Tesla shares fell sharply again Monday, as Elon Musk's split with the Trump administration deepened over his threats to launch a new political party.
Why it matters: Musk is personally out nearly $20 billion since breaking with President Trump last month, and his investors are out more than $100 billion on top of that.
Catch up quick: Over the holiday weekend, Musk said he'd launch a new political party, the America Party, and suggested a strategy of targeting a few key House and Senate seats in 2026.
Trump posted to Truth Social that Musk had become a "TRAIN WRECK," and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — long a Musk foe — told CNN he expected the boards of Musk's companies would be opposed to his activities.
By the numbers: Tesla shares fell about 7% in pre-market trading Monday.
They're down about 14% since early June, when Musk first publicly blasted the "big, beautiful bill," which quickly spiraled into a full split with the administration.
Yes, but: This coming Sunday is the one-year anniversary of Musk endorsing Trump — and Tesla shares are still up more than 20% since then, even with the recent sharp declines.
The intrigue: Tesla's problems aren't just Musk's politics, though.
The company reported last week that deliveries fell almost 14% in the second quarter.
Late Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published a lengthy report on the company's mounting problems in China, noting that its local employees complained its cars were falling badly behind competitors.
The WSJ story also noted that the Chinese government no longer considered a Musk relationship as much of an asset, given his falling out with Trump.
The bottom line: "Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that most Tesla investors want him to take during this crucial period for Tesla," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, one of the company's most outspoken supporters on Wall Street, posted to X on Sunday.
President Trump's tax and spending bill sets in motion nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other health policy changes that could loom over the midterm elections.
But the real effects likely won't be felt until well after the ballots are cast.
Why it matters: Despite negative polls and headlines, bill supporters could be insulated from political blame by a slow drip of policy changes that will play out over the next decade — a contrast to when the GOP tried to repeal Obamacare in 2017.
"Republicans backloaded a lot of the Medicaid and ACA cuts," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president at KFF. "There will be few tangible effects in health care from this bill before the midterms."
That creates a messaging challenge for Democrats, he added. "There's not going to be a day where everyone wakes up and all of a sudden ... more people are uninsured."
What's inside: Medicaid work requirements, which account for many of the nearly 12 million people projected to lose coverage under the bill, generally won't kick in until 2027, and some states could get extensions.
Though beneficiaries will get warnings ahead of time, able-bodied recipients ages 19 to 64 wouldn't actually be dropped from program rolls for failure to meet or properly report the required 80 hours a month until after November 2026.
The bill also increases the frequency of Medicaid eligibility checks to every six months, starting on Dec. 31, 2026. People in the Medicaid expansion population who retain coverage under the new system could have to pay up to $35 in cost-sharing per service starting in October 2028.
The phasedown of Medicaid provider taxes and state-directed payments, which states use to help fund their share of program costs and which hospitals in particular have come to rely on for funding, only begins in 2028.
The legislation's $930 billion cut to federal Medicaid funding will likely force states to make corresponding cuts to their programs or pick up a greater share of obligations, but those wouldn't take effect right away, either.
Yes, but: People covered through the Affordable Care Act exchanges will see changes more swiftly. The bill does not extend the Biden-era enhanced premium subsidies, which are set to expire on Jan. 1, 2026. The GOP-led Congress still can do so, but has shown little appetite so far.
Obamacare premiums would increase by more than 75% on average for enrollees next year without the enhanced subsidies.
That would give Democrats "a very potent talking point going into the midterms," Levitt noted.
Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood will also be cut off for next year under the bill — a change the family planning organization said could result in the closure of nearly 200 clinics.
Restrictions on which lawfully residing immigrants can access Medicaid will go into effect on Oct. 1, 2026, just before the primaries.
Reality check: Hospitals and clinics have to plan ahead and already are making contingencies for the Medicaid cuts and coverage losses. That could translate into facility closures or the elimination of some services.
Case in point: Community Hospital in McCook, Nebraska, announced last week that it's closing as a result of uncertainty over the upcoming Medicaid cuts, per Nebraska Public Media.
What to watch: Patient advocates and provider groups will likely press Congress to further delay the provisions, or stop them from taking effect.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who argued against the steep health insurance cuts before voting for the package, said he would "do everything in his power" to reverse the future Medicaid cuts.
"The fact that this all plays out over a period of time creates an opportunity for opponents to try to delay and overturn," Levitt said.
Democrats, meanwhile, plan to launch the first fusillade of ads about the cuts in swing states this week, and want to turn the August recess into a referendum on the bill at town halls and through mobilization efforts.
"House Democrats will spend every day of the next 16 months making sure moms, dads, seniors, and veterans know that Republicans took away their health care, raised their energy bills, and hiked their grocery costs," Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts said in a statement.
The bottom line: If nothing changes, it will take nine years for the effects of the bill to fully play out.
To put that in perspective: Former President Barak Obama was still in office nine years ago.
Millions of Americans got a confusing email from the Social Security Administration over the weekend, celebrating the passage of the "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: It's unusual for the agency to blast an overtly political message to its massive email list, which includes retirees and those who've signed up at their website.
Tax experts, former agency leaders and advocates for the agency are criticizing the email for spreading misinformation.
Zoom in: The email claims that the spending bill "eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries."
It says this elimination is in addition to providing "an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, ensuring that retirees can keep more of what they have earned."
Reality check: The big bill does contain a big temporary tax break for seniors, who get an enhanced deduction on their federal income tax for the next four years. That will mean fewer seniors will pay taxes on benefits until 2028.
However, the bill does not eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits — though President Trump and the White House keep claiming it does.
"There is no provision in the budget bill that directly 'eliminates' or even reduces taxes on Social Security benefits," Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, told the Washington Post.
By the numbers: The email appears to have gone out to everyone who is signed up for a "My Social Security" account — that's 71 million people.
What they're saying: While the agency has sent out press releases, or tweets, from time to time that could be viewed as political, sending a mass email like this to this large a list is something new, say experts.
"The Social Security Administration's communications shop has been politicized," wrote Nathan Osburn, a former deputy commissioner for the agency, on LinkedIn.
"I agree," replied Leland Dudek, who was the acting commissioner of the agency, appointed by Trump, during the first few months of the year.
