Syria's only female minister says lifting of economic sanctions offers hope for recovery

Syria's only female minister says lifting of economic sanctions offers hope for recovery

DAMASCUS (AP) — The lifting of economic sanctions onSyriawill allow the government to begin work on daunting tasks that include fighting corruption and bringing millions of refugees home, Hind Kabawat, the minister of social affairs and labor, told The Associated Press on Friday. Kabawat is the only woman and the only Christian in the 23-membercabinet formedin March to steer the country during a transitional period after the ouster of former PresidentBashar Assadin a rebel offensive in December. Her portfolio will be one of the most important as the country begins rebuilding after nearly 14 years of civil war. She saidmoves by the U.S. and the European Unionin the past week to at least temporarily lift most of the sanctions that had been imposed on Syria over decades will allow that work to get started. Before, she said, "we would talk, we would make plans, but nothing could happen on the ground because sanctions were holding everything up and restricting our work." With the lifting of sanctions they can now move to "implementation." One of the first programs the new government is planning to launch is "temporary schools" for the children of refugees and internally displaced people returning to their home areas. Kabawat said that it will take time for the easing of sanctions to show effects on the ground, particularly since unwinding some of the financial restrictions will involve complicated bureaucracy. "We are going step by step," she said. "We are not saying that anything is easy -- we have many challenges — but we can't be pessimistic. We need to be optimistic." The new government's vision is "that we don't want either food baskets or tents after five years," Kabawat said, referring to the country's dependence on humanitarian aid and many displacement camps. That may be an ambitious target, given that 90% of the country's population currently lives below the poverty line, according to theUnited Nations. Thecivil warthat began in 2011 also displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million people. The U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that about half a million havereturned to Syriasince Assad was ousted. But the dire economic situation and battered infrastructure have also dissuaded many refugees from coming back. The widespread poverty also fed into a culture of public corruption that developed in the Assad era, including solicitation of bribes by public employees and shakedowns by security forces at checkpoints. Syria's new rulers have pledged to end the corruption, but they face an uphill battle. Public employees make salaries far below the cost of living, and the new government has so far been unable to make good on a promise to hike public sector wages by 400%. "How can I fight corruption if the monthly salary is $40 and that is not enough to buy food for 10 days?" Kabawat asked. Women and minorities The country's new rulers, led by PresidentAhmad al-Sharaa— the former head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a Sunni Islamist insurgent group that spearheaded the offensive against Assad — have been under scrutiny by western countries over the treatment of Syrian women and religious minorities. In March, clashes between government security forces and pro-Assad armed groups spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks onmembers of the Alawite sectto which Assad belongs. Hundreds ofcivilians were killed. The government formed a committee to investigate the attacks, which has not yet reported its findings. Many also criticized the transitional government as giving only token representation to women and minorities. Apart from Kabawat, the cabinet includes only one member each from the Druze and Alawite sects and one Kurd. "Everywhere I travel… the first and last question is, 'What is the situation of the minorities?'" Kabawat said. "I can understand the worries of the West about the minorities, but they should also be worried about Syrian men and women as a whole." She said the international community's priority should be to help Syria to build its economy and avoid the country falling into "chaos." 'Rebuilding our institutions' Despite being the only woman in the cabinet, Kabawat said "now there is a greater opportunity for women" than under Assad and that "today there is no committee being formed that does not have women in it." "Syrian women have suffered a lot in these 14 years and worked in all areas," she said. "All Syrian men and women need to have a role in rebuilding our institutions." She called for those wary of al-Sharaa to give him a chance. While the West has warmed to the new president -- particularly after his recenthigh-profile meetingwith U.S.President Donald Trump— others have not forgotten that he fought against U.S. forces in Iraq after the invasion of 2003 or that his HTS group was formed as an offshoot of al-Qaida, although it later cut ties. "People used to call (Nelson) Mandela a terrorist, and then he became the first leader among those who freed South Africa, and after that suddenly he was no longer a terrorist," Kabawat said. She urged skeptics to "give us the same chance that you gave to South Africa."

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Syria's only female minister says lifting of economic sanctions offers hope for recovery

Syria's only female minister says lifting of economic sanctions offers hope for recovery DAMASCUS (AP) — The lifting of economic sanctio...

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Musk said he was chainsawing government spending. It was more like a trim

Musk said he was chainsawing government spending. It was more like a trim

By Brad Heath, Jason Lange, Andy Sullivan, Grant Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Elon Musk once famously wielded a chainsaw on stage in a theatrical demonstration of his effort to drastically cut U.S. federal spending under President Donald Trump. As he leaves government, official data shows he achieved something closer to a trim with scissors. In the four months since Musk's Department of Government Efficiency began slashing federal spending and staffing, a handful of the agencies he has targeted trimmed their combined spending by about $19 billion compared with the same period last year, according to U.S. Treasury Department summaries reviewed by Reuters. That is far below Musk's initial goal of $2 trillion in savings and amounts to about a half of 1% of total spending by the federal government. Musk said on Wednesday he is leaving the administration but that its cost-cutting work will "only strengthen over time." It remains to be seen, however, how enthusiastically Trump's cabinet secretaries will continue to downsize their departments. DOGE says it pulled the plug on more than 26,000 federal grants and contracts that are worth about $73 billion, while more than 260,000 government workers have been bought out, taken early retirement or been fired. But the DOGE tallies have been riddled with errors, according to reviews by numerous budget experts and media outlets, including Reuters. That has made them difficult to verify, and some of the announced cuts are not saving the government any money because judges have reversed or stalled them. That leaves the Treasury Department's daily reports on how much the government is spending as the clearest window into the scope of the administration's cost-cutting. The view they offer so far is modest: The government has spent about $250 billion more during the first months of Trump's administration than it did during the same period of time last year, a 10% increase. And even some parts of the government Trump has cut the most deeply are, for now at least, spending more money than they did last year. One big factor driving costs is largely outside Trump's immediate control: interest payments on the United States' growing pile of debt, which amount to about $1 in every $7 the federal government spends. Debt interest payments are up about 22% from a year ago. Spending on Social Security, the safety-net program for the elderly and disabled, totaled about $500 billion since Trump's inauguration, up 10% from a year earlier. To be sure, the view offered by the Treasury Department's daily reports is incomplete. Many of the cuts DOGE has made to the federal workforce, grants and contracting will reduce what the government will spend in the future but do not show up in its checkbook today. For example, while thousands of workers have taken buyouts, the government will continue to pay their wages until October. So far, the Labor Department has estimated there were only about 26,000 fewer people on federal payrolls in April than were on the books in January, after adjusting the figures for typical seasonal swings. Tallying savings from future cuts, however, is seldom straightforward. "It could be that in the future we never replace these workers and we save billions of dollars, or it could be that they come back and it's even more expensive than before," said Martha Gimbel, executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan budget analysis organization at Yale University. The White House declined to offer an explanation for DOGE's figures. Spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement that "DOGE is working at record speed to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, producing historic savings for the American people." Reuters estimated the administration's impact by tallying outlays at agencies that had been targeted for cuts and whose spending had dropped from the same time last year. Among the agencies hardest hit are the Department of Education, State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other independent agencies. Rachel Snyderman, an expert on fiscal policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the spending declines at agencies could be reversed if the Trump administration doesn't get congressional approval to cancel outlays from this year's federal budget, as required by law. AN $11 BILLION EDUCATION CUT The most obvious sign that the Trump administration is making a dent in federal spending is in the Education Department, which Trump has ordered shut down. The administration cut the department's staff by about half in March. DOGE's website lists 311 Education Department grants and contracts it says it has eliminated for a savings of about $1.6 billion, though it is not clear how it arrived at those figures. Some cuts have not stuck. A federal judge in March ordered the administration to restore some of the grants it had cut, and another judge this month ordered it to rehire 1,400 workers. Still, the Education Department under Trump has spent close to $11 billion less than it did over the same period last year, the Treasury reports show, far more than what DOGE says it has cut. One reason could be that layoffs have made it harder for the government to process payments for special education and low-income schools. School districts that have sued over the cuts alleged that states were already experiencing slowdowns in receiving money. Another factor for the reduced outlays: The department has stopped handing out the $4.4 billion that remains to be distributed from the hundreds of billions of dollars approved in previous years to help schools weather the COVID-19 crisis. The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment. OTHER AREAS DOGE HAS CUT Other agencies targeted in Trump's overhaul are also starting to show declines in their spending compared with the same time last year. Spending is down about $350 million at the CDC and about $1 billion at the National Institutes of Health. The Trump administration has moved to slash spending across those agencies, cancelling grants and ending leases for office space. The Department of Health and Human Services has reported terminating close to 2,000 grants that planned to disperse more than $20 billion. Many of the grants were to boost labs that fight new infectious diseases, or to fund state mental health programs. Some $14 billion of the grant money had already been spent prior to the termination, with roughly $7 billion effectively frozen, according to a Reuters analysis of the government's tallies. The administration has effectively dismantled USAID, which handled most U.S. foreign assistance, firing nearly all of the agency's employees and cancelling most of its humanitarian aid and health programs, though federal courts have forced the government to continue making some payments. USAID spending is down about 40%, to about $4.6 billion, from last year. Spending at the State Department – where DOGE says it has cut nearly $1 billion in grants and contracts – is also down about 20% from 2024. WHY WE CAN'T KNOW MORE Measuring the impact of the administration's actions is difficult because many cuts will not yield savings for months or years even as spending elsewhere increases. Spending on federal employee salaries, for example, is up by more than $3 billion under Trump. Some of the grants and contracts DOGE cut were due to be paid out over several years, and many remain the subject of lawsuits that will determine whether they can be cut at all. DOGE says it has saved taxpayers $175 billion, but the details it has posted on its website, where it gives the only public accounting of those changes, add up to less than half of that figure. It says the figure includes workforce cuts, interest savings and other measures it has not itemized. It is also hard to know exactly how much the government would have spent if the administration had not started cutting. (Reporting by Brad Heath, Jason Lange and Andy Sullivan in Washington and Grant Smith in New York, Editing by Ross Colvin and Matthew Lewis)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Musk said he was chainsawing government spending. It was more like a trim

Musk said he was chainsawing government spending. It was more like a trim By Brad Heath, Jason Lange, Andy Sullivan, Grant Smith WASHINGTON ...

