Happy Thursday. Isn’t August recess glorious? 🌞

In today’s issue:

• DC residents heckle authorities
• World readies for Trump-Putin summit
• Trump: 25 percent chance Putin meeting unsuccessful
• Wholesale inflation spikes
• Taylor Swift breaks the internet

🚓 IN WASHINGTON, DC

The new militarized zone:

President Trump’s Washington, D.C., takeover has begun. FBI Director Kash Patel said 45 arrests were made in the nation’s capital overnight. “29 immigration-related, 16 tied to the violent crime surge, and 3 firearm seizures,” Patel posted on X.

And a group of protesters heckled law enforcement officers near the 14th Street NW corridor, where agents had set up a vehicle checkpoint. Protesters held up signs that read, “Go home, fascists” and “Get off our streets,” according to The Associated Press.

Some details about the 14th Street checkpoint: NOTUS’s Anna Kramer reports, “Police have set up a checkpoint and appear to be stopping every single car on 14th st NW, between W+V. Some cars are being pulled over after being stopped. Some police are wearing ‘HSI police’ vests (Homeland Security Investigations)” 📸 Photos

National Guard vehicles were spotted near the National Mall early Thursday, per NewsNation.

Trump ripped into D.C. last night: He bashed the city as one of the “highest rates of crime in the world,” arguing it is higher than the mayor says it is. And this morning, he promoted a U.S. Marshals Service post highlighting their night operations in the District.

You know how I said Trump can only take over D.C. police for 30 days?: Well, Trump signaled Wednesday that he would ask Congress for an extension beyond those 30 days.

🗨️ Follow today’s live blog

➤ HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE MAN WHO THREW A SANDWICH?:

A man allegedly threw a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Sunday. Well, he was charged with a felony for the incident.

📹 Watch the video– warning, there is some sharp language.

➤ TIDBIT — SEN. MULLIN SAYS HE DOESN’T ‘BUCKLE UP’ IN D.C.:

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told Fox News on Wednesday that he doesn’t “buckle up” when driving around Washington, D.C., for fear of being carjacked.

➤ RELATED READS:

Washingtonian: “My Life Is Not a Political Football”: How Community Leaders in DC’s Neighborhoods With the Most Crime Are Reacting to Trump’s Takeover

The Washington Post: Congress tried to control D.C. police in 1989. The results were disastrous.

Politico: Donald Trump Took Over DC’s Police. Why Is the City’s Mayor So Zen?

🐻 IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Alaska will be the epicenter of the universe tomorrow:

All eyes are on the 49th state, where President Trump’s high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to happen Friday. Trump has described this meeting as the start of the peace process with Ukraine. If not, Trump says Russia will face “consequences.”

How does Trump think it will go?: He told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that he believes there is a “25 percent chance” Friday’s meeting is *not* successful.

If the meeting *does* go well: Trump floated a follow-up summit involving Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said he has three potential locations in mind, including Alaska.

What to expect: Trump and Putin will have a one-on-one meeting, followed by a joint press conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News this morning.

Other preparations happening today: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London to discuss expectations for the Alaska meeting.

➤ RELATED READS TO FEEL PREPARED:

The New York Times: Why Putin Thinks Russia Has the Upper Hand

The Washington Post: Even before Alaska summit, Putin is redrawing global order to his liking

The Atlantic: Vladimir Putin Could Be Laying a Trap
CNN: Ahead of summit, Trump questions what’s changed about Putin

The Wall Street Journal: The Secret Channel Russia and Ukraine Use to Trade Prisoners of War

📈 NEWS THIS MORNING

Wholesale prices, comin’ in hot:

“Wholesale prices increased in July at the quickest pace since February, as economists are keeping a sharp eye on inflation data amid President Trump’s trade war,” reports The Hill’s Tobias Burns.

“The 3.3 percent yearly increase — which blew past economists’ expectations — puts the Federal Reserve in a tough position, as the central bank faces pressure on both sides of its mandate to keep prices low and employment as high as possible.”

Combine that with the July jobs report: “The surprisingly weak July jobs report showed that employment conditions are worsening, but upward-moving prices mean the Fed will have to negotiate stagflationary concerns in the short term.”

