would come to its Nato allies’ collective defense. threatened to leave the alliance.
“ If they were attacked. we would be there to help them,” Trump said, when asked about the US-India defense relationship. “ If anybody attacks that man, we’re going to be there,” Trump said of Modi. “Now, if there’s a new leader, I’m not sure about it.”
Donald Trump also said that the US would have to “start the process again” if Iran does not agree to a final deal resolving nuclear issues.
“ I would think they would do it,” Trump said speaking alongside the Indian prime minister. Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, then asked about the prospects for a deal. “If they don’t, then that’s, you know, that’s OK. We’ll have to start the process again, and we don’t lose.”
He added that the memorandum of understanding is a “strong one”.
Further to that. Donald Trump told reporters at the G7 meeting in France just now that he will not sign the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is currently being debated in Congress, unless his bill implementing national voting changes is included.
“ I’m not going to sign Fisa unless it’s done,” Trump said.
The Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, has said that the committee intends to go ahead with Jay Clayton ’s hearing as scheduled – defying a surprise announcement by Donald Trump that the hearing was “cancelled”.
double quotation mark Jay Clayton is a pending nominee before the Intelligence Committee. We will proceed with his hearing as scheduled unless the president directs him not to appear or withdraws his nomination.
Trump abruptly derailed the confirmation process for Clayton as the US’s top intelligence chief early today, in a move that will allow his controversial selection for acting director of national security, Bill Pulte, to assume the role. remain in place for at least several weeks until Clayton is confirmed.
The president had pushed the Senate to confirm Clayton after his appointment of Pulte as acting DNI sparked bipartisan pushback. stalled his administration’s push for renewal of a key power of the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa).
In a surprising post on Truth Social in today’s early morning hours. Trump declared “we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI Today”. The president doesn’t technically have the power to cancel a Senate hearing,. Cotton has signalled it will go ahead unless Trump intervenes.
Trump said. Republicans had rushed the Clayton nomination so quickly that “Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA”.
He also said he wanted to see Clayton’s replacement as US attorney completed before Clayton became DNI,. further complicated the situation by asserting he did not want the surveillance act approved unless it included the Save America Act, a controversial and restrictive voting bill.
Here’s more from my colleague Cate Brown:
Having made it to the final day of the G7 summit (unlike last year). Donald Trump is scheduled to have a private dinner with Emmanuel Macron at the opulent Palace of Versailles tonight.
“The French president. who happens to be a very nice man, invited me to dinner at Versailles,” Trump told reporters yesterday. “Versailles is not a gold leaf, Versailles is the real deal.”
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