The email confused some people who aren't used to hearing from the Social Security agency, says Kathleen Romig, a former senior adviser at the agency.
"I've gotten a lot of correspondence from people who never hear from SSA except an annual notice to check their account," said Romig, who is now a director at the liberal Center on Policy and Budget Priorities. Some of them thought it was a scam, she added, claiming the email was "unprecedented."
The other side: A Social Security official tells Axios that the agency was just trying to communicate helpful information.
"The deduction would apply to many of our beneficiaries, and we wanted to share that information with our beneficiaries so that they can take advantage of it," the official said.
If we find the email "requires clarification, then we're certainly happy to clarify that," they said. "That hasn't presented itself so far."
The agency has sent out information like this before on its various channels, they said.
The White House promised a summer of tariff clarity. Now it looks like it might be another season of confusion.
Why it matters: The rules of global trade in the Trump era are just as hazy now as they were in early April, when the White House suggested "90 deals in 90 days" that would ease the uncertainty.
The big picture: The fear among business leaders is the trade wars started when Trump took office don't have a firm end date — a worry that grows with each shifting deadline.
"Whatever deals there are going to be, let's just ink it and move on," Sue Spence, the chair of the Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing business survey committee, tells Axios.
"But even if that happens, there is such a disbelief it will stick," says Spence, who surveys manufacturers each month to gauge the industry's health.
The intrigue: There has been a profound shift in the bar for economic certainty in the Trump era relative to years past, when it was a no-brainer that large global trade deals would define global commerce for the foreseeable future.
Asked what certainty in this new era might look like, Spence says: "Enough time needs to go by with no other changes."
"If I'm the CFO of a company, and there is a deal in place with China and Europe, and three months go by and there hasn't been a big change, relations seem good with no new threats — then maybe I am going to be comfortable enough to move forward with decisions I have delayed," Spence says.
Driving the news: The reciprocal tariffs paused roughly 90 days ago were set to be reimposed on Wednesday. Days before, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that August 1 is actually the next date to watch.
"President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level," Bessent told CNN on Sunday.
Bessent said the Trump administration was not extending the deadline: "If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice."
Between the lines: It is the latest murky timeline that business leaders will have to try to understand.
The list already includes July 21, when the U.S. and Canada are supposed to notch a deal. There is also Aug. 12, when the 90-day trade truce with China expires.
Deals with other major trading partners — Japan and Mexico, for instance — look uncertain.
What to watch: Bessent hinted that other deals could be imminent over the next 48 hours, in addition to the two previously announced trade frameworks with the U.K. and Vietnam.
"There's a lot of foot dragging on the other side, and so I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days," Bessent said.
At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists, Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.
Why it matters: House Democrats told Axios they see a growing anger among their base that has, in some cases, morphed into a disregard for American institutions, political traditions and even the rule of law.
"This idea that we're going to save every norm and that we're not going to play [Republicans'] game ... I don't think that's resonating with voters anymore," said one House Democrat.
Another told Axios that a "sense of fear and despair and anger" among voters "puts us in a different position where ... we can't keep following norms of decorum."
Axios spoke to more than two dozen House Democrats for this story, with many requesting anonymity to offer candid insights about their interactions with constituents and activists.
Zoom out: For months, Democratic lawmakers have fumed that their base's demands to "fight harder" misunderstand the lack of legislative and investigative power afforded to the minority party in Congress.
"We've got people who are desperately wanting us to do something ... no matter what we say, they want [more]," said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, told Axios.
Liberal voters have angrily accosted Democrats at town halls for — in their view — not doing enough to counter President Trump's agenda.
What we're hearing: The grassroots wants more. "Some of them have suggested ... what we really need to do is be willing to get shot" when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat told Axios.
"Our own base is telling us that what we're doing is not good enough ... [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public," the lawmaker said.
A fourth House Democrat said constituents have told them "civility isn't working" and to prepare for "violence ... to fight to protect our democracy."
A fifth House Democrat told Axios that "people online have sent me crazy s*** ... told me to storm the White House and stuff like that," though they added that "there's always people on the internet saying crazy stuff."
Between the lines: While other Democratic lawmakers said their discussions haven't gone that far, nearly every one who spoke to Axios cited examples of voters' panic and fury fueling demands to adopt brute force tactics.
A sixth House Democrat said that when they try to persuade voters to channel their frustration into a focus on winning back Congress in 2026, "people who are angry don't accept that. They're angry beyond things."
"It's like ... the Roman coliseum. People just want more and more of this spectacle," said a seventh lawmaker.
What they're saying: Schneider, like other Democrats, said Trump impeachment efforts have proven extremely popular with grassroots voters and that, even as he has tried to shoot them down as impractical, some simply find the idea "irresistible."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a high-profile progressive, said he believes "the most effective pushback to Trump's unconstitutional actions is to model a reverence for the Constitution and the rule of law."
Zoom in: Many lawmakers said these voters tend to be white, well-educated and live in upscale suburban or urban neighborhoods.
"What I have seen is a demand that we get ourselves arrested intentionally or allow ourselves to be victims of violence, and ... a lot of times that's coming from economically very secure white people," said an eighth House Democrat.
"Not only would that be a gift to Donald Trump, not only would it make the job of Republicans in Congress easier if we were all mired in legal troubles ... [we are] a group that is disproportionately people of color, women, LGBTQ people — people who do not fare very well in prison."
The bottom line: "The expectations aren't just unreal. They're dangerous," the eighth House Democrat said.
A ninth lawmaker told Axios: "I actually said in a meeting, 'When they light a fire, my thought is to grab an extinguisher,'" a ninth House Democrat told Axios.
"And someone at the table said, 'Have you tried gasoline?'"
Less than six months into President Trump's second term, several possible GOP contenders for president in 2028 already are racing to build their national profiles, travel to early primary states and establish relationships with major donors.
Why it matters: Trump, who's dominated GOP politics for a decade, can't legally run again. Now several ambitious Republicans are signaling they see an opening to offer themselves to primary voters as the future of the party.
"Everyone knows Trump has one term left, and I would say its a wide-open opportunity," said Henry Barbour, a former Republican National Committee member. "These things start earlier and earlier."