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Trump Cracks Down on Chinese International Students: What to Know

Trump Cracks Down on Chinese International Students: What to Know

People hold up signs during the Harvard Students for Freedom rally in support of international students at the Harvard University campus in Boston, Mass., on May 27, 2025. Credit - Rick Friedman—AFP/Getty Images "Economists don't like tariffs not only because of the tariff itself but because of the uncertainty it creates," Fangzhou Jiang, a Chinese student at Harvard Kennedy School and co-founder of higher education consulting firm Crimson Education, tells TIME. "It's the same situation." The uncertainty Jiang is dealing with is his education: while his student visa has so far not been affected, thechanging situationaround Harvard's enrollment authorization and now new restrictions on Chinese students have made it difficult to navigate decisions around things like housing for the next academic year. Secretary of State Marco RubiosaidWednesday the U.S. would start "aggressively" revoking Chinese student visas and "enhance scrutiny" of applications from mainland China and Hong Kong. Rubio gave sparse details on what exactly the criteria would be but said it would include "those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields." China on Thursday condemned the decision, calling it "discriminatory." "The U.S. decision … seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China, and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. China firmly opposes it and has protested to the U.S. over the decision,"saidChinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. "This politically motivated and discriminatory move exposes the U.S. hypocrisy over freedom and openness. It will further damage the image and reputation of the U.S. itself." The U.S. move comes at a time when the Trump Administration has imposedrestrictions on the sales of chip design softwareandsome jet engine partsto China, and soon after it warned that the sale of Huawei semiconductors "anywhere in the world" would violate U.S. export controls—prompting China tothreaten legal action. It's also come amid the Administration's war on U.S. colleges, which has included slashing federal funding for a number of universities and an attempt tobar Harvard University from enrolling international studentsover the school's alleged noncompliance with a list of demands. The decision was celebrated by some. Ashley Moody, a Republican Senator from Florida,postedon X, "the U.S. is no longer in the business of importing espionage." Moodyintroduceda bill in March to ban all Chinese students from the U.S. Others, however, condemned the move. "The wholesale revocation of student visas based on national origin—and without an investigation—is xenophobic and wrong," the Democratic-led Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucuspostedon X. "Turning these students away—many of whom simply wish to learn in a free and democratic society—is not just shortsighted but a betrayal of our values." This policy "doesn't come from nowhere," says David Weeks, co-founder and chief operating officer of Sunrise International, a consulting firm that advises overseas universities on recruiting Chinese students. "You have adverse policies tracing back all the way to" President Donald Trump's first term, Weeks says. In 2020, Trump's first-term Administration implemented Proclamation 10043, arestrictive visa policyon Chinese graduate students and researchers with ties to China's "military-civil" universities. Around 1,000 Chinese scholars had their visasrevokedunder the policy, which persisted under the Biden Administration. The new restrictions may appear more expansive, but it's "a lot of chest thumping," Weeks says, adding that without further details, it doesn't appear to be substantively different from what's been in place for the last five years. "It's almost domestic political posturing. There's folks in the State Department that may want to seem tough on China, but this idea of limiting visas for students pursuing critical fields is nothing new." The ambiguity around the new policy and other recent decisions has thrown some Chinese students into a precarious position. The main change is that the criteria has been expanded from alleged military ties to ties to the CCP—but in effect, Weeks says, this will be logistically difficult to implement. A huge number of Chinese citizens have ties to the CCP: the party boasts a membership ofaround 100 million members, and even if someone isn't a member, it's likely they can be linked through someone they know who is. But people join forreasons beyond direct political involvement. "To be a civil servant or work in a state enterprise, it's almost obligatory to be in the party," one membertoldAFP. "It's like a diploma. It opens doors." On top of that, "essentially every department of every Chinese university has a dual system of governance, where you've got the dean and you have the Communist Party Secretary," Weeks says. Students may have also joined the Communist Youth League at some point, but it's almost akin to joining the Boy Scouts, he adds. "The party is omnipresent in many Chinese universities," Weeks says, but that doesn't mean that students are actively politically involved. "The effort to try to disentangle and identify who has a party affiliation is practically extremely difficult." If it's about national security, Jiang says, then it "might not be the most effective move" to go after anyone with apparent affiliations with the CCP because "you would have targeted a whole bunch of people that have nothing to do with politics or with national security matters." "There's a possibility that students could be vindictively targeted, especially if they're at a university like Harvard that's picked a fight with the Administration," Weeks says. "There's certainly a risk that we could have a McCarthyist sort of sweep." Chinese students account for nearly a quarter—or more than 277,000—of all international students in the U.S., the second highest nationality behind Indian students, according to a2024 Open Doors report. Many of these students are "financially pretty self-sustaining," Weeks says, which can be a significant contribution to university revenue. Chinese students also tend to have strong backgrounds in STEM and are typically highly academically motivated, he adds. They can be "a critical lifeline for some programs." "There's just no market that is as big and as wealthy and as academically prepared as China," Weeks says. Right now, among Chinese students and their families, there's concern, Weeks says, but not yet panic. U.S. universities have long held a "tremendous amount of soft power," he adds. "In China, there's still a perception that certain other countries are easy, because they don't have as selective of admissions processes as the U.S. does, the degrees are shorter and thus less rigorous." Many U.S. universities, even non-elite ones, have a kind of brand recognition among Chinese employers, while job opportunities in large American cities are "unparalleled." Chinese families have also watched Trump's other policies go on rollercoasters, including imposing heavy tariffs on China and the rest of the world beforebacking out. "I think Chinese families are seeing that there's sometimes a lot of noise and bluster, then the final outcome is not ideal," says Weeks, "but it's certainly not apocalyptic either." Still, if punitive policies towards Chinese international students persist, students may turn to alternative destinations, experts say. Read More:These Asian Universities Are Seeking to Attract Harvard Transfers as Trump Targets International Students "Chinese parents view this environment as one of toxic uncertainty," Weeks says. "Chinese parents really gravitate towards the rule of law in a lot of these anglophone countries, so when they see that the rule of law in some places is under threat, that's deeply concerning to them." The Trump Administration's attitude towards Chinese students is a far cry from the counterpart view of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has for years advocated for more American students to come to China. Xi in 2023 launched an initiative to bring in 50,000 Americans for exchanges and studies over five years. Last year, 16,000 Americansparticipated. "There's recognition that when you don't have people-to-people exchanges, you lose an important bulwark against populist rhetoric on both sides," Weeks says. "China thinks that we need more, not less, exchange if we have disagreements." On Wednesday evening, the same day that Rubio announced the decision, Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng touted people-to-people exchanges as foundational to U.S.-China relations. "It is people-to-people ties that invigorate China-U.S. relations," he said at his embassy. "We warmly welcome all American friends to travel in China, shop in China, succeed in China and take part in Chinese modernisation. Come and see the country with your own eyes." Jiang says when he thinks of his peers, friends, and faculty members, he feels very welcome in the U.S. But these moves by the Administration have spotlighted rhetoric that makes him feel less accepted. Some experts say the Administration's decision will lead to an erosion of trust between the two countries, which could ultimately impact trade negotiations—a key priority for the Trump Administration. "This policy is an unfair treatment of Chinese citizens, which will intensify diplomatic tensions between China and the United States, undermining the easing atmosphere that had emerged following the Geneva talks," Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Centre for International Security and Strategy,toldtheSouth China Morning Post, referencing the agreement between the U.S. and China totemporarily lower tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a ThursdayFox News interviewthat trade talks with China are "a bit stalled" and pushed for a call between Trump and Xi—who last spoke in January ahead of Trump's inauguration. "I think China has made it clear that it would like to disentangle security disagreements and trade … from people-to-people exchanges," Weeks says. Though he doesn't think the Trump Administration's education policies will ultimately undermine trade negotiations, he adds: "I don't know if Trump or Rubio actually care that much about which student from what province is studying at what U.S. university, but I do think that they see international students unfortunately not as humans, but as bargaining chips." Contact usatletters@time.com.

