Republican hints that Trump speech will cover China
US president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping tour Zhongnanhai Garden on May 15, 2026 in Beijing, China (Getty)
We still don’t know what President Trump will say in his elections speech tonight, but it could have to do with China, according to one Republican senator.
“I would encourage every American to tune in tonight to the President’s speech,” Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio wrote on X on Thursday afternoon. “This may be the most important Oval Office address since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The time for complacency with China is over.”
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 01:45
GOP senator claims ‘four or five’ colleagues didn’t legally win ahead of Trump elections speech
Some Republicans are calling on Trump to stop talking about the 2020 election ahead of his big speech tonight. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is not one of those people.
During a Thursday interview with Newsmax, the Alabama lawmaker claimed not only that Trump was exposing “crooked” Democrats, but that some of the senators own colleagues had been fraudulently elected.
“We probably have four or five senators that didn’t legally win,” Tuberville said, though he didn’t name names. “They shouldn’t be up here.”
Tuberville went on to baselessly link Democrats to illegal activity and the killing of activist Charlie Kirk.
“They lie,” Tuberville continued. “They cheat. They steal. They’ve tried to kill the president three times. They killed Charlie Kirk. It’s unbelievable. We need to fight back, and thank goodness for President Trump.”
More on the political discourse ahead of Trump’s 2020 speech in our full story:
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 01:30
Fox News to air Trump speech live
(AFP/Getty)
Outside of whatever President Trump says during his speech tonight, another major storyline is how news networks plan to cover the remarks.
Some have opted to carry the speech live, while others plan to only show clips or after-the-fact news reports.
Fox News is in the yes column.
It will run the president’s speech live, according to Bret Baier, Fox’s chief political anchor.
Others may be shying away from covering the speech for legal concerns.
Baier’s network had to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to settle an election-related defamation case over claims about the 2020 election.
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 01:10
Republicans furious as some networks won’t air Trump speech live
Prominent Republicans are angry some TV news networks are choosing not to broadcast President Trump’s upcoming elections speech live on air, instead opting to show clips or after-the-fact news reports about Trump’s address.
“Cowards,” White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X. “NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth. All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU.”
First term Trump administration press secretary Sean Spicer called on the White House to punish the networks, some of which will air the full speech on their streaming or radio channels.
“Networks broadcasting on public airways apparently don’t think it’s in the public interest to hear from their president,” Spicer wrote on X. “So [Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt] should stop calling on them in briefings and yank them from the press pool.”
Here’s what we know about the speech so far.
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 00:56
The dodgy science behind the Trump administration’s military testosterone program
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has branded his new military initiative the “High-T Department of War” – but medical experts warn the plan to test thousands of active-duty service members for low testosterone is flatly ignoring standard clinical science.
The directive, which will add mandatory testosterone screenings to annual health assessments for troops 30 and older, has drawn sharp criticism from experts who warn the policy lacks scientific backing, defies established clinical guidelines and could introduce unnecessary health risks, particularly for female service members.
“This is a surprising advent because they’re targeting recruits or military personnel over the age of 30, both males and females, and just doing a screening test, devoid of whether you have symptoms or not,” Dr. Hugh Cassiere, a physician in critical care at Northwell Health, told The Independent. “That really goes against guidelines.”
Jasmine Fernández has the full story.
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 00:30
Murkowski hopes Trump speech isn’t just ‘conspiracy theories’
Several Republicans have publicly shared their reservations about President Trump’s upcoming elections speech, arguing continuing to focus on the 2020 contest could pull focus from key issues ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“I don’t know what he’s going to say,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski told CNN on Thursday. “There’s a lot of speculation that he’s going to take it back to 2020. I’m one who’s always looking forward instead of in the rearview mirror with suspicion and conspiracy theories. So I don’t know that that’s going to be constructive.”
“We want to encourage voters to believe in our process,” she added.
Of course, Republicans have long sought that Trump stays on message and focuses on core issues such as affordability and taxes, though he rarely sticks to the script.
We’ll see whether the GOP pleas for discipline have an effect this time around once Trump hits the airwaves.
Josh Marcus17 July 2026 00:10
AG nominee plans meeting with Epstein survivors as confirmation hangs in balance
“I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee and I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis said during the second day of Blanche’s Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Politico reported.
Blanche, who’s been serving as acting attorney general since President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi in April, wasn’t present, according to Politico.
On Wednesday, outgoing Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pressed Blanche to meet with 10 Epstein survivors who attended the first day of the hearing, but Blanche said he was “prohibited from meeting directly with them.”
“I have met with counsel for survivors, as have many people in the Department of Justice. But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel,” he said.
Josh Marcus16 July 2026 23:55
Ahead of Trump’s speech, some Republicans want him to move on from 2020 already
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas (Getty)
A trio of Republicans are openly airing their doubts about President Trump’s planned speech regarding the 2020 election, where he is expected to unveil claims about foreign interference.
“I am more interested in looking about four months ahead to the 2026 elections, rather than looking six years back to the 2020 election,” Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told The Hill. “So I think our focus has got to be on winning in 2026, both the House and the Senate.”
“I think we should talk about 2026 and not 2020,” outgoing Sen. John Cornyn of Texas added in an interview with the outlet.
“I don’t think it’s a winning issue for him,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said in a third interview with The Hill.
Josh Marcus16 July 2026 23:35
Trump will sell Wall Street extra-fast access to his posts
President Trump’s media company reportedly plans to offer sped-up access to top posts on Truth Social — including his own — for paying customers in the financial sector.
Trump Media & Technology Group’s “Truth API” will deliver subscribers posts from the top 10 accounts on Truth Social at a much faster pace than to the general public, a company spokesperson told NBC News.
The move could raise ethics flags on a number of levels, given that the president’s company is selling privileged access to information that could have a major impact on financial markets.
Unlike other presidents, Trump often makes announcements at all hours of the day on social media about major policy issues.
The announcement comes amid a different trading scandal tied to the White House. Ariana Baio has more on that.
Josh Marcus16 July 2026 23:15
‘That’s the sound of Freedom’: Navy won’t discipline pilot for low-altitude pass over crowd
The U.S. Navy will not discipline a member of the elite Blue Angels flight team who carried out a low-altitude pass over a crowded Florida beach on Wednesday.
“Flight debrief complete,” Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao wrote on X today. “No reprimands. No firings. No problem. That’s the sound of Freedom!”
The administration has reached similar decisions in recent months when pilots from other services were involved similar stunts.
Josh Marcus16 July 2026 23:00