Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from Kennedy Center

Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from Kennedy Center
Appeals court denies Trump’s request to halt removal of his name from Kennedy Center
Construction crews build scaffolding outside The Kennedy Center on June 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — A panel of D.C. Circuit appeals court judges has rejected a request by President Donald Trump and fellow members of the Kennedy Center’s board to stay a lower court’s order that Trump’s name be removed from the building.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on

Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on
Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(ANKARA, Turkey) — President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense systems.

“One of the things we’re going to be talking about is, you’ll — we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool, right?” Trump told Zelenskyy during a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

“This way he can’t complain that we’re not giving him enough. I said, ‘Make them yourself,'” Trump added.

Trump said the company that manufactures Patriot systems hasn’t been informed yet, but “that’ll work out all right.”

But when asked whether Trump would be willing to provide Patriot interceptors to Ukraine up front while production gets into place, the president said the U.S. didn’t have that many missiles.

“We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves, too,” he said.

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in Ankara came as expenditures of U.S. Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East have dramatically outpaced current production capabilities, resulting in a critical global shortage as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on.

“We need to find a way to get as quick as possible, as much as possible, missiles for Patriot systems. This is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum at the alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday.

Russia has sought to exploit this shortfall by launching concentrated bombardments of ballistic missiles and drone swarms at Ukrainian targets, overwhelming the country’s defenses and resulting in scores of civilian deaths. 

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy praised the U.S. for its support throughout the war. 

“Mr. President, thank you very much for this meeting. And we’re thankful, as always, to your support, American support, bipartisan support,” he said.

Russia’s ‘last major advantage’

In an address to members of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, Zelenskyy stressed the critical nature of the shortage and argued it was time for Europe to produce its own systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, calling the rocket-powered missiles Moscow’s “last major advantage.”

“We all value the Patriot system. It’s an excellent system,” he said. “But today’s wars have shown current Patriot production is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles. That is a fact.”

For his part, Trump presented a rosier outlook — asserting that an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year, could be on the horizon. 

“I think we’re getting much closer than people realize, and President Putin wants it to end,” Trump said on Monday. “And President Zelenskyy actually wants it to end now.”

Trump also downplayed the impact of the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying “it doesn’t affect us” and depicting the conflict as a European issue. Trump had promised to end the war on Day 1 in office — a pledge he later said was hyperbolic.

Trump’s comments come amid Russian escalation in recent days. On Monday, Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

Zelenskyy has been warning the Trump administration about the crucial depletion of interceptor missiles for several weeks. He is also pressing the U.S. to expedite a license that would allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot batteries and interceptors domestically.

A strained relationship

The bilateral meeting tested the strength of Trump and Zelenskyy’s sometimes-rocky relationship at a time when Ukraine is facing new vulnerabilities on the battlefield and diplomacy with Russia has largely stalled. 

Trump, on Wednesday, described Zelenskyy as a “difficult character,” but said they have a good relationship.

The leader’s first meeting of Trump’s second term — a February 2025 conversation in the Oval Office — devolved into a shouting match after Trump expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s position in the conflict and called for more gratitude from Zelenskyy for U.S. support.

But Trump appeared to grow more sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause over the past year as repeated efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table fell flat.

A watershed moment came last July when, after repeatedly pausing military aid to Ukraine, Trump agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine if they were purchased from the U.S. by NATO allies.

And there have been signs over the past month that Trump is reengaging in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and once again eager to coordinate a deal between Zelenskyy and Putin. 

During their bilateral meeting, Trump said he spoke with Putin about the Russian president’s desire to set up a meeting in Moscow, though Zelenskyy wouldn’t commit to such a meeting.

Trump held calls with Zelenskyy and Putin over the weekend as both leaders congratulated the president on the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence. 

It’s unclear how substantive the conversations were, though a Kremlin aide said that Trump spoke to Putin for 90 minutes and again offered to help end the war. Zelenskyy said he had “a very good call” with Trump and conveyed there was a “real prospect” for peace.

Trump last met with Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in June, where he, at times, appeared friendly to Ukraine’s cause — describing Russia as the “offensive” party in the conflict and saying he was “going to do whatever” he could to strike a deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron — the host of the G7 summit — said after the meeting that he was optimistic about Trump’s support for Ukraine, claiming he observed “a real change in comparison to recent months” in his attitude. 

