President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Later that morning, he shared on social media an image of a map depicting the lake, with a red X over “Lake Ontario” and the words “Lake America” above it in large gold letters next to a U.S. flag.

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes in North America, which together compose the largest freshwater system in the world. It borders the Canadian province of Ontario, which was named after the lake, as well as the U.S. state of New York.

Trump’s threat to rename the lake is reminiscent of his previous push to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

It is possible that Trump could order the U.S. federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” but he cannot require other nations to adhere to the change. When he signed an Executive Order last year to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” the directive only applied to the U.S. federal government, and other nations continue to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico. Many other entities—such as The Associated Press, which sets style guidelines that many news outlets follow—have also stuck to the original name for the gulf.

The U.S. and Canada also have a 1989 agreement regarding the coordination of names for geographical features shared between the two nations, which emphasizes the importance of both sides using the same name for the same feature “where culturally acceptable,” and says that “it is highly desirable to retain established official names.” According to the document, a name change could be considered “for purpose of conformance to strong local usage or citizen preference, or on special request with strong specific reasons.”

The origin of the lake’s name, which derives from Indigenous words referring to the lake, predates the founding of both countries.

Tough talks

Trump’s threat to rename Lake Ontario comes after trade talks between the U.S. and Canada broke down on Friday. The following day, the Trump Administration’s 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of imported Canadian goods went into effect. On Tuesday, Canada announced that it would impose retaliatory levies—reaching as high as 50% on some items—starting on Sept. 8.

Both countries have blamed the other for trade negotiations collapsing. In a statement on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. of wanting “last-minute changes” to the trade deal that he said were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

“In short, they asked too much and they offered too little,” Carney said at a press conference on Saturday.

Trump, meanwhile, has accused Canada of “‘Ripping Off’ the U.S.A. for decades,” calling the northern neighbor “difficult and unreasonable.”

In the days since, tensions have continued to rise between the two allied nations. Trump on Monday threatened to raise automobile tariffs on Canada to 50% beginning in 2027. He’s continued to hurl barbs at Canada, referring to its Prime Minister as “Governor Carney”—a remark that Trump has made before, and one that hints at comments he has made in the past suggesting that he wants to annex the country. At a political event on Monday, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance called Canada a “state,” before claiming it was a “Freudian slip.”

When asked about Trump’s threat to rename Lake Ontario, the province’s Premier Doug Ford said on CNN on Tuesday that he thought it was “a lot of rhetoric” and emphasized the strong trading ties between Ontario and many U.S. states.

“We’re strong believers in being a sovereign country, and when President Trump wants to attack our sovereignty and attack our businesses and people in Ontario, I can’t roll over,” he continued. “My job is to protect Ontario and Canada, and ironically, protecting the American people.”

Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who oversees trade with the U.S., was also asked about Trump’s Truth Social posts on CNBC, and replied: “We’ve decided as a federal government months ago not to respond to sort of the daily social media posts of either the President or his Cabinet secretaries and so on. We’re focused on doing what we can in Canada to build our economy and to having a constructive relationship with the government of the United States, our most important trading partner.”

Dolly Parton, the country music legend behind hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” as well as an actress, businesswoman, fashion icon, and philanthropist, died on Tuesday. She was 80.

Her death was announced in a video featuring her nephew, Bryan Seaver, that was shared on Parton’s social media accounts. Seaver didn’t disclose a cause of death in the video, but Parton’s publicist later told news outlets in a statement that Parton died after a “brief battle with cancer.” 

In the video, Seaver said that his aunt “has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by” her loved ones, including her husband Carl Dean, who died last year, as well as her parents and “countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”

“She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history,” Seaver said. “My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not.”

Read More: Dolly Parton Loved Us All, Darlin'

Purchase a copy of the Dolly Parton cover here

Dolly Parton, the country music legend behind hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” as well as an actress, businesswoman, fashion icon, and philanthropist, died on Tuesday. She was 80.

Her death was announced in a video featuring her nephew, Bryan Seaver, that was shared on Parton’s social media accounts. Seaver didn’t disclose a cause of death in the video, but Parton’s publicist later told news outlets in a statement that Parton died after a “brief battle with cancer.” 

In the video, Seaver said that his aunt “has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by” her loved ones, including her husband Carl Dean, who died last year, as well as her parents and “countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”

“She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history,” Seaver said. “My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you. She has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked it or not.”

Read More: Dolly Parton Loved Us All, Darlin'

A statement shared on Parton’s social media page said Parton “died peacefully today in Nashville.” The statement referenced her decades-long legacy in both music and philanthropy. It also said that a small, private funeral service will be held for Parton’s immediate family, per her wishes, while it encouraged fans to share tributes to Parton online. 

Parton’s family also asked that, instead of flowers, people who wish to express their condolences donate to Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that mails books to children for free. Parton founded the initiative in 1995 in her home state of Tennessee, and it has since expanded to other states and even internationally, donating hundreds of millions of books worldwide.

