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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>TIMEhttps://time.com/<!\[CDATA\[Breaking news and analysis from TIME.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science and entertainment news.\]\]>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:15:10 +0000en-UShourly1<!\[CDATA\[How Aryna Sabalenka Became the Most Compelling Player in Tennis\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/aryna-sabalenka-interview/<!\[CDATA\[Sports\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Sabalenka is aiming to become the first player since Serena Williams to three-peat at the U.S. Open.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4c42c1cc847431b/6a7b405214408067e1cceba4/SHOT-5_0570_C.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME

[Aryna Sabalenka](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/aryna-sabalenka/) did not get completely drunk.

In July, Sabalenka, the world’s top-ranked women’s [tennis](https://time.com/7018385/tennis-healthiest-sport-us-open/) player, lost to [Naomi Osaka](https://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/) in their round-of-16 match at [Wimbledon](https://time.com/article/2026/07/11/why-wimbledon-is-still-the-biggest-stage-in-tennis/). It was her first straight-­set defeat at a major in nearly a half-dozen years. What’s more, it was her second surprise exit in a row from a Grand Slam tournament. So when she took her place before the assembled media at her postmatch press conference, she did not mince words: “I just want to go get completely drunk,” she said, “forget about tennis and try to get better, in better shape.”

The comment created worldwide headlines, but now she is ready to set the record straight. “I had a couple of drinks,” Sabalenka tells TIME some three weeks after the loss. “I danced a little bit, I forgot about tennis for a couple days. But I never get drunk.”

After the Wimbledon disappointment, Sabalenka, 28, took a vacation to Greece, posting her leisure activities on social media as she went. She has more followers across TikTok and Insta­gram, 7.2 million, than any other active women’s player (aside from [Serena Williams](https://time.com/7277099/serena-williams-interview-time100-2025/), who returned to Wimbledon at 44 but injured her knee in a first-round loss) as well as a YouTube series chronicling her life called _Aryna’s Arena_. The second highest paid female athlete in the world in 2025—she took in about $30 million, according to Sportico, trailing only [Coco Gauff’s](https://time.com/collections/time100-leadership-series/6970223/coco-gauff-interview-2024/) $31 million, and has deals with blue-chip brands like Nike, Gucci, Stella ­Artois, and Emirates—Sabalenka danced, sipped espresso martinis, lounged poolside, and dived off a boat into the Aegean Sea.

Some observers, however, were unimpressed. “More tennis less TikTok,” wrote one guy. What these haters don’t understand, Sabalenka explains, is that she finds posting therapeutic. “You just forget about everything,” she says. “You try to dance, try to move your body, so for just that 30, 40 minutes, sometimes an hour, it’s just being focused on one thing and not thinking about other stuff. It’s just like a small getaway.” Sabalenka rolls her eyes at the snide commentary. “Sometimes I go to their profile and see how perfect they are,” she says. “And I’m like, ‘Dude, just figure out your own sh-t before you jump into others’ lives.’”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec830ddc5f78db3/6a7c93abbf22b2c4a9960528/TIM260907-Sabalenka-Cover-FINAL.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME

We’re speaking in a well-­appointed South Florida home, replete with a tennis court and pool, not far from where she lives. And despite her detractors, Sabalenka seems relaxed and happy. Unlike at Wimbledon, where her pleas to allow dogs on the grounds went unheeded, she has her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy Ash—named after Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she has won the past two [U.S. Open](https://time.com/7018984/aryna-sabalenka-wins-us-open-2024/) titles—nearby. Ash is a good boy, disrupting neither the photo shoot nor our chat.

Brash, goofy, hard-­hitting, unfiltered, aggressive, unafraid to lose her temper at her coach and support staff in front of a global audience—this package makes Sabalenka arguably the most compelling player in tennis. “I want to be remembered as a fighter on court, but so cool and fun off court,” she says. “I think it’s really important for kids to understand that you have to balance. You don’t have to be fully, fully focused on your dreams. One day they can destroy you.”

With the U.S. Open main draw beginning on Aug. 30, Sabalenka—who’s had to cope with personal losses and a contentious geopolitical climate on her journey to the top—remains in prime position to fulfill her wildest aspirations. She’s already one of just 10 women’s players in history to hold the top ranking for at least 100 weeks, joining the likes of [Serena Williams](https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273813/serena-williams/), Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert. “To see my name somewhere in there, it’s pretty sick,” she says.

She’s underperformed, however, at this year’s Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, Sabalenka reached the final on hard court, her best surface, but current world No. 2 Elena Rybakina mounted a comeback. With a cadre of top-ranked players knocked out of the French Open in June, Sabalenka had what looked like a clear path to her first Roland Garros title. But in the quarterfinals, she dropped 10 straight games to Diana Shnaider of Russia. Then Osaka bounced her out of Wimbledon.

If Sabalenka, a nearly 6-ft.-tall four-time major champion with one of the fastest forehands in the game, doesn’t lift the trophy in New York City, it would be the first year she’d fail to win a Slam since 2022, jeopardizing her grip not only on the world No. 1 spot, but also on the public imagination. A third straight U.S. Open victory, on the other hand, would make her nearly immortal. She’d become the first player since Williams a dozen years ago to three-peat there, and just the third woman in the modern era to do it, with Evert being the other.

“It’s history,” says Sabalenka. “You get hungrier as you go.”

---

Sabalenka’s independent streak has been evident since she was a child in Belarus. As the girls training in Minsk strove to follow in the footsteps of Victoria Azarenka, the country’s only singles player to claim the top spot before Sabalenka, instructors demanded strict adherence to the tactics they were teaching. But if Sabalenka had a better way, she said so. “Aryna was the one who always argued with the coaches,” says Anton Dubrov, Sabalenka’s current coach, who met her when she was 14\. “She was showing who she is.”

Sabalenka’s father Sergey, a former hockey player whose own athletic career was derailed by an auto accident when he was 19, introduced his rambunctious daughter to tennis when she was 6\. And while Sabalenka now embraces social media for both business and pleasure, she didn’t have much use for it as a kid; practice, school, and playing games like hide-and-seek into her teenage years occupied her time. “What’s the point of taking pictures of yourself and posting and sharing?” she says. “Who cares? That was my first thought.”

Growing up mostly off the grid, in a country with a population not much bigger than Dallas–Fort Worth’s, benefited Sabalenka. “I think that not having Insta­gram really helped me to focus on myself and not really get upset or depressed about not living the best life,” she says. She was blissfully ignorant of the tennis industrial complex and is thankful that she never trained at a pressure-­cooker Florida academy, where many teens burn out. “It’s so much tougher here,” she says.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc7c3b96b59e07c15/6a7b40515798c976375a28a8/SHOT-1_0107_C.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME

Still, she would be tested again and again in the early years of her career. In 2018, when Sabalenka was 20, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year: she won two tournaments and beat top-10 opponents eight times. The next season, Sergey died unexpectedly of meningitis at 43\. “We just started to get closer, like friends,” she says. “He was easy to talk to. He would be the person that would really help me to get back on track whenever things wouldn’t work well.” They had set a goal for Sabalenka to win two Grand Slam titles by the time she turned 25\. That pact backfired after Sergey’s death, as Sabalenka pushed herself too hard to honor her father through Slam titles. Her mother Yulia intervened. “She said, ‘What are you talking about?’” says Sabalenka. “‘He was proud of every match you would win. Just you being able to compete on this level was huge for him.’ It really helped me to loosen up.”

But Sabalenka soon faced another problem: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian soil in February 2022 caused a rupture on the tour. “Some of the Ukrainian coaches, they would say really, really, really mean stuff to me,” Sabalenka says. “I don’t want to repeat it. It was so terrible. So it got to my head, and I would be hysterically crying.” Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players that summer; players from those countries still don’t compete under their flags, and most Ukrainian players still refuse to shake their hands.

Sabalenka wants peace and does not support the war. “No one does,” she says. “It’s so obvious.” Does she support Belarus’ authoritarian President, Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin? “I don’t want to talk about it,” she replies.

She was already struggling with her serve before the conflict. The additional stress didn’t help. “My heart rate would go so high up, and I wouldn’t be able to breathe normally,” says Sabalenka. “I completely lost it. I had to play tennis without a serve.” She finished with 428 double faults in 2022, 151 more than any other player on tour.

“In my 50 years, I’ve seen a handful of really troubling yips on the serve,” says former player and veteran tennis analyst Pam Shriver, who reached the U.S. Open final in 1978\. “Sabalenka’s was the worst. I was shaking my head, thinking, ‘Oh my God. Is this great talent ever going to recover?’”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cf5913aee041feb/6a7b4052bf22b23c1995de86/SHOT-2_0272_C.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME

Indeed, Sabalenka came close to quitting. “I felt like, OK, the whole world is telling me, ‘That’s it,’” she says. But before that year’s Cincinnati Open, her team called in a biomechanics expert. Within a week, Sabalenka had smoothed her motion, stabilized her balance, and in essence rebuilt her delivery. She reached the U.S. Open semis, falling to the eventual champ, [Iga Swiatek](https://time.com/collections/time100-leadership-series/6273975/iga-swiatek-tennis-psychology-training/). Then before the 2023 season, she made an unusual move in today’s athletic era, where mental health is paramount. She dropped her sports psychologist. “I feel like at some point I started to overthink about psychology,” she says. “I would rely a lot on that and forget about focusing on my tennis. So I decided to step away from it to learn on my own how to control myself. No one else understands myself better than me.”

---

This self-knowledge would prove critical as Sabalenka navigated the highs and lows of the next few years under an ever brighter spotlight. She won her first major, the 2023 Australian Open, that January. “I put my family name in history,” she says. “I wasn’t wasting my time and energy. I was doing the thing that was right for me. I am where I’m meant to be.” She reached No. 1 for the first time later that year and repeated her Australian Open victory in 2024\. Sabalenka had now won two Grand Slams. At 25\. Pretty much as she and Sergey dreamed. “This is something big,” she says. “It gave me so much belief inside me. I became way, way stronger.”

She’d need to call on that resilience that March when her ex-boyfriend, former NHL player Konstantin Koltsov, died of an apparent suicide. Sabalenka was preparing for the Miami Open at the time, and Dubrov and others suggested she take some time off. But Sabalenka still wanted to play. She lost in the third round, and some on social media knocked her for returning right away. “Tennis really saved me from depression,” she says. “I was just trying to focus on training, just so I spend less time with myself in my thoughts. I would cry in practice a lot. It was a very tough moment in my life.”

She began a relationship with Brazilian entrepreneur Georgios Frangulis that year. “He was really supportive and really helpful for the team,” says Dubrov. “He was always asking us, ‘What do you think, guys? Should I be at practice? Should I be at the matches?’ Sometimes relationships can be not helpful. But he was asking, ‘What do you think would be the best for her?’”

Frangulis, founder and CEO of the açaí chain Oakberry, proposed in March 2026, just a few months after Sabalenka called him out in front of a packed Brisbane International arena: “Thank you to my boyfriend. Hopefully soon I’ll call you something else, right?” Ideally, she says, they’ll get married in Greece in September 2027\. She’d love to start a family at 32, then return to the tour for a few seasons before having a second child. But she brings up a version of an old Yiddish adage: Man plans, God laughs. “That’s what ideally I want,” she says. “But whatever life’s going to bring, I’m ready for it.”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba8211bfcf98511f/6a7cd40b14408099bfcd193b/260907_wsabalenka_002-web.jpg?branch=production)

Serving in the U.S. Open final in New York City in September 2024 —Susan Mullane—ISI Photos/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1aa30150265b5a7/6a7cd40b206705823840dc4b/260907_wsabalenka_003-web.jpg?branch=production)

Sabalenka after winning her second straight U.S. Open title in September 2025 —Foto Olimpik—NurPhoto/Getty Images

Sabalenka won her first U.S. Open in September 2024\. She reached her first French Open final the following June, before crashing out against [Gauff](https://time.com/7291919/coco-gauff-wins-french-open/); Sabalenka committed 70 unforced errors and shouted at her box, a frequent habit when things go south. “I used to have hair, completely,” notes Dubrov.

Sometimes, a racket smash or a tantrum directed at her team can reset her game. But her rage didn’t help against Gauff. And her response to the loss ignited controversy. “She won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes,” Sabalenka told reporters. The ensuing firestorm taught her a lesson. “Just shut up and wait a little bit longer before you go to the press-­conference room,” she says. “Speak with your team before you actually decide to say something. Every time I lose a big match, there’s a room full of people waiting for the moment. No. Not gonna happen.”

Sabalenka apologized to Gauff for her “completely unprofessional” comment, and the pair did a fence-­mending TikTok dance together at Wimbledon.

---

While critics focus on her meltdowns, fans, friends, and rivals appreciate that what you see is what you get. “At the end of the day, she’s a very authentic person,” says fellow pro Paula Badosa of Spain, Sabalenka’s closest friend on tour. “She always shows the way she is. That’s one of the things that makes her unique.” Even as she has acknowledged that her emotions sometimes get the better of her, Sabalenka refuses to disavow her passion. “I will never be completely in control,” she says. “When I hold that negativity inside, it keeps growing, growing, growing, growing. It destroys you from the inside to the point that you don’t have any energy and power to compete and to fight. So I’ve found it really helpful to just yell something. I have to release it.” She would love a designated racket-bludgeoning area at tournaments. “Between the sets, you just go to that room, you let it go, and you come back as a new person,” she says.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc32313af2429324/6a7b448a017cc12f52b380a3/SHOT-4_0489_B.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photograph by Molly Cranna for TIME

She also expresses not just rage but also joy. When Sabalenka rallied for the U.S. Open repeat last September, she tweaked her leg in the process, and her physiotherapist, Helen Murawska, scrambled to schedule an MRI. “She’s like half-­limping, and then suddenly the tequila’s flowing and she’s dancing on a table,” says Murawska. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to put my blinkers on for this. Let her enjoy it.’” Sabalenka showed up to the scan: her leg was fine.

Sabalenka took a swing at something new last offseason. In December, she and Nick Kyrgios, the controversial but talented Australian player, played a “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition in Dubai. Kyrgios won, 6-3, 6-3\. Critics called it a money grab beneath a champion like Sabalenka, who defends her decision, saying she wanted to bring more visibility to the sport. She says she’d do it again, but without the modified format of one serve and a smaller court on her side. And she’d want a different opponent. “Nick was so tight, so he couldn’t really bring some fun,” she says. “I would do it with someone else. He lost trust.” She declines to elaborate. (Kyrgios did not comment.)

It was ahead of her match against Kyrgios that she made her first comments about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, saying that while she had nothing against trans people, it wouldn’t be fair. She reiterated this stance at the Canadian Open in August when asked if she supported the WTA’s new genetic sex testing policy. “It’s obvious that biologically, right, the men are way stronger than women,” she said, “so I feel like it would be not really fair for the women to compete against biological men.”

Earlier this year, Sabalenka became just the second woman in a decade to win the “Sunshine Double”—back-to-back titles at Indian Wells, in California, and the Miami Open. She couldn’t, however, carry hard-court momentum into clay season. She suffered a third-round loss at the Italian Open in May, though perhaps more notably she and other top players, like [Gauff](https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6691520/coco-gauff-interview/) and [Jannik Sinner](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/jannik-sinner/), used the occasion to advocate for a larger share of Grand Slam tournament revenue. She mentioned the possibility of a boycott. “I hope it’ll never get to that point,” she says. “But I feel like all of the players are on the same page. If one day we have to boycott the tournament, we will definitely do that.”

After imploding again in Paris, she mused about quitting. That night, Sabalenka says, she cried “like crazy, to the point that I didn’t have any tears left. The next day I woke up swollen.”

She got over it in three days. On the relentless tennis calendar, another major always awaits. After Sabalenka’s Wimbledon defeat, and Greek island getaway, she returned to Minsk to open two clay courts at her old school. In Belarus, locals weren’t worrying about her recent performances. “My phone was so crazy,” says Yaraslav Shyla, a Minsk native who serves as Sabalenka’s hitting partner. “‘Can we meet her? I’m from this shop, can Aryna visit us?’ Close friends. Not close friends. Everyone.” During her trip, Shyla estimates, Sabalenka signed 3,000 balls and posters.

---

At 4 p.m. on a July afternoon, Sabalenka begins her day’s second training session in 89° heat at a private club near her home. She smashes forehands, works on volleys, takes a water break under a canopy. Sabalenka, whose tiger tattoo on her left forearm reminds her to be ferocious, returns to the court, practicing net charges and drop shots. At one point, Shyla bends over at the baseline, and Sabalenka tries to fire shots between his legs. One strikes his behind. This diversion “helps take her mind off the fatigue a little and makes the practice more fun and interesting,” says Shyla. “Or painful.”

After her French Open loss, she again started talking to her sports psychologist. Fine-­tuning her mental game will be key for the three-peat. “It’s good to have someone back who knows you well, who can just say a couple things that are going to completely flip the page,” says Sabalenka. “It’s kind of like a shocking reminder. ‘Oh my God, that’s exactly the approach I should have.’”

Her vibe with New York City, where she’ll also team up for mixed doubles with [Novak Djokovic](https://time.com/7007543/novak-djokovic-olympics-gold-medal-win/), should help her chances. Sabalenka has her coffee spot, her breakfast spot, her favorite restaurant (the Polo Bar in midtown). She shops and goes for walks through Central Park. “Everyone is rushing there,” she says. “Everyone is chasing something. And you’re there chasing your own thing. You feel supermotivated. For living, probably I wouldn’t choose New York, to be honest. But going there for two, three weeks, that’s amazing.”

The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, always rowdy and lubricated on Honey Deuces—the Grey Goose concoction of choice—feeds off her emotion. “I love that the whole stadium, if they support you, they get loud,” says Sabalenka, who has already revealed her U.S. Open outfit, a bright orange sports bra and bike shorts under a black fishnet dress. “They go crazy. They’re just there for you. It’s the best thing on earth.” Plus, Ash will make his first trip to his namesake stadium.

If Sabalenka escapes the early-round traps, she’ll be able to bank on her experience. “She hasn’t had great results at the Slams, and that is definitely a concern,” says ESPN analyst Rennae Stubbs. “But if she starts winning matches at the U.S. Open, instead of thinking about what she hasn’t done this year, I’m sure she’ll start thinking about what she did last year.”

To her credit, Sabalenka refuses to downplay the meaning of the three-peat as most stars in her position would do. “I want it pretty badly,” she says. And she’s promising quite a show, in prime time, under the big-city lights. “Great tennis, fashion, fighting, emotions,” says Sabalenka. “Just everything you could imagine.”

_On Set Production: The Production Factory; Hair: Keshia Tabaran; Makeup: Bo Champagne; Wardrobe: Micaela Erlanger; Wardrobe credits: Jump rope photo: Top, shorts, socks, and shoes by Nike_; _Earrings by Material Good; Watch by Audemars Piguet; Court photo: Dress and shoes by Gucci; Earrings and necklace by Material Good; Watch by Audemars Piguet; Closing photo: Swimsuit, shoes, and sunglasses by Gucci; Earrings and bracelets by Material Good; Watch by Audemars Piguet_

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt222f86387e2961e3Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Sean Gregory / Pinecrest, Fla.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[A Community Leader Fights for Haitians in Ohio, While Worrying About His Own Fate\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/haitians-Springfield-Ohio-Florida-TPS-deportation-fear-ICE-DHS/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\["We just don't have a country to come back to," says Viles Dorsainvil\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Jim Vondruska—Reuters\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder of Haitian Support Center, poses for a picture at his office in Springfield, Ohio, on July 29, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38c76b4bcf879019/6a7a24363c19f0492523385f/Viles_Dorsainvil-1.jpg?branch=production)

Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder of Haitian Support Center, poses for a picture at his office in Springfield, Ohio, on July 29, 2026\. —Jim Vondruska—Reuters

Viles Dorsainvil doesn't have time to think about his own future.

His days are filled with responding to increasingly frantic calls from fellow Haitians in [Springfield](https://time.com/7021289/bomb-threats-springfield-ohio-trump-haitian-pets/), Ohio, where he is a community leader known for helping make sense of immigration issues. Then he spends his evenings up late, often until midnight, working on his own schoolwork, as he pursues dual master's degrees in public administration and international relations at Wright State University near Dayton.

Amid this hectic pace, Dorsainvil, 40, is grappling with the same situation as many of those around him. He came to the U.S. in 2020 under what’s known as [Temporary Protected Status](https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/haitian-immigrants-ice-operations-temporary-protected-status/), or TPS. Last week, a federal court confirmed that the Trump administration's bid to end TPS for Dorsainvil and [roughly 330,000](https://www.congress.gov/crs%5Fexternal%5Fproducts/RS/PDF/RS20844/RS20844.83.pdf) other Haitians had succeeded, setting the stage for scores of deportations in the coming months. 

In recent weeks, Haitians across the country have received a stark warning from the Department of Homeland Security: accept $2,600 and return to Haiti, or refuse and be fitted with an ankle monitor, allowing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to easily detain them for deportation at any point in the future. Some Haitians are preparing to flee to another country. Others are resigned to returning to Haiti. 

