It has been quite a week as Israel and the UAE agreed to have diplomatic relations, Lebanon's President expressed a willingness to Peace with Israel. This is as Iran was adamant in its' response with a harsh reaction in addition the harsh reaction by Palestinian Groups:
The US Election Scene has also been in Full swing as the US Democratic Party Convention looms on speculations on the future along with a sampling of the discourse ahead:
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| Secretary of Defense Esper Exit Rumors Hit Fever Pitch After Difficult Summer | What Happened: According to various news reports, President Donald Trump has privately discussed with advisers the possibility of replacing Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the November election following a growing number of differences between them. It was also reported that Esper has privately expressed interest in leaving the administration after the election, even if the results are in the president's favor. Esper became secretary of Defense in 2019 after his predecessor, Patrick Shanahan, resigned.  Esper Spikes: Which of these 13 members of Trump’s Cabinet will leave next? Falling Out of Love in the Summer: Esper is said to have been on thin ice with Trump since June when he came out in opposition to using active-duty troops against protesters. During that time, Trump repeatedly threatened to send in the military to quell demonstrations against racial injustice and police violence. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany at the time sidestepped questions about whether Trump continued to have confidence in Esper, saying that “as of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper. And should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future.” Esper also appeared to publicly split with Trump last month by issuing a de facto ban on the Confederate flag at military installations, at a time when Trump was citing free speech rights in his defense of Americans who fly the Confederate flag. All the while, Trump has been pushing for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and from bases located in longtime allies, Germany and South Korea. On July 29, Esper announced that 11,000 US troops would be leaving Germany, and relocating to US and Italian bases. Esper had portrayed the move as a strategic move that afforded the Pentagon greater flexibility in confronting adversaries such as Russia and China. Trump demolished that explanation within an hour, telling reporters that Germany was "delinquent" in its payments to NATO. The latest conflict involved the assessment over the cause of the devastating blast in Lebanon that left Trump seething. Shortly after the explosion, Trump blamed it on an attack, citing briefings from “generals” whom neither the administration nor the Pentagon would identify. The following day Esper contradicted Trump at a security forum, saying all indications pointed to an accident triggering the explosion. That contradiction increased friction between the White House and Pentagon.  Market: Which of these 13 members of Trump’s Cabinet will leave next? Wisdom of the Crowd: The appointment of retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata to a post at the Pentagon last week also appears to have provided fuel to the Esper exit rumors. According to legal experts, Trump now has a candidate with whom to replace Esper with. News of Esper's departure has driven his odds higher in the market tracking the most likely member to leave the Trump Administration next. A YES outcome opened trading this morning at 39¢. Over the last 24 hours, Esper's odds jumped 26¢ putting him 7¢ above Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at 32¢. Azar had been the most likely cabinet member to leave the entire summer. | | | |
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| News Moving Markets | | With every news cycle the markets shift on PredictIt. Here are five articles of note: | - Trump's top military official reportedly wants to quit no matter who wins the next election - Business Insider
- Biden campaign raises record $26 million in one day after announcing VP pick - The Hill
- Kamala Harris receives strong marks as Joe Biden's VP: POLL - ABC News
- Weekly unemployment claims drop below one million for first time since March - The Wall Street Journal
- Republicans retrench in fight for the Senate - POLITICO
As the new week looms, here is an additional sampling of the discourse on the week that was:
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