Netanyahu Rejects Trump's Gaza Plan, Iran Says Strait Of Hormuz Won't Open Until U.S. 'Corrects' Behavior: Live Updates

President Donald Trump on Sunday named Will Scharf, his one-time personal attorney, as the new White House Counsel. He will replace current counsel David Warrington, who is headed to the private sector, according to a Truth Social post.

Scharf is currently the White House Staff Secretary and has previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri. He defended Trump in multiple cases, including one on federal election interference, and supported the confirmation of his Supreme Court nominees.

Additionally, Scharf has chaired the National Capital Planning Commission, a body that’s helped advance Trump’s prized construction projects, including the new $400 million White House ballroom and a massive arch in the capital.

“I know Will well! He previously represented me in numerous cases, including at the Supreme Court, during the Biden Administration’s corrupt and illegal campaign of Weaponization,” Trump wrote in his announcement for the role.

Scharf has “embraced some of the most extreme elements of the president’s agenda,” The New York Times reported. “But he has also thrown up flares at times over matters that, according to his colleagues, he believed could imperil the presidency.” One such instance was when Scharf warned White House officials against a proposal to suspend undocumented immigrants’ habeas corpus rights.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) didn’t rule out running for president or Senate when asked about both prospects in an ABC News interview on Sunday.

“I haven’t ruled out the possibility. And I’m very humbled to the tremendous amount of support out there,” said Ocasio-Cortez regarding a potential presidential run. “I think that we have a responsibility to remain focused on the midterms and not on our individual aspirations or plans.”

ABC News’s Jonathan Karl followed up by asking if the Congresswoman would consider running against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for Senate.

“I think that anything is possible at this juncture,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Previously, Ocasio-Cortez has emphasized that her ambitions aren’t constrained to attaining a specific title or seat.

“My ambition is to change this country,” she said in May. “Presidents come and go, Senate, House seats, elected officials, come and go, but single-payer healthcare is forever. A living wage is forever. Workers’ rights are forever. Women’s rights — all of that.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday condemned anti-Muslim statements made by some of his fellow Republicans in the wake of Abdul El-Sayed’s win in the Michigan Senate primary last week.

During an exchange on “Face the Nation,” CBS News’ Margaret Brennan asked Cassidy about the Islamophobic posts shared by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

“Are you comfortable here? Does your party need to condemn language like this?” Brennan asked.

“I condemn language like that…I condemn those statements, and everybody should be treated as an individual,” Cassidy said.

El-Sayed has also called out the Islamophobic attacks that have been levied against him, noting that it’s “the only play they got.”

“Senator Cassidy did the right thing by clearly and unequivocally condemning anti-Muslim rhetoric from members of his own party,” CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “American Muslims are our doctors, teachers, neighbors, veterans, business owners, public servants and elected officials. They are Americans, and they deserve the same dignity and respect as every other American.”

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday recounted a “warm and inspiring” call he shared with former President Barack Obama after his recent primary victory.

“It was a really warm and inspiring conversation,” El-Sayed said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “...I was grateful for his advice. It was very warm, very inviting. And I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is going to play in holding Trump accountable, in winning back the Senate, and in building forward the future that we need.”

El-Sayed also told CNN that Obama helped him see himself in politics, and noted that he hoped the former president could join him on the campaign trail in Michigan.

Obama won Michigan twice in both presidential elections in 2008 and 2012.

The Senate easily passed a bipartisan continuing resolution early Saturday morning that will keep the government funded through December as Congress hopes to avoid a government shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections.

The measure, which passed in a 90-6 vote, would keep the government funded at current levels through Dec. 11, six weeks beyond the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. But it does come with some exceptions.

For example, the bill closes a loophole that would have allowed the Trump administration to continue transferring money from other programs to Border Patrol, and temporarily blocks a proposed rule from the White House Office of Management and Budget that would have given political appointees greater authority and final say over the distribution of federal grants.

The bill still requires a House vote, but lawmakers have already left for August recess and won’t take it up until they return in early September.

President Donald Trump was handed a series of losses on Friday, but as always, he attempted to play it off. Here’s a rundown of how his day went:

• A federal appeals court blocked his $400 million White House ballroom project, calling for any above-ground construction to stop immediately. Trump repeatedly raged over the decision on social media throughout the day.
• The president also faced a setback this week in the $10 billion lawsuit he brought against the BBC, forcing him to submit an emergency order to prevent the disclosure of his financial records in court. He also withdrew allegations that the network had damaged his brand and businesses.
• In another court loss for Trump, a judge ruled Friday that his administration violated disability rights when it removed blind vendors from Army bases.
• The president tried to save face on Truth Social after his pick in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district lost on Thursday, pointing to a number of other candidates who won after earning his endorsement. “Last night was another good night for Endorsements. 8-1, and the 1 was a person who I remained loyal to even though he had virtually no chance of winning,” he wrote, throwing Rep. Andy Ogles under the bus after he lost his primary.
• Trump continued to melt down over the Justice Department withdrawing charges over damage to his Reflecting Pool renovations. “People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes,’” he wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife.”
• The Labor Department issued a depressing jobs report on Friday showing that 23,000 positions were cut last month, a major blow to the president only three months before midterms.
• Trump appears to already be preparing for a possible disastrous midterms for Republicans, telling Punchbowl News that voters are “angry at Republicans. But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”

President Donald Trump on Friday lamented being referred to as a temporary tenant of the White House in a court ruling that blocks the construction of his $400 million ballroom unless he receives congressional approval.

Trump’s meltdown was over language in the ruling stating that “[e]ach ‌President is a temporary tenant, not the owner” of the White House.

“We are not tenants, who pay rent and do all other things that a tenant must do, we are PRESIDENTS, elected by the people of the United States of America, and have many rights, including the right to fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds, which has been built and rebuilt, renovated and rerenovated, repaired and, simply, MADE BETTER, many times since 1792, and never needing the permission of Congress, or anyone else, to do so,” Trump said in a rambling Truth Social post, calling the decision a national security threat and “national disgrace.”

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the Democrats running to succeed House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in November, apologized on Friday for creating an AI chatbot that produced negative information about his opponent, San Francisco lawmaker Connie Chan.

“My campaign created ConnieChan.ai as a parody to draw attention to my opponent’s record of delay and obstruction around housing, public transit, and other critical needs,” Wiener said in a statement. “Today, we are taking down the chatbot, and the billboards that promoted it will come down soon.”

Wiener admitted that the AI chatbot “clearly missed the mark.”

“I heard from many people who loved the idea, and I appreciate their support,” he continued. “But many others were offended, and I apologize for causing that offense. Innovation means trying new things, and it also means being honest when something doesn’t land the way you intended.”

A spokesperson for Chan said in a statement to HuffPost that Wiener’s chatbot creates concerns about his character and judgment.

“San Franciscans deserve better than a campaign funded by Big AI weaponizing the technology to mock an immigrant woman of color, doubling down after justified outrage, then reversing course and shrugging it off as simply ‘missing the mark,’” the spokesperson said.

Pelosi and nine other female lawmakers condemned Wiener’s strategy in a letter posted to social media Thursday, asserting that it furthered “racist misogynistic tropes.”

“Using AI to fabricate a woman’s voice for ridicule or attack is a gross misuse of technology and reflects a disturbing willingness to erase women’s agency,” the letter read.

Chan, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was endorsed by Pelosi ahead of the November election.