Dorsainvil has yet to receive a letter from DHS. He is trying to keep from becoming overcome by fear, especially while others in the community still depend on him. But his precarious situation feels untenable. 

"I don't know which plan I should have," he says.

In Springfield, fear of this moment has been rooted deeply in the community's psyche since the last presidential campaign, when Donald Trump and JD Vance helped spread [false rumors](https://time.com/7024456/trump-vance-haitians-charges/) about Haitian migrants eating residents' pets in Springfield. Last June, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem first [announced](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/27/dhs-terminates-haiti-tps-encourages-haitians-obtain-lawful-status) that TPS for Haitians would be terminated.

That set off a monthslong legal fight that officially ended this month, with a federal judge [affirming](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70965949/144/lesly-miot-v-trump/) the Supreme Court's decision from June. “These individuals can either self-deport or we'll arrest you and send you back,” Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin [told](https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2084983369490715095) NewsNation last week.

The Haitian Support Center in Springfield that Dorainvil co-founded in 2023 has seen calls spike from Haitians worried about their future in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. On the other end of each line is another Haitian immigrant trying, like him, to rebuild a life in America after leaving a home country torn by deadly earthquakes and endless gang violence. 

Since late July, at least 50 people in Springfield have received a DHS letter about their deportation status, according to the center's own tally. The letters instruct them to come to the nearest local ICE offices for a check-in appointment and preview the choice they will be asked to make. 

Dorsainvil, who has accompanied some Haitians to provide translation, says most check-ins unfold the same way: after immigration officers confirm an immigrants' identity and status, they offer the $2,600 payment and deportation, which the immigrant usually refuses. Then they are outfitted with an ankle monitor, despite objections from their lawyer who often argue for less intrusive measures. 

None of the court rulings can alter the [chaotic reality that still engulfs Haiti.](https://time.com/article/2026/06/25/the-crisis-i-witnessed-in-haiti/) The State Department continues to [warn](http://google.com/url?q=https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/haiti.html&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1786082555026509&usg=AOvVaw3sasQwkuCHBk6RfrUwbJoz) American citizens not to travel to the country, citing the risk of “crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited health care.” The Department also [recommends](https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/high-risk-areas.html) U.S. citizens who need to travel to Haiti leave DNA samples and dental records with trusted people to make it easier to identify their remains. 

Dorsainvil stresses that many Haitians in the U.S. would love to return to their homeland if that was a viable option. “So far, we just don't have a country to come back to,” he says.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82fd021b1a2b9164/6a7a2486ce8afdedc551cac7/Viles_Dorsainvil-2.jpg?branch=production)

James Fleurijean helps a Haitian immigrant with paperwork at the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, as Dorsainvil (right), reviews paperwork for another Haitian immigrant, on Aug. 3, 2026\. —Seth Herald—Reuters

# **Haitian migrants scared to leave their homes**

Two weeks ago, Dorsainvil made the difficult decision to close down the Haitian Support Center for two days over fears of a rumored ICE operation in Springfield. He feared ICE agents might stake out the center’s office to catch Haitians coming there for help. The heightened vulnerability has left Springfield’s Haitians in a state of panic. Many of those who haven’t fled their homes are staying indoors and keeping their kids home from school. 

The anxiety among Haitian immigrants isn't confined to Ohio, where Gov. Mike DeWine has limited state cooperation with ICE and praised Haitians for helping revitalize Springfield’s economy. In Florida, home to the nation's largest Haitian population, immigrants face intensified enforcement as the Republican-controlled state government closely aligns itself with Trump's mass-deportation agenda. Last year, Governor Ron DeSantis [mandated](https://x.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1890163665753571517) all local officials work with ICE operations, and the state government has [threatened](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R743KZ4wJU) officials who hesitate to do so with criminal penalties. 

State authorities in Florida are now required to make immigration-related arrests on behalf of ICE. It’s a dynamic that has left the state’s Haitian immigrants "paralyzed," says Anne Piervil, an immigration attorney based in Orlando.

“People aren't driving. People aren't taking public transportation. People are scared to go to the airport,” she says, adding that some TPS holders have lost their driver’s license because renewal was tied to their immigration status.

An ICE spokesperson said in a statement that TPS had been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program and that the program was always intended to be temporary. 

“What we would say now is it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” the spokesperson said in an unsigned statement. “The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.”

Scores of Haitian immigrants have also reportedly lost their jobs. Piervil said large amusement parks, hotels, and nursing homes in Orlando have begun dismissing hundreds, if not thousands, of Haitian workers since the Supreme Court ruling.

The fraught situation in the U.S. is prompting some Haitians to contemplate fleeing to a third country, despite the obstacles. Aside from the costs and a possible language barrier, many Haitian immigrants are also concerned about their own safety if they move to a third country, according to Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, a community organizer in central Florida. That fear was heightened after [reports](https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-women-killed-decapitated-haiti-e2206b670bf1e696061aba8bf7348ee4) in February that four decapitated Haitian women were found in the Dominican Republic—Haiti's neighbor—after they had been deported from Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic has also been deporting hundreds of thousands back to Haiti each year.

The option to move to Canada is also becoming increasingly infeasible. Earlier this year, Canada [tightened](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/canada-not-an-option-for-thousands-of-haitians-and-syrians-who-could-lose-immigration-status-in-us-lawyer/) its immigration laws in response to an influx of migrants. Any TPS holders who try to cross the border risk being returned immediately to the United States and into ICE custody.

For many Haitians in the U.S., the only realistic option is to simply wait for what comes next. The community in Springfield is left collectively holding its breath, wondering if a rumored mass deportation operation will come to pass.

For now, Dorsainvil, along with many volunteers in the community, continues to provide as much support as he can, from daily transportation and translation to grocery shopping. Like many other Haitians living in Springfield, he also finds solace in prayer and meditation.

“I meditate to reboost my system and mental health,” he says, “just so that I can continue to serve my community again tomorrow, and the next day.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltb2d7c9fbf21311a6Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Wang\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Flirting Is a Lost Art\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/flirting-is-a-lost-art/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Many daters are fluent in texting but far less comfortable with ambiguity, rejection, and face-to-face social risks, writes Meehika Barua.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[CSA-Printstock—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01d5d9666d1b99ab/6a7cb2ea56fcaa11c7430581/flirting-lost-art.jpg?branch=production)

 —CSA-Printstock—Getty Images

Last year, at a party, I bumped into a handsome guy who I had met the month before at a yoga event. After exchanging pleasantries at the bar, he said, “You look very nice today.” I said thanks and turned my back to him to continue speaking to my friend who was next to me, listening in on our conversation. 

“What are you doing? He is obviously your type and he was trying to flirt with you!” she said. I was so confused. I didn’t pick up on any signals and assumed it was just polite conversation. 

I don’t know how to flirt, and I can rarely tell if someone is flirting with me—and I’m not alone. Recently, I attended an online class on being single and navigating dating in the current climate. The therapy group had people from all over the world, some in their 20s and some in their 30s or 40s.

Two topics stayed consistent regardless of age or geography. The first was that people were fed up with the fact that no one approaches each other or makes the first move. The second was that no one knows how to do so themselves

Today, many daters are fluent in texting but far less comfortable with ambiguity, rejection, and face-to-face social risks. Now, relationship therapists, psychologists, and [cultural commentators](https://www.tiktok.com/@ikeslimster/video/7533009825899220254?is%5Ffrom%5Fwebapp=1&sender%5Fdevice=pc) warn we are at risk of losing the fine art of flirting.

Digital culture can take part of the blame. “We’re living in a culture that is more digitally connected than ever before, and many people are getting less used to having everyday spontaneous face-to-face interactions,” says Victoria Wren, a therapist based in the U.K.

People spend lots of their time communicating through apps, direct messages, or video chats. All of these digital platforms give us control over what we say, how long we take to respond, and how vulnerable or honest we choose to be. 

The stakes feel a lot higher in the tangible world. “If we feel like we’ve overshared or said something we did not mean to say, we have the opportunity to just edit or unsend a text now,” Wren says. “Approaching someone in real life requires risking rejection, taking courage, and accepting that things might not work out as hoped.”

But not everyone feels comfortable taking that risk. 

Previous generations practiced talking to strangers while waiting in line, making conversation in bars, reading body language, and navigating awkwardness because there was no digital alternative. Today, the reality is much different. Rather than engaging with the people around me, my phone often fills the gap in my day. When a friend is running late for lunch, for example, I scroll aimlessly, answering emails or texts. 

Often, existing in the modern physical world can feel like a standoff. Recently, in a restaurant with my friends, I made a point of smiling and looking at a guy on the other side of the room. He felt my eye contact and did the same, but neither of us approached the other. I left frustrated. 

Perhaps part of this standoff is that many of us have learned to fear rejection. During my group therapy class, several men in the group told us about their terrible experiences of approaching women and being rejected in humiliating ways. One guy said he asked a woman about the book she was reading and she just loudly screamed, “Go away!” Going forward, many assume the same experience will happen again if they approach someone, so they simply don’t.

Our therapist, Stephanie Beebe, reminded us that our generation didn’t really learn interpersonal skills. She has been married to her husband for more than three decades and said her generation had to rely on exceptional interpersonal skills in everyday life because you couldn’t hide behind a screen. If you wanted to ask someone out, flirt, apologize, resolve conflict, or simply make conversation, you had to do it face-to-face.

Today, many people no longer have the same opportunities to develop the interpersonal skills that flirting requires. And while many people say they want to meet a partner organically instead of through dating apps, many daters also express fears of rejection and an unwillingness to make the first move.

That made me wonder whether the [dating crisis](https://time.com/article/2026/04/17/modern-dating-is-making-us-less-secure/) we [keep talking about](https://time.com/article/2026/07/06/the-cost-of-living-crisis-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-dating/) is actually an interpersonal skills crisis. “Relying so much on texts and DMs means we may miss out on the subtleties of face-to-face connections and diverse encounters, which may be energizing, or challenging, or a mixture of both,” says Wren. 

We often blame dating apps or social media, but perhaps other forms of technology are to blame as well. We’ve spent so much of our lives communicating through texts, voice notes, and algorithms that we’ve lost the confidence to navigate the ambiguity of flirting with a stranger.

No one is born with the ability to make small talk, listen actively, or flirt. Like any skill, it becomes stronger through practice, and in that way we start to develop our own style of interacting with others. 

However, while people had more opportunities to interact with strangers in the past, bars, workplaces, events, and public transport remain crucial sites for dating and flirting. But armed with weaker interpersonal skills and the heightened self-awareness of the social media age, many people feel an overwhelming pressure to carefully manage how they are perceived. My theory: all of this makes us more reluctant to meet new people and risk feeling vulnerable, rejected, or embarrassed. 

It takes a lot of courage and a healthy mindset to know that rejection isn’t always a reflection of us personally. Gradual exposure is key. For example, start slowly by complimenting and thanking the barista who is serving your coffee. Make eye contact and smile at a stranger. Say “Good morning” or chat to someone in class or at work. Strike up a conversation with a colleague you might not know super well. Approaching someone romantically can begin to feel less intimidating the more we get used to experiencing positive interactions with people in general. 

Self-compassion and self-acceptance are also important. Flirting, and dating in general, requires stepping into our vulnerability, knowing we can retreat if we feel we would like to. We have to become comfortable with uncertainty and the possibility of rejection. 

As a personal experiment, I have stopped wearing headphones during my commutes and tried making eye contact and smiling at strangers. A few weeks later, while on vacation, I was at the beach and noticed a man who was looking in my direction and smiling. 

A previous version of me would have ignored it and buried my head into my phone. But I smiled back and he came over to say hi. It didn’t lead to anything romantic, but I’m proud of myself for being approachable, rather than hiding.

And the experience served as a great reminder for something many of us have forgotten: flirting feels good.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltf30f6a55e38a2df1Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Meehika Barua\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Why the World Is Still Investing in America\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/the-world-is-still-choosing-america/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\["The gravitational pull of the American financial system remains dominant," writes Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Sven Hoppe—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[American flags fly at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6381fa47978c7b8/6a7d5660fc29c5ce41b0210c/New-York-Stock-Exchange-flag.jpg?branch=production)

American flags fly at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York. —Sven Hoppe—Getty Images

The world is not selling America short, even if Americans sometimes do.

After spending much of the past few months traveling from Europe to India to China, I’ve been struck by the disconnect between how many Americans talk about our country’s financial system and how clients around the world describe it to me. At home, the conversation often focuses on volatility, dysfunction, and decline. Abroad, governments, companies, and investors are still working out how to gain greater access to what America has built. 

The data reinforces this. The U.S. has been capturing a growing share of global direct investment, [rising](https://www.citigroup.com/rcs/citigpa/storage/public/GPS%5FReport%5FInvest%5FUSA.pdf) from 15% prior to the pandemic to 20% on average, beginning in 2024 and continuing through this year. Today the U.S. equity market makes up nearly [65%](https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/255599/msci-world-index.pdf) of global market capitalization. 

The same is true of the dollar. For all the talk of [de-dollarization](https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/24/china-dollar-dedollarization-yuan-renminbi-brics-finance-banks-sanctions/), the broad dollar index remains near its [40-year high](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-iran-tensions-underpin-dollar-yen-nears-40-year-low-2026-07-23/). Shortly after last year’s tariff announcements, the Bank for International Settlements' survey of central banks around the world showed that roughly [90%](https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r%5Fqt2212x.htm) of transactions remained dollar-based.

These numbers do not mean that America’s position is guaranteed. They show that, despite the turbulence of recent years, the gravitational pull of the American financial system remains dominant. This advantage matters when the defining economic question of the next decade may not be who invents the future, but who finances it. 

Building the next generation of AI infrastructure, expanding energy capabilities, and reshoring manufacturing will all depend on the ability to mobilize capital at scale. And nowhere else in the world can private capital move as quickly and at greater scale than it does here. 

The strength of American markets is also a reflection of investors’ willingness to finance tomorrow’s economy. The S&P 500 is often treated as a mirror of the U.S. economy, but it is also a window into the companies and technologies investors believe will drive future earnings and growth.

That willingness to back the future extends well beyond the largest public companies. The U.S. has the largest share of startups in the world and American companies capture [64%](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/funding-data-third-largest-year-2025/) of global startup funding. 

This economic ecosystem should empower Americans. Here, an entrepreneur with an idea can open an account at a community bank, raise seed capital from a venture fund, and eventually go public on the world’s largest equity market. Here, a small startup can become a truly global company. And tens of millions of Americans can then participate in that success through retirement funds and personal investments.

This integrated system helps people build businesses, purchase homes, create wealth, and invest in their futures. It also gives America the capacity to build at home and asserts its influence abroad. From the [Marshall Plan](https://time.com/archive/6848747/time-essay-the-marshall-plan-a-memory-a-beacon/) to the modern global economy, America’s financial strength has repeatedly amplified American leadership.

Yet scale and innovation alone do not explain America’s advantage. Our financial system rests on public and private institutions that have been tested and strengthened over generations, markets backed by millions of individual investors and the world’s most competitive banking sector.

Trust in this system is one reason the dollar remains central to global commerce. It helps explain why global trade, payments and investment continue to flow through the system, and why investors seek the safety, liquidity and transparency of American markets through crises and economic shocks. 

None of this means America’s financial system is perfect. Over the decades, Americans have lived through periods that damaged confidence in banks and markets. America’s financial institutions have made significant changes and built back trust, but those of us who lead them have an obligation to keep earning it. 

Perhaps the most distinctive advantage of the American model is not that it avoids failure, but its ability to adapt, reform, and continue creating opportunity. The same country that built the world’s deepest capital markets has repeatedly renewed them through innovation, competition and change. American companies of all sizes have confronted a number of shocks in recent years, yet they continue to adapt, innovate and grow. 

That is why it is never a good idea to bet against the American entrepreneur. It is also a major reason why, like so many immigrants before and after me, I chose America, and why the world’s capital continues to choose America too.

The truth is that if another country could take Wall Street off America’s hands tomorrow, it would in a heartbeat.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt23a5aa95b9a6b32fThu, 13 Aug 2026 10:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Jane Fraser\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Eurovision Bars Warring Countries From Hosting\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/eurovision-song-contest-rule-war-boycott-israel-palestine-ukraine-russia/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The change comes after several European countries boycotted this year’s competition over the inclusion of Israel.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Jens Büttner—picture alliance/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Winner Dara from Bulgaria with the song "Bangaranga" performs again after her victory in the final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, on May 17, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8905083686aef418/6a7d90680208b897793940e4/eurovision_winner.jpg?branch=production)

Winner Dara from Bulgaria with the song "Bangaranga" performs again after her victory in the final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, on May 17, 2026\. —Jens Büttner—picture alliance/Getty Images

Eurovision, the world’s biggest international song contest, will no longer allow countries at war to host the competition.

The winning country typically hosts the next year’s competition, but under the new rules, the winning country will “automatically be ineligible to host the contest if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation, or any other situation materially affects the security, safety or stability of their state or immediate region,” Eurovision song contest organizers announced on Wednesday.

The change comes after several European countries boycotted this year’s competition over the inclusion of Israel. Israel came second in both the 2025 and 2026 contests, raising questions about whether it would be allowed to host if it won.

The contest’s governing body approved the amendment after receiving feedback from participating broadcasters.

“These changes are about giving everyone involved greater clarity, protecting artists and ensuring the contest continues to provide a safe and welcoming environment, while preserving the spirit and integrity that make the Eurovision Song Contest so special,” Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, said in a statement.

Eurovision organizers made several more changes to the competition’s rules, including raising the minimum age for performers as of the first day of rehearsal from 16 to 18.

## Controversy

Five countries—Spain, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia—boycotted this year’s competition in Vienna, Austria, in May after the European Broadcasting Union refused calls to suspend Israel from the contest. Ireland’s public broadcaster RTÉ said in a September [statement](https://about.rte.ie/2025/09/11/rte-statement-2026-eurovision-song-contest/) that its “participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.” José Pablo López, president of Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE, [said](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20250925/presidente-rtve-israel-eurovision-direccion-uer-provocando-festival-inmenso/16743787.shtml) that same month that “it was about time to break the silence within the EBU regarding the genocide in Gaza.”

Broadcasters also argued that the competitors of Eurovision are not ordinary performers but representatives of their nations. Eurovision “is not merely a song contest,” López said. It’s “the most politicized festival in existence.”

The broadcasters’ decision to withdraw from the contest marked the largest multinational political boycott in Eurovision history.

The boycott came amid [intense backlash from the public](https://time.com/7285810/eurovision-2025-when-how-to-watch-basel-switzerland-protests-israel/) over the [inclusion of Israel](https://time.com/6975697/eurovision-security-palestine-protests/) in the competition despite its military occupation and bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 73,000 people since Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973, becoming the first non-European country to join the competition. Because Eurovision is run by public broadcasters that are part of the EBU, it includes EBU members outside Europe, such as Canada, which will be eligible to participate in the song contest in 2027 after its broadcaster joined the union in 2026\. Bulgaria is set to host the 2027 competition.

But Israel’s inclusion in recent years raised questions about whether the competition was taking a consistent stance towards countries at war. Eurovision banned Russia from participating in the contest after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, arguing that its inclusion would bring the contest into disrepute. Later that year, the EBU indefinitely suspended Russian state broadcasters from its governance and membership.

After Israel finished second in both the 2025 and 2026 contests—results that also drew scrutiny over [allegations of government interference](https://apnews.com/article/eurovision-israel-voting-changes-3513b0b10b21050335b9049b079e1272), which the country denied—some broadcasters reportedly expressed safety concerns if the contest were to be hosted there in the future. (An [investigation by Eurovision News Spotlight](https://spotlight.ebu.ch/p/israeli-government-agency-paid-for) found that the Israeli government had funded an extensive online campaign for its 2025 entry. The EBU maintained that the result was valid but introduced [new restrictions](https://www.eurovision.com/newsroom/release/ebu-announces-changes-to-voting-rules-for-2026/) this year prohibiting disproportionate promotion, including state-backed campaigns. It formally warned Israeli broadcaster KAN over videos urging viewers to cast all 10 of their votes for Israel. The broadcaster denied wrongdoing and the EBU said the videos did not affect the results of the competition.)

Eurovision has moved competitions before due to geopolitical issues, although there has not been a formal rule until now. Ukraine hosted Eurovision in 2017 in spite of fighting between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed separatists in the east. The country [won again in 2022](https://time.com/6176755/eurovision-ukraine-kalush-orhcestra/), but the 2023 competition was ultimately hosted in Liverpool, U.K., on Ukraine’s behalf.

The new rule also institutionalizes a process to determine whether a winning country not at war is eligible to host. The EBU said it could commission an independent security assessment to determine whether a winning country can safely host the event, and if not, the EBU will appoint another host country.