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Nurses, home care clinicians launch large-scale strike in Boston

Nurses, home care clinicians launch large-scale strike in Boston
Nurses, home care clinicians launch large-scale strike in Boston
A sign points the way to Brigham and Women’s Hospital June 3, 2001 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

(BOSTON) –Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham home care clinicians took to the streets Wednesday morning for a strike set to involve roughly 4,500 workers, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The strike would be the largest nurse and healthcare professional strike in Massachusetts history, according to a Massachusetts Nurses Association press release.

“At both bargaining tables, the nurses and clinicians made significant efforts to compromise and offered to continue negotiating to avoid a strike,” the association wrote in a statement. “MGB refused to improve its proposals and declined opportunities to continue bargaining.”

The nurses’ strike, which was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday, is set to last one day and be followed by a lockout imposed by Mass General Brigham, the association said.

The work stoppage is now expected to last until 7:59 a.m. on July 15, according to the hospital.

Mass General Brigham home care clinicians plan to strike for seven days beginning at 8 a.m. on the same day, according to the union.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital said it will continue to provide high-quality patient care throughout the work stoppage, along with its outpatient centers, though picketing may cause heavier traffic than normal.

Temporary clinicians are being brought in to support patients during the work stoppage, and patients should keep their scheduled appointments unless advised otherwise by their care teams, the hospital said.

The union said it is seeking more competitive wage increases that keep pace with the rising cost of living, among other demands. It cited data from the MassINC Policy Center, which said the income needed to maintain a middle-class standard of living for a family of four in Massachusetts jumped 50% from 2020 to 2024.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in a statement that Brigham nurses are “among the highest compensated in the market.”

Scott Sperling, Mass General Brigham board chair and co-CEO of a private equity firm, wrote to the association in an email on Sunday night, stating that a “substantial effort” has been made to find common ground, according to the association’s press release.

On Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey released a joint statement encouraging both sides to resume negotiations.

“A strike and lockout of this scale would cause serious disruption across the Greater Boston region, and the possibility that patient care could be impacted through diversions, delays, or other emergency measures is deeply concerning to the communities we represent,” the statement said.

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Trump says MOU is ‘over’, calls Iranian leaders ‘scum’ following latest strikes

Trump says MOU is ‘over’, calls Iranian leaders ‘scum’ following latest strikes
Trump says MOU is ‘over’, calls Iranian leaders ‘scum’ following latest strikes
U.S. President Donald at the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(ANKARA and LONDON) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday morning that he believes that the interim agreement reached with Iran last month is “over,” following an intense exchange of fire between the two sides on Tuesday into Wednesday morning.

Trump huddled with top advisers on Tuesday while attending the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, to discuss the U.S. response to several fresh attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz early this week, multiple people familiar with the discussions told ABC News.

The U.S., Qatar and Saudi Arabia attributed the attacks to Iranian forces, allegations denied by Tehran.

Speaking with reporters in Ankara on Wednesday during a press conference alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran will continue, but said of the agreement, “For me, I think it’s over.”

“I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people,” Trump said of Iran’s leadership in response to a question from ABC News.

“And they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” the president continued. “There’s something wrong with them, they’re cuckoo,” Trump added.

The president did, however, suggest that U.S.-Iranian negotiations over a final peace deal could continue.

The 14-point MOU committed the signatories to the reopening Strait of Hormuz for commercial traffic, with the U.S. lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Iran also committed not to pursue nuclear weapons — a commitment Tehran has previously made — while the U.S. agreed to allow Iranian oil sales and to begin work on a $300 million reconstruction fund for the country.

Under the MOU, fighting — including between Israel and the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon — would stop for 60 days while the U.S. and Iran negotiate the terms of a final deal, which would cover issues including Iran’s nuclear material.

“I’ll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They’re good people. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, but they have to come back to me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump said on Wednesday.

“I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it,” Trump said later in the press conference, adding that he did not care whether talks continued after funeral proceedings for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei concluded.

When the MOU was signed last month, Trump said the deal “achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more.” But key issues, including the status of Iran’s nuclear program, remained unaddressed.

The White House has demanded an end to all Iranian enrichment of uranium, a proposal repeatedly rebuffed by Tehran, which says it needs to enrich uranium to power its civil nuclear power network.

On Wednesday, the president again said his administration would accomplish the “denuclearization of Iran.”