“I am as proud of the Imagination Library,” Parton told PBS News in 2020, “as I ever will be, anything I ever do for the rest of my life.”

Health issues persist

Last year, fans expressed concerns about the state of Parton’s health after she announced that she would need to postpone upcoming shows in Las Vegas, which she later canceled, because of “some health challenges” that she was dealing with. Parton said that her doctors told her she needed to have “a few procedures,” which she didn’t elaborate on, but she sought to allay any concerns.

“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” Parton said in a post in September. “But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”

Amid growing online speculation over her health, Parton posted a video in October, captioned “I ain’t dead yet!” in which she said, “I know lately, everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here! Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease.”

She said in the video that when her husband was sick, and after he died, “I didn't take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of. So anyway when I got around to it, the doctors said, ‘We need to take care of this, we need to take care of that.’ Nothing major.” She added that she had to cancel some appearances so that she could be near her home and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which was where she was having “a few treatments here and there.”

In May, Parton shared another video update on her health, in which she said that it would take her more time to be ready to perform on stage again “because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed.”

“The good news,” she said at the time, “I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day.” She went on to say that she has “always had problems” with kidney stones but that, in recent years, her immune and digestive systems “got all out of whack” and her doctors were “working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.” She added that her doctors assured her that her health issues were treatable.

Just four days before her death, Parton told PEOPLE in a statement: “As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.” 

She reiterated that she hates to cancel things, such as her Las Vegas residency, but admitted, “I just couldn’t do the shows at the level I would want them to be, and in the way that I know my fans would expect them to be. I definitely plan to do special performances in the future, but I won’t tour anymore like I used to.” Parton added that she was in the early stages of developing “avatar performances” that would allow her to put on a show without having to “show up in person.”

“Seriously, though,” Parton told PEOPLE, “even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’! You know me — as I’ve often said — I’ve dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.”

Tributes flood in from admirers, from Biden to Beyoncé

Tributes for the country music icon began pouring in on Tuesday afternoon, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, who called Parton “one of the greatest Country singers.” The President said that, in Parton’s honor, he was ordering American flags across the country to be lowered for a week, starting at 6 p.m. 

“This is a true loss for millions of people,” Trump said on Truth Social. “There has never been anyone like her, and never will.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced on Tuesday that flags would be lowered to half-staff that day across the state in honor of Parton, whom he called “Tennessee’s favorite daughter.”

“Rare is the one who climbs to the pinnacle of fame, then scoffs at its allure, only to retain the genuine humility that defines them,” Lee said in a post on X. “Dolly Parton was one of a kind, who loved people, her work, her family, and her Lord. Tennessee has forever been changed - enhanced - by her, and will never be quite the same without Dolly.”

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said in a social media post that she and her husband were “absolutely heartbroken and saddened to hear of the passing of our friend.”

“Dolly’s life and career are forever woven into Tennessee’s music, culture, and history,” Blackburn said. “Her extraordinary talent, generosity, and love for the Volunteer State touched hearts around the world and will continue to inspire generations to come. Tennessee will forever be grateful for Dolly.”

Other politicians mourned the loss of Parton as well, remembering not only her contribution to the music industry but also her philanthropic legacy and advocacy.

Former President Bill Clinton said in a post on X that he and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “were big fans” of Parton and “will always be grateful for the music and the memories,” including seeing her perform in 1974. “Dolly Parton was one of a kind—a great songwriter and performer who told the stories of everyday Americans with honesty, humility, and heart,” Clinton said. “She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy.”

Former President Joe Biden called Parton “an American original” and “an inspiration to millions.”

“She was a relentless advocate for women and for equality. Through her Imagination Library, she placed the gift of reading into the hands of millions of children because she understood literacy is the foundation of opportunity,” Biden said in a post on X. “But perhaps most importantly, Dolly treated everyone with kindness and respect. She lived her values with a flair and vitality for life that was uniquely her own. She was a trailblazer in every sense of the word, and she will be missed by millions around the world.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris called Parton “a true American icon” and listed her many accolades in a social media post. “All at once she was kind, modest, and funny,” Harris said. “With her music, her philanthropy, and her style, Dolly was one of one.”

“Dolly Parton was one of the great entertainers of our era,” Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said on X. “She was not only a talented musician & songwriter, but a lifelong philanthropist and advocate for literacy, education, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare and disaster relief. Her music and humanity touched millions. She will be sorely missed.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “America lost an icon today. Dolly Parton embodied so much of what is possible in America - a remarkable singer, songwriter, entertainer, businesswoman, and philanthropist.” McMahon added that Parton’s “greatest legacy extends far beyond her music,” praising and linking to Parton’s Imagination Library.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling called Parton’s Imagination Library “the best contribution to child literacy ever made by a celebrity.” Rowling added in a post on X, “Our paths crossed once, in the 90s, backstage at a talk show, and I was completely tongue-tied and starstruck. RIP Dolly. You were a complete, irreplaceable one-off.”