State of play: Trump has mentioned Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as possible successors, and they're widely seen as the early favorites for the 2028 nomination.
Vance has been using his perch as finance chair of the Republican National Committee to make inroads with donors, and has been crisscrossing the country raising money for the party.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been raising her profile with a series of photo ops with ICE agents during immigration raids, is also viewed as a possible 2028 contender.
And though it's too early for anyone to say they're running, several GOP officeholders are positioning themselves to do just that:
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Youngkin will visit Iowa — the traditional home of an early primary caucus — later this month for an event with state GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann.
Next month, Youngkin will headline the annual fundraising dinner for the GOP in South Carolina, another key primary state.
During the past year, he's appeared at state party functions in California, New York and North Carolina.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
Paul is staking out turf as a deficit hawk and forcefully opposed Trump's big tax and spending bill, which is projected to add more than $3 trillion to the nation's deficits. He was one of just three GOP senators to vote against the bill.
The senator, who waged an unsuccessful bid for president in 2016, recently went to Iowa and South Carolina and plans to go to New Hampshire, another early primary state, this fall.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
Cruz was an outspoken supporter of Trump's airstrikes on Iran — including during an argument with Tucker Carlson — a move that endeared him to the party's hawkish donors.
Cruz was the runner-up in the 2016 GOP primary, has a top-ranked podcast and a syndicated radio show. He's planning to host a donor retreat next year and has built a formidable small-dollar fundraising network.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
In June, Kemp addressed the Ronald Reagan Institute, a frequent stop for presidential hopefuls.
He has used his perch as Republican Governors Association chair to introduce himself to major donors in key areas such as California, Texas and Palm Beach, Fla. Kemp has a leadership PAC that last year drew a $1 million contribution from Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson.
Kemp has had a sometimes-tense relationship with Trump, stemming from Kemp's refusal to back Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential vote in Georgia was "stolen" from Trump. But their relationship has appeared amiable more recently.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Sanders is headed to Iowa this month to appear at an event hosted by the Family Leader, a group overseen by prominent evangelical activist Bob Vander Plaats.
Sanders, who was White House press secretary during Trump's first term, recently went to Tennessee and Texas to raise money and soon will visit Chicago.
The governor is trying to establish herself as a prominent voice on AI, and pushed to strip Trump's domestic policy bill of language banning state-level regulation of it.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
Scott, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024, is using his National Republican Senatorial Committee chairmanship to travel and make inroads with donors.
Zoom out: Republicans say would-be 2028 hopefuls can't afford to wait.
Preparations for the 2028 primary will accelerate next year, when aspirants hit the trail for midterm candidates with an eye toward establishing alliances and earning chits.
"Building infrastructure and making friends — among activists, operatives and donors — is tedious work," said Rob Godfrey, a South Carolina-based GOP strategist. "It's never too early to start."
Between the lines: Jumping into the 2028 conversation isn't just about seeking the White House.
It's also about raising a prospect's profile and injecting them into the mix for VP consideration or a possible Cabinet post in 2029.
Yes, but: Quietly hitting the trail this early has its risks.
Most Republican voters want party figures focused on Trump's agenda rather than their own ambitions, some GOP strategists warn.
Trump is likely to play an outsized role in determining the party's next nominee, and could push back if he perceives would-be candidates putting themselves ahead of his priorities.
"Tread carefully," said Dave Carney, a longtime Republican strategist in New Hampshire.
The overly agreeable nature of most artificial intelligence chatbots can be irritating — but it poses more serious problems, too, experts warn.
Why it matters: Sycophancy, the tendency of AI models to adjust their responses to align with users' views, can make ChatGPT and its ilk prioritize flattery over accuracy.
Driving the news: In April, OpenAI rolled back a ChatGPT update after users reportedthe bot was overly flattering and agreeable — or, as CEO Sam Altman put it on X, "It glazes too much."
Users reported a raft of unctuous, over-the-top compliments from ChatGPT, which began telling people how smart and wonderful they were.
On Reddit, posters compared notes on how the bot seemed to cheer on users who said they'd stopped taking their medications with answers like "I am so proud of you. And — I honor your journey."
OpenAI quickly rolled back the updates it blamed for the behavior. In a May post, its researchers admitted that such people-pleasing behavior can pose concerns for users' mental health.
In a Q&A on Reddit, OpenAI's head of model behavior said the company is thinking about ways to evaluate sycophancy in a more "'objective' and scalable way."
Context: A study by Anthropic researchers on how human feedback can encourage sycophantic behavior showed that AI assistants will sometimes modify accurate answers when questioned by the user — and ultimately give an inaccurate response.
Chatbots also tended to admit a mistake even when they hadn't made one.
Zoom in: Large language models, which are trained on massive sets of data, are built to generate smooth, comprehensible text, Caleb Sponheim, an experience specialist at Nielsen Norman Group, told Axios. But there's "no step in the training of an AI model that does fact-checking."
"These tools inherently don't prioritize factuality because that's not how the mathematical architecture works," he said.
Sponheim notes that language models are often trained to deliver responses that are highly rated by humans. That positive feedback is like a "reward."
"There is no limit to the lengths that a model will go to maximize the rewards that are provided to it," he said. "It is up to us to decide what those rewards are and when to stop it in its pursuit of those rewards."
Yes, but: AI makers are responding to consumer demand, notes Julia Freeland Fisher, thedirector of education research at the Clayton Christensen Institute.
In a world where people are at constant risk of being judged online, it's "no surprise that there's demand for flattery or even just ... a modicum of psychological safety with a bot," she noted.
She emphasized that AI'santhropomorphism — the assumption of human qualities by an inhuman entity — poses a catch-22, one that OpenAI noted in its GPT-4o scorecard.
"The more personal AI is, the more engaging the user experience is, but the greater the risk of overreliance and emotional connection," she said.
Luc LaFreniere, an assistant professor of psychology at Skidmore College, told Axios that sycophantic behavior can shatter users' perception of a chatbot's "empathy."
"Anything that it does to show, 'Hey, I'm a robot, I'm not a person,' it breaks that perception, and it also then breaks the ability for people to benefit from empathy," he said.