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Trump Cracks Down on Chinese International Students: What to Know

Trump Cracks Down on Chinese International Students: What to Know People hold up signs during the Harvard Students for Freedom rally in supp...

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US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Iowa's Rep. Zach Nunn for 2026 reelection bid

US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Iowa's Rep. Zach Nunn for 2026 reelection bid

Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan cast the political left as "crazy" and "mean" while he hyped up his colleague, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, at a special meeting of Des Moines' Westside Conservative Club. Jordan, a Republican from Ohio who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, was in Des Moines on Thursday, May 29, supporting Nunn. Nunn is running for reelection to the 3rdCongressional District next year. And the race has begun in earnest as Democrats begin entering the race. Democratic state Reps.Sarah Trone GarriottandJennifer Konfrsthave both announced their candidacies. And national Democrats haveonce again targeted the seat as a prime pickup opportunity. "Thanks for getting off the sidelines and getting in the game," Jordan told the group, which gathered at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale. "I learned a long time ago, good things in life don't just happen. You want to accomplish anything that matters … it takes hard work, it takes sacrifice, but most importantly, it takes a willingness to assume risk." Politics is a risky business, he said, particularly in an age of division. He said the dividing line between the parties currently is one of "common sense." "We're the party of common sense and normal," he said. "You think about the left, it is crazy to defund the police. … It's crazy to not have a border. It is crazy to have men compete against women in sports." He painted Democrats broadly as untrustworthy, pointing to decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic to shut down schools and churches as well as the current conversation about whether former Democratic PresidentJoe Bidenwas mentally fit to serve in office. More:$1,000 to seek asylum? House Republicans propose new immigration fees "The left will tell a lie," Jordan said. "Big media will repeat the lie. Big tech will amplify the lie. And then when you tell the truth, they call you a racist or some other name. They'll attack you. They'll come at you personally because they're mean. Then pretty soon, your position will be proven accurate. So much so, in this example even, Jake Tapper wrote a book to say we were right." Tapper is the co-author of a bookthat suggests aides and confidantes close to Biden shielded him from the public to hide his declining mental state. Nunn said he had recently spoken to Republican PresidentDonald Trumpabout the importance of Iowa's congressional races in the coming midterm elections. "We were just on a conversation with the President, and he said, 'You know what, everybody looks to Iowa, and they might be looking at presidential races coming up in 2028,'" Nunn said. "But the President said, 'I am laser focused on 2026.'" Nunn again touted the tax cut and spending package that recently cleared the House of Representatives. "It adds 10,000 new ICE agents," he said. "But at this point, we almost don't even need them, because the president has been so effective, they've stopped coming over themselves." He said he believes there are people who need access to social safety net programs, but he believes the legislation, which makes massive spending cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are for the best. "There are important things that Washington can do for Americans," Nunn said. "I'll be the first to say, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP do help Americans. But they have to be used in a way to help Americans with a hand up, not a handout." Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her atbpfann@dmreg.comor 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register:US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Zach Nunn ahead of 2026 reelection bid

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Iowa's Rep. Zach Nunn for 2026 reelection bid

US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Iowa's Rep. Zach Nunn for 2026 reelection bid Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan cast the political left as "...

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump vowed to 'drop' idea of pardoning kidnapping plotters

Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump vowed to 'drop' idea of pardoning kidnapping plotters

DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in aradio interviewthatPresident Donald Trumphad previously told her in the Oval Office he would not consider pardons for the men convicted of conspiring to kidnap her — a position he veered from this week, when he told reporters gathered in the White House that he would "take a look at it." Whitmer, speaking with Michigan Public Radio Network reporter Rick Pluta at the Detroit Regional Chamber Conference on Mackinac Island, said not condemning political violence "does a disservice to everyone." "I'll be honest with you, I talked to the president about a month ago and he asked me how I'd feel about this and I said I think it would be the wrong decision, I would oppose it, and he said 'Okay, I'll drop it,'" Whitmer said in an interview for the Michigan Public Radio Network thataired May 29. "Now we see this revelation. So, I'm not sure how to process it." Whitmer added she would be reaching out to Trump, a Republican, over the weekend. She previously visited the Oval Office and earned Trump'ssupport for a new fighter mission at SelfridgeAir National Guard Base, as well as for a facility designed to prevent invasive carp speciesfrom entering the Great Lakes. Trump praised Whitmer, a Democrat, during the April visit, saying: "She's really been doing an excellent job." Whitmer, who typically meets one-on-one with reporters at the conference, declined an interview request from the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, through her office. Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on May 28, told reporters he was considering a pardon for the convicted plotters. In Aug. 2022, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer in 2020 after being disgruntled with her government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I'll be honest with you," Trump said, of a potential pardon. "It looked to me like some people said some stupid things. You know, they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things." Whitmer noted the July assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, saying leaders must condemn political violence regardless of party. "I will just point out that when the man shot at the president when he was on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, I was one of the first officeholders on either side of the aisle to condemn it," Whitmer told Pluta. "Because anything short of condemnation creates a dangerous space for people that are sworn an oath to do the work of the public. We don't take up arms and harm one another. And so, I'm going to make my thoughts on this known to the White House again. And I hope that it's not an action that they take." During a Q&A session on the stage of the Mackinac Policy Conference, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Tricia Keith asked Whitmer about the possibility of the Trump pardons. "Oh, what are you talking about?" Whitmer said. But after injecting some humor, she became serious. "No one should hesitate to condemn political violence," Whitmer said, adding that she hopes Trump doesn't follow through on the pardons he floated. Fox received a 16-year prison sentence, while Croft received a 19-year sentence after being convicted of an additional weapons charge. Both are currently serving their sentences at a maximum security federal prison in Colorado. In April, a U.S. 6th Circuit of Appeals panel denied their request for a new trial. Whitmer had previously condemned the kidnapping plot and called the convictions of Fox and Croft proof "that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable." In total, 14 men were charged for their involvement with the plot. Prosecutors had mixed success across federal and state courts, landing nine convictions while five men were acquitted across state and federal courts. Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press:Gretchen Whitmer says Trump promised not to pardon kidnapping plotters

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump vowed to 'drop' idea of pardoning kidnapping plotters

Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump vowed to 'drop' idea of pardoning kidnapping plotters DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said...

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Kristi Noem's FEMA moves and 7th grader wins Scripps spelling bee: Morning Rundown

Kristi Noem's FEMA moves and 7th grader wins Scripps spelling bee: Morning Rundown

