Aug. 5, 2025, 3:31 p.m. ETThe federal building that houses the Office of Personnel Management in Washington.Credit...Valerie Plesch for The New York TimesThe weekly “five things” memos that government employees have been emailing into what many say seems like oblivion is coming to an end, the Office of Personnel Management announced on Tuesday.“We communicated with agency H.R. leads that O.P.M. was no longer going to manage the five things process nor utilize it internally,” the agency’s director, Scott Kupor, said in a statement. “We believe that managers are accountable to staying informed about what their team members are working on and have many other existing tools to do so.”Last month, Mr. Kupor hinted that the process was likely in its final days. The memos were started out of the blue by Elon Musk when he was the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and tasked with shrinking the head count in the federal government. Mr. Kupor was confirmed to lead O.P.M., the government’s human resources division, on July 9.Since Mr. Musk announced the assignment on his social media platform in February, there have been more questions than answers about how government employees should or would respond, as well as how the responses would be used.The weekly memos became another lever of fear for thousands of federal employees who have been under threat of imminent firing since the beginning of the Trump administration. Some questioned whether the government was looking for specific indicators of progress in the responses and what, if anything, that meant for future employment.At the time, Mr. Musk announced the order on social media then the personnel office made the assignment official in an email to government employees — a message some first interpreted to be spam or a phishing attempt. It also cemented what was emerging as the new world order in the federal government in which Mr. Musk, a tech billionaire with no government experience, was calling the shots about which government agencies and programs deserved funding.Speaking to reporters on July 21, Mr. Kupor said that agencies had been handling the requirement differently, raising questions about how efficient the process was for measuring accountability — if that was, indeed, the initial goal of the exercise.“I think it’s something that we should look at and see, like are we getting the value out of it that at least the people who put it in place thought they were?” he said.Mr. Kupor said that as of that day he had not been briefed on why the agency asked for this information or what it had done with the responses. The agency has not publicly explained the purpose either.Reuters first reported the administration’s decision to end the assignment.Aug. 5, 2025, 3:11 p.m. ETThe National Institutes of Health headquarters in Bethesda, Md.Credit...Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesThe Trump administration broke the law when it terminated about 1,800 grants and interrupted funding for the National Institutes of Health, a federal watchdog said on Tuesday.It was the fifth time that the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan legislative agency, faulted President Trump and his top aides for rearranging the budget in defiance of Congress. From February to June, investigators estimated, the N.I.H. awarded $8 billion less for research and other grants than it had a year earlier.The findings underscored the real stakes in the growing clash between the Trump administration and Congress over the power of the purse. Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has adopted an expansive view of his authority to recalibrate the federal ledger as he sees fit, even though the Constitution gives lawmakers the power to tax and spend.In recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans alike had expressed discomfort over the ways in which Mr. Trump’s budgetary maneuvers may have affected vital public health research into cancer and other diseases. Some in Congress have also objected to the severe budget cuts that the president has proposed for the N.I.H. and other major health and research agencies next year.The Trump administration on Tuesday defended some of its actions, releasing a letter that described elements of the funding delay as part of the “transition” between presidents. Officials did not respond on Tuesday to more detailed questions about canceled grants. Some congressional lawmakers have also pressed the administration about more recent interruptions to N.I.H. funds.Russell T. Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, previously acknowledged that the administration had conducted a “review” into N.I.H. spending. He also faulted the health agency for what he described as years of “waste” while claiming it had been “weaponized against the American people.”“We have an agency that needs dramatic overhaul,” Mr. Vought added in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” in July. “Thankfully, we have a great new head of it, but we’re going to have to go line by line to make sure the N.I.H. is funded properly.”The trouble began soon after Mr. Trump took office when he signed a slew of executive orders meant to halt federal spending on diversity, equity and inclusion. The cuts deeply affected health programs, including the N.I.H., the largest source of biomedical funding in the United States, which canceled more than 1,800 grants between February and June, the Government Accountability Office found.For about two months, the N.I.H. also ceased publishing notices for grant reviews. That interrupted a key step in the federal award process, which delayed the delivery of public health funds to hospitals, laboratories, universities and other research organizations, according