Read Burns’s reporting: ‘Wholesale inflation spikes, putting Fed in tricky position’

What does this mean for interest rates?: The New York Times’s Colby Smith reports that “the Federal Reserve is poised to lower interest rates in September. But signs of stickier inflation could limit how much relief officials can ultimately provide to borrowers.” Read: ‘Fed Faces High Bar for Big Cuts Despite White House Pressure’

❤️‍🔥 THE TALK OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Taylor Swift broke the internet:

Taylor Swift made her podcast debut Wednesday, appearing on her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. She rarely does media appearances these days, so it was fascinating to hear her talk candidly for nearly two hours about her life. Here are some of the moments getting the most attention:

❤️‍🔥 She revealed the track list of her new album: It’s coming out Oct. 3 and will have 12 songs. 📹 Watch her announce the songs

❤️‍🔥 She posted photos on her social accounts: 📸Photos from the album

❤️‍🔥 She explained the backstory of buying her masters: It involved her mom and brother meeting with the private equity firm that owned them. 📹 Watch

❤️‍🔥 How she and Travis met: “This dude didn’t get a meet and greet [at her concert] and he’s making it everyone’s problem,” Swift joked. 📹 Watch the clip

❤️‍🔥 Comparing her job to Travis’s: “On paper, we actually have a very similar job. Our job is to entertain people for three-plus hours in NFL stadiums,” Swift said. “When I’m there it’s called a dressing room. When Travis is there, it’s called a locker room. For me, it’s called a rehearsal, for him, it’s called a practice. For him, it’s called his coach, for me, it’s my mom.”

Tidbit: Jason Kelce posted seven minutes after the podcast premiered: “Oh my god, there’s already 976k watching this live, what in the actual f—.” 15 minutes later, he updated that figure to 1.2 million.

^ As of 12:30 p.m., the podcast had 10.3 million views on YouTube. Forbes notes this broke the record for the “New Heights” podcast.

COMING UP

The House and Senate are out. 🌴 President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)

1 p.m.: Trump delivers remarks from the Oval Office. 💻 Livestream

🐝 INTERNET BUZZ

🍊 Celebrate: Today is National Creamsicle Day.

👋 AND FINALLY…

Because I want to keep the August recess vibes strong, enjoy watching this donkey indulge in a sweet treat.

Terrified employees are not showing up to work. Children who are American citizens are being deported without due process. Crops are being left to rot because farms can’t find workers to pick them.

The Trump administration has claimed this is the price of a secure border. But Americans are no longer buying it. A record-high 79 percent of Americans now say immigration is a good thing for the country — a growing majority clearly believes U.S. policy should address immigration’s benefits, as well as its risks.

A balanced policy is possible. By the end of its time in office, the Biden administration had brought order to the border. In our new research paper, we examine the successes and shortcomings of Biden’s term, offering lessons for a more pragmatic migration policy — one that advances America’s broad range of economic, security and humanitarian interests.

We would be the first to acknowledge that the Biden administration’s response to record migration flows was imperfect. The administration was slow to support cities struggling with unprecedented migrant arrivals, ceded the narrative to its critics by playing defense on communications and waited too long to ramp up its enforcement efforts.

But by the end of 2024, total monthly encounters at the Southern border fell from a high of 300,000 to fewer than 100,000. In fact, the number of authorized encounters at ports of entry via programs, such as CBP One and the special program for for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, exceeded the number of unauthorized encounters.

Put another way, more than 80 percent of the current reduction we see in unauthorized border encounters occurred during the Biden administration. The Trump administration has reduced encounters from their prior levels by an additional 17 percent through costly and draconian measures.

The immigration lessons from Biden’s term are not always intuitive. First, enforcement and lawful pathways are not opposing strategies — they are interdependent. We have often heard the refrain of needing to crack down first, and only then consider expanding lawful pathways. But the data tells a different story. When the U.S. paired increased enforcement with credible legal alternatives, irregular crossings plummeted. It was this mix — not enforcement alone — that brought numbers down.

Second, emergency parole programs were a key, if imperfect, tool. Humanitarian parole, including the CHNV process, allowed people to apply from where they were, enabling vetted migrants to join the U.S. labor force quickly, helping avoid a post-pandemic recession.

That said, parole programs are not a durable solution. Congress must finally revisit decades-old visa caps and instead build a flexible and demand-driven approach that better matches migrants with labor needs across the skill spectrum.

Third, regional cooperation mattered more than most Americans realize. Countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru gave legal status to over 4.5 million displaced Venezuelans, preventing an even larger surge north. The U.S. backed those efforts with foreign assistance and diplomacy. It paid off, as fewer people were forced to keep moving.

It was far cheaper, too. Integration costs were estimated at $600 per migrant in Colombia, for instance, compared to the over $17,000 price tag to apprehend, detain and deport someone at the U.S. border. Western Hemisphere countries also worked together to increase migrant screening and vetting, coordinate on transit visa policies and investigate traffickers.

Migration diplomacy under the Biden administration was a two-way street, with the U.S. encouraging countries to do more but also providing foreign assistance and political cover. When we recognize that migration is a hemispheric challenge, not just a U.S. one, we get better results.

Finally, if we want to avoid the next migration surge, we need to understand what drove the last one. Yes, the Biden administration’s shift in tone influenced flows at the border. But the deeper drivers were structural: a post-pandemic labor market desperate for workers; Title 42 expulsions that perversely encouraged repeated crossings; and the largest displacement crisis in the hemisphere’s history, fueled mainly by Venezuela’s economic collapse.

Migration pressure doesn’t simply disappear — it builds up. By slashing foreign aid, abandoning multilateralism and pouring resources almost exclusively into border security and internal enforcement, the Trump administration has bet everything on deterrence. If these tactics merely delay rather than prevent a future crisis, the administration may wish it had more tools available to respond.

We share these lessons not to fight old battles but to shape a smarter way forward.

Last month, a bipartisan group of House members reintroduced the Dignity Act, coupling a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. with stronger enforcement. There’s a growing recognition in Congress that waiting for a “grand bargain” has become an excuse for doing nothing.

Narrow, targeted reforms — expediting work permits, closing asylum loopholes, expanding permanent and temporary lawful visas, creating a path to legal status for those who have lived here for many years, and promoting talent retention — are all achievable, necessary and in our national interest.

Three decades of stalemate have made clear that inaction on immigration carries immense costs. Those who believe in a better way must seize the opportunity to pursue pragmatic policies, whenever it emerges.

Marcela Escobari is senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, where Alex Brockwehl is a visiting researcher.

President Trump, hostile to law at home or abroad, hopes to win a Nobel Peace Prize by giving parts of Ukraine to Russia to end the war there.

He would arrange this by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, on American soil, flouting the finding of the International Criminal Court that Putin is a war criminal and must be arrested wherever he sets foot. Unlike the 125 countries that accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, the U.S. does not recognize the court and has even tried to punish its officials for indicting Trump’s friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

Another Republican president, Herbert Hoover, faced a problem similar to that posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, officially part of China but coveted by Japan for its resources.

The U.S. was not prepared to intervene militarily, but Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson announced in 1932 that the government would not recognize any political or territorial change accomplished by force. Hoover’s U.S. did not belong to the League of Nations, but most League members endorsed what became known as the Stimson Doctrine. Japan, however, denounced these happenings and withdrew from the League in 1933.

The Stimson Doctrine did not stop the invasion of China, but it helped build broad recognition of Imperial Japan’s threat to global order. The doctrine shaped U.S. and European refusal to recognize the Soviet takeover of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the 1940s. When the three small Baltic nations finally broke free of Soviet rule in 1991, the U.S. and its partners immediately recognized their independent statehoods.

The United Nations Charter, signed by Russia as well as the U.S., also bans trans-border aggression, prohibiting the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

In 1994, Russia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom signed the “Budapest Declaration,” which banned them from threatening or using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, “except in self-defense” or otherwise in accordance with the U.N. Charter. As a result of this declaration and other agreements between 1993 and 1996, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine gave up their Soviet legacy nuclear weapons.

When Russia violated that commitment by invading Ukraine in 2014, the U.S., U.K. and France provided Ukraine with financial and military assistance and imposed economic sanctions against Russia but ruled out direct intervention with their own forces.

Trump now follows the calamitous “might makes right” precedents set at Munich in September 1938 and Yalta in February 1945. At Munich, leaders of the U.K., France and Italy authorized Adolf Hitler to seize a key region of Czechoslovakia in order to achieve “peace in our time” — only to open the door to Nazi aggression soon after. At Yalta, a dying Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill consigned Eastern Europe to the USSR in return for Stalin’s empty promises of free elections and democracy.

As David E. Sanger and Luke Broadwater recently put it in the New York Times, Yalta symbolizes what can go wrong when great powers carve up the world: “smaller powers suffer the consequences and free people find themselves cast under authoritarian rule.” It is noteworthy that although FDR valued his alliance with Moscow, the U.S. stood by the Stimson Doctrine in the Baltic region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bristles at both the suggestion of ceding territory and the prospect of talks being held without Ukraine. “Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace,” he said. They will never work — Zelensky said that Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done.”

For Trump, however, what counts are facts on the ground. Brought up to date by his emissary Steve Witkoff — a dilettante with zero knowledge of Russia — Trump believes that Putin still holds the cards. Some experts, to the contrary, believe that the only way Putin does not eventually fold is if he is rescued by Trump.

Trump is an unreliable partner for Ukraine and potential plaything for Putin to flatter and manipulate.

Walter Clemens is an associate at the Harvard Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and professor emeritus of political science at Boston University. He is the author of “Blood Debts: What Putin and Xi Owe Their Victims” (2023) and “The Republican War on America: Dangers of Trump and Trumpism” (2023).