Trump to Announce $70 Billion in AI, Energy Investments for Pennsylvania

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news this morning:

• Trump’s Russia tariff threat 

• $70 billion PA investments  

• SCOTUS Ruling on Ed. Dept. 

I’ve got all the details for you, so let’s dive in.

— Josh

MARKETS

💰 Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on Russian Export Buyers Unless Ukraine Peace Deal is Reached in 50 Days

The Scoop: President Donald Trump threatened 100% secondary tariffs on Russia’s trade partners if President Vladimir Putin fails to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire deal within 50 days, signaling heightened pressure on Moscow.

The Details:

• Trump, expressing disappointment with Putin, announced the tariffs during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

• The tariffs target countries like China, India, Brazil, and Turkey, which rely heavily on Russian fossil fuel exports.

• Trump also committed to sending billions in U.S.-made weapons to Ukraine, funded by European nations and delivered via NATO.

• This follows Trump’s earlier threats of 25-50% tariffs on Venezuelan and Iranian oil buyers, with China already impacted by Venezuela sanctions.

What’s Next: If no Ukraine deal is reached by September 2025, Trump’s 100% tariffs could disrupt global trade, particularly for Russian oil buyers, while increased U.S. military aid aims to bolster Ukraine’s defense.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The Consumer Price Index is projected to rise 0.3% month-over-month for both headline and core rates, with annual figures expected at 2.7% for headline and 3% for core, excluding food and energy costs. (CNBC)

• Nearly one-third of major U.S. housing markets are experiencing declining home prices due to high mortgage rates and increased supply. (CNBC)

• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell requested an inspector general review of the central bank's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project. (AX)

• Kevin Warsh, a top contender to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, signaled readiness to cut interest rates aggressively. (BBG)

• White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has also emerged as a top contender to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. (WAPO)

• The Trump administration imposed a 17% tariff on fresh Mexican tomatoes, aiming to bolster U.S. growers. (RTS)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: BlackRock attracted $46 billion in new capital to its investment funds, propelling its assets under management to a record $12.5 trillion. (BBG)

• JPMorgan Chase reported second-quarter earnings of $5.24 per share and revenue of $45.68 billion, surpassing expectations of $4.48 per share and $44.06 billion, driven by robust trading and investment banking performance. (NAS)

• Wells Fargo posted second-quarter earnings of $1.60 per share and revenue of $20.82 billion, topping forecasts of $1.40 per share and $20.76 billion, driven by resilient consumer banking. (SI)

• Bank of NY Mellon reported second-quarter earnings of $1.94 per share and revenue of $5.03 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.75 per share and $4.78 billion, bolstered by strong asset management performance. (INV)

• Nvidia shares rose 5% in premarket trading after the chipmaker announced plans to resume sales of its H20 AI chip to China in the near future. (YF)

🏢 Industry

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Panasonic kicked off mass production of lithium-ion batteries at its $4 billion De Soto, Kansas, facility. (PAN)

• Ford's pro-America marketing campaign, launched in response to tariffs, propelled it to outsell Toyota in the U.S. for the first half of 2025. (DFP)

• Major ice cream makers, including Unilever, pledge to eliminate artificial colors from their products by 2028. (BBG)

• Ultium Cells, a General Motors and LG Energy Solution joint venture, announced upgrades to its Tennessee plant to produce low-cost EV battery cells. (CNBC)

• ByteDance is developing lightweight mixed reality goggles to rival Meta, undeterred by previous AR/VR setbacks. (TI)

• The largest known piece of Mars found on Earth is expected to fetch up to $4 million at a Sotheby’s auction. (PHYS)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Apple is set to invest $500 million in MP Materials, the only U.S. rare earth mine, to secure domestic magnets for its products. (FBN)

• A cattle rancher dubbed the "Bernie Madoff of cows" orchestrated a $100 million Ponzi scheme involving nonexistent "ghost cattle," defrauding investors and potentially destabilizing agricultural markets. (NYP)

• The USDA projects record U.S. corn exports of 2.75 billion bushels for the 2024-25 marketing year. (WEN)

• Lockheed Martin is negotiating with mining companies to leverage its Pacific seabed licenses in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, aiming to extract critical minerals. (MIN)

• Goldman Sachs forecasts gold prices to hit $3,700 per ounce by the end of 2025, climbing to $4,000 by mid-2026, driven by strong investor demand and geopolitical uncertainties. (FL)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Crypto investment products managed by asset managers recorded $3.7 billion in weekly inflows, the second-largest ever, fueled by Bitcoin’s all-time high. (TB)

• Standard Chartered became the first global systemically important bank to launch spot bitcoin and ether trading paired with U.S. dollars for institutional clients. (CD)

• Fairshake, a crypto-backed super PAC, amassed $52 million in the first half of 2025, bringing its war chest to over $140 million, positioning it to influence the upcoming midterm elections. (POL)

• Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC. (TB)

• Coinbase's stock surged to $394.01 per share at Monday's close, pushing the crypto exchange's market capitalization above $100 billion. (TB)
  

TECH

💻 Trump to Announce $70 Billion in AI, Energy Investments for Pennsylvania

The Scoop: President Donald Trump will unveil $70 billion in AI and energy investments on Tuesday in Pennsylvania to boost data centers and power infrastructure.

The Details:

• Trump will announce the initiatives at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, hosted by Sen. David McCormick (R-PA) at Carnegie Mellon University.

