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USAID's wake, Trump sues LA and US dollar slumps

 
Today's POLITICS story

Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day

What happened
U.S. Agency for International Development employees gathered yesterday to mark the humanitarian and development organization's final day as an independent agency. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were among the officials who thanked the outgoing staffers via videoconference, while U2's Bono read a poem he had written about the agency and its gutting by the Trump administration. 

Who said what
President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 as a "peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad," The Associated Press said, and it was "one of the first and most fiercely targeted" agencies uprooted by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE operation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in March that the administration had slashed 83% of USAID programs, with the remaining ones to be absorbed into the State Department today.

Yesterday's farewell event was "billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks," said the AP, which viewed parts of the video. Obama told the staffers that dismantling USAID would "go down as a colossal mistake" that "hurts the most vulnerable" in the world and ultimately "hurts the United States."

"Is it in our interest that 25 million people who would have died now live?" said Bush, citing the estimated number of lives saved through his President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program. "I think it is." Bush's initiative retained "significant funding" after "bipartisan blowback from Congress" to steeper cuts, the AP said. But its "future, like much of U.S. foreign aid, is unclear," The New York Times said. "It's not left-wing rhetoric to feed the hungry, heal the sick," Bono said. "If this isn't murder, I don't know what is."

What next?
A study published in the journal The Lancet yesterday estimated that USAID prevented 91 million deaths in 133 countries between 2001 and 2021 and that its dismantling could lead to more than 14 million preventable deaths by 2030, including over 4.5 million young children. The State Department told the AP it would be introducing USAID's successor agency, called America First, this week, ensuring "proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests."

 
 
Today's IMMIGRATION story

Trump sues LA over immigration policies

What happened
The Trump administration sued Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the L.A. City Council yesterday over the city's sanctuary law, which prevents local law enforcement from using city resources to aid federal immigration actions. 

Who said what
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department in California's Central District federal court, alleges that L.A.'s sanctuary city law is unconstitutional and discriminatory in "treating federal immigration authorities differently than other law enforcement agents." Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, told the Los Angeles Times the lawsuit likely conflicts with the 10th Amendment by trying to force the city to use its resources on immigration enforcement.

City officials have accused President Donald Trump of "inflaming tensions" by sending the National Guard and Marines into the area to aid in unpopular ICE raids, "exacerbating a situation local authorities had under control," said Reuters. The lawsuit is part of Trump's "wider effort" to "crack down" on sanctuary cities, whose policies "have become an obstacle" to his deportation goals, said The Wall Street Journal.

What next?
Los Angeles city officials are "weighing their own lawsuit" against the White House that would bar federal immigration agents from "violating the constitutional rights of their constituents," said the Times. The city council will meet today to discuss that suit. 

 
 
Today's ECONOMY Story

Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high

What happened
Major U.S. stock indexes yesterday ended the first half of 2025 at new highs, erasing steep losses incurred after President Donald Trump announced unexpectedly aggressive tariffs in April. But the U.S. dollar has fared worse, suffering its "worst start to a year in more than half a century," The New York Times said. 

Who said what
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.6%, buoyed by a surge in AI investment and energy stocks, restrained inflation, a resilient job market and Trump's retreat from his most extreme tariffs. But while stocks have "recovered," the Times said, "the dollar has continued to slide," weakening more than 10% this year versus a basket of other major currencies.

The last time the dollar "weakened so much at the start of the year was 1973," after the U.S. made the "seismic shift" of delinking the dollar from gold, the Times said. "This time the seismic event" is Trump's trade war and "isolationist foreign policy." The combination of tariffs and Trump's pending jump in deficit spending have also made U.S. Treasuries, "traditionally a refuge for markets," volatile and "less attractive for overseas investors," Reuters said.

What next?
A weak dollar helps U.S. exporters, the Times said, but makes it "more expensive for Americans to travel abroad and less attractive for foreigners to invest in the United States," just as the government is "trying to borrow more money." Market analysts "see significant uncertainty for the second half of the year," The Washington Post said, unconvinced that the bull markets of 2023 and 2024 will continue for a third year.

 
 

It's not all bad

Every senior at Swanville High School who applies for a scholarship for post-secondary education gets one, courtesy of their neighbors. Since 1987, residents of Swanville, Minnesota, have raised money for the graduates by selling flowers, holding raffles and hosting chili cook-offs. In 1987, the average scholarship was $166. Today, it's $5,142. "It's this community saying, 'Go be great,'" student Zach Gapinski told KARE 11. "'Go do something cool and make a difference in the world.'"

 
 
Under the radar

While San Francisco has long been associated with an elite housing market, the city is now experiencing a resurgence in home sales thanks to the artificial intelligence boom. Luxury real estate agents are "seeing growing demand for ultra-high-end properties," according to a midyear report from Sotheby's.

More homes were sold "above $20 million in San Francisco in 2024 than in any other year in history," Sotheby's Chief Marketing Officer Bradley Nelson told Bloomberg. Most notable was a purchase by Steve Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, who paid "around $70 million" for a mansion, said The Wall Street Journal.

The flourishing AI sector is "going to be the next major source of wealth creation in the global economy" and has taken over central California, said Nelson. Silicon Valley, just 32 miles from San Francisco, is home to the headquarters of "hugely influential" companies like OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, said Robb Report.

Tech companies "increasingly organize structured secondary sales, also known as tender offers, which give employees and investors a chance to sell a portion of their shares," said The San Francisco Standard. And selling secondary shares has "become the way tech employees and investors turn paper wealth into cash" for homes. Given that AI looks primed to dominate the tech market for the foreseeable future, said Robb Report, such buyers are "pouring millions more into multiyear custom renovations, setting clear intentions to take up residence" in the city.

 
 
On this day

July 1, 2002

The International Criminal Court was officially established and began hearing cases. Located in The Hague, the Netherlands, the court remains the only permanent global court that can prosecute international crimes such as genocide. There have been 33 total cases before the ICC, resulting in 11 convictions.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Russia presses its advantage in troop size as front expands" in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal says on Tuesday's front page. "Trump's deal with El Salvador guts MS-13 fight," The New York Times says. Trump says "Haiti is safe enough for people to return," the Miami Herald says. "UN disagrees." In the U.S., "Senate slogs through tax bill" as "retirements muddle effort to keep GOP in majority," says The Washington Post. Texas Democrat Colin Allred "announces run for Cornyn's Senate seat," joining a potentially "crowded field," The Dallas Morning News says. "Restaurants wrestle with aiding vulnerable workers," the Los Angeles Times says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Pooah want a cracker

Police in Orleans, Massachusetts, apprehended a runaway pet pig named Pooah after he "ham-bushed" his pen and "showed some serious chops" running through the streets of town, the Orleans Police Department said on social media. While chasing Pooah, one officer thought to use crackers to catch his attention and lure him back to his pen. The pig peacefully surrendered to authorities, snacking the entire way home.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Kevin Carter / Getty Images; Mario Tama / Getty Images; sefa ozel / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images