Conservative media personality Megyn Kelly was among many who remarked on Parton’s broad appeal. “Dolly Parton seemed as close to total goodness as any mere mortal could come,” Kelly said in a post on X. “She united us all in our love and admiration for her and, now, in mourning her.”

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins also remembered Parton on air Tuesday night, reporting on how people across the country were mourning the icon—including Collins.

“As a young girl growing up in the Deep South, Dolly was right up there with every other music legend that made up the soundtrack to our childhood. I can still remember my family driving from our home in Alabama up to Pigeon Forge, often blaring songs like ‘Hard Candy Christmas’ as the leaves were turning in the fall,” Collins recalled. “We loved our trips to the Great Smoky Mountains, the same mountains that gave all of us Dolly Parton.”

Many musicians also shared tributes for Parton. 

Billy Ray Cyrus reflected on his years-long friendship with Parton.

“I have so many moments and memories with Dolly, it’s hard to know where to start,” he said in an Instagram post. “Like every little boy, I grew up loving Dolly Parton. She was a part of our lives, on our TV’s, right in our living rooms.”

“Dolly recently sent me a beautiful message, telling me she loved me with her whole heart,” he continued. “I will always love her in the same way ….. with my whole heart … and I always will.”

Fellow octogenarian entertainer and friend Dionne Warwick posted on X a photo with Parton and said, “I will certainly miss her laugher, jokes and her being. Rest well and in total peace my friend. My heart is heavy.”

Country singer and actress Reba McEntire honored her friend in a statement, thanking her “for all the wonderful things [she] did for us here on earth.”

“We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang,” McEntire said. “Thank you, Lord, for Dolly. She’s gonna have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her.”

“Dolly Parton had a way of making everyone feel special, and seen, and welcomed, and as if you were old friends,” Kelly Clarkson said in a social media post. “I will miss her heart and her voice as I am sure millions will. What an incredible gift and talent she was and still is with an amazing catalogue of art she has left behind for all of us.”

Beyoncé shared a touching tribute addressed to Parton on her website, saying, “You were the barometer. The North Star. Bold and brilliant. Talented and tenacious. You taught so many lessons on how to be uniquely oneself.” Beyoncé went on to say that she was “honored” that she had the opportunity to work with Parton: “I will treasure that forever. Thank you for your profound impact on the world. You are an angel who has made this world a happier place because of your joyful art. You are truly one of one.”

“Dolly Parton taught us that a woman can be powerful, beautiful and talented, and still be kind,” Jennifer Hudson said in a post on X. “And that success never has to come at the expense of grace, generosity, or heart !! What a wonderful example she set for us all. Rest well, Ms. Parton! We will always love you!! May your light shine on…”

Kacey Musgraves shared multiple posts on X about the news, saying in one that she was glad Parton was reunited with her late husband and summing up her sadness in another: “The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.”

‘Head honcho’ of heaven

Parton’s co-stars from her first feature film, 9 to 5 (1980), for which she also provided the Academy Award-nominated and chart-topping theme song, also paid their respects to Parton after her death.

Lily Tomlin called Parton “The Great Harmonizer of Humanity” in a post on X, while Jane Fonda shared a lengthy tribute on Instagram.

“I know that millions are mourning and I want to say this – more than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever,” Fonda said.

“I never knew anyone like her,” Fonda added. “She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves. She was many things…lyricist, songstress, player of many instruments, writer, prankster, visionary, loyal friend […] She was the voluptuous embodiment of empathy. That’s something of hers she’d want us all to take with us.”

“To her gay and trans fans,” Fonda continued, “I want you to know that she loved you. You know that without me telling you. She loved all her fans and they are legion. And you know she doesn’t want y’all to mourn now. Dress up and celebrate her spirit. But first, watch the final episode of Grace and Frankie,” Fonda said, referring to her Netflix show with Tomlin that concluded in 2022 with a guest appearance by Parton, “where she’s an Angel, the head honcho working class angel in Heaven.”

Vice President J.D. Vance on Monday called Canada a “state,” before claiming it was an accident.

“We have to remember, Canada is a state—sorry, Freudian slip,” Vance said during a political event in Maine, after being asked about the recent heated trade talks between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. “That was actually an accident.”

He went on to say that “Canada is a country that has underinvested in its military that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United States of America.”

Vance’s slip-up comes after President Donald Trump has hurled a number of barbs at Canada and its political leaders since he took office for a second term. The President has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state,” suggesting that the U.S. should annex its northern neighbor. In March, Trump called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the “future Governor of Canada.” 

Carney has repeatedly and firmly pushed back on Trump’s comments; last year, the Canadian Prime Minister said of the suggestion of annexing Canada: “As I’ve said to anyone who’s raised this issue in private or in public, including the President, it will never happen.”

