Since his inauguration in January, President Donald Trump has moved rapidly in his complete restructuring of the executive branch, legislative agenda and redefining of the United States’ role in global affairs — with responses from adversaries domestically and internationally coming just as quickly. This breakneck pace continued through the summer months — and has set the stage for more to come as the second Trump Administration has marched on.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed into law by the Trump administration on July 4, 2025. The bill includes a large budget cut in government aid, such as SNAP Benefits and Medicaid, as well as programs regarding education. It also contains millions of dollars worth of tax cuts for millionaires. Additionally, the act cracks down on immigration laws by increasing the budget for hiring ICE agents. The bill received backlash from Elon Musk, Trump’s closest allies early in his administration. The congressional passing of the bill resulted in Musk’s demand for a new political party and his continuous criticism of the bill.
A hefty portion of Trump’s campaign centered around his stance on immigrants in the United States. Since his inauguration, Trump has ramped up the number of ICE officials across the country. This led to a protest in Los Angeles against ICE officials in the city. In response, Trump deployed the National Guard. Since then, federal courts have debated whether or not Trump was within his legal rights to deploy the National Guard to LA and later to Washington, D.C.
June 14 brought the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army as well as Trump’s 79th birthday. The president hosted a dual parade through Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Trump made a speech in front of the National Mall while spectators lined the streets. The parade had a $45 million budget. Simultaneously, “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration were lining the streets of Los Angeles, Atlanta, Culpepper, Tallahassee and more. The demonstrations went global as there were similar protests in Spain, Mexico, Germany, Australia and elsewhere worldwide. Marching was heard globally, but not all for the same reasons.
In Minnesota, tensions heightened after an attack on two Minnesotan lawmakers. Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot in their home on June 14, 2025. Less than two hours later, state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were also attacked, later dying due to numerous gunshot wounds. 57-year-old Vance Boelter was captured and charged as the primary suspect.
New tariffs continued to be set: 50% on Brazil, 15% on Japan, 10% on most products from the United Kingdom and a 20% tariff on Vietnam. Trump announced trade discussions with Canada would be over after Canada implemented a Digital Services Tax instead of delaying it for negotiations. Negotiations with the European Union went much more smoothly, and both sides settled on an agreement of 15% on most European goods.
Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner hired by the Biden administration, was fired by the Trump administration after a report showed jobs growth at an all time low. The report showed numbers that have not been that low since the COVID-19 pandemic attacked the nation.
After contentious negotiations with Ukraine over continued U.S. aid in the spring, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the potential of a ceasefire in the country’s ongoing war with Ukraine. Though previous meetings between Trump and Putin all took place in either Europe or the Middle East, the August summit occurred in Anchorage, Alaska, drawing widespread criticism for inviting Putin to U.S. soil. Ultimately, Trump’s demands for a temporary ceasefire were rejected, and Putin seemed to escape without conceding his positions on annexing territory in Donetsk or being levied with further sanctions.
Following this, Trump met with Zelenskyy and eight other European leaders at the White House, among them British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump acknowledged the importance of security guarantees in Ukraine, but the playing field remained largely unchanged, with little consequence coming from either meeting.
New movements to restrict vaccine access by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were made in recent months, including the cancellation of $500m in funding for mRNA vaccines intended to counter the viruses that cause diseases like COVID-19 and the flu. In combination with this, Kennedy also made it more difficult for those who are not high-risk — Americans over 65 and those with underlying health conditions — to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The moves have come under fire from both sides of the aisle, with a September 4 congressional hearing raising concerns over limiting vaccine access.
With the 2026 midterm elections beginning to take shape, a race has begun between several states to redraw their congressional maps to draw safer states for the ruling party — or, in other words, to gerrymander. After Trump requested the Texas state legislature to redraw their maps to create five more seats for Republicans in 2026, legislators obliged, waiting out Democrats who fled the state to avoid the redrawn map being passed and eventually getting through a version that likely secures five more seats for the GOP.
In response, California Governor Gavin Newsom petitioned his own state legislature to draw more safe seats for Democrats, drawing in 4-5 more seats for his party. The map will effectively be up for a vote on a ballot measure in November, where California residents will vote on whether or not to implement it for the next three election cycles. More states, most of them Republican-controlled, such as Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and New York have all begun the process of redrawing their own maps, leaving the true effect of the redistricting war unclear.
Filling up the headlines over the summer were continued developments relating to Trump’s relationship with notorious child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump made it a promise in his 2024 presidential campaign to release the “Epstein files,” and though some files related to his investigation were released in February, most contained either near-totally redacted or publicly released information. After Elon Musk called out Trump’s former relationship with Epstein, more political and media focus was placed on the investigation.
Following a Wall Street Journal report detailing an indecent birthday card sent from Trump to Epstein in 2003 (the existence of which was later confirmed after the House Oversight Committee published a version from Epstein’s estate), the Department of Justice met with Epstein ally Ghislaine Maxwell as House Republicans shut down a vote that would have begun debate on the administration’s release of the Epstein files.
Since the vote, the House Oversight Committee has begun a more thorough investigation, subpoenaing the DOJ (and other departments) for all files related to the investigation and releasing thousands of pages handed over by the Epstein estate. As of now, the investigation has no binding effects.