Under the new rules, an appointed host country would also organize the contest “in its own right” and “will not be required to stage the event on behalf of another member.” That change differs from the 2023 competition for which British and Ukrainian broadcasters collaborated on the production of the competition.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt937f214bc9fa46d0Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:40:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Miranda Jeyaretnam\]\]><!\[CDATA\[11 Charged in ‘One of the Largest Marriage Fraud Prosecutions’ in U.S.\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/13/justice-department-indictment-sham-marriage-immigration-china/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The Justice Department alleges the defendants conspired in a multimillion-dollar, decade-long scheme that involved more than 1,000 sham marriages to obtain legal immigration status in the U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[A Justice Department staff displays a poster of suspects of marriage fraud scheme during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. U.S. on Aug. 12, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e7bec39bbbc6890/6a7d84bcc99c563c70899cd0/sham-marriages.jpg?branch=production)

A Justice Department staff displays a poster of suspects of marriage fraud scheme during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. U.S. on Aug. 12, 2026.

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced that it had charged 11 people for allegedly conspiring in a multimillion-dollar, decade-long scheme involving more than 1,000 sham marriages to obtain legal immigration status for mostly Chinese nationals.

Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche, in announcing the arrests and the unsealing of the indictment, described it as “one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in United States’ history.”

According to the [unsealed indictment](https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/media/1457566/dl), foreign nationals allegedly paid a group of “facilitators” as much as $100,000 for their assistance in getting fraudulently married and applying for lawful permanent residency in the U.S.—or a green card. The facilitators paired each foreign national with a willing U.S. citizen, who was onboarded by “recruiters” and whom they usually paid up to about $30,000 to engage in the sham marriage.

Blanche added that the facilitators allegedly employed attorneys, tax preparers, and even marriage officiants.

The indictment contained photos of alleged sham marriage ceremonies that prosecutors claimed were submitted to federal authorities to support their clients’ green card applications. 

The indictment also stated that while the facilitators and the recruiters mainly operated in New York, they also orchestrated fraudulent marriages in other states, including Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Prosecutors also alleged that the facilitators oversaw marriages overseas, such as in China and Vanuatu.

Prosecutors charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, and conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States, which has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. 

Blanche said the unsealed indictment shows "how far people will go to cheat our immigration system,” and added that they will go after those who do “no matter how complicated the scam.”

The indictment follows President Donald Trump’s [executive orders](https://time.com/article/2026/08/07/trump-executive-orders-birth-tourism-birthright-citizenship/) that attempt to limit birthright citizenship, including one that restricted “birth tourism”—or the practice of pregnant women giving birth in the U.S. solely for their child to obtain citizenship. Blanche, in the Wednesday announcement, said he has ordered authorities to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of those involved in“birth tourism” schemes. The State Department [said on Wednesday](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/state-department-establishes-task-force-to-end-birth-tourism/) it opened a task force to identify “birth tourism” practices and “take action to revoke visas of those who engage in or facilitate it.” According to the State Department, the task force has already revoked more than 600 visas of foreign nationals.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt22c2574486782204Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:00:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chad de Guzman\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Karoline Leavitt’s Most Memorable Moments as White House Press Secretary\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/karoline-leavitt-white-house-press-secretary-memorable-moments/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[During her time behind the White House podium, the departing Press Secretary has gained a reputation for her sharp retorts to reporters.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Li Yuanqing—Xinhua/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 16, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc05321b432f6b74e/6a7cf85e3c19f03eaa2391dd/Leavitt-Moments-2.jpg?branch=production)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 16, 2026\. —Li Yuanqing—Xinhua/Getty Images

During her time behind the White House podium, departing Press Secretary [Karoline Leavitt](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2025/7318825/karoline-leavitt/) has gained a reputation for her sharp retorts to reporters, an echo of President Donald Trump’s [contentious relationship](https://time.com/article/2026/07/24/trump-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech/) with the [press](https://time.com/7337058/trump-female-journalist-attacks-new-york-times-katie-rogers/).

Leavitt will [step down from her role](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/) at the White House at the end of the month to spend more time with her family, Trump announced on Wednesday—”a decision,” he said in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117084211457388624), “I totally understand and respect!” He added that she “will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party.” 

In her own [social media post](https://x.com/karolineleavitt/status/2087625708554100999) on Wednesday, Leavitt called the White House Press Secretary role “the honor and adventure of a lifetime” and went on to thank the President.

“Most of all, I am thankful to the President for entrusting me with the distinct privilege of speaking on his behalf at the White House podium,” she said. “I have relished holding the liberal media accountable and ensuring the American people hear the truth about President Trump’s successes.”

**Read More:** [_Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/)

Here are some of the most notable moments of Leavitt going head-to-head with the press in the year and a half she has served in her role.

## When she said she regretted giving a question to The Associated Press

During a press briefing in March 2025, Leavitt had a [heated exchange](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5188744-ap-reporter-white-house-tariffs/) with Josh Boak, a reporter at The Associated Press, after he asked why Trump was prioritizing “tax hikes in the form of tariffs” rather than the tax cuts he vowed to enact while he was campaigning during the 2024 election.

“He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off,” Leavitt replied. “Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the President is a staunch advocate of tax cuts.”

Boak pushed back by saying: “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies; they get charged on the importers.”

Leavitt responded by arguing that tariffs would be beneficial for Americans, before adding that Boak was being “insulting.”

“I think it’s insulting that you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics, and the decision that this President has made,” she said. “I now regret giving a question to The Associated Press.”

## When she said a reporter asked a “stupid question”

At a White House press briefing in June 2025, NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright [asked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFShjJEqsPQ) Leavitt to “clarify what kind of protest President Trump does support or find acceptable.” The question came after Trump had [issued a warning](https://time.com/7293028/no-kings-day-protests-trump-parade/) to potential protesters ahead of the upcoming military parade in the nation’s capital: “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

Leavitt said that Trump “absolutely supports peaceful protests. He supports the First Amendment,” but added that “he does not support violence of any kind.”

Wright then asked whether the President would allow peaceful protests the day of the military parade in the nation’s capital. Leavitt shot back: “Of course the President supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question.”

## When she abruptly ended a press briefing after a question about the Commerce Secretary’s Epstein ties

In February, Leavitt [abruptly ended](https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/karoline-leavitt-reporter-lutnick-epstein-island-b2917783.html) a White House press briefing after a reporter asked whether the White House supported Commerce Secretary [Howard Lutnick](https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273801/howard-lutnick/). The question came after Lutnick [said](https://time.com/7377466/epstein-files-secretary-howard-lutnick-island-visit/) earlier that same day in front of a Senate panel that he had visited the private island of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012—despite the fact that he had previously claimed to have ended his relationship with Epstein years before.

**Read More:** [_Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Trump’s Commerce Secretary to Step Down—or Be Ousted—Over Epstein Ties_](https://time.com/7373253/epstein-files-secretary-howard-lutnick-calls-to-resign/)

Leavitt responded by saying that the Commerce Secretary is “a very important member of President Trump’s team” and that Trump “fully supports” him. She then slammed the journalists in the room for their questions.

“I will just point out that there are a lot of wins in the news this week that people in this room have not asked about because you continue to ask questions about the same subject so let me point them out for you,” Leavitt said, before she began reading off other news that the Trump Administration was celebrating as victories, including recent stock market results.

“So,” she said when she finished, “we’re going to get back to business. The President is very busy today and you will see him all tomorrow at the event in the East Room touting his Administration’s energy policy.” She then walked off the stage.

## When she accused a journalist of being a “leftwing activist”

During a press briefing in January—just a week after Renee Nicole Good was [shot and killed](https://time.com/7344506/minneapolis-ice-shooting-mayor/) by a federal immigration agent—The Hill columnist Niall Stanage [asked](https://www.facebook.com/HuffPost/videos/karoline-leavitt-had-a-meltdown-after-a-reporter-cited-official-ice-statistics-d/4430875730482294/) Leavitt a question about ICE’s tactics. He cited then-Homeland Security Secretary [Kristi Noem](https://time.com/7382719/kristi-noem-removed-homeland-security-secretary-markwayne-mullin/)’s claim that ICE officers are [“doing everything correctly.”](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kristi-noem-ice-agents-violate-4th-amendment%5Fn%5F6967f34de4b0da4905d33f75) He went on to list statistics that 32 people [died](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timeline) while in ICE custody in 2025 and more than 170 Americans were [detained](https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will) by the agency last year, before referencing Good’s death.

“How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?” he asked Leavitt.

Leavitt replied: “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?”

When Stanage clarified whether she was asking him for his opinion, she replied in the affirmative.

“Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,” he said.

“Okay, so you’re a biased reporter with a leftwing opinion,” Leavitt said. “Because you’re a leftwing hack. You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist. And it’s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people of the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist—you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat.”

“You’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a leftwing activist,” she continued. “The question that you just raised and your answer proves you’re biased. You should be reporting on the facts.”

## When she told a journalist “You’re a reporter—you should find out” in response to a query

In March 2025, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins [asked](https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/youre-a-reporter-you-should-find-out-leavitt-sets-journalist-straight-at-briefing-white-house-press-secretary-karoline-leavitt-president-donald-trump-politics-sleepy-joe-biden-autopen-pardons-signature-truth-social) Leavitt whether there was any evidence to support Trump’s [claim](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114175908922736427) that some of the pardons issued by former President Joe Biden were signed by an [autopen](https://time.com/7302605/trump-biden-autopen/) without his knowledge. In response, Leavitt said: “You’re a reporter—you should find out.”

The moment was one of several heated exchanges Leavitt and Collins have had since Trump took office for a second term. Also in March 2025, Leavitt refused to take a follow-up question from Collins, saying twice: “Kaitlan, I’m not taking your follow-up.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltd21821bcaddd16eeWed, 12 Aug 2026 23:00:53 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[An Experimental Pediatric Cancer Treatment Shows Promise in New Research\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/experimental-pediatric-cancer-treatment/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The treatment eliminated a boy's tumors with a single infusion.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of @mailo.grh\]\]><!\[CDATA\[For this young cancer patient, getting back to biking was a dream (pictured here at the Bike Festival in Riva del Garda in May 2026).\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fe5083948edb82f/6a7ca50456fcaa34e04303e1/260709_KiTZ_Patient_Mailo_c_M.Gruehn.jpg?branch=production)

For this young cancer patient, getting back to biking was a dream (pictured here at the Bike Festival in Riva del Garda in May 2026). —Courtesy of @mailo.grh

In Germany, a 7-year-old boy had been diagnosed with [kidney cancer](https://time.com/7018184/kidney-cancer-research-advancements/). He had beaten it back with a series of treatments over about a decade and was able to live a relatively normal life, pursuing his love of riding his bike and becoming a serious cyclist. But by the time he was 17, the cancer had returned and spread to multiple organs, including his brain. He was out of options.

The most his team could offer was an experimental treatment to buy a little time, says Dr. Christian Seitz, head of the Cell and Gene Therapy Program at Hopp Children's Cancer Center in Heidelberg. Seitz and his colleagues found that the boy’s cancer carried a set of markers that could be targets for immune cells, called T-cells, that are [specially programmed to hunt cancer](https://time.com/4989537/blood-cancer-gene-therapy/), and although this type of solid tumor is [not usually treatable this way,](https://time.com/7292783/cancer-treatment-immunotherapy-2/) the team decided to proceed.

As they describe in a new [paper](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2605154) published Aug. 12 in the _New England Journal of Medicine_, a single infusion of the cells last year resulted in a complete remission. The boy just came in for his follow-up, Seitz says. More than a year later, he still has no detectable signs of cancer. 

The study suggests that doctors and scientists may be able to tailor immune cell treatments even for certain cancers that have been difficult to tackle with earlier forms of engineered immune cell therapy.

## How can T-cells target and kill cancer?

In the last two decades, [engineered T-cells](https://time.com/4989537/blood-cancer-gene-therapy/), such as CAR T-cells, have fundamentally altered the landscape of cancer treatment. There are a variety of approaches, but in most of them, a patient’s T-cells, a type of immune cell, are removed from their body, altered or trained to hunt down a particular protein carried by cancer cells, and then re-infused into patients to destroy tumors. Results can be [nothing short of breathtaking](https://time.com/4895010/cancers-newest-miracle-cure/). While the treatments don’t work for everyone, those for whom they are effective can go from death’s door to essentially cured.

Not every cancer is vulnerable to these attacks, though. “The dogma over the past 10 years was, basically, if you have a large solid tumor, it's not going to work,” says Seitz. Something about the T-cells produced by most approaches makes them unsuitable for broaching the defenses of these tumors, which produce their own little microenvironment full of molecules that protect them from the immune system. The approach is typically more successful in blood cancers.

However, the treatment used in the latest study is a little different from standard engineered T-cell therapies. In this particular approach, called T-cell receptor-engineered therapy, the T-cell’s target is not a protein on the surface of the cancer cell, but a protein within the cell. This opens up a different set of targets to doctors, and it also seems to mean that the T-cells can act a little more like natural immune cells as they work to clear the cancer, says Seitz. That means the T-cells might work better against solid tumors.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30ab21bf3e81cee1/6a7ca585fc29c513b0b00ad0/260700_Mailo_AErzteteamKiTZ_2025_c_privat.jpg?branch=production)

The patient receiving T-cell therapy against PRAME in July 2025\. —Courtesy of Hopp Children’s Cancer Center

## The role of genetics in T-cell therapy

The boy’s cancer carried a protein called PRAME, which scientists had already been investigating as a [potential target for T-cell treatments for melanoma](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03650-6) and sarcoma, and which seems to be present in [many pediatric cancers as well](https://ccr.cancer.gov/news/article/ccr-researchers-use-immunogenetic-profiling-to-identify-targets-for-numerous-pediatric-cancers). Seitz and colleagues worked with Immatics Biotechnologies in Germany, which is running [clinical trials of various PRAME-focused treatments](https://immatics.com/overview-clinical-trials/), to produce T-cells for the boy’s infusion. 

The period after the infusion was tough on his body; he had to spend about two weeks in the ICU, says Seitz. 

Eight weeks after the treatment, the boy and his mother came in for his follow-up. After the scans, Seitz recalls, “I was looking at the images, and I was like, ‘This is not possible.’” All of the liver metastases were gone. Tumors elsewhere had shrunk enormously, and when doctors checked the tumor tissue for signs of live cancer cells, they saw none. The boy is now cancer-free, with no detectable signs of disease. What’s more, his blood still contains T-cells that hunt down PRAME, suggesting that his body may now be able to eliminate further recurrences. 

It’s an exciting finding, says Rimas Orentas, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and head of immunotherapy at Miltenyi Biotec who was not involved in the study. “Solid tumors are enmeshed in your tissues,” he says. That makes it quite difficult for engineered T-cells to work. “That's the surprising part of this paper.”

As with many engineered T-cell discoveries, this particular approach, if it reaches the clinic, is unlikely to work for every patient or every cancer. Still, with many of these approaches, says Orentas, “just a few patients benefit, but when they benefit, they _really_ benefit. I think that's where we're headed with this.”

Seitz, who is now planning a clinical trial of the treatment with 18 pediatric cancer patients who all have PRAME in their tumors, just saw his recovered patient this week. Over the weekend, the boy had been part of an extreme cycling event. “Apparently, they drive uphill, and then they go nuts downhill between trees and rocks,” Seitz says. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God...please don't crash into a tree! It's not worth it!’ But he really loves it”—and Seitz feels honored to have helped him reclaim his life.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt25c1d070ac38b466Wed, 12 Aug 2026 21:23:08 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Veronique Greenwood\]\]><!\[CDATA\[‘A High Potential for Abuse’: Plan to Equip ICE Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Draws Alarm From Former Officials\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/ice-electric-shock-gloves/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Former DHS officials tell TIME that the devices aren’t necessary as an enforcement method against civilians—and that their use would pose numerous risks.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Adam Gray—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[An ICE agent points and threatens to use their taser on protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 27, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59b5b3a9a0c7a02/6a7cdcf90208b8ad1a392adc/GettyImages-2277890883.jpg?branch=production)

An ICE agent points and threatens to use their taser on protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 27, 2026\. —Adam Gray—Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving to equip [immigration](https://time.com/7346017/ice-immigration-agents-power-shooting-force-arrests-investigation-prosecution/) [officers](https://time.com/7344924/federal-officers-shooting-immigration-portland-minneapolis-prosecution-immunity/) with gloves that can administer electrical shocks, a plan that is sparking alarm from former department officials.

According to a [notice](https://apfs-cloud.dhs.gov/record/74524/public-print/) published by DHS this week, it will spend up to $20 million to purchase Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters, or G.L.O.V.Es, by the end of March 2027\. The department, which described the gloves in the notice as a “conductive distraction and de-escalation device,” said they would be issued to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. 

“ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to TIME.

The plan to equip immigration officers with the devices comes as the Trump Administration has faced widespread scrutiny over the use of force in its immigration crackdown, which has seen at least 10 people [die](https://time.com/7345200/ice-shooting-border-patrol-minneapolis-portland-renee-good-luis-moncada-yorlenys-zambrano-contreras/) in [encounters](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/ice-officers-involved-in-fatal-shooting-in-maine/) [with](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/what-we-know-about-the-fatal-ice-shooting-in-houston/) [federal](https://time.com/7345319/ice-shootings-renee-good/) [agents](https://time.com/7345954/ice-agents-renee-good/) since Trump returned to office last January. 

The DHS spokesperson tells TIME that 70% of the people ICE arrests are “dangerous illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime,” echoing Trump and federal officials’ repeated claims that the crackdown is targeting the “worst of the worst”—though [data have shown](https://time.com/7321835/trump-immigration-ice-detention-crime-data/) that a majority of those held in ICE custody during Trump’s second term have no criminal convictions on their records. 

**Read More:** [_As ICE Detention Expands, Deaths Reach a 22-Year High_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/ice-detention-deaths-immigration/)

The notice of DHS’s plans to purchase the gloves has drawn concern from former DHS officials, who tell TIME that the devices aren’t necessary as an enforcement method against the civilian population—and that their use in that capacity would pose numerous risks.

“The idea that you need tools like this, this level of force, to subdue a non-criminal immigrant who's in a secure environment … that is alarming,” says John Sandweg, who served as the acting director of ICE and acting general counsel of DHS during the Obama Administration.

Sandweg contends that there is “a high potential for abuse” with the new devices due to the rapid hiring of new immigration officers who he says are not receiving sufficient training. 

[Documents](https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-releases-whistleblower-documents-showing-drastic-cuts-to-ice-training-and-testing-for-new-recruits) [produced](https://apfs-cloud.dhs.gov/record/74524/public-print/) by two DHS whistleblowers in February showed that ICE had significantly scaled up its hiring while axing several screening and training protocols for officers. 

“We're seeing lots of problems with training on use of force,” Sandweg says. He describes the plan to introduce the gloves to what he characterizes as an under-trained immigration task force that is quickly expanding as “incredibly concerning.”

The former acting ICE director argues that such a device should not be rolled out en masse, but rather “in small pilots” in order to determine that it “actually helps solve the problem” in immigration enforcement contexts and “doesn’t get abused.” 

On top of that, he contends that the device should require extensive in-person training. 

“It's tone deaf,” Sandweg says. “We’ve lost sight of the public safety mission of ICE.”

Margo Schlanger, who led DHS’s office for civil rights and civil liberties under the Obama Administration, tells TIME that a taser, which many immigration officers are equipped with or have access to, is a much more effective enforcement tool. 

And in addition to being less effective, she also argues that the gloves would pose a greater threat of harming people who have encounters with immigration officials, while making it more difficult to hold officers accountable. 

Unlike a taser, which incapacitates its target by temporarily locking up their muscles and inhibiting bodily control, the gloves “are only about pain compliance,” Schlanger says.

“They don't incapacitate. They just hurt, and so what that means is that they're not only used in a situation when a person is posing a risk to a law enforcement officer,” she says to TIME. “Pain compliance is a method of painful domination. Because of that, it's very subject to being misused. It can be used in circumstances where it's not needed. It can be used to excess.”

A taser is also more effective, safe, and humane, she contends, because it can be brandished from a distance before it is used.

“If you're actually interested in compliance, brandishing a taser is a pretty good method of eliciting compliance, and nobody gets hurt,” she says.

**Read More:** [_Federal Officers Don’t Have ‘Absolute Immunity’ but Prosecution Isn’t Easy_](https://time.com/7344924/federal-officers-shooting-immigration-portland-minneapolis-prosecution-immunity/)

Schlanger references an [article](https://policeandsecuritynews.com/2023/05/24/giving-law-officers-validated-effectiveness/) published by Police & Security News in which Jeff Niklaus, the founder and CEO of Compliant Technologies, which manufactures the gloves, is quoted as describing the device as “low optic”—meaning that, unlike tasers, they can be used discreetly. 

“What low optics means is that they don't want anybody watching to know that they're doing this,” Schlanger asserts. “It looks like ICE is trying to avoid public accountability. That's what this device does for them.”

Compliant Technologies declined TIME’s request for an interview. 

