First Thing: House speaker Mike Johnson calls for release of Epstein files amid backlash

Trump has faced growing pressure from his Maga base. Plus, inflation hits 2.7% as tariffs start to show in prices

Good morning.

Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, called for the justice department to make public documents related to the disgraced financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, breaking with Donald Trump over an issue that has sparked discontent among the president’s rightwing base.

It was a rare moment of friction between Trump and the speaker, a top ally on Capitol Hill, and came as the president faced growing backlash from conservatives who had expected him to make public everything known about Epstein.

Last week, the justice department announced that Epstein’s death was a suicide and that there was no list of his clients to be made public. Conservative allies of Trump have since criticized the president and the attorney general, Pam Bondi, for what they see as opaque handling of the case.

• What did Johnson say? “It’s a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” he told a rightwing podcaster.

• What has Trump said? He wrote on Truth Social: “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”

Family of US citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers calls on Trump administration to prosecute killers

Relatives of Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, a 20-year-old US citizen from Florida who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, are calling for the Trump administration to arrest and prosecute those responsible.

His uncle Hasem Musallet paid tribute to the “loving, respectful” young man who had just opened an ice-cream business in Tampa with cousins, and decried what he said the family saw as indifference from the government. “Somebody needs to be held accountable,” he added.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US non-profit organisation, has claimed at least 20 people were killed in an incident in Khan Younis on Wednesday. The Israeli-backed logistics group claimed that 19 victims were trampled and one was stabbed during what it described as a “chaotic and dangerous surge”. According to the UN, at least 875 people have been killed within the past six weeks trying to get food in Gaza, with at least 674 of them killed in the vicinity of air sites run by the GHF.

• What are the details of the West Bank attack? Musallet was beaten with clubs and bats while visiting his family’s farm in an area near Ramallah. Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, was fatally shot. A group of settlers then prevented ambulances from reaching Musallet for three hours, according to his family.

• What has the Israeli military said about it? It claimed stones were thrown at Israelis and that “a violent confrontation developed”.

• What is the wider context of settler violence? The attacks come amid a wave of increasing Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in the West Bank. At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023 by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to a spokesperson for the UN high commissioner for human rights.

US sends immigrants to Eswatini after ban lifted on third-country deportations

A flight carrying immigrants deported from the US has landed in Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, the homeland security department announced, in a move that followed the supreme court lifting limits on deporting migrants to third countries.

A spokesperson for the department said the five deportees – from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen – were convicted of crimes ranging from child rape to murder.

It follows the July 4 deportation of eight others to conflict-torn South Sudan. Tom Homan, the US border tsar, said last Friday he did not know what happened to the men.

• How can the administration deport people to countries they have no connection to? In late June, the supreme court cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms they could face.

In other news …

• The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered the release of 2,000 national guard troops deployed in Los Angeles, significantly reducing the military presence in the city.

• At least 248 people have been killed in southern Syria after several days of clashes, which triggered the deployment of government forces, AFP reports.

• An Irish tourist was jailed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months, after overstaying his visit by three days.

• The European Union has given a August 29 deadline for Iran to contain its nuclear program, threatening to start reinstating UN sanctions.

• Donald Trump said Ukraine should not bomb Moscow, after the Financial Times reported he had privately encouraged President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to step up deep strikes on Russia.

Stat of the day: Inflation rises to 2.7% as Trump’s tariffs start to show in prices

Annual inflation rose to 2.7% in June, up from 2.4% in May, according to the consumer price index. Business leaders have said for months that Trump’s tariffs would cause rising prices. Still, inflation is far lower than three years ago, when it reached as high as 9%.

Don’t miss this: Erotic mosaic stolen by Nazi captain returned to Pompeii

A mosaic panel stolen from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain has been returned to the site of the ancient Roman ruins. The relic, which depicts a pair of lovers, dates from between the middle of the first century BC and the first century AD. It was brought to Germany by a Wehrmacht officer during the second world war.

Climate check: Heavy rains kill two in New Jersey

Monday night’s torrential downpour in New Jersey and New York, which killed two people, was one of the most intense rainstorms recorded in New York City history, the kind of storm that is now happening much more often because of the climate crisis. A 2024 study showed intense rainstorms were now between four and 52 times more likely owing to the climate crisis.

Last Thing: Why is a 12th-century nun the hottest name in experimental music?

​A mystic who turned visions into beautiful chants, Hildegard von Bingen has inspired everyone from Grimes to David Lynch. “We can look back through the centuries and see a woman both prolific and inspirational,” says musician Julia Holter.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com