When TIME asked Trump last year whether he was “trolling a little bit” when he speaks about making Canada a U.S. state, Trump replied, “Actually, no, I’m not.”

Trump: ‘Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive’

In a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon, Trump continued to fling digs at Canada.

“America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer!” Trump said in his post. “The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada. Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive — It’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival.”

Trump referred to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been a vocal critic of the tariffs that the Trump Administration has imposed or threatened to impose on Canadian goods. In addition to calling Ford Carney’s “Flunky,” Trump said the Premier was “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford,” a former mayor of Ontario’s capital, Toronto.

Tensions between the allied countries have escalated in recent days. Trump claimed earlier last week that, “subject to the finalization of documents,” the two nations had reached a deal, but trade negotiations between the two broke down on Friday, and both sides have pointed the finger at the other.

In a statement shared late on Friday, Carney said that “progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians” and so he “decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S.” He accused the U.S. of proposing “last-minute changes” that he called “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal."

On Monday, Trump said that he plans to raise automobile tariffs on Canada to 50% starting on Jan. 1, 2027. His 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of goods imported into the U.S. from Canada went into effect over the weekend, and Carney said that Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that will take effect on Sept. 8.

At a press conference on Monday, Carney said that Canada was still open to trade talks, but that any deal would have to “be one that respects Canada’s sovereignty.”

“When the Americans go to the negotiation table first with the right attitude towards our industries and a true partnership, of course we’ll come to the negotiating table,” he said.

“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States,” he continued, “that’s not something we’re going to accept.”

The Pentagon has fired the editor-in-chief and publisher of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

On Friday, the Pentagon provided separation notices to editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and publisher Max Lederer, CBS News reported. The notices said that the two had five days to appeal the decision, according to CBS.

Slavin told The Associated Press that he was dismissed for insubordination “for stating in a CBS interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line.” In July, CBS published a story featuring an interview with Slavin, in which he stressed the importance of the newspaper’s independence.

“We need to be able to provide independent news to service members,” he told CBS. “If we can’t do that, if we were turned into something other than that, if we were public relations? Yeah, that's the foxhole.”

While Stars and Stripes receives part of its funding from the Pentagon, it has a years-long history of being editorially independent. In January, though, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the Department of Defense “is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission” and is “bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century.”

“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” he said in a post on X in January.

In March, more details about the department’s “modernization” overhaul for Stars and Stripes were revealed by an internal memo, which included a provision that content published by the newspaper must be aligned with “good order and discipline,” a phrase that is in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

News of the firings also comes after Lederer announced on Tuesday that he plans to retire, effective Sept. 30. Lederer, who has been publisher of the newspaper for nearly two decades, said that he came to the decision after he realized that his “understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes” diverged in “fundamental ways” from the Pentagon’s plans for the newspaper. He said he disagreed with parts of the modernization plan revealed in March, including the Pentagon’s desire to transition all print products to digital; Lederer said he worried that the move would affect the accessibility of Stars and Stripes for some service members.

“I think the right step is for me to step down, get out of the way, and let different leadership step in and continue to make this, the great organization that it is, even better,” Lederer told Stars and Stripes.

In April, the Department of Defense fired the newspaper’s ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith. As ombudsman, Smith was tasked with ensuring the organization’s editorial independence. Smith told her colleagues in a message at the time, which was seen by The Washington Post, that the Pentagon didn’t provide a reason for her firing, but that she believed the decision came down because she criticized the agency’s moves to overhaul the newspaper.

“I knew it was risky to speak out, but my responsibility to Stripes and the First Amendment was paramount,” she wrote in her message to her colleagues, according to the Post.

In June, Smith filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Defense, in which she alleged that her firing was retaliatory and a violation of her First Amendment rights.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he has coordinated a new deal to lower beef prices in the U.S.

“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” he said in a Truth Social post. “For the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.”

“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he continued.

An “out of quota tariff” is a higher tariff that is triggered if the amount of a product imported into the U.S. exceeds a certain quantity.

Read More: Why Ground Beef Prices Are Hitting Record-Highs in the U.S.

It’s unclear who the deal is with or which countries will be importing the beef into the U.S. A White House official told TIME that Trump secured an agreement with foreign beef exporters to sell beef at a 25% discount, which will be passed on to American consumers, in exchange for Trump lifting the out of quota tariff on lean beef trimmings that will be used for ground beef production. The White House official added that the President plans to sign an Executive Order regarding the deal within the next couple of weeks.

Both Trump and the White House official cited the soaring price of beef as the motivation behind the new deal. Last month, the average price of ground beef for American consumers was about $6.885 per pound—a jump of roughly 57% from just five years earlier, according to data shared by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The price of uncooked ground beef went up by 9% in July, compared to the same time last year, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.