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy director on policing at the ACLU, similarly raises concern about this aspect of the gloves in a statement to TIME.

“They might be equipped with a device that allows them to deliver an electric shock with their hands by pushing a small button, in a move that might be imperceptible to those watching,” Borchetta says. “Giving immigration agents a concealed means of delivering terrible pain is a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt6c6c2d4777c2e16fWed, 12 Aug 2026 21:17:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump’s New Medicaid Rule Targets Gender-Affirming Care for Minors\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/trans-youth-face-a-new-barrier-to-gender-affirming-care-medicaid/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[A new rule curbs state and federal funding for certain gender-affirming treatments for people under 18.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Alex Brandon—AP\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaks at the White House on Sept. 30, 2025, with the backing of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03ab92af103a4acb/6a7d2cf25798c9194e5a6283/AP25273586354989.jpg?branch=production)

Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaks at the White House on Sept. 30, 2025, with the backing of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. —Alex Brandon—AP

The [Trump Administration](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/what-trump-executive-order-could-mean-for-childhood-vaccines/) announced Tuesday that it is implementing a rule to restrict federal funding of [gender-affirming care](https://time.com/article/2026/06/20/for-lgbtq-people-america-s-promise-of-refuge-is-fading/) for minors. 

The [rule put forth](https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-ends-federal-medicaid-chip-funding-sex-rejecting-procedures-children-youth?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) bars [Medicaid](https://time.com/7283419/medicaid-expansion-saves-lives-study/) from paying for what it calls “sex-rejecting procedures for children under 18.” Also restricted is funding from Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a state and federal program that provides low-cost coverage to families that make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.

"The federal government will no longer use Medicaid and CHIP dollars to fund procedures that fail to meet the evidentiary standard our children deserve," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a press statement about the rule. 

Under the new rule, which goes into effect Oct. 13, states can still fund certain treatments—including hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and some surgical procedures—but federal dollars will be restricted. Mental health services for [transgender](https://time.com/article/2026/04/03/how-the-olympic-ban-on-transgender-women-could-affect-all-women-athletes/) youths will still be funded through Medicaid.

The cuts will heavily impact the low-income families who rely on Medicaid to access certain treatments that they believe to be [necessary](https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/whats-wrong-criminalizing-gender-affirming-care-transgender-adolescents/2023-06) for a young person’s well-being.

**Read More:** [_For LGBTQ+ People, America's Promise of Refuge Is Fading_](https://time.com/article/2026/06/20/for-lgbtq-people-america-s-promise-of-refuge-is-fading/)

“There will be legal challenges to this rule,” Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights tells TIME. “I believe it will be deemed to be unlawful when it's challenged.”

This is not the first push to limit gender-affirming care access to minors. According to [policy nonprofit KFF,](https://www.kff.org/lgbtq/gender-affirming-care-policy-tracker/) at least 27 states have enacted legislation to that effect, and at least 50% of transgender youths ages 13 to 17 live in those states.

## What is gender-affirming care—and who uses it?

Gender-affirming care refers to a wide range of social, psychological, behavioural, or medical interventions used to help affirm a person's gender identity. These [therapies](https://sph.washington.edu/news-events/sph-blog/benefits-gender-affirming-care) can be particularly useful for transgender people who experience gender dysphoria, which the American Psychiatric Association [defines](https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/terminology) as “distress caused by the discrepancy between one’s experienced/expressed gender and one’s assigned gender and/or primary or secondary sex characteristics.”

According to Minter, there is a misconception over how severe a minor’s dysphoria must be in order to get access to gender affirming care before they turn 18.

“In order to qualify for this care, a young person has to be experiencing very severe, prolonged distress,” Minter says. “I think maybe some people have the misconception that this care is being provided to kids just who are gender nonconforming or who are just identifying as transgender, but that is not the case.”

The number of people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP for gender-affirming care is not publicly available, but in 2023 the spending from both programs on those services totaled $31 million. 

## Why the new Medicaid rule is contested

Trump wrote about the ruling on social media Tuesday, saying that he directed CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz to enact the new restrictions. 

“We are not going to pay for our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies,” the [post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117078967972327386) said.

Oz said in a press release that the rule will protect children and is “following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish.” TIME has reached out to the CMS for additional comment.

LGBTQ+ advocates say the change is dangerous for minors who rely on gender-affirming care. 

“It is terribly harmful,” Minter says. 

Since the rule was first proposed in December 2025, more than 35,000[ public comments](https://thetrevorproject-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2F407LUEr9rthFt5j6vonS%5Fs8drCrf2w66F3Jq8D3kkd4brLynwFwEFirrLH6PzInQ6IGfOeJWRaeRBezhnl-A0Yg6MMwIOZ6rr5S59aIMNaAmSezEQAX%5FAQewV3Bp8WGpgjWRXsFx9qpaxkWSDDR2S3niTRxgB889SnwCYwMTG%5FEKFBWYCR4nvAvU33TjNJnUL%5FevmQjBwvWgPIAVWknjHv1cuFii0Nh%5Fc%5F2t1I1HuBzEvsvzjDUGANuMXoiv6H6Oeg0f9JFZMvgXsUKCxNJUtFykq9dsMVB236gl%5F9RR5dmKRLknOQDUKv576EGlhrrry3bB7dHRBdg-e4) were submitted that critiqued it. That’s because it is an “unnecessary attempt to prevent transgender and nonbinary young people from accessing the best-practice health care they need to lead healthy and happy lives,” says Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of public engagement campaigns at the Trevor Project.

“The Trevor Project’s research shows that access to this care is associated with significantly lower rates of depression and suicide risk among transgender and nonbinary young people who receive it,” he [said](http://thetrevorproject-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/2cHqAPV5f12-hgnBKXKRI3jRmAeGIsGCMm58zkjyL7eT8nLDynwG6lS1EhXIZK8qDNHVRENMJyu%5F3MTcVkMn0Oerg6sJZvViEVYmN41HEIQu6PKnEHjODTdV0kG0-1TAVVv6NvmVrGTQekdmoWLSaJ4cFzwvPYWW%5FGwrM4FwnfCd4hAYbFUcOhUkgLJC4F%5FE4NYArr8zvCeOGdkqaiQNsOilCowPcwBXSzU553sbhhFesUTw) in a statement to TIME.

Supporters of Trump’s new rule point to medical associations like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which [published](https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/health-policy/position-statements) a statement in February advising its members against performing any gender-related surgeries before age 19, saying there was “insufficient evidence” that the benefits outweigh risks. Soon after, the [American Medical Association](https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/119466/documents/HMKP-119-JU00-20260715-SD016.pdf), which for many years opposed efforts to restrict gender-related care, also said surgical interventions generally should be deferred until patients reach adulthood.

Minter says conversations around surgeries are often a red herring, though, since they are very [rare](https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-affirming-surgeries-rarely-performed-on-transgender-youth/); hormone therapies are much more common.

“There are some limited surgeries for older adolescents, but it is not genital surgery,” he says. “It’s extremely rare.”

In 2024, researchers [found](https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-affirming-surgeries-rarely-performed-on-transgender-youth/) just 108 cases of any gender-affirming surgery among minors between 2018 and 2021, accounting for 0.04% of all transgender youth in the U.S. 

## Trump’s other policies affecting transgender people

The Medicaid restriction helps to fulfill Trump’s [campaign vow](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-vows-stop-gender-affirming-care-minors-re-elected-president-rcna68461) to “stop” gender-affirming care for minors. It is the latest in a series of administration policies affecting [transgender](https://time.com/7283244/trump-military-transgender-ban-supreme-court/) people of all ages.

Soon after returning to office in 2025, Trump [signed an executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/) to ban transgender women and girls from participating in women's sports at both K-12 schools and colleges. 

**Read More:** [_What the Anti-Trans Movement Doesn’t Understand About Women's Sports_](https://time.com/7346643/supreme-court-trans-athletes-womens-sports/)

He also imposed [new restrictions](https://time.com/7211956/veteran-trumps-trans-military-ban-betrays-troops/) on military service by transgender people and signed an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/) saying that the federal government would only recognize two “immutable sexes: male and female.”

The Administration has made several other policy changes impacting the lives of transgender people. The Department of Veteran Affairs [phased out care ](https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-to-phase-out-treatment-for-gender-dysphoria/)for transgender veterans, the Trump Administration [removed](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/nd-protections-eo-press-release/) workplace protections for transgender federal employees, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [overturned](https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-commission-votes-rescind-2024-harassment-guidance) guidance on workplace harassment based on gender identity. 

“\[The Trump Administration\] thinks that the proper policy is to prevent and discourage people from being transgender. That’s not actually possible,” Minter says. “The policies they are implementing would just force transgender people to not transition, would force transgender people to just suppress and deny who they are and suffer.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt0e80654d99a217ebWed, 12 Aug 2026 20:27:21 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Rebecca Schneid\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump said Leavitt will depart to spend more time with her family.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[SAUL LOEB–AFP via Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a7f5139a210a16/6a7cd35e3c19f06fac238d50/GettyImages-2286677276.jpg?branch=production)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026\. —SAUL LOEB–AFP via Getty Images

[Karoline Leavitt ](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2025/7318825/karoline-leavitt/)will step away from her position as White House Press Secretary at the end of this month, President Trump announced on Wednesday.

In a Truth Social [post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117084211457388624), Trump said Leavitt, 28, will depart her role to spend more time with her family. Leavitt [gave birth](https://www.instagram.com/p/DYCkTFqEl43/?hl=en) to her second child Viviana in May. 

“Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections,” Trump added. 

It is unclear who will replace Leavitt as White House press secretary. TIME has reached out to the White House for comment. 

Leavitt thanked Trump and the White House team in a [lengthy post ](https://x.com/karolineleavitt/status/2087625708554100999)on X, and added that she will remain “a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party. ”

“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary,” Leavitt said. 

“It has been a privilege to serve alongside so many accomplished and impressive people, and I look forward to cheering them on over the next two and a half years,” she added.

Leavitt has worked for Trump since 2018, beginning as a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence while a student at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. She briefly worked as Communications Director for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of the top House Republicans from New York, and later launched a failed congressional campaign in New Hampshire against Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas. 

After losing her campaign, Leavitt joined Trump’s third presidential campaign, working as a spokesperson for his super PAC, MAGA Inc. In January 2024, she became national press secretary for Trump's presidential campaign. She gave birth to her [first child Niko](https://www.instagram.com/p/C-jOTfbSYuc/?img%5Findex=1) in July 2024, [four days](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/16/politics/karoline-leavitt-maternity-leave-briefing) before returning to work following the first assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to CNN.

Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt6d9966e511856ee2Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:22:21 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Wang\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What Living Through the Hottest July Ever Looked Like Across the U.S.\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/us-record-hottest-july-photos/<!\[CDATA\[Climate\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Communities across the U.S. felt the heat.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

This July was the [hottest month](https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/julys-record-breaking-heat/) ever recorded in United States history. Last month’s average temperature was 3.3°F (1.8°C) higher than the 20th century average for the contiguous United States, according to new [data](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202607) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This was the warmest [July](https://time.com/article/2026/07/14/us-heat-wave-forecast-where-record-breaking-temperatures/)—and warmest month—in the 132-year record, 0.1–0.2°F warmer than the previous records seenduring the Dust Bowl in July 1936 and in July 2012.

The reality of this [extreme heat](https://time.com/article/2026/06/29/what-are-the-three-hottest-years-on-record-and-how-will-this-summer-compare-/) was experienced through three separate [heat dome](https://time.com/7296973/more-heat-domes-climate-change/) events, with several states, including Idaho, Utah, and Montana setting all time temperature records on July 12\. Salt Lake City, UT, saw temperatures reach 109°F, while in Montana, Billings saw temperatures reach 111°F and Miles City 115°F. Wyoming recorded its warmest July and warmest month on record. 

Extreme heat wasn’t the only notable climate event Americans were dealing with. [Wildfires](https://time.com/article/2026/07/16/risks-combined-bad-air-quality-extreme-heat-wildfires/) in eastern Oregon burned through 140,000 acres, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Federal fire resources were [stretched thin](https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/us-wildfire-preparedness-level-5-what-that-means/) as other fires burned in Colorado, Washington, and beyond. 

The smoke from the blazes, coupled with fires in neighboring Canada, worsened [air quality](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/a-week-of-smoky-skies-across-north-america/) for millions across the country. By mid-July, Chicago was reporting the worst air quality [in the world](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-air-quality-the-worst-in-the-world-due-to-wildfire-smoke-data-shows/3962532/). 

Though the month ranked as the third driest July of the 132-year record, with about 48.5% of the contiguous U.S. in drought, mid-month flash floods in Central Texas along the Guadalupe River brought over 28 inches of rainfall. The floods killed two people in the same area which saw catastrophic flooding over last year’s July 4th weekend. 

The month showed just how varied the impacts of climate change can be. Residents in Texas and Oregon saw their homes damaged or destroyed by flooding or fire, while those in the Midwest found themselves digging out N95 masks to walk their pets or commute to work while facing some of the worst particulate air quality the region has seen in [over 25 years](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/weather/canada-wildfire-smoke-air-quality-aqi-how-bad.html). Many others found creative ways to take respite from the heat—seeking shade in tree-lined streets or cooling off in fire hydrants and lakes alike. Here’s what it was like to live through the hottest month on record. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt324c1093dc2348b5/6a7b6ec90208b833673900da/Hottest-Month-2026-02.jpg?branch=production)

A fire helicopter drops water during sunset on vegetation area as crews battle wildfire named as 'Little Fire' in Sunol, Alameda County, Calif. on July 21, 2026\. —Tayfun Coskun—Anadolu/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9e3aac09ac77859/6a7b6ecc0d711857d9e5b693/Hottest-Month-2026-03.jpg?branch=production)

Amid Colorado's historic drought and record low snowpack a home with a brown lawn sits next to a home with a green lawn in Denver, Colo., on July 24, 2026\. —Michael Ciaglo—The Washington Post/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41b755e614befe59/6a7b6ecb453dba0b53af803a/Hottest-Month-2026-04.jpg?branch=production)

People cool off along the lakefront as temperatures topped 90 degrees in Chicago, Ill., on June 29, 2026\. An extreme heat warning for the city was extended through July 3\. —Scott Olson—Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841e5637a105738b/6a7b6ecb97a020139c2e5203/Hottest-Month-2026-05.jpg?branch=production)

A plumes of smoke from the Camp Fire hangs in the air on Moose Lake as multiple wildfires burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness prompted its closure and evacuation in Ely, Minn., on July 14, 2026\. —Anthony Soufflé—The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt096c8eb6e6e5b7b9/6a7b6ecdbf22b2245c95e3f1/Hottest-Month-2026-06.jpg?branch=production)

Debris is piled on Mill Dam road after heavy rain caused flooding in Comfort, Texas, on July 16, 2026\. —Aaron E. Martinez—The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt881a4e19d61201db/6a7b6eccfc29c5d81dafe71b/Hottest-Month-2026-07.jpg?branch=production)

People clean out a flooded building on in Kerrville, Texas, on July 16, 2026, —San Antonio Express-News/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4021d5445fa6873e/6a7b6ecd2378b26fe43f5f12/Hottest-Month-2026-08.jpg?branch=production)

People jump on water-soaked pavement around an open fire hydrant at sunset during a heat wave in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City on July 2, 2026\. —Charly Triballeau—AFP/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29e7909cb59a09a9/6a7b6ecece8afd938d51f7db/Hottest-Month-2026-09.jpg?branch=production)

A home is covered in fire retardant dropped by firefighters during the Old Trails Fire in Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 4, 2026—the aftermath of July's Spokane fire. —Josh Edelson—AFP/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38595b2ea57ea3bf/6a7b6ece144080168cccf14d/Hottest-Month-2026-10.jpg?branch=production)

Children play near breaking waves on West End Pier on Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast in New Orleans on July 22, 2026\. —Gerald Herbert—AP

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5668d7abc273ccf/6a7b6ecf0208b8242a3900de/Hottest-Month-2026-11.jpg?branch=production)

Smoke from wildfires in Canada shrouds the view north to midtown Manhattan, seen from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building before sunset on July 15, 2026\. —Gary Hershorn—Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ce650d3fc3e2e15/6a7b6ed0fc29c58320afe71f/Hottest-Month-2026-12.jpg?branch=production)

Bill Dozier, left, and Sharon Dozier sit on their flooded front porch as they talk with their grandson, Skylor Dozier, who lives in a trailer on their property along North Camp Street in Uvalde on July 16, 2026\. —Sam Owens—San Antonio Express-News/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b74532ee3fc480d/6a7b6ed0144080430accf155/Hottest-Month-2026-13.jpg?branch=production)

Firefighters burn off vegetation while trying to stop a wildfire called the Bench Fire from spreading in Warm Springs, Ore., on July 25, 2026\. —Noah Berger—AP

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65be92e2ee8206d5/6a7b6ecf14408083aeccf151/Hottest-Month-2026-14.jpg?branch=production)

People watch a worker creating sand berms to protect beachfront homes from Pacific Ocean high surf in Long Beach, Calif., on July 30, 2026\. —Mario Tama—Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13f92c671734dc4c/6a7b6ed197a02040f12e5207/Hottest-Month-2026-15.jpg?branch=production)

A person assess flood damage near the banks of the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 17, 2026\. —Brandon Bell—Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c1561fedb946820/6a7b6ed1bf22b255e195e3f5/Hottest-Month-2026-16.jpg?branch=production)

A firefighter cools off with a bottle of water after responding to a fire during a heat wave in Georgetown, Mass., on July 2, 2026\. —Erin Clark—The Boston Globe/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99483611a8459a4c/6a7b6ed10208b8ea243900e2/Hottest-Month-2026-17.jpg?branch=production)

People watch a brush fire near Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita on July 15, 2026\. —Hans Gutknecht—MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96a7cb02e63add77/6a7b6ed0fc29c52596afe723/Hottest-Month-2026-18.jpg?branch=production)

An attendee of the Great American State Fair sits in the shade during high temperatures on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2026\. —Pete Kiehart—Bloomberg/Getty Images

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt861db832c0033f79/6a7b6ed0453dba0f15af803e/Hottest-Month-2026-19.jpg?branch=production)

Smoke spreads across the sky as the Little Fire grows in size near Pleasanton, Calif., on July 21, 2026\. —Brontë Wittpenn—San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltad6cc6fec77f6710Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:25:59 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Simmone Shah\]\]><!\[CDATA\[ICE Is Getting Body Cameras. But Will They Help Hold Agents Accountable?\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/ice-is-getting-body-cameras-but-will-they-help-hold-agents-accountable-/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[ICE agents will soon have body cameras, but footage of serious incidents may only be released if it’s in the agency’s “best interests.” Who does that protect?\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Jessica Rinaldi—The Boston Globe\]\]><!\[CDATA\[DHS agents survey the scene a day after an ICE agent shot and killed a man in Biddeford, Maine, on July 14, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc7f3512a80eca34/6a7cbcf8453dba016dafa5ed/GettyImages-2285588711.jpg?branch=production)

DHS agents survey the scene a day after an ICE agent shot and killed a man in Biddeford, Maine, on July 14, 2026\. —Jessica Rinaldi—The Boston Globe

All [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)](https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/ice-detention-deaths-immigration/) field agents will be equipped with body cameras by the end of the month, acting ICE Director [David Venturella](https://time.com/article/2026/05/15/ICE-Director-David-Venturella-DHS-Mullin-immigration/) said. However, the footage acquired by the devices would only be released to the public if it is in “the best interests of the agency,” according to ICE. The [policy](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/policy/19010.3.pdf) raises questions about how body cameras are meant to be used in law enforcement, as well as whom they are meant to protect.

Venturella said in his [statement](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/acting-ice-director-david-j-venturella-issues-statement-mischaracterization-ices-body) last week that the body cameras would help the agency uphold its [commitment](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/acting-ice-director-david-j-venturella-issues-statement-mischaracterization-ices-body) to “transparency and accountability.” 

However, a spokesperson for ICE tells TIME that the body cameras are needed because “the media and sanctuary politicians consistently spread smears about our law enforcement.”

This raises the question: Are the cameras meant to hold ICE agents accountable—or protect the agency?

White House “border czar” Tom Homan indicated that the cameras could be useful for both purposes, saying “body cameras are the way to go” to increase transparency between the agency and the public—but they can also provide insights about split-second behavior under high pressure in the field.

“I think body cameras let the American people know what that officer sees when he takes that action,” Homan said on [CBS’s _Face the Nation_](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-homan-border-czar-face-the-nation-transcript-07-19-2026/)in July. On _Fox & Friends Weekend_ that same month, he went further, saying that body cameras “exonerate more law enforcement than ​they convict.”

Who they ultimately benefit largely depends on how they are used—in theory and in practice, experts tell TIME.

“Body-worn cameras are only as good as their policies,” says Christopher Schneider, sociologist and professor at Brandon University. 

The policies governing body cameras must determine not only when agents are recording, experts say, but also what happens to the footage the cameras collect.

