August 13 2025

National Guard Deploys in Washington as Trump's Crime Crackdown Begins

GOP Holds Advantage in National Redistricting Battle

White House to Launch Sweeping Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions

Chinese-Owned GE Appliances to Invest $3 Billion in US Factories

Alaska's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to Host Trump-Putin Talks on Ukraine

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1. National Guard Deploys in Washington as Trump's Crime Crackdown Begins

National Guard troops began to deploy in Washington on Tuesday evening as President Trump’s plan to use the federal government to crack down on crime in the city started taking shape. About a dozen members of the National Guard appeared in five military vehicles near the Washington Monument as the sun set, a stark juxtaposition to a peaceful evening scene of people jogging by with headphones and walking their dogs. An Army official said troops were continuing to gather at the D.C. Armory and were expected to deploy around national monuments, and near a U.S. Park Police facility in the Anacostia neighborhood of southeast Washington.

NYT

2. GOP Holds Advantage in National Redistricting Battle

President Donald Trump’s push to redraw the congressional map has fueled a redistricting arms race, with blue and red states rushing to counter each other. But it’s an uneven fight. Republicans appear to hold the advantage in the nationwide scramble, according to strategists and nonpartisan analysts, with more opportunities to shift the lines in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats have vowed to “fight fire with fire” since the GOP moved to add five red seats in Texas, but they face many barriers. Republicans are eyeing ways to add a dozen or more red House districts across Texas, Florida, Missouri, Ohio and Indiana, despite some legal hurdles and reservations from local Republicans. Democrats are looking to retaliate with five more blue seats in California, and they are exploring other options, including in Maryland and Illinois. They control fewer states than Republicans, however, and they have already maximized their power in others. In some cases, they would have to work around independent commissions set up to prevent gerrymandering.

Washington Post

3. White House to Launch Sweeping Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions

The White House will launch a sweeping review of Smithsonian exhibitions, collections and operations ahead of America’s 250th-birthday celebrations next year — the first time the Trump administration has detailed steps to scrutinize the institution, which officials say should reflect the president’s call to restore “truth and sanity” to American history. The vetting process would include reviewing public-facing and online content, curatorial processes and guidelines, exhibition planning and collection use

Washington Post

4. Chinese-Owned GE Appliances to Invest $3 Billion in US Factories

GE Appliances said it plans to invest $3 billion to expand and modernize its U.S. factories over the next five years, helping to blunt the effects of tariffs by reshoring some work now done in China and Mexico. The appliance maker, which is owned by China-based Haier Smart Home, said the money will go into factories in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. A previously announced project, the $490 million expansion of a washing-machine factory in the company’s home base of Louisville, Ky., is also part of the total. The investment will allow the factories to make new models of water heaters, air conditioners, gas ranges and refrigerators, and will create 1,000 jobs, the company said.

WSJ

5. Alaska's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to Host Trump-Putin Talks on Ukraine

President Trump will meet President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on Friday, according to a White House official familiar with the planning. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal planning, said that Mr. Trump was expected to make what amounted to a day trip to Alaska to meet with Mr. Putin, who has continued to push Russian troops into Ukrainian territory in hopes of a battlefield advantage. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters during a news briefing on Tuesday that the two men were expected to meet one on one. She described the meeting as a “listening exercise” for Mr. Trump, and said that seeing Mr. Putin would give him a better idea of the Russian leader’s plans. “The president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of President Putin,” she said. “And the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”

NYT

August 13, 1521: Aztec capital falls to Cortés

After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés’ men leveled the city and captured Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec emperor.

Tenochtitlán was founded in 1325 A.D. by a wandering tribe of hunters and gatherers on islands in Lake Texcoco, near the present site of Mexico City. In only one century, this civilization grew into the Aztec empire, largely because of its advanced system of agriculture. The empire came to dominate central Mexico and by the ascendance of Montezuma II in 1502 had reached its greatest extent, extending as far south as perhaps modern-day Nicaragua. At the time, the empire was held together primarily by Aztec military strength, and Montezuma II set about establishing a bureaucracy, creating provinces that would pay tribute to the imperial capital of Tenochtitlán. The conquered peoples resented the Aztec demands for tribute and victims for the religious sacrifices, but the Aztec military kept rebellion at bay.

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Sources

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/us/politics/dc-police-national-guard.html
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/13/states-redistricting-congress-texas/
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/08/12/white-house-review-smithsonian-institution/
4. https://www.wsj.com/business/ge-appliances-plans-3-billion-u-s-investment-to-help-blunt-tariffs-e07b1e73?mod=hp_lead_pos6
5. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/us/politics/trump-putin-summit-alaska.html

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