By Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — Ordinarily, a claim like the one President Donald Trump leveled at China in prime time this week might herald a major rupture in ties with Beijing.

“The People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history,” Trump declared Thursday from the East Room, sounding personally stung that, according to a minority view of intelligence, the country had tried to undermine his election chances in 2020.

“The Chinese government wanted (the) US president to lose the next election,” he claimed. “The reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them, charged them billions and billions of dollars worth of tariffs, and built the strongest military anywhere in the world.”

The assertions were serious — if neither new nor entirely backed with evidence — and drew immediate indignation from Chinese officials. Yet they were not accompanied in Trump’s speech by any suggestion he planned to punish the Chinese government for its alleged actions.

By the next day, a White House official said planning for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s lavish state visit to Washington in two months was continuing apace. And they offered no answer when asked whether Trump planned any repercussions for China in response to what he claimed was a data breach of historic scale.

It was a different story for American intelligence officials who Trump alleged had withheld the China information from him during his first term. He tasked four separate federal agencies with investigating, instructing them “to fire those involved in the cover-up, and to file criminal charges, if appropriate, against these people.”

The difference in approach laid bare Trump’s fixation on re-litigating the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. But it was also evidence he has little interest in upending what has become a fragile balance with Xi after a fraught first year back in office.

In some ways, Trump’s speech Thursday marked a departure from the tone he has struck in recent months toward China and its leader, with whom he has worked to cultivate personal ties over the course of several in-person meetings.

“I’m a big fan of President Xi,” Trump said at last week’s NATO summit in Turkey, praising the country for mostly staying on the sidelines of the war in Iran, despite fears early in the war that Beijing could provide Tehran with military assistance.

After Trump levied his election accusations on Thursday night, China’s foreign ministry responded by saying they had “no factual ground.”

“China adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. We have no interest in interfering in the US elections and have never done so,” spokesperson Lin Jian said, offering criticism of the US and alluding to the negative impact of the claims could have on US-China ties. “We urge the US to reflect on its own behavior, stop unwanted vilification of China … and act more in ways conducive to China-US relations.”

Stabilizing ties has been a priority for Trump’s administration recently after a bruising year of tariff standoffs. Xi hosted Trump for a pomp-filled state visit to Beijing in May, and the two leaders plan to meet again in Washington in late September.

Trump has also suggested he may return to China this year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in Shenzhen. And Xi could visit the United States for the Group of 20 summit Trump is hosting in Miami.

In all of his engagements with Xi over the past year, Trump has never

By Tierney Sneed, Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is escalating its attacks on election officials in key battleground states, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin doubling down Friday on claims that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens are illegally registered to vote – claims that the agency has quietly acknowledged aren’t fully vetted.

In a news conference, Mullin repeated the claim first made in a release of documents alongside President Donald Trump’s primetime Thursday night speech, alleging that DHS had found a cumulative quarter-million non-citizens registered in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

However, letters from DHS to the states informing them of the allegations are more hedged.

Mullin’s letter to Pennsylvania, for instance, notes that the figure is unverified. It says that there “may be as many as 14,576 non-citizens on the states voter rolls,” but that 8,594 came up as matches as non-citizens on its files. It asks for Pennsylvania’s help on working “collaboratively on identity verification” to more efficiently “ensure the accuracy of our findings.”

The Trump administration is attempting to force states to hand over sensitive voter data so that the Justice Department can audit their voter registration files. State election officials of both parties have told CNN they fear that the administration would use the data to exaggerate the problem of non-citizen voting, as a way to sow doubt about the midterm results, if Republicans fare poorly.

The administration’s data-collection effort has run into major legal hurdles, with more than a dozen courts siding with states that have refused to provide their voter rolls to the federal government and a separate judge ruling that the DHS program that is central to the audits is illegal. Mullin railed against that ruling Friday while also threatening election officials with prosecutions for not participating in the DHS voter roll reviews.

“If the election officials – once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to – then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison,” Mullin said.

The Justice Department made a similar threat earlier this month in letters to all 50 states that were quickly dismissed by election officials, many of whom were gathered at a conference in South Dakota during Trump’s speech.

“I’m not intimidated by that at all,” New Hampshire’s Republican Secretary of David Scanlan, whose state recently secured the dismissal of a DOJ lawsuit seeking the data, told CNN Thursday.

“I see this is a temper tantrum disguised as an official letter because they have hit roadblocks,” added Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat.

Idaho’s Republican attorney general’s office responded with a sharp letter of its own, telling DOJ its “insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken.”

The citizenship data system that DHS is using to review the rolls – which is known as SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) – has a reputation for presenting an inflated picture of registered non-citizens. DHS explicitly requires states that use the program voluntarily for voter list maintenance do further investigations of its matches.

Mullin did not include any of that context in his remarks, nor did he describe the 250,000 number as potential non-citizens, as DHS did in its press release announcing the letters to the four states.

“We can affirm that on its face, we refute these claims,” Nevada Democratic Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar told CNN in a statement Friday. “These numbers are wildly speculative at best and the Department of Home

CNN

By Tierney Sneed, Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is escalating its attacks on election officials in key battleground states, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin doubling down Friday on claims that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens are illegally registered to vote – claims that the agency has quietly acknowledged aren’t fully vetted.

