Trump’s helicopter flights to resume from Ellipse, breaking South Lawn tradition

July 14, 2026 at 1:50 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

The park south of the White House will become a temporary landing zone for the president’s Marine One flights, which have been on hold for two months because of construction.

Preparations have begun for installing a landing zone in the Ellipse. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

By Dan Diamond, Jake Spring and Dan Lamothe

President Donald Trump is set to resume his helicopter departures from Washington as soon as Wednesday — but by using the Ellipse, a park south of the projects that have rendered the White House lawn unusable, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration plans.

US Russia sanctions bill eases threat of tariffs on China and India

2026-07-14T19:07:36.824Z / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with journalists to comment on new U.S. sanctions targeting two major Russia’s oil producers, as well as other international issues, in Moscow, Russia, October 23, 2025. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Revised bill caps potential tariffs at 100%, only for top five buyers of Russian oil and gas
• Bill would let Trump waive sanctions if he deems it in the US national interest
• Trump said Iran and Hezbollah-related provisions could be added

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – U.S. senators on Tuesday unveiled an updated version of the Russia sanctions bill, championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which ‌eases the original proposal’s tariff threat on China, India and other importers of Russian oil and gas.

The bill, backed by both Republican and Democratic senators, seeks to impose sanctions on Russian officials and to use tariffs to pressure China and India to reduce their dependence on Russia as an energy supplier.

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Graham, who died suddenly on Saturday, had announced during a trip to ​Ukraine just a day earlier that he had reached an agreement with Republican President Donald Trump to move forward with the bill, more than ​a year after it was introduced.

Senate aides said there were 26 co-sponsors for the bill, and they expected more within ⁠several hours, expressing optimism about its chances of passage. “We’re pretty confident on its path,” one aide said.

The bill is changed from the original version introduced by ​Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, in April 2025.

The new version of the measure eases tariffs that could be placed on ​third-party buyers of Russian oil and natural gas to a maximum of 100% on the top five purchasers, from the previous proposal’s blanket 500%.

It also allows an exception for countries which import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and which are taking significant steps to reduce those imports, which could exempt Japan, France, Hungary and Belgium.

The top five purchasers ​of Russian crude are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan, and the top importers of Russian natural gas are China, France, Japan, Hungary and Belgium, the ​aides said.

The measure also imposes sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers that do not depend on Western maritime services, on Russian financial institutions including the Central Bank of the ‌Russian Federation, ⁠and on Russia’s largest state-owned energy projects, including Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 1, 2 and 3.

In addition, the new version includes a provision that allows Trump to waive the sanctions if he deems it in the U.S. national interest to do so.

BUY IN FROM EVERYBODY

Asked about the softening of some of the provisions from the original bill, one of the Senate aides noted the months of negotiations that had gone into getting a deal with Trump.

“This is the only product ​that currently has buy-in from everybody and ​is likely the only product that ⁠is going to move forward and put pressure on Russia the way we would all like to get,” the aide said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions surrounding the bill were confidential.

Trump told reporters at the White ​House earlier on Tuesday that sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah might be added to the bill, saying it would ​be a “very big thing” ⁠if those measures were added.

Blumenthal expressed caution, however, about adding new targets in the bill. “With all due respect to the president, he has approved this bill, and we should move forward with this bill rather than opening it, in my view, to other potential targets,” Blumenthal told reporters.

Asked about Trump’s comment, a second Senate aide said the ⁠bill exposes ​countries such as Iran that work with the Russian defense industrial base to sanctions and tariffs.

Trump ​also expressed optimism that the bill would pass and become law.

“This is in honor of Lindsey. This was his thing. He wanted this more than anything. You know how he felt, and there’s ​a good chance that it gets done,” Trump said.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Timothy Gardner; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and David Ljunggren; Editing by Edmund Klamann

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Fired Election Assistance Commissioner on what the dismissal of the agency’s leadership means for November midterms

3:57 PM EDT, Tue July 14, 2026 / By Margaret Given, CNN

Fired Election Assistance Commissioner on what the dismissal of the agency’s leadership means for November midterms

CNN’s Brianna Keilar talks to Thomas Hicks, one of the leaders of the Election Assistance Commission fired by Trump last week. Hicks details the implications of the dismissal of the agency’s leadership for voters and the midterm elections. Hicks warns, “if this had happened in Russia, Cuba, there would be an alarm being set, but it’s happening in America and there should be more people outraged.”

