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Developing now, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
- President Trump says he interviewed four potential nominees for the Supreme Court Monday, as the White House organized a team to support his soon-to-be-announced pick
- President Trump warns the World Trade Organization the U.S. will do 'something' if not treated properly, slams 'underspending' NATO allies ahead of key summit
- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes wants 10 officials from the Obama administration to testify before Congress about the Russia investigation
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is heading back to North Korea on July 5 in his third trip to the region, the White House announced
- The murder suspect in last week's shooting at the Capital Gazette allegedly sent threatening letters prior to the newsroom rampage, police revealed Monday
THE LEAD STORY - IN TRUMP'S COURT: President Trump said Monday he interviewed four potential candidates for Supreme Court, moving swiftly to choose a nominee as Democrats launch preemptive attacks against his eventual pick to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy ... “During the morning, I interviewed and met with four potential justices of our great Supreme Court,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he met with the Dutch prime minister. “They are outstanding people. They are really incredible people in so many different ways, academically and every other way, and I had a very, very interesting morning.”
The president said he plans to meet with two or three more potential picks and will be making a decision “over the next few days.” The interviews came as the White House on Monday mobilized a team to support the president’s soon-to-be announced Supreme Court. The newly organized team of White House and administration personnel is setting up shop in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the West Wing of the White House.
- Brit Hume: GOP Sens. Collins, Murkowski key to success of Trump SCOTUS pick
- Gorka: Dems upset over SCOTUS pick because it will 'inoculate the Republic from lunacy of the Left'
- John Fund: Potential Trump Supreme Court pick Amul Thakar would be good for the court and good for Republicans
- Kennedy: Trump should nominate Mike Lee for the Supreme Court
- Schumer cancels Brooklyn town hall over plane issue, but faces questions on Supreme Court, Waters
TRUMP TO WTO: CHANGE YOUR WAYS: President Trump warned that "we will be doing something" if the World Trade Organization doesn't start treating the U.S. "properly," amid reports that the White House is seeking more flexibility to impose unilateral tariffs ... The president's Oval Office comments came the same day it was revealed that Trump had slammed "underspending" NATO allies, including Germany, Norway, and Canada, in harshly worded letters issued last month. The missives complained of "growing frustration in the United States that some allies have not stepped up as promised," The New York Times reported. Trump has said repeatedly that NATO allies have not lived up to their commitments to pay more toward defense spending. The two developments essentially served as a one-two punch from the White House ahead of next week's NATO summit in Brussels, followed by a scheduled, closely-watched summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Andy Puzder: Trump's trade critics are wrong -- His tariffs could bring major benefits to America
WILL OBAMA OFFICIALS FEEL SOME HEAT OVER RUSSIA? - The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is calling for 10 government officials who served at the State Department or White House during the Obama administration to testify in Congress about the Russia probe as he investigates possible government surveillance abuse during the 2016 election ... In a letter sent to a pair of congressional committees, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., asked the Oversight and Judiciary Committees to take steps to interview former State Department officials Elizabeth Dibble, Jonathan Finer, Kathleen Kavalec, Lewis Lukens, Victoria Nuland, Thomas Williams and Jonathan Winer, as well as former Obama White House officials Jake Sullivan, Colin Kahl and Shailagh Murray.
Dibble is the former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in London, a city where other figures in the Russia investigation were operating. Winer, a former Obama State Department official, has acknowledged he had regular contact with ex-British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the controversial anti-Trump dossier.
- Mueller, Flynn give vague response when judge demands answers on sentencing delays
- Cohen distances himself from Trump, says family has 'first loyalty'
- Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal: Iran official
'MAKING PROGRESS' IN NORTH KOREA: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will depart for his third trip to North Korea on July 5, the White House announced ... Pompeo will visit Pyongyang for two days before heading to Tokyo to meet with South Korean and Japanese officials, according to State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. "We're continuing to make progress," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at Monday's press briefing.
Pompeo last visited Pyongyang in May ahead of the Trump-Kim summit and traveled there secretly in early April while he was director of the CIA. The July 5 visit comes amid reports that North Korea has been secretly expanding a major missile plant, potentially suggesting that the country doesn't plan to fully divest itself of its nuclear ambitions.
'THIS IS YOUR RECEIPT': Jarrod W. Ramos, the man suspected of killing five people during an attack on the Capital Gazette newspaper last week in Annapolis, Maryland, sent multiple threatening letters prior to the shooting, police revealed on Monday ... The paper’s former attorney gave police mail he received at his law office on Monday, the newspaper's former publisher Thomas Marquardt told The Baltimore Sun. One of those documents, dated June 28 – the same day as the shooting – allegedly included a letter from Ramos in which he said he was en route to the paper “with the objective of killing every person present.”
