Democrat Catelin Drey has flipped an open Iowa state Senate seat, adding to the party’s successes in special elections this year, Decision Desk HQ projected.
Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in the race to replace the late state Sen. Rocky De Witt (R), who died in office in June from cancer. Democrats homed in on the Republican-leaning district as a pickup opportunity given their overperformance in many smaller elections through 2025.
Drey’s victory breaks a GOP supermajority in the state Senate, giving her party more power despite its minority status in the body. In particular, the extra Democratic vote, which will bring the margin in the chamber to 33 Republicans to 17 Democrats, will ensure that nominees from the governor can’t get approved on a party-line vote.
A two-thirds majority is needed for nominees to be confirmed.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) seized on the opportunity ahead of the election, sending in 30,000 volunteers for “get out the vote” efforts and hosting text- and phone-banks with the Iowa Democratic Party.
DNC Chair Ken Martin had said the party hasn’t recognized the importance of down-ballot elections for too long and rebuilding the party “starts from the ground up.”
The DNC celebrated Drey’s win on Tuesday night, noting that the district voted for President Trump in 2024 by more than 11 points. Martin said in a statement that Iowans are seeing Republicans as a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s agenda and want change.
“They are putting Republicans on notice and making it crystal clear: any Republican pushing Trump’s unpopular, extreme agenda has no place governing on behalf of Iowa families,” he said. “That’s why all year long, Iowans have been electing Democrats ready to fight for working Iowans. Make no mistake: when Democrats organize everywhere, we win everywhere, and today is no exception.”
The flip marks the second Iowa state Senate seat this year that Democrats won, after flipping another seat in January in a district that Trump won by more than 20 points. The party has also outperformed in other special state legislative elections throughout the year, winning in another Trump-friendly state Senate district in Pennsylvania in March.
Outside of Iowa, Drey’s win will be welcome news for Democrats looking for signs of life after the party’s losses in the 2024 elections and as it struggles with a low approval rating. But how much can be extrapolated from a single, small state Senate district in an off-year special election is debatable.
Still, Democrats will gladly take the win as they try to rally pushback to Trump’s agenda in his second term.
Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the party’s special election wins should be seen as a “flashing warning” to Trump and the GOP, saying that voters are rejecting the “failing MAGA agenda.” The organization works to elect Democrats to state legislatures.
“State legislative Democrats are delivering progress, responding to their communities’ concerns about the chaos in Washington, and providing the steady leadership voters are asking for — leadership that has propelled candidates like Sen.-elect Catelin Drey to victory this year,” Williams said. “More special elections are right on the horizon, and we’re just getting started.”
GreensKeeper Asset Management, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Value Fund has reached the midpoint of 2025, recording a decline of -3.6% net of fees and expenses. The US dollar has experienced a substantial depreciation, negatively impacting performance by over 5.0% year-to-date (YTD). The fund’s robust beginning in Q1 was reversed in Q2 as markets shrugged off President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and adopted a full “risk on” stance. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, GreensKeeper Asset Management highlighted stocks such as Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI). Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) is a payment and fintech services provider. The one-month return of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) was -0.19%, and its shares lost 17.76% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 22, 2025, Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) stock closed at $139.68 per share with a market capitalization of $75.929 billion.
Burke Wealth Management stated the following regarding Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Our worst performer in the second quarter was Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) -21.9%. The market reacted badly to Fiserv’s Q1 earnings release, in which it revealed that volume growth of its core Clover system was 8%, slowing from the 16% it averaged last year. The stock came under further pressure when management revealed that Clover’s business was growing at a similar pace to start Q2. Our view is that the slowdown in Clover’s growth isn’t due to a deteriorating competitive position, but due to a combination of slowing industry growth and lingering impacts from hyperinflation in some of the company’s fastest-growing markets. After recalculating our valuation for the stock, we believe the decline was overdone and added to our position throughout the quarter.”
Is QNB Corp. (QNBC) Among Stocks Insiders Are Buying This Year?