5:46 • Source: CNN

US judge blocks Trump administration’s visa limits for social media researchers

July 14, 2026 7:16 PM UTC Updated 43 mins ago / Reuters

Jul 4, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of an American flag waved by a fan before a game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Colin Hubbard-Imagn Images Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

July 14 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday ​blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a policy ​that targets foreign ​nationals who study disinformation ⁠and hate ​speech on social media ​for visa denials and deportation.

Chief U.S. District ​Judge James Boasberg ​in Washington sided with ‌the ⁠Coalition for Independent Technology Research in finding that the ​administration’s ​policy ⁠likely unlawfully burdens the speech ​of non-citizen ​researchers ⁠in the United States in violation ⁠of ​the U.S. ​Constitution’s First Amendment.

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Reporting by ​Nate Raymond in Boston

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trump’s tax immunity could be on shaky ground

July 14, 2026 at 2:11 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

A judge accused the president of abusing the court system to get it.

President Donald Trump sued the IRS and received immunity from tax audits, and now a judge is questioning the whole process that led to such a controversial deal. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Analysis by Amber Phillips

Did President Donald Trump sue the IRS earlier this year specifically to get tax immunity for himself and his family?

A federal judge raised that possibility this week. Trump yanked his lawsuit against the IRS from her court this spring and made his own agreement with the government he runs in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. Under the terms of the agreement, the IRS would not audit Trump or his family for past tax returns. This is the same deal that created a nearly $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of politicized prosecutions that drew interest from Capitol rioters.

After Lindsey Graham’s death, sister joins long list of relatives who replaced late family members in Congress

July 14, 2026 2:12pm EDT / Fox News

Graham’s sister joins Julia Letlow, Adelita Grijalva and others in a long tradition of family congressional succession

By Robert McGreevy, Fox News

Trey Gowdy emotionally shares his thoughts on Darlene Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, being sworn in as interim senator.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Following the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s younger sister, Darline Graham, to fill his seat for the remainder of his term, continuing a legacy of family members stepping in to take the reins of power from their kin.

When Darline is sworn in Tuesday afternoon, she will become the latest example of a U.S. lawmaker sliding into a seat vacated by a deceased family member.

Rep. Julia Letlow

Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., is a favorite of President Donald Trump and has his backing in her ongoing campaign to represent Louisiana in the U.S. Senate.

“DID YOU CALL 911?” TUBERVILLE RECOUNTS GRAHAM’S FRANTIC FINAL PHONE CALL

Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., attended a news conference with Republican lawmakers in the Capitol Visitor Center on Jan. 20, 2022, in Washington, D.C.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Her political career began years ago when Julia’s husband, Luke Letlow, died from COVID-19 complications in December 2020, just over a month after residents of Louisiana’s 5th district had voted him in as their congressman.

Though Luke Letlow was never sworn into office, his widow picked up the torch, running in and winning the 2021 special election to fill the House seat.

GRAHAM ALLY RIPS ‘THIRSTY’ REPUBLICANS JOCKEYING TO REPLACE LATE SENATOR

Rep. Adelita Grijalva

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was also thrust into the halls of Congress after tragedy struck her loved one.

Grijalva’s father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., died of lung cancer in March 2025. Raúl had already announced that he would not be seeking re-election after a 22-year stint in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., speaks before the signing of a moratorium on mining in the area of the Grand Canyon in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2012.(Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Six months later, Adelita Grijalva won a special election for her father’s seat, defeating Republican candidate Daniel Butierez Sr. by more than 40,000 votes, according to results published by the Arizona secretary of state.

TRUMP REVEALS WHO HE’S EYEING TO REPLACE LINDSEY GRAHAM

Though Democrats cried foul when House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., initially delayed her swearing in, she officially became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 12, 2025.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., poses for a photo with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., during a ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol Building on Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Erica Lee Carter

Former Rep. Erica Lee Carter, D-Texas, also ascended into Congress as the result of a parent’s death.

