NY Gov. Hochul's Message to Mamdani: "Don't Mess With Me"
My conversation with NY Gov. Kathy Hochul. Plus: A big week in Washington for shooting the messenger. Trump wants kids to do what? Texas GOP's plan to steal 5 House seats. And News That Doesn't Suck.
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I spoke with New York Governor Kathy Hochul just hours after she attended the funeral of fallen officer Didural Islam, killed by a gunman who murdered 3 other people in a New York City office building. He used an M4 rifle. Hochul is calling for a federal assault weapons ban and is ready to "shame" Congress for not taking action.
Hochul also didn't shy from brass knuckle politics. She's plotting to allow redistricting in the state before 2028 — a complex, multi-year chess game designed to counter Republican gerrymandering in states like Texas. "We're fighting fire with fire," she declared. It may be smart politics, but it raises questions about what happens to representative democracy when both parties abandon restraint.
And when it comes to working with likely NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani? The governor who says she's become "New Yorkers' therapist" since his primary win made her position clear: "I plan to be a partner ... but don't mess with me." She detailed the state's considerable financial leverage over City Hall.
We also covered Trump's tariffs (she estimates they'll cost New Yorkers $6,000-$8,000 more annually), the looming Medicaid cuts that could strip coverage from 2 million New Yorkers, the collapse of U.S.-Canada relations that's hurting border economies, her confrontation with masked ICE agents over their tactics, and her strategy for helping Democrats retake the House in 2026.
In the rest of the newsletter, we cover Trump’s shocking retaliation against the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consequences of yet another round of tariffs, an attempt by the Texas GOP to steal five House seats from Democrats, and the new Presidential Fitness Test. Plus some News That Doesn’t Suck.
Watch my full interview with Kathy Hochul here.
Interview With New York Gov. Kathy Hochul:
Here Are Your Headlines:
If You Can’t Improve Them, Fire Them: Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported lower than expected jobs numbers for July and revised June and May’s totals downward by over 250,000 jobs. That’s a sign of a slowing economy, which clearly made Trump mad. So Trump fired the agency’s commissioner. He accused her, without any evidence, of manipulating the numbers for political purposes. “I’ve never seen anything even close to this,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics warned. “Firing the ump doesn’t change the score,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said. The BLS samples over 100,000 businesses monthly and has been trusted by both parties since its inception for rigorous, non-partisan economic analysis. No president has retaliated against BLS leadership until now. Due to the administration’s hiring freeze, the organization already cut back on businesses it surveys for prices, potentially affecting inflation data accuracy. Think of this as the economic equivalent of Trump’s COVID-era position – if there are no tests there are no cases. No doubt the numbers will now improve until morale does.
Tar-iffic: Liberation Day has been delayed. Trump unveiled his new tariff plan yesterday, hours before his arbitrary August 1 deadline. But he’s decided to hold off on imposing the tariffs until August 7. New rates sent over 60 countries scrambling to make a deal before Trump’s new, new deadline. Here’s what you need to know.
Universal Rate: Goods from countries with which the US has a trade surplus (i.e., most of them) will have a 10% tariff.
Higher Rate: Goods from countries with which the US has a deficit — about 40 — will be tariffed at 15%. Remember, you and I pay that. A full list of Trump’s implemented and threatened tariffs is here. Some specifics:
EU: 15% tariff, based on a deal announced July 27. However, some goods are tariff free (critical minerals, aircraft parts, not exactly household items), and many other goods aren’t included in this deal (like European alcohol).
Canada: Trump recently increased Canada’s tariff to a whopping 35%, in part because of its recent move to recognize a Palestinian state. This rate only affects a small portion of Canada’s exports due to provisions in earlier deals.
Lifeline: For months, Trump threatened the tiny African country of Lesotho — which he mockingly claimed “nobody has ever heard of” — with a 50% tariff. Lesotho is extremely reliant on private textile manufacturers; the tariff threat caused US companies to cancel orders, forcing factories to shut down, costing thousands of people desperately-needed jobs, and sending ripples throughout the country’s already struggling economy. Trump yesterday announced Lesotho’s actual tariff: 15%.
Even More: We include details on last-minute deals and tariffs that will be imposed on key goods from other countries at the bottom of this newsletter.