Beef prices have skyrocketed in large part because of supply shortages: American cattle herd sizes are at a low not seen in years, even as consumer demand for beef remains high in the country.

The American Farm Bureau Federation reported last month that, while the total cattle inventory went up a bit at the start of July for the first in eight years, the beef cow herd dropped to 28.5 million head, decreasing by about 1% compared to the same time last year, making it the “smallest July inventory on record,” with data dating back to 1973. Experts attribute the pressure on herds largely to droughts driven by climate change.

The deal that Trump announced on Friday isn’t the first time his Administration has made efforts to try and address the soaring price of beef for consumers. The President also signed an Executive Order earlier this year aimed at increasing the amount of lean beef trimmings imported from Argentina by 80,000 metric tons per year.

Experts, however, cast doubt on whether boosting beef imports from Argentina will be effective at lowering the cost on Americans, saying that the boost in imports would make up too small a portion of the overall supply in the U.S. to have a significant impact. And the cattle industry has objected to such efforts in the past, expressing concerns that those moves would undermine producers within the U.S.

Colin Woodall—the CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a trade association for cattle farmers and ranchers—said in a statement on Friday that he was “disappointed” by Trump’s announcement.

“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” Woodall said. “We are already working to rebuild after years of ongoing drought, high input costs and other challenges that have reduced U.S. cattle numbers. Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging.”

The U.S.’s national debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time ever this week—more than double what it was a decade ago.

The record-breaking figure comes after the government reported in March that the total debt reached $39 trillion, meaning that the debt grew by $1 trillion in less than half a year. Just a few months before that, in October, that figure was $38 trillion.

And the country has reached the $40 trillion milestone earlier than experts had previously predicted; in 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the total debt wouldn’t hit that figure until 2028.

The debt has been increasing for decades, but much of the current total has been accumulated over the past ten years, during the administrations of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. Here’s how much the debt grew under each of their terms in the White House.

Trump’s first term

When Trump took office for his first term in January 2017, the total debt was about $19.95 trillion. When his presidency ended four years later, the debt stood at roughly $27.75 trillion, meaning that the debt rose by about $7.8 trillion under his Administration.

Biden’s term

The debt grew by about $8.4 trillion while Biden was in the White House, increasing from about $27.75 trillion when he was sworn into office in January 2021 to roughly $36 trillion by the time he finished his term in January 2025.

Trump’s second term so far

Since Trump returned to the White House for a second term in January last year, the debt has gone up by about $3.8 trillion. That means that the national debt has climbed by a total of $11.6 trillion across the two Trump Administrations—so far—a figure that comprises more than a quarter of the total amount.

Why has the debt soared?

Experts credit a significant portion of the growth in the national debt to the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Reuters, about one-third of the growth seen since 2017 took place during two years or so of the pandemic, when the first Trump Administration and then the Biden Administration intensified borrowing to fund the country’s pandemic response and recovery.

Both Trump’s and Biden’s fiscal policies have also contributed to—and exacerbated—the longer-standing issue of government spending exceeding tax and other revenues, which has led to the ballooning national debt. 

For instance, according to the Brookings Institute, the tax cuts that Trump signed into law during his first year in office in 2017 were expected to contribute almost $2 trillion to the deficit by 2028. And in March, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget predicted that Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a signature piece of his second-term agenda that also included steep tax cuts, will add $4.7 trillion to the national debt through 2035.

A woman who authorities have accused of planning to bomb the New York State Capitol building has been arrested and charged, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

Jessica Bowie, a 35-year-old woman from Albany, New York, was arrested on Wednesday and appeared in federal court the following day to face one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

“The FBI detected and stopped an alleged plot to attack the New York State Capitol and kill elected officials,” Matt Fodor of the FBI National Security Branch said in a statement. “According to the criminal complaint, the defendant in this case swore allegiance to ISIS and wanted to follow up with additional horrific acts of terrorism. This case is yet another example of how this FBI is built to not only identify threats of terrorism quickly, but to stop their alleged plots before they are able to harm the American people.”

A criminal complaint filed in federal court on Thursday outlines the FBI’s investigation into Bowie, including how agents reviewed social media posts she had shared with “anti-American messages” and the ensuing sting operation that led them to apprehend her.

An FBI confidential source, the document details, posed as an “ISIS facilitator” and began messaging with Bowie in July about “her plans to attack the New York State Capitol building in Albany.”

Bowie visited the building several times, according to the complaint. Included in the filing and the Justice Department’s press release was an image of an individual wearing all black and holding up a phone, seemingly to take a photo. The individual’s face is not visible in the photo, but authorities identified them as Bowie; the complaint says the image shows Bowie “doing reconnaissance on July 21” on the Capitol building.

