Good morning from the WSJ Washington Bureau.

Trump's Day: The president is back at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.

Breaking: Israel said it would allow Rep. Rashida Tlaib to enter the country to see her grandmother in the West Bank. Yesterday, it had barred her and Rep. Ilhan Omar from visiting.

Hong Kong: Thousands of Chinese paramilitary police have moved into a sports stadium in Shenzhen, less than five miles from restive Hong Kong.

Craig Trial: The trial of Gregory Craig, former Obama White House counsel, over his work for Ukraine promises to shed light on the inner workings of Washington lawyers, public relations firms and journalists.

President Trump's central campaign pitch, a booming economy, could be complicated by developments this week, which have resulted in fresh warnings of a possible impending recession, report Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Ballhaus. The question is whether he can project such optimism through next November.

• How do you think the state of the economy will affect President Trump's re-election chances? Join the conversation.
• U.S. shoppers gave the economy a boost in July—a positive signal for the U.S. economy amid warning signs of a global slowdown.

Several low-polling Democratic candidates are being urged by party leaders to run for the U.S. Senate instead, reports Gabriel T. Rubin. But many Democrats in those states don’t plan on waiting for the dropouts from the presidential campaign trail to define their primaries.

• Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who ended his presidential run on Thursday, said he will give "serious thought" to a Senate run.

A federal judge ordered Georgia to have new voting machines in place in the state by the 2020 primary election in March, or have plans to provide voters with paper ballots, reports Cameron McWhirter.

President Trump made his name on the world’s most famous island. Now he wants to buy Greenland, the world’s biggest, report Vivian Salama, Rebecca Ballhaus, Andrew Restuccia and Michael C. Bender. Mr. Trump has, with varying degrees of seriousness, repeatedly expressed interest in buying the ice-covered autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

• Politicians from Denmark and Greenland responded with skepticism and scorn.
• Some Trump advisers have supported the concept as a good economic play; others dismissed it as a fleeting fascination.

President Trump urged Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday to meet with Hong Kong protesters, arguing such a move would help end the crisis roiling the city. The comments marked Mr. Trump's most direct public intervention in the conflict, reports Andrew Restuccia.

• China renewed its vow to retaliate against the next set of U.S. tariffs. 

The House Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas for testimony from two former Trump aides. The Democratic chairman said Corey Lewandowski and Rick Dearborn were involved in President Trump's effort to impede the Mueller probe, reports Natalie Andrews. 

Many Democrats and Republicans disagree with Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar on Israel, but some of these same lawmakers came to their defense after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred the women from visiting.

For a variety of reasons — defense of members’ prerogatives, political calculation, opposite but genuine notions of what’s best for the U.S.-Israel relationship — critics of Mses. Tlaib and Omar’s stance on Israel backed their right to visit the country.

Israel has since partially walked back its decision. Its Interior Ministry said it would allow Ms. Tlaib to enter the country to visit her grandmother in the West Bank, after she sent a letter to the Interior Ministry overnight promising not to promote a boycott of Israel during the visit and to respect restrictions, the ministry said. Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri called the trip a “humanitarian visit.”

The freshman Democrats, who make up half of the group of lawmakers known as the squad, have drawn criticism for comments about Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. President Trump has attacked them and the Israeli government’s initial decision came amid pressure from him.

“I disagree 100% with Reps. Tlaib & Omar on #Israel,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) wrote on Twitter after Israel's announcement that it would bar both representatives. “But denying them entry into #Israel is a mistake. Being blocked is what they really hoped for all along in order to bolster their attacks against the Jewish state.”

Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who left the GOP this year and has been critical of the president, wrote, “Nobody has to agree with their opinions, but it will inevitably harm U.S.-Israel relations if members of Congress are banned from the country.” Mr. Amash is of part-Palestinian heritage.

Pro-Israel advocacy group American Israel Public Affairs Committee wrote on Twitter, “We disagree with Reps. Omar and Tlaib’s support for the anti-Israel and anti-peace BDS movement, along with Rep. Tlaib’s calls for a one-state solution. We also believe every member of Congress should be able to visit and experience our democratic ally Israel firsthand.”

Rep. Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a strong supporter of Israel, said, “It won’t surprise anybody that I have disagreements with Representative Omar and Tlaib when it comes to Israel. I probably wouldn’t have planned the same trip they did. But as I said to Ambassador Dermer yesterday, it’s a mistake for the Israeli government to bar entry of members of Congress into Israel.”

Some Republicans communicated their support for not allowing them into Israel. “Like many nations, Israel bars enemies from entering Israel. How can anyone disagree with that?” Rep. Mo Brooks (R., Ala.)  wrote on Twitter. Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas) said Mses. Tlaib and Omar could have joined the congressional delegation which recently visited the country “and chose instead to make a political show of their trip.”

Write to Jesse Naranjo at jesse.naranjo@wsj.com

The State Department’s inspector general said high-ranking department officials berated employees over their political views, questioning their loyalty and retaliating against some of them, reports Courtney McBride. 

• State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale said the department had taken action to address management and performance deficiencies and “further discipline will be considered.”
• Some employees said they were accused of being members of the “deep state” and of undermining President Trump’s agenda.

• Voters appear to be more concerned about former Vice President Joe Biden's age than his verbal gaffes. (FiveThirtyEight)
• The initial decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deny entry to two American congresswomen showed he has adopted a re-election strategy of not allowing any daylight between himself and President Trump. (The Atlantic)
• A new poll shows Sen. Elizabeth Warren has moved decisively ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders into second place in the Democratic primary field, behind Joe Biden. (Fox News)

This newsletter is a production of the WSJ Washington bureau. Our newsletter editors are Tim Hanrahan, Kate Milani, Troy McCullough and Daniel Nasaw. Send feedback to capitaljournal@wsj.com. You can follow politics coverage on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on Twitter.