Kirk Burkhalter, a New York Law School professor and former detective with the New York Police Department, believes it is a smart move toward course-correcting after multiple fatal shootings this year by ICE. He calls the rollout of body-worn cameras a “very important first step.”

## Why did ICE start using body cameras?

Body cameras became a point of contention after two protesters were killed by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers in Minneapolis in January. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti both led to disputes about what transpired and whether the use of force was warranted, leading DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to promise in February that agents would be equipped with body cameras going forward. 

A policy regarding their use was established that same month, and Congress approved $20 million in funds for purchasing and operating ICE body cameras in April.

**Read More:** [_The Chaos and Cruelty of ICE_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/the-chaos-and-cruelty-of-ice/)

Body cameras had been issued to [more than half of field offices](https://wtop.com/national/2026/07/dhs-was-granted-20m-for-body-cameras-ice-agents-in-fatal-houston-shooting-had-none/) by July, when agents shot and [killed](https://time.com/article/2026/07/16/i-see-my-father-in-the-fathers-killed-by-ice/) two people within the span of a week: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in [Houston](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/what-we-know-about-the-fatal-ice-shooting-in-houston/), Texas, on July 7, and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero on July 13 in [Biddeford](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/ice-officers-involved-in-fatal-shooting-in-maine/), Maine. Neither of the incidents were captured by body cameras, though _The Intercept_ [reported](https://theintercept.com/2026/07/16/ice-maine-shooting-body-cameras/) that the officers in Maine were equipped with recording devices that they were unable to use.

Members of Congress promptly called for stricter oversight.

“In shooting after shooting, we are told that there is no body-worn camera footage of the incident and asked to accept DHS’s account of the incident. Time and again, that account turns out to be a blatant falsehood,” a letter signed by dozens of senators on July 18 [said](https://www.murray.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/letter%5Fto%5Fsecretary%5Fmullin%5Fon%5Frecent%5Ffatal%5Fice%5Fshootings-MURRAY.pdf)_._

But putting cameras in agents’ hands is just a start; they must also be recording when it matters. 

## When are ICE agents required to turn on body cameras?

The policy says agents should activate cameras “as soon as practicable” at the beginning of an enforcement activity and deactivate them once the activity concludes. Agents who fail to activate their cameras must provide a written explanation, but the policy does not spell out disciplinary consequences for failing to record an encounter.

This is not dissimilar from policies used by other law enforcement agencies, which also typically stop short of codifying disciplinary steps, Schneider says. 

“You would think that if an officer was found after an investigation to have intentionally turned the camera off or not turned it on, to engage in misconduct or pretend, you would think they would be fired for that,” he says. “You won't find that in a policy.”

Phillip Atiba Solomon, professor at Yale University and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, says that comprehensive policy should not leave key questions unanswered, such as: “What are the consequences if you disobey those rules?”

“A piece of legislation without an enforcement mechanism is a polite request,” he tells TIME.

The policy does require “Field Responsible Officials” to provide operational training to their agents “at least yearly,” focusing on their handling of recordings, privacy compliance, procedures for redacting and sharing data, and civil rights considerations. 

But knowing how to use the cameras is different from establishing how useful they actually are in the field.

## How effective are body cameras in law enforcement?

Schneider says there is a presiding belief that the presence of body cameras will influence what transpires between civilians and law enforcement officers. Specifically, there is an assumption that they serve as a deterrent.

“The idea is that if a camera is on, of course the officer is not going to engage in misconduct or brutality, and of course people are going to comply with police,” Schneider says. “That's profoundly untrue.”

He points to the murder of [George Floyd](https://time.com/5844030/george-floyd-minneapolis-history/) in 2020 as an example, since the police officers involved were wearing active cameras while the incident unfolded. 

Studies show [mixed](https://news.yale.edu/2017/10/27/do-body-cameras-affect-police-officers-behavior-not-so-much) evidence. Some found that body cameras reduce use-of-force incidents and civilian complaints. But when 70 such studies were analyzed together, they showed “no consistent or statistically significant effects,” [according](https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/research-body-worn-cameras-and-law-enforcement) to the National Institute of Justice.

Part of the reasoning for this discrepancy, according to Solomon, is that people must believe that what they are doing is wrong in order for them to change their behavior when being observed. In a [randomized controlled study](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1814773116) that involved thousands of police officers in 2019, researchers wrote that “cameras did not meaningfully affect police behavior on a range of outcomes, including complaints and use of force.”

“Officers—who are not ICE but are regular municipal law enforcement—didn't think that what they were doing was a problem, so we didn't see significant reductions in use of force,” Solomon says of the study. 

They must also believe that there will be consequences for their actions, he says. But the Trump Administration’s [staunch defense of ICE](https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-defends-ice-efforts-after-fatal-shootings-in-maine-and-texas/) in the aftermath of this year’s deadly shootings suggests that this component might also be lacking.

In addition to deterrence, body cameras also offer point-of-view documentation.

“The reason why it's so helpful is because it gives the vantage point of the law enforcement officer who's wearing the camera, and you can kind of see and hear what they see and hear,” Burkhalter says. This can give judges, juries, legislators, and the general public a clearer sense of why they responded the way they did at the time.

**Read More:** [_When ICE Kills, We Cannot Look Away_](https://time.com/article/2026/07/17/when-ice-kills-we-cannot-look-away/)

Without such video evidence, the public could be left with difficult questions about what exactly transpired in the critical moments of officer-involved fatalities. 

When Silverio Villegas González was killed by ICE agents in September 2025 in Illinois, body camera footage [captured](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-fatal-shooting-chicago-bodycam-footage-villegas-gonzalez-rcna233484) by local police officers revealed key details about the incident. DHS claimed its officer was “seriously injured” during the altercation and feared for his own life. However, the footage later showed that the officer said his injuries were “nothing major,” undercutting his explanation of events.

Third-party video evidence was similarly instrumental in showing what transpired when officers [shot and killed](https://time.com/7345319/ice-shootings-renee-good/) Good in Minneapolis in January**.** DHS claimed that Good was a “violent rioter” who had tried to run over agents with her car. It said that its officer then fired “defensive shots.” But cell phone footage captured by bystanders [contradicted](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/video/ice-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-videos.html) that account.

“The cameras dispel the rumor mill, preventing us from looking at some footage from someone's doorbell cam 50 feet away and trying to decipher what someone had in their hand or what they didn't have in their hand,” Burkhalter says.

Experts have acknowledged, however, that body camera footage is limited—for example, it does not show officers’ facial expressions and may miss key details that are just out of frame.

That makes how it is reviewed, edited, and distributed even more essential.

## Who will have access to footage?

When deterrence fails, and use-of-force incidents take place, the footage is paramount in determining who is responsible and paving a path for justice. That raises the question of who has access to the footage and how it can be used.

ICE’s body camera footage will be immediately available to internal personnel and investigators, its policy says, but public access will be strictly restricted and controlled.

“Footage will be available as appropriate for official purposes,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement to TIME. “Body camera footage must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis due to privacy concerns for innocent bystanders.”

Burkhalter says that the agency’s approach aligns generally with existing law enforcement policies.

“I haven't reviewed all local law policies, but I can assure you that very few agencies have an administrative regulation that says we will release all body cam footage within ‘X’ amount of hours,” he says. “That would just be impossible, given most of those cases involve some type of criminal investigation.”

Policies vary by municipality. For the [NYPD](https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/03/mayor-mamdani-and-commissioner-tisch-announce-codification-of-bo), for example, it is codified that body-worn camera footage will be released within 30 calendar days of a critical incident, which includes “incidents involving the discharge of a firearm by an officer that result in a member of the public being struck, as well as police use of force that results in serious injury or death.” Other cities require the police commissioner to personally sign off on the release of footage that may be of interest to the public.

The ICE policy says that when serious bodily injury or death in custody is captured on camera, ICE must “expeditiously review the footage,” and if it is determined it is in the “best interests” of the agency, then it must publicly release within 72 hours of the event or “as soon as operationally feasible.”

Given how the policy is written, and how ICE has operated in recent years, Burkhalter says, “I don't see … the agency releasing footage that is going to seriously harm their public image.”

The footage is also subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), giving members of the public another avenue to seek recordings regardless of whether the agency chooses to release them. But a FOIA request does not guarantee disclosure: Footage may be withheld or redacted under applicable exemptions, and requests can take considerable time to resolve.

Schneider’s concern is that, without more explicit guidelines about what acting in its own “best interests” means, the agency could be inconsistent and selective about releasing records. For example, it might prioritize the distribution of footage that puts the agency in a good light or supports the Trump Administration’s deportation agenda.

“Probably they're going to release some of those videos that involve undocumented immigrants who are armed and are also criminals,” he says. “Some people might start assuming because of what's being shared that, ‘Oh well, maybe all these undocumented immigrants are criminals and have weapons—because this is all I see.’”

## Who else are the cameras watching?

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other activist groups generally support the use of body cameras, but they have also [warned](https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/police-body-cameras) that without good guardrails, “They risk becoming just another police surveillance device—and one with very real potential to invade privacy.”

Many municipalities require law enforcement officers to turn off their body-worn cameras during sensitive encounters, such as meeting with a confidential informant. ICE does not address such circumstances head-on, but it outlines exceptions for when body-worn cameras would not be worn or turned on, including when an agent is engaging in undercover activity; conducting interviews inside jails, prisons, or detention centers; and aboard commercial flights.

Solomon notes that privacy is one of his biggest concerns—especially because the Trump Administration has not ruled out the presence of ICE officers at voting sites in November. 

Although DHS previously told election officials that ICE [would not](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/25/dhs-ice-polling-places-00799613) target polling locations, both Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Trump have since declined to categorically rule out a federal immigration enforcement presence at the polls.

ICE officers with recording devices could deter voters from turning out, he explains: “If you're not sure, or if you've got a record, and you just don't want to be on the grid, you are not going to the polling place.”

Those concerns come amid a broader debate over how law enforcement agencies use the data collected by surveillance technology. Recently, that has been expressed through a widening concern about the use of Flock cameras: automatic license plate readers that are cropping up in major cities in the U.S. Residents worry about the technology being used to identify and track people traveling to sensitive locations like protests and specialized health care facilities. There have already been [reports](https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/) from watchdog organizations that officers have used the cameras to stalk their romantic interests.

Solomon therefore expressed skepticism about equipping thousands of DHS field agents, across the country, with even more advanced surveillance tools.

“We are giving folks who have been tasked with terrorizing vulnerable communities the ability to further surveil those communities,” Solomon says. “That's not much of a step forward, if you ask me.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blta90125a9fde2a701Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:01:25 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Rebecca Schneid\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What Trump’s Executive Order Could Mean for Childhood Vaccines\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/what-trump-executive-order-could-mean-for-childhood-vaccines/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The order calls for scaling back childhood vaccine recommendations and splitting up the MMR shot, and pressures states to dilute vaccine requirements.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held belief that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held belief that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits.

President Donald Trump has again taken aim at [vaccines](https://time.com/tag/vaccines/)—this time in a new [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/delivering-gold-standard-childhood-vaccine-recommendations-for-americans/). The directive, which Trump signed in the Oval Office on Aug. 10, calls for U.S. children to receive fewer vaccines and urges states to reconsider which vaccines they require for school attendance. 

It also directs the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue states that fail to provide religious and medical exemptions for mandated vaccines and orders the [measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot](https://time.com/7261250/measles-vaccine-what-to-know/)—a combination vaccine that has been in use for more than 50 years—to be split into three separate jabs. “Today we’re proud to officially announce the United States of America’s gold-standard childhood vaccination recommendations,” Trump said during the signing ceremony.

Doctors and vaccine scientists have expressed dismay at the order, which they say is not backed by gold-standard science. "As measles cases reach a 35-year high in the U.S. and with cold and flu season quickly approaching, \[the\] executive order on vaccines is not only disheartening but dangerous,” Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), [said in a statement](https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2026/aap-statement-in-response-to-executive-order-on-vaccines/?%5Fgl=1%2A145zlto%2A%5Fga%2AMzgxNTE4MjAwLjE3ODY1MzUyMjI.%2A%5Fga%5FFD9D3XZVQQ%2AczE3ODY1MzUyMjIkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODY1MzUyMjIkajYwJGwwJGgw). “There is no new evidence to justify significant changes to childhood immunization guidance.”

But will the executive order actually change what vaccines are available to children? Probably not, legal scholars and medical experts say. 

Still, it could put pressure on states to change their vaccine recommendations and requirements. It could also have a chilling effect on vaccine uptake. “This is going to create confusion and chaos,” says Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

## Executive orders aren’t laws

The executive order calls for a significant overhaul of the federal childhood immunization schedule—the timeline of recommended vaccines for children and teens that influences insurance coverage guidelines, informs state-level school vaccine requirements, and guides clinical practice. But the order shouldn’t have the legal power to make those changes, says Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy expert at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

Executive orders are a way for presidents to communicate with federal agencies. They can instruct agencies on how to enforce existing laws, but they aren’t laws themselves, Reiss says. 

Federal vaccine recommendations are also developed through a separate legal process, never by executive order. 

Instead, it is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), following input from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), that determines the childhood immunization schedule. 

In January, the CDC, prompted [by an earlier presidential memorandum](https://time.com/7343388/vaccine-schedule-children-cdc-rfk-influenza/) and under direction from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., attempted to revise the childhood immunization schedule. The updated schedule [reduced the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccinations](https://time.com/7345057/new-childhood-vaccine-schedule-cdc-what-it-means/) from 17 to 11\. The six vaccines no longer recommended to all children were for COVID-19, seasonal flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rotavirus. The six vaccines were only recommended for children at high risk for the respective diseases, the guidelines said. Parents, however, could decide, after consultation with doctors about the benefits and risks of the vaccines, to inoculate their children against any of the six diseases.

A federal judge [blocked the CDC’s schedule overhaul](https://time.com/article/2026/03/19/hhs-vaccine-changes-invalid-judge/), which had been done without consulting ACIP, in March. The judge said it was unlawful for the CDC to unilaterally make those changes without ACIP’s involvement.

Trump in his new executive order called for similar changes to the childhood immunization schedule that the CDC tried to implement, and said he was “taking further action to reaffirm” the changes to the schedule in light of the ongoing litigation.

The CDC’s new director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, could face pressure to act on Trump’s executive order, Reiss says. Schwartz said in her Senate confirmation hearing that she believes in the [safety and effectiveness of vaccines](https://time.com/article/2026/07/15/dr-erica-schwartz-trump-pick-cdc-director-confirmation-hearing/), though she wouldn’t commit to standing up to the president or Kennedy if she disagreed with them. 

If Schwartz and the CDC attempt to change the schedule again, however, they will likely face similar legal challenges as before since the proper legal process again wasn’t followed, Reiss says.

“The executive order doesn’t have the rule of law behind it,” says Offit. “Nothing will come of this.”

The federal childhood immunization schedule remains the same as it was in July 2025, which recommends routine vaccines for 16 diseases. COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children are recommended based on shared decision-making between families and clinicians, rather than routinely for all children. 

The AAP disagrees with this recommendation and says all [young children ages 6 months to 23 months](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/156/5/e2025073924/203222/Recommendations-for-COVID-19-Vaccines-in-Infants) are at high risk for severe COVID-19 and should be vaccinated. 

Insurance companies continue to cover all vaccines in the AAP vaccine schedule, including COVID-19 shots. 

## Splitting the MMR vaccine

The executive order calls for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to be separated into three shots. Before signing the order, Trump said, without evidence and contrary to decades of established scientific evidence, that “together, there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal.”

Doctors say the MMR vaccine has an excellent safety record and is highly effective.

“These vaccines have been delivered together in millions of doses for decades,” says Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. “No data was presented to suggest that administering them separately is safer than administering them together. There’s no scientific basis for this.” 

The MMR vaccines were originally licensed as separate vaccines in the 1960s, but they were combined and approved as a combination vaccine in 1971\. 

It would be time-consuming and expensive to license the shots separately again, Schaffner says. It would also mean more shots for children, more work for doctors, and higher costs for insurance companies. 

The executive order continues to recommend the MMR vaccine for all children, but talk of splitting the shot could cause confusion among parents, Schaffner says. “I can imagine parents going to the pediatrician and asking, ‘Can we do this one at a time? I saw on television that it’s now recommended.’” 

The U.S. is currently experiencing a record-breaking measles surge. More than [2,400 measles cases](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html) have been confirmed in the U.S. so far this year—a 35-year high. 

## Battles with states

There is one section of the executive order that might have teeth, says Reiss, the law professor. 

The order directs the DOJ to support or pursue lawsuits against states that fail to provide adequate religious and medical exemptions for school vaccine mandates, and tells the Department of Education to cut grants to those same states, Reiss says. States, not the federal government, determine which vaccines are required for children to attend public schools. 

There are already lawsuits related to vaccine exemptions in several states, including California and West Virginia, Reiss says. The DOJ could choose to throw their weight behind existing lawsuits or launch new ones, she says. “The government can be influential in courts, especially the Supreme Court,” Reiss says. 

The executive order could also more generally put pressure on states, particularly ones that lean Republican, to dilute their own vaccine recommendations and mandates. “The real political play will be at the state level,” Reiss says. 

## Doubt, fear, and confusion 

Doctors say they most fear what the executive order will do to increase vaccine hesitancy and uncertainty. 

“This action follows an alarming pattern of government efforts to reduce Americans’ access to vaccines and [sow unfounded doubt about vaccine safety and effectiveness](https://time.com/article/2026/04/30/cdc-vaccine-autism-trust/),” said Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Disease Society of America, in a statement.

Though the executive order doesn’t mention autism, Trump cited rising autism rates as a reason for the changing recommendations during the signing ceremony. “Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today,” Trump said. “In those times, people were much healthier, and of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist.” 

Trump also claimed that children receive vaccines the size of a “bottle of soda."

Shots contain no more than a teaspoon of liquid, Offit says, and usually contain a fraction of that. “This is so embarrassing for this country,” he says of Trump’s comments.

He added that decades of robust studies have [refuted any link between autism and vaccines](https://time.com/5175704/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-autism/).

Kennedy and Trump have nonetheless repeatedly suggested a connection.

“Kennedy is an antivaccine activist. As the secretary of the health department, you would think that he would care about the health and wellbeing of children in this country, but he doesn’t,” Offit says. “And he’s winning—now we have more cases of whooping cough, flu, and measles in children than before.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltc2c7392bf9a78651Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:13:13 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Dominique Mosbergen\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How to Tell If You’re Trauma Dumping or Just Venting\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/what-is-trauma-dumping/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Plus, how to seek support without silencing yourself.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Images: Annet Debar (2), Swan222, Lettha Studio via Canva)\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66cd5cba2813e06e/6a7c99235798c9efd85a5048/T2T_Trauma_Dumping.png?branch=production)

 —Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Images: Annet Debar (2), Swan222, Lettha Studio via Canva)

You won’t find the term “trauma dumping” in a psychology textbook, but it’s gained popularity online to describe the act of unloading [overwhelming feelings](https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/emotional-granularity-name-feelings/) onto someone else without their consent. It’s like an extended, one-sided version of venting, says Cheryl Groskopf, an[ anxiety](https://time.com/7307336/worst-thing-to-say-anxiety-anxious/) and trauma therapist in Los Angeles. 

It’s also treated as one of the worst social sins you can commit—which can make people afraid to talk about their [grief](https://time.com/article/2026/03/10/what-to-do-when-grief-attacks/), trauma, or anything else too painful to package neatly. Yet [social support](https://time.com/article/2026/07/22/how-to-support-someone-without-giving-advice/) is one way people cope with hard experiences. Conversations about tough topics don’t have to be concise, comfortable, or perfectly balanced to be healthy.

“It’s not about not talking about problems,” says Stephanie Mahalec, a therapist in Los Angeles. “Talking about problems is a very important part of relationships. It’s just how you talk about it.” 

Here’s how to tell when trauma dumping might be reaching unhealthy levels in a friendship or relationship, according to therapists—and how to repair.

## **There’s no room for the other person to set a boundary**

Asking whether someone has time to listen is considerate. It can be as simple as: “Do you have a minute? Can I vent about something?”

Dr. Hans Watson, a psychiatrist in South Jordan, Utah, recommends taking into account the time, place, and audience. Is this a workable moment? Is this an appropriate setting? Is this someone you ordinarily talk to about personal things?

With some relationships, that understanding is already in place. If you and a close friend routinely call each other when life falls apart, you probably don’t need to renegotiate the terms every time. And if you forget to ask permission during an especially painful moment, that alone does not make the conversation a trauma dump. “One conversation or one trauma dump is not a problem,” Groskopf says. “We’re all human.”

The larger concern is whether the other person has a meaningful way to say “not now,” slow the conversation down, or stop it—and what happens when they do. If every limit is ignored, negotiated away, or treated as proof that they don’t care, the relationship has lost room for one person’s boundaries.

