While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 27, 2025
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (centre) speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Aug 26.
PHOTO: AFP
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Bessent says tariff revenue could be over $600b a year
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Aug 26 that customs duty revenues from President Donald Trump’s tariffs may top US$500 billion (S$640 billion) a year, with a substantial jump from July to August and likely a bigger jump in September.
Mr Bessent told a White House Cabinet meeting that his prior estimate of a US$300 billion annual tariff collection rate was too low.
“We had a substantial jump from July to August, and I think we’re going to see a bigger jump from August to September,” Mr Bessent said.
“So I think we could be on our way well over half a trillion, maybe towards a trillion-dollar number. This administration, your administration, has made a meaningful dent in the budget deficit.”
Trump still weighing ‘very serious’ sanctions on Russia
PHOTO: AFP
US President Donald Trump said on Aug 26 he is prepared to impose economic sanctions against Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, fails to agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
“It’s very, very serious what I have in mind, if I have to do it, but I want to see it end,” Mr Trump told a reporter who asked if Mr Putin would face consequences. “We have economic sanctions. I’m talking about economic because we’re not going to get into a world war.”
The president has withheld long-threatened sanctions against Mr Putin in his latest push to end the more than three-year-long war that has so far defied his efforts at mediation.
Man arrested for burning US flag to protest Trump order
A protester was arrested near the White House after setting fire to an American flag to demonstrate against President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting such acts, police said on Aug 26.
The arrest on the evening of Aug 25 came hours after Mr Trump signed an order directing the Justice Department to pursue legal action against flag-burners, despite Supreme Court rulings that say burning of US flags is constitutionally protected.
“I’m burning this flag as a protest to that illegal fascist president that sits in that house,” the man shouted into a bullhorn in Lafayette Park, adjacent to the White House, according to video shared on social and local media.
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce announce engagement
PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM/TAYLOR SWIFT
Pop superstar Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce are engaged to be married, the couple announced on social media on Aug 26.
In a joint Instagram post, the pair wrote: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” along with photos showing the Kansas City Chiefs player proposing to Swift.
Photos showed the American couple in a garden of pink and white flowers. A snippet of Swift’s song So High School played in the background of the post.
Sinner, Swiatek romp through at US Open
World number one Jannik Sinner began his bid for back-to-back US Open titles with an emphatic victory on Aug 26, as women’s draw favourite Iga Swiatek swept into the second round.
Italian star Sinner rattled through his first round tie with Czech Vit Kopriva with a minimum of fuss, needing just an hour and 38 minutes to record a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the world number 89.
Poland’s Swiatek was similarly emphatic in a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Colombia’s Emiliana Arango.