The complaint goes on to describe an in-person meeting that Bowie had with two other FBI confidential sources on Aug. 5. The meeting was filmed and recorded, and the complaint alleges that Bowie “reaffirmed her desire to bomb the New York State Capitol” during the encounter. The filing includes part of the transcript from that meeting, during which she allegedly said that she would “ideally do [the attack] on a day when the most amount of senators are there, maybe we time it where there we know there’s a meeting with the senators, try and get a good enough explosive in there to kill the senators and ideally to destroy as much of the building as possible really.” She then said that she wanted “to be able to get away and migrate,” according to the complaint.

The complaint goes on to allege that Bowie and the two FBI informants discussed what items she would need to build the bomb and how she would obtain them. She later went to a Home Depot to purchase the materials, after one of the informants gave her $200 for the items, according to the complaint. The document and the Justice Department's press release include an image of someone wearing all black at a store “collecting the various items needed to build an explosive device.” As in the other photo, the individual’s face is not visible, but authorities identified the person as Bowie.

Last week, Bowie asked the first informant if they knew anyone who could sell her a gun, the complaint alleges. On Wednesday, it says, she allegedly met with the two other informants in a car and gave them $150 to buy a firearm, one magazine, and ammunition. During that meeting, the informants also showed her “an inert explosive device that was purportedly built using the components” she bought at the Home Depot earlier in the month, and showed her “how to operate the explosive device and further detailed how to detonate the device when she was ready to carry out the attack,” according to the complaint.

When Bowie exited the car—while in possession of the gun, magazine, ammunition, and the inert explosive device—she was arrested by FBI agents, the complaint alleges.

In a statement shared on X on Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul thanked the FBI and New York state police for their work apprehending the suspect.

“Earlier this year, amid a rise in political violence and threats against public officials, we took steps to strengthen security at the State Capitol and across state government,” the governor said. “While there is no immediate threat at this time, we will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to protect New Yorkers and keep our communities safe.”

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he was tapping Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the health agency responsible for overseeing the safety and effectiveness of products including food, drugs, and medical devices.

“Dr. Heidi has been a ROCKSTAR in my Administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE Health Agenda in History,” the President said in a Truth Social post. “We need her leadership at the FDA now to ensure that the U.S. remains the WORLD LEADER for Scientific Discovery and CURES.”

He went on to say that, in the role, Overton would work with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz “to RAPIDLY deliver on my priorities of FASTER Cures, INCREASED American Innovation, MAJOR Clinical Trial Reforms, LOWER Drug Prices, and even more MAHA WINS!”

If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Overton would take over the role previously held by Dr. Marty Makary, who stepped down from the position in May amid growing pushback from both outside of and within the White House.

Here’s what to know about Overton.

She’s a physician—and used to work at a conservative think tank

Overton, who has both an MD and PhD, used to be the chief policy officer at a conservative think tank called the America First Policy Institute. She is also a board-certified physician in public health and general preventive medicine, according to her bio on the institute’s website.

She currently works for the White House in another role

Overton already works in Trump’s White House, and has recently been in attendance at several events where the President has promoted his Administration’s health policies. She currently serves on the White House Domestic Policy Council, which “supervises the development, coordination, and execution of domestic policy in the White House” and “offers advice to the President and represents his priorities to Congress,” according to the White House website.

Last week, she was in the Oval Office with the President when he signed an Executive Order calling for children across the country to receive fewer immunizations—a move that was widely denounced by medical organizations and doctors. During the Oval Office signing, Trump said that concern over rising autism rates was one of the motivations behind the Executive Order. Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that vaccines are both safe and effective, and years of studies have found no link between vaccines and autism.

Read More: What Trump’s Executive Order Could Mean for Childhood Vaccines

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana—a physician who has provoked the President’s ire in part by publicly criticizing some of the Administration’s health policy changes, including Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines—took to social media on Wednesday to share his concerns about Overton.

“While I respect Dr. Overton’s experience as a physician, I have strong concerns about her nomination to be FDA Commissioner,” he said on X. “Her lack of managerial experience does not prepare her well for leading a large organization that is already dealing with staffing and morale issues. Additionally, Dr. Overton’s active role in last week’s nonsensical vaccine executive order calls into question her commitment to standing up for sound science and protecting children’s health. That alone is almost disqualifying.”

She is a vocal opponent of abortion

Overton has publicly expressed anti-abortion views. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Overton celebrated the ruling, calling it a “huge victory for life.” She has written several articles for the America First Policy Institute opposing abortion, including one in 2023 that lamented the Biden Administration’s efforts to expand access to abortion pills, which she claimed “are far more dangerous to women.” Years of research have shown that abortion pills are both safe and effective.

Read More: How the Biden Administration Protected Abortion Pill Access—and What Trump Could Do Next

After Trump was elected to a second term, many abortion providers and advocates voiced fears that he would appoint someone to lead the FDA who would restrict or revoke access to abortion pills. Several reproductive rights organizations condemned Trump’s nomination of Overton to lead the FDA on Wednesday.

