The Latest: Blanche's assertion of Trump tax audit immunity remains in place

In negotiations with Republican senators whose support he needs to be confirmed as attorney general, Todd Blanche formally rescinded a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies. But a sweeping audit immunity plan conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization remains in place — given new parameters to appease the senators but still with the potential to wipe away millions of dollars of Trump’s back taxes.

Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” in moving to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool . Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said in response to the move that “you better not go before a federal judge and make allegations you can't back up.” Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were later seen entering the White House.

The president also said on Monday that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.

Here is the latest:

As Trump flies to California he’ll likely throw barbs at the governor, eyed as a likely candidate for the next Democratic presidential nomination.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said the president plans to “draw a sharp contrast between his commonsense agenda and the radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom.”

Trump routinely mocks Newsom using a derogatory nickname. Newsom taunts the president in turn.

The Democrat wrote on social media on Monday that California is raising its minimum wage next year to $17.40 an hour, more than double the federal minimum. “Donald Trump and the GOP are still defending a $7.25 minimum wage while workers scrape by. Pitiful,” Newsom wrote.

Trump ’s rare visit to California and Nevada is meant to draw contrasts with Democrats on the economy, border security and crime in support of Republicans in November elections that will determine whether party control of Congress.

But he’s struggled to connect with voters on the economy as elevated inflation and feelings of uncertainty have overshadowed the stock market gains he often talks about, along with a low national unemployment rate .

Trump is headlining a Republican National Committee fundraising dinner at a golf club his family owns in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump will discuss the economy at Red Rock casino in Las Vegas.

Only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy in an AP-NORC poll conducted in late July, while 69% characterized the state of the economy as “poor.”

Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February .

The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports produced by forced labor. The new tariffs took effect just as the clock ran out on temporary tariffs President Donald Trump had turned to after the Supreme Court defeat.

“After losing at the Supreme Court, the administration is once again trying to illegally raise taxes on families and businesses with a new round of tariffs,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Joining New York in the lawsuit announced Monday are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

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Bank accounts held by Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend.

The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies shortly after he was sworn into office a second time. Trump alleges that Capital One illegally closed his accounts for political reasons, following the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

Capital One wants the lawsuit dismissed.

“The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance,” the bank said in the court filing. The term “AML” is an abbreviation for anti-money laundering.

Trump has sued Capital One, as well as JPMorgan Chase , for allegedly debanking him after he left office in 2021. Debanking occurs when banks shut down customer accounts because they believe they pose financial, legal or reputational risks to the banks.

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Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war — but this time, he insists it’s different.

The president on Monday said that new talks between Washington and Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to forge a deal and avoid an escalation of U.S. strikes on the country.

Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said he expects negotiations will focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and create a pathway for Iran to address the United States’ concerns about its nuclear program. He told reporters they would likely learn about the status of the negotiations “today or tomorrow.”

“The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization,” the Republican president said. “And that will take a little while.”

While Trump has reveled in the U.S. military decimating layers of Tehran’s leadership and devastating its air force and navy, Iran is betting it can outlast Trump as he faces diminished stockpiles of munitions and the difficulty of executing a war that’s unpopular with the American electorate ahead of November’s midterm election.

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Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” in moving to drop charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool .

Speaking at an unrelated Oval Office event, Trump ducked questions about whether he’d fire Pirro, a former Fox News host and longtime ally he handpicked as top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital. But the president kept up his drumbeat of sharp criticism, saying he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism.

“Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question after he signed an executive order for military spouses. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

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In negotiations with Republican senators whose support he needs to be confirmed as attorney general, Todd Blanche formally rescinded a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate Trump’s political allies.

But a sweeping audit immunity plan conferred on the president, his sons and the Trump Organization remains in place — given new parameters to appease the senators but still with the potential to wipe away millions of dollars of Trump’s back taxes.

In a document Blanche sent to the lawmakers Sunday, he said the audit immunity, struck as part of a deal to resolve the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, would not protect the president from the examination of future tax filings. Instead, he noted, it “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the lawsuit’s settlement.

For the holdout GOP lawmakers who opposed both the fund and the audit deal, those assurances were enough and are expected to clear the way for Blanche’s confirmation to serve as attorney general.

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