• Google will invest $3 billion to modernize two Pennsylvania hydropower plants, supporting AI and data center power demands under a 3,000-megawatt deal with Brookfield.

• Blackstone’s Jon Gray will commit $25 billion to data-center and energy projects in Northeast Pennsylvania, creating 6,000 construction and 3,000 permanent jobs.

• The investments aim to address surging energy needs for AI, aligning with broader U.S. efforts to enhance technological and energy infrastructure.

What’s Next: Trump’s $70 billion initiative aims to build on his administration's plan to cement the U.S. as the global leader in AI, surpassing China by fueling innovation, expanding cutting-edge infrastructure, and fostering public-private partnerships.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Cognition, maker of AI coding agent Devin, acquired Windsurf’s IP and team after Google’s $2.4 billion reverse-acquihire of Windsurf’s leadership. (CNBC)

• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to invest “hundreds of billions” in AI compute infrastructure, unveiling the Prometheus supercluster to launch in 2026. (AIA)

• xAI unveiled "Grok for Government," securing a Department of Defense contract to provide AI solutions for government agencies. (INV)

• Amazon Web Services launched Kiro, an AI-powered integrated development environment that accelerates software development from concept to production. (CNBC)

• Anthropic launched Claude tools for financial services to aid financial professionals in investment decisions, market analysis, and research. (CNBC)

• Instacart and Wegmans launched a pilot of AI-powered Caper Carts at a store in Syracuse, New York, enabling customers to track their spending and check out seamlessly. (NYP)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. researchers developed the first electronic-photonic-quantum chip using commercial semiconductor processes, potentially revolutionizing quantum computing with scalable, stable quantum light sources. (NN)

• Monumental Labs’ AI-powered robots, now carving stone statues, are poised to build entire structures. (FC)

• KLEIYN, a quadruped robot with an active waist joint, achieves world’s fastest chimney climbing, scaling walls 50 times faster than prior models. (IE)

• Hong Kong researchers unveiled a quadruped robot that mimics human bipedal walking across diverse terrains, marking a breakthrough in robotic mobility. (AL)

• Apera Forge, an AI vision tool, cuts week-long robotic vision tasks to hours with 99.9% accuracy. (AF)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: A four-day U.S. military drone exercise in Alaska revealed substantial technological and operational shortcomings compared to Chinese and Russian drone capabilities. (NYT)

• The Pentagon awarded $200 million contracts to Anthropic and Google to develop agentic AI workflows, enabling computers to generate and act on plans. (BD)

• China's Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 satellites docked in geostationary orbit for a groundbreaking refueling mission, a feat the U.S. has not yet accomplished. (SCMP)

• Sweden is considering raising the military conscription age for former officers to 70 from 47, a move driven by NATO commitments. (DP)

• The Pentagon withdrew top officials from the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, citing a misalignment of values with the Defense Department. (DN)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Brian Singerman and Lee Linden seek over $500 million for GPx, a venture fund backed by Peter Thiel. (TC)

• J.P. Morgan is investing millions in cybersecurity startup Island’s $250 million Series E round, valuing the secure enterprise browser developer at $4.8 billion. (CCT)

• Berlin-based MOTOR Ai raised €17.1 million ($20 million), led by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL, to develop Europe’s first certified Level 4 autonomous vehicle fleet. (EUS)

• Moonvalley, an AI video startup focused on ethical models trained on licensed content, raised $84 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst. (VAR)

• Eclipse Ingredients raised $7 million, backed by CSIRO and AgFunder, to scale production of human lactoferrin, a “wonder protein,” via precision fermentation. (SC)

FREEDOM

⚖️ Supreme Court Greenlights Trump's Mass Layoffs at Education Department

The Scoop: The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling on Monday cleared the way for the Education Department to fire hundreds of employees, advancing President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency despite Democratic-led challenges.

The Details:

• The McMahon v. State of New York decision overturned a lower court’s order reinstating 1,400 laid-off Education Department workers, split along ideological lines.

• Trump, celebrating on Truth Social, said the ruling is a victory for returning education oversight to states, aligning with his March executive order to close the department.

• Democrat-led states argued the layoffs crippled the department’s ability to perform mandated tasks, like reviewing higher education certifications for federal aid.

What’s Next: The Education Department, led by Secretary Linda McMahon, will proceed with layoffs and plans to reduce bureaucracy, but fully closing the agency requires congressional approval, setting the stage for further legal and political battles.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump’s approval ratings on the economy and trade hit their highest since early June, with voters evenly split at 46% on his economic performance and slightly favoring his trade policies. (MC)

• Law enforcement officers from Democrat-run cities are increasingly relocating to red states, drawn by better pay, job security, and supportive leadership. (NYP)

• The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC jointly clarified how existing banking regulations apply to institutions holding cryptocurrency for customers. (TB)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: DNI Tulsi Gabbard previewed a declassified Biden memo on censoring so-called "domestic violent extremists," including COVID-19 mandate opponents. (WEX)

• New York’s new law, S895B, compels social media firms to report content moderation practices to Attorney General Letitia James (D), risking fines up to $15,000 daily. (TAC)

• Rumble filed a petition in a Florida court, accusing Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of overreaching by ordering the suspension of commentator Rodrigo Constantino’s U.S.-based account. (RTN)

• Michigan State University eliminated mandatory DEI statements in faculty hiring and promotions and removed its DEI plan from its website. (CF)

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