The listener has a responsibility, too. Someone who’s overwhelmed may not notice shorter replies, broken eye contact, or glances at the clock. “If you’re that dysregulated, you’re not going to notice how someone else is feeling,” Mahalec says. That’s not necessarily selfishness; it can be part of what happens when a person is [emotionally flooded](https://time.com/article/2026/04/10/what-is-emotional-flooding/). Rather than expecting them to decode subtle cues, the listener may need to say plainly: “I care about you, but I can’t give this conversation my full attention right now. Can we talk later today?”

## **Only one response will do**

Wanting reassurance is normal. So is asking someone to listen, offer advice, sit beside you, or remind you that you’re not alone. The warning sign isn’t that you want comfort; it’s that the other person becomes responsible for producing one exact response that will make the feeling disappear.

If you need them to agree with you, reassure you repeatedly, or validate you in one very specific way, “you’ve unintentionally handed them the responsibility for changing your emotional state,” Groskopf says. That’s not reasonable to expect from anyone.

You might notice yourself explaining the story again, adding more context, or calling someone else because the first person didn’t say the thing that finally made you feel better. “It’s easy to start believing that one more detail or one more piece of context will finally make the other person understand the situation enough to change how we feel,” Groskopf says. “The strategy isn’t working, so the brain keeps trying harder and harder.”

That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with telling a painful story more than once. Grief and trauma often need to be spoken about repeatedly. The question is whether you’re inviting someone to witness what you’re feeling—or making them responsible for ending it.

## **The friendship has become one permanent emergency**

All close relationships go through periods of imbalance. When someone is grieving, ill, traumatized, or otherwise struggling, they may need far more support than they can give. People who love them often want to provide it.

So don’t judge the relationship by one conversation—or even one very difficult stretch. Look at the broader pattern. Do you contact this person only when something has gone wrong? Are they expected to be available whenever you become overwhelmed? Is there room for them to talk about their own life? Do the two of you still know each other outside of distress?

Groskopf says that when the same person repeatedly becomes the only place you go for emotional relief, both people can settle into roles without realizing it: One is always in crisis, and the other is always expected to steady them. Eventually, “the friendship starts to revolve around emotional crises,” she says.

## **How to seek support without silencing yourself**

None of this means swallowing your pain, waiting until you can discuss it calmly, or saving every difficult thought for a therapist. “The urge to get it all out is so incredibly healthy,” says Jenny Martin, a psychologist and founder of Gemstone Wellness, a trauma-informed practice in Chicago. “The urge is correct.”

Some relationships can hold the full story. When enough trust and intimacy exist, Martin says, even an intense account of “real trauma and pain” can make sense and be welcomed. Mahalec also points to the value of co-regulation: Being with someone calmer can help an [overwhelmed nervous system](https://time.com/7353430/nervous-system-reset-mindfulness/) begin to settle. You don’t always have to regulate yourself before reaching for another person.

A few strategies can make that connection easier—without requiring you to communicate perfectly.

### **Say what you need**

Before or during the conversation, tell the other person what would help. You might say: “I don’t need advice; I just need someone to listen.” Or: “I’m overwhelmed and don’t know what I need yet. Can you stay with me for a few minutes?”

Naming what you want relieves the listener of having to guess. It also makes room for an honest answer about what they can offer.

### **Ask about timing**

Groskopf suggests asking: “Do you have the bandwidth for something really heavy right now?” Martin offers another option: “How much energy do you have for holding space for hard stuff right now?”

Think of these questions as tools, not tests you have to pass before you’re allowed to speak. If you’re too overwhelmed to ask gracefully—or only realize afterward that you never checked in—you haven’t committed some unforgivable relational offense. Watson points out that everyone occasionally gets [difficult conversations](https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/emotional-granularity-name-feelings/) wrong. What matters is being willing to listen, adjust, and repair.

### **Give your pain more than one place to go**

Needing more support than one friend can provide doesn’t mean your story is too much or that it belongs only in therapy. It means you deserve more than one place where you can tell it.

Depending on what feels right, that might include several friends or relatives, a support group, a faith community, or a therapist. Different people may be able to offer different things: company, practical help, lived experience, distraction, advice, or space to tell the entire story.

The goal isn’t to protect everyone else from your feelings. It’s to keep you from becoming isolated—or dependent on one person being available every time the pain surges.

### **Use a private voice memo as a bridge**

When you want to get your thoughts out in private, Martin recommends opening your phone’s voice recorder and saying everything you need to say. She uses the strategy herself. On one recent evening, after a particularly difficult day, she retreated to her hammock and let herself unload.

“I sat out in my hammock under the moon, and I just cried and talked into an audio memo,” Martin says. “It allows me to purge and wring out so much that is simmering in my body. It organizes and releases what’s fluttering around that needs out.”

But Martin doesn’t view the recording as a replacement for human connection. Afterward, she says, it’s sometimes important to recognize: “I also deserve a real human to share this with. How do I make that next step happen?”

Keep the recording private unless someone agrees to receive it. Voice messages “remove so much of the consent that naturally exists in a conversation,” Groskopf says, because they can arrive while someone is working, picking up their children, or finally having a good day. Before sending one, try asking: “Do you have the capacity for a long voice note right now?”

## **If you’re the person listening**

Supporting someone doesn’t require being endlessly available or absorbing more than you can handle. But it _is_ your job to communicate your boundary—not the distressed person’s job to read your mind.

Begin with a pause rather than a correction: “Can we stop for a second?” Then acknowledge what you heard before explaining your limit. Martin suggests: “I want to be the best version of your friend, and I know I’m not the right place for this level of pain. But when you’re ready, I want to help you find the right place.”

You can also set a boundary around timing rather than the subject itself: “I want to hear this, but I’m running on empty tonight. Can I call you tomorrow morning?” Or around what you can offer: “I can listen, but I don’t think I’m equipped to give you advice about this.”

A boundary doesn’t have to communicate that someone’s grief is frightening, inappropriate, or too heavy to shoulder. It can communicate: “I care about this, and I want to show up in a way I can sustain.”

## **If you wish you had handled the conversation differently**

If you recognize afterward that you may have trauma-dumped, circle back. But don’t apologize for having needed help—that was never the problem.

“What’s not necessary is apologizing for the fact that you needed support,” Groskopf says. “It’s about repairing and recognizing the part where the consideration of the other person got lost.”

The repair can be simple: “Hey, I’ve been thinking about our conversation. I never checked whether you had space for all of that. Thank you for listening. How are you doing?”

Hard conversations can be awkward, repetitive, lopsided, and still deeply loving. The goal isn’t to express pain perfectly. It’s to build relationships sturdy enough to hold both the pain and the boundaries around it.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt1670db9c89f8720cWed, 12 Aug 2026 16:07:59 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Angela Haupt\]\]><!\[CDATA\[TIME Is Looking For America's Most Innovative Companies of 2027\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/americas-most-innovative-companies-2027-search/<!\[CDATA\[Getty Images—Javier Zayas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Close up of a computer processor chip on a dark background. Technology concepts.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2902aae1c908d0fd/6998b2769fbc7cf823d97d39/davos-2025-web-05.jpeg?branch=production)

Close up of a computer processor chip on a dark background. Technology concepts. —Getty Images—Javier Zayas

For the first time, TIME will publish a ranking of America's Most Innovative Companies, in partnership with Statista, a leading international provider of market and consumer data and rankings. Innovation within a company can take many forms. For this ranking, three dimensions will be considered: product innovation, process innovation, and innovation culture. To identify the most innovative companies in the U.S., comprehensive surveys will be conducted. Employees will evaluate their own employers, providing an internal assessment of innovation; experts will recommend and evaluate companies they are familiar with, contributing an external perspective; and the strength of a company’s patent portfolio will be evaluated as an objective criterion. The survey results and objective criterion will be combined into a single score.

As part of the research phase, TIME and Statista are now accepting free applications. American companies are invited to apply by October 9, 2026\. Companies that register will receive a link to a short survey, which they should share with their employees.

To apply, [click here](https://engage.statista-research.com/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=929189&lang=en). Winners will be announced on TIME.com in March 2027.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt37c3ddbb8ab94b0bWed, 12 Aug 2026 15:46:38 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[TIME Is Looking For India's Fastest Growing Companies of 2027\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/indias-fastest-growing-companies-2027-search/<!\[CDATA\[Indranil Aditya—NurPhoto/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Skyline view of Mumbai with the coastal road in the foreground on May 28, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7e9b44ccaeff832/6a7b7575017cc15b6eb38606/mumbai-skyline-02.jpg?branch=production)

Skyline view of Mumbai with the coastal road in the foreground on May 28, 2026\. —Indranil Aditya—NurPhoto/Getty Images

For the second time, TIME will publish a ranking of [India's Fastest-Growing Companies](https://time.com/7379137/indias-fastest-growing-companies-2026/), in partnership with Statista, a leading international provider of market and consumer data and rankings. The list will recognize the country's leading companies with strong revenue growth between the fiscal years 2023 and 2026.

As part of the research phase, TIME and Statista are now accepting data submissions. While submitting data ensures that eligible companies will be considered for inclusion, it does not guarantee a place on the final list. Additionally, the final ranking will not be limited to companies that submit data.

To apply, click here to fill out the [online survey.](https://engage.statista-research.com/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=493937&lang=en) The deadline for submissions is Nov. 30, 2026\. For more information, visit [rankings.statista.com/fastest-growing-companies-india.](https://rankings.statista.com/en/fastest-growing-companies/rankings/fastest-growing-companies-india/participation/)

Winners will be announced on TIME.com in early 2027.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltc033a90ffb8147d1Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:34:38 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Should You Let Your Dog Lick Your Face? 9 Animal Hygiene Questions, Answered\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/should-you-let-your-dog-lick-your-face/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[From dog kisses to cat scratches, here’s what’s harmless—and what warrants a call to the doctor.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Boston Globe—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fd863c675fb116e/6a7c8b1c97a02013c12e72c2/GettyImages-1242837619.jpg?branch=production)

 —Boston Globe—Getty Images

You might be surprised to learn that Dr. Daniel Griffin, chief of [infectious diseases](https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/infectious-disease-experts-germs/) at Island Infectious Disease Medical in Long Island, N.Y., lets his two dogs lick him.

He’s not delusional. “We know how dogs greet each other,” he says. “We know where that tongue has been.” But he lets his expertise take over afterward. Griffin diligently [washes his hands](https://time.com/article/2026/07/27/habits-infectious-disease-doctors-avoid-getting-sick/) after his dogs lick them, especially before picking up a slice of pizza.

That’s more or less the expert consensus: love the pet, wash your hands. Living closely with pets brings you closer to germs, but for most people, ordinary contact is low-risk. There are exceptions, however. Here, experts answer the face-licking question and eight others about hygiene and animals you might encounter.

## **Should you let your dog lick your face?**

First, forget the thing you may have heard your whole life. “I used to hear, ‘Oh, dogs’ mouths are like 10 times cleaner than people’s mouths,’” says Kelley Steury, a veterinarian and clinical associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health. “I don’t think that’s based in science.”

A dog’s mouth, like a person’s, is [full of bacteria](https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/83/1/ajvr.21.02.0027.xml). One species commonly found in dogs, _Capnocytophaga canimorsus_, can occasionally cause serious illness in people. Most of the time, though, nothing happens. “It doesn’t really pose a problem,” Steury says. The trouble starts when saliva gets past the body’s defenses—through a bite or into an open cut, for example. In rare cases, the infection can [progress to sepsis](https://www.cdc.gov/capnocytophaga/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html) and become fatal.

The risk also depends on who’s getting licked. People being treated for cancer or taking immune-suppressing drugs are more vulnerable to severe _C. canimorsus_ infection. So are people without a spleen and those with alcohol-use disorder. But for healthy kids and adults, the occasional lick is fine, experts say.

Official guidance takes the cautious route, though: Keep dogs away from your mouth and face, and don’t let them lick open wounds.[ ](https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/environmental-hazards-risks/zoonotic-exposures.html)Saliva is more of a concern when it reaches broken skin or a mucous membrane, such as the mouth or eyes. If your dog gets you anyway, wash the area afterward. And if you’re immunocompromised or don’t have a spleen, ask your doctor what precautions make sense. But the fact that dogs, like so many of our daily exposures, can carry germs is not “a reason to not own a dog,” she says.

## **What if your cat licks you?**

A cat lick is usually a non-event, too, provided your skin is intact. Cats commonly carry [_Pasteurella multocida_](https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X13489215), but on unbroken skin, Steury says, it “pretty much will not be a problem at all.”

Experts are more concerned about bites. A cat’s teeth are narrow and sharp, so they often puncture instead of scraping the surface. “The tooth acts kind of like a needle,” Steury says, “and it’ll inject that bacteria into your deep tissues.” What looks like a pinprick can be a deeper wound than it appears.

If a cat bite breaks the skin, wash it immediately with soap and running water and see a medical provider, Steury says.

## **What should you do about a cat scratch?**

“I definitely respect the claws of cats,” says Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.

If a claw catches you, wash your skin right away with soap and running water. The goal is to rinse the bacteria away before it settles in, not to disinfect. “Disinfectants don’t kill everything,” he says. “Running things are better than stagnant things in general.”

After that, pay attention to the area. Increasing redness, pus, or a fever over the next several days are all reasons to see a medical professional. So is a swollen lymph node on the same side of your body as the scratch, which can signal [cat-scratch disease](https://www.cdc.gov/bartonella/about/about-cat-scratch-disease.html), a bacterial infection most common in kids. Location matters, too. Chin-Hong is extra cautious when a bite or scratch lands directly over a joint, where an infection can be harder to treat.

## **What if you have a fresh surgical site?**

Coming home from surgery might be when you most want your furry friend on your bed. It’s also when experts want you to put a little distance between your pet and whatever is healing.

Dr. Ashley Drews, an infectious disease specialist at Houston Methodist, has seen patients develop infections after a pet licked an incision or surgical drain. “That’s not a good idea,” she says. Keep the site covered and your pet away from it.

## **Do you need to worry about the litter box?**

Yes. Cats can shed [_Toxoplasma gondii_](https://www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/about/index.html) in their poop, and the parasite can travel from the box to your hands to your mouth.

Yet the litter box isn’t the only way to get toxoplasmosis. The parasite can also [turn up in](https://www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/causes/index.html) soil, unwashed produce, contaminated water, and undercooked meat—especially pork, lamb, and venison.

“I think people are aware of the cat litter thing,” says Jill Roberts, a molecular epidemiologist and professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. Meat gets less attention. Roberts is so wary of undercooked pork that she skips thick cuts, which she worries are harder to bring to a safe temperature. “All I can see is _Toxoplasma_,” she says. You don’t have to give up pork chops, but you should use a food thermometer: Whole cuts of pork should reach [145°F](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart). Once they come off the heat, wait at least three minutes before cutting or eating them; the meat’s temperature holds steady or continues to rise during that time, helping destroy pathogens.

While the pork chop may deserve more attention, the litter-box rule still stands. If you’re pregnant or immunocompromised, hand off the scooping if you can. If you have to do it yourself, wear disposable gloves and wash your hands afterward. Change the litter daily, too: The parasite takes one to five days after being shed to become infectious.

## **Can you catch your dog’s parasites?**

Sometimes, but your dog’s diagnosis doesn’t automatically mean the whole household is next. When Griffin’s dogs had giardia, an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite, he wasn’t panicking about catching it himself. “In general, it’s a different giardia that we get vs. dogs,” he says. The type that usually makes people sick isn’t the same type that usually infects dogs and cats.

Pay special attention during cleanup. Giardia can travel through tiny traces of feces on soil, water, fur, surfaces, and objects. Clean up dog poop promptly; keep up with veterinary care and parasite prevention; and clean the bowls, bedding, crates, and toys of a pet being treated for giardia. Your veterinarian may also recommend a bath to remove contaminated feces from its fur.

Always use actual soap and water after handling a sick pet or cleaning up poop. Sanitizer is helpful when it’s all you have, but it doesn’t remove dirt or every kind of germ.

## **Are your pets bringing ticks into the house?**

Quite possibly. Your dog can come inside alone and still bring company. Dogs and cats can carry ticks indoors, where the ticks may disembark and choose a human for their next meal. Dr. Heidi Torres, an infectious disease physician and assistant hospital epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, takes the possibility seriously enough to pack fine-tipped tweezers for overnight trips to the country.

Ticks are remarkably good at hiding in plain sight. On people, they tend to hide under arms, behind knees, around the waist, and in the hair. On dogs, check the ears, under the front legs, and between the toes. Torres says many people who develop [Lyme disease](https://time.com/7295491/lyme-disease-symptoms-arthritis-brain-fog/) or another [tickborne illness](https://time.com/article/2026/07/23/ticks-alpha-gal-red-meat-allergy/) “have no recollection of ever being bitten by a tick or ever seeing a tick.”

After spending time in tall grasses or woods, make sure everyone gets inspected. “Check yourself, check your partner, check your kids, check your dogs,” Torres says. If you find a tick attached to your skin, remove it then and there; waiting for a doctor only gives it more time to feed and potentially transmit disease. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp it close to the skin, pull upward with steady pressure, and then clean the bite and your hands. Finding a tick doesn’t automatically necessitate a trip to urgent care, but call your doctor if you develop a rash, fever, or other symptoms over the next several days or weeks. 

## **What about backyard chickens and petting zoos?**

Your pets aren’t the only animals capable of handing something off. [More than 60%](https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html) of known infectious diseases in people can spread between animals and humans, Steury says. The list of germs that can make the trip includes _E. coli_, _Campylobacter_, _Cryptosporidium_, and _Salmonella_—none of which care whether the animal carrying them looks clean.

Backyard chickens deserve special mention, in part because [more people are keeping them](https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/about/backyard-poultry.html).[ ](https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/about/backyard-poultry.html)A chicken can look perfectly healthy and [still carry _Salmonella_](https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/about/backyard-poultry.html). Steury’s rules for handling them are uncomplicated: Wash your hands afterward, and “don’t kiss them,” she says.

The same logic applies at the petting zoo, with the added complication that children are extraordinarily efficient at putting their hands in their mouths. Steury isn’t telling you to skip it; just[ wash everyone’s hands with soap and water on the way out](https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/about/staying-healthy-at-animal-exhibits.html), and keep fingers and pacifiers out of mouths until you find a sink. Hand sanitizer is a useful backup, but it isn’t [an equal substitute](https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/prevention/index.html). 

## **When does an animal encounter require a same-day phone call?**

If an animal bites you hard enough to break the skin, or if you’ve had a possible encounter with a bat, seek medical care immediately. For animal bites, wash the wound right away with soap and water, then call a health-care provider—especially if the animal was wild, a stray, or behaving strangely, or if you don’t know whether it’s been vaccinated against rabies, a fatal disease that affects mammals.

The reassuring part is that[ less than 10 people die from rabies each year in the U.S.](https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/php/protecting-public-health/index.html), largely because most pets are vaccinated and people who may have been exposed can get preventive treatment. 

The bar for what counts as a bat exposure is even lower because people may not realize they were bitten. “People think, ‘Well, I think I’d know it if a bat bit me,’” Steury says, “but you may not.” Bat teeth are so small that their bites can be painless or barely noticeable. If you wake up with a bat in your bedroom, find one near a sleeping child, or think you might have touched one, don’t open the window and shoo it out before asking what to do, Steury recommends. Call animal control or your health department. If it can be safely contained, health officials can test it for rabies. If it’s already disappeared, call anyway; [public-health officials can determine](https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/bats.html) whether you need post-exposure vaccination.

Steury knew a veterinarian in Alabama who had an unnerving encounter. “A bat just fell out of the sky and fell on her neck,” she says. It tested positive for rabies, and the veterinarian needed post-exposure shots even though she’d already been vaccinated in the past.

Of course, none of this means treating every animal like a biohazard. It means knowing what calls for soap, what calls for a phone call or doctor’s visit, and what you can stop worrying about. As Chin-Hong puts it, “The benefits of pets outweigh the disadvantages.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltcffaef6839c5bc75Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:28:35 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Angela Haupt\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump Breaks Silence on Secret Plane Switch in Turkey Over Possible Iranian Threat\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/trump-plane-switch-turkey-iranian-threat-secret-service-decoy/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\["I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats," Trump told reporters.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he slipped away from Air Force One after a recent summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he slipped away from Air Force One after a recent summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat.

President Donald Trump has confirmed he secretly switched planes when leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last month in an effort to evade a possible[ Iranian threat](https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/iran-us-strait-of-hormuz-conditions-trump-negotiations/).

“It's only up to the Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do, so I go by Secret Service and the military,” Trump [told](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0msH9OmLo) reporters late Tuesday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it, I do what they say."

When asked about the nature of the “threat,” Trump acknowledged there had been one but said he “didn’t really ask too much about it,” adding that he receives “a lot of threats.”

The Washington _Post_ first [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/10/trump-flew-secrecy-amid-iran-threat-air-force-one-became-decoy/) Monday that when Trump left Ankara, Turkey, on July 8 and headed to England, he boarded Air Force One in front of the media, before being transferred to a military aircraft via a catering truck in an effort to conceal his exact whereabouts. Several other outlets also carried the story citing unnamed U.S. officials as sources.