Carter’s mother, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, was a progressive stalwart as the representative from Texas’ 18th Congressional District, which includes parts of Houston, from 1995 until her 2024 death.

President Joe Biden takes a selfie with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, after delivering the State of the Union address on Feb. 7, 2023, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.(Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images)

Though Jackson Lee won the Democratic primary for the 2024 election in March 2024, she died of pancreatic cancer just four months later.

The Democratic Party, including Erica Lee Carter, initially rallied around former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to replace Jackson Lee in a November special election. But shortly after endorsing Turner, Lee Carter changed her mind and decided to run to complete her mother’s term. Turner dropped out, and Lee Carter won the election by nearly 100,000 votes, according to results published by the Texas secretary of state.

Rep. Erica Lee Carter talks about her mother during the dedication of 1111 Fannin in honor of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston, May 15, 2025.(Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Lee Carter chose not to run for re-election, finishing her mother’s term in January 2025 and choosing to cede the party’s nomination for the seat to Turner.

Though Turner won the seat and was sworn in Jan. 3, 2025, he served for two months, dying of bone cancer in March.

Mary Bono

Arguably the most famous example of a spouse stepping in for a deceased partner is the tale of Sonny Bono, who for years toured the U.S. with his then-wife, pop icon Cher, as one half of the iconic musical duo Sonny and Cher.

Sonny Bono (1935-1998), an American singer-songwriter, producer, actor and politician and his wife at the time, Cher, an American singer, actress and television personality, were an American rock duo in the 1960s and 1970s.(Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)

Bono and Cher would eventually divorce and, after marrying and divorcing a third wife, Bono wed his fourth and final spouse, Mary Whitaker, in 1986.

Sonny ran for U.S. Congress as a Republican in 1994, winning a seat as the representative for California’s 44th district.

But when Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998, his wife, then known as Mary Bono, ran in a special election to fill his seat. Mary Bono ended up serving 15 years in Congress, losing her seat to Democratic challenger Raul Ruiz in 2013 after her district was redrawn.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., co-founder of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse, prepares to testify before a Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing in Dirksen July 18, 2012.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Donald Payne Jr.

In New Jersey, former Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., replaced his father, former Rep. Donald Payne Sr., D-N.J., in Congress.

Payne Sr. had represented New Jersey’s 10th district for 23 years, a tenure that was cut short when he succumbed to a fight with colon cancer in March 2012.

Donald Payne Jr. ran in the special election to replace his father and won.

Darline Graham

McMaster’s decision to tap Darline Graham to replace her brother will make her the first female U.S. senator in South Carolina history.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hugs sister Darline Graham on stage as he announces his candidacy for U.S. president during an outdoor event for supporters on June 1, 2015, in Central, S.C.(Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

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When their parents died in 1976 and 1977, Lindsey became his sister’s legal guardian. Accepting McMaster’s nomination for her to replace her brother, Darline vowed to return the favor of his lifetime of taking care of her.

“Lindsey has always been there for me. And, now, I will be there for him,” she told a crowd at South Carolina’s statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, Monday.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401120130112

Daylight Saving Time could be year-round if new bill passes

2026-07-14T18:40:43.511Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/14/politics/house-vote-daylight-savings-time

The US House will vote Tuesday on a measure to enact year-round Daylight Saving Time across the country, springing Congress forward into an issue that has long stumped lawmakers and spurred impassioned pleas by parents, farmers and others with sharply divergent views.

If the measure passes, it will head to the Senate for approval before going to the president for his signature — though its chances in the upper chamber remain unclear. Proponents argue it would spare Americans from having to change their clocks, disrupting young children’s sleep schedules and arguably causing more seasonal depression. But detractors say it could have economic consequences, particularly for farmers who would have to wrestle with later sunrises.

President Donald Trump has long decried the semiannual ritual of Americans changing their clocks, though his position on whether the country should default to standard or saving time has evolved.

He cheered Tuesday’s bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, when it advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May. “Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks,” he said in a Truth Social post.

“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice-yearly production. It will also be a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!” the post said.