“We’re going to de-nuke it. We’re not going to let them, because they’re crazy, and they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Intermittent exchanges of fire have continued between the U.S. and Iran despite the signing of the MOU in June.

Since Monday, U.S. Central Command said Iran had attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM said it then launched retaliatory strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets, including air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and small boats.

The U.S. also revoked a license that authorized the sale of Iran oil under the MOU in response to the tanker attacks, with one U.S. official telling ABC News that the incidents were “wholly unacceptable.”

Iran’s military said on Wednesday that it responded to the renewed American strikes by attacking 85 U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Trump on Wednesday lauded what he called the “powerful” U.S. strikes, adding, “We hit them very hard.”

“I told them every time you hit, we hit, and of course they’re dirty players, so they go after everyone, probably including me,” the president continued, referring to alleged Iranian assassination plots in which Trump said he remains a target.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on every list. I saw things this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long, because that’s the way it goes,” Trump said.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament who has been serving as Tehran’s chief peace negotiator, said in a post to X early on Wednesday that the U.S. had violated the MOU with its latest strikes.

“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf wrote.

Oil prices spiked on Wednesday after Trump’s comments, with U.S. oil trading at $74.62, up around 6%, and global oil at $78.70, up more than 6%. The price of global oil is still significantly down on a high of nearly $120 last month before the MOU was announced.

Traffic has been moving through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, including through Tuesday despite the latest attacks on ships. Data from Kpler, a global energy analytics firm, showed more than 100 transits of ships through the Strait between July 5 and July 7, including 41 crossings on July 7.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Karen Travers, Justine Fishel, Isabelle Murray, Sarah Kolinovsky and Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Trump calls for US to cut off trade with Spain over NATO funding, Iran, again seeks control of Greenland at NATO summit

Trump calls for US to cut off trade with Spain over NATO funding, Iran, again seeks control of Greenland at NATO summit
Trump calls for US to cut off trade with Spain over NATO funding, Iran, again seeks control of Greenland at NATO summit
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister attends the NATO summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Burak Kara/Getty Images)

(ANKARA, Turkey) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to grow increasingly frustrated with NATO allies for not supporting his war effort in Iran, targeting Spain in particular and calling for “all trade” to be cut off with that country.

“Spain is a wasted cause,” Trump said at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, during an official greeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte. “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore. By the way, I’d like you to cut it up. Scan, Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. They don’t participate, they don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits.”

The comments were the latest complaint from Trump against Spain, the only member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that has not committed to defense spending equal to 5% of its GDP by 2030.

The U.S., because of its outsized military spending, indirectly contributes more to the NATO than any other country, Trump said last week. The U.S. is responsible for about 15% of NATO’s direct funding, according to the bloc.

At last year’s NATO summit at The Hague, allies agreed at Trump’s prompting to target defense spending equal to 5% of each NATO member countries’ GDP, up from the previous 2%. Spain was alone among the 32 member states in saying it wouldn’t commit to the target.

Trump has previously threatened to end trade with Spain, including in March, when the Spanish foreign minister said at the time that they wouldn’t allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain for any strikes not covered by the U.N.’s charter.

“I don’t want to do any more trade with them. All right, take it immediately,” Trump said on Wednesday. “Don’t even talk to them, they’re hopeless, bad people, because you know they have everybody else going and paying and working in Spain, in particular Spain, there are a couple of others, but in particular Spain, they’re open about it, they’re hostile about it, and let’s see how hostile they remain when they call up, and they ‘please, please, we want to trade with you, sir, we want to trade with you, sir.’ They make so much money with us, and we’re going to see that they make a lot less. I want no business with them.”

After Trump’s comments, sources at Moncloa Palace, the Spanish prime minister’s office, told Madrid’s El Dario newspaper that Spain “maintains an excellent social, cultural, and economic relationship with the U.S., and it is not our intention for that to change.”

Trump on Wednesday said “nobody,” aside from the “small countries” wanted to help the U.S. in its war with Iran.

“There was calls made a few weeks ago,” Trump said, claiming he spoke with the United Kingdom, Germany and France, among others. “Nobody wanted to help. Some of the very small countries wanted to help, because they’re the most vulnerable. I mean, that’s the only reason they wanted to help.”

The leaders of the U.K., France and Germany did not immediately respond to Trump’s statement on Wednesday. Each has repeatedly declined to involve their countries directly in the war, although each also has said Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump spoke about his displeasure with NATO allies at large, saying that the U.S. has paid for allies to be protected against Russia but that safety has “nothing to do” with the U.S.

