The Obama Diary

President Barack Obama looks over merchandise in a display case at Cool Vintage Watches on Main Street, Parkville, Mo., July 30, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

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All Times Eastern

12:30PM: President Obama has lunch with Vice President Biden

1:00PM: White House Press Briefing

6:05PM: President Obama holds a conference call with grassroots supporters to discuss the nuclear deal with Iran

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President Barack Obama waves as he departs after delivering remarks on the economy at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo., July 30, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

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Coral Davenport

The final version of President Obama’s signature climate change policy is expected to extend an earlier timeline for states to significantly cut planet-warming pollution from power plants, according to people familiar with the plan. If enacted, the climate change plan, the final version of which is expected to be unveiled as early as Monday, could stand as the most significant action ever taken by an American president to curb global warming.

The plan consists of three major environmental regulations, which combined are intended to drastically cut emissions of greenhouse gases. The rules take aim at coal-fired power plants, the largest source of greenhouse emissions, and are intended to spur a transformation of the nation’s power sector from fossil fuels to renewable sources such as wind and solar. Under the rules, the Environmental Protection Agency would require states to draft plans to lower emissions from power plants. The agency is also expected to issue its own model of a state-level plan, to be imposed on states that refuse to draft their own plans.

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German Lopez

The nationwide furor over the growing number of unarmed black men shot dead by police officers in recent months has put the public spotlight on a much bigger trend in the US: Black people are much more likely to be shot and killed by police.

An analysis of the available FBI data by Vox’s Dara Lind shows that US police kill black people at disproportionate rates: Black people accounted for 31 percent of police shooting victims in 2012, even though they made up just 13 percent of the US population. Black teens were 21 times more likely than white teens to be shot and killed by police between 2010 and 2012, according to a ProPublica analysis of the FBI data

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President Barack Obama sips on his iced tea and greets people on the street during a stop in Parkville, Mo., July 30, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

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US to give Sh101 billion fund for women centres in Kenya, Zambia, Mali - Obama. ow.ly/Q4gnG http://t.co/pbFseYfVMv

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The Star, Kenya (@TheStarKenya) July 25, 2025

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Nancy Agutu

The US will put up three women entrepreneurship centres in Kenya, Mali and Zambia, US President Barack Obama has said. Obama said the three countries will benefit from a Sh101 billion fund in women’s support. “If more global capital could see beyond prejudicial blinders, the great progress of the last 10 years could harness potential. It is time we changed the narrative about Africa,” he said. “If half of your team is not playing, you have a problem. In many countries, half of the the team is women and youth”.

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TPM reader poll: Out of last 5 Dem presidents—Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton & Obama—49% say Obama is "greatest" bit.ly/1VJv9EL

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Talking Points Memo (@TPM) July 27, 2025

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Rebecca Shabad

The federal deficit is estimated to tick down to $455 billion by the end of the fiscal year in September, according to the Office of Management and Budget’s mid-session review released Tuesday. As a share of the economy, the shortfall would equal 2.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). “Under the President’s leadership, the deficit has been cut by more than two-thirds as a share of the economy, representing the most rapid

sustained deficit reduction since World War II, and it continues to fall,” OMB Director Shaun Donovan wrote in a blog post. The new projected deficit would be nearly $30 billion less than the government’s red ink in 2014 and $128 billion less than administration’s 2015 deficit prediction back in February. Under Obama’s proposed 2016 budget, the review projects that his proposed policies would cause deficits to fall between 2.2 and 2.4 percent over the next three years.

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President Barack Obama signs a coffee cup for a patron at Parkville Coffee in Parkville, Mo., July 30, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama waves as he departs after delivering remarks on the economy at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo., July 30, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama greets line workers at the Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, July 30, 2013. Photo by Chuck Kennedy