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 94 hedge fund portfolios held Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) at the end of the second quarter, which was 72 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of 2025, Fiserv, Inc.’s (NYSE:FI) adjusted revenue grew 8% to $5.2 billion. While we acknowledge the potential of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Day after day in late February, Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce kept saying the same thing, both to himself and those who wondered about his future — people such as coach Andy Reid; quarterback Patrick Mahomes; receiver Rashee Rice; his brother, Jason, the former Philadelphia Eagles center; and even TV host Pat McAfee.
“I can’t go out like that.”
Those six words were the main motivation for everything Kelce has done since early March, and everything leading up to next week when the Chiefs start their season in São Paulo against the Los Angeles Chargers in what could be the final season of Kelce’s illustrious NFL career.
Since he announced his return to the Chiefs in late February, all signs have pointed to the 2025 season being Kelce’s last. Since June, Kelce, who is in the final year of his contract, has spoken about his future with the team through only this season. Several members of the Chiefs’ organization, including in the front office and business department, are coy to use the word “retirement,” but they have already expressed their appreciation for Kelce’s importance to the franchise and have said they hope to experience plenty of joy while cherishing his performances.
If this is, in fact, Kelce’s last ride, he is hoping to pull off a grand finish. He wants to lead the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl — and a victory to recapture the Lombardi Trophy that eluded them last season — by maximizing everything he has left, hoping to demonstrate a mastery of combining wisdom gleaned from his 12-plus seasons of NFL experience with a reconditioned body he spent the offseason revamping.
Kelce, who will turn 36 in October, is known for his ability to excel in the spotlight. He helped lead the Chiefs to three Super Bowl victories, he is already the most proficient pass catcher in the history of the NFL’s postseason, and he helped redefine the tight end position through his innovative route running in which he ad-libs based on coverage. And he knows a bigger spotlight, and even more cameras, will be awaiting him whenever he stops running routes. He is expected to have the chance to further grow as an American pop culture icon; and on Tuesday afternoon, he and pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift announced their engagement on social media.
But first, the Chiefs want to give Kelce a Hollywood-like ending in February, mirroring other Hall of Fame players who have ended their careers with a Super Bowl title — such as quarterback John Elway, running back Jerome Bettis and quarterback Peyton Manning.
“Hopefully he’ll go out a champion,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said at the NFL combine. “Hopefully, he has a magical season to end a magical career.”
The last time fans watched Kelce on the field, the Chiefs were dominated in Super Bowl LIX by the Eagles. Kelce — in the midst of a campaign in which he posted career lows in receiving yards (823), yards per reception (8.5) and receiving touchdowns (3) — had his worst performance of last season on the sport’s biggest stage, too, leading some analysts and fans to question if he could still be an effective player on a team with championship aspirations.
Seven months later, Kelce, who ranks fifth in Chiefs franchise history in games played (200), says he no longer cares about individual goals. He already has one of the best careers for a tight end in NFL history. He enters the season third all-time among tight ends in career receptions (1,004) and receiving yards (12,151), and fifth in receiving touchdowns (77). He and Mahomes have connected on 17 postseason touchdowns, the most by any duo in NFL history.
He’s playing this season for one reason and one reason only: winning a fourth Super Bowl ring.
“That’s the only way I determine whether it’s a success or not,” Kelce said.
THOUGH SUPER BOWL LIX had yet to end, the scoreboards inside Caesars Superdome in New Orleans that February night displayed that the Chiefs’ 2024 season — and their quest to become the NFL’s first three-peat champion in the Super Bowl era — was finished.
In the moments just before the Eagles celebrated their 40-22 victory, Mahomes greeted as many teammates as he could — the quarterback thanking his teammates for their diligence and brotherhood along the Chiefs sideline. When Mahomes reached Kelce, the two dapped, hugged and told one another they loved each other.
“I owe you a lot for what you’ve done,” Kelce told Mahomes.
