🗞️Appeals court throws out Trump's fine

August 21st, 2025

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• A New York appeals court has thrown out the more than $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Trump, ruling the fine was “excessive” and violated the Eighth Amendment, but upheld the finding that Trump committed fraud

• House of Representative member, Chip Roy (R-TX), has officially launched his campaign to become Texas Attorney General, seeking to replace current AG Ken Paxton

• The California State Legislature has approved Governor Newsom’s redistricting plan, which aims to add five Democratic-leaning congressional seats to counter a Republican redistricting effort in Texas…the plan bypasses the state’s usual independent redistricting commission by temporarily amending the state constitution and will now go to voters for approval in a special election this November

• The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, has temporarily allowed the Trump administration to block $783 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants…read more here

• President Trump signed an executive order establishing a new position of "Chief Design Officer of the United States" and creating a "National Design Studio" to improve the “usability and aesthetics” of federal government digital services…read more here 

• A new Pew Research Center analysis has reported that the total unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023…for the full Pew study click here

• Chipotle is testing a new drone delivery service called "Zipotle" in the Dallas area in partnership with Zipline which is an autonomous delivery company…customers can place orders through the Zipline app and drones will deliver meals by hovering about 300 feet above the destination and lowering the food safely to the ground

• Apple TV+ has increased its monthly subscription price in the U.S. from $9.99 to $12.99, this will be effective immediately for new subscribers and existing users will see the change 30 days after their next billing cycle

• Meta Platforms has paused hiring in its artificial intelligence division after recruiting more than 50 researchers and engineers

• In July, U.S. existing home sales rose by 2% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million units, this came in above the expectations from housing analysts

• DOW down .34% / S&P down .40%

• Today is the birthday of the world's oldest living person, Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom, who has turned 116 years old

Bonus: A cool look at the number of unicorns in each country

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Quote of the day: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” —Albert Einstein

Have a great night!

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