A report from Filtered.com co-founder Marc Zao-Sanders published in Harvard Business Review found that therapy and companionship is the top use case for generative AI in 2025.
Between the lines: "Just like social media can become an echo chamber for us, AI ... can become an echo chamber," LaFreniere said.
Reinforcing users' preconceived beliefs when they may be mistaken can be generally problematic — but for patients or users in crisis seeking validation for harmful behaviors, it can be dangerous.
The bottom line: Frictionless interaction could give users unrealistic expectations of human relationships, LaFreniere said.
"AI is a tool that is designed to meet the needs expressed by the user," he added. "Humans are not tools to meet the needs of users."
What's next: As the AI industry shifts toward multimodal and voice interactions, emotional experiences are inescapable, said Alan Cowen, the founder and CEO of Hume AI, whose mission is to build empathy into AI.
Systems should be optimized to not just make users feel good, "but actually have better experiences in the long run," Cowen told Axios.
President Trump said Sunday night any country "aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS" will be charged "an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff" and there'll be "no exceptions to this policy."
Why it matters: While Trump didn't elaborate further, BRICS issued a statement hours earlier saying the 11 nations-strong bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India and China had "serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade," which it said was "inconsistent with" World Trade Organization rules.
The BRICS bloc that now also includes South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran represents over one third of the world's economic growth, "based on purchasing power parity," DW notes.
The big picture: BRICS released its statement as it held its first leaders since 2009 in Brazil on Sunday, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin did not attend in person.
The bloc did not name Trump as it criticized tariffs and condemned military strikes on Iran, which saw the U.S. destroy Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israel as the 12-day war between Israel and Iran came to an abrupt end.
Zoom out: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier Sunday that countries that don't make trade deals with the U.S. by August 1 can expect tariff rates to return to the levels announced in April — which Axios' Ben Berkowitz notes effectively sets a new deadline for the biggest U.S. trading partners to negotiate an alternative to Trump's sweeping global tariffs.
While the story of the Texas flooding tragedy and what went wrong is still unspooling, scientists said it provides another reminder that climate change can make extreme rainfall events even worse.
What they're saying: "[T]his kind of record-shattering rain (caused by slow-moving torrential thunderstorms) event is *precisely* that which is increasing the fastest in warming climate," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a longer social media thread.
Threat level: Andrew Dessler,director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather at Texas A&M, says the floods are "exactly what the future is going to hold."
Dessler added that Kerr County was unprepared and local governments should be ready for "more, bigger, extreme events."
And UC-Davis earth and planetary sciences professor Nicholas Pinter said that in general, climate change "can and is shifting those probabilities — sometimes bringing us floods that are more severe and more frequent than in the past."
Friction point: The fatal flooding is prompting questions about whether vacant positions at the National Weather Service "made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose," the NYT reports.
What we're watching: Whether the tragedy will alter Trump administration efforts to downsize NOAA — and Congress' willingness to go along.
CNN reports the proposed cuts would hinder R&D into new forecasting technologies — including flash flood forecasting.
"The NOAA research cuts would come just as human-caused climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense downpours like the ones that led to this tragedy in Texas," it reports.
President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a "client list" or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios.
The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and "enhanced" versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.
The video supports a medical examiner's finding that Epstein died by suicide, the two-page memo claims.
Why it matters: The findings represent the first time Trump's administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein's activities and his death — theories that had been pushed by the FBI's top two officials before Trump appointed them to the bureau.
As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI's director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died.
Patel and Bongino have since said Epstein killed himself. But it has become an article of faith online, especially on the right, that Epstein's crimes also implicated government officials, celebrities and business leaders — and that someone killed him to conceal them.
The memo says no one else involved in the Epstein case will be charged. (Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offenses.)
Zoom in: According to the memo, investigators closely examined footage of Epstein's Manhattan prison cell between around 10:40 pm on Aug. 9, 2019, when Epstein was locked in his cell, and around 6:30 am the next day, when he was found unresponsive.
The footage, which was reviewed by Axios but couldn't be verified independently, showed no one entering the area, the administration said.
"The FBI enhanced the relevant footage by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness for greater clarity and viewability," the memo says.
Investigators found "no incriminating 'client list' " of Epstein's, "no credible evidence ... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals," and no "evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," the memo adds.
Zoom out: As MAGA influencers, Patel and Bongino had been among the loudest voices touting Epstein conspiracy theories.
Since joining the government as Trump appointees, they've been more measured in talking about the Epstein investigation, and thrown cold water on the notion he was murdered.
"He killed himself," Bongino said on Fox News in May. "I've seen the whole file."
MAGA's media universe and some of its voices on Capitol Hill have expressed frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case since February, when DOJ released a tranche of Epstein-related files that were already publicly available.
Conservative figures panned the disclosure, saying it lacked new information.
"THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted then. "GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!"
The intrigue: When Elon Musk had a falling out with Trump last month, Musk accused the president of being "in the Epstein files."
Trump posted on Truth Social a statement from former Epstein lawyer David Schoen, saying Trump wasn't implicated in any crime. Schoen had also represented Trump in his first impeachment trial.
Musk later deleted his accusation and other posts on X, saying he "went too far."
Still, the questions about whether Trump's name is in the government's Epstein files have persisted because they had beenacquaintances who attended the same parties in the 1990s.
In a 2017 interview with author Michael Wolff, Epstein even claimed that at one point he was "Donald Trump's closest friend."
Trump, however, said in 2019 that he was "not a fan of Epstein" and hadn't "spoken to him for 15 years." He also said he had barred Epstein from his golf resorts in the early 2000s.
Democrats, meanwhile, have demanded to know more about the Epstein-Trump relationship.
What's next: The DOJ and FBI say in the memo that no "further disclosure" of Epstein-related material "would be appropriate or warranted."
The memo says much of the material relates to child sexual abuse, details of Epstein's victims, and information that would expose innocent individuals to "allegations of wrongdoing."
"Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography," the memo says.
President Trump wants to reach an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their meeting on Monday on terms for ending the war in Gaza, two U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Trump is trying to seize the momentum from the Israel–Iran ceasefire to secure a breakthrough in Gaza this week. After four months of failed talks, there has been fresh momentum in recent days towards a ceasefire deal.
