President Donald Trump began levying higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats has begun to create visible damage for the U.S. economy.

U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

The tariffs are at a level not seen in the U.S. in almost 100 years, with Americans expected to pay an average of 18.3% more for imported products. That’s the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center.

Despite the uncertainty, the White House is confident businesses will ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the U.S. economy as a manufacturing power.

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Trump notes that he’s reached his 200th day in office

The president briefly noted that Thursday marked his 200th day in office during a White House event commemorating Purple Heart Day.

“This is 200 days already,” Trump said at the start of the event. “Time flies.”

The 100-day mark is a key benchmark early in a presidential administration, and Trump celebrated the first 100 days of his second term with a speech and rally in Michigan.

But the 200-day milestone is not usually noted.

Senior Russian UN diplomat says he hasn’t heard of any meeting planned with Ukraine’s president at summit

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky also told U.N. reporters that a location for the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald next week has been agreed “that they don’t want to discuss.”

Asked what Russia’s aim is for the meeting, Polyansky said, “Russia’s aims are always peace and security in the world. They are not changing, and that’s the same aim that we pursue in this kind of negotiations.”

He said he hasn’t heard of a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but added, “I’m not in the loop. I think that these things are now being very actively commented through the channels of two presidents.”

Trump says he would meet with Putin even if Putin won’t meet with Zelenskyy

Trump says he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader won’t meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump, when asked Thursday by a reporter if Putin would need to meet with Zelenskyy in order to secure a meeting with the U.S., said, “No, he doesn’t. No.”

Stephen Moore appears at White House with Trump

The White House hastily invited journalists into the Oval Office Thursday afternoon for a surprise appearance by conservative economist Stephen Moore.

Trump and Moore, flanked by charts, had some economic data to present.

Moore is a favorite of Trump and the president nominated hi to the Federal Reserve board in his first White House term, but Moore could not get confirmed in the Senate.

Trump opens the door for private equity and crypto as 401(k) retirement plan options

Millions of Americans saving for retirement through 401(k) accounts could have the option of putting their money in higher-risk private equity and cryptocurrency investments, according to an executive order signed Thursday by President Donald Trump that could give those financial players long-sought access to a pool of funds worth trillions.

There is no immediate change in how people invest part of their work earnings. Federal agencies would need to rewrite rules and regulations to allow the expanded choices, and that would take months or more to complete. But once done, employers could offer a broader array of mutual funds and investments to workers, according to the White House. New plans could invest in alternative assets, particularly private equity, cryptocurrencies and real estate.

The Republican president’s order directs the Labor Department and other agencies to redefine what would be considered a qualified asset under 401(k) retirement rules.

▶ Read more about retirement plans

Florida Republican House Speaker says his chamber will take up congressional redistricting

Florida, the third most U.S. populous state, is preparing to join a widening fight among states grappling for political advantage ahead of the 2026 elections, after Florida’s Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez announced Thursday that his chamber will take up congressional redistricting this fall.

“As many of you are aware, there are national conversations ongoing in other states related to midterm redistricting,” Perez wrote in a memo to state lawmakers detailing plans for a select committee on redistricting.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump is pushing GOP-controlled states to redraw their maps to favor Republican candidates and boost his party’s prospects ahead of the midterm elections, as his political standing falters.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has voiced support for mid-decade redistricting, telling the public to “stay tuned.”

Trump picks economics aide Miran to fill remainder of Federal Reserve spot

Stephen Miran, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, is Trump’s pick to fill the final months of the Fed governorship held by Adriana Kugler, who resigned from the post last week.

Miran has been a major defender of Trump’s income tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough growth to reduce budget deficits and drive faster economic growth. He also has played down the risk of Trump’s tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who Trump has criticized for holding off on cuts to the central bank’s benchmark interest rate.

Miran, who has an economics doctorate from Harvard University, would be in the position until Jan. 31, 2026, when the term is set to expire.

US Air Force to deny retirement pay to transgender service members being separated from the service

The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.

The move means that transgender service members will now be faced with the choice of either taking a lump-sum separation payment offered to junior troops or be removed from the service.

An Air Force spokesperson told The Associated Press that “although service members with 15 to 18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved.” About a dozen service members had been “prematurely notified” that they would be able to retire before that decision was reversed, according to the spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Air Force policy.

All transgender members of the Air Force are being separated from the service under the Trump administration’s policies.

▶ Read more about transgender troops

EPA cancels $7 billion Biden-era grant program to boost solar energy

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday terminated a $7 billion grant program that was intended to help pay for residential solar projects for more than 900,000 lower-income U.S. households.

It’s the latest Trump administration move hindering the nation’s shift to cleaner energy.

The funding, part of Democratic President Joe Biden’s Solar for All program, was awarded to 60 recipients including states, tribes and regions for investments such as rooftop solar and community solar gardens.

Solar, a renewable energy, is widely regarded as a way to introduce cleaner power onto the electrical grid and lower energy bills for American consumers.

▶ Read more about residential solar

UN chief welcomes all efforts to end the war in Ukraine that respect its territorial integrity

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, asked for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the announcement of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said: “We’ll have to see what happens.”

“But clearly, we do welcome all efforts that are that are intended to bring about peace in Ukraine in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council,” Haq said.

The U.N. Charter requires all 193 U.N. member states, including Russia and Ukraine, to refrain from using force against any other nation and to respect their sovereignty and territorial integrity. U.N. resolutions call for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to withdraw all its forces from the country.

Researchers laid off and science shelved as battle between Harvard and Trump administration continues

The loss of an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding at Harvard has meant that some of the world’s most prominent scientists and academics are laying off young researchers.

