Trump says Vance-Rubio ticket for 2028 presidential election would be ‘unbeatable’ – US politics live

Key events

Trump-backed candidate loses in Iowa governor’s race as Democrats look to flip Senate seat

Iowa voters cast their ballots in yesterday’s heated primaries, setting up for months of fervent campaigning ahead of the November midterms in contests that could determine the balance of power in Congress.

A red state that the GOP has dominated for the past decade, Democrats believe they can be competitive in three of its four House races, its Senate election, and the contest to replace Kim Reynolds, the retiring Republican governor.

Last night, Josh Turek, the state house representative who benefited from millions of dollars in outside spending and the endorsement of a slew of top Democrats, won the Democratic primary in a race to replace retiring Republican senator Joni Ernst.

In a proxy battle for which direction the party would take, he defeated Zach Wahls, the state senator who pitched himself to voters as an outsider who would stand up to party elites including Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader whom he blamed for weakening the party.

Turek will face Ashley Hinson, a Republican US representative who Donald Trump endorsed to replace Ernst.

In the gubernatorial race, Democrats believe they have a historically strong candidate in Rob Sand, the auditor who is the last member of the party holding statewide elected office. Sand ran unopposed in the primary.

Five candidates vied for the Republican nomination, with Zach Lahn emerging as the winner. Representative Randy Feenstra, who came in second, had been endorsed by Trump. His loss marks an end to Trump’s streak of winning endorsements – until yesterday, every candidate Trump backed since March had won their primary.

Read Chris’s full report here:

Trump also said he still felt optimistic he would have a deal “fairly quickly” and once again downplayed the impact of his war against Iran on Americans’ finances.

“Everyone said it was going to be $300, $400 a barrel, it’s $98 a barrel but that’s not a big price to pay if you look at the possibility of them having a nuclear weapon,” he told the Pod Force One podcast.

The president also suggested he was in no rush to end the crisis in the strait of Hormuz, saying it was possible that the US naval blockade of the critical waterway could remain in place for weeks.

Asked if it would still be in place by Labor Day on 7 September, Trump replied: “I don’t know. I mean, I think it could be [closed through Labor Day], but I think it’s unlikely, I think that we’ll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly.”

Trump says he was 'perturbed' with Netanyahu over attacks on Lebanon

More now from Donald Trump’s interview with the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast.

The president confirmed Axios’s report that he yelled and cursed at Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier this week.

Israel’s continued assault on Lebanon had threatened to derail talks on ending the president’s war against Iran.

Axios reported, citing two US officials and a third source briefed on the call, that Trump told Netanyahu he was “fucking crazy” and “you’d be in prison if it weren’t for me”.

Asked if he said what Axios reported, Trump told the podcast: “I did.”

I don’t want to say ‘angry’. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon, you know, at some point I said, ‘Bibi, we gotta stop this, we gotta stop it.’

Trump then insisted that they have “worked very well together”. “I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” he added.

A set of sweeping policy changes unveiled by the White House would leave officials appointed by Donald Trump vetting every public grant issued to universities and nongovernmental organizations on the basis of their fidelity to “American values”, as defined by the president, triggering widespread concern.

All federal grants approved by Trump’s political appointees must “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities”, according to a lengthy proposal published by the office of management and budget (OMB).

Federal awards during the Biden administration “were often used during those years to promote a ‘woke’ policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public”, the proposal claims in its executive summary. “Collectively, these policies wasted a great amount of taxpayer resources and caused great harm to public trust in government.”

A 400-page document proposing rule changes was published Friday without a press release or other formal attention, and first reported by the New York Times. Nonetheless, by Tuesday afternoon, more than 3,000 public comments had been offered about the proposal, almost exclusively in alarmed opposition.

Trump says Vance-Rubio 2028 ticket would be 'unbeatable'

In his interview with the ‘Pod Force One’ podcast, Trump said that vice-president JD Vance and US secretary of state Marco Rubio running together in 2028 would be “unbeatable”.

Both men are seen as contenders for the 2028 Republican nomination, and Rubio’s recent turn at the White House podium drew praise from Republicans and even some Democrats who noted his smooth performance, which included quips and a 1990s hip-hop reference to describe Iran’s negotiating position.

“I would think that JD and Marco as a team would be very hard to beat,” Trump told Miranda Devine in a podcast aired on Wednesday.

“It’s interesting, human thing, the human equation. So I watch them together, they get along great,” he added.

Trump has continued to fuel the succession talk even as both Vance and Rubio downplay their 2028 ambitions.

Trump suggests he will make Todd Blanche ​permanent US attorney general

Donald Trump said he believed he would make acting attorney general Todd Blanche permanent the top US law enforcement officer.

Asked in an interview broadcast on Wednesday on ‘Pod Force One’ if Blanche would be US attorney general, Trump replied: “I think he will.”

Uwa Ede-Osifo

Karen Bass has come out ahead in Tuesday’s heated primary for Los Angeles mayor, but with less than 50% of the vote will have to defend her seat in November’s general election.

Bass will face either Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, or city council member Nithya Raman, in November. As of Tuesday evening, it was still unclear who would move on.

In remarks to voters on Tuesday evening, Bass said she would spend the next four years addressing homelessness and building more housing units.

She described Los Angeles as a rebounding city, and vowed to build on the progress made over the last three and a half years. Invoking the “dark day” a year ago when Donald Trump sent immigration troops into the city, Bass declared: “We are a city that is unified.”