“Donald Trump is trying to put an anti-abortion extremist in charge of any agency that could seriously undermine reproductive healthcare—including the agency that could roll back access to mifepristone nationwide,” Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju said in a statement. She went on to accuse Overton of having “spread junk science about medication abortion.”

“Her nomination is another alarming step in Trump’s plan to weaponize every part of the federal government to restrict abortion nationwide,” Timmaraju continued.

Anti-abortion organizations, meanwhile, threw their support behind Overton.

“We believe Dr. Overton has an opportunity to help strengthen restrictions on the chemical abortion regimen,” Sarah Zagorski, senior director of public relations and communications for the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, said in a statement.

Kennedy has praised her

In a post on X on Wednesday, Kennedy said that he was “confident” that he and Trump “chose the best person for the job” at the FDA. He said that he has witnessed Overton “challenge assumptions, demand excellence, and turn bold ideas into meaningful results.”

“At the @FDA, she will make our food supply safer, modernize drug approvals, unleash American medical innovation, accelerate access to lifesaving treatments, bring greater transparency and accountability to the agency, and restore Gold Standard Science as the foundation of every decision,” Kennedy said.

A previously little-known White House aide has garnered growing public attention in recent days after Sen. Jon Ossoff mentioned her while levying an attack on President Donald Trump.

The Georgia Democrat said that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” of President. Instead, Ossoff continued, “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie.”

Ossoff was referring to 35-year-old Natalie Harp, a longtime aide to Trump. When asked about Ossoff’s comments, Trump likened the Democrat to “Pee-wee Herman” and said he “would much rather do other things.”

Read More: CNN Condemns the White House’s Attacks on Journalist Kristen Holmes: Here’s What to Know

Ossoff has stood by his remark about Trump and Harp. Appearing on MS NOW this week, the Georgia Senator said: “It’s been amazing to watch this White House melt down over this all week.”

So who is Harp, and what is her role in the White House? Here’s what to know.

Harp said that Trump saved her life

In 2019, Harp went on Fox News and thanked Trump for signing the Right to Try law the year before. She told the network that she had stage 2 bone cancer, and that the new law allowed her to access experimental treatments, which she said saved her life.

After hearing her recount her experience, Trump asked her to give a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, according to the New York Times.

“When I failed the chemotherapies that were on the market, no one wanted me in their clinical trials,” she said at the event. “They didn’t give me the right to try experimental treatments, Mr. President. You did, and without you, I’d have died waiting for them to be approved.”

But after the convention, the Washington Post reported that medical experts cast doubt on Harp’s claims. Harp has said that she was treated with “an FDA-approved immunotherapy drug for an unapproved use,” and experts said that the federal legislation that Trump signed in 2018 wouldn’t have made that drug accessible to Harp because the medication had already been approved.

About two years after her speech at the Republican National Convention, she became a member of Trump’s staff.

She used to work for a far-right news channel

Before Harp joined Trump’s team, she worked as an anchor for a far-right news channel called One America News Network for a couple years. While working for the network, she propagated Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

Her official title is ‘special assistant to the President and executive assistant to the President’

In Harp’s role, officially called the “special assistant to the President and executive assistant to the President,” she works closely with Trump. Many of the Truth Social posts that the President shares are ones that he dictated to her to type and hit “post” on. 

According to the Times, which cited two people who were aware of the situation, Harp hit the “send” button on the enraged messages that Trump sent to the billionaire and major Republican donor Miriam Adelson in 2024—messages that nearly lost him Adelson’s backing. 

Harp was also the one who transcribed dozens of social media posts that Trump dictated to her one day in which he attacked the writer E. Jean Carroll, who alleged that Trump raped her in the 1990s, the Times reported.

Some of Harp’s colleagues have dubbed her the “human printer” because she is known for carrying a portable printer as she trails Trump around so she can give him whatever information he wants or needs in print copies.

When appearing on MS NOW this week, Ossoff accused Harp of “printing out Donald Trump’s daily dose of delusion and flattery.”

She was one of the select number of people who was on Trump’s secret flight out of Turkey

When Trump left Turkey in July on a secret, alternate plane after receiving an Iranian assassination threat, only a few people working in the White House were on his flight, including Harp, CBS News reported. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also on the plane with Trump and Harp, as were a couple other aides. Other higher-up members of his Administration, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, were on the other plane—the one that the Administration had said that Trump would travel on, and that members of the White House press corps were on.

Read More: Why Trump’s Secret Flight Was Extraordinary by Presidential Standards

When asked by the Times about Harp’s role in the White House and why she was selected to be among the few staffers on the secret flight, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Natalie Harp is one of the most loyal and hardest-working aides on President Trump’s team.”

The nature of her relationship with Trump has been a subject of scrutiny

According to the Times, Harp wrote Trump several letters in 2023 that concerned some people near him. In the letters, which reporters at the Times viewed, Harp wrote messages including: “You are all that matters to me” and “I don’t ever want to let you down.” She called Trump her “Guardian and Protector in this Life,” and thanked him, the outlet reported.