to congressional investigators.In a letter shared with The New York Times, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services told the watchdog that they had “moved rapidly to reschedule and hold meetings impacted by the short pause, and to process grant applications.”But ethics officials concluded on Tuesday that the Trump administration had violated federal law, which prohibits the president from withholding authorized money, a practice known as impoundment.The office said it was also “aware” of more recent reports that White House officials had asked the health agency to “pause the issuing of grants, research contracts and training,” and “later reversed” that decision. But the watchdog said it could not confirm that money had resumed flowing, as even some Republican lawmakers had requested in recent days.Top Democratic lawmakers immediately urged the White House to cease interrupting the flow of money at the N.I.H. and other research agencies, warning that the administration was threatening to undermine work on new cures and emerging diseases.“Cutting off investments Congress has made into research that saves millions of lives is as backward and as inexcusable as it gets,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.The accountability office has opened 40 similar investigations to determine if the Trump administration has impounded funds, The Times previously reported. Earlier, the watchdog concluded that administration officials had wrongly interrupted approved money for programs ranging from early childhood education to electric vehicle charging stations.The White House has strenuously denied those charges. It has also sharply attacked the accountability office, while signaling that the administration would cease cooperating with some of its investigations.The office has the power to sue to force the release of impounded funds, and recently has retained legal counsel in case it needs to take such rare action. But Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general in charge of the watchdog, previously said in an interview that filing lawsuits would be a last resort.Aug. 5, 2025, 12:34 p.m. ETPresident Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine spoke on the phone with President Trump on Tuesday in what the Ukrainian leader’s office called “a productive conversation” focused on diplomacy to end the war with Russia. Zelensky said in a post on X that he thanked Trump for his “efforts toward peace.” Zelensky said that he stressed to the president that “it is truly a must to stop the killing as soon as possible.”Zelensky said that Russia had intensified its attacks and that “President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities.” The call came as Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit Moscow later this week. The White House confirmed the call but did not release details of the conversation.Credit...Antonio Masiello/Getty ImagesAug. 5, 2025, 12:29 p.m. ETSeveral Republicans joined Democrats to force a House committee to issue a subpoena to the Justice Department for the Epstein files.Credit...Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesThe House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena on Tuesday to the Justice Department for its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in federal prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate.The committee also sent subpoenas to 10 former Democratic and Republican government officials it said it was seeking to depose in relation to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes.Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s Republican chairman, requested that the documents be delivered by Aug. 19. He was required to issue the 11 subpoenas after Democrats forced a vote on the matter in a key House subcommittee last month.Should the Justice Department fail to meet that deadline, it could set up a high-profile clash between the Trump administration and Congress over an issue that has sharply divided Republicans and effectively paralyzed the House.A spokesman for the Justice Department said it had received the subpoena, but he declined to comment further.The Trump administration’s decision to close its investigation into Mr. Epstein without releasing additional files, a reversal from previous promises, has widened a rift in the Republican Party. Many lawmakers now find themselves positioned between far-right constituents who are eager for the release of the files and President Trump, who after years of questioning the legitimacy of government institutions has urged his supporters to move on from the investigation.Democrats have seized on the disagreement. Their move to require Mr. Comer to issue a subpoena was one of several efforts by lawmakers to force Republicans to record politically tricky votes on the matter.“Today was an important step forward in our fight for transparency regarding the Epstein files and our dedication to seeking justice for the victims,” Representatives Robert Garcia of California and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, the Democrats who led the push for the subpoena, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now, we must continue putting pressure on the Department of Justice until we actually receive every document.”Three Republicans broke from Mr. Trump to back the subpoena for the Epstein files. But they also expanded the request to include subpoenas for prominent figures who held their positions during the lengthy investigation into Mr. Epstein and have frequently been targets of the president.They included former President Bill Clinton, who was acquainted with Mr. Epstein, and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who ran for president against Mr. Trump in 2016.The Oversight Committee also issued subpoenas to Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election, and James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director. Both men have been frequent targets of Mr. Trump’s broadsides.The committee also sent subpoenas to former attorneys general who were overseeing the Justice Department when it was grappling with legal matters related to Mr. Epstein. The officials, who served under Democratic and Republican presidents: Merrick B. Garland, who was President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s attorney general; William P. Barr and Jeff Sessions, who were both appointed by Mr. Trump during his first term; Loretta Lynch and Eric H. Holder Jr., who were appointed by President Barack Obama; and Alberto R. Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush.Aug. 5, 2025, 12:02 p.m. ETPresident Trump said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doesn’t want to run the Federal Reserve.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesPresident Trump said on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told him he does not want to be Federal Reserve chair, taking him off the shortlist of contenders to replace Jerome Powell.Mr. Trump said that has narrowed his list of replacements to four people, a group that includes a former Fed governor, Kevin Warsh, and the director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett. Mr. Trump said Mr. Bessent had told him as recently as Monday that he did not want the job.“I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with CNBC. “I’ll take him off, because I asked him just last night, ‘Is this something you want?’ ‘Nope, I want to stay where I am.’”Mr. Trump has relentlessly criticized Mr. Powell for not lowering interest rates according to the president’s demands, but he has repeatedly backed away from trying to remove him before his term as chair expires in May 2026.Pressed on the names of other candidates who might serve as a replacement, Mr. Trump confirmed only that Mr. Warsh and Mr. Hassett were leading contenders. “I think the two Kevins are doing well,” Mr. Trump said. “And I have two other people who are doing well.”His caution may be a reflection of his persistent unhappiness with Mr. Powell, whom he nominated to lead the Federal Reserve in 2017. “Sometimes they’re all very good until you put ’em in there, and then they don’t do so good,” Mr. Trump said.Mr. Trump said he would make a decision on a replacement for Mr. Powell “soon.”One option, he said, was to initially place his choice on the Federal Reserve Board as a replacement for Adriana D. Kugler, who announced suddenly that she would step down this week from her position as a governor. Her term was set to expire in January, but her early resignation gives Mr. Trump an opportunity to more quickly appoint someone who could eventually replace Mr. Powell as chair.Aug. 5, 2025, 10:56 a.m. ETRupert Murdoch in the Oval Office in February. President Trump had argued that Mr. Murdoch, who is 94, should be deposed within 15 days because of his age and health. Credit...Eric Lee/The New York TimesRupert Murdoch and President Trump have agreed to postpone Mr. Murdoch’s deposition in the president’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal.Mr. Trump had argued that Mr. Murdoch, who is 94, should be deposed within 15 days because of his age and health. According to court documents filed on Monday, Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Trump have reached a deal to pause that request until after The Journal’s motion to dismiss the case is heard by the judge.Mr. Trump sued The Journal last month after the newspaper published an article about a lewd birthday note that the publication said Mr. Trump wrote to Mr. Epstein in 2003, five years before the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The note was accompanied by a sexually suggestive drawing. Mr. Trump has denied he was responsible for the letter or the drawing.According to Monday’s filing, the parties have agreed that, should the motion to dismiss be denied, Mr. Murdoch would be deposed within 30 days at a “mutually agreed upon location in the United States.” The filing added that Mr. Murdoch had agreed to provide Mr. Trump with regular updates on his health.Mr. Murdoch, the founder of News Corp, which owns The Journal, was named in the lawsuit, as well as News Corp; Dow Jones; Robert Thomson, the chief executive of News Corp; and the two reporters who wrote the article.A representative for Mr. Murdoch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Aug. 5, 2025, 10:23 a.m. ETRob CopelandRob Copeland covers Wall Street and banks.President Trump at the White House last week.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesPresident Trump said on Tuesday that he was a victim of discrimination by two of the nation’s largest banks, and suggested that his personal experience was fueling his animus with Wall Street.Mr. Trump, in an interview on CNBC, said both JPMorgan Chase — the nation’s largest bank — and Bank of America refused to accept more than $1 billion in deposits from the Trump Organization after his first term. He said he had made personal appeals to the chief executives of both banks but had been rejected.