Breaking it down: The deal on the table is a 60-day truce involving the release of 10 live Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages. Trump hopes it will be a step toward a bigger peace agreement, though Netanyahu has thus far been unwilling to sign any deal to end the war.
Negotiators from Israel and Hamas, together with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, met Sunday in Doha to try and reach an agreement on the last sticking points in the ceasefire and hostage talks.
Netanyahu said before departing Israel that his meeting with Trump could help get a deal across the line.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he thinks a deal could be reached this week.
Friction point: If a temporary ceasefire is reached, the post-war situation in Gaza will become the central topic in negotiations during the 60-day truce.
The U.S. side wants to reach understandings with the Israelis about who will govern Gaza without Hamas, and what security guarantees will prevent the group's return.
Driving the news: Trump and Netanyahu are expected to meet for dinner at the White House on Monday evening.
U.S. officials told Axios the "day after" issue will be a central topic in the meeting.
Initial discussions on this issue were held last week at the White House between Netanyahu's confidant Ron Dermer and White House envoy Steve Witkoff.
A U.S. official said Trump wants to hear Netanyahu's views on the post-war situation and reach a mutual understanding.
"We want to get an agreement on what comes next. At least a framework on the day after," the U.S. official said.
The other side: Israel has softened its position on the need to send senior Hamas officials into exile as part of a deal to end the war and is now willing to settle for the symbolic expulsion of a few top military commanders.
"There aren't many senior Hamas officials left in Gaza. We are not going to need a big ship to send them to exile — even a small dinghy will do," an Israeli official said.
The Israeli official added that Israel demands the dismantling of Hamas' military wing but is willing to consider granting amnesty for hundreds of militants if they lay down their arms.
The big picture: The big political "hot potato" is the question of who will govern a post-war Gaza.
Both Israel and the Trump administration want to avoid a Hezbollah-like model in Gaza, where Hamas stays as an armed militia even if only underground, while a civilian government runs the enclave.
"We are determined to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. It means one thing: the elimination of Hamas' military and governing capabilities. Hamas will not be there," Netanyahu said on Sunday before leaving Israel.
Zoom in: Netanyahu opposes Hamas having any part in governing a post-war Gaza, but also opposes any involvement of the Palestinian Authority in managing the enclave after the war ends.
Netanyahu wants Arab countries to control Gaza and provide security together with local Palestinian figures who are not affiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia oppose this and demand some role for the Palestinian Authority and a clear political horizon for the Palestinians in order to get involved in a post-war plan.
Countries in Europe and the Arab world are pushing for the day-after plan for Gaza to be part of a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians, but Netanyahu and his government adamantly reject that.
The big picture: The world's richest man — who before his explosive fallout with President Trump said he'd do a lot less political spending moving forward — became a GOP mega-donor last year. Now, the billionaire seems intent on carving a new political path.
Irate over Trump's recently signed "big, beautiful bill," the former DOGE leader is turning his sights away from what he described as "the two-party (some would say uniparty) system" and plans to form his own party.
Driving the news: Bessent, with whom Musk once had a heated spat in the White House, said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that "the principles of DOGE were very popular" — but Musk was not.
Musk's massive slashes through the federal government left a bruise on his reputation and his company.
A March NBC News poll found that 46% of voters thought creating DOGE was a good idea, while 40% said it was bad — but when asked to broadly rate their feelings on DOGE, 47% had a negative view, compared to 41% who held a positive view. And 51% had a negative view of Musk himself.
What he's saying: "I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone," Bessent told CNN's Dana Bash.
He continued, "I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday, and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities."
Catch up quick: Musk announced on Saturday that he would launch "the America Party," which he claimed would "give you back your freedom."
Musk said in a response that the party would caucus independently and that "legislative discussions would be had with both parties."
Yes, but: There are steps Musk must take to formally register a political party, and recent Federal Election Commission filings don't show that has yet happened.
What we're watching: The day prior, he shared a poll to his followers asking whether he should create a new political party and suggested part of his strategy would be to "laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts."
Musk didn't specify what those specific races would be.
He added, "Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people."
Billionaire Mark Cuban and Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly worked in for Trump during his first term, both appeared interested.
Cuban replied to Musk's post with emojis of fireworks and fire, and wrote in a separate post: "I work with @voterchoice. They will help you get on ballots. That is their mission."
Scaramucci retweeted Musk and wrote: "I would like to meet to discuss. My DMs are open."
Countries that don't make trade deals with the U.S. by August 1 can expect tariff rates to return to the levels announced in April, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
Why it matters: It's effectively a new deadline for the biggest U.S. trading partners to negotiate an alternative to President Trump's sweeping global tariffs — even as Bessent insists nothing had changed.
Catch up quick: On Friday, Trump said about a dozen countries would receive letters Monday unilaterally setting a tariff rate, with more to come in the following days.
Trump has said he preferred those letters to negotiations, after a three-month pause on his most sweeping tariffs netted three deals, rather than the 90 his administration promised.
That pause expires this coming Wednesday.
What they're saying: Bessent, in an interview with CNN's "State of the Union," said the letters would make clear that absent a deal, the rates would return to the levels Trump announced April 2.
"It's not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it's happening, if you want to speed things up, have at it, if you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice," he said.
The intrigue: Even with the new date in play, Bessent said there will be significant activity in the coming hours, as countries scramble to get something done before the original deadline.
"We are close to several deals. As always, there's a lot of foot-dragging on the other side," he said. "I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days."
What to watch: Trump's letter threat risks re-igniting the tariff chaos that crushed CEO and consumer confidence earlier this year and sent financial markets plunging.
Stocks have since rebounded to new record highs, consumer sentiment has improved and bond markets have taken a deep breath — all of which could be at risk if the trade war heats back up.
Americans live in separate economic realities: Those with a job are likely to stay employed, but those without one are likely to stay unemployed.
Why it matters: Welcome to the low-hire, low-fire labor market. Private-sector layoffs are at historic lows, but that masks a dreadful outlook for unemployed workers or those unhappy with their current positions.