Many states are ready to embrace the shift. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states have enacted legislation to switch to year-round Daylight Saving Time if Congress allows it. But the bill also allows states to opt out if they act before it takes effect, which could affect residents in Hawaii, much of Arizona, and various US territories who observe standard time.

Like Trump, congressional lawmakers have long taken an interest in passing laws to “ditch the switch” and make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The issue has generated zealous lobbying and strong advocacy from interest groups including the golf industry, filmmakers, farmers and educators. Support and opposition do not fall on clean party lines.

Proponents of Tuesday’s measure argue dropping the clock change would come with a raft of benefits, including sparing Americans from losing an hour of sleep in the spring and other inconveniences. They argue more work hours in sunlight means less seasonal depression, more recreational and economic activity, and less crime in the evenings.

“There’s a lot of science on this, and really the question is, why do we still change our clocks? That’s a question many of us ask every time we have to do it, and it’s getting harder and harder to justify,” Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone said at a House committee hearing Monday.

But detractors of the change make the same arguments — pointing to economic benefits and the health of Americans. Lawmakers hailing from agricultural districts warn farmers could be devastated by long winter mornings that see the sun rise later, especially in districts where some won’t see sunlight until after 9 a.m. And some advocates argue it could endanger the lives of students who would commute to school in the dark.

And there are some lawmakers who may favor abandoning the clock change but say adopting permanent standard time makes more sense than year-round Daylight Saving Time.

“If we’re going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science and prioritize Americans’ health, particularly that of the children,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said, speaking in favor of switching to permanent standard time at a committee hearing Monday.

Lawmakers’ mixed feelings about the issue largely mirror those of the American public. Polling has showed Americans don’t like changing their clocks but can’t agree on a solution.

“I’m a little undecided as to where I go on this bill, but we’ve heard loud and clear that people don’t want to change the clocks,” Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy, who represents parts of Buffalo, New York, said at Monday’s committee hearing,

Congress has previously tried to move to permanent Daylight Saving Time, adopting a measure in 1974 as the US was experiencing an energy crisis. But lawmakers quickly reversed course amid deep unpopularity — a fact that opponents of Tuesday’s bill regularly reference.

The episode hasn’t deterred lawmakers from toying with the idea again.

In 2022, the Senate passed a version of a daylight savings bill, but it did not get a floor vote in the House. A bipartisan group of senators in 2025 sought unanimous consent to pass a similar measure, but were thwarted by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

Trump plans prime-time speech on 2020 election allegations

2026-07-14T16:58:36.590Z / The Washington Post

President Donald Trump is planning a prime-time address Thursday that will use findings from reexamined government files to argue that the country’s election infrastructure has vulnerabilities, according to two people briefed on the plan.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that the speech would concern voting machines but declined to elaborate. “It will concern that subject, and we’ll have a couple of other things to say, also,” he said. “But I’d rather save it. But it’s really big news.”

The president could use the address to press his long-standing allegations of foreign interference in the 2020 election, the results of which he has never accepted. The speech, in part, will highlight claims that China accessed U.S. voter data, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that has not been made public. Trump is also expected to discuss findings related to Venezuela, they said.

It was not clear Tuesday whether the major broadcast networks would provide airtime for the speech. As of late morning Tuesday, the White House had not made a request for air time.

The plans are fluid and could change. “Anonymous sources are speculating about what President Trump will say during his speech on Thursday evening,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “The truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in.”

The plan came after a confidential White House briefing on Monday to review findings from the Trump administration’s broad reexamination of old FBI records,including from the 2020 election,one of the people said. Trump then announced the speech on social media, without specifying the subject.

In recent weeks, FBI Director Kash Patel has dispatched hundreds of agents to help the bureau’s Atlanta field office review 700 files by July 17, according to an internal FBI obtained by The Washington Post. Trump has long argued that he unfairly lost the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, Georgia, which includes Atlanta, and, despite a lack of evidence, the FBI field office has been investigating those claims.

Trump is making the prime-time announcement at the urging of advisers including Bill Pulte, the acting director of national intelligence, and John Solomon, a former conservative journalist who temporarily joined the White House to help review government records for release. Solomon has long questioned investigations surrounding Trump and has pushed for the release of FBI investigatory files related to alleged election interference.