In a news conference, Mullin repeated the claim first made in a release of documents alongside President Donald Trump’s primetime Thursday night speech, alleging that DHS had found a cumulative quarter-million non-citizens registered in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

However, letters from DHS to the states informing them of the allegations are more hedged.

Mullin’s letter to Pennsylvania, for instance, notes that the figure is unverified. It says that there “may be as many as 14,576 non-citizens on the states voter rolls,” but that 8,594 came up as matches as non-citizens on its files. It asks for Pennsylvania’s help on working “collaboratively on identity verification” to more efficiently “ensure the accuracy of our findings.”

The Trump administration is attempting to force states to hand over sensitive voter data so that the Justice Department can audit their voter registration files. State election officials of both parties have told CNN they fear that the administration would use the data to exaggerate the problem of non-citizen voting, as a way to sow doubt about the midterm results, if Republicans fare poorly.

The administration’s data-collection effort has run into major legal hurdles, with more than a dozen courts siding with states that have refused to provide their voter rolls to the federal government and a separate judge ruling that the DHS program that is central to the audits is illegal. Mullin railed against that ruling Friday while also threatening election officials with prosecutions for not participating in the DHS voter roll reviews.

“If the election officials – once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to – then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison,” Mullin said.

The Justice Department made a similar threat earlier this month in letters to all 50 states that were quickly dismissed by election officials, many of whom were gathered at a conference in South Dakota during Trump’s speech.

“I’m not intimidated by that at all,” New Hampshire’s Republican Secretary of David Scanlan, whose state recently secured the dismissal of a DOJ lawsuit seeking the data, told CNN Thursday.

“I see this is a temper tantrum disguised as an official letter because they have hit roadblocks,” added Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat.

Idaho’s Republican attorney general’s office responded with a sharp letter of its own, telling DOJ its “insinuations of criminal violations of the federal election laws are not well taken.”

The citizenship data system

* WHAT…Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to
elevated surf expected.

* WHERE…San Luis Obispo County Beaches and Santa Barbara
County Central Coast Beaches.

* WHEN…From Sunday afternoon through Tuesday evening.

* IMPACTS…There is an increased risk of ocean drowning. Rip
currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can
wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats
nearshore.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Highest surf will be focused across south
facing beaches due to a southerly swell produced by Tropical
Storm Elida. Another tropcial system is forecast to form in a
similar area and move along a similar path, bringing additional
hazardous conditions to the coasts on the heels of this first
event. Additionally, a long period southerly swell created by
Southern Hemisphere storms will arrive late next week.
Additional High Surf Advisories and/or Beach Hazards Statements
may be needed next week.
Remain out of the water due to hazardous swimming conditions, or
stay near occupied lifeguard towers. Rock jetties can be deadly
in such conditions, stay off the rocks.

The post Beach Hazards Statement issued July 17 at 12:53PM PDT until July 21 at 11:00PM PDT by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Alejandra Jaramillo, Arlette Saenz, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump said he’s urged Sen. Darline Graham, the younger sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, to run in South Carolina’s upcoming special primary and pledged his “complete and total endorsement” if she enters the race to take her brother’s spot on the ballot.

“During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday, praising her visit to the Oval Office earlier this week.

“I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life and, should she accept, has my Complete and Total Endorsement in the Special Election for U.S. Senate in South Carolina — SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. RUN, DARLINE, RUN!” Trump added.

Graham was sworn into the Senate on Tuesday to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term following his death over the weekend. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced her appointment to finish her brother’s term on Monday.

Because the late senator was up for reelection this year, his death will kick off a sprint primary election to replace him on the November ballot.

CNN has reached out to Graham’s office.

If she does decide to run, Graham, 62, would enter with high name recognition and the backing of the president.

She has never held elected office but has served in public positions in the state. She was serving as a commissioner for the South Carolina Commission for the Blind prior to the appointment and has long worked with people with disabilities.

Several other South Carolina Republicans have been floated as potential candidates in the GOP special primary. But whether a Trump pre-endorsement of Graham could alter those Republicans’ plans remains to be seen.

GOP Rep. Ralph Norman told CNN on Wednesday that he would decide by Monday whether he would enter the race, but he also noted he is “weighing a lot of things,” including any news on whom the president will endorse.

“I told him I want their, need the endorsement and I think we can win this thing,” he added.

Norman also said the president was speaking with South Carolina Reps. Russell Fry and William Timmons.

On Friday, Norman received an endorsement from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, to which the GOP congressman responded, “We will have an announcement soon and it would be an honor to work alongside a conservative leader like you in the United States Senate!”

Timmons, meanwhile, threw his support behind Graham, calling the president’s decision to back her “a fitting tribute to Senator Lindsey Graham’s legacy” and pledging to campaign on her behalf in the weeks ahead.

Other potential candidates who have been floated include Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Rep. Nancy Mace, who both lost in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary this year.

The filing period for the GOP special primary begins on July