Driving the news: The labor market surprised in June with a better-than-expected payroll gain of 147,000, the government said on Thursday.
But a whopping 85% of those job gains came in just two sectors, according to calculations by Mike Konczal, a former Biden economic official: education and health care.
Hiring in other sectors — including professional and business services, a catch-all category for white collar jobs — was little changed, the government said.
The big picture: That continues the "frozen job market" trend that has plagued the economy in recent years. The trend is being exacerbated by the rise of AI, as employers experiment with how to make their workforces more productive.
Separate data released this week showed the number of layoffs fell by 188,000 in May, hovering above multi-decade lows.
But the number of people hired into new jobs also fell by 112,000, to a rate significantly below its pre-pandemic levels.
The number of workers continuing to collect unemployment benefits is at the highest level since 2021, a sign that it is taking jobless workers longer to find a job.
What they're saying: "We're in a complex jobs market —it's not falling apart but the lack of dynamism, the lack of churn and the lack of hiring has been punctuated in the first half of the year," says ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.
"Many employers are loath to lay off workers until they see the whites of the eyes of a recession, having had such problems finding suitable workers in the first place," David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, wrote in a recent note.
The bottom line: If you look only at how many Americans are losing their jobs, this appears to be a pretty terrific labor market. If you look only at how many are being hired for new jobs, it is the weakest in years.
The question ahead is how it gets unstuck — with a pick-up in hiring, or a pick-up in layoffs.
More Americans are going hungry, per new data from Morning Consult.
The big picture: It's a shocking data point for the wealthiest country in the world, and comes at a time when the stock market is hitting record highs and President Trump just signed a bill slashing food benefits.
The rise is like a slow-moving train wreck, says John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult. "There's such a disconnect now between record highs on Wall Street and elevated levels of food insecurity."
Zoom in: The share of adults who tell Morning Consult in monthly surveys that they sometimes or often don't have enough to eat — or are food insecure — has been creeping up over the past several years.
In May, 15.6% of adults were food insecure, almost double the rate in 2021. At that time Congress had beefed up SNAP benefits and expanded the Child Tax Credit driving down poverty rates, and giving people more money for food.
Zoom out: The rate appears higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Morning Consult's data only goes back to 2021. However, federal data that measures food insecurity, and roughly lines up with Morning Consult's findings, shows the numbers were already above pro-COVID levels back in 2023.
Demand for food is up 120% from three years ago at the Philadelphia-area food bank network where George Matysik is executive director.
As soon as the government support pulled back in 2022, "we started to see the numbers go up," says Matysik, who is with the Share Food Network, which serves hundreds of thousands of people.
Demand just continued to rise from there, along with grocery prices.
Between the lines: Congress just passed a huge cut to food benefits, or SNAP, that is likely to make the situation far worse, says Matycik.
The "big, beautiful bill" pushes states to provide more funding for SNAP, and tightens work requirements for benefits.
Before, adults over age 54 weren't required to work; now the age limit is 64. And fewer parents are exempted from working, as well.
It's expected that millions will lose benefits, and more would receive less.
People will have less money for food, further driving folks to food banks, which had already been dealing with different spending cuts from the White House.
Reality check: Some of the cuts to SNAP, involving state funding, don't take effect until 2028 — raising the possibility that they might not happen.
The data also looks a bit volatile, bouncing around quite a bit — it spiked at the end of 2024, and it's not clear why.
It is likely a reflection of how precarious it is to make ends meet for folks at the lower end of the wage scale — some are in hourly jobs with fluctuating schedules, which can be rough on one's personal finances.
The other side: The White House and congressional Republicans argue that cuts to these benefits are a way to push more people into the labor market and reduce dependence on government assistance, as well as an effort to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.
The bottom line: Americans are increasingly struggling to afford food, and the situation is expected to worsen in the coming years.
Mass surveillance. Pre-emptive military strikes in the Middle East. Shipping people to domestic and foreign prisons. Citing national security to hide information from the courts. Labeling people as "terrorists" as a political and legal strategy.
Why it matters: Donald Trump became president in part by running against the legacy of George W. Bush, the last Republican in the White House before him. But now Trump is supercharging many of the post-9/11 legal, tactical and political strategies Bush used.
Driving the news: Trump's push to deport "millions" of unauthorized immigrants and his strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities in particular have many parallels to Bush's "War on Terror."
Trump's sending unauthorized immigrants to high-security prisons in the U.S. and abroad — sometimes denying them due process.
Bush sent alleged terrorists — including undocumented people in the U.S. — to prisons around the world and the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Trump administration is now using "Gitmo" for detainees it says have criminal histories.
Trump preemptively, and unilaterally, attacked Iran with 14 bunker-buster bombs and launched missiles at an Iranian-backed proxy group in Yemen, killing dozens.
He said he ordered the first attack out of concern Iran was close to gaining a nuclear weapon. Bush used a similar rationale for invading Iraq, though unlike Trump he got Congress' approval beforehand.
The similarities don't stop there:
Surveillance: Trump has enlisted tech company and defense contractor Palantir to help surveil and track unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Bush enlisted telecom companies such as AT&T and Sprint for most of his domestic surveillance in the name of stopping terrorists. Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" provides billions to expand such programs. (Palantir told Axios that its software doesn't proactively collect data, and said its work is in accordance with the law.)
Executive orders: Trump's administration has invoked some ofBush's executive orders made after 9/11 to justify his immigration actions, as Semafor pointed out.
Rhetoric: Trump has labeled alleged members of Latin American gangs as "terrorists" and "alien enemies" to justify expedited deportations. He has said his administration is focused mostly on "the worst of the worst" — the same phrase Bush's administration used in its anti-terror campaign.
Courts: Trump and Bush's administrations both concealed information from judges and court hearings using the "state secrets privilege," claiming there would be a national security risk for transparency.
Habeas corpus: Trump has floated suspending habeas corpus — suspects' right to use the courts to fight unlawful detentions. Bush tried to do that in 2006 before it was overturned by the Supreme Court.
Reality check: There are exceptions to the Trump-Bush parallels.
Trump's immigration effort is far broader than Bush's, which focused largely on men suspected of having ties to terror groups. Trump's deportation efforts are targeted at millions more noncitizens in communities nationwide.