Video[ footage of the scene](https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/videos/video-shows-the-airport-catering-truck-used-in-a-secret-operation-to-move-presid/1556008959336014/) shows a Turkish airport catering truck, understood to be sheltering Trump inside, pulling away from Air Force One.

Journalists, alongside some White House staffers, traveled on Air Force One and were reportedly unaware of the President no longer being onboard.

The operation has come under scrutiny, [sparking questions](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/trump-air-force-one-deception-democrats) as to whether those left on the decoy plane presumed to still be carrying the President were at risk.

"I think actually the ​plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters late Tuesday. ”Because that would be the plane, I think, that they would be more likely to go for."

Robert McDonald, who spent 21 years with the Secret Service, also pushed back on the idea that Air Force One and the people stillaboard it may have been left exposed. “I would find it incredibly hard to believe that those two planes weren't escorted or with other assets from allies or the U.S. Air Force in the area,”[ he told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/08/11/trump-secret-plane-swap-Turkey-UK-Secret-Service-Air-Force-One/), adding that he doubted the people on the aircraft “were dangled out there and left to fend for themselves.”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c843818f7a93ca2/6a7c617e0208b825e3391b7a/Trump-Secret-Flight.webp?branch=production)

Air Force One sits on the tarmac with an airport catering container adjacent to the body of the aircraft in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026\. —Win McNamee—Getty Images

Prior to leaving the summit on July 8, Trump had[ posted on social media](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116884409163416775) that, for “old time’s sake,” he would fly out of Turkey on the older Air Force One instead of the newer,[ controversial Qatari-gifted](https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/trump-air-force-one-qatar-controversy-security-questions/) aircraft, which had made its first international trip to the NATO event.

“To honor our brave men and women of the military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the aircraft,” he said.

When asked during a NATO press briefing why he wasn’t flying the new plane home, the President [told](https://youtu.be/9JYvcEVlu3s?t=2020) reporters that the aircraft was being flown to a U.S. base to give service members a chance to see it.

In reality, the clandestine operation meant that, for a portion of time, the President’s real whereabouts were seemingly unknown to—and concealed from—the White House press pool.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a296489a526dcaa/6a7c561b453dba77dbaf99a3/Clinton_Plane.jpg?branch=production)

Former President Bill Clinton disembarks a jet at Islamabad International Airport in March 2000\. —Stephen Jaffe—Getty Images

### Trump isn't the only President to execute a decoy mission

Although rare, a decoy maneuver such as this is not unheard of when it comes to presidential travel.

A similar episode occurred in March 2000, when former President Bill Clinton secretly switched to a decoy jet, with all of the markings of Air Force One, as he traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan for a[ visit marked](https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/03/25/Clinton-arrives-in-Pakistan-amid-ultra-tight-security/8860953960400/) by extraordinary security.

The switch was revealed when a Secret Service agent resembling Clinton stepped out of Air Force One upon touching down in Pakistan, while Clinton disembarked from the second aircraft. 

However, at least [one member](https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/11/donald-trump-bill-clinton-switched-air-force-one-security/91254069007/) of the White House pool was aware of the ruse: Susan Page, then-president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who was covering the trip for USA TODAY.

Page this week broke her 26-year silence on the briefing that preceded the secret switch.

“They told me about the extraordinary security procedures being taken because of the dangers in flying there, including use of the decoy plane,” she [told](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/08/11/trumps-plane-ruse-echoes-clintons-pakistan-swap-with-one-key-difference/) the _Post_. “Of course, the dangers threatened the journalists covering the trip as well as President Clinton.”

On why she chose to share her experience all these years later, Page explained: “I haven’t spoken about this episode before, because of the off-the-record ground rules of that discussion. But since more than a quarter-century has passed—and since the ruse became evident as soon as President Clinton disembarked in Pakistan—I think it’s OK for me to relay it now.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt46f47de932ea2a5cWed, 12 Aug 2026 12:35:11 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Tiago Ventura\]\]><!\[CDATA\[An AI Tax Could Be the Great Equalizer America Needs\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/an-ai-tax-could-be-the-great-equalizer/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[“A tax is the best way to secure the public’s standing as a co-owner of AI,” argue Sarah Polcz and Jeremy Bearer-Friend.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Alfieri—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta085af85d5989dfc/6a7b820ece8afd092851f9fd/AI-Tax-Robot.jpg?branch=production)

 —Alfieri—Getty Images

An idea that until recently would have been seen as radical—that the public should co-own AI—now commands[ bipartisan consensus](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/21/ai-taxes-hurt-american-workers/). 

In June, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the first AI tax in history, the[ American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AmericanAIWealthFundTextv618.pdf), which[ took up](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/opinion/artificial-intelligence-bernie-sanders.html) our[ AI equity tax framework](https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/taxlaw/article/view/14478). The bill proposes making the biggest AI companies[ owe the public half the equity in each company’s AI business](https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5853510-ai-tax-proposal-public-ownership/), paid in newly issued shares. 

In the weeks since, OpenAI’s [Sam Altman](https://www.ft.com/content/7c803eab-8e80-4431-9a87-e943bf00e00b) and[ President Donald Trump](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-20/michael-bloomberg-government-owned-ai-is-a-dangerous-idea) have scrambled to compete, offering their own visions of an AI sovereign wealth fund, which, unlike a tax, would be voluntarily created through the companies’ partnership with the government. Specifically, the ChatGPT creator is [reportedly](https://time.com/article/2026/07/03/openai-invest-ai-trump-administration-sam-altman/) considering giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company. We believe this approach is a mistake—and a tax is the solution. 

The essential nature of a tax is that it’s mandatory, which is why a tax is the best way to secure the public’s standing as a co-owner of AI. Plus, the public supports an AI equity tax. Last month, a[ national poll](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/12/majority-of-us-workers-support-ai-fund-amid-tech-layoffs-survey.html) found 69% of Americans in favor of requiring the largest AI companies to transfer half their stock into a public sovereign wealth fund. 

The fight now is over the terms of public co-ownership: how much the public gets, who must deliver it, and whether delivery can be enforced. Altman and Trump are negotiating those terms with each other. Whether the public ever sees any benefit from the equity stake to be taken in its name is what hangs in the balance.

A deal between Altman and Trump would bind OpenAI to the current administration in the public’s name, at least symbolically. Yet the rights would belong to the administration, and the public would likely have no recourse if a later administration unwound the arrangement. 

That brings us to an idea that until recently would also have been seen as radical: the federal government taking ownership of companies through a tax. 

The Trump Administration has taken equity stakes in[ more than two dozen companies](https://politicalwire.com/2026/07/13/trump-takes-equity-stakes-in-dozens-of-firms/) over the past year. The trend in those deals is that the rights belong to the administration, rather than being directly owed to citizens. And public dollars have to be handed over in exchange for the shares, putting the public on the hook.

Trump’s side of these deals follows a common pattern. His administration negotiates each stake company by company. In the case of[ Intel](https://www.reuters.com/business/us-take-10-equity-stake-intel-trumps-latest-corporate-move-2025-08-22/), government grants already owed were converted into an equity stake. In[ a mineral-rights deal](https://investors.usare.com/news-releases/news-release-details/usa-rare-earth-finalizes-definitive-agreements-us-department), fresh taxpayer money was spent. And now, for something completely different, Trump is making [early moves](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/business/economy/trump-equity-stakes-ai.html) to accept AI [stakes](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/05/trump-open-ai-altman-stake.html) as donations. A government stake in AI companies “would be a beautiful thing,”[ the President says](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-20/michael-bloomberg-government-owned-ai-is-a-dangerous-idea), and would ensure that “the American people can benefit from the success of AI.” Yet across Trump’s equity-acquisition deals, terms are established not by statute but through private negotiations, and the President or his agencies keep the rights.

Two deals illustrate how this works and why we should be wary. Trump publicly demanded Intel’s chief executive’s resignation. Only weeks later, the administration had its stake, a position that is now worth[ tens of billions](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/INTC/intel/stock-price-history). And as a condition for approval of the[ Nippon Steel acquisition](https://www.ft.com/content/ab85c9c0-b92a-4349-b165-cf87318ac05b?syn-25a6b1a6=1), the administration took a golden share in U.S. Steel: “I, President Donald J. Trump, hold the Class G Preferred Stock (Golden Share) in U.S. Steel,” the President wrote in the[ Federal Register](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-25/pdf/2025-21204.pdf). The issue in both of these cases: one person, Trump, wields unprecedented power. 

Altman argues a public stake is “[the best way to share the upside of AI](https://www.ft.com/content/7c803eab-8e80-4431-9a87-e943bf00e00b).” The company has[ reportedly proposed](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/02/openai-proposes-us-government-own-5percent-stake-to-address-political-blowback.html) giving the administration a 5% stake, structured like the Alaska Permanent Fund and revocable whenever OpenAI chooses.[ The Financial Times reports](https://www.ft.com/content/7c803eab-8e80-4431-9a87-e943bf00e00b) the aim: clearing political obstacles by securing the administration’s financial buy-in. It’s a Trojan horse in which no one is fooled except the public. 

We can guess where the public’s best interests could be treated as bargaining chips. OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing IPOs and likely need the administration’s goodwill. OpenAI, for example, is currently under pressure from the government to limit[ GPT-5.6’s release](https://moneywise.com/news/top-stories/openai-sam-altman-trump-administration-5-percent-government-stake)—a constraint the administration might be persuaded to drop in exchange for a donated equity stake. The administration’s record shows it accepts equity as consideration for looking the other way or relenting. Yet none of these dealings inherently benefit the American public. 

In response, only Sanders has committed to actually issuing payouts to each American. With Sanders’ AI equity tax, there is no question mark about the public benefit of the tax. After all covered AI companies remit half their equity in newly issued shares, a public trust fund holds the shares, and the fund must pay out its returns to the public by statute. According to estimates from[ Sanders’ office](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-create-7-trillion-ai-sovereign-wealth-fund/), a 5% annual distribution would be about $1,045 per person per year. Since no public funds are used to buy shares and the bill specifically prohibits public bailouts of covered companies, the US public truly shares in the upside of AI. 

The outcome of the midterms will likely determine whether Sanders’ AI equity tax advances, and thus the coming months may decide who owns America’s AI future. In the meantime, Trump and Altman may move ahead with their visions. 

In our view, one design courts more corruption and wealth consolidation; the other ensures that, if AI ushers in any prosperity, it will be shared broadly, transparently, and with public accountability.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt95ba9f016432ce34Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:00:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Sarah Polcz and Jeremy Bearer-Friend\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What to Know About Mamdani’s Second-Home Tax That Trump Says ‘Must Be Stopped’\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/zohran-mamdani-pied-a-terre-second-home-tax-trump-explainer/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[President Donald Trump is among those who have criticized New York City’s ‘pied-à-terre’ tax.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Michael Nagle—Bloomberg/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, arrives to speak to members of the media on July 7, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf04a91378b5955eb/6a7c4303453dba087aaf9763/zohran-mamdani.jpg?branch=production)

Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, arrives to speak to members of the media on July 7, 2026\. —Michael Nagle—Bloomberg/Getty Images

[Zohran Mamdani](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/zohran-mamdani/)’s [cornerstone tax](https://time.com/article/2026/05/13/zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-deficit-budget-funding/) on New York City’s high-value second homes is facing backlash—including from [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/donald-trump/), who wants to thwart what he deems the mayor’s “dangerous political ‘experiment.’”

“The NYC Pied-a-Terre Tax is costing New York City and State a fortune in that the money, eventually to be gotten, is very little compared to to \[sic\] the TAXES PAID by the tens of thousands of people who are fleeing the City, never to return,” Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117077620225720641) on Truth Social on Tuesday morning.

Trump argued that the tax, which took effect last month, could encourage wealthy property owners and taxpayers to leave for places like Florida where taxes are lower. The tax may affect him too: Trump is a born-and-raised New Yorker whose legal primary residence is in Mar-a-Lago, Fla., but he also owns a second home in Trump Tower in Manhattan, which city authorities have [assigned a market value of about $6 million](https://a836-edms.nyc.gov/dctm-rest/repositories/dofedmspts/StatementSearch?bbl=1012921263&stmtDate=20260116&stmtType=NPV) (though it could sell for [tens of millions more](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/10/10/ex-trump-org-cfo-knew-size-of-trumps-penthouse-was-inflated-he-testifies/) based on valuation estimates).

“This dangerous political ‘experiment’ in New York will destroy what was once a great City and State,” Trump said, adding: “This doesn’t work in America, and must be stopped, NOW!” The President said he was looking to see if the federal government has “any legal right to avert this disaster.”

It’s unclear what legal means Trump could use to dislodge the tax, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul [announced](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-pied-terre-tax-proposal-luxury-second-homes-valued-5-million-or-more) in April to support Mayor Mamdani amid a city budget squeeze. In response to Trump’s criticisms, Hochul, also a Democrat, defended the tax as about “paying your fair share.”

“I believe that in the state of New York, if you have a $5 million second home, then you should be able to afford to pay for police and fire and trash removal and snow removal in the wintertime,” Hochul [told local media Tuesday](https://www.instagram.com/reels/Db6WQ-%5FMssb/). “Donald Trump ought to focus on all the pain he’s causing New Yorkers and knock it off and don’t worry about us.”

## What is New York’s _pied-à-terre_ tax?

In line with Mamdani’s promise to “[tax the rich](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXKlAiMkeAr/),” New York City implemented a _pied-à-terre_ tax, a yearly levy on high-value residential properties that are not one’s primary residence. Hochul signed the legislation containing it on May 28, and it became effective beginning July 1\. 

New York authorities say the tax is expected to generate at least $500 million a year in revenue, which would help close the city’s $12 billion budget gap over fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

For two fiscal years starting in July 2026, the levy may apply to one-, two-, and three-family homes valued by the city’s finance department at $5 million or greater, as well as condominium and cooperative units valued at $1 million or more. For covered family homes, the levy rate starts at 0.8% of the market value and goes up to 1.3% for properties exceeding $25 million. As for covered condos and co-ops, the surcharge starts at 4% and reaches up to 6.5% for properties valued at $5 million or more.

As part of the rollout, New York City’s finance department sent letters to about 17,000 addresses that “may be subject to the charge” and [shared a data set](https://www.nyc.gov/site/finance/property/property-assessments.page#) of about 900,000 properties on its website. A listed property may be exempt from the tax if it is the primary residence of a tenant or subtenant, or an immediate family member of the owner or a majority stakeholder, among others. If a property owner received a letter, they can file for exemption if they are eligible.

## What’s the backlash about?

Critics have pushed back against Mamdani’s Administration’s apparent attempt to single out the rich. In April, Mamdani [posted a video on social media](https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2044508902809628760?s=20) outside a building where hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin purchased a penthouse for $238 million in 2019\. Griffin, a Miami resident, [suggested](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/05/06/what-did-ken-griffin-say-about-mamdani-why-is-griffin-mad-at-mamdani/89959023007/) the video put him in harm’s way.

Last week, a group of homeowners [sued](https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=RdVi0tmfESxQLvb5mGEdqw==) the city administration over its rollout of the tax. The lawsuit particularly challenged the release of the data set and the sending of the letters, and argued that the city “has arbitrarily and capriciously foisted onto New York City residents the burden of proving they are not subject to the Surcharge.” 

The suit said that some residents who are actual primary residents at the addresses still received letters, and criticized how those seeking an exemption only had until Aug. 21 to submit their applications. (That deadline has since been extended to Sept. 18.)

Randy Mastro, the former first deputy mayor under Mamdani’s predecessor Eric Adams and a vocal critic of the incumbent mayor, represented the plaintiffs. Speaking to [Spectrum News NY1](https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/news/2026/08/07/lawsuit-filed-against-mamdani-administration-s-rollout-of-pied---terre-tax), Mastro said he also received one of the letters erroneously, and described the tax program as “a botched rollout that didn't involve any of the work the Mamdani Administration should've done before sending out any of those letters.”

On Monday, Staten Island judge Wayne M. Ozzi [issued a temporary restraining order](https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=LQ8NoKrbIe5DHSpoTPvUPQ==) on the rollout. “Sending out notices to 17,000 homeowners who might be subject to a surcharge doesn’t satisfy the intent of the legislation,” Ozzi said in the Monday hearing, as reported by the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/nyregion/mamdani-second-home-tax-ruling-nyc.html)_._

But the city appealed the judge’s order, triggering an automatic stay pending appeal. A hearing before Ozzi is scheduled for Aug. 31.

On Monday, Mamdani continued defending the tax and said his administration was “confident” in it, as it would give the city more funding for its schools and streets. As for the rollout, the mayor said: “We always know that with any new tax, there are more questions than there are answers.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltb9233960e6559739Wed, 12 Aug 2026 10:00:03 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chad de Guzman\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What to Know About the E.U.’s New Biometric Entry System That’s Caused Chaos at Airports\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/eu-europe-travel-entry-exit-system-ees-passport-biometric/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The E.U.’s new electronic entry system has been in full effect for only a few months, but some airports and airlines are already calling for it to be overhauled.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Dursun Aydemir—Anadolu/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Passengers face long queues at passport control in Brussels Airport, Belgium, on May 20, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta44fd17cacdf030f/6a7c3f0b5798c968ce5a4560/brussels_airport.jpg?branch=production)

Passengers face long queues at passport control in Brussels Airport, Belgium, on May 20, 2026\. —Dursun Aydemir—Anadolu/Getty Images

The European Union’s new mandatory digital entry system could complicate your “Euro Summer” plans.

Twenty-nine European countries, including France, Spain, and Greece, have implemented the [entry-exit system (EES)](https://etias.com/articles/eu-entry/exit-system-everything-travelers-need-to-prepare-for) that replaces manual passport stamping with biometric checks. The system was intended to speed up immigration processes for non-E.U. travelers entering the Schengen Area for short stays.

But the system, which began a phased rollout in October before taking full effect on April 10, has led to long queues and delays, especially in high-tourist destinations. Some border authorities have even opted to turn off the system entirely and return to manual passport checks during peak processing times.

The E.U. [said](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/entryexit-system-ees-fully-operational-2026-04-10%5Fen) such growing pains are expected in the beginning, but promised that over time, the system should reduce wait times and allow for more accurate tracking of traveler data. The EES was first adopted in 2017, but was [repeatedly delayed](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-10-2025-0082%5FEN.html) because of the COVID-19 pandemic and technical challenges in implementing a central E.U. database with national border systems.

Here’s what to know about the system.

## What is the new system?

Manual passport stamps are no longer necessary as part of the EES. Instead, biometric data and passport details will be collected at border crossings.

Upon their first visit into the Schengen Area since the EES rollout, non-E.U. short-stay travelers will typically [have to undergo](https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/ltr/how-will-ees-work-what-new-during-border-checks) a fingerprint scan, facial image capture, and the collection of passport data.

For returning travelers, border guards can verify their stored biometrics, which would theoretically allow for faster processing.

Some airports may also have automated kiosks and mobile apps allowing travelers to pre-register their details. Travelers with biometric passports may also be able to use self-service systems for verification.

Traveler data will typically be stored for three years after their last entry or exit. The EES automatically calculates a traveler’s stay duration. Non E.U. travelers, including those from visa-exempt countries like the U.S. and those on short-stay visas, are allowed to visit Schengen Area countries for a maximum of 90 days per 180-day period. The system keeps track of whether travelers exceed that limit.

Travelers who exceed their authorized stay will automatically be flagged to immigration authorities. Overstayers could face penalties under national law, including warnings, fines, detention, and future entry restrictions. Traveler data will be stored for five years for those who overstay.

Travelers that refuse to provide biometric data [will be denied entry](https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/data-held-by-ees), according to the E.U.

The EES is meant to work in conjunction with [ETIAS](https://etias.com/what-is-etias), a pre-authorization system that has yet to be rolled out. ETIAS works similarly to the U.S. ESTA program. People from visa-free countries intending to travel to the Schengen Area would need to submit information including passport details and travel plans online before entering. ETIAS was [meant to go into effect in 2024](https://time.com/6300111/strong-us-europe-travel-fee-strong/) but has been delayed. No launch date has been announced.

## Why has it been changed?

The E.U. introduced the EES to [“modernize” the management](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-set-launch-date-entryexit-system-12-october-2025-2025-07-30%5Fen) of its borders and keep a more accurate record of travel by non-E.U. visitors, the bloc said. The electronic record system is meant to help border authorities identify people who overstay.

The system is also meant to enhance security. The E.U. said it has [made it easier to detect identity fraud](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/entryexit-system-will-become-fully-operational-10-april-2026-2026-03-30%5Fen) by checking travelers’ fingerprints and facial images against stored biometrics. As of mid-April, [more than 32,000 people were refused entry](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-report-shows-schengen-area-continues-be-resilient-and-ready-future-challenges-2026-05-18%5Fen) through the system and [nearly 800 people](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/state-schengen-report-2026%5Fen) were identified as posing a security risk, the bloc said.