The scene was the first glimpse of Mahomes realizing that perhaps he might not have his reliable tight end available for his next critical third-down play. For two weeks following the game, Mahomes never approached Kelce about the possibility of retirement but said the thought was always there.
“You have that in the back of your mind,” Mahomes said in June.
When Kelce made up his mind to return for 2025, less than a week after the Super Bowl loss, the first person he told was Reid — the lone coach he has played for in his NFL career.
Two weeks later, at the combine, the news of Kelce’s decision was shared on “The Pat McAfee Show.” During the program, McAfee read a text he received from Kelce.
“I’m coming back for sure. Gonna try to get into the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop,” Kelce wrote in the text. “Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and with how I got the guys ready for battle.
“I can’t go out like that!!!!”
Later that Thursday, the “New Heights” podcast, hosted by Kelce and his brother, Jason, posted a confirmation on X: “From the desk of @tkelce: ITS TIME FOR YEAR 13.”
One reason Kelce chose to not retire is because he believed he could make significant improvements to his fitness.
“I love football,” Kelce said. “It’s all I know, man. It’s still my childhood dream. I really didn’t feel like it was my last game.”
IN JUNE, a month before the Chiefs’ training camp, Kelce was back in a familiar environment. While chatting with reporters in front of a backdrop with the Chiefs’ logo on it, Kelce raised his hands and chuckled. He wanted to stop a rumor.
“First off, I never said that,” Kelce said while smiling, his attempt to squash an ESPN report, sourced from someone in his inner circle, that Kelce lost 25 pounds in the four months since the Super Bowl.
Then, with quick comedic timing, Kelce showed his right index finger for the cameras.
“Don’t believe all you read on the internet, guys, all right,” Kelce said during the news conference. “I never told anybody.”
Then, with his head bowed, Kelce acknowledged the truth: He in fact did lose some weight, an amount he felt was necessary for him to be at his best in his 13th NFL season although he declined to share the exact number.
Kelce’s first decision after the decision was to have his offseason routine follow a simpler approach.
The 2024 offseason was the most hectic of his life. He bounced from one event to the next, from one part-time TV job to the next and even had a supporting actor role in “Happy Gilmore 2,” the comedy starring Adam Sandler. And of course, he traveled across Europe with Swift at many stops on her Eras Tour, even performing a small role with her during one concert in London. During that time, one of his three personal trainers — Alex Skacel, Andrew Spruill and Laurence Justin Ng — was usually with him, focusing on maintaining his strength.
This offseason was different. Kelce did what he did when he was a younger player: He trained in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with trainer Tony Villani to recapture some of the speed, agility and quickness he felt he had lost over the years. A large focus for Kelce was plyometrics, sessions where he wanted to gain greater explosion when changing directions, a trait he mastered earlier in his career when he had the ball in the middle of the field to elude defenders.
“You’ve got to rebuild [your body],” Kelce said. “This year, I got some time to really focus on some form-running and some things early on in the offseason that I just didn’t have time for last year. Certainly, I’m feeling good, and I think it’ll pay off.”
Mahomes has noticed the work Kelce put in this offseason.
“For him, recalibrating and seeing where he’s at, he’s excited for another chance to make a run at it,” Mahomes said. “He’s working, and I know his body feels good. It feels better than even last year before going into last season.”
Kelce’s first test to see whether his altered regimen worked was during the first week of the Chiefs’ camp last month.
Slimmer and energized, Kelce made impressive highlights that produced some of the loudest roars from fans who attended practices. In a one-on-one matchup with safety Jaden Hicks, Kelce caught the ball and did his signature hesitation and wiggle moves to evade Hicks for additional yards. And a few minutes later, Kelce ran a slick seam route before leaping to catch a pass between linebacker Nick Bolton and safety Bryan Cook. Kelce also flashed his restored burst and acceleration while sprinting along the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown, leading Reid to quip about the tight end’s physical transformation.
“He’s svelte right now. He looks like he’s 20,” Reid said, grinning. “He’s doing a good job and he’s in great shape. I’m not sure he didn’t come in first on the whole conditioning thing. He was right up front.”
THE BIGGEST WAY for Kelce to impact the Chiefs’ games this season, he says, is by being the best leader he can be for his teammates. Kelce learned why leadership was so important during last season’s playoff run.
In the Chiefs’ 23-14 win over the Houston Texans in the divisional round, Mahomes threw a perfect deep pass in the second quarter to receiver Hollywood Brown. But Brown couldn’t make the catch. On the next snap, Mahomes trusted Kelce, who produced a memorable highlight.
The Texans blitzed and Mahomes found Kelce, who broke two tackles — which he hadn’t done at any point in the regular season, according to TruMedia — for a 49-yard gain. The Chiefs finished the drive with running back Kareem Hunt‘s 1-yard touchdown run.
Early in the fourth quarter, on a critical third-and-goal play, Kelce recognized the Texans’ zone coverage and improvised his route — deciding to run to a different area of the end zone in the middle of the play — but was still available and in rhythm with Mahomes for an 11-yard touchdown catch.
The next week, in the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, Kelce, who finished with just two catches for 19 yards on four targets, was most impactful when he didn’t have the ball in his hands. Early in the first quarter, Chiefs receiver Nikko Remigio chose to fair catch a punt at the team’s own 10-yard line, even though he had plenty of room for a return.
“That’s not being great, bro,” Kelce told Remigio after the play.
Inspired by Kelce’s words, Remigio had his biggest moment in the game in the second quarter. He ignited the Chiefs with an impressive start-and-stop-and-start-again punt return that went 41 yards.
“That’s how you be great, dawg!” Kelce shouted at Remigio after the play.
The Chiefs capitalized on Remigio’s return when Mahomes scored on a 1-yard touchdown. The Chiefs’ final touchdown came on a designed run for Mahomes. On his 10-yard touchdown, Kelce was one of Mahomes’ lead blockers.
But two weeks later, the Chiefs experienced misery, not history, in the blowout loss to the Eagles.
Days before facing the Eagles, Kelce began experiencing an illness, a detail Veach revealed at the combine. During the game, he struggled in each of his assignments from the Chiefs’ game plan. His route running was slower than usual, his blocking wasn’t up to standard and he couldn’t make the play or say the right words to his teammates to help spark the Chiefs to a comeback. The game also marked the first time in Kelce’s playoff career in which he was held without a reception in the first half.
“I failed, especially in that last game, in being a leader and being the one that can step up and make plays,” Kelce said. “I’m just setting the bar even higher for myself this year than I have in the past.”
KELCE HAS CONTINUED to focus on leadership this summer, beginning early at Chiefs training camp, which was located on the campus of Missouri Western State University.
Reid, an old-school coach entering his 27th season, is known for having one of the most grueling camps in the NFL. The tempo at practice is faster than that of a game; projected starters get more reps than normal, and players routinely leave the fields drenched in sweat and near exhaustion. Kelce knows Reid’s camp can test a player’s true love for the sport, especially when one is in the twilight of his career.
Even though he is entering Year 13, Kelce didn’t miss a single practice, consistently made athletic catches in the middle of the field and remained on the field to run more routes for Mahomes even after appearing fatigued the previous rep.
“I love it here,” Kelce said, who calls his time at the St. Joseph, Missouri, campus his football sanctuary. “It gets me away from everything else that’s going on in this crazy world. You can really just focus in on your craft and focus in on being the best you can for the guys around you.”
Early in camp, Kelce hosted several teammates in the same room Reid gave his first speech of the season to the team, giving them small giveaways from the “Happy Gilmore 2” film before showing them a screening of the movie just days before it premiered on Netflix. As the movie played, Kelce sat in the back, enjoying watching his performance and hearing his teammates laugh.
