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Trump admin live updates: Trump, Schumer trade barbs over Senate nominations

The Senate voted on some of Trump's nominations before the August recess.

Last Updated: August 3, 2025, 9:44 PM EDT

The Senate on Saturday considered some of President Donald Trump's nominations before the August recess.

Earlier this week, Trump issued an executive order slapping tariffs on many of America's trading partners but the new duties are set to go into effect in seven days.

Trump also continues to face questions over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his relationship with the accused sex trafficker.

Aug 03, 2025, 4:25 PM EDT

Hassett suggests 8 trade deals with other countries are locked in

White House national economic adviser Kevin Hassett suggested Sunday that the eight trade deals that the U.S. has secured are locked in when asked if those tariff rates could change.

“I think the these we have eight deals that cover about 55% of world GDP with our biggest trading partners, the EU and Japan and Korea and so on. And I expect that those batters are more or less locked in, although there will have to be some, you know, dancing around the edges about exactly what we mean when we do this or that, for the deals that aren't ready yet, they're going to get the reciprocal rates soon, and then we would expect that there might continue to be negotiations with those countries,” Hasset told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council speaks with ABC News on "This Week" from Washington, April 6, 2025.
ABC News

When asked directly if those eight deals are secured, Hassett said Trump has the final decision but added the president likes those deals.

“Yeah, the president will decide what the president decides, but the president likes those deals. The Europeans like those deals, and they're absolutely, historically wonderful deals,” Hassett said.

When Trump first announced his rounds of tariffs in April, he backtracked when the market reacted to the announcement. Asked if a market reaction could prompt Trump to change these tariff rates, Hassett said the markets have already seen what is happening with the tariffs and are reacting well.

“The markets have seen what we're doing and celebrated them, and so I don't see how that would happen,” he said.

Asked directly if he was ruling out a change in tariff rates depending on how the markets reacted, Hassett said, “No, I would rule it out, because these are the final deals,” Hassett said.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Aug 03, 2025, 2:25 PM EDT

Johnson makes last-minute visit to Israel

House Speaker Mike Johnson made a last-minute trip to Israel with a small group of House Republicans.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks with the press on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 23, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The visit comes after Johnson scrapped his trip to address the Knesset in June due to the conflict with Iran.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller

Aug 03, 2025, 1:31 PM EDT

Greer suggests Aug. 12 tariff deadline for China could slide

Following trade talks with China in Sweden, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was asked if the Aug. 12 tariff deadline with China could slide. Greer said that’s under discussion.

“So that's what's under discussion right now, I would say that our conversations with the Chinese have been very positive. We have discussions at the staff level, at my level, you know, President Xi and President Trump have had conversations,” Greer told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Asked if any commitments came out of the meeting in Sweden between China and the U.S., Greer said yes, but did not give specific details, telling CBS that the conversation focused on rare earth magnets and minerals.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks during a television interview at the White House, Aug. 1, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP

“Yes, we talked about, and I won't go into detail, because they're, you know, confidential conversations between two governments, but they really focused on rare earth magnets and minerals,” Greer said. “China has put a global control on the world, and so for the United States, we're focused on making sure that the flow of magnets from supply chain can flow as freely as it did before the control and I'd say we're about halfway there.”

Greer was pressed about a recent Truth Social post from Trump about how Canada’s decision to back statehood for Palestine is going to make it hard for the U.S. to make a trade deal with the country. Asked what Canada’s decision on recognizing Palestine has anything to do with financial and trade agreements, Greer responded that the president has the power to do so in national emergencies.

“The President of the United States has his foreign affairs power, where he can manage relations under the Constitution with foreign countries. Congress delegated to the president the ability to take economic action in response to national emergencies,” Greer said.

“In the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, and, for example, the Treasury Department, they have a number of sanctions where they can actually cut off a country's trade with the United States, prohibit goods, cut them off from our financial system for geopolitical reasons. So, the fact that they can do that, almost certainly the President can do something that's not as expansive and just, and just put a fee on those goods, which is a which is a tariff,” Greer continued.

-ABC News Hannah Demissie

Aug 03, 2025, 12:51 PM EDT

Texas state House set to consider new congressional maps on Monday

The Texas state House is set on Monday to formally consider proposed new congressional maps, according to an updated House calendar posted Sunday after a scheduling committee met to set a date to put the bill with the maps on the floor.

The bill with the maps passed through the special legislative session’s redistricting committee on Saturday after a marathon and contentious public hearing on Friday where Democrats continued to rail against the maps.

Texas Democratic Rep. Jolanda Jones looks over a map during a hearing on the effort by Texas Republicans, backed by President Donald Trump, to redraw congressional lines in the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, Aug. 1, 2025.
Nuri Vallbona/Reuters

Republicans are celebrating how the maps are moving forward. State Rep. Cody Vasut, the Republican who chairs the redistricting committee, wrote on X on Saturday after the bill passed through committee, “Today, the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting passed HB 4, the #BigBeautifulMap, providing an opportunity for five more Republican congressional seats in Texas.”

Once the bill is fully voted out of the House, after other likely procedural votes and debates, it gets sent to the state Senate to go through the legislative process there.

-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim

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