The E.U. has also touted the system as improving efficiency and reducing border wait times by reducing the need for manual passport stamping, although its introduction has created initial delays. More than 160 million border crossings have been registered using the system so far, the [_Financial Times_](https://www.ft.com/content/42137dd8-8fdc-4d66-b193-ca52d51bd929) reported. 

## How does this compare with other entry systems?

Many countries around the world have transitioned to similar electronic entry systems. The U.S. electronically records foreign visitors’ arrivals and departures through its I-94 system. It also uses facial recognition technology at many border crossings.

Several countries in Asia also have robust biometric checks at their borders. Singapore enrolls first-time visitors’ facial, iris, and fingerprint biometrics. On subsequent entries and departures, visitors can use automated biometric clearance. The country also maintains electronic immigration records and has eliminated passport stamps.

Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. also use both electronic travel records and biometric checks at passport control. 

But the EES is unusual in its scale. The system shares its records across 29 European countries. A traveler who enters through France and leaves through Italy, for example, has both movements recorded in one system.

## What’s with the hold up?

Despite its goal of making border control more efficient, the initial rollout of the new system has led to delays at a number of European airports.

Days after the full implementation of the EES in April, airport lobby ACI Europe told [Politico](https://www.politico.eu/article/new-eu-border-system-leads-airport-delays/) that queues at airports in 15 countries averaged two to three hours or longer during peak periods. As travel to Europe has increased over the summer months, travelers have seen persistent and at times worsened delays in many of the most heavily touristed countries. In an [open letter](https://www.aci-europe.org/media-room/610-open-letter-to-president-of-the-european-commission-on-the-schengen-entry-exit-system-ees.html) published July 1, ACI Europe and two other associations said waiting times reached five hours during peak periods. Some airlines and passengers have even [reported missed flights](https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/easyjet-milan-eu-entry-exit-system-chaos-b2956223.html) as a [result of EES delays](https://www.aci-europe.org/media-room/590-entry-exit-system-disruptions-on-first-day-of-full-operations-affirm-yet-again-the-immediate-need-for-flexibility.html).

Critics have argued that many airports were [not sufficiently prepared for the switch in systems](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg5gg6n9x3o). The E.U. previously said registration in the system [should take 70 seconds](https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-287476). But reports suggest initial enrollment takes longer, and has been slowed down by malfunctioning equipment, technical bugs, insufficient personnel, and inconsistent implementation across crossings.

Several airports including in Paris and Amsterdam have [temporarily switched off biometric collection](https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-entry-exit-system-switch-off-overwhelm/) and resorted to manual processing as a result of queues. The European Commission allowed border authorities at congested crossings to temporarily suspend otherwise mandatory biometric collection until Sept. 6\. Nine European countries—Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland—have [called for](https://www.euronews.com/travel/2026/07/10/serious-concern-nine-european-countries-urge-eu-to-ease-entryexit-system-border-checks) the waiver to continue beyond then. Airports and airlines have also [called for more flexibility](https://www.aci-europe.org/mediaroom/582-airports-and-airlines-call-for-immediate-schengen-entry-exit-system-ees-review-ahead-of-peak-summer-months-traffic.html) to suspend checks, as well as for staffing and technology issues to be addressed.

Some airport executives have [called for](https://www.ft.com/content/83ae0ca8-ccce-4253-abfb-4c204f24bbbd) the system to be redesigned, arguing that a border system that must be suspended during peak periods is not operationally ready.

The E.U. has [rejected](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/eu-ees-border-controls-airport-queues-delays-brexit) calls to suspend the system entirely, arguing that it could create incomplete entry and exit records. The Commission said it is working with national authorities to address technical problems and provide more border personnel where needed.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blta9009fad23436e90Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:55:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Miranda Jeyaretnam\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Introducing Count Binface, Britain's Political Satirist Who Is Standing Against Nigel Farage\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/count-binface-interview-nigel-farage-british-politics-clacton-byelection/<!\[CDATA\[World\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Satirical candidates are a long-standing tradition in British politics, but few have made as much of an impression as Count Binface. TIME speaks to the novelty candidate ahead of the Clacton by-election.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Ryan Jenkinson—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Count Binface speaks to the media at the by-election declaration in Wigan, England, on June 19, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb27b685cb1530056/6a7b73282378b296e73f5f5c/GettyImages-2282285098.jpg?branch=production)

Count Binface speaks to the media at the by-election declaration in Wigan, England, on June 19, 2026\. —Ryan Jenkinson—Getty Images

Satirical candidates are a long-standing tradition in British politics. When [former Prime Minister Keir Starmer](https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/uk-prime-minister-keir-starmer-resignation-reports-burnham-leadership-potential/) delivered a victory speech after winning his north London seat in the 2024 General Election, he was [flanked ](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2024/jul/05/i-will-have-your-back-keir-starmer-wins-north-london-seat-video)by someone in an Elmo costume and a man wearing a laboratory coat and a comically large hat. To the uninitiated, it may have seemed as though a major security breach had taken place. In reality, those were just some of the candidates Starmer had defeated.

But few, if any, novelty candidates have made as much of an impression as Count Binface. The self-described “intergalactic space warrior” wears a garbage can on his head and has become a regular name on election ballots across England over the past decade. He recently went up against [Andy Burnham](https://time.com/article/2026/07/17/andy-burnham-first-speech-labour-leader-incoming-prime-minister/) in the Makerfield by-election, and was among the first [to congratulate Burnham](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v2wyWwH6%5FeE) on his victory, which cleared the [now-Prime Minister](https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/andy-burnham-uk-prime-minister-day-one-trump-invitation/)’s pathway back to Westminster.

Now, Count Binface has landed himself firmly in the middle of the fraught Clacton by-election taking place Thursday, emerging as the main rival for Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party and a long-time [ally of President Donald Trump.](https://time.com/7281644/trump-influence-local-elections-england-nigel-farage-maga-rallies-slogans/)

In July, amid mounting scrutiny over [undisclosed gifts](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/29/revealed-nigel-farage-was-given-undisclosed-5m-by-crypto-billionaire-in-2024) and donations, Farage resigned as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton, a coastal town in the east of England, in order to trigger a by-election in which he could run. 

"I've decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions," he [said](https://www.facebook.com/C5News/videos/nigel-farage-has-announced-he-will-stand-down-as-a-member-of-parliament-for-clac/4199263623709739/), predicting a “people vs. the establishment by-election” would soon follow.

The main political parties in the U.K. said they would not be taking part in the by-election, which the Conservatives leader referred to as [a "fake" election](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaiGZTEDBDb/?hl=en) intended to distract people from the investigation into Farage's finances.

It remains to be seen if Farage’s gamble will pay off when voters head to the polls. A [Survation](https://www.survation.com/clacton-by-election-poll-what-do-voters-say-the-election-is-about/) poll conducted in July suggested 73% of Clacton adults may vote for Farage, with 20% of those remaining opting for Count Binface. Still, the British media is jubilantly anticipating a “[showdown](https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/clacton-byelection-when-count-binface-farage-b3030902.html)” between Farage and his garbage can-wearing adversary. 

Ahead of the polls opening, TIME’s Richard Hall caught up with Count Binface. True to form, the comedian, whose real name is Jon Harvey, stayed in character throughout the conversation. 

_(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity)._

**TIME: Our readers from all around the world may not be familiar with the peculiarities of British politics or your political platform. Can you introduce us to Count Binface, the candidate?**

Count Binface: I am an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet Sigma IX, and a part-time democratic politician on Earth. My hobbies include invading star systems, dominating species, and watching the [_Lovejoy_](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/arts/television/27stew.html) box set. That won't mean anything to most of your readers, but it should. It’s the greatest art your planet has produced. Well, that and the Sistine Chapel.

**You have stood in a number of elections, sometimes in different forms. Can you tell us what drew you to this one in Clacton?**

Clacton is where the election is. If I’d gone elsewhere, it would have been less effective. Dare I say it, we wouldn't be talking now.

**You've stood in many elections, and lost them all. This time people appear to be taking you a bit more seriously. They think you may be able to improve on your previous personal best of 308 votes. Why do you think that is?**

I have lost my previous seven elections on Earth, but only numerically. Let's look at my past opponents. [Theresa May, remember her? ](https://time.com/article/2026/06/27/burnham-britain-why-u-k-is-set-to-get-its-seventh-prime-minister-in-10-years/)Thought not. Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, they’re all on \[the\] scrapheap of history, something I know a lot about. And yet I am going stronger than ever. I'm playing the long game. Do I think I can beat 308 in Clacton? I wouldn't want to presume. Let's see what happens.

**This time you're up against Nigel Farage, a man mired in a personal financing scandal. What does it tell us about British politics that people are considering voting for a garbage can over a real human?**

Mr Farage's finances are a matter for him, but he has decided to make them a matter for the Clacton electorate, too. I'm not interested in ad hominem attacks on any of [my 33 opponents. ](https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/parl.clacton.by.2026-08-13/clacton/)But do I think it's strategically odd to call a by-election while you're being investigated by a parliamentary committee, the result of which could also lead to a by-election? Yes I do. Is that a waste of time and money? You might think so. I couldn't possibly comment.

As for why they're choosing me, I offer the perfect blend of fully-costed policies, intergalactic drip, and as bizarre as it seems, I'll be the best local champion for the inhabitants of the area. 

**Your policies include a “windfall tax on cosy crime novels written by celebrities” and a referendum on whether Pluto should regain its planet status. How have the people of Clacton reacted to your manifesto, and to your campaign in general?**

I've been very gratified by the response both on the ground and in cyberspace. In actual fact, the policies you mention aren't the biggest hits so far. Top of the pops is my pledge that 99 Flake ice creams \[[a British tradition for generations](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/aug/24/99-flake-ice-cream)\] should be price-capped at 99p. For a seaside town, this was a no-brainer.

Another one which has done well in polling is this: Bosses of privatised water companies take a dip in British rivers to see how they like it, because they're full of excrement and all sorts. Curiously, I didn't even put this one in [my Clacton manifesto](https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/26413011.count-binface-twenty-point-clacton-by-election-manifesto/), but I stand by all my past commitments, so this is an active pledge.

**If we wake up on the morning after this election and Count Binface has been defeated by Nigel Farage, what do you want people to have taken away from your campaign? And will you stick around for your opponent's victory speech?**

I hope they take the policies, my broader points, a smile, and a rehabilitated respect for democracy. Yes, of course, all candidates should respect the winner's victory speech. I'm sure Nigel will stick around to listen.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=bltc789eae2c1c1bc4fWed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Richard Hall and Olivia-Anne Cleary\]\]><!\[CDATA\[David Crowley Beats Former Frontrunner Francesca Hong in Democratic Primary for Wisconsin Governor\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/wisconsin-democratic-gubernatorial-primary-result-hong-crowley/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Moderates scored a win in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary as David Crowley bested democratic socialist Francesca Hong.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Scott Olson—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley greets supporters at a campaign rally in Milwaukee on Aug. 10, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30b74def8fa58b3e/6a7c26c62378b229d13f7305/GettyImages-2289948183.jpg?branch=production)

Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley greets supporters at a campaign rally in Milwaukee on Aug. 10, 2026\. —Scott Olson—Getty Images

Milwaukee County Executive [David Crowley](https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/wisconsin-governor-primary-tuesday-francesca-hong-david-crowley/) won the Democratic primary race for Wisconsin’s governorship, toppling his [Democratic socialist](https://time.com/article/2026/06/18/what-is-a-democratic-socialist-mamdani-lewis-george-bernie-sanders-aoc/) opponent, Francesca Hong, who had surged in the polls leading up to Tuesday.

What turned out to be a razor-thin contest wasn’t called by the [_Associated Press_](https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/wisconsin-primary-results-governor/) until early Wednesday morning, after a delay in tabulating votes from Milwaukee. 

Earlier in the night, Hong had urged her supporters to unite behind the eventual winner for the November general election against the Republican nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is [backed](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-endorses-republican-rep-tom-tiffany-in-wisconsins-open-race-for-governor) by President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/). 

“No matter who’s on this ballot, y’all, we are going to fight to win for one another,” Hong said.

In the end, Crowley took 39.8% of the vote, per the _Associated Press_, as compared to Hong's 39.3%.

**Read More:** [_What Is a Democratic Socialist?_](https://time.com/article/2026/06/18/what-is-a-democratic-socialist-mamdani-lewis-george-bernie-sanders-aoc/)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt165fe96ba6605450/6a7c271b144080e61acd04d9/GettyImages-2289635241.jpg?branch=production)

Democratic socialist Francesca Hong during a primary election night watch party in Madison as the primary race remained too close to call on Aug. 11, 2026\. —Talia Sprague—Bloomberg/Getty Images

## Ballot chaos, Hong's controversy, and what comes next in the battleground state

After the popular Gov. Tony Evers [announced](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/24/tony-evers-wisconsin-2026-00474526) last year that he wouldn’t run for re-election, the state’s [Lieutenant Governor](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/25/wisconsin-lt-gov-sara-rodriguez-launches-gubernatorial-bid-00476581) and [former Lieutenant Governor](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/us/politics/wisconsin-governor-mandela-barnes.html) entered the race. But both dropped out amid separate controversies, leaving four candidates in the running: Crowley, Hong, former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration Joel Brennan, and state Sen. Kelda Roys. 

Hong and Crowley were widely considered to be the top two contenders in the race, with Brennan and Roys polling in single digits leading up to Tuesday.

**Read More:** [_Lindell Refuses to Concede to Demuth in Minnesota Governor Primary_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/minnesota-governor-republican-primary-election-result-demuth-lindell-qualls/)

Crowley, who is the first Black executive of Milwaukee County and the youngest person to serve in the role, was the fledgling hope of Democratic leaders in the Wisconsin primary race. National Democrats had voiced concerns that his main opponent, Hong, wouldn’t be able to garner enough votes to defeat the Republican nominee in November. 

Hong has generated controversy in recent months, including for past social media posts in which she called for abolishing the police and ending Thanksgiving for “celebrating colonialism”—both of which she has since walked back. Crowley, meanwhile, was [backed](https://www.crowleyforwi.com/endorsements) by prominent members of his party in the state, including Evers and Rep. Gwen Moore.

Crowley now heads into what is expected to be a close battle over which party will get to lead [the purple state of Wisconsin](https://time.com/7093734/wisconsin-purple-state-history/); the [Cook Political Report](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/governor-race-ratings) ranks the state’s gubernatorial race as a “toss up.”

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt3ca21a8ba7f48ee0Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Lindell Won’t Concede to Demuth in Minnesota’s Governor Primary, Where Both Trump’s and the GOP’s Picks Lost\]\]>https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/minnesota-governor-republican-primary-election-result-demuth-lindell-qualls/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Minnesota Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, beating out GOP-endorsed and Trump-backed candidates in the race.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Richard Tsong-Taatarii—The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Gubernatorial candidate and state House Speaker Lisa Demuth makes her case for the GOP nomination at the Minnesota Republican state convention in Duluth on May 30, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03e10899b1f72f97/6a7bf459bf22b25bf395f335/GettyImages-2279275609.jpg?branch=production)

Gubernatorial candidate and state House Speaker Lisa Demuth makes her case for the GOP nomination at the Minnesota Republican state convention in Duluth on May 30, 2026\. —Richard Tsong-Taatarii—The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images

MyPillow Founder Mike Lindell is refusing to to concede in [Minnesota's](https://time.com/tag/minnesota/) Republican gubernatorial primary, despite Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth's win on Tuesday. 

The [_Associated Press_](https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/minnesota-primary-results-governor/#Gop) called the race just before midnight as Demuth was leading with more than 43% of the vote to Mike Lindell’s less than 33% of the ballots counted. However, the [Trump-backed](https://time.com/6250545/rnc-chair-trump-2024-future/) candidate alleges irregularity in voting totals.

“There’s 265,000 votes left to count. I’m down by 18,000 now,” he said on his live streaming network, [LindellTV](https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2087488829276016744?s=20). “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted. That’s nonsense.”

Lindell garnered national attention in the aftermath of the 2020 election as a prominent election denier.

The state Republican Party, meanwhile, opted to endorse Kendall Qualls, a businessman and Army veteran, at a state convention in May. 

Despite earning neither endorsement, Demuth remained competitive in the race—and ultimately pulled out the win.

She now heads to the general election in November, where she is expected to face an uphill battle against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

**Read More:** [_Wisconsin Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Results_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/wisconsin-democratic-gubernatorial-primary-result-hong-crowley/)

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86a124528405820a/6a7bf4be56fcaa0a0d42eff8/GettyImages-2279275577.jpg?branch=production)

Gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell makes his case for the GOP nomination at the Minnesota Republican state convention in Duluth on May 30, 2026\. —Richard Tsong-Taatarii—The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images

## How Trump shaped Mike Lindell’s campaign for Minnesota governor

  
Trump has never won Minnesota in any of his three presidential runs, but Lindell, who appeared to open a lead in the [polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/minnesota-governor-election-polls-2026.html?eafs%5Fenabled=false) in recent weeks, touted the President’s endorsement days before the election.

"I have an advantage over everyone up here,” Lindell said at an event on Sunday. “I can call up and work with the President of the United States.”

The former CEO, like Trump, has vocally denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. Lindell has faced defamation suits over comments he made related voting machines, someof which are ongoing. Last June, he was ordered to pay $2.3 million to a Dominion Voting Systems executive after a jury found that he spread false and damaging claims related to the 2020 election.

Prior to that election, Lindell had also become known for his MyPillow advertisements and his self-published memoir _What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO_, in which he chronicled his experience overcoming substance abuse and gambling. He stepped down as CEO of the pillow company earlier this month to focus on his campaign.

Lindell aligns largely with Trump’s approach to many issues, including slashing government spending. Among his campaign proposals was a “Minnesota DOGE,” a reference to the Trump Administration’s now-shuttered Department of Government Efficiency.

Although he later secured the President’s public support, Lindell was beat out by both Qualls and Demuth in the contentious voting process for the state GOP endorsement, being eliminated after finishing third in the fourth round of voting. After 10 ballots, Qualls just surpassed the 60% vote needed to formally secure the endorsement.

Qualls, the first Black candidate to win a major party endorsement for governor in Minnesota, called for unity in the party following his win.

“Now is the time to remind everyone what our first Republican President said on the field of Gettysburg: That a house divided cannot stand,” Qualls [said](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JzrJ-zzW1xo). “If we’re going to win, we got to win as a united Republican Party.”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bede34ab8bfb3fb/6a7bf55bd6cd0ea67685c705/GettyImages-2279275607.jpg?branch=production)

Gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls makes his case for the GOP nomination at the Minnesota Republican state convention in Duluth on May 30, 2026\. —Richard Tsong-Taatarii—The Minnesota Star Tribune/Getty Images

## Can Republicans flip the Minnesota governor’s mansion?

Minnesota hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 2006, while the last Republican senator was elected in 2002\. In presidential elections, it holds the current record among the 50 states for the longest streak of voting for the Democratic candidate; it last went for a Republican in 1972, when it gave its electoral votes to Richard Nixon.

However, Qualls and Demuth aimed to make headway.

Qualls has never previously held public office, but he was not a new face on the campaign trail in Minnesota. This year’s primary marked Qualls’ third campaign for a major seat. He mounted an unsuccessful bid in the race to represent Minnesota’s third congressional district in the U.S. House in 2020 and previously ran for governor, also unsuccessfully, in 2022\. 

In his bid this year, Qualls [called](https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/5-questions-on-5-issues-kendall-qualls-republican-candidate-for-governor) for a “radical transformation” to the state’s tax policy and education system. “We can do a lot more with less,” he said to [ABC](https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/5-questions-on-5-issues-kendall-qualls-republican-candidate-for-governor/) affiliate 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Demuth largely aligned on policy with Qualls, but sought to distinguish herself on the campaign trail by emphasizing her government experience as the first Black woman and Republican woman to serve as House Speaker.

“I am the best candidate who is able to look forward to November and beating Amy Klobuchar and I’ll say the Democrat machine,” Demuth said in an interview with KSTP in June. “And the reason I know I’m best-positioned to do that is when you look at my work as Speaker of the House I can draw people together.”

Demuth, who leads a state House with an even split between the two parties, touted her ability to broker deals and communicate within a thinly divided government.

“I have solid, conservative values that really do cross party lines,” she said at a news conference. “It’s not just Republican values. They’re conservative values that are supported by many Minnesotans.”

Tim Walz, who has been the governor since 2019, launched a bid for a third term but [dropped out](https://time.com/7343133/why-tim-walz-is-dropping-out-of-minnesota-governor-race/) in early January amid investigations into state welfare agencies and government-affiliated programs that were widely targeted by fraud.

The Cook Political Report [rates](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/governor-race-ratings) the Minnesota governor’s mansion as Solid Democrat, among those it deems least likely to flip in this election cycle.

\]\]>https://time.com/?p=blt544b8ee5e599b825Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:26:25 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]>