Tuesday morning news: July 29, 2025

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Trump moves up deadline for Russia » President Trump says he intends to shorten the 50-day deadline he gave Russia’s Vladimir Putin to reach a peace with Ukraine.

TRUMP:  I'm gonna make a new deadline of about 10, uh, 10 or 12 days from today. There's no reason of waiting.

The president said he sees no point in giving the Kremlin until Early September when there is—in his words—“no progress being made.” He added that he is disappointed in Putin.

TRUMP:  I'm not so interested in talking anymore. He's, uh, he talks, we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversations. And then, uh, people die the following night in a, with a missile going into a town and hitting, I mean, recently, I guess the nursing home, but they hit other things. Whatever they hit, people die.

Trump has said that once the deadline expires, the United States will implement secondary tariffs on countries that do business with Moscow.

That could further isolate Russia and deal a heavy blow to its economy.

Trump meets with Starmer » Trump’s remarks came as he spoke alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. The two leaders met on Monday on a range of issues, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The prime minister told reporters:

STARMER:  It's an absolute catastrophe. And nobody, nobody wants to see that. So we've gotta get to that ceasefire and, uh, thank you, Mr. President for leading, um, on that.

For his part, President Trump said the U.S. is sending food and supplies to Israel for civilians in Gaza and he expects Israel to take it from there.

TRUMP:  I want them to make sure they get the food open. I wanna make sure they get the food. Every ounce of food I think you want to say. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Because that food isn’t being delivered.

Also in Scotland Monday, European Union Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said a new trade agreement between the US and the EU is a big win for both sides.

SEFCOVIC:  If I were to sum up this EU-US agreement in one sentence, I would say it brings renewed stability and opens door to strategic collaboration.

And he said he hopes it will be a stepping stone for a larger agreement in the future.

US-Chinese officials meet » Meantime in Sweden.

U.S. and Chinese officials met Monday in Stockholm, in a push to extend a trade truce that is set to expire two weeks from today. They’re hoping to buy more time to reach a wide-ranging trade agreement.

Negotiators met for more than five hours.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said the president is on a hot streak, closing trade deals with the EU, Japan, and Indonesia.

COTTON:  Of course, the difference there is that those are all friendly allied countries, uh, or the European Union itself. Mm-hmm. China's an adversary.

Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the U.S. has a number of objectives in negotiations with Beijing.

COTTON:  We want them to open up their markets. We want them to quit using things like critical minerals or other uh, items to try to get leverage over the United States politically. At the same time, while we need to build up our own capacity to produce those critical items so they can’t have that leverage over us.

American officials say those objectives are a matter of national security.

U.S. officials are hoping to lay the groundwork for a high-level summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this year.

The Trump administration says it has temporarily eased some export controls, including restrictions on high-tech chips, as a goodwill gesture. However…

Both sides remain far apart on core issues like overproduction in China’s steel and electric vehicle sectors and U.S. limits on advanced tech exports.

Walmart knife attack latest » A Michigan prosecutor has filed a terrorism charge against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart over the weekend.

Prosecutor Noelle Moggenberg says the rarely used terrorism charge fits because the attack near Traverse City was intended to “put fear in the entire community."

MOGGENBERG:  Clearly this is one of the, uh, most serious crimes, uh, that, that someone can commit in the state of Michigan, and it has a huge impact on public safety.

Michigan created the terrorism charge more than 20 years ago in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

The 42-year-old suspect Bradford Gille also faces 11 counts of assault with intent to murder.

Local law enforcement is praising the actions of citizens who stepped in to stop the attacker. This recording captures when a man armed with a concealed handgun intervened:

AUDIO (Walmart attack): Throw the knife down! Throw it away!

The suspect was reportedly homeless with a history of substance abuse and mental illness.

Congo church attack » Families are mourning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a horrific terrorist attack. WORLD’s Paul Butler reports:

PAUL BUTLER: Islamist extremists stormed into a church in the city of Komanda on Sunday, gunning down at least 38 worshipers.

They also killed five others in a nearby village, abducted several people and set fire to homes and businesses.

The ISIS-affiliated terror group calls itself the Allied Democratic Forces.

It has frequently attacked Christians, peacekeeping forces, and other aid workers.

Earlier this month the group carried out another attack in two eastern provinces, killing more than 80 people.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the Department of Justice, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and 2016 election interference claims. Plus, a member of parliament calls England back to its Christian roots.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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