“The banks discriminated against me very badly,” Mr. Trump said.Mr. Trump’s remarks couldn’t immediately be confirmed. A JPMorgan spokesman did not address Mr. Trump’s charge, instead sending a statement saying the bank would not comment on clients. Bank of America declined to comment. The Trump Organization earlier sued Capital One for closing its accounts in the wake of the Jan 6., 2021, attack on the Capitol.The president’s commentary on Tuesday carries significant weight on Wall Street because his administration has been preparing a crackdown, in the form of an executive order and other proposed regulatory changes, on so-called debanking practices. Many right-leaning organizations have claimed that the financial system has locked them out because of their political positions.Bank executives and lobbying groups have broadly pushed back against that assertion, although they have said that beginning with the Obama administration — and during Mr. Trump’s first term — regulators required them to apply close scrutiny to certain categories of deposits, including payday lenders and gun-related businesses.Mr. Trump, asked during the CNBC interview if he would sign an executive order on debanking, did not explicitly comment on his plans.Rather, he responded by describing his company’s experience with Chase and Bank of America.He said that after his first term, the Trump Organization was given 20 days to withdraw more than $1 billion from Chase. He said he had appealed directly to JPMorgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon. “You could ask him,” Mr. Trump said. “Maybe he’s not going to admit it.”Asked about Mr. Trump’s statement, the JPMorgan spokesman said that as a rule the bank did not close accounts for political reasons.After his Chase accounts were closed, Mr. Trump said, he tried Bank of America. That bank’s chief executive, Brian Moynihan, “was kissing my ass when I was president,” but wouldn’t accept the deposits after his first term ended, Mr. Trump said.Eventually, the Trump Organization spread its money across a number of smaller banks, Mr. Trump said. “$10 million here, $10 million there,” he said. “It’s lucky I even had them. They were doing me a favor.”Aug. 5, 2025, 10:08 a.m. ETPresident Trump with Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe of Rwanda in the Oval Office in June.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York TimesRwanda has agreed to accept 250 deportees from the United States, a Rwandan government spokeswoman said on Tuesday, making the east African nation the latest country to work with the Trump administration as it seeks to expel tens of thousands of migrants in American custody.“Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement,” said the government spokesman, Yolande Makolo.Rwanda isn’t the only African nation to strike a deal with the United States to accept deportees. In July, the U.S. Supreme Court approved the deportation of eight men to South Sudan. The kingdom of Eswatini also accepted five deportees from the United States that same month, though it soon announced plans to repatriate them to their home countries.Unlike Eswatini, Rwanda said it planned to integrate the deportees. They will be resettled and provided with job training, health care and places to stay in order to “jump start their lives in Rwanda,” Ms. Makolo said.She said Rwanda had approval power over which U.S. deportees to accept.In April, the Trump administration paid Rwanda $100,000 to take an Iraqi man, according to a U.S. cable. Talks about Rwanda’s accepting more migrants began as early as May, Rwanda’s foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, told Rwanda TV, the state broadcaster.The plan, reported earlier on Tuesday by Reuters, is reminiscent of a failed migrant deal struck between Britain and Rwanda.In 2022, Britain signed an agreement to resettle asylum seekers in Rwanda, and then spent years and hundreds of millions of pounds in futile attempts to make it happen. The British government said it would look into recovering the money, but Rwandan officials said they were not required to pay it back.Rwanda once also accepted deportees from Israel for years under a secretive 2013 deal. A British court found that Rwanda had quietly moved those asylum seekers out of the country.The small, landlocked country earned a reputation as an example of recovery and resilience after a 1994 genocide that left about 800,000 people dead. But more recently, critics have called its human rights record into question.Aug. 5, 2025, 9:55 a.m. ETStunned by President Trump’s decision to hit Switzerland with a 39 percent tariff, one of the highest in the world, top Swiss officials are dashing to Washington on Tuesday to meet with U.S. authorities to try to negotiate for a lower rate. President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland, who appeared to be caught off guard by Trump’s decision to impose the high levy, will travel with the Swiss economy minister, Guy Parmelin, “with a view to improving the tariff situation,” the government said.Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Trump erroneously referred to Keller-Sutter as Switzerland’s prime minister and expressed irritation with their call last Thursday, when they discussed the tariffs. “The woman was nice but she didn’t want to listen,” he said. “She wanted 1 percent. I said, ‘You’re not going to pay 1 percent.’”Aug. 5, 2025, 9:38 a.m. ETU.S. Monthly Goods ImportsU.S. imports of goods fell in June, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, as President Trump’s tariffs continued to weigh on trade.The decline from May was nearly 4 percent, as businesses adjusted to shifting tariff deadlines and uncertainty in negotiations between the Trump administration and officials from other countries. Companies had rushed to stockpile goods before higher tariffs were put in place. That led to a temporary surge earlier in the year in goods shipments that pushed the trade deficit to a record $138.3 billion in March.Trade Deficit in Goods and ServicesExports dipped slightly, about 0.5 percent, as U.S. companies sold fewer industrial goods. Still, the overall trade deficit narrowed to $60.2 billion in June.Mr. Trump has imposed