This is an on-site version of the White House Watch newsletter. You can read the previous edition\u00a0here<\/a>. Sign up for free here<\/a> to\u00a0get it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email us at\u00a0whitehousewatch@ft.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Good morning and welcome to White House Watch!\u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s jump right into:<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s bubbling frustration<\/a> with Russian President Vladimir Putin boiled over into explicit threats yesterday.<\/p>\n The US president said he\u2019d hit Russia with sweeping, \u201csevere\u201d tariffs<\/a> if there is no deal to end the war in Ukraine in 50 days. And this morning the FT reported that Trump privately encouraged Kyiv to step up its strikes deep inside Russia<\/a> on a July 4 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy [free to read].<\/p>\n While hosting Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said: \u201cWe are very unhappy \u2014 I am \u2014 with Russia,\u201d adding that he had thought they were close to an agreement at least four separate times. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in President Putin, because I thought we would have had a deal two months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cMy conversations with him are always very pleasant\u201d but then \u201cthe missiles go off at night\u201d, Trump said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don\u2019t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent, you\u2019d call them secondary tariffs,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n A White House official also said the US was ready to use \u201csevere sanctions and tariffs\u201d against Moscow.<\/p>\n Since Washington is at the heart of the world\u2019s financial system it can cut people and countries off from the international economy with sanctions. Secondary tariffs or sanctions would increase the pressure on Moscow by punishing third-party entities, industries or countries that do business with Russia.<\/p>\n To top it off, Trump and Rutte confirmed a multiphase deal to keep sending weapons, including Patriot missile systems, to Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n The president said \u201cbillions of dollars\u2019 worth of military equipment\u201d would be purchased from the US by Nato allies to \u201cbe quickly distributed to the battlefield\u201d in Ukraine. Rutte added that Nato allies could also give weapons they already have to Ukraine that the US would then backfill.<\/p>\n Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada all hope to be part of the weapons deal, according to Rutte.<\/p>\n German defence minister Boris Pistorius said in Washington yesterday that he was confident the US would agree to a request from Berlin to buy two Patriot air defence systems for Kyiv.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been very successful in settling wars\u201d with trade, Trump claimed.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll let Stephanie Stacey take it from here.<\/em><\/p>\n Pennsylvania\u2019s Brian Fitzpatrick was one of just two Republican members of Congress to vote against Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other, Kentucky\u2019s Thomas Massie, was savaged by Trump, who threatened to back a primary challenge against him. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, managed to avoid any real blowback.<\/p>\n Political veterans say Fitzpatrick \u2014 unlike Massie \u2014 is getting a free pass<\/a> because Republican leaders see him as uniquely suited to hang on to one of the most competitive districts in the country.<\/p>\n He is now just one of three House Republicans representing an area where more voters cast ballots for Kamala Harris than Trump last November.<\/p>\n \u201cThat seat could easily flip,\u201d said Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman from the neighbouring Lehigh Valley. \u201cAnd if Brian Fitzpatrick is not the nominee in that seat in 2026, then it will become a Democratic seat.\u201d<\/p>\n Reactions were mixed in Doylestown, the leafy suburb of Philadelphia that Fitzpatrick represents. Patricia, who works in a local school and declined to share her surname, said she had called the congressman\u2019s office to thank him for doing \u201cthe morally right thing\u201d.<\/p>\n But he was also facing criticism. \u201cI think he votes right in the middle and for selfish reasons, just to keep himself in office,\u201d said Pat Ruscio, a Trump supporter from Doylestown.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has got this very moderate, bipartisan credit, which he champions every chance he gets, but\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009when it is critical, when it requires real, true spine and courage, we don\u2019t see that behaviour,\u201d said Laura Rose, a leader of local progressive group Indivisible Bucks County.<\/p>\n FT Exclusive <\/strong>\u2014 Be the first to see exclusive FT scoops, features, analysis and investigations. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n US Top Stories<\/strong> \u2014 The latest US top stories, from markets to geopolitics. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Before you read on, a programming note: I will be handing over the White House Watch reins from today. Thank you so much for joining me on this wild political journey since we launched the newsletter in February 2024. It\u2019s been a great privilege to write about the presidential election, transition and first six months of the second Trump administration for you \u2014 I am so grateful for each one of White House Watch\u2019s readers. The good news is that you\u2019ll still see my reporting in the newsletter and you\u2019ll be in great hands.<\/em><\/p>\nThe latest headlines<\/h2>\n
What we\u2019re hearing<\/h2>\n
Viewpoints<\/h2>\n
Recommended newsletters for you<\/h3>\n
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