Los Angeles’s next mayor will be tasked with showing progress in curbing the homelessness crisis, an issue that has long vexed the nation’s second-most populous city, revitalizing Hollywood amid a production exodus and shoring up emergency response programs after last year’s deadly wildfires.

The race initially seemed poised to be an intra-party match-up between Bass and her former ally Raman.

But the contest took a turn in its final weeks as Pratt made substantial gains in polling and sparked national attention with controversial campaign videos and a combative debate performance.

Federal workers experiencing ‘PTSD-like symptoms’ after unlawful firings by Trump administration

Michael Sainato

US federal workers laid off by the Trump administration said they are experiencing mental health effects, including PTSD-like symptoms, from losing their jobs, according to a new survey.

More than 300 fired probationary employees were surveyed, with 95% reporting ongoing mental health effects, according to 27UNIHTED, a network of former National Institute of Health (NIH) employees. Nearly half said they are experiencing PTSD-like symptoms, and a quarter are taking new medications to manage symptoms.

Survey respondents were located across 43 states and the US Virgin Islands and had worked in 12 different departments across 15 agencies, bureaus and subgroups.

The employees are a tiny fraction of the more than 300,000 federal workers who were laid off or pushed to resign or retire since the start of Donald Trump’s second term. More than 25,000 workers were laid off in the middle of their probationary period, meaning they had started their positions within a year or two when they were abruptly fired.

Some of the most crucial races to flip are now set for November, with massive spending expected in contests seen as toss-ups, but even in those rated to lean toward Republicans given the national headwinds against the party in power.

In New Jersey, Democrats nominated former healthcare executive and US navy veteran Rebecca Bennett after a crowded primary to take on Republican congressman Tom Kean Jr, who ran unopposed, in a suburban swing district that Trump carried narrowly last year. The race took on a renewed importance in recent months, as constituents – and colleagues – question his whereabouts amid a mysterious three-month absence from Congress.

In Iowa, where Democrats are expected to spend big, rematches were set in districts that two years ago produced some of the closest House races in the country. And a more moderate challenger running on a “prairie populism” message gave Democrats hope they could win the US Senate seat that is open after incumbent Joni Ernst decided not to run.

Josh Turek, who represents a Trump-friendly legislative district in the state legislature beat out state senator Zach Wahls, who was running a more anti-establishment campaign, and will face former broadcaster Ashley Hinson this fall.

After Turek’s win, Cook Political Report moved the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican”, noting that Turek’s life story (he was born with spina bifida from his father’s exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, uses a wheelchair and is a Paralymic gold medalist) and moderate appeal could grab voters in a dismal environment for Republicans.

In a statement after his win, Turek said: “I will be a real fighter for Iowans, the middle class and our working families. So from now until November, I welcome all Iowans – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike – to join our team.”

California primary unresolved as voters choose midterm candidates

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

California’s crowded primary for governor remains up in the air after three leading candidates tested voters’ appetites for an experienced politician or promises of sweeping change.

Though votes were still being counted, Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton started looking to November, laying out their visions for leading the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.

It followed Tuesday’s primary votes, that could see critical districts flip in both the House and Senate, setting up a series of high-stakes general election contests in a midterm year expected to favor Democrats.

Among the most watched races are: a New Jersey Democrat who could oust a Republican incumbent absent with a mystery medical issue for months, several Iowa Democrats hoping to flip their red-leaning state, as well as California’s redrawn maps that have given Democrats an advantage in the heavily blue state.

In the golden state’s governor race, only two will advance to the general election, however, and the Associated Press has not yet called the primary for any candidate but Hilton and Becerra were leading so far, with Steyer running slightly further back.

“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters after polls closed, reflecting his campaign message that the state needs a dramatic reset after more than 15 years of Democratic rule.

Steyer also campaigned on change and declared Tuesday that he would prevail over monied interests that strived to defeat him.

Becerra pitched himself as the steady hand who can lead the state against intrusions from the Trump administration. “The underdog stayed in the fight,” Becerra said to applause.

In other developments:

• Karen Bass came out ahead in Tuesday’s heated primary for Los Angeles mayor, but with less than 50% of the vote will have to defend her seat in November’s general election. She’ll likely run against either Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, or city council member Nithya Raman.

• Iowa state representative Josh Turek won the Democratic nomination for the state’s open US Senate seat – setting him up to face off against Ashley Hinson in the November general election. A former television anchor turned state senator, Hinson was endorsed by Donald Trump and retiring senator Joni Ernst.

• Adam Hamawy won the Democratic nomination for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district, teeing the army doctor and political newcomer up to face off against Republican Gregg Mele in November’s general election. Hamawy decided to run for office after returning from a medical mission in Gaza in 2024 and meeting congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who announced her retirement in November 2025.

• Deb Haaland won the Democratic nomination for governor in New Mexico. If elected in the November general election, Haaland would become the first Native American woman governor elected in the country.

• Christina Bohannan won the Democratic nomination for Iowa’s 1st congressional district. She will compete against incumbent Republican congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the November general election

• Zach Lahn narrowly won the Republican nomination for governor, and will face off against Democrat Rob Sand in Iowa’s general election this November. Five Republicans competed for the nomination to replace retiring Republican governor Kim Reynolds.

• Former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Benett won the Democratic nomination for New Jersey’s 7th congressional district, and will challenge Republican congressman Tom Kean Jr. in the general election. Kean, who’s been absent from Congress, citing a health issue, since March shared a statement on social media saying he’s “more energized than ever” and will “be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition” when he returns to work in “a matter of weeks”.