The guy on the Chiefs and The Waiter in Happy Gilmore 2.
The next day, during the Chiefs’ most demanding practice of camp — a stuffy, 90-degree day in which the heat index peaked over 100 — rookie left tackle Josh Simmons punched rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte after a rugged rep in a 9-on-7 period.
The first teammate to help separate the two rookies was Kelce.
“He does it in a way like, ‘I’ve been there, and you don’t want to do that,'” Reid said of Kelce. “The guys trust him. That’s kind of the neat part about the job. You get to see guys mature like that. It’s probably no different than having kids. The thing is, it’s out in front of everybody because of the [immature] things he’d do [as a younger player] on the field and lose his temper. People saw it. Now they see what he is today. There’s a difference.”
As the Chiefs’ longest-tenured player, Kelce has in essence become an additional assistant coach. But Kelce wants to be more productive himself. After all, he ranked last this past season in yards per catch over expectation (YACOE) among pass catchers who ran at least 100 routes (minus-42). Kelce ran 525 total routes.
Kelce says he wants his presence — even if as an overqualified decoy — and skills to help develop the next generation of pass catchers for a franchise that hasn’t seen a 1,000 receiving season outside of Kelce since 2021 (Tyreek Hill).
This offseason, Mahomes has further strengthened his connection with his receiving options not named Kelce — such as Rice, Brown and fellow receivers Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster, as well as tight ends Noah Gray and Robert Tonyan and running back Isiah Pacheco.
Throughout practices, several teammates on offense and defense have asked for Kelce’s guidance on certain techniques, coverages or the nuances of a specific play. Tonyan, a seven-year veteran who began his career with the Green Bay Packers alongside quarterback Aaron Rodgers, spent camp learning as much as he could from Kelce’s pre-snap reads against the defense’s potential coverages. Through two preseason games, Tonyan led the Chiefs with eight receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown.
“What better way to get better than to make sure that we lean on each other,” Kelce said. “If I can give somebody a word that makes them better on that specific route or doing that specific drill, man, I’m here for it.”
THE CHIEFS’ PENULTIMATE training camp session was a difficult one. It was the team’s final on-field work in full pads before it returned to its training facility in Kansas City. Most players appeared ready to return. The first team period was terrible for the offense. The defense created pressure to disrupt the offense’s timing, several players dropped passes and Mahomes voiced his frustration.
Then …
“Travis beats his man one-on-one and breaks out for a 20-yard gain,” pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier said. “He kind of set the tone for everybody, that ‘Hey, you get man-to-man coverage, we’re winning these routes! Let’s go!’
“When everybody was pushing through the dog days of camp, it was him who made the play one-on-one. That kind of just goes to that bigger picture to where maybe you don’t recognize the years as much because it’s just the same old Travis. That’s what he’s always been doing.”
Kansas City is hoping that Kelce’s playmaking and leadership carry over into the games, beginning next week against the Chargers.
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter could administer this season’s first stress test for Kelce by assigning safety Derwin James Jr. to him in man-to-man coverage. In the teams’ matchup last December, Kelce was not targeted on 10 routes when James was the primary defender.
As the year progresses, other opponents could try the Chargers’ strategy against Kelce, or what the Eagles did in the Super Bowl — dedicating two zone defenders to him.
Kelce, though, is ready for whatever comes, and is eager to showcase his mental and physical counterattacks — through smoother route running, noticeable changes in his athleticism and plenty of inner inspiration to go out with exceptional performances — in what could be his last chance to do so.
“It’s going to be a grind,” he said. “Hopefully it ends in February.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) popularity has grown among Democratic voters in recent months as he has emerged as a possible top contender for the party’s 2028 presidential nominee, according to a new poll that was released on Tuesday.