Bush was also responding to the trauma of the 9/11 attacks and fearful of another mass attack.
So far, Trump's attacks against Iran have been far more limited than the government-toppling invasions Bush embarked on.
What they're saying: A spokesperson for Bush declined to comment.
"President Trump swore an oath to protect and defend the homeland and promised the American people he would end generational wars, and that's exactly what he's doing," Trump spokesperson Harrison Fields said. "No president has secured our nation and the world more successfully than President Trump, and the American people are safer today because of his leadership than ever before."
"Trump is saying out loud what the Bush administration did behind closed doors," said Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the first organization to represent detainees sent to GuantanamoBay after 9/11.
Between the lines: Most Republicans have cheered Trump's aggressive immigration moves, while Democrats have been mostly muted in pushing back, recognizing that Joe Biden's handling of the border cost them politically.
Some Trump supporters such as Tucker Carlson have criticized the president's military entanglements in the Middle East, given that Trump ran on a promise to avoid getting involved in wars such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Vice President Vance has said he understands such concerns and told NBC's "Meet the Press" last month that "the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America's national security objectives. So this is not going to be some long, drawn-out thing."
Flashback: The Bush administration made mistakes in who it detained and accused of links to terrorism in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
The Bush administration preemptively detained hundreds of Arab and Muslim immigrants in the U.S., and some men were sent to foreign prisons.
An inspector general report in 2003 said: "Even in the hectic aftermath of the September 11 attacks, we believe the FBI should have taken more care to distinguish between aliens who it actually suspected of having a connection to terrorism," and those "who, while possibly guilty of violating federal immigration law, had no connection to terrorism."
This story has been updated with a comment from a Trump spokesperson.
Israel rejected Hamas' proposed changes to the latest Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, but will send negotiators to Qatar on Sunday to try to close remaining gaps, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saturday.
Why it matters: While key hurdles remain, the resumption of indirect talks in Qatar is a significant step toward a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Driving the news: President Trump has been pressuring both Israel and Hamas — through Qatari and Egyptian mediators — to agree to a deal that includes a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies.
He wants to see some progress by Monday, when he plans to meet with Netanyahu at the White House.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night that he's "very optimistic" about the chances of getting a deal next week.
What they're saying: "The changes Hamas wants to make in the Qatari proposal are unacceptable," the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement.
Still, Netanyahu agreed to Qatar's invitation for "proximity talks" with Hamas.
The statement said the Israeli negotiating team will depart for Doha on Sunday, and emphasized the talks will be "based on the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to."
Catch up quick:Hamas said Friday that its response to the proposed ceasefire and hostage deal "can be characterized as positive" and that the Palestinian militant group is ready to begin implementation talks.
But Hamas also gave Qatari mediators three reservations it wants to address in indirect talks with Israel and the U.S.
Once the ceasefire begins, Hamas wants the UN to take back control of humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza. It demanded that the Israel and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund no longer be part of the aid delivery.
Hamas also wants the IDF to pull back to the positions it held before the March ceasefire collapsed.
Israel has rejected those demands.
Between the lines: Under the current proposal, Israel and Hamas would hold indirect talks during the 60-day ceasefire to negotiate terms for a permanent end to the war.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt would commit to extending the truce beyond 60 days if more time is needed.
Hamas is pushing for a stronger U.S. guarantee that Israel won't be able to unilaterally resume fighting after 60 days.
Efforts to find the 11 girls missing from Camp Mystic after flash floods hit central Texas early Friday morning continue, but the death toll has risen to over 60 people. The total includes both those attending or working at the camp, and people living in the surrounding area.
Here's what we know about the victims of the flooding:
Jeff Wilson
The Humble Independent School Districtconfirmed on X that Wilson was a victim of the flooding.
Wilson taught Career Technology at Kingswood Park High School, per the school district's website. According to the district's statement, he had been employed with them for 30 years, teaching at both Kingswood Park and Humble High School.
"He was a beloved teacher and co-worker to many and will be deeply missed," the statement said.
The school district said that Wilson's wife, Amber, and his son, Shiloh, are among the missing.
Sally Sample Graves
Graves' granddaughter, Sarah Sample, shared that her grandmother died in the flooding on Facebook.
"A powerful 30 ft wave destroyed her home, sweeping her and our dad downstream," she wrote, adding that her father and his dog survived.
"We find solace knowing our dad was with her until the very end; caring for her as he has for years. Her unwavering dedication to family has left an indelible mark on our lives," Sample wrote.
Bobby and Amanda Martin
The married couple were camping with their children in an RV when the flood came, Bobby Martin's father, John Keith Martin, told the New York Times.
Bobby, 46, and Amanda, 44, were from Odessa, Texas.
"He was an adventurous man, adventurous and outgoing. He had many good friends, because he was a good friend," John Keith Martin told the Times.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the couple's two younger children were rescued. Their son, Bailey Martin and his girlfriend are among the missing.
Bailey Martin works as a police officer in Odessa.
Reece and Paula Zunker
Reece Zunker, the Tivy High School boys soccer coach, and his wife, Paula Zunker, died in the flooding, his niece told CNN.
The team remembered him as more than a soccer coach, writing in a post, "he was a mentor, teacher and a role model for our Kerrville kids."
Blair and Brooke Harber
Blair Harber,13, and Brooke Harber, 11, were staying in a cabin with their grandparents along the river when the floods began, the sisters' Dallas church, St. Rita Catholic Community, confirmed, according to multipleoutlets.
Blair was preparing to enter eighth grade, and Brooke would have entered sixth grade at St. Rita Catholic School.
Renee Smajstrla
The 9-year-old was identified by her uncle as one of the Camp Mystic attendees who went missing and whose body has since been recovered.
"We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic," Shawn Salta wrote on Facebook.
Sarah Marsh
The 8-year-old Mountain Brook, Alabama, girl was attending Camp Mystic, per the city's mayor.
"This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community. Sarah's passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her, " Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch wrote in a Facebook post.
Janie Hunt
The 9-year-old girl's family confirmed to KXAS-TV reporter Keenan Willard that she had died in the floods while at Camp Mystic.