“They weren’t there for us, and we’ve been there for them, ” he said. “We spent over a trillion dollars over the last short period, trillion in order to protect these countries from Russia, and has nothing to do with us. We have a notion, but it’s been a long-term thing, and they haven’t treated us right.”

Trump on Wednesday shook hands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, a day after the president renewed his calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory under Denmark.

Frederiksen pledged earlier in the summit to defend Greenland, saying, “Our position is clear as it has been all through. Greenland is, of course, not for sale.”

Rutte later celebrated Trump’s ability to get allies to pay a greater share for defense. Rutte appeared to remind the U.S. president that Spain was a part of the coalition that upped their spending.

“And you mentioned Spain, even you got Spain to pay 2% they spent, they made a huge step in last year, so there are still issues we have to solve, but hey, also, even Spain, I would say they got to the 2%,” Rutte said.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Oil prices climb and stocks fall after Trump says he thinks Iran agreement ‘over’

Oil prices climb and stocks fall after Trump says he thinks Iran agreement ‘over’
Oil prices climb and stocks fall after Trump says he thinks Iran agreement ‘over’
Shot of oil pumps (Olga Rolenko/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Oil prices climbed and stocks tumbled in early trading on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he believes an agreement with Iran is “over” amid an exchange of strikes in the Middle East.

Brent crude, the benchmark measure for worldwide oil trading, climbed more than 5% in early trading on Wednesday, pushing the price up to nearly $78 a barrel.

Oil prices stand above pre-war levels, though they have fallen from a high of as much as $118 reached earlier in the conflict.

Stock prices fell in response to the heightened tensions and rising oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 600 points, or 1.1%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.4%.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Trump and Zelenskyy set to meet at NATO summit in Turkey

Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on
Trump gives Ukraine OK to produce Patriot missiles as war with Russia drags on
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(ANKARA, Turkey) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to make a direct appeal to President Donald Trump during a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, asking for help replenishing depleted stocks of American-made ammunition vital to the country’s defense.

“We need to find a way to get as quick as possible, as much as possible, missiles for Patriot systems. This is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum at the alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday.

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in Ankara comes as expenditures of U.S. Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East have dramatically outpaced current production capabilities, resulting in a critical global shortage as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on.

Russia has sought to exploit this shortfall by launching concentrated bombardments of ballistic missiles and drone swarms at Ukrainian targets, overwhelming the country’s defenses and resulting in scores of civilian deaths.

Russia’s ‘last major advantage’

In an address to members of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, Zelenskyy stressed the critical nature of the shortage and argued it was time for Europe to produce its own systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, calling the rocket-powered missiles Moscow’s “last major advantage.”

“We all value the Patriot system. It’s an excellent system,” he said. “But today’s wars have shown current Patriot production is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles. That is a fact.”

For his part, Trump presented a rosier outlook — asserting that an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year, could be on the horizon.

“I think we’re getting much closer than people realize, and President Putin wants it to end,” Trump said on Monday. “And President Zelenskyy actually wants it to end now.”

Trump also downplayed the impact of the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying “it doesn’t affect us” and depicting the conflict as a European issue. Trump had promised to end the war on Day 1 in office — a pledge he later said was hyperbolic.

Trump’s comments come amid Russian escalation in recent days. On Monday, Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

Zelenskyy has been warning the Trump administration about the crucial depletion of interceptor missiles for several weeks. He is also pressing the U.S. to expedite a license that would allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot batteries and interceptors domestically.

A strained relationship

The bilateral meeting will test the strength of Trump and Zelenskyy’s sometimes-rocky relationship at a time when Ukraine is facing new vulnerabilities on the battlefield and diplomacy with Russia has largely stalled.

The leader’s first meeting of Trump’s second term — a February 2025 conversation in the Oval Office — devolved into a shouting match after Trump expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s position in the conflict and called for more gratitude from Zelenskyy for U.S. support.

But Trump appeared to grow more sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause over the past year as repeated efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table fell flat.

A watershed moment came last July when, after repeatedly pausing military aid to Ukraine, Trump agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine if they were purchased from the U.S. by NATO allies.

And there have been signs over the past month that Trump is reengaging in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and once again eager to coordinate a deal between Zelenskyy and Putin.  

