The Economist

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 27th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

PHOTO: eyevine

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump’s classified-documents case, appealed against its dismissal. Aileen Cannon, a Trump-nominated judge, threw out the case in July on the grounds that Mr Smith’s hiring was unconstitutional. Mr Smith (pictured above) claims her decision “conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions” upholding an attorney-general’s right to make such appointments. The case is unlikely to be resolved quickly. But the outcome will only matter if Mr Trump loses the election. Otherwise, charges for keeping a bathroom stuffed with classified documents will disappear soon after the defendant takes his second oath of office.

Mr Trump blamed Kamala Harris and Joe Biden for “the humiliation in Afghanistan” during a campaign speech in Detroit. Monday marked the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 American service members and 100 Afghan civilians in a suicide bombing shortly after Mr Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan began. Mr Trump negotiated America’s hasty evacuation with the Taliban towards the end of his presidency—an agreement, we wrote in 2021, that Mr Biden inherited but did not have to stick to.

The Federal Trade Commission opened its case against Kroger by arguing that the supermarket chain’s attempted takeover of Albertsons, a deal valued at $25bn, would lead to higher prices. Kroger’s lawyers insisted that the merger of the two grocers would immediately make goods cheaper at Albertsons. The high-profile trial is one of several the trustbuster has initiated under the Biden administration.

A three-judge panel of the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Missouri could not hollow out federal gun-control laws. A Missouri law of 2021 aimed to undercut requirements, for example, for gun owners to register their weapons. Missouri’s Republican legislature claimed to be protecting the second-amendment right to bear arms; the federal Justice Department disagreed and took it to court.

A Hispanic voting-rights organisation called on the Justice Department to launch an investigation after agents from Texas’s election-fraud unit searched the homes of six Latino organisers and seized a mobile phone belonging to Cecilia Castellano, a Democratic congressional candidate. Ken Paxton, Texas’s Republican attorney-general, said that the raids, conducted on August 20th, were necessary to preserve the integrity of the state’s elections.

More deaths, less outrage

Last month a police officer in Springfield, Illinois shot dead Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old unarmed black woman. There were repercussions: the officer was charged with murder and his boss resigned under pressure. Yet it is striking what has not happened. Only a few protesters have marched to decry the killing. Read our story about why trust in police is up, despite police shootings increasing, too.

A view from elsewhere
Though “pessimism hangs like a pall” over discussion among India’s commentariat about the country’s relationship with America, there are reasons to “be confident about continuity”, wrote C. Raja Mohan in the Indian Express. America is India’s “most comprehensive and consequential partner”, and decades of “ intensive engagement” mean it has “built solid foundations of support on both sides of the aisle”.

We want to hear from you
Readers are sending us lots of thoughtful emails so we’ve decided to publish some every Wednesday. If you have views on what is happening in America drop us a line at usib@economist.com. And, of course, we still welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

Editor’s picks

Our latest US coverage

Brand finale

Kamala Harris completes her reinvention

As the Democrats’ convention ends, the general election begins in earnest

Banyan

If a China and America war went nuclear, who would win?

After 45 days of conventional fighting nukes would be tempting, wargamers suggest

A smashing time

Where crashing cars is the point

Making sense of demolition derbies

Today’s forecast

Our forecasting model finds that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have nearly equal chances of winning the election in November.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America.

Tuesday: An exhausted Harry Truman was urged by his doctor to holiday somewhere warm. He ended up making 11 trips to this vacation spot, which became known as the Little White House. Where was it?

Monday: Camp David, a 125-acre retreat in Maryland, is the official presidential country residence. Which president named it (in honour of his grandson)?

See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.

If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s new history game.

Figure of the day

8, the number of days that two Americans were supposed to stay at the International Space Station. Read our story about the astronauts NASA insists are not “stranded”.

Heard on the Tucker Carlson Show

I’ve been asked…to help pick the people who will be running the government.

—After dropping out of the race and endorsing Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy junior suggests that the ex-president has a special role lined up for the former third-party candidate.

Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.

Also from The Economist

Free to receive

The Economist today, which includes a Sunday edition, brings you the best of our journalism, handpicked by editors.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

This email has been sent to: account@kait.dev. If you'd like to update your details please click here. Replies to this email will not reach us. If you don't want to receive these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here.

Join the conversation