They are shelving years or even decades of research, into everything from opioid addiction to cancer. The funding cuts are part of a monthslong battle that the Trump administration has waged against some the country’s top universities including Columbia, Brown and Northwestern.

The administration has taken a particularly aggressive stance against Harvard, freezing funding after the country’s oldest university rejected a series of government demands issued by a federal antisemitism task force.

And despite Harvard’s lawsuits against the administration, and settlement talks between the warring parties, researchers are confronting the fact that some of their work may never resume.

Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio has collaborated with the U.S. government to collect blood samples taken from soldiers over the course of two decades for his groundbreaking research to identify the cause of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. Now that work is on hold indefinitely.

“It’s like we have been creating a state-of-the-art telescope to explore the universe, and now we don’t have money to launch it,” said Ascherio. “We built everything and now we are ready to use it to make a new discovery that could impact millions of people in the world and then, ‘Poof. You’re being cut off.’”

United Nations chief calls US tariffs `disheartening news’

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes all trade wars “are ruinous and need to be avoided,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The secretary-general stresses to all governments that at a time of trade wars “measures need to be taken to protect the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society who will certainly suffer as a result of the higher prices,” Haq said.

‘Speedway Slammer’ nickname for Indiana detention partnership sparks a backlash

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is promoting a deal with the state of Indiana to open 1,000 detention beds for immigrants facing deportation. DHS posted an image of an IndyCar-style race car emblazoned with “ICE” and the number 5, rolling past a barbed-wire prison wall.

“If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer,” Noem said.

Speedway, which hosts the Indianapolis 500 — put out a statement saying the town wasn’t involved, and IndyCar asked that its intellectual property “not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.”

No. 5 is used by IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward, the only Mexican driver in the series. DHS officials said they won’t stop promoting the nickname.

Senior FBI official who resisted Trump demands is ousted

A senior FBI official who served as acting director in the first weeks of the Trump administration and resisted demands to turn over the names of agents who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, investigations is being forced out of the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday.

The circumstances of Brian Driscoll’s ouster were not immediately clear, but his final day is Friday, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the personnel move by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Vance to meet with foreign secretary during UK trip

On Friday, the White House says Vance will meet with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House, a stately home in Kent, south of London.

The White House hasn’t detailed what’s on the agenda. But the meeting comes as the United Kingdom tries to come to favorable terms for steel and aluminum exports to the U.S., as the two sides work out details of a broader trade deal announced at the end of June.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza are also likely to be on the agenda amid debates between Washington and London about the best way to end those conflicts.

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet at the White House on Friday

Trump is scheduled to meet Friday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The two nations have been working toward a peace treaty in their almost four decades of conflict and a possible peace deal is on the table, according to the official.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter conflict over territory since the early 1990s, when ethnic Armenian forces took control over the Karabakh province and nearby territories.

Alcohol trade groups ask for ‘toasts not tariffs’

A coalition of 57 U.S. associations and state guilds that represent businesses that make, import, distribute and sell alcohol, called the “Toasts not Tariffs Coalition” asked Trump to keep the trade in U.S. and European Union spirits and wines free of reciprocal tariffs.

The group estimates that Trump’s 15% tariff on U.S. imports of EU wine and spirits could result in more than 25,000 American job losses and nearly $2 billion in lost sales.

“Many U.S. and EU spirits are recognized as ‘distinctive products’ and can only be made in their designated countries — Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey in the U.S., and Cognac in France,” the group wrote. “Similarly, wine is linked to its place of origin through American Viticultural Areas, appellations of origin or geographical indications. Consequently, production of these products cannot simply be relocated to circumvent tariffs.”

Trump holding closed-door meeting as complaints about RFK Jr.’s mRNA vaccine announcement loom

Trump said he would discuss a controversial decision by his Health and Human Services Secretary to cancel $500 million worth of mRNA vaccine development research during a noon meeting on Wednesday.

A key Kennedy adviser, Dr. Robert Malone, is urging “Make America Healthy Again” supporters to use their social media channels to encourage Trump to uphold the cancellations.

But U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., among others, blasted Kennedy’s decision to end the vaccine research.

“It is unfortunate that the Secretary just canceled a half a billion worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested,” Cassidy wrote on X.

10 ways Trump has boosted the Christian right

Trump has repeatedly delivered for the bedrock of his Republican support. While he has made overtures to other religious groups including Jews and Muslims, conservative Christians are among his highest-profile surrogates and appointees, and their impact is expanding.

“We’re bringing back religion in our country,” Trump contended on the National Day of Prayer in May.

Progressive Christian critics say he’s eroding the separation of church and state, and advancing an ideology that Christian nationalists should dominate government.

“A president with a true Christian agenda would be most concerned with uplifting those in our country who have been cast aside,” said the Rev. Shannon Fleck. “Those most vulnerable among us are not these manipulators of Christianity that are seeking nothing but power.”

▶ Read more to see 10 ways Trump has delivered for conservative Christians

Poll shows waning Ukrainian support for continuing to fight

A new Gallup poll published Thursday finds Ukrainians increasingly eager for a peace settlement. About seven in 10 Ukrainians surveyed in early July said negotiations should begin as soon as possible.

This enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022, when Gallup found about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to fight until victory. Now only about one-quarter hold that view.

The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents ages 15 and older living in Ukraine. Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded due to lack of access.

In Kyiv, opinions were divided on the usefulness of a Trump-Putin meeting without Zelenskyy. Some said Putin only wants to avoid U.S. sanctions.