Most recently, Trump held calls with Zelenskyy and Putin over the weekend, as both leaders congratulated the president on the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence.

It’s unclear how substantive the conversations were, though a Kremlin aide said that Trump spoke to Putin for 90 minutes and again offered to help end the war. Zelenskyy said he had “a very good call” with Trump and conveyed there was a “real prospect” for peace.

Trump last met with Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in June, where he, at times, appeared friendly to Ukraine’s cause — describing Russia as the “offensive” party in the conflict and saying he was “going to do whatever” he could to strike a deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron — the host of the G7 summit — said after the meeting that he was optimistic about Trump’s support for Ukraine, claiming he observed “a real change in comparison to recent months” in his attitude. 

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Do heat waves damage the economy? Experts explain

Do heat waves damage the economy? Experts explain
Do heat waves damage the economy? Experts explain
Melting street thermometer against bright summer sun.High temperature.Summer heat. (Dmitriy83/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — A heat wave blanketed a vast swathe of the United States over the 4th of July weekend, threatening the health of tens of millions of people and the power supply for thousands of homes.

A lesser-known risk of extreme heat, meanwhile, may hammer pocketbooks.

Heat waves threaten an array of costs for the economy, sapping the productivity of outdoor workers, shutting some shoppers inside their homes and driving up utility payments, some analysts told ABC News. All in all, they added, those effects could shrink output and hike some costs in areas impacted by heat waves.

“Extreme heat has economic consequences,” Justin Mankin, a professor of geography at Dartmouth University, told ABC News. “The consequences seem to be negative just about everywhere.”

Heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer lasting due to human-amplified climate change, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. The average number of heat waves in major U.S. cities each year has doubled since the 1980s, that report said.

Extreme heat is considered the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service. About 2,000 Americans die each year on average from extreme heat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted.

A body of research indicates that heat waves also risk damage for the economy.

A study issued last year by researchers at the University of Florida, the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund — which examined 203 countries over a 40-year period — found that an increased frequency of high temperatures and harsh droughts resulted in a 0.2% decline in gross domestic product (GDP).

Another report found total heat-related economic losses in the trillions of dollars. Taken together, economic damage from human-caused extreme heat likely cost as much as $50 trillion worldwide over a recent 30-year period, according to a 2022 study from Dartmouth University researchers.

“These things are costly and they’re getting worse because of climate change,” said Mankin, a co-author of the study.

The reasons for the economic impact range from diminished employee productivity to heightened utility costs to lost agricultural output, some analysts said.

Berkay Akyapi, a professor of business at the University of Florida and a co-author of the study on lost GDP, pointed to the crop damage caused by a heightened number of heat waves.

Nighttime temperature spikes are especially damaging, Akyapi said, since they deny crops a respite during a time period typically reserved for cooler temperatures. Fewer crops, in turn, threaten to elevate prices as the same number of dollars chase after a smaller supply of goods, he added.

A decline in domestic crop output can also force a given country to increase imports, putting further upward pressure on prices, Akyapi noted.

“If you can’t produce something, you have to import it and that of course raises prices,” he said.

Heat waves also cause higher prices for utilities as demand grows for air conditioning and other power-driven solutions, some analysts said.

The budget woes, in turn, cause a chain reaction, squeezing funds left over for other products and sapping consumer-driven economic activity. Steven Brown, a director of insights and evidence at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, told ABC News.

“It results in higher bills for households that are already financially tight or strained,” Brown said. “It causes a spillover in their ability to pay for other things like groceries or rent.”

In 2023, a report issued by a U.S. Senate committee found the negative economic effects from extreme heat are most pronounced in heat-exposed sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation. The risk owes primarily to lost productivity among workers in such industries, the report said.

“Together, the loss of productivity caused by heat is emerging as one of the biggest economic costs of climate change,” the report added.

To be sure, analysts noted that some cold-weather locations may benefit from heat waves, since higher-than-normal temperatures could improve agricultural output or allow for increased time spent outdoors.

“When you look around the world at places like Canada, Sweden or Norway — they can benefit. Heat waves are kind of good weather there,” Akyapi said.

Adaptive efforts, such as installation of air conditioning, can mitigate some of the negative economic effects, some analysts noted. Some governments are also exploring administrative solutions meant to help fight extreme heat.