“I want to bring you joy,” she wrote in one of the letters, according to the Times, “to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk ‘work.’”

The news outlet also reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the remark, that Trump said at one point in 2023 that Harp was the only person on his team who cared about him.

Harp’s estranged brother, Preston Harp, was asked about the Times’ reporting about the 2023 letters when he appeared on CNN this week. He replied: “I’d say since she was like 16, she’s had an obsession with, gosh, how do I explain this? She’s written letters to other Presidents. Let me put it that way. And so like, her dream came true finally.” When asked which Presidents she wrote letters to, he said: “I didn’t see the letter, but George Bush obviously, during the Iraq war.”

He also described his sister’s relationship with Trump as an “infatuation” but said, “I don’t think it’s a physical attraction.”

“I think that Trump’s best friends are people who are his fan club,” he said. “And so she’s his biggest fan. And so that’s probably why he likes her. And she’s good looking. She’s got a good personality. I don’t know.”

“I mean she thinks that he saved her life, so, like, somebody living with that kind of gratitude—that must feel pretty good,” he continued.

Harp has not publicly spoken about her relationship with Trump in the wake of Ossoff’s comments, but other White House aides and Republicans have jumped to her defense.

In a statement to TIME, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called Ossoff’s comments “cringeworthy” and criticized the Senator’s voting record, in addition to defending Harp.

“Natalie Harp is one of the most loyal and hardest working aides on President Trump’s team,” Ingle said in the statement.

Eric Trump, one of the President’s sons, slammed CNN’s interview with Preston Harp on Wednesday.

“What absolute trash,” he said in a post on X. “Natalie is an incredible young woman — a cancer survivor, a genuinely good person, and arguably one of the hardest-working people in the White House. She’s deeply committed to my father, to her job, and to this country.”

CNN condemned the White House for launching personal attacks on one of the network’s journalists.

“Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House,” CNN said of its senior White House correspondent in a statement shared on X on Monday. “This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people.”

“Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press,” CNN continued. “We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

The network’s rebuke came after a question that Holmes asked President Donald Trump during an Oval Office event on Monday drew a heated response from Trump and, later, a series of critical posts from the White House targeting the journalist.

“Jon Ossoff said that you’d rather travel with your aide Natalie Harp and build the ballroom than do your job as President,” Holmes asked the President, referring to a comment the Democratic Georgia Senator made during a speech the day before. “What is your response?”

“You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-wee Herman lookalike?” Trump replied. “No, I would much rather do other things. We’re building a great facility here. We’re fixing a White House that hasn’t been taken care of.”

The event in the Oval Office celebrated a teenage lifeguard who rescued a 10-year-old boy at a beach in Santa Cruz, California, in July. But it is common practice for journalists present at events like this to ask the President questions about a variety of issues.

Later on during the event, Holmes tried to ask the President another question, this time about whether North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un had asked him to “scale back” American military exercises with South Korea. Trump didn’t answer her, instead telling her “quiet.”

“You’re very disrespectful,” Trump said to Holmes. “Quiet.”

He then asked Holmes which news outlet she was with, to which she replied that she was with CNN.

“Fake news,” he shot back. “You’re a loud, boisterous person. You’re fake news.”

As Holmes tried to ask her question again, Trump repeatedly said: “Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet.”

“You’re a fake reporter and you report fake news,” he said to Holmes.

Tensions further rose after the official White House Rapid Response account on X shared a clip of Holmes asking Trump about Ossoff’s remarks and called Holmes “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.”

“@POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffers,” the White House continued. “These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”

Less than an hour later, the account made another post attacking Holmes.

“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” the White House said, tagging Holmes in the post. “They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”

In addition to CNN’s official statement, many of Holmes’ colleagues fired back at the White House for its remarks. 

“What a horrible … thing to say. Kristen is an incredible reporter, person and, above all, mother,” Alayna Treene, a White House correspondent at CNN, said in a post on X. “I don’t understand such a reaction to a journalist asking the president for his response to something a Democratic senator has leveled against him.”

“Kristen is an excellent reporter who asked a good question, to which the president gave a fulsome answer,” Betsy Klein, a senior reporter and writer covering the White House for CNN, said in a social media post. “You know what’s disgusting and inhumane? Bringing her perfect children into this.”

Trump has repeatedly targeted news outlets and individual journalists throughout his political career. He has attacked female journalists in particular on a number of occasions; in November, for instance, he told one female reporter “quiet, piggy” after she asked him a question and, on a separate occasion later that month, called another “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”

The President propagated the term “Fake News” to denigrate the press, and members of his Administrations have continued to use the phrase in the years since. The White House has also created what it calls a “Media Bias Portal,” which lists journalists, news outlets, and articles that it claims are biased against the President. Several CNN stories, including some by Holmes, are listed on the site.