Today
NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS KILL A 20-YEAR-OLD IN MEMPHIS, TRUMP’S APPROVAL HITS THE LOWEST OF EITHER TERM, HIS SIGNATURE LAW STRIPS INSURANCE FROM 10 MILLION AMERICANS — AND THE 250TH WAS EVACUATED BY 102-DEGREE HEAT

Two National Guard soldiers shot a 20-year-old man twice in the chest in downtown Memphis early Sunday morning. Tyrin Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. He had just had his first child earlier this year. He was working in construction and taking university classes in Nashville.

Memphis police said officers responded to reports of gunfire near Ida B. Wells Avenue around 4 a.m. They spotted Johnson carrying a handgun and gave chase. National Guard soldiers from the Memphis Safe Task Force joined the pursuit on foot. Police say Johnson turned toward the soldiers with his weapon. The two guardsmen opened fire.

Johnson’s cousin, Terracle Nelson, was present when the family was notified. “I just want to know, how they shot a 20-year-old twice in the chest, he hadn’t harmed anyone,” she said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe. No officers or soldiers were injured.

The National Guard has been patrolling Memphis since October 2025 as part of a federal task force created by Trump. He deployed troops to six Democrat-run cities… describing them as “overrun with crime.” Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, opposed the deployment from the start. Violent crime in Memphis and dozens of other Democrat-led cities was already declining before the troops arrived.

The Congressional Budget Office says the six-city deployment cost taxpayers $496 million through December 2025 and is on track to exceed $1 billion this year. Guard soldiers are not allowed to make arrests or conduct searches. A policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense called the deployment “not cost-effective” and said investing in local law enforcement would produce better results.

And in May, four Memphis residents filed a federal lawsuit… represented by the ACLU… alleging the task force retaliated against them for filming operations. They say unmarked vehicles and individuals in tactical vests showed up outside their homes after they recorded the troops. The lawsuit seeks to block a federal law that bars residents from approaching within 25 feet of officers to film them. Sunday’s shooting happened just hours after downtown Memphis hosted thousands for Fourth of July celebrations.
$1 BILLION A YEAR. SIX CITIES. THE GUARDS CAN’T MAKE ARRESTS. NOW ONE OF THEM HAS KILLED A CIVILIAN.

BREAKING

Trump’s Approval Rating Hits the Lowest of Either Term — 34% Overall, 33% on the Economy, 33% on Iran

A national poll released in June found Trump’s overall approval at 36%… near a second-term low of 34% set in April. His approval on the economy hit 33%… the lowest of either term. His approval on the Iran war sits at 33%. Among independents… the voters who decide elections… only 35% approve of his economic performance.

The numbers tell a specific story. 68% of voters say Trump is “not focused enough on addressing the problems most Americans are facing.” 56% oppose the war with Iran. Only 4 in 10 Americans felt “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary. The generic ballot now shows Democrats leading by 7 points… a margin that has historically produced wave elections.

Independent approval is the number that matters most. In 2018, Trump’s independent approval was 36% before Democrats gained 40 House seats. It is now 34%… below that threshold for the first time. Every president who lost more than 20 House seats in a midterm had independent approval below 40%.

And yet. The machine does not respond to polls. The defense budget passed. The $80 billion supplemental for Iran passed. The Supreme Court expanded presidential power. The 250th became a campaign rally. The agenda advances regardless of whether the public approves. The numbers are on the wall. The machine does not read them.

EXPOSED

Trump’s Signature Law Cuts $1 Trillion from Medicaid and Triggers Roughly $500 Billion in Automatic Medicare Cuts

One year ago this weekend, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The press covered the tax cuts and the baby stock accounts. But the same law also enacted the largest cuts to basic needs programs in U.S. history… and they take effect this year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will cut $1.02 trillion from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. By 2034, 7.5 million people will lose Medicaid and become uninsured. Another 4.2 million will lose marketplace coverage because the law failed to extend premium subsidies. Total: roughly 10 million more uninsured Americans.

Starting in December 2026, Medicaid enrollees must log at least 80 hours per month of “community engagement”… meaning work, education, or volunteering… to keep their health insurance. States must reverify eligibility every six months instead of every twelve. SNAP work requirements expand from age 54 to 64. CBO projects 3 million fewer SNAP participants.

And here is the number the press buried. Because the law adds $3.4 trillion to deficits over a decade, it triggers the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act… which forces automatic sequestration cuts to Medicare. CBO estimates roughly $500 billion in cuts over eight years. Trump promised he would not touch Medicare. The law he signed triggers the cuts automatically.

The law stripped health insurance from 10 million Americans and triggered half a trillion in Medicare cuts to pay for tax breaks. The adults get a reverification form and an 80-hour work requirement. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “the first changes to the welfare state in generations.”

“I just want to know, how they shot a 20-year-old twice in the chest, he hadn’t harmed anyone.”

— Terracle Nelson, Tyrin Johnson’s cousin

DEVELOPING

102°F on the National Mall: The Hottest July 4th in Washington’s History Evacuated the 250th Birthday Party

The Independence Day Parade in Washington was canceled. Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence Parade was canceled. The National Mall was evacuated. The preliminary high temperature in Washington on July 4 was 102 degrees… the hottest July 4th on record in the city, breaking the previous record of 100 degrees set in 1919.

Twelve people on the Mall and surrounding area were taken to hospitals. The Great American State Fair shut down in the early afternoon before reopening at 5 p.m. Crowds paid $9 for lemonade and $23 for turkey legs while waiting in 102-degree heat for a speech that was delayed several hours by severe storms.

Climate scientists at the World Weather Attribution said Friday that the heat wave engulfing the country would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change. The world has warmed roughly 1.26 degrees Fahrenheit in the three decades since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup. FIFA added extra hydration breaks for players. The Philadelphia match was called the most dangerous of the tournament for heat.

The government planned the biggest celebration in the nation’s history. It could not keep the attendees safe in the heat. The parade was canceled. The Mall was evacuated. The fireworks were delayed. And Trump waited until 11 p.m. to take the stage… delivering a speech he had promoted on Truth Social as a “TRUMP RALLY.”
  Connecting the Dots  

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from the long weekend. National Guard troops deployed to a Democrat-run city at a cost of $1 billion a year killed a 20-year-old civilian. The president’s approval hit the lowest of either term… with two-thirds of voters saying he is not focused on their problems. The law he signed one year ago is about to strip health insurance from 10 million people and trigger half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts. And the government’s 250th birthday party was evacuated by record-breaking heat.

The press covers each as a separate section. A “policing incident” in Memphis. A “midterm indicator” in the polling data. A “policy implementation” in the health section. A “weather event” on the front page. But the thread is the same in every story.

The machine does not serve the public. It performs for it. It deploys soldiers who cannot make arrests to cities where crime was already falling… and one of them kills a 20-year-old. It signs a law that cuts insurance from millions to pay for tax breaks. It throws a celebration it cannot protect from the heat. And when two-thirds of the country says it is not listening… it does not listen. The agenda does not require consent. It requires funding. And the funding never stops.

That is the structure. Not a party. Not a president. A structure that runs on money and answers to no one who doesn’t write the checks. That’s the Seventh Floor.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.