Arizona appointed Eugene Livar as its first chief heat officer in 2024, tasking him with oversight of the state’s extreme heat preparedness plan. Democratic lawmakers in Arizona and Nevada introduced a bill in Congress last year that would add extreme heat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list of major disaster qualifying events, unlocking access to federal support.

“Government interventions probably reduce some of the costs associated with these events, despite being costly interventions themselves,” Akyapi said.

Dartmouth’s Mankin said he expects heat waves to remain a feature of everyday life for the foreseeable future as human-caused climate change continues.

“These kinds of heat events are just going to be more commonplace. You’ll just have more days of the year that look like this, particularly when each subsequent year is hotter than the last,” Mankin said.

ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Judge quashes DOJ subpoena seeking Fulton County election worker info

Judge quashes DOJ subpoena seeking Fulton County election worker info
Judge quashes DOJ subpoena seeking Fulton County election worker info
The U.S. Department of Justice is seen on July 18, 2025, in Washington, DC. Earlier today the Department of Justice asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury testimony used in the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON)  — A federal judge on Tuesday quashed a DOJ subpoena seeking the names and personal information of Fulton County’s 2020 election workers as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing election probe.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Defense objects to video appearing to show Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer at shooting scene

Defense objects to video appearing to show Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer at shooting scene
Defense objects to video appearing to show Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer at shooting scene
Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense lawyer Kathryn Nester during a preliminary court hearing before District Court Judge Tony Graf in Provo, Utah, U.S. July 7, 2026. (Utah Courts)

(PROVO, Utah) — A video compilation that prosecutors say shows conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer’s movements on the campus of Utah Valley University before and after the shooting played in court on Tuesday over the vigorous objections of defense attorneys.

Attorneys for the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, 23, argued that the video footage Judge Tony Graf allowed prosecutors to play publicly at Robinson’s preliminary hearing will likely taint a potential jury pool.

“We think this video is going to play a big role in the trial,” Robinson’s lead attorney, Kathryn Nester, told Graf during the second day of the multi-day hearing.

Defense attorney Michael Burt argued that making the video compilation public will likely prevent Robinson from getting a fair trial.

But prosecutors prevailed in their argument that the public had the right to see the video to get a clear understanding of the evidence Graf had reviewed in private.

The video compilation not only appears to put Robinson at the scene of the crime, but it also appears to track nearly every movement he allegedly made on campus, including climbing on and jumping off the roof where the fatal shot was fired, according to prosecutors.

Graf will decide if prosecutors have established probable cause to warrant a trial for Robinson. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson goes to trial and is convicted in the September 2025 killing of Kirk during an open-air rally on the Orem, Utah, campus.

The compilation of raw video footage was taken from security cameras on the university campus, Sgt. David Hull of the Utah Department of Public Safety testified on Tuesday.

Graf also ruled that an enhanced version of the same video compilation featuring zoomed-in portions allegedly showing Robinson lying in a prone position on the roof of the UVU Losee Center, where the shot was fired, would not be made public at the preliminary hearing.

Utah prosecutors said the video is part of a mountain of evidence against Robinson

Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative youth movement Turning Point USA and a strong ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Sept. 10, 2025, while holding the first stop of his “The American Comeback Tour.”

Kirk was at an amphitheater on the UVU campus taking a question about gun violence in America when a single shot rang out from a distance away, hitting him in the left side of his neck.

For the second day in a row, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and his parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, attended the hearing, along with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who was friends with Kirk.

During his testimony on Tuesday, Sgt. Hull said that on the day of the shooting, Robinson was seen on video making at least three visits to the campus in a car and on foot.

Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which he said later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.

Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.

One of the videos in the compilation allegedly showed Robinson walking into a wooded area near the campus and reemerging on campus, apparently after changing his clothes, Hull testified. Police later said they discovered the rifle used in the shooting, a Mauser .30-06, in the same wooded area where Robinson was seen going to and from.

Another video apparently captured Robinson walking with a limp up a staircase leading to the roof of the Losee Center. Investigators have previously alleged that Robinson had concealed the weapon in his pant leg as he headed to where he allegedly shot Kirk.

Robinson surrendered to authorities on the night of Sept. 11, 2025, after his father contacted law enforcement officials and told them he recognized his son in photographs of the suspect released by authorities, officials said.

The defendant has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.

Robinson has yet to enter a plea to the charges, and his attorneys have not issued any statements on his guilt or innocence.

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