tariffs on a variety of industries and trading partners since returning to the presidency in January, raising the U.S. tariff rate to levels not seen in a century. He has suspended, altered and delayed many of those tariffs many times to allow for negotiations, which have resulted in broad-brush agreements with America’s major trading partners like Japan and the European Union. Higher tariffs for dozens of countries are set to snap back into effect on Thursday unless more deals are reached.In recent quarters, big swings in trade and inventories have skewed U.S. economic growth. Overall, the data suggest a slow, though positive, pace of growth.Many forecasters expect a deterioration in the months ahead, as tariffs disrupt supply chains and the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and government job cuts start to take a toll on the economy. Weaker-than-expected job growth in May, June and July in data released on Friday has provided more evidence for this view.Later that day, Mr. Trump, angered by the jobs numbers, fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Oxford Economics, a research firm that provides economic forecasts, said on Tuesday that it expected trade volumes to decline throughout the year as high inventory levels, weaker business and consumer spending, and elevated prices all weighed on demand for goods.But, despite the anticipated drop, the downturn “may not be as severe” as initially expected, the firm added.Still, as most U.S. firms rely heavily on international supply chains, the proposed tariffs could make American businesses less competitive and less profitable and provide fewer opportunities of growth, said Mark Weinstock, an economics professor at Pace University.“Tariffs will not make America great again,” he said.Aug. 5, 2025, 9:27 a.m. ETThe Russian vessel Vladimir Vinogradov unloads crude at the Deendayal Port in the western state of Gujarat, India, last year.Credit...Amit Dave/ReutersFor months, Indian and American trade officials haggled over things like tariffs and import quotas, trying to work out an agreement both sides could live with. President Trump, intent on closing a $44 billion trade deficit with India, threatened to impose tariffs on Indian goods sent to America.Then, Mr. Trump brought Russia into it.On July 30, Mr. Trump said that Indian goods would be subject to a 25 percent tariff, a higher rate than its Asian competitors. He berated the country for its purchases of Russian energy, posting on social media that India was “Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE.” For that, Mr. Trump added, India would pay an unspecified penalty on top of the 25 percent levy. A day after saying he would “substantially” increase the 25 percent levy, the president said on CNBC on Tuesday that he would impose higher tariffs on India in the next 24 hours.Plenty of other people and organizations had made similar arguments about how India was abetting Russia in its war on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil. But now Mr. Trump had made it part of the U.S.-Indian trade talks.Along with dozens of other countries, India is facing the prospect of U.S. tariffs starting on Thursday.Mr. Trump’s demand, which India calls outrageous and unwarranted, has dropped like a stink bomb in the two countries’ trade talks. Here’s what you need to know about the dispute.Isn’t Russia under sanctions?Moscow is under sanctions, primarily by the United States and the European Union. In an attempt to hurt Russia’s war effort, the West imposed a cap on the price Russia could charge for its oil.But India did not sign on to that plan.After the sanctions were imposed and European and other markets shut their doors to Russia, seaborne exports to India from Russia started scaling up.On Tuesday, Russia pushed back against Mr. Trump’s threats against India. Russia believes it is “illegal” to try to “get other countries to cut trade ties with Russia,” Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told Russian news agencies.China is another major buyer of Russian oil that did not join the sanctions effort.The country maintains particularly friendly relations with Russia, and trade between China and Russia is up two-thirds since Russia invaded Ukraine. Last year, their two-way trade exceeded $240 billion, with China sending everything from cars to drones.Other than China, no country is buying more Russian oil these days than India. It shows no sign of stopping, either. On Tuesday, Lloyd’s List, the shipping industry’s main trade journal, reported that three oil tankers made delivery at Indian ports over the weekend — after Mr. Trump had threatened to impose a penalty.How much Russian oil does India buy?Much more than it did before the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.Shortly before the start of the war, crude oil from Russia accounted for 0.2 percent of how much India imports. By May 2023, Russia was selling India more than two million barrels of crude a day, or roughly 45 percent of its imports.India has bought a nearly constant flow of Russian oil for the past two years. Prices fluctuated, with total sales worth more than $130 billion per year. Iraq and Saudi Arabia, traditionally India’s biggest suppliers, have been pushed to the side.In June 2023, an analysis of shipping data by The New York Times found that dozens of Russian tankers were arriving every month to Indian oil refineries.Why is India buying so much oil from Russia?Well, it’s cheaper since sanctions have narrowed potential demand and held down the price.Another reason: India is not a major producer of oil, and it is the world’s most populous nation and fastest-growing big economy. It needs a lot of oil.India’s purchases of Russian oil have suited both sides. Russia