The letter was written in the form of a “Motion for Reconsideration” by a Maryland court following a 2016 refusal to hear Ramos’ defamation case that he had filed against the outlet. That stemmed from a 2011 column published in the paper about a criminal harassment charge against Ramos that was filed by a former high school classmate. “You were too cowardly to confront those lies, and this is your receipt,” he allegedly wrote.
AS SEEN ON FOX NEWS
SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME: "We can't live in fear, and they don't scare me." – Rep. Louie Gohmert, on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," revealing that he believes the Justice Department is "spying" on him. WATCH
SOCIALISM'S MILLENNIAL APPEAL EXPLAINED: "The Cold War is so far behind us... that socialism has lost its connotation and association with the rivers of blood that were spilled in its name." – Columnist Jonah Goldberg, on "The Story with Martha MacCallum," explaining why an increasing number of young people appear to be embracing socialism and far-left policies. WATCH
#PROUDAMERICAN
Peter Morici: Trump's birthday gift to America - A booming economy.
Charlie Daniels: I believe the American Dream is still alive, I live it every day.
9/11 hero donor meets woman whose life he saved.
'Black Hawk Down' veteran now deployed in fight against opioids.
TRENDING
Bid to split California into 3 states gains traction – could it really happen?
Brian Ross out at ABC News months after botched report Donald Trump, Russia tanked stock market.
2024 Summer Olympics will include video games: Gamer World News Entertainment CEO.
Eric Trump rushes into NYC traffic to save ailing woman.
'Feminist' comedian Michelle Wolf launches outrageous, vulgar attack on Ivanka Trump.
THE SWAMP
EPA's Pruitt confronted by teacher at Washington restaurant, report says.
ObamaCare's future becomes big issue in midterm elections.
FOX News Halftime Report: Top Dem Senate recruit won't back Schumer.
Judge rules DHS must consider detained asylum-seekers' parole on case-by-case basis.
Sen. Rand Paul says man arrested for threatening to kill him and 'chop up' family with an ax.
ACROSS THE NATION
Rachel Dolezal, also known as Nkechi Diallo, booked and released on welfare fraud, other charges.
Wanda Barzee denied parole in Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.
Lawyer accused of murdering his wife in 1973, staging car crash to cover it up, is convicted.
MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
July 4: Which markets are closed?
U.S. retail vacancies marginally rise in second quarter: report.
These tax changes go into effect in July.
Kathy Ireland ventures into shipping container business.
Best Buy cuts back on CD sales.
You're probably approaching your Social Security claiming decision all wrong.
FOX NEWS OPINION
Steve Hilton: I didn’t get the true genius of America’s founders till I moved here. Here's what worries me now.
Juan Williams: July Fourth finds Americans deeply divided, yet with something incredible to celebrate.
Stephen L. Miller: With Ocasio-Cortez's rise, Democrats now own their loony far-left flank.
HOLLYWOOD SQUARED
'Last Man Standing' Season 7 will have to recast two key cast members who aren't returning.
Stan Lee's former business manager pleads not guilty to filing false police reports.
Richard 'Old Man' Harrison of 'Pawn Stars' laid to rest.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
Bear recorded relaxing in hot tub, drinking margarita.
Chernobyl's radioactive 'wildlife preserve' spawns growing wolf population.
Razor company earns praise for showing women with body hair.
STAY TUNED
On FOX News:
FOX & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Alan Dershowitz on the search for a new Supreme Court nominee; Meet the hero puppy who saved his family from a rattlesnake; Pete Hegseth shows his translator from Iraq the best of New York City; FOX News' highlights its #ProudAmerican series with Anna Kooiman all morning long.
On FOX Business:
Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Robert Ray, former Whitewater independent counsel; Jason Altmire, former congressman; Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for Wells Fargo.
Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Brad Blakeman, former deputy assistant to President George W. Bush; Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor; Rep. Louie Gohmert; Art Laffer, former economic adviser under President Reagan; Kayleigh McEnaney, RNC spokesperson.
On FOX News Radio:
The FOX News Rundown podcast: Demonstrators across the country have been calling to “abolish ICE,” as anger over the Trump administration's “zero-tolerance” immigration policy has boiled over. Jacinta Ma, director of policy and advocacy at the National Immigration Forum, explains what the options are if the law enforcement agency were to be disbanded. Electing populist leaders as heads of state has become a growing trend around the world. Chris Stirewalt, FOX News politics editor and author of the forthcoming book, "Every Man a King: A Short, Colorful History of American Populists," weighs in on the rise of populism. Plus, commentary by Karol Markowicz, columnist for FOXNews.com and the New York Post.
Want the FOX News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.
#OnThisDay
1987: British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand become the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, parachuting into the sea as their craft went down off the Scottish coast.
1971: Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.
1863: The three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops fail to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett's Charge.
Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Enjoy your Tuesday and your July 4th holiday on Wednesday! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Thursday morning.
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