The Latest: Trump hosting Philippines leader to talk tariffs and China

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The Associated PressTue, July 22, 2025 at 12:32 PM UTC3 min readFILE - President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)President Donald Trump hosts Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday at the White House, seeking closer security and economic ties at a time when China is increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific region.More than a month after their deployment by Trump, 700 Marines will leave Los Angeles, where they stood guard over two downtown buildings in what local officials called “political theater.”Updated Congressional Budget Office projections show Donald Trump's tax and spending law will add $3.4 trillion more to the deficit and leave more than 10 million people uninsured. An AP-NORC poll found about two-thirds of U.S. adults expect the new tax law to mostly help the rich.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family hopes his FBI case files, released as Trump tries to avoid scrutiny over the Epstein files, will be “viewed within their full historical context.”The Latest:US says it is pulling out of UNESCO, againThe Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will once again withdraw from the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias. Trump did so before during his first term before the Biden administration rejoined the agency.UNESCO “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November,” said Anna Kelly, White House assistant press secretary.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUNESCO’s director general Audrey Azoulay said the U.S. decision is “deeply” regrettable but the agency “has prepared for it.” She also denied accusations of anti-Israel bias, saying the claims “contradict the reality of UNESCO’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism.”▶ Read more about the US and UNESCOBernice King: ‘Now, do the Epstein files’The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s surviving children did not mention Trump in their initial reaction to his administration’s release of the full investigative case files on their father.But Bernice King later posted on her personal Instagram account a black-and-white photo of her father, looking annoyed, with the caption “Now, do the Epstein files.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd some civil rights activists did not spare the president.“Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton. “It’s a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base.”White House says Trump is serious about wanting Washington Commanders to go back to its former namePress secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House Monday that sports is one of Trump’s “many passions” and “he wants to see the name of that team changed.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Commanders were formerly the Redskins, a name that was considered offensive to and by Native Americans.Trump threatened in a weekend social media post to hold up a deal for the team’s new stadium in the nation’s capital if the name isn’t changed.▶ Read more about Trump and the Washington football teamJustice Department says it’s in touch with attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of Jeffrey EpsteinDeputy Attorney Todd Blanche says he’s been in touch with counsel for Maxwell to find out if she’s willing to speak with Justice Department prosecutors regarding the case against the convicted sex offender, Epstein.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMaxwell is Epstein’s former girlfriend. She was convicted in a jury trial in 2021 of helping the financier sexually abuse underage girls and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.The request to interview her represents an additional Justice Department effort to deal with the backlash from parts of Trump’s base over an earlier decision not to release additional records from the Epstein investigation.Blanche said in a statement Tuesday, “I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days.”