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Trump admin live updates: Trump, Schumer trade barbs over Senate nominations
The Senate voted on some of Trump's nominations before the August recess.
The Senate on Saturday considered some of President Donald Trump's nominations before the August recess.
Earlier this week, Trump issued an executive order slapping tariffs on many of America's trading partners but the new duties are set to go into effect in seven days.
Trump also continues to face questions over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his relationship with the accused sex trafficker.
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GOP Rep. Onder’s bill would rename Kennedy Center for Trump
A House Republican wants to rename the Kennedy Center after President Donald Trump.
Rep. Bob Onder of Missouri recently introduced the legislation, which would designate the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts.
The measure -- entitled the Make Entertainment Great Again Act -- does not currently have any other co-sponsors but comes after House Republicans advanced a proposal to rename the Kennedy Center’s Opera House after first lady Melania Trump.
“You would be hard pressed to find a more significant cultural icon in the past 40 years than President Trump,” Rep. Onder said in a statement last week. “President Trump’s love and mastery of entertainment has stood the test of time and allowed him to capture Americans’ attention for decades.”
This is another move by Republicans in Congress to turn the Kennedy Center in a more Trumpian direction. President Trump was elected as chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board in February.
The Republican’s massive tax and policy bill signed into law by Trump included $257 million for Kennedy Center repairs. For fiscal year 2026, Republicans hope to make a 17% cut to the center’s budget.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Trump teases announcement for tariff plans on pharmaceuticals
President Donald Trump said he'll announce his tariff plans on pharmaceuticals "sometime soon," saying he wants to bring them back to the country.
"If you look at COVID, it sort of taught us a lesson. We were getting our pharmaceuticals from other countries. We almost didn't make any. We used to make them ourselves. And we're going to want to be making a lot of them ourselves," Trump said on Monday while meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump did seem to indicate that the U.K. or possibly the European Union might face lower tariffs, citing the fact that he feels better about allies to the U.S. producing pharmaceuticals.
When asked for clarification on Trump's comments, a White House official told ABC News that the 15% tariff for the EU included pharmaceuticals. Trump previously threatened a sizable tariff on pharmaceuticals. In early July, he said it could be around 200%.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Hannah Demissie
Trump announces plan to set up food centers in Gaza
While meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, President Donald Trump detailed a new plan in conjunction with European allies to set up food centers in Gaza, where there would be "no fences" so people could walk in to get the food.
"They see the food from 30 [...] yards away, and they see the food. It's all there, but nobody's at it because there are fences set up that nobody can even get it. It's crazy what's going on over there," Trump said.
Trump also seemed to reverse his message from earlier on Monday, when he said he didn't "know" if there is starvation in Gaza, now saying that there is starvation in Gaza and vowing action from the U.S.
"We can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids are -- that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that. So we're going to be even more involved," Trump said.
While Trump also put focus on the efforts to try and broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Starmer made it clear that attention also needs to be on the crisis unfolding in Gaza.
"Look, we need to get the hostages out. They've been held for a very long time, and we must always start from there, but also recognize the situation on the ground in Gaza is absolutely intolerable," Starmer said.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart, Lalee Ibssa and Hannah Demissie
Trump says he is 'allowed' to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, but it’s 'inappropriate’ to discuss
When asked by reporters if he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell -- the convicted associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- President Donald Trump said he is "allowed to give her a pardon" but "nobody’s approached me with it."
"Nobody’s asked me about it. Right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it," Trump said on Monday.
He said he hasn’t been "overly interested" in the Epstein files, and called the “whole thing a hoax” in regard to whether his name is in the files.