is able to sell its crude oil, theoretically under a price cap the European Union had set at $60 a barrel, and India buys it at a discount. India’s oil companies have refined some for domestic consumption and exported the rest to Europe and elsewhere as diesel and other products.In addition to helping power India’s economy, cheap Russian oil has helped India establish a lucrative business exporting refined products to regions that need fresh energy supplies. One of India’s refineries, the Jamnagar site on the country’s west coast, is the largest in the world.The surge in imported Russian oil has helped to push up profits for companies like the Indian conglomerate Reliance Group, which runs the Jamnagar refinery. Reliance’s stock price grew 34 percent since the war began, a period in which Exxon Mobil’s has been flat.In recent weeks, refineries in India have been buying less Russian oil than usual, according to Kpler, which tracks commodities and shipping data. But to completely replace the Russian fuel it has been importing would be difficult for India, in part because its refineries are configured for the type of oil Russia produces. “The pivot away from Russia — if forced — will be costly, complex and politically fraught,” Kpler wrote in a note.Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed reporting.Aug. 5, 2025, 9:04 a.m. ETDuring his CNBC interview, President Trump repeatedly stated that there are polls showing him getting more than 70 percent support. One of the hosts, Joe Kernen, pushed back several times that he has high support with Republicans but not across the board. It was unclear what the president was referring to, if Trump was confusing a specific, narrow number on one topic that he had been shown, or was offering a number out of thin air.An earlier version of this update misspelled the host’s name; it is Joe Kernen, not Joe Kern.Aug. 5, 2025, 8:51 a.m. ETPresident Trump said on CNBC that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told him he does not want to be Federal Reserve chair, taking him off the shortlist of contenders to replace Jerome Powell.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesAug. 5, 2025, 8:50 a.m. ETPresident Trump was asked on CNBC about an executive order to go after banks that he has accused of discriminating against him and conservatives. “I’ll give you me as an example,” he said. “I had hundreds of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you.’”Aug. 5, 2025, 8:42 a.m. ETPresident Trump said he would impose higher tariffs on India in the next 24 hours, after saying on Monday that he would “substantially” increase the 25 percent levy he already imposed on Indian goods.Aug. 5, 2025, 8:29 a.m. ETSpeaking to CNBC, President Trump touted the trade deal he reached with the European Union, which included a pledge of $600 billion in European investment in the U.S. With many details of the deal still unclear, Trump claimed that he can personally direct the billions anywhere he likes. “The details are $600 billion to invest in anything I want,” he said. “I can do anything I want with it.”Aug. 4, 2025, 11:41 p.m. ETCasey Wasserman, the chairman of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, and Nicole Hoevertsz, an International Olympic Committee executive, talked to reporters in June.Credit...Mike Blake/ReutersPresident Trump plans to create a task force Tuesday that would boost the federal government’s hand in preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a city where officials have a strained relationship with the president.On Tuesday, Mr. Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order creating a White House task force for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a White House official said.The task force will focus on security along with other logistics for the Olympic Games, which are scheduled to begin in July 2028 and will be followed by the Summer Paralympics in August.The Department of Homeland Security has classified the games as a National Special Security Event, a designation given to high-profile events to coordinate security plans with the F.B.I., the Secret Service and other federal agencies.It was unclear how closely the task force will work with local officials in Los Angeles, a city led by Democrats. The Trump administration has had a strained relationship with leaders across Southern California, which has been the target of widespread immigration raids that began in June.A temporary restraining order has barred federal agents from making immigration arrests in the region without probable cause, and Los Angeles and several other cities joined a lawsuit seeking to stop the raids.Planning for the Olympics comes as Los Angeles faces a budget crisis worsened by two devastating wildfires in January that destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Organizing the Olympics in any city is a massive undertaking that involves preparing for thousands of athletes and tourists, but officials in Los Angeles have said they are confident the games will be a success.In a statement on Monday, Casey Wasserman, the chairman of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, thanked Mr. Trump and his administration for their “leadership and unwavering support” ahead of the games.The games will mark the first time an American city has hosted the Summer Olympics since Atlanta did in 1996. A deadly pipe bomb exploded during the games at Centennial Olympic Park and injured many.Los Angeles had previously hosted the games in 1932 and 1984. The 2028 Olympics will be held at venues across Southern California, including Long Beach, Inglewood, Carson and Arcadia. At least two events, canoe slalom and softball, will be played outside of California in Oklahoma City.