Since Trump returned to office, multiple federal agencies have pursued allegations of tampering with the 2020 vote that had previously been investigated and rejected.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in March 2021 that there was no foreign interference that altered votes or manipulated machines in the presidential election. The agencies said Russian and Iranian spies did try to influence Americans. They also said China considered but did not go through with efforts to try to affect the outcome of the election, a finding that was the subject of internal dispute at the time.

In Trump’s second term, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, under Tulsi Gabbard until last month, has taken steps including examining voting machines used in Puerto Rico looking for cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

In September, the contract firm Mojave Research completed a report for the national intelligence director’s office based on forensic analysis of digital voting software obtained from Puerto Rico. The report concluded that software vulnerabilities made the machines highly vulnerable to hacking, according to two people familiar with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss findings that have not been made public. The Mojave analysts found no evidence that exploitation took place, they said.

The report’s release had been delayed by the White House, the people said, but it could come this week.

In January, the FBI and Justice Department seized 2020 ballots that were preserved by a court order in Fulton County. Investigators also obtained records including ballot images from the Republican-led Arizona Senate’s review of the 2020 results in that state’s largest county. And the FBI in recent months interviewed current and former election officials about the 2020 election in Milwaukee.

Trump lost all three of those swing states in 2020. Recounts and court reviews have upheld those results, even as Trump has spent years falsely claiming the election was rigged.

The Arizona and Georgia investigations came at the instigation of Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who worked on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 results at the time and advised him in the White House in 2025.

Trump has taken a series of actions in recent months aimed at influencing how elections are carried out. Most have been blocked in court or otherwise stymied.

Last week, Trump disbanded a bipartisan commission that helps states and localities administer elections. He also recently signed executive orders designed to limit mail ballots and to require states to verify voters’ citizenship with federal data. Those orders have been halted in court. Judges noted the Constitution gives the power to run elections to the states and Congress, not the president.

The Justice Department has sued to get copies of state voter rolls but so far has lost those cases. And the administration’s efforts to allow states to check voter eligibility in a massive federal database has been severely hampered in a separate case.

Trump has demanded that Congress pass a law to require proof of citizenship and ID to vote in this year’s midterms, but Senate Republicans say they lack enough votes. To escalate the pressure, Trump refused to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at making housing more affordable, allowing the legislation to become law without his signature.

Election officials and voting rights advocates have been bracing for months for the administration to release information that purports to cast doubt on how elections are conducted.

“Few things can be more predictable than this coming,” said Lawrence Norden, vice president of elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, a voting rights organization that has sued the administration over some of its election policies.

Any electronic system has vulnerabilities, but states are vigilant about making sure their outcomes are correct using “layered defenses,” Norden said. States conduct audits and recounts to ensure accuracy, and 98 percent of votes in the midterm elections will be on paper ballots that can be reviewed, he said.

“Unless you have that context of the security that’s already in place, I think some of the kind of things that they’re throwing against the wall can be very confusing to the public,” he said.

Some Trump White House officials in 2020 believed China favored Joe Biden in that year’s election and doubted the intelligence assessment that the country would not seek to interfere and had no preference, according to a former official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

That view was shared by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who is currently serving as CIA director.

Ratcliffe “disagreed with the established analytic line on China, insisting ‘we are missing China’s influence in the US and that Chinese actions ARE intended to affect the election.,’” according to a January 2021 report to Congress from an analytic ombudsman for the intelligence community.

Warren Strobel and Scott Nover contributed to this report.

Trump says FBI is “wasting their time” if they’re investigating “conspiracy theories” about Lindsey Graham’s death

July 14, 2026 / 1:02 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington— President Trump said the FBI is “wasting their time” if they’re looking into “conspiracy theories” about Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death, tamping down speculation that anything other than Graham’s heart issues led to his death at age 71 over the weekend.

In the Oval Office Tuesday, a reporter asked the president if he was aware of why the FBI was involved. FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday that the FBI was “assisting local authorities.”

“Well, I don’t know why, because I think, you know, he had a problem,” the president said of Graham. “His father had a very similar problem, as you know.” Graham’s father died of a heart attack at 69.

