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- Trump admin live updates: Bondi says she'll be AG as 'long as the president wants me'</p>
<p>KEVIN SHALVEY and ALEXANDRA HUTZLERJuly 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM</p>
<p>President Donald Trump welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to the White House on Monday, where the two announced a deal that European countries will buy U.S. weapons to send to Ukraine.</p>
<p>Trump also threatened to impose "very severe tariffs" on Russia if there was no peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days. Trump said the tariffs could amount to 100%.</p>
<p>Latest Developments</p>
<p>Jul 15, 3:54 PMBondi says she'll stay as attorney general 'as long as the president wants me'</p>
<p>Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday responded to calls for her resignation over the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which has rankled the MAGA base."I'm going to be here for as long as the president wants me here, and I believe he's made that crystal clear," Bondi said.</p>
<p>Umit Bektas/Reuters - PHOTO: Attorney General Pam Bondi discusses a drug enforcement-related announcement during a press conference at DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Va., July 15, 2025.</p>
<p>When asked about her reported rift with Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino over the matter, Bondi said she was not going to discuss personnel matters."I was with [FBI] Director Patel all morning and we are committed to keeping America safe, making America safe, working with our incredible partners at DEA, FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals to do everything we can to make America safe and that's what we're focused on," she said at an event at the Drug Enforcement Administration.</p>
<p>Jul 15, 1:58 PMTrump takes questions on Epstein files, defends AG Bondi</p>
<p>President Donald Trump continued to defend Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of Jeffrey Epstein files as he took some questions from reporters on the subject.One reporter asked about comments from his daughter-in-law Lara Trump that there should be more transparency in the Epstein case."The attorney general's handled that very well. She's really done a very good job," Trump said. "And I think that when you look at it, you'll understand that. I would like to see that also. But I think the attorney general, the credibility is very important. And, you want credible evidence or something like that. And I think the attorney general has handled it very well."</p>
<p>Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump speaks to reporters on his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 15, 2025, in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>ABC News' Katherine Faulders asked the president what Bondi told him about the DOJ and FBI review of the Epstein files and "specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the file?""No, no, she's -- she's given us just a very quick briefing," Trump responded before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes."And in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen, and I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden -- and you know, we and we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through. We've gone through years of it, but she's handled it very well, and it's going to be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release," Trump said.</p>
<p>Jul 15, 1:35 PMTrump reacts to inflation report, calls on Fed to lower interest rates</p>
<p>President Donald Trump, as he left the White House for an event in Pittsburgh, was asked about the new inflation data out Tuesday morning that found consumer prices rose 2.7% in June compared to a year ago.The reading marked a notable surge in prices as Trump's tariff policy took hold, matching economists' expectations.Trump called the increase "very slight."</p>
<p>Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump speaks to reporters on his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 15, 2025, in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>"Essentially, there were exactly as anticipated, very low inflation," he said. "So what you should do is lower the rate, the Fed should lower the rate immediately."</p>
<p>Jul 15, 12:46 PMWhite House lawn cleared after incident</p>
<p>At the White House on Tuesday, Secret Service cleared everyone off the White House North Lawn driveway as Education Secretary Linda McMahon was just about to appear for an interview on Fox News. USSS approached the Fox News tent and alerted McMahon and her staff, ushering her into the White House West Wing."Everyone go to the press briefing room please," one USSS police officer said to the press gathered on the North Lawn waiting to gaggle with McMahon.The White House was situated a short time later and press was allowed back outside.-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Michelle Stoddart and Tierra Cunningham</p>
<p>Jul 15, 10:53 AMWhite House confirms Trump, Zelenskyy discussed strikes on Moscow but pushes back on reports</p>
<p>The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed whether Ukraine would be able to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg with U.S.-supplied weapons, but the White House is taking issue with the framing of the conversation in news reports."President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He's working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to ABC News.Leavitt said that a report from The Financial Times was taking the discussion "wildly out of context." The Financial Times reported that Trump had signaled his backing for the idea of striking deep inside Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, citing two people briefed on the call.</p>
<p>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump delivers remarks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House on July 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart</p>
<p>Jul 14, 11:23 PMFederal judge bars Trump admin from ending TPS for Afghans</p>
<p>The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Afghans living in the United States.The appeals court's move comes just as the work permits and deportation protections were set to expire today for nearly 12,000 TPS holders from Afghanistan.In May, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they were ending the protections for Afghans as well as Cameroonians. The announcement sparked anger from immigrant advocates who said many Afghans who helped support American troops during the war would be forced to return to Afghanistan.The appeals court has paused the termination of TPS for seven days and has ordered the government to file a response no later than July 16.-ABC News' Armando García</p>
<p>Jul 14, 6:16 PMBondi and Patel spotted at White House</p>
<p>FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were all spotted on the White House grounds Monday afternoon.Sources told ABC News that Patel, Bondi and Blanche spent hours at the White House for meetings amid backlash from Trump's core supporters following the decision by the DOJ and FBI to not release any additional information from their review of the Jeffrey Epstein files.</p>
<p>Evan Vucci/AP - PHOTO: Attorney General Pam Bondi listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, July 8, 2025.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear who the group met with and whether they saw the president.Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino wasn't present for the meetings, but sources tell ABC News that Bongino did come to work on Monday.Patel was spotted arriving at the White House slightly before 3 p.m. and Blanche and Bondi were seen leaving just before 5:30 pm.-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Lalee Ibssa</p>
<p>Jul 14, 3:48 PMTrump says he's 'open' to negotiating with EU on trade</p>
<p>President Donald Trump was asked whether he'd continue to negotiate with the European Union to try to get a tariff rate lower than 30% before Aug. 1. Trump seemed to indicate EU negotiators would come to the U.S. soon.While Trump said he was open to continuing discussions, he also indicated that the letters he has sent to other trading partners are deals "already made.""No, we're going to be talking to people. We have -- you know I watched a show this morning, they were talking about, well when's he going to make the deal? The deals are already made. The letters are the deals. The deals are made. There are no deals to make. They would like to do a different kind of a deal and we're always open to talk. We are open to talk, including to Europe. In fact, they're coming over, they'd like to talk to us," Trump said.</p>
<p>Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: President Donald Trump departs after participating in a White House Faith Office luncheon in the State Dining Room of the White House, July 14, 2025.</p>
<p>-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart</p>
<p>Jul 14, 12:10 PMTrump continues to blast Biden over autopen</p>
<p>President Donald Trump on Monday was asked about former President Joe Biden's recent interview with the New York Times, in which he said that he personally made every clemency and pardon decision during the last few weeks of his presidency that were signed with the autopen.Biden hit back at Trump and others who've claimed that aides acted with the autopen without Biden's knowledge. "They're liars. They know it," Biden told the Times.</p>
<p>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office at the White House on July 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>"Well, I mean, you're talking about the autopen. Look, the auto pen I think is maybe one of the biggest scandals that we've had in 50 to 100 years," Trump said when asked about Biden's comments.Trump added, "I guarantee you he knew nothing about what he was signing, I guarantee you."</p>
<p>Jul 14, 11:45 AMTrump says some Patriot systems will arrive in Ukraine within days</p>
<p>President Donald Trump was asked when he expected some weapons, including Patriot systems, to arrive in Ukraine."We're going to have some come very soon, within days," the president responded.Trump said European countries that have Patriots will transfer them to Ukraine. "They're going to start arriving very soon," he said.NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte jumped in to say the next arms delivery to Ukraine will encompass a wider range of military equipment beyond Patriot missile systems.</p>
<p>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images - PHOTO: Donald Trump greets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) in the Oval Office at the White House on July 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.</p>
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