The Note: The Rift Widens

— -- NOTABLES

--GROWING NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS WON'T BACK TRUMP: Hewlett-Packard CEO and prominent Republican donor Meg Whitman announced this week that she will vote for Hillary Clinton in November. And last night Air Force vet and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, made it official in an interview with CNN: He will not be supporting Donald Trump either. Whitman and Kinzinger add their voices to a growing chorus of those on the right who are voting across the aisle, abstaining from voting, or leaving the party rather than vote for the Republican nominee. Here is a running roll call of Republicans who fit one of those categories, compiled by ABC’s JENNIFER HANSLER, ADAM KELSEY and LINDSEY JACOBSON: http://abcn.ws/2b3KQoE

--WHY TRUMP AND CLINTON ARE CAMPAIGNING IN MAINE AND NEBRASKA: They aren’t your classic battleground states, but that isn’t stopping Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from campaigning there. Both major party presidential contenders are spending time in Maine and Nebraska this election cycle in an effort to pick off just one single electoral vote from their competition. So how does this work and why might this be a good (or not-so-good) strategy for the presidential nominees? Here’s what you need to know about why Trump and Clinton are paying close attention to Maine and Nebraska, courtesy of ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: http://abcn.ws/2aUuJO5

--CLINTON CAMP NOT PLANNING FOREIGN TRIP: In the past two election cycles, presidential nominees have embarked on campaign trips overseas to gain international exposure and show off their foreign policy chops. But this year, don’t get any hopes up for a photo-op of Hillary Clinton at the Western Wall in Jerusalem or shaking hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Clinton campaign has now all but ruled out the possibility of the Democratic presidential candidate and former secretary of state taking a foreign trip between now and Election Day in November, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports: http://abcn.ws/2axoD3E

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’S RICK KLEIN: Donald Trump’s post-convention days have been spent feuding with families of fallen service members, Paul Ryan, John McCain, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Reince Priebus, his own staff, a crying baby and — almost as an afterthought — President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. His behavior is not surprising to anyone who has watched the campaign unfold. If Trump is a counterpuncher, as he likes to say, he’s one who doesn’t know when to stop hitting. But events of the last 72 hours have shaken confidence in his campaign at the highest levels of the Republican Party. They are now posing an existential challenge to a party that has been riven by divisions despite the natural unity that should come with opposing the Clintons. http://abcn.ws/2aODhot

TODAY ON ‘GMA’: MANAFORT ACKNOWLEDGES 'CONFLICT' WITHIN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN OVER PAUL RYAN ENDORSEMENT. Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort acknowledged that "there's a conflict within the Trump campaign" over the GOP presidential nominee's hesitation to endorse Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan for reelection. But Manafort insisted that the two are "very good friends." "Of course he's trying to bridge the party with Paul Ryan," Manafort told GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on "Good Morning America." "But Paul Ryan is running against someone who's not going to win but is a strong supporter of Mr. Trump." More from ABC’s MORGAN WINSOR: http://abcn.ws/2anHR95

YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s JENNIFER HANSLER and ADAM KELSEY

CLINTON HITS TRUMP FOR OUTSOURCING HIS TIES. On a visit to a tie company in Denver yesterday, Hillary Clinton said Donald Trump doesn't do enough to ensure products bearing his name are made in the United States, ABC’s ADAM KELSEY notes. “I really would like him to explain why he paid Chinese workers to make Trump ties....” said Clinton, holding a red Donald Trump-branded necktie. She then reached for another tie patterned with her campaign’s logo. “... Instead of deciding to make those ties right here in Colorado with a company like Knotty,” Clinton continued. Clinton’s visit to the Knotty Tie Company comes a little less than a week after she addressed the same issue during her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, specifically mentioning that Trump could’ve made his ties in Colorado.  http://abcn.ws/2aUOg0M

