Trump’s $47 Billion-Dollar Border Wall Plan, and Why a Tupac Murder Trial Is Starting After 30 Years

August 18, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Trump’s $47 Billion Border Wall Plan, and a Tupac Murder Trial After 30 Years

For months, environmentalists, local officials, and lawmakers from both parties had criticized the administration’s plans to cut through the pristine desert wilderness of Big Bend National Park in Texas. Several local sheriffs opposed it too, calling it unnecessary—since authorities had encountered fewer than six migrants a day in the entire area in recent months. Amid the backlash, the administration scaled back its plans for a 30-foot wall. But this month, bulldozers and excavators started tearing up the landscape for a new patrol road and other security measures, setting off a fresh wave of anger. Now that work has been paused too, according to Customs and Border Protection.

The Border Wall Accelerates

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What you'll learn

1 (00:45) **Big Bend Border Wall Pause** - The administration pauses construction after backlash, as a broader $47 billion wall plan accelerates across all four border states.
2 (02:47) **Canada Tariff Deadline** - Canada scrambles to avoid new 50% U.S. tariffs set to take effect at midnight, with Prime Minister Carney seeking targeted concessions.
3 (03:40) **Trump Votes by Mail** - President Trump casts a mail-in ballot in Florida's Republican primary, a method he has long criticized and called fraudulent.
4 (04:34) **Cyclospora Outbreak and Delayed FDA Rules** - The largest cyclospora outbreak in U.S. history wanes, but new details reveal how a delayed federal rule hindered the response.
5 (06:38) **Tupac Murder Trial Begins** - The trial of Dwayne Keith Davis for orchestrating Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder starts, based not on new evidence but on Davis's own decades-old public statements.
6 (08:41) **'Les Misérables' Boom in Regional Theater** - Productions of the classic musical are popping up nationwide, driven by the end of a national tour and a financial crisis in regional theater.
7 Standout Quotes

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Show Notes

Plus, inside the scramble to track cyclospora.

Here’s what we’re covering:

Border Construction in Big Bend Is Halted After Drawing Criticism, by J. David Goodman

It’s Crunchtime Again for Canada to Avoid New U.S. Tariffs, by Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Trump Votes by Mail Again in Florida, by Chris Cameron

How Cyclospora Evaded the U.S. Food Safety System to Sicken Thousands, by Christina Jewett and Julie Creswell

Why Is a Trial Happening 30 Years After the Shooting?, by Julia Jacobs

Can You Hear the Theaters Ka-Ching? A Battered Industry Turns to ‘Les Miz.’, by Michael Paulson

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