The new Morning Consult survey found that Newsom’s support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents has increased by 8 points, going from 11 percent in June to 19 percent in late August. In March, 5 percent of respondents backed Newsom, who has clashed with President Trump and Republicans over efforts to redraw congressional lines in Texas and tussled with the administration over his push to redraw California’s lines ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Still, former Vice President Kamala Harris topped the list at 29 percent support. But her support among respondents has fallen, going from 36 percent in March to 29 percent in August. About 22 percent chose “someone else,” while 15 percent did not select a favorite. Harris, who earlier this summer announced that she would not run to be the next governor of California, still has an 86 percent favorability rating among Democratic voters.
The pollster noted that Newsom was the only potential 2028 candidate who had made “significant” gains in the survey.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was at 9 percent support, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) garnered 6 percent support. Both figures were virtually unchanged since the March poll.
Other potential Democratic contenders were at 4 percent support or below, the poll found. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro garnered 4 percent support.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker garnered 3 percent support each. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were both at 2 percent, while Maryland Gov. Wes Moore earned 1 percent, according to the survey.
Newsom’s standing with Generation X voters has gone up by 19 points. Among men and white voters, it increased by 15 points. The California governor’s support among Black voters had gone up by 7 points since March, but he is still far behind Harris, who is leading the potential candidates with 45 percent.
The survey was conducted Aug. 22-24 among 1,000 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents each.
Two stories dominate Wednesday’s front pages: Nigel Farage’s plan to deport 600,000 migrants and the engagement of Taylor Swift to Travis Kelce. The Taliban is “ready and willing” to work with Reform UK to accept Afghans that deported by the UK, reports the Daily Telegraph. The paper quotes a Taliban official as saying it “may be easier” to deal with Farage than the current UK government.
The Metro also leads on the unveiling of Farage’s “shock” plan, dubbed Operation Restoring Justice. Reform said it would cost about £10bn over five years, but would save the government money it spends on asylum hotels and other costs over the long term.
Under Farage’s plan, immigration enforcement teams would introduce “US-style raids” to track down illegal migrants in Britain, according to the Daily Mail. Women and children who arrive in the UK on small boats would be detained and removed as well as men, Farage said, to mitigate what the paper calls “mounting public anger and despair”.
“Britain is better than this” is the headline for the Daily Mirror, which warns against politicians “playing the migrant card” to win support. It call on public figures to “look to their consciences before speaking – for the sake of decency and humanity”.
Farage’s plan also makes the Daily Express splash. Also featured is a picture of newly-engaged Swift and Kelce, with the caption “Baby just say yes!”, a line from the US popstar’s 2008 hit Love Story.
Opponents of Reform describe its plans as “ugly” and “divisive”, according to the Guardian. Also with a top slot is the news that the UK has “almost certainly” had its hottest summer on record, according to provisional statistics from the Met Office.
Plans for the French coastguard to intercept migrant boats could be “in jeopardy” because of the possible collapse of France’s government, according to the Times. UK officials hailed changes to French maritime law in June as a “gamechanger” in stopping small boat crossings, but they could be at risk if the French government loses an upcoming confidence vote, it says.
The i leads on Farage’s promise to strikes deals with “fundamentalist regimes”, including the “Taliban and Iran’s Ayatollah”. Downing Street hasn’t ruled out a returns agreement with Afghanistan, but would not hand over asylum seekers to the current regime, the paper reports.
Swift’s engagement splashes the Sun, which features a close-up picture of her “enormous” engagement ring. “Look what you made me.. I do,” is the headline.
The US is prepared to provide “intelligence assets and battlefield oversight” as part of a European-led air defence shield for Ukraine, reports the Financial Times. The US offer to assist the so-called “coalition of the willing”, led by the UK and France, is “contingent on commitments by European capitals to deploy tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine”, according to European and Ukrainian officials cited by the paper.
“Wedding Tay,” declares the Daily Star, which lifts a quote from the couple’s engagement post on Instagram: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”.
President Trump said Tuesday that the name for his “big, beautiful” megabill, which he signed in July, is “not good for explaining to people what it’s all about.”
