National Guard troops in DC are now armed, defense official says

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to cancel more than $780 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The Trump administration sought to cut the funds saying they advanced “gender ideology extremism” and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

In a splintered ruling, the majority continued to block the Trump administration’s anti-DEI directive on future funding decisions. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s three liberals who would have blocked the funding cuts.

In a lengthy dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized her colleagues for overusing the high court’s emergency appeals process.

“Stated simply: With potentially life-saving scientific advancements on the line, the Court turns a nearly century-old statute aimed at remedying unreasoned agency decisionmaking into a gauntlet rather than a refuge,” she wrote.

Administration officials claim the terminated studies fulfill the president's executive order to root out "DEI" initiatives across government.

Public health groups, backed by the ACLU, insist they are critical projects that have undergone rigorous peer review.

A district court determined the cancellations were "arbitrary and capricious, and unlawful" and put them on hold pending the outcome of litigation.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with President Donald Trump on Thursday, according to representatives from both leaders.

Carney "had a productive and wide-ranging conversation" with Trump where they "discussed current trade challenges, opportunities, and shared priorities in a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S.," according to Canadian officials.

"The leaders also discussed how to build on the President’s leadership to support long-term peace and security for Ukraine and Europe," the officials added.

-ABC News' Aleem Agha and Will Gretsky

The Trump administration will suspend public White House tours due to the construction that is scheduled to start soon on a new ballroom, multiple Congressional offices told ABC News Thursday.

Spokespeople for the official websites for several of these members said they were told by the White House that this pause would start in September and tours could be postponed "indefinitely."

The offices gave various reasons for the pause on tours, including "construction projects," "extensive renovations" and "because of construction on the new White House ballroom."

All tours of the White House are scheduled through a visitor's member of Congress.

The website for Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., reads: "Unfortunately, the Trump Administration recently announced that it would pause all public tours of the White House beginning in September to accommodate construction projects. We apologize for any inconvenience to those who have submitted tour requests for this period, and will share further updates as soon as additional guidance is available."

Another office said they had reached out to the White House after the Washington Post initially reported that tours would be suspended.

Another congressional office said they were told White House tours were not immediately barred but rather would halt at the start of September.

A White House liason "confirmed that we can still book tours through the end of August, but they have cancelled all September tours. They said that they'll give more info after Labor Day," an aide told ABC News. A separate congressional office also said they were waiting for a more "formal announcement from the visitor's office" about how to move forward with scheduling public East Wing tours.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin, Ben Siegel, John Parkinson, Michelle Stoddart and Isabella Murray.</p>

As the redistricting battle heats up after Texas passed their new congressional maps favoring Republicans, President Donald Trump is saying that Missouri is "now IN."

"We’re going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!" Trump wrote on his social media platform.

The post comes as California's Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to change their maps to favor Democrats, with the California state legislature set to meet on Thursday. Trump has also put pressure on other states, including Indiana, to redraw their districts to favor Republicans.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart