Oil giant Chevron confirmed that it will expand its operations in Venezuela, just days after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Trump administration Tuesday to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough,” as he pushed back against a fresh wave of taunts from Washington. Carney said U.S.-Canada trade talks could resume if Washington becomes serious about negotiations.

And a record percentage of Americans — about 9 in 10 — 89% — believe there's widespread corruption in the U.S. government, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday. That’s up 10 percentage points from last year.

Here's the Latest:

Trump administration backs OpenAI in New York Times’ copyright case over training of chatbots

The Trump administration is wading into a legal fight between OpenAI and the New York Times, backing the ChatGPT-maker’s argument in a closely watched case over how it builds its AI technology by ingesting and processing millions of news articles.

In court papers filed Tuesday, the Justice Department supported OpenAI’s argument that training its AI models on troves of writings found on the internet is protected by the “fair use” doctrine of copyright law.

The Justice Department argued that “the creative possibilities and public benefits” of training large language models on such content “far outweigh any competitive harm.”

The New York Times said Wednesday that the administration is siding with AI companies at the expense of the American creators “whose work they stole.”

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Trump says he wants to meet with Putin, but when the ‘war is ending’

“I want to do it when we’re ready to do a peace deal,” Trump told reporters of a meeting with Putin. “We want to have good relations with Russia, Ukraine, with everybody. Be great for business.”

Trump said he could get a meeting “immediately,” but that he’d rather meet when the war is close to ending.

Trump, having visited with Jon Voight, wants to protect the Hollywood film industry

Trump told reporters that the award-winning actor Voight, known for “Deliverance” and “Coming Home,” visited the president and urged him to help the film industry, which is increasingly traveling to other countries to save on production costs.

“Many countries give tremendous incentives to take our film industry,” Trump said, adding that he’s going to “offer the tax credits that other countries are offering.”

The proposed legislation would be called the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act, the president said, adding that it has union and bipartisan support.

“Hollywood is dead, and they wanted to be revived,” he said. “I’d like to get it done.”

Trump won’t commit to sending Iranian opposition arms after calling on people to rise up

The president on Tuesday night, after the latest round of back-and-forth strikes with Iran, posted on social media, “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”

Asked on Wednesday if he was ready to send Iran’s opposition arms to try to take out the Iranian theocracy, Trump demurred.

“I’d love to tell you that, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to say,” Trump said. “But I mean, I understand their plight. They’re being shot.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis calls on Trump to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Tillis, a Republican, wrote in a post on X Wednesday that Hegseth is “creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”

The post comes after the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who Tillis said was “the right man at the right moment.” Several other generals and high-ranking officials have resigned or been ousted in recent months.

Tillis urged Trump to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will “retain and empower our military talent.”

“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis said of Hegseth. “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.”

The North Carolina senator was the final deciding vote on Hegseth’s confirmation in January 2025 after expressing concerns about his leadership potential.

Trump says he’ll campaign for Alaska’s GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, who’s facing another Dan Sullivan

By JESSE BEDAYN

“We have a very good senator named Dan Sullivan,” said Trump, referring to the incumbent Republican lawmaker, who is now in a general election against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola and another man named Dan Sullivan. The mirror names have caused quite a kerfuffle, with accusations that the latter Sullivan was in the race merely to confuse voters.

“They have a phony Dan Sullivan,” said Trump, speaking with reporters, before he criticized Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system that picks the top four finishers to move on to a general election.

“It’s a long trip, I love Alaska,” said Trump, “I will go to Alaska to help Dan Sullivan get elected.”

Trump says Venezuela is ‘not ready’ for elections

Asked about the possibility of Venezuela holding elections now that it has been nearly eight months since the U.S. toppled that country’s president, Trump replied, “I just don’t think they’re ready yet.”

“We took them out of a dictatorship, and we’re getting along great with the government,” Trump said. He added of elections, “We want that. And they want that.”

A U.S. raid in early January deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. His replacement, Delcy Rodriguez, recently signed a deal allowing U.S. interests to tap the country’s vast oil reserves.

Trump said Rodriguez also backs eventually holding elections in Venezuela but insisted, “They’re not ready yet.”

Trump says he’s relieved after Tiger Woods’ no-contest plea

Tiger Woods pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge, with his driver’s license suspended for five years on Wednesday following a March rollover crash in Florida, where he initially was accused of driving under the influence.

Body camera footage that was taken shortly after the crash shows Woods, who is a longtime friend of Trump, taking out his phone after the crash and telling a deputy, “I was just talking to the president.”

Trump, in an exchange with reporters, said he thought the resolution of the case was fair.

“I told him that a long time, ‘Why don’t you get somebody to drive you?’ So, he’s going to have somebody drive him from now on,” Trump said. “And, you know, he’s just a very special guy. I’m glad that was resolved.”

Trump says Iran war won’t be affected by the election because ‘I’m not running’

The president insisted he doesn’t think the Iran war will last “much longer.” But, he added, “It doesn’t matter. And I’m not affected by the election.”

“I’m not running. But my party is running and I’m going to help my party,” Trump said. “But I think my party respects the fact that we’re not allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

The president has repeatedly shrugged off suggestions that political pressure is mounting on him to end the war with the midterm elections now looming.

But Trump’s comments contrast with his previous comments. Trump said during a rally for Sen. Darline Graham, where she ultimately won her runoff race, “Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot.”

Trump says he’s ‘happy’ that Prince Harry and wife Meghan will depart the US for the UK

“I was not a fan,” said Trump, speaking to reporters.

Trump said he had good relationships with Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, and he thought the couple “treated the royal family with great disrespect; I didn’t like it.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced earlier this month they were bound back across the pond for an extended stay, but that they wouldn’t resume their working roles as members of the royal family.

Musing on it, Trump finished, “If I were the Royal Family, I would not have taken them back.”

Trump says White House helipad is ‘essentially’ finished

“We just completed it, essentially, today, one of the most beautiful heliports you’ve ever seen,” the president said.

“It’s something very special,” he added. “And we built it a little ahead of schedule. And it came out even more beautiful than I thought.”

Trump has suggested that crews were hustling to finish the helipad on the South Lawn ahead of a White House visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.

Trump said of Xi, “love to have him” coming.

Sean Duffy said he’ll ask for more money for air traffic control

Standing aside a seated Trump, the transportation secretary said that while Congress allocated the agency $12.5 billion for air traffic control, “we need additional money for software.”

Air traffic control has come under increased scrutiny after an American Airlines passenger jet fatally collided with an Army helicopter last year. Earlier this month, an airline jet was cleared to take off as the president’s Marine One took off.

Duffy said there will be an announcement about the request for additional funds in the next 30 days, but he didn’t specify how much he’d be asking for.

Trump meets with travel industry leaders at White House

The president welcomed top leaders in the industry to “celebrate record-setting summer travel in the USA,” sitting flanked by representatives from American Airlines, Hilton, and Caesars Entertainment, among others, as well as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Trump touted travel boosts from the FIFA World Cup, as well as celebrations for America’s 250th birthday, before turning toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“This is the summer that showed the world America is back,” Trump said, and now, “we want to make this the best Olympics of them all.”

Rubio says massive oil deal doesn’t affect US commitment to restoring democracy in Venezuela

The secretary of state is pushing back against criticism that a massive oil deal with Venezuela has weakened the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring democracy there.

In an interview aired Wednesday, Rubio said the administration’s goals remain to stabilize the country, assist with its economic and social recovery and then support a democratic transition through free and fair elections.

“All of that remains a priority of this administration, and it’s something we’re working towards,” he told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade in an interview recorded Tuesday.

But Rubio said those would take time, noting that it has been only nine months since former President Nicolas Maduro was toppled in a U.S. military operation. He said Eastern European nations took four to five years to transition to democracy after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We can do it much faster here,” he said. “We’re pushing very hard on it.

DC mayor says city could benefit from ‘world-class golf’

As Trump eyes changes to the golf course at East Potomac Park to draw prestige golf events, Muriel Bowser said the city could “stand to attract world-class golf.”

But she also said it’s important that the public still be able to enjoy the park, a scenic space on the Washington waterfront popular for running, biking, fishing and picnicking.

“The question is, for us, we still need public access,” she told reporters after an event focused on using sports to draw visitors to the nation’s capital. “People need to be able to access the park and Hains Point and get around, drive around, ride around the park.”

At 250, the United States still faces a military-civilian divide

In a nation that celebrates its military history, the responsibilities and burdens of military life fall more heavily on some families and communities than others. Most American adults either don’t serve or aren’t very connected to the people who do and their families.

These days, the military includes about 2 million people on active duty or in the National Guard and reserves, a tiny portion of the roughly 230 million adult citizens and legal permanent residents in the country.

The public doesn’t always pay attention unless there’s a crisis, like the concerns over mental health for USS Abraham Lincoln sailors who had been on an expanded deployment as part of the U.S. war against Iran.

There’s a military-civilian divide, a gap in understanding and connection that shapes public policy, the realities of everyday military life and the views and stereotypes each side holds about the other.

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Pro-Trump group launches Trump-focused ads ahead of midterms

Securing American Greatness is running new ads touting the president’s record ahead of the November elections.

One celebrates the passage of policies like “No tax on tips,” Social Security and overtime, and credits Trump with lowering the prices of eggs and prescription drugs, even though overall consumer prices have continued to rise and remain a top concern for voters.

“He’s fighting for you every day. Help him finish the job,” the narrator says.

The second features footage of Trump at an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight night and the group’s president calling him “the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.”

The group has booked nearly $1 million in ads so far, according to AdImpact, which tracks ad reservations.

The nonprofit previously spent big supporting Trump in the 2024 and also helped promote Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Energy secretary Wright says US ‘not taking any oil ’ from Venezuela

On a visit to Caracas, Wright said the US. is “not taking any oil here” in its deal to develop Venezuela’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.

“This is a deal between a commercial enterprise that’s operating in Venezuela today,” Wright told Bloomberg TV Wednesday. “We’re just coming in as a partner, a passive partner ... with very active controls to make sure highest business practices are followed, and to work with them to bring more capital so we can accelerate the development of these (oil) reserves.”

Under the deal, the U.S. is entering a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners, a company owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. The company is already the second largest operator in Venezuela, behind Chevron.

Wright is expected to meet with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez and announce agreements with energy companies.

Now Apple has matched Google in showing “Lake America” to US users

Apple’s move followed competitor Google days after Trump ordered a new name for the body of water. Users outside of the U.S. still see the name the lake has had since before the U.S. and Canada existed.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox this week that Trump had reached out to the company “directly” about the change.

The president’s executive order on Friday directed the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, as one of the latest provocations during his trade war with Canada.

MapQuest declared that it won’t change Lake Ontario’s label, and was topping the charts for downloads of free apps Wednesday in Apple’s App Store. The app owned by California-based System1 also gave users the option to name the lake “whatever you want.”

Marco Rubio says Iran will ‘continue to feel the squeeze’ as hostilities resume

The secretary of state said the US will continue pressuring Iran until it drops any nuclear weapons ambitions and ends support for terrorism in the Middle East and beyond.

“The core and central issue is in the end that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“They want money for two things, to sponsor terrorism and to obtain a nuclear weapon,” he told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade in an interview aired on Wednesday. They spoke on Tuesday shortly after Trump announced that the U.S. had resumed military operations against Iran in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but before Iran retaliated by attacking American interests in the region.

Rubio said “they keep shooting at things” in the strait, and so the U.S. “will continue to target those things that pose a threat to our forces and to international shipping.”

Will a 100-year deal giving US control over Venezuelan oil survive future administrations?

The Venezuelan Constitution states that such arrangements must be approved by the National Assembly, which has not happened, wrote Ian Vásquez, vice president for international studies at the Cato Institute.

“The deal lacks legitimacy since it was agreed to with a dictatorship that has clung to power for decades through violence and by committing what was probably the largest electoral fraud in Latin American history in 2024,” Vásquez wrote. “The agreement was also reached under overwhelming pressure, military and otherwise, from the United States. As such, any future Venezuelan democracy will question the deal, thus undermining confidence in the current arrangement.”

US energy secretary promotes Trump deal to control Venezuelan oil

The private company the Trump administration is creating to control a huge part of Venezuela’s oil reserves is a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners — a detail the White House had withheld for days. NABEP, owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, is already the second-largest operator in Venezuela, behind Chevron.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright promoted the deal Wednesday on “Squawk Box” on CNBC.

“What we’re doing is increasing the confidence for private businesses to come do deals in Venezuela, directly with the government of Venezuela, and possibly also with the partnership between NABEP. This is President Trump’s grand plan to replace conflict with commerce,” Wright said.

Analysts are skeptical, saying it will take years to revive Venezuela’s oil industry, and questions remain about whether Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has the legal authority to give the company 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with reserves of 65 billion barrels.

Trump said major US oil companies are reinvesting in Venezuela. ExxonMobil says otherwise

Trump has eyed Venezuela’s oil since the capture of Nicolás Maduro and he’s been pressing to get U.S. businesses back into the country. “We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in,” he said in January, and suggested again on Monday that U.S. oil majors were readying for a return.

Other than Chevron, which already operates in Venezuela, there is no evidence of that. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said in January that Venezuela was “ uninvestable,” and a company spokesman said this week that “nothing has changed.”

Marco Rubio downplays CIA chief’s visit to Moscow as ‘routine’

The U.S. Secretary of State is downplaying the significance of CIA chief John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow last month, saying it was a “routine” trip aimed at keeping communications channels open.

Reports emerged that Ratcliffe warned Russia during his visit about assistance to Iran and its military position in its war with Ukraine.

“The United States does need to be able to communicate with Russia (and) his visit there was largely routine in that sense,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that aired on Wednesday. “This is not unusual.”

“It wasn’t part of any sort of broader initiative,” Rubio said in the interview that was recorded on Tuesday.

Chinese government expresses ‘serious concerns’ after man’s death in ICE custody

The Chinese government is pressing for answers after a Chinese man died hours after being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a U.S. territorial lockup.

Lianyong Wei, 51, died early Aug. 23 at a hospital in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, ICE announced in a press release Tuesday. ICE said his cause of death was under investigation.

“We have expressed serious concerns to the relevant U.S. authorities over this incident and required a timely and thorough investigation into the cause of Mr. Wei’s death, notification of the findings, measures to prevent any recurrence of similar incidents, and assistance to the family of the deceased in handling the aftermath,” the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles said in a statement.