Rigged Maps: Texas Republicans did Donald Trump’s bidding and this week released a new, highly gerrymandered voting map that would eliminate 5 districts currently held by Democrats. If this were to pass, the new map would deliver those 5 seats to Republicans. Texas is already heavily gerrymandered; in 2024 Texas House Republicans won about 56% of the total vote compared to Democrats’ 43% but Republicans hold two-thirds of the state’s seats in the House. Under this new map, Republicans would likely control 30 of the state’s 38 seats in the US House. This would deprive Texas voters of accurate representation and make it very difficult for national Democrats to win a majority in the upcoming midterms. For more information, see here.
Arms Race: Democrats are gearing up to fight back. Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, who chairs a Democratic redistricting organization, said Texas’ move is “authoritarian” and called on Democrats to take “responsible responsive actions.” Already California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are heeding the call. Newsom told staff he will redraw California’s congressional maps in favor of Democrats if Texas follows through with its gerrymander. (California’s maps are currently pretty balanced. Overall, Republicans gain many more seats than Democrats do from gerrymandered maps around the country.) New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told me yesterday that she favors passing a measure that would allow her to do the same in the Empire State after the midterms. Hear more from her in our conversation at the top of this newsletter.
Death Knell: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced today it will “wind down” its operations after Republicans voted to cancel $1.1 billion in previously approved funding. The CPB supports over 1,500 public radio and television stations across the country. This includes many NPR and PBS stations, often the only source of weather and election information in smaller communities. While CPB provides just 10.3% of public TV funding and 4.1% for radio on average, some stations rely on it for over 90% of their budget. With half of America's counties supported by only one local news source — making them news deserts — more closures will worsen the crisis of local accountability journalism. This highlights the urgent need for fresh investment in media and initiatives that inspire younger generations to value — and financially support — quality journalism. It’s the cornerstone of our democracy.
Silver Lining: PBS and NPR receive most of their funding from other sources, including donations. “We will continue our work without fear or favor,” PBS News stated today. “We are profoundly grateful to Viewers Like You for your loyalty and unwavering support.”
Personal Visit: Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee arrived in Rafah, South Gaza today to inspect an aid distribution center operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Huckabee claimed GHF was distributing “more than one million meals a day.” The White House says they are working on a “plan for food and aid distribution” and Trump told Axios he plans to “get people fed.” The International Medical Corps says it plans to examine 200,000 children in Gaza under the age of five to screen for malnutrition. Hours after Witkoff and Huckabee’s visit, more civilians were reportedly killed trying to get aid today; there is a dispute whether the violence took place outside the GHF or UN aid routes.
Further Recognition: Portugal yesterday joined the growing list of Western nations announcing their intention to recognize a Palestinian state.
Hostages: Hamas today released a sign of life video of hostage Evyatar David, abducted from the Nova Music Festival when he was 22. Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski. Both look emaciated. They have been in captivity for more than 660 days.
Our Impact: One of Kenya’s largest refugee camps erupted into violent protests this week. 300,000 refugees at the Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya are facing dire food shortages because USAID pulled its support. Refugees fear rationing, in which only those in dire need would get aid, and have reportedly burned a food station set up by the World Food Programme and attacked police. A recent study of this camp found that the decision to cut humanitarian aid caused “sharp declines” in calorie intake, dietary diversity, food security, and overall expenditures, “with downstream effects on mental well-being.”
Fit For Purpose: Trump yesterday signed an executive order reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools. It was replaced in 2012 with a less standardized fitness program; experts criticized the original test for being too rigid for children who develop at different times and rates. Trump was surrounded by several professional athletes for the announcement, some of them part of his new fitness council. Among them: Paul “Triple H” Levesque, former world wrestler whom the White House filmed spitting outside the West Wing reception room; New York Giants star Lawrence Taylor, a registered sex offender who assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 2010 (Taylor claimed she said she was 19. The girl was coerced into sleeping with him by another man. Taylor was 51 at the time); and Harrison Butker, the football star who drew criticism for a graduation speech in which he insisted women derive the most value from being homemakers and calling Pride Month a “deadly sin.” You won’t be surprised to hear that Trump introduced only the men present, ignoring golfer Annika Sorenstam.
On the Move: Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved from Florida to a minimum security federal prison camp for female offenders in Texas. And Bloomberg reports that the FBI redacted Trump’s name from the Epstein files earlier this year.
Whose Interest: If you are a student loan holder, this is worth your time. Starting today, the US government will apply interest to the loans of eight million borrowers. The change affects participants in the SAVE plan, a repayment plan introduced by Biden in 2023 to help borrowers keep up with their loans.
News That Doesn’t Suck
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