Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Why Trump's tough-on-crime message is not breaking through in suburban America As President Donald Trump's support in the U.S. suburbs erodes amid concerns about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, he has returned to a familiar campaign theme: trying to scare voters away from backing Democrat Joe Biden in November.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. expands deployment of federal agents to Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit

The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it would send dozens of law enforcement officials to Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit to combat violent crime, expanding the deployment of federal agents to major cities under a program promoted by President Donald Trump. The move follows similar deployments to Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri and Albuquerque, New Mexico under what is known as Operation Legend, an initiative launched to address rising crime in some cities as unrest swept the nation after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. Why Trump's tough-on-crime message is not breaking through in suburban America

As President Donald Trump's support in the U.S. suburbs erodes amid concerns about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, he has returned to a familiar campaign theme: trying to scare voters away from backing Democrat Joe Biden in November. From deploying federal agents to confront protesters in cities such as Portland, Oregon, to releasing ads portraying a lawless and dangerous America under a Biden presidency, Trump has positioned himself as the candidate who will keep the country safe. China, Iran, Russia on agenda as Pompeo testifies in U.S. Senate

U.S. lawmakers expect to question Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on dealings with China and Russia, the decision to move troops out of Germany and weapons exports when the country's top diplomat offers rare public testimony in the Senate on Thursday. Pompeo will testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing for the first time in 15 months, discussing the State Department's annual budget request. Trump’s military shuffle in Europe will take time and be costly

The United States will take years to move its main military command in Europe from Germany to NATO headquarters in Belgium and updating facilities will be costly, three former senior officials said. Despite concerns that the move announced on Wednesday is politically motivated, they told Reuters that "streamlining and rationalising" the U.S. military presence in Europe made some strategic sense. Predominately black congressional districts got fewer PPP loans: study

Congressional districts with the highest black populations received up to $13 billion dollars less in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding than districts with the lowest percent of black residents, a new study shows. The 10 congressional districts with the lowest black populations got over 64,000 more PPP loans than the 10 districts with the most black residents, analysis of federal data by advocacy group Accountable.US found. The predominately black districts got as much as $23 billion in funding as of July 20th compared with $36 billion for the non-black districts. Trump administration, Congress set more talks as coronavirus deadline looms

Top officials from President Donald Trump's administration planned more talks with congressional Republicans and Democrats on Thursday, despite flagging hopes of reaching an agreement to extend coronavirus aid before a Friday deadline. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said they would head to the Capitol for negotiations, even though hours of meetings so far have left deep divisions over how best to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. NASA's new Mars rover launches from Florida to seek signs of past life

NASA's next-generation Mars rover Perseverance blasted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Thursday atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a $2.4 billion mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth's planetary neighbor. The next-generation robotic rover - a car-sized six-wheeled scientific vehicle - also is scheduled to deploy a mini helicopter on Mars and try out equipment for future human missions to the fourth planet from the sun. It is expected to reach Mars next February. Local U.S. election officials try to ward off 'virus' of disinformation in November

As the clock ticks toward the U.S. presidential election in November, state election officials are devoting more time - and money - to educating voters about the dangers of disinformation while reassuring them that the system is fundamentally sound. On a recent Zoom call, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state's top election official, ran through slides showing altered Facebook photographs, misleading tweets from the last presidential election and photographs of Russian hackers. How much has Trump helped stocks rally? Voters are split: Reuters poll

U.S. President Donald Trump may give himself credit for the performance of the U.S. stock market during his term, but only around a third of Americans agree, according to a Reuters poll. Trump has repeatedly highlighted on Twitter and to reporters the stock market’s stunning run-up, making it part of his case for re-election this November. The benchmark S&P 500, which cratered in February and March when coronavirus hit the U.S. economy, has squeaked into positive territory for the year to date and is trading less than 5% below its record intra-day high, hit on Feb. 19. U.S. records a coronavirus death every minute as total surpasses 150,000

One person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world The United States recorded 1,461 new deaths on Wednesday, the highest one-day increase since 1,484 on May 27, according to a Reuters tally.