🗞️$200 million White House renovation

July 31st, 2025

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• The White House will begin a $200 million renovation of its East Wing starting in September, which includes constructing a new 90,000-square-foot White House State Ballroom that will be able to seat 650 people…this project which is led by President Trump and funded by private donors, aims to modernize the East Wing and add a grand event space suitable for state dinners and other major functions

• President Trump announced that he is giving Mexico a 90-day extension on the existing tariffs, delaying the planned increase of tariffs that were set to take place August 1st, during this period Mexico will continue to pay the current tariffs that are in place while both countries negotiate a longer-term trade deal…Trump also noted Mexico's commitment to removing non-tariff barriers and emphasized ongoing cooperation on border security, drugs, and immigration issues

• President Trump said that Canada's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood would make reaching a trade deal between the two countries "very hard," directly threatening ongoing trade negotiations just ahead of his August 1st deadline for imposing new tariffs

• Former VP Kamala Harris has announced a new memoir titled "107 Days", which will be released on September 23rd…the book talks about her 2024 presidential campaign and gives a behind-the-scenes account of her campaign experiences and challenges

• President Trump sent letters to 17 major pharmaceutical companies demanding that within 60 days they take specific actions to reduce U.S. drug prices…read more here 

• Moderna announced they are cutting about 10% of their global workforce, which is over 800 jobs, due to declining Covid vaccine sales and a need to reduce costs

• Microsoft has officially reached a market capitalization of $4 trillion, becoming the world's second company after Nvidia to achieve this valuation

• Job postings mentioning generative AI skills outside of IT and computer science have surged by 800% since 2022

• June PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, came in at 2.6% year over year above expectations of 2.5%, Core PCE inflation came in at 2.8% year over year, above expectations of 2.7%…read more here

• DOW down .74% / S&P down .37%

• Envoy Steve Witkoff, traveled to Israel where he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, aid delivery, and efforts to negotiate a ceasefire…following the meeting in Israel, Witkoff along with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will travel into Gaza to inspect aid distribution sites

• Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has signed a new law restoring the independence of the country's main anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO)…this move reverses a controversial law passed earlier that placed these agencies under the prosecutor general's control, which had sparked widespread protests and criticism from Ukrainians and the EU

Bonus: A look at the least livable cities around the world

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