The interview comes as the negotiators for the U.S. and
Iran are engaged in indirect peace talks to resolve a war that Trump began in late February, as Trump's demand that Congress pass a voter-ID bill has stalled defense and spending legislation in the House, as new jobs data shows a slowdown in hiring in June and with less than four months to go before the 2026 midterm elections.
The
Supreme Court earlier this week handed Trump a major win by ruling that he has the power to fire members of traditionally independent federal agencies, but thwarted the president's effort to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as she continues her lawsuit seeking to block him from firing her. The court also rejected Trump's bid to undo the right to birthright citizenship for children of immigrants.
On Tuesday, Trump's annual
financial disclosure report revealed how he had made hundreds of millions of dollars in 2025, his first year back in the White House, from proceeds of the sale of cryptocurrency tokens.
Restricting defense contractor stock buybacks picks up steam
Trump's idea to restrict defense contractors from buying back their own stock and paying dividends is picking up steam in Congress. The Senate Armed Services Committee incorporated a provision to write it into law into its version of the National Defense Authorization Act — a must-pass defense bill.
As written, contractors would need Pentagon approval to execute buybacks or pay dividends. The legislative text closely resembles an
executive order Trump issued in January. An amendment to add a similar provision to the House version of the NDAA didn't make it into the final bill.
Trump has not publicly leaned on Congress to approve the measure yet, but if he does, it would greatly improve its chances of becoming law. Advocacy groups representing Pentagon contractors are
lobbying hard to kill the proposal.
—Garrett Downs
Pirro touts indictment of Olympic canoeist David Hearn in Reflecting Pool vandalism case
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Thursday that a grand jury had indicted Olympian canoeist
David Hearn on a felony charge for allegedly destroying a piece of liner from the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall.
"This was a deliberate act to damage the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore, and have witnessed," Pirro said. "National Park employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands."
Hearn, 67, has said, "I didn't vandalize anything." He claims he reached down into the pool on June 19 to touch a piece of liner that had become partially detached.
Trump has made the renovation of the Reflecting Pool a top priority, and has claimed that its new "American flag blue" liner was intentionally damaged by vandals.
— Dan Mangan
White House $87.6 billion Iran supplemental is raising eyebrows on the Hill
The
White House in late June sent Congress an $87.6 billion supplemental funding request for the Iran war, a proposal that raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill and may be meeting with some opposition — and not just from Democrats. Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., immediately slammed the request, which would require congressional approval.
"President Trump launched a reckless and costly war with Iran — without authorization from Congress or the support of the American people — that he should never have started, and now, instead of doing anything to help families get by, he is asking taxpayers to pick up the tab and give him billions more to wage wars overseas," Murray said in a statement at the time.
—Justin Papp
Iran's Hormuz Strait toll plans become key dispute in negotiations with U.S.: Reports
Iran is intent on charging fees for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trade route that was choked off during the U.S.-Israeli war and remains at the center of ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, according to multiple reports.
The U.S. has floated the possibility of relinquishing some frozen Iranian funds in exchange for the Islamic republic abandoning its claims over the waterway, but Iran has so far refused, The Wall Street Journal
reported Thursday.
The monthslong war in Iran, launched by the U.S. and Israel in late February, led to last month's signing of a 60-day memorandum of understanding that paved the way for further talks on a permanent deal. But tensions remain high, with the sides exchanging fire at one point and continuing to publicly disagree about key issues.
Axios on Wednesday cited a U.S. official saying discussions in the Persian Gulf currently center on "how the Strait should be managed after [the memorandum expires]."
—Kevin Breuninger
Trump interview to follow lackluster jobs report
Trump's interview with CNBC has been teed up by some unwelcome economic news: The Labor Department reported a sudden
slowdown in U.S. job growth last month. Nonfarm payrolls for June increased by a seasonally adjusted 57,000 for the month, less than half of the Dow Jones forecast of 115,000. Job creation in May was also downwardly revised to 129,000, according to the government's latest monthly report.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% — but that was largely due to a decline in the labor force participation rate, suggesting fewer people in the U.S. are actively looking for work. The rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 61.5%, its lowest point since March 2021.
—Kevin Breuninger and Jeff Cox
<small>Source: CNBC</small>