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly moves bolster FEMA ahead of hurricane season. Donald Trump's tariffs on international trade partners are allowed to continue, for now. And the skulls of 19 Black Americans are returned after 150 years. Here's what to know today. With the U.S. expected to face an above-average hurricane season this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is quietly pushing to keep key employees in place and to approve reimbursements to states previously hit by disaster, sources familiar with the situation said. The behind-the-scenes moves are a contrast to Noem's public calls for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to be reoriented or done away with altogether. They echoed of President Donald Trump's suggestion earlier this year to possibly "get rid of" the agency. Last week, Noem approved a request from newly installed acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson to retain 2,652 employees part of an on-call response/recovery group whose terms had been set to expire between April and December. Their departures would have left FEMA without a large number of key employees during hurricane season. Still, the departures of a large number of FEMA's senior executives, largely voluntarily, has raised concerns about its ability to respond during hurricane season. The White House suddenly approved disaster recovery reimbursement requests from 10 states last week, including some that had been stalled for months, according to FEMA disaster approval data. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign uphereto get it in your inbox. Sources said Noem has taken an outsized role compared with previous secretaries in pushing the White House to support FEMA and reimburse states. In the past, the White House has generally approved disaster reimbursements to states, and the Homeland Security secretary has largely functioned as a rubber stamp. A DHS spokesperson denied the conflict between Noem and Trump, insisting Noem is carrying out Trump's vision for FEMA "to shift it away from a bloated, DC-centric bureaucracy." Read the full story here. Trumpis set to hold a media eventtoday with Elon Musk as the DOGE head concludes his tenure as a "special government employee." Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with Trump yesterday amid the president's pressure campaign to slash interest rates. Powell said monetary decisionswould be based solely on "non-political analysis." The Trump administration has a new deportation strategy:arresting immigrants at courthouses. A federal judgeextended a temporary orderblocking the Trump administration's revocation of Harvard University's ability to enroll international students. It's not unusual for governors to run for the Senate. It's much less common for senators to eye the governor's mansion in their home state. But this election cycle could potentially seesomething that hasn't happened in modern history. A federal appeals court temporarily paused rulings by a panel of trade court judges that halted several of President Donald Trump's tariffs on international trading partners "until further notice." The ruling yesterday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit came after the Trump administration challenged a Wednesday judgement from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which found that a decades-old law the president cited in many of his tariff-related executive orders were invalid. Among the tariffs affected were a 10% universal baseline tariff, 20% duties on Chinese goods over its alleged failures to combat fentanyl traffickingand more. Trump praised the appeals court's pause and took aim at the lower court's three-judge panel, one of whom was appointed by the president in 2019. Earlier Thursday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a ruling similar to the trade court's, finding a number of Trump's tariffs "unlawful." However, that decision only affected a pair of educational toy makers who filed suit.Read the full story here. Some financial analysts have taken to using an acronym to Trump's on-again, off-again tariff moves — TACO, or "Trump always chickens out."Here are 10 timesthe president has threatened, then backtracked on them. British comedian and actor Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges of rape and multiple counts of sex assault at a London court. The 49-year-old showed up at the Southwark Crown Court this morning accompanied by his lawyer, Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky, who successfully defended the actor Kevin Spacey against sex assault allegations in 2023. Brand, who stood up as the charges were read out to him, pleaded not guilty on counts of rape, oral rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. Prosecutors agreed to the confirmed trial date of June 3, 2026, with pre-trial review expected to be held in May of that year.Read the full story here. "Éclaircissement" was the winning word, but for Faizan Zaki, it spelled success. The 13-year-old seventh grader from Dallas was crowned the champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on the competition's 100th anniversary, just a year after coming in second place on the big stage. The winning word, in case you were wondering, means the clearing up of something obscure. Zaki's victory wasn't without a bump in the road in the final round, when three contestants were left, and all three got their words wrong. The three contestants competed again — only this time, Zaki prevailed.Read the full story here. A new Covid variant has landed in the U.S. and has the potential to drive up cases this summer.Here's what to knowabout NB.1.8.1. Prosecutors retrying Karen Read in the death of her police officer boyfriend in 2022 rested their case this week,with a few notable changesfrom her first trial. A woman identified only by the pseudonym "Mia"gave graphic testimonyin Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal trial alleging he sexually assaulted her when she worked as his personal assistant. Comedian (and now, licensed commercial pilot) Nathan Fieldercalled the FAA "dumb"for rejecting his findings on what causes many plane crashes. Dad boys for life: Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrenceare now in-lawsafter Murphy's son and Lawrence's daughter "ran off and got married." In 1872, the heads of 19 deceased Black Americans were severed and shipped to Germany for racially biased "research." It wasn't until about a week ago that the skulls were returned to New Orleans to finally be honored with a memorial service. In a powerful piece, reporter Curtis Brunn speaks to members of Dillard University, one of two historically Black universities in the city,about the significance of such an event. They shared themes of justice, remembrance and restoring honor to those who had their dignity stripped. The story both confronts a dark chapter in history and offers a slice of hope as the victims return home. As one person put it, the ceremony is a day of "reckoning and renewal."—Kayla Hayempour, platforms intern Posture correctorscan be life-changing if they're used correctly. Here are what factors to consider when shopping for one. Plus,rice serumsare a multitasking skincare ingredient, thanks to its concentrated nutrients and minerals, according to dermatologists. Sign up to The Selectionnewsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week. Thanks for reading today's Morning Rundown. Today's newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson. If you're a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign uphere.

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Kristi Noem's FEMA moves and 7th grader wins Scripps spelling bee: Morning Rundown

Kristi Noem's FEMA moves and 7th grader wins Scripps spelling bee: Morning Rundown Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly moves...

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Live updates: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 14, medics say

Live updates: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 14, medics say

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal after giving it an initial cool response. President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week aboutbrokering an agreementthat could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive. Experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade of Gaza —slightly eased in recent days— has pushed the population of roughly 2 million Palestiniansto the brink of famine. Israel's war in Gaza has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, mostlywomen and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead. Here's the latest: Families of hostages plead with Netanyahu Families of hostages held in Gaza are pleading with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that any agreement to end the war must include the freedom of all the hostages. There are 58 hostages left in Gaza, of whom Israel believes approximately a third are still alive. Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano, whose body is being held in Gaza, was among the family members who met with Netanyahu on Thursday. She said the news that only 10 hostages and several bodies would be released had once again plunged the families into indescribable uncertainty. "It's again a selection, you know, all the families, we are right now standing and thinking, is it going to be my son? Isn't it? What will be after part of them will come, what will be with the rest?" Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday, while Hamas has had a cooler response. "If they (Hamas) want guarantees, we will give them guarantees that after the last hostages will back to Israel, we will stop the war," Samerano said. "I'm telling you, Netanyahu, say yes. All our countries say yes, the families say yes. All the families, when we are saying, stop the world and give us the hostages back." At least 14 dead in Gaza strikes, medics say Hospital officials and paramedics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 people and wounded others. Officials at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza said the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two people as well as nine others who were wounded were taken to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. It said one of the wounded is a doctor who works at the same hospital. Hamas reviewing a new ceasefire proposal Hamas said Friday it was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal. The White House said Thursday that Israel accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas officials, however, gave the draft a cool response, saying that it seeks to perpetuate Israel's policies of killing and starving people in Gaza. Still, the group said it was going to thoroughly review it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war until all the hostages are released and Hamas is either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu undergoes a routine colonoscopy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy on Friday morning in Jerusalem, his office said. The office did not provide further information about whether Netanyahu was moderately sedated or under general anesthesia for the procedure. Netanyahu, 75, underwentsuccessful surgery in Decemberto have his prostate removed. Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader, as he manages multiple crises including thewar in Gazaand histrial for alleged corruption, despite a series of recent health setbacks.

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Live updates: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 14, medics say

Live updates: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 14, medics say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in the Gaza Strip, hospit...

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US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports

US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports

(Reuters) -U.S. federal authorities are investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said Wiles had told associates that some of her cellphone contacts had been hacked, allowing the impersonator to access private phone numbers. The incident affected her personal phone, not her government phone, the report said. The Journal reported that in recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other figures received messages and calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles, citing the people familiar with the messages. The White House and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials, Reuters reported recently. And late last year, a White House official said the U.S. believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of "very senior" American political figures. As Wiles is a key Trump lieutenant and a lynchpin of the White House's operation, the content of her personal phone would be of extraordinary interest to a range of foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile actors. Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by U.S. authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Wiles, some of which were eventually published. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Raphael Satter; Editing by Michael Perry and Sonali Paul)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports

US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports (Reuters) -U.S. federal authorities are investigating an effort to i...

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White House grapples with whiplash legal rulings hitting heart of Trump’s economic agenda

White House grapples with whiplash legal rulings hitting heart of Trump's economic agenda

For a White House that has grown accustomed to a rollercoaster of legal rulings, judicial decisions over the past day throwingPresident Donald Trump'stariff plans into question landed like a bombshell. The rulings– which strike at the heart of Trump's economic agenda – represent far more of a threat to his priorities, White House officials said, than many other court opinions over the last four months since Trump returned to office. And perhaps no fight will prove as consequential to the president's agenda — at home and abroad — as the effort now underway by Trump and his administration to rescue his tariff policy after it was imperiled by a relatively obscure tribunal this week. The day after the US Court of International Trade — a panel housed in a boxy glass building in Lower Manhattan —ruled Trump lacked the authorityto apply the sweeping sky-high tariffs under federal emergency powers, the president and his team quickly moved to have the ruling frozen. The administration blasted the Wednesday night decision, which was reached by a three-judge panel appointed by Trump, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. Trump's team was successful; by Thursday afternoon, a federal appeals court in Washington had preserved the tariffs on an administrative basis, buying the White House time. In the interim, there wasa scramble inside the White Houseto both identify other authorities that would allow Trump to move ahead with the stiff new duties and to swiftly petition the courts to pause enforcement. Back-up options could prove cumbersome. Many of the alternative routes would involve lengthy investigations or require approval from Congress, where support for tariffs — even among some Republicans — is lukewarm. "We're not planning to pursue those right now because we're very, very confident that this really is incorrect," Trump's top economist Kevin Hassett said early Thursday in a Fox Business interview, before affirming later in the day what other White House officials had been saying: that Trump's team was exploring all its options. "Heaven forbid, if it ever did have trouble in the future, we've got so many other options on the table that the president's policy is going to be there," he told reporters in the White House driveway. Still, it seemed evident that Trump's advisers believed the courts would provide the best resource, even if there was little certainty at how judges will ultimately rule. "We will respond forcefully, and we think we have a very good case with respect to this," Trump's hawkish trade adviser Peter Navarro said following the stay decision. The whiplash rulings — which joined a string of on-again, off-again tariff moves orchestrated by Trump himself — only seemed to emphasize the degree of chaos that continues to color Trump's trade agenda. The tariffs were restored only temporarily, leaving foreign trade partners and investors in a state of limbo at least until June 9, the date by which the Justice Department must respond to those challenging the duties. The ultimate fate of Trump's prized tariffs, both a lynchpin of his wider economic agenda and the motivating force of his foreign policy, has now been thrust into deep uncertainty. And the prospects of the roughly 18 trade deals that the administration has said are being negotiated under threat of withering new tariffs — including three in their final stages, according to White House officials — now appear unclear. The legal and trade fights, which are now fully intertwined, present one of the biggest challenges yet for the administration – further complicated by urgent efforts to push the Senate to advance its budget and tax bill. Taken together, Trump faces a multi-front battle that could well define his presidency. Trump lashed out at the judiciary in a lengthy Thursday evening Truth Social post, taking aim at the three judges from the Court of International Trade. "How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of 'TRUMP?' What other reason could it be?" Hours earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had struck a similar tone, attacking "unelected judges" ahead of the stay decision. "America cannot function if President Trump, or any president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges." Trump remained behind closed doors Thursday, but did hold a meeting with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, whom he has sharply criticized for not lowering interest rates. Powell has also expressed concern Trump's tariffs could lead to higher inflation and lower economic growth. The president's long-standing belief in tariffs has not been shaken, officials said, despite the series of legal, political and economic setbacks. While Trump has repeatedly argued that tariffs will make the United States wealthy, the counterargument that import taxes will be paid by consumers has made his sales pitch far more difficult. And businesses are begging for a sense of certainty and a consistent policy. It was a coalition of small business owners and 12 states that challenged the legality of the Trump tariffs before the US Court of International Trade. "We brought this case because the Constitution doesn't give any president unchecked authority to upend the economy," Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement. "We're very confident in our case," said Jeffrey Schwab, a senior counselor at the Liberty Justice Center, which represented the small business owners who filed suit. "The Trump administration is asserting a vast unilateral authority that is not supported in the law." As for the uncertainty abroad, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued Thursday night that trade negotiations with international partners haven't been affected. "They are coming to us in good faith and trying to complete the deals before the 90-day pause ends," he told Fox News. "We've seen no change in their attitude in the past 48 hours. As a matter of fact, I have a very large Japanese delegation coming to my office first thing tomorrow morning." But some US trading partners tread cautiously in their response. "We will study this ruling of the US Federal Courts on reciprocal tariffs closely and note that they may be subject to further legal processes through the courts," said Australia's trade minister Don Farrell, who was careful not to get ahead of ongoing judicial review. "You will have to bear with us," said a spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs when questioned about the court ruling. India remains in intensive discussions with the Trump administration on a trade deal. Still, the leader of one nation that has borne the brunt of Trump's trade agenda was more receptive. "The government welcomes yesterday's decision," Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, who helda stiffly cordial meetingwith Trump earlier this month, told his country's parliament, calling the tariffs "unlawful as well as unjustified." For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

White House grapples with whiplash legal rulings hitting heart of Trump’s economic agenda

White House grapples with whiplash legal rulings hitting heart of Trump's economic agenda For a White House that has grown accustomed to...

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Analysis-Mexico hopes early review of USMCA can end uncertainty, revive flagging investment

Analysis-Mexico hopes early review of USMCA can end uncertainty, revive flagging investment

By Emily Green MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Falling investment, slowing growth, and the changing whims of U.S. President Donald Trump have led Mexico to support an early review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, a sharp U-turn on its previous plan to hold off for as long as possible. Three Mexican officials told Reuters the shift was due in part to the need to gain some longer-term certainty around the country's trade relationship with its largest export market. But they said it was also key that Trump appeared to want an earlier review, because the U.S. president holds better cards and trying to keep on his good side has been a core Mexican strategy that has shown positive results. Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said this week he expects the review's "formal start" to begin as soon as September, despite being scheduled in the agreement for 2026. It is clear that Trump has more leverage, said Juan Carlos Baker, Mexico's former chief negotiator for USMCA. "If he believes Mexico is not playing ball, you might be risking he will one day show up and announce the U.S. is exiting the agreement altogether," he said. Mexico is looking for any clarity it can find. The uncertainty over trade rules has already impacted its economy. Foreign direct investment in the first quarter of the year fell 21% compared to the same period last year, according to figures from Mexico's Central Bank. Some of that may be related to business community jitters about Mexico's judicial reform. Still, uncertainty over tariffs has played a significant role. On Wednesday, the central bank cut its GDP forecast for this year to just 0.1%. The International Monetary Fund prediction is even worse at -0.3%. "Uncertainty kills investment," said Emilio Romano, president of Mexico's Bankers Association, noting that 40% of Mexico's GDP is U.S.-dependent. Mexico's reliance on the U.S. makes the USMCA negotiations almost existential to the country's economy and a huge priority for Sheinbaum. Over 80% of total Mexican goods exports go to the U.S. and free trade with its northern neighbor drove Mexico to overtake China as the U.S.'s top trading partner and turned it into one of the world's largest auto manufacturers. Mexican officials are worried enough about angering Trump that they have held off signing an updated trade agreement with the European Union for fear it could jeopardize trade talks with the U.S., according to one European official. UNRELIABLE NEGOTIATIONS Mexico had originally wanted to wait as long as possible before opening talks on USMCA, so it could first resolve bilateral issues like the tariffs imposed due to fentanyl trafficking and migration, and so U.S. consumers would begin to feel inflationary pressures from Trump's tariffs. That approach tallies with Canada's, with Prime Minister Mark Carney saying this week he wanted to make progress on bilateral issues with the U.S. before opening talks on USMCA. Amid the uncertainty, Ebrard and his deputy Luis Rosendo Gutierrez have for months been almost constantly shuttling between Mexico and Washington, to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a billionaire investor, and Jamieson Greer, a former Air Force officer who is Trump's top trade official. "It's important to be in Washington just to take care of any issues that can come suddenly to the table. And it's important to be present," said a Mexican official familiar with the negotiations. "We are taking care of our place in relative terms with other countries." But negotiations with the Trump administration can be unreliable. In April, as the screwworm parasitic fly threatened to decimate Mexico's billion-dollar cattle market, officials reached an agreement that the U.S. would not close its border to livestock in exchange for Mexico doing more to fight the pest. Just 11 days later, the U.S. abruptly shut the border anyway, catching frustrated Mexican officials flat-footed. The question mark hovering over USMCA's future has overshadowed victories by Mexico's negotiating team, including convincing the Trump administration to suspend tariffs on USMCA-compliant auto parts. "We left intensive care. Now we are in intermediate care," said Francisco Gonzalez, executive director of Mexico's National Auto Parts Association. Until the USMCA review is complete, he said new investment is "pretty much suspended, basically on standby." (Reporting by Emily Green; additional reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by David Gregorio)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Analysis-Mexico hopes early review of USMCA can end uncertainty, revive flagging investment

Analysis-Mexico hopes early review of USMCA can end uncertainty, revive flagging investment By Emily Green MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Falling in...

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Wall Street futures down as Trump's tariffs stay put after latest court ruling

Wall Street futures down as Trump's tariffs stay put after latest court ruling

(Reuters) -Wall Street futures slipped on Friday, as investors took stock of an appeals court decision to undo a prior ruling that had blocked most of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, heading into the last trading day of a solid month for equities. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on pace for their best monthly showing since November 2023, while the Dow is also set for a near 4% monthly advance. Stocks have seen immense volatility this month on Trump's on-and-off tariff moves, though the S&P 500 has rebounded from its April low and now sits about 4% lower from its all-time high hit in February. U.S. equities had initially rallied on Thursday when the Court of International Trade ruled late on Wednesday to effectively block most levies imposed since January, but did not address some industry-specific tariffs. However, a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily reinstated most of the tariffs and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9. "This week's courtroom drama has added another layer of uncertainty to what was already an unsettling series of events," Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said in a morning note. Hopes of more trade deals between the U.S. and major trading partners, along with upbeat earnings and tame inflation data, have been some of the main drivers of gains in equities this month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that U.S. trade talks with China are "a bit stalled" and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At 5:14 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 31 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 8.5 points, or 0.14% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 36.5 points, or 0.17%. Most megacap and growth stocks inched lower in premarket trading, with Nvidia off 0.7% after gaining in the last session on reporting robust quarterly revenue growth. Chipmaker Marvell Technology shed 3.9% despite forecasting second-quarter revenue above estimates. Ulta Beauty gained 8.6% after the cosmetics retailer raised its annual profit forecast after beating quarterly results. Zscaler advanced 3.2% as the cloud security firm raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts and named Kevin Rubin as its chief financial officer. Later in the day, the Personal Consumption Expenditure data - the Fed's favored inflation indicator - is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, which could shed more light on the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory. Trump called Fed Chair Jerome Powell to the White House late on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting since he took office in January and told the central bank chief he was making a "mistake" by not lowering interest rates. Traders currently see at least two 25 basis points of cuts by the end of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG. (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Wall Street futures down as Trump's tariffs stay put after latest court ruling

Wall Street futures down as Trump's tariffs stay put after latest court ruling (Reuters) -Wall Street futures slipped on Friday, as inve...

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Daily Briefing: Trade whiplash

Daily Briefing: Trade whiplash

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'mNicole Fallert. Ask a friendif they can spell"éclaircissement." An appeals court allowed President Donald Trumpto keep tariffswhile an appeal plays out. Former government workersare running for public office— and winning. A Swiss glacier collapsedin a dramatic displayof the impact of climate change. The Trump administration won temporary reprieve Thursday after an appeals court ruled the White House can keep up tariffs while challenging a court order that had blocked them. Trade whiplash: The quick reversal came a day after the United States Court of International Trade invalidated Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose tariffs. The administration quickly appealed and won a short-term break.Trump attacked the judges who blocked his tariffs, a ruling later temporarily paused on appeal, and blamed a conservative legal group for giving him bad advice on judicial picks. No tariff on Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog:Adding to the mix, a second federal court blocked Trump tariffs Thursday — this time for Illinois companies that import Spike, among other kids' toys. White House officials have vowed to keep pressing the issue in court.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the Trump administration expects the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the issue. Itir Cole tried to take some time off after quitting her job with the federal government early in the Trump administration. Then her husband mentioned offhand that there was an open seat on her New Jersey town's governing body. No one else like her was running, so she did — and won her mid-May race by 49 votes. Cole is among a flood of federal workers looking to run for public office.Many say they want to continue serving Americansafter leaving the government either voluntarily or through mass layoffs, as Trump dramatically downsizes the federal workforce. As the summer months approach,lightning activitywill soon ramp up. Tariffs and AIhave altered the job marketfor 2025 grads. Heavy smoke is expected to hit the U.S.as dangerous Canadian wildfiresforce evacuations. The White House blamed"formatting" for errors in RFK Jr.'s MAHA report.Authors pushed back. Public housing failed miserably in Chicago.Why is the city now opening a housing museum? What's the weather today?Check your local forecast here. A Boston federal judge said at a hearing Thursday that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction that blocks the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll foreign exchange students. The comments from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs came as the Trump administration attempted to walk back its May 22 directive that immediately revoked Harvard's participation in a federal exchange student program.Students from around the worldattended commencementat the Ivy League on the same day as the hearing. America's birth rate has been on a steady decline since 2007, and pronatalists − both in and outside the White House − are determined to raise it. But when partners struggle to conceive, the burden is rarely distributed evenly between men and women. Fertility experts say we're missing a key component of the conversation – male infertility. Experts say male and female infertility factors often coexist, yet a high number of men do not undergo testing before their female partner begins IVF.Advocates saycharacterizing fertility solely as a woman's issueis part of a "broader cultural misunderstanding." Exploring the gulfbetweenMartin Luther King Jr. and Donald Trumpin a divided nation. Beyoncéfulfilled a fan's requestwith an onstage gender reveal. The internet has thoughtsabout Sydney Sweeney's bathwater. Paige DeSorbois sippinga Dunkin' pink refresher. Who is "Mia"?Why you won't see photosof Diddy's ex-personal assistant during trial. Air traffic controller staffing has been a major issue for the Federal Aviation Administration for years. As a result, it's been a major issue for travelers, too, even if it's not always as top of mind for the average passenger when there are delays. According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the FAA is short about 3,000 air traffic controllers nationwide, but those shortages aren't spread evenly throughout the system.This map showsthe disparity between staffing in different facilities across the country. Reuters reports that 90% of Blatten, Switzerland, is engulfed by ice, mud and rock after a glacier collapsed on a nearby mountain.These photos capturehow the disaster unfolded. Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY,sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump, tariff, trade, economy, federal workers, Harvard, fertility, FAA, air traffic control, Diddy: Daily Briefing

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Daily Briefing: Trade whiplash

Daily Briefing: Trade whiplash Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'mNicole Fallert. Ask a friendif they can spell"éclaircissement." An appe...

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Who Is Leonard Leo and Why Did Trump Call Him a ‘Sleazebag’?

Who Is Leonard Leo and Why Did Trump Call Him a 'Sleazebag'?

Leonard Leo, co-chariman of the Federalist Society board of directors, speaks at the University of Cambridge in England on March 11, 2025.
Credit - Nordin Catic/Getty Images for The Cambridge Union "A real 'sleazebag'" and "bad person." Someone who "probably hates America." The latest target of Donald Trump's insults, however, is the very same whom he once credited with what he would later call "one of the greatest achievements" of his presidency. "We're going to have great judges, conservative, all picked by the Federalist Society," Trump promised during his first campaign in 2016. It was the result of a meeting in March 2016 with Leonard Leo, then the executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that advocates for legaloriginalism. True to his promise, Trump would go on to consult Leo for judicial nominations, including his three Supreme Court picks. Read More:Inside Trump's Plan to Dramatically Reshape U.S. Courts[From 2018] "What we're doing with the courts, I think, is going to go down as one of the greatest achievements," Trump said during his first term. But on Thursday, Trump had changed his tune. "I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges," hepostedon his social media platform Truth Social. "I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real 'sleazebag' named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions. He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court—I hope that is not so, and don't believe it is! In any event, Leo left The Federalist Society to do his own 'thing.' I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten! With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others." Trump's rant came after a federal three-judge panelruledthat he didn't have the authority to impose most of the tariffs he'd announced so far in his second term, a key part of his economic agenda and promise to bringmanufacturing jobsback to America. Leo, in response, offered a less combative response. "I'm very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved," he said ina statement. "There's more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it's ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump's most important legacy." Here's what to know about Leo and the Federalist Society—and their falling out with Trump. Founded in 1982by a group of law school studentsas a pro-originalism organization for law students, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies has been describedas"the single most influential advocacy organization in Washington." The organization—which counts over 90,000 lawyers, law students, scholars, and others among its members—describes itselfas "a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order." But that puts it mildly: the organization, especially under Leo's leadership, has been credited with creating a "pipeline," utilizing its vast network, for conservative law students to make their way into positions of influence—ideally, all the way up to the Supreme Court. A2023 studyshowed that, in the current confirmation process, a judicial nominee's affiliation with the Federalist Society increased the probability of a successful Senate confirmation by around 20%. In 2021, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D, R.I.)flaggedthat 86% of Trump's Supreme Court or appellate court nominees were or are members of the group. Six of the nine sitting Supreme Court justices—Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—are linked to the Federalist Society, particularly through Leo. ProPublicadescribed the Federalist Society as part of "a machine that remade the American legal system." It described Leo as the man who "built" that machine. The conservative legal activist joined the Federalist Society in 1989, when he started a student chapter of the organization while studying law in Cornell. For many years, he served as executive vice president of the organization until he stepped back in 2020, though he remains co-chair of its board of directors. Leo's most significant and long-lasting impact is probably his work related to the makeup of the Supreme Court. In 1990, before he even began officially working for the Federalist Society, as a 25-year-old clerk for a U.S. Court of Appeals judge in Washington, he met then-appellate judge Thomas, whom he befriended and helped through his Supreme Court confirmation in 1991. During the George W. Bush Administration, Leo organized efforts to lobby for the nominations of Roberts and Alito. And during Trump's first term, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett were all selected from a list reportedly "personally curated" by Leo. But the Federalist Society isn't the only powerful organization Leo has championed. "The network of increasingly influential conservative groups that Leonard A. Leo has helped to create and shape is not easily defined or quantified," theNew York Timesreportedin 2022. Many of those groups have funding sources that have been difficult to trace and have funnelled billions of dollars to conservative causes,including groupsthat had been preparing for Trump's second term. Politicoreported that the relationship between Leo and Trump became strained when the three conservative justices Trump appointed to the Supreme Court on Leo's advice "did not intervene to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election." Leo, however, has generally refrained from publicly criticizing Trump—and the Federalist Society has reportedly appeared "ambivalent" about Trump's second-term Administration so far, compared to itsenthusiasmduring his first—though Trump's tariffs appear to be a major breaking point. In April, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a group affiliated with Leo,mounteda legal challenge against levies imposed on Chinese imports,arguingthat the President misapplied the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) cited to order the tariffs. While that case remains ongoing, the U.S. Court of International Trade found that Trump misused the same presidential authority in aruling this weekon separate tariff cases. Trump'ssocial-media outburstagainst the judges on that court and against Leo and the Federalist Society came as his Administration has increasingly challenged the authority of the judicial branch torein in his powers. Still, the President may be relying on Leo's greatest accomplishment to ultimately push his agenda through. "Hopefully," Trump added in his social media post, "the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY." Contact usatletters@time.com.

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Who Is Leonard Leo and Why Did Trump Call Him a ‘Sleazebag’?

Who Is Leonard Leo and Why Did Trump Call Him a 'Sleazebag'? Leonard Leo, co-chariman of the Federalist Society board of directors, ...

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A growing number of lawmakers are looking to ditch Washington for the governor's mansion

A growing number of lawmakers are looking to ditch Washington for the governor's mansion

WASHINGTON — It's not unusual for popular, term-limited governors to try to keep their political careers going by running for the Senate. It's much less common for senators to eye the governor's mansion in their home states. But this election cycle could potentially see three sitting senators running for governor — something that hasn't happened in modern history. GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, opted against seeking a second Senate term and launched his 2026bid for Alabama governorTuesday. That came after Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who has served in the Senate for 16 years and briefly ran for president in 2020,announced his gubernatorial campaignlast month. And in Tennessee, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn has said she isseriously consideringa bid for governor. Plus, on the other side of the Capitol, there are at least a dozen current members of the House who are already running or weighing a run for governor. For members of Congress, trading the partisan gridlock of Washington — and the status of being one of 100, or one of 435 — for the top executive post in their home states can prove extremely alluring. "Being in the Senate is an honor, and it's a good job, it's important. But I just think anybody you talk to who's been a governor and a senator is going to tell you, being governor is really the best job," said Republican Sen. John Hoeven, who served as North Dakota governor from 2000 to 2010 before winning a Senate seat. "You're the CEO. You set your agenda. You can work to effectuate it," he added. "For all those reasons, I think that's why people, given a choice, would want that job first." In making his announcement onFox Newsthis week, Tuberville said the best way he can help Alabama — and the country — is from the governor's mansion. "I'm a football coach. I'm a leader. I'm a builder. I'm a recruiter, and we're going to grow Alabama," Tuberville said. "We're going to bring manufacturing to the state. We're going to stop this illegal immigration. We're going to make education better again, and we're going to do everything possible to make sure our kids — when they graduate in this great state, the Yellowhammer State — that they stay in this state and work." Historically, it's been much more common for sitting or former governors to run for the Senate, in part because governors often face term limits. According to ananalysis by the political site Ballotpedia, 54 governors or ex-governors have run for the Senate since 1986. Senators only face re-election every six years and are not bound by term limits. There are currently a dozen sitting senators who have served as governors of their states: Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both New Hampshire Democrats; Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Virginia Democrats; John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Angus King, I-Maine; Jim Justice, R-W.V.; Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Jim Risch, R-Idaho; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; and Hoeven of North Dakota. Informally, they make up a former governors club, a bipartisan group that periodically gets together for dinner. "There's a camaraderie there, no question," Hoeven said. "By nature, governors are more bipartisan because you got to work with your legislators to get something done. You got to work with both sides." He described serving in the Senate as being in a roomful of lawyers, while being governor is like being CEO of a company. "As a senator — Republican or Democrat — you're more of an advocate for your point of view, whereas as governor, you've got to bring people together," Hoeven said. By contrast, just more than a dozen sitting or former senators have run for governor since 1986, Ballotpedia found. In 2024, then-Sen. Mike Braun, a Republican and former business executive, successfully ran for governor in Indiana, while former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, another Republican, won the governor's race in New Hampshire. And in 2018, two former senators ran for governor: Republican Mike DeWine, a Republican, won in Ohio, while Democrat Mark Begich lost in Alaska. In 2015, then-Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, lost the governor's race in Louisiana. The last time there were at least three current or former senators running for governor was 2010, with then-Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and former Sens. Lincoln Chafee, I-R.I., and Mark Dayton, D-Minn., all winning their races. Then-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, lost her gubernatorial primary to incumbent Rick Perry that year. Eric Ostermeier, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota, cited several factors that might explain why more governors tend to run for Senate, rather than the other way around. Most plainly, he said, there are twice as many senators as there are governors, giving politicians more chances to get elected to the Senate than to a governor's mansion. Additionally, it may be easier for governors to successfully run for Senate because they've spent their careers focused on local and state-level politics, and tend to be popular. Those who've spent their political careers in Washington may be more polarizing to voters. "Once a politician is elected to D.C., it can be much more challenging for that senator, for example, to shed their association with the national party," Ostermeier said. "It's more difficult to come back home and run for governor with clean partisan hands or, or [to] present yourself as a type of Democrat [or Republican] that is different than the national party." Ostermeier pointed to two former governors-turned-senators — Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who was once governor of Massachusetts, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat who served West Virginia as governor and later in the Senate — as figures who tried to buck their party in the Senate and were often met with criticism. Manchin, who at the tail end of his careerleft the Democratic Partyand registered as an independent, once quippedto GQin a 2018 interview: "My worst day as governor was better than my best day as senator." But governors often make prime recruits for Senate campaigns. Even this year, Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp'sdecision not to runfor Senate was seen as a blow to his party's chances of winning a competitive Senate race next year. And Democrats areholding out hopethat former Gov. Roy Cooper and current Gov. Janet Mills will enter Senate races in North Carolina and Maine, respectively. According to Ostermeier's analysis, since 2000, there have been eight U.S. senators who later went on to be elected governor, while 20 governors went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate. And, he added, of the 12 senators since 1990 who have gone on to win gubernatorial races in their states, half of them have had a break between the end of their Senate terms and the start of their gubernatorial campaigns. It's "like a cooling off period," Ostermeier said. "They were able to disassociate themselves" from their national party. The House has proven to be a much more common springboard to the governor's mansion, and that's been no exception this election cycle. Two New Jersey Democrats, Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, are competing in next month'sgubernatorial primaryin the state. In the other major 2025 race this fall, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the Democrats' de facto nominee in Virginia. A bevy of sitting House members have already launched 2026 campaigns for governor, includingReps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa; Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.; and John James, R-Mich. And several more on considering gubernatorial bids, such asReps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.;Michael Lawler, R-N.Y.;Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; John Rose, R-Tenn.; and Tom Tiffany, R-Wis. "I've never met a former governor who doesn't miss being a governor," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who briefly looked at a possible gubernatorial bid last year after incumbent Doug Burgum said he wouldn't seek re-election. A House member, Republican Kelly Armstrong, ended up winning. Unlike members of Congress, Cramer said, governors don't have to hop on planes or trains to Washington each week and can spend more time with their families. "You can sleep in your own bed every night," he said.

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

A growing number of lawmakers are looking to ditch Washington for the governor's mansion

A growing number of lawmakers are looking to ditch Washington for the governor's mansion WASHINGTON — It's not unusual for popular, ...

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EU trade chief says he held another call with US's Lutnick

EU trade chief says he held another call with US's Lutnick

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday that he had held another call with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as the EU and the United States continue efforts to reach a deal on tariffs. "Another call with U.S. Secretary @howardlutnick. Our time and effort fully invested, as delivering forward-looking solutions remains a top EU priority. Staying in permanent contact," wrote Sefcovic on X. The EU wants to see an end to 25% tariffs on steel and cars and for Trump to drop his so-called "reciprocal" tariff, which was provisionally set at 20% for the EU but is being held at 10% during a 90-day pause until July. Sefcovic said earlier this week in Dubai that the European Commission was in talks with Washington on possible cooperation in sectors such as aerospace, steel, semiconductors and critical minerals. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Tomasz Janowski)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

EU trade chief says he held another call with US's Lutnick

EU trade chief says he held another call with US's Lutnick BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on ...

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Chinese students face anxious wait for visas under US crackdown

Chinese students face anxious wait for visas under US crackdown

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -Caught in the middle of Washington's renewed visa crackdown on Chinese international students, Beijing postgraduate Lainey is anxiously waiting to resume the visa process to study a PhD at her dream school, the University of California. "We feel helpless and unable to do anything," said the 24-year-old sociology student, who declined to give her surname for privacy reasons. "The situation in North America this year is not very good. From applying for my PhD until now, this series of visa policies is not very favourable to us. But we have no choice but to wait." The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it would not tolerate the "exploitation" of American universities or theft of U.S. research and intellectual property by Beijing. Spokesperson Tammy Bruce did not elaborate on how many Chinese students would be affected by a new plan announced on Wednesday to "aggressively" revoke visas. The visa crackdown is the latest in a series of moves targeting the international student community, especially Chinese nationals, who make up roughly 1 in 4 of all international students in the U.S., as the Trump administration pursues its hardline immigration agenda. If applied to a broad segment of the 277,000 Chinese students already at U.S. colleges, the visa revocations could disrupt a major source of income for universities and a crucial pipeline of talent for U.S. technology companies. Chinese students make up 16% of all graduate science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students in the United States. DEFER ENROLMENT? The announcement on Chinese student visa holders came after the Trump administration ordered its missions worldwide to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants. If the visa appointment system is not resumed soon, Lainey wishes to defer enrolment for a year. "Although everyone says the U.S. admissions system may be biased against Chinese students, in reality U.S. schools are indeed the top in terms of academic quality," she said. "I may also consider (applying to) some places outside the U.S., such as Europe, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore." The measures are a sign of the increasing spillover from a bruising trade war between the two global superpowers, and threaten to derail a fragile truce reached mid-May in Geneva. A Friday editorial by China's state-owned Global Times newspaper said the new visa measures raised "the spectre of McCarthyism" and likened them to an "educational witch-hunt". "In recent years, the suppression of Chinese students has increasingly become an important part of the U.S. strategy to contain China," the commentary said. Potentially even more damaging than the immediate economic impact for the U.S. could be a long-term erosion of the appeal of U.S. universities and the subsequent brain drain. International students - 54% of them from India and China - contributed more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. "If I really have to wait until 2026 to reapply, I might not have such positive feelings towards America," said Lainey. "If I can't even get a visa, then I'd have no choice but to go somewhere else." (Reporting by Laurie Chen; Additional reporting by Tiffany Le; editing by Sophie Walker)

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Chinese students face anxious wait for visas under US crackdown

Chinese students face anxious wait for visas under US crackdown By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -Caught in the middle of Washington's ...