The medical examiner’s preliminary findings indicated Graham’s death was caused by an aortic dissection, a tear in the wall of the aorta.

“I wish he took better care of himself,” the president said, adding that Graham’s condition was “very hard to detect.”

Mr. Trump, who just turned 80, said he had doctors from the White House explain to him what likely happened to Graham.

Multiple sources who spoke with Graham shortly before his death told CBS News that he had complained of chest pains.

blob:https://www.cbsnews.com/a5429ce4-0cd7-43f3-b35e-1568fbf80d91

Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, and his hardline stances against Russia and Iran prompted speculation online that perhaps a foreign actor may have been involved in his death — something Mr. Trump sought to dismiss.

“So I don’t see a lot of evil there,” the president said. “I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along. And I don’t think the FBI — I think the FBI’s wasting their time if they’re doing that.”

CVS settles with FTC, agrees to count TrumpRx drug purchases towards insurance

2026-07-14T18:23:12.848Z / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to an event to unveil the TrumpRx drug discount site, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 5, 2026. REUTERS/Al Drago Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• Settlement would count TrumpRx purchases toward some plan deductibles
• CVS must offer clients an option to opt out of rebate payment models, the FTC said
• CVS said it would cap insulin out-of-pocket costs at $25 per month

NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) – CVS Health’s

(CVS.N)
Caremark has finalized a ‌settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in which it agreed to curb use of after-market discounts known as rebates and count consumers’ TrumpRx purchases toward their deductibles, an FTC spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Similar to Cigna’s settlement with the FTC earlier this year, the deal would curb practices critics say contribute to high drug costs. ​It would also require CVS’ Caremark pharmacy benefit manager to include a patient’s payments through the TrumpRx drug website toward the ​deductibles some of its health plans require, once regulations are in place to facilitate the TrumpRx program.

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The settlement ⁠is expected to bring billions of dollars in savings on drug prices, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

“The FTC under President ​Trump won’t stand for anticompetitive behavior that drives up prices for American consumers,” Ferguson said.

U.S. President Donald Trump launched TrumpRx.gov, a website offering hundreds ​of generic and branded drugs at a discount, in February, with a particular focus on connecting consumers with low prices for highly popular weight-loss drugs from Eli Lilly

(LLY.N)
and Novo Nordisk

(NOVOb.CO)
.

Health plan deductibles are the minimum spend members must reach before leveraging their coverage. TrumpRx.gov sends cash-pay customers to drugmaker websites for discounted drugs, ​but has operated outside of insurance, limiting its value for some American consumers.

CVS must also provide an option to clients that allows them to ​opt out of rebate payment models, a spokesperson for the FTC said. These rebates are paid by drugmakers to the pharmacy benefit manager and may or ‌may not ⁠be passed on to the plan sponsor or consumer after a certain drug is dispensed.

Small pharmacies would also be given the option to be reimbursed for the actual cost of drugs they dispense plus a fee, in a bid to address complaints that pharmacy benefit managers do not fully reimburse independent local pharmacies.

“Today’s agreement advances and reinforces the changes we have already put in place and ensures affordability for families and ​patients across the country,” said Ed ​DeVaney, a president at Caremark.

The decision ⁠to eliminate rebates will vary based on the client and how individual employers choose to structure their own pharmacy benefit, a spokesperson for CVS said. But the company aims to encourage its clients to pass ​through discounts to individual members, CVS said in a release on Tuesday.

The FTC’s original lawsuit, launched in ​2024, said Caremark, ⁠Cigna’s

(CI.N)
Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth’s OptumRx

(UNH.N)
forced patients to pay higher prices for insulin.

CVS reached a proposed settlement with the regulator in March, and the FTC said the deal was similar to one with Express Scripts.

Regulators have said the rebate model incentivizes companies to raise list prices and ultimately steers ⁠customers to ​pricier drugs.

Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate the price of drugs with manufacturers, on behalf of plan ​sponsors, such as employers.

CVS will also enhance its reporting on the price of drugs and member payments it receives, shift to a fee-based compensation structure, and cap out-of-pocket cost ​of insulin at $25 per month, the company said.

Reporting by Amina Niasse and Jody Godoy in New York; editing by Caroline Humer and Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.