TRUMP BRINGS OUT PURPLE HEART AND CHECK FROM GOLD STAR FAMILY. Last night, Donald Trump once again touted a Purple Heart he received from a veteran at one of his rallies -- despite generating controversy by saying he "always wanted" one and that it was "much easier" to get one of the medals, for being wounded in combat, that way. He also showed the crowd in Jacksonville, Fla. a check he said he received from a Gold Star family, days after tangling with the parents of a fallen Muslim soldier, Capt. Humayun Khan. At the start of the rally, the GOP presidential candidate took out the Purple Heart -- which he debuted at a rally in Ashburn, Virginia, earlier this week -- to a roar of approval from supporters who gathered at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Area. "It's one of the most beautiful things that I've ever received," Trump said. More from ABC’s DAVID CAPLAN: http://abcn.ws/2azgOej

TRUMP CALLS CLINTON 'FOUNDER OF ISIS'. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump yesterday claimed his policies could have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attack and said Hillary Clinton was the "founder of ISIS." "Those people that knocked down the World Trade Center most likely, under the Trump policy, wouldn’t have been here to knock down the World Trade Center," Trump said, referring to his contentious "Muslim Ban." The remarks were one of a series of comments Trump made while addressing past controversies at a rally in Daytona Beach, ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI, CANDACE SMITH and JENNIFER HANSLER write. The GOP nominee also took aim at his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, suggesting that ISIS give her "an award" because she was "the founder of ISIS." Trump also said it would be "embarrassing" to lose to her. "Wouldn’t that be embarrassing to lose to crooked Hillary Clinton?" Trump said. "That would be terrible." http://abcn.ws/2ayuRAA

GINGRICH: TRUMP MAKING HIMSELF 'MORE UNACCEPTABLE' THAN CLINTON. Newt Gingrich, one of Donald Trump's most ardent supporters and once rumored to be on his vice-presidential short list, said in an interview Wednesday that Trump was "proving he is more unacceptable" than Hillary Clinton, ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS reports. “The current race is which of these two is the more unacceptable, because right now neither of them is acceptable,” Gingrich told the Washington Post, predicting Trump only has a matter of weeks to reverse course. “Trump is helping her to win the election by proving he is more unacceptable that she is.” http://abcn.ws/2aJv03u

CARSON SAYS KHAN FAMILY SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO TRUMP. Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson said yesterday that the parents of fallen soldier Capt. Humayun Khan should apologize to Donald Trump for their comments made in an emotional case against the real estate mogul’s candidacy at the Democratic National Convention. “I don’t think it would be harmful if they apologized to him and he apologized to them, but I don’t see that happening,” Carson told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer when asked if Trump should apologize to the family. “Well, for one thing, if you accuse someone of something that’s not true, it usually is a reasonable thing to acknowledge that.” More from ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS: http://abcn.ws/2am5LBP

PENCE BREAKS WITH TRUMP: 'I STRONGLY SUPPORT' PAUL RYAN. A day after Donald Trump declined to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan in his upcoming primary election in Wisconsin, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, broke with the Republican presidential nominee by offering his own endorsement. “I strongly support Paul Ryan, strongly endorse his re-election,” Pence said in a phone interview on Fox News yesterday. “He’s a longtime friend. He’s a strong conservative leader. I believe we need Paul Ryan in leadership.” Trump told The Washington Post in an interview published on Tuesday, “I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I’m just not quite there yet. I’m not quite there yet.” More from ABC’s ADAM KELSEY and INES DELACUETARA: http://abcn.ws/2atCeaW

WHO’S TWEETING?

@GeraldFSeib: Want a great summary of where the Republican party stands? @JohnFeehery has one for you here: http://on.wsj.com/2aNTmdy  via @WSJPolitics

@TomBeaumont: @AP FACT CHECK: Trump wrong on "ransom" Iran payment. $400m from 1970s-era arms sale. @APDiploWriter @bklapperAP

@JesseFFerguson: Gotta point this one out... In FOX poll, HRC leads Trump on doing better job "Preserving and protecting the Constitution" (49-42)

@robertblizzard: Watching this Libertarian Town Hall, and in the current political climate, Gary Johnson and Bill Weld certainly are refreshing and authentic

@Nate_Cohn: The Upshot forecast gives Clinton a 75% chance of winning the presidency--basically where it's been for a while now.