“So the bill that — I’m not gonna use the term, ‘great, big, beautiful,’ that was good for getting it approved, but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s all about,” Trump said during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting.
“It’s a massive tax cut for the middle class. It’s a massive tax cut for jobs. And it’s, I mean, think of it, no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security,” the president added.
The megabill that Trump signed into law in early July will add close to $3.4 trillion to the U.S.’s deficits over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in a report from late July.
Last week, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon went after House Republicans for not doing an effective job of promoting Trump’s megabill over the summer recess.
“I haven’t seen a massive effort to sell the big, beautiful bill and actually what it stands for,” Bannon said on his “War Room” podcast.
The former Trump strategist also blasted the lack of GOP town halls, saying Republicans went home for the August recess but were not having town hall events to promote Trump’s most important legislative package.
He urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to press GOP lawmakers to laud the bill in public forums.
“Johnson and Thune should cancel all overseas junkets for members and force them to have town halls, meet and greets, editorial board meetings — anything to get the word out on the BBB. The supply-side tax cut needs to be sold, and it ain’t gonna sell itself,” Bannon told Politico.
“The 2026 midterms have started, and the Republicans are letting down the president.”
Burke Wealth Management, an investment management company, released its “Focused Growth Strategy” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter was marked by significant volatility. Against this backdrop, the strategy returned +15.9% in the quarter compared to +10.9% for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Burke Wealth Management highlighted stocks such as Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW). Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) offers a cloud-based data platform to support various organizations. The one-month return of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) was -10.00%, and its shares gained 66.79% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 22, 2025, Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) stock closed at $196.81 per share, with a market capitalization of $65.667 billion.
Burke Wealth Management stated the following regarding Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW): Shares of Snowflake were up 53% during the second quarter and have almost doubled off of their September lows. 2024 was a transition year at Snowflake as Sridhar Ramaswamy took over as CEO and the company materially accelerated its AI related product pipeline. As we work our way through 2025, Snowflake’s AI strategy is beginning to come into focus and to put it mildly, the opportunity is intriguing. Historically, Snowflake has given customers the ability to query and analyze company data, both structured and unstructured, across all public clouds in a secure, user-friendly manner. As we move into the AI age, Snowflake’s ambition is to allow this analysis to take place in real-time, often through the use of AI agents whether it be through Snowflake’s own applications or secure third-party applications. Snowflake’s position right next to the customer’s data offers protection against disintermediation from third-party data analytics applications. Instead, this work will be done by Snowflake’s internal applications or by third-party applications that connect securely to the data via the Snowflake platform. This is an advantaged position within an enterprise. Data analytics is a rapidly evolving market. Add into this Snowflake’s consumption based pricing model that can pick up changes in demand signals, real or transitory, on a quarter by quarter basis and it is no wonder that this is a volatile stock. That said, as Snowflake’s AI strategy plays out in the years to come, we think the upside in the shares make what can sometimes be a wild ride in the share price one worth taking.”
Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) Has A “Terrific AI Story,” Says Jim Cramer
A software engineer at work, surrounded by a wall of computer monitors connected to a ‘Data Cloud’ platform.
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The impact site of one of Israel’s missiles at Evin Prison
“For me, hell was not the moment Israel attacked; hell was the moment they wouldn’t open the door [of the cell] for us,” Motahareh Goonei recalls in an exclusive interview with the BBC.
A political activist, Goonei was in solitary confinement in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison when it was hit in a targeted attack by Israel on 23 June.
Satellite imagery, witness accounts and verified footage obtained by BBC News Persian reveal new details of the attack in the closing hours of the Israel-Iran war and of those who died.
The high-security complex, perched on the northern edge of Tehran, has held thousands of political prisoners over the past half-century. On that day in June, the prison became the site of the deadliest Israeli strike on Iranian soil in terms of civilian casualties.