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U.S.-China trade talks 'a bit stalled' and need Trump and Xi to weigh in, Bessent says

U.S.-China trade talks 'a bit stalled' and need Trump and Xi to weigh in, Bessent says

BEIJING — U.S.-China trade talks "are a bit stalled," requiring the two countries' leaders to speak directly, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenttold Fox Newsin an interview Thursday local time. "I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks," he said, adding that there may be a call between the two countries' leaders "at some point." South Korea's Hybe opens China office amid hopes of a K-pop reversal from Beijing Musk's SpaceX town in Texas warns residents they may lose right to 'continue using' their property Synopsys pulls full-year guidance, citing new China export restrictions After a rapid escalation in trade tensions last month, Bessent helped the world's two largest economies reach abreakthrough agreementin Switzerland on May 12. The countries agreed toroll back recent tariff increases of more than 100%for 90 days, or until mid-August. Diplomatic officials from both sides had acall late last week. Still, the U.S. has pushed ahead withtech restrictionson Beijing, drawing its ire, while China has yet to significantly ease restrictions on rare earths,contrary to Washington's expectations. "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other," Bessent said. "They have a very good relationship and I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President [Donald] Trump makes his [preferences] known." Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last spoke in January, just before the U.S. president was sworn in for his second term. While Trump has in recent weekssaid he would like to speak with Xi, analysts expect China to agree to that only if there is certainty that there will be no surprises from the U.S. during the call. China has maintained communication with the U.S. since the agreement in Switzerland, Chinese Ministry of Commerce Spokesperson He Yongqian told reporters at a regular briefing Thursday. But regarding chip export controls, she said that "China again urges the U.S. to immediately correct its wrong practices ... and together safeguard the consensus reached at high-level talks in Geneva." That's according to a CNBC translation of her Mandarin-language remarks. When asked whether China would suspend rare earths export controls announced in early April, He did not respond directly. Restrictions on items that could have both military and civilian applications reflect international practice, as well as China's position of "upholding world peace and regional stability," she said. This week, the Trump administration also announced it would startrevoking visas for Chinese students. "The U.S. decision to revoke Chinese student visas is fully unjustified," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Thursday, according to an official English transcript. "It uses ideology and national security as pretext."

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

U.S.-China trade talks 'a bit stalled' and need Trump and Xi to weigh in, Bessent says

U.S.-China trade talks 'a bit stalled' and need Trump and Xi to weigh in, Bessent says BEIJING — U.S.-China trade talks "are a ...

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Scorecard: How Musk and DOGE could end up costing more than they save

Scorecard: How Musk and DOGE could end up costing more than they save

A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for freehere. Rather than set government straight,Elon Musk is leaving Washingtonwith the federal budget all cattywampus. Deficit spending is increasing, not waning, and there is a growing school of thought that his "efficiency" effort could end up costing the government as much as or more than it saved. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO came to Washington with a cut-till-it-hurts mindset and carte blanche from President Donald Trump. Musk quickly dialed back his campaign-trail bravado of cutting$2 trillionfrom the federal budget, but as recently as aFox News interviewin March, he said that by the time he left government, his Department of Government Efficiency "will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars…." Instead, Musk will leave government work "disappointed" that the Republicans he helped put in power are working to pass a bill that is estimated to addsome $3.8 trillion in deficit spendingand which Trump calls "big" and "beautiful." There's no accounting trick to correct that imbalance. The budget is trillions out of whack, and the shock-and-awe campaign Musk and Trump imposed across the federal workforce has led to some seriousPTSD for federal workersand contractors while claiming only to have saved $175 billion. That's not chump change, but it's not going to radically reform the US government. What's listed on the still-rudimentary DOGE website is also not an accurate reflection of what the group might actually have accomplished. DOGE will live on in the White House, "like Buddhism" without Buddha, Musk has said, andCNN has reportedthat more cuts are planned after his departure. But the pace of DOGE activity has slowed, at least as reflected on its website. Musk's departure is an opportunity to consider whether the Department of Government Efficiency has lived up to its name. CNN's Casey Tolan is among the reporters who have been trying to match what DOGE claims to have saved or cut with what has actually been trimmed. Picking apart the "estimated savings" of $175 billion on the DOGE website, Tolan told me that less than half that figure is backed up with even the most basic documentation. That means it's possible only even to start investigating about $32 billion of savings from terminated contracts, $40 billion of savings from terminated grants and $216 million of savings from terminated leases that DOGE claims. Plus, some of the specific terminations that are included in those numbers have no details at all. And Tolanhas reportedon the fact that DOGE's tally has "been marred by various errors and dubious calculations throughout the entire time they've been releasing this info." Probably not. The figure is based on "161 million individual federal taxpayers," according to the DOGE website, which drastically undercounts taxpayers in the US. That 161 million figure is more likely a reflection of individual tax returns and would not reflect married people who file jointly, according toBetsey Stevenson, a former chief economist at the US Department of Labor during the Obama administration who is now a professor at the University of Michigan. "This distinction is about trying to get that number as large as possible. If instead it was expressed as per American then it would be $514," and only if you assume DOGE has saved $175 billion, which it probably has not, she told me in an email. Workers who generated revenue from the government have been fired, Stevenson points out. For example, staffing cuts at the IRS will mean the US brings in less revenue — but so will operating national parks short-staffed. Plus, a universe of litigation related to DOGE's efforts to cancel contracts and fire workers seemingly without cause is percolating through courts. "In total, estimates suggest that what has been spent to generate these cuts may be as great as the cuts. In the long run, it's not clear that DOGE generated any savings," she said. Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, has estimated in a back-of-the-envelope way that DOGE cuts could end up costing the US $135 billion simply because it will need to retrain and rehire elements of the work force that have been let go. The federal workforce is literally in trauma — something Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, said was an aim of his. Stier estimates the federal workers will be much less productive after DOGE's efforts, for a variety of reasons. Workers are now worried about losing jobs; their morale is depleted; they are distracted from their work; and many top performers are being reassigned or are leaving entirely. In a previous interview, Stier described the DOGE effort to me as "arson of a public asset." We probably can't, according to Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has tried to keep track of DOGE's accounting for its cuts. While Musk has promised maximum transparency, it has been impossible to verify much of what DOGE has said it has done. "We expect the government to show receipts," Malkus told me in a phone interview. "And the receipts that DOGE has shown that are posted publicly are nonetheless woefully inadequate to back their claims," he said. Far from fundamentally changing government, the savings DOGE claims won't actually be realized unless and until Congress, which has the power of the purse in the Constitution, passes a rescission bill to claw back the funding. "So far, we've just canceled contracts," he said. "The money is still spent because Congress spends the money." The DOGE effort has certainly changed the tenor of the conversation around government spending. Its aggressiveness came as a shock to many Americans. "They have shown that they're willing to inflict pain in the pursuit of reducing government expenditures," Malkus said, adding that most Americans think the government spends too much money. "That resolve is something rare and potentially valuable," Malkus said. DOGE also brought in a tech mindset of cutting more than is necessary with the aim of building back, something that could be argued occurred with therehiring of nuclear safety workers, for instance, or the reinstatement of certain contracts. Jessica Tillipman,an expert in government procurement law at George Washington University, is troubled by the idea that the government has gone from being the best business partner to one contractors approach with caution. "The government's not acting like a good business partner right now," Tillipman said. "They're squeezing contracts that have been fairly negotiated between the government and contractors." It's always possible DOGE could end up reforming government in positive ways, but the evidence is not yet there, Tillipman said. "What have we seen? You require everybody to come back to work and you don't have office space," she said as one example. "You have people doing work that they're not trained to do. You have talent drains," Tillipman said, pointing out that most of the government firings so far were among recently hired workers often brought on with a particular expertise. "Half the training programs for the government have been canceled, so these pipelines that the government spent decades working on to make sure that there's a steady supply and the government's an attractive place for high-quality talent have gone away." The long-term effect of those changes will not be clear for some time. "There's a long way to go before this is going to actually shift the way agencies work," Malkus said. "It just takes longer than four months." Stevenson pointed out that despite everything DOGE claimed to do, government outlays are on track to rise by 9% in 2025 compared with 2024. That's because Americans are living longer and drawing more from programs like Medicare and Social Security. It's those programs that are driving the deficit and debt, not the discretionary spending Musk targeted. "Chainsaws and bluster can't solve the yawning gap between revenue and spending that has led American debt to rise to unsustainable levels," Stevenson said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byDan Dunne

in

May 30, 2025

Scorecard: How Musk and DOGE could end up costing more than they save

Scorecard: How Musk and DOGE could end up costing more than they save A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter....

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