Today’s edition of quick hits.
* That 15% rate is still quite high: “President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a trade agreement with the European Union that would set tariffs at 15%, ending what had been months of uncertainty surrounding trade with the United States’ largest trade partner. The tariff rate is a reduction from the 30% that Trump threatened on July 12 and the 20% he said he would impose on April 2.”
* An apparent cease fire: “The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a ceasefire on Monday effective midnight, in a bid to bring an end to their deadliest conflict in more than a decade after five days of fierce fighting. Amid an international effort to quell the conflict, the Thai and Cambodian leaders held talks in Malaysia hosted by its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, where both sides agreed to halt hostilities and resume direct communications.”
* In Gaza: “President Donald Trump on Monday expressed concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged Israel to get people food, seemingly recalibrating his stance on Gaza as images of emaciated children have sparked renewed worries about hunger in the war-torn territory. Trump, speaking in Scotland on Monday, said that the U.S. and other nations are giving money and food to Gaza but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ‘got to sort of like run it.’”
* The administration’s latest legal setback: “A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation.”
* And speaking of the administration’s legal setbacks: “A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday by the Trump administration that sought to block the enforcement of several ‘sanctuary policies’ in Illinois that restrict the ability of local officials to aid federal immigration authorities in detainment operations.” * The White House is protecting Americans from foreign children playing baseball: “After a team of talented teenage baseball players from Venezuela swept through a qualifying tournament in Mexico last month, it seemed they were bound for the Senior League World Series in the United States, ready to take on some of the world’s best youth ball clubs. But when the championship round begins in Easley, S.C., on Saturday, the undefeated squad from Venezuela will not be there. The team, Cacique Mara, has been denied the visas necessary to attend, Little League Baseball International said Friday.” * Another lawsuit worth watching: “Three former Justice Department employees who were fired as part of the Trump administration’s politicization of the agency have pushed back in a new lawsuit, arguing that they were dismissed unlawfully and in violation of normal civil service protections.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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