Iranian authorities say 80 people were killed – among them prison staff, inmates, medical workers, visitors and residents of nearby neighbourhoods.
In a report published on 14 August, Human Rights Watch said that Israeli air strikes on the prison were unlawfully indiscriminate and amounted to an apparent war crime.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the reason for the attack was that the facility was being “used for intelligence operations against Israel”.
‘No way out’
Describing the moment explosions ripped through the compound, Goonei said: “When I heard the third blast, I was certain there was no way out. I just pounded on the door with all my strength, but it wouldn’t open. I thought ‘this is the end of your life – say goodbye’.”
Supplied
Motahareh Goonei has been temporarily released from prison on bail
Freed from her cell by another prisoner, Goonei stumbled into thick, choking smoke. She says that guards initially tried to block inmates from escaping, and some prison interrogators even threatened them.
Yet in scenes she described as “horrific but humanising”, prisoners rushed to help injured guards, calming a panicked female officer and bandaging the wounds of a crying interrogator.
Other inmates from another ward rushed to help doctors and nurses trapped in the prison clinic.
Saeedeh Makarem, a doctor who was badly injured in the strike, later wrote on Instagram: “The very prisoners I once treated saved my life.”
Another woman held in Evin, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears for her safety, has described the moment of the attack to the BBC.
“At first there were several explosions in quick succession, and the noise went on for about two minutes.
“We stayed on our beds at first because the windows had shattered, then we got dressed and all helped to bring the older women downstairs. No-one from the prison helped us – they shut the door on us and said we couldn’t go out.’
Scale of the attack
BBC analysis indicates Israel attacked Evin with at least six projectiles, damaging at least 28 buildings inside the complex.
MAXAR
BBC Persian has identified six points at the prison that appear to have been attacked
The IDF says it had conducted a “targeted strike” on “a symbol of oppression against the Iranian people” and claimed that measures were taken to minimise harm to civilians.
But a relative of a political prisoner who arrived to visit just minutes after the blasts said “those coming out of the prison were saying there were bodies everywhere. Some prisoners had come out, none of them trying to escape — just stunned.”
Iranian authorities say 75 inmates fled during the chaos. Some were later recaptured or returned voluntarily.
Identifying victims
Iranian officials say that of the 80 people killed in the attack, 42 were prison staff and five were inmates. Only the names of the staff have been released.
BBC News Persian has independently verified the identities and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three of the victims through interviews with their relatives. They are:
Masoud Behbahani, a dual Iranian-American citizen, who was being held on financial charges. His family were given conflicting accounts of his death from the Iranian Prisons Organisation.
Arvin Mohammadi, 37, killed in the administrative building while posting bail for his father’s temporary release from prison during the war
Mehrangiz Imanpour, 61, a prominent artist and painter, killed by shrapnel
Among the other victims killed in the attack were a local mother of a one-year-old child, a philanthropist visiting to arrange a prisoner’s release, five social workers, 13 young military conscripts, and the five-year-old child of one of the social workers.
After the attack on Evin Prison, the fate of transgender prisoners remains unknown. Some media reports claimed that 100 transgender inmates had been killed, but BBC Persian’s investigation reveals that this is not true.
Reza Shafakhah, a lawyer in Iran who has been following the situation of transgender prisoners, told the BBC: “There are serious concerns about their situation. No-one knows where these prisoners are now.”
BBC / Supplied
Left to right: Arvin Mohammadi, Mehrangiz Imenpoir and Masoud Behbahani were among those killed
Why target Evin?
Israel alleged the prison was being used for “intelligence operations [against it], including counter-espionage”. It has not responded to questions from the BBC about the exact targets or weapons used, or whether it anticipated civilian deaths.
A month after the attack, Amnesty International published a report into the incident.
“Directing attacks at civilian objects is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Carrying out such attacks knowingly and deliberately constitutes a war crime,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty.
The UN human rights office stated Evin was “not a military objective” and the attack violated international humanitarian law.