Lila Bonner
Lila Bonner's family confirmed the girl, 9, had died.
"In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time. We ache with all who loved her," the girl's family said in a statement to KXAS-TV.
Dick Eastland
The longtime director of Camp Mystic was among the victims, with reports that he died while working to get girls to safety.
Eastland, who attended the University of Texas, was at Camp Mystic since 1974 and was part of a third generation of a family managing the camp, per its website.
Paige Sumner, a longtime friend, described Eastland as a "father figure" to everyone away from home at camp.
"He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad," Sumner wrote for the Kerrville Daily Times.
Jane Ragsdale
The beloved co-owner and director of Heart O' the Hills camp was killed in floods, according to a statement posted on the camp's website.
"We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane's death. She embodied the spirit of Heart O' the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer."
The girls' camp opened in 1953. There were no campers at the time of the floods.
Ryan's fiancée told the station water quickly entered their home near the Guadalupe River. Ryan punched out a window to get his family out, she said, but he was ultimately unable to make it out.
"Julian was a cherished son and devoted parent and fiancé who was dedicated to his family. He was known to have an infectious laugh and unwavering kindness," according to a GoFundMe account raising money for his family.
"He touched countless lives with his humor and will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him."
Katheryn Eads
Eads went missing and was later found dead while her husband survived, per the Washington Post.
Amy Hutchinson, the owner and director of Olive Branch Counseling and Training in Texas, told the Post that Eads had previously worked at the company.
"Katheryn was a hope and a light to all who knew her," she said in an email to The Post. "A daughter, a wife, a mother, grandmother, friend and colleague. She was a stellar counselor and professor and she simply just made everything better. Katheryn was changing lives."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information.
More than two dozen kids from the all-girls private camp, Camp Mystic, remained missing as of Saturday after catastrophic floods hit the area on Friday.
The big picture: In the days since the flooding began on the Guadalupe River, the identities of several campers who died have been released.
Here's what we know about the camp:
What have authorities said about the missing campers?
Roughly 700 kids were at the camp when flooding began, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
As of Saturday, authorities said there were still 27 campers unaccounted for.
Camp Mystic is nestled in Texas' Hill Country, along the banks of the Guadalupe River, which on Friday reached the second-highest height on record in the unincorporated community of Hunt.
The campsite is surrounded by cypress, live oak and pecan trees, per the camp's website.
What is the history of Camp Mystic?
Flashback: Founded in 1926 by University of Texas coach Edward James "Doc" Stewart, Camp Mystic is a nondenominational Christian camp for girls who have finished second grade.
It was purchased by another family in 1939 and has been operated by descendants since, per its website.
"In the Mystic spirit, their goals are to boost every camper's self-confidence and to nurture the development of their individual character," the website says of the current owners, Dick and Tweety Eastland.
Zoom in: Camp Mystic offers over 30 activities, including many sports, arts and crafts, theater and more.
The camp offers two 4-week terms starting in May and a 2-week term in late July.
What we're watching: Authorities continue search and rescue efforts.
Flash flooding in Texas has led to at least 68 deaths inKerr County, Texas, after severe weather inundated central parts of the region, including the Camp Mystic summer camp, where some campers remained missing Sunday.
The big picture: Across the state, around 80 people have been reported killed in the catastrophic flooding that began early Friday on the Guadalupe River, in an area about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio.
The latest: The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning through 6:30pm, Kerr County noted on Facebook. "Tributaries of the Guadalupe River north of Ingram and Kerrville will contain a quick rise in water that will eventually add up to 2 feet of a rise along the Guadalupe River from Ingram to just downstream from Kerrville," it said.
Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a Sunday afternoon briefing 40 adults and 28 children were confirmed to have died in flooding in the county.
Zoom in: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a Sunday news conference that 41 people were confirmed missing, but he noted there were others unaccounted for who are not on the known missing list.
At least five people died in Travis County, home to Austin, and three others were confirmed dead in Burnet County, to the city's northwest.
Two deaths were confirmed in Kendall County and officials in Williamson and Tom Green counties each confirmed one death.
What's happening: The Texas Rangers were collecting DNA samples to identify those recovered and will have answers in hours, said Freeman Martin, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, at the Sunday press conference.
President Trump on Sunday announced he signed a major disaster declaration for the county, adding federal officials were coordinating with state and local authorities amid the ongoing search efforts.
He told reporters he would visit the disaster area, "probably on Friday."
In Kerr County, 11 campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic, a private girls' camp along the Guadalupe River, were unaccounted for.
Abbott said what he saw on his visit to the camp was "nothing short of horrific."
He added, "we will remain 100% dedicated searching for every single one of the children who were at Camp Mystic, as well as anybody else."
Situation report: The identities of the dead are beginning to trickle out, including campers at Camp Mystic.
Dick Eastland, the director of the camp, was among those who died in the flood.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that the effort to locate the missing campers "is intense," noting that the state and other localities have sent resources to the area.
That process will become more difficult if the water starts to rise again, he told CNN's Dana Bash, but he estimated there are "hundreds and hundreds of folks" searching.
What they're saying: At a funeral home on Saturday, "I got to see first-hand many of the body bags, and it breaks my heart," Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said at a press conference in Kerrville, Texas.
Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, on Sunday offered his condolences "to all the families who have lost loved ones — in particular their daughters who were at summer camp" during the flooding.
"We pray for them," he said.
Between the lines: In response to a question about why more people weren't warned ahead of time about flooding risk, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said at the press conference in Texas, "Everybody wants more warning time, which is why we're trying to upgrade the technology that has been neglected for far too long."
Zoom out: The rain continues to fall — nearly 18 inches of rain had fallen by Saturday afternoon in an area to Austin's northwest in the previous 24 hours.
The rainfall numbers are "unbelievable," Avery Tomasco, a meteorologist with CBS News, said on air, describing the storm as a "rain bomb."
Meanwhile, the Lower Colorado River Authority has launched flood operations at its dams to manage the water flowing through Austin.
As of Saturday afternoon, Lake Travis, one of the chief reservoirs in central Texas, had jumped 13 feet in the previous 24 hours.
Editor's note: This is a developing story and has been updated with new information.
