You know, between the rapid pace of news events these days and the ubiquitous proliferation of media outlets, it’s very easy to get so overwhelmed with information that you lose your focus and let your mind drift to meaningless side issues like whether if you continually rewind &#8220;The Housemaid&#8221; so you can watch the Sydney Sweeney sex scene over and over, it will somehow show up on the feed so your wife will find out when she goes to watch one of those movies she likes where none of the women even takes her shirt off so what the hell’s the point.
I’m sorry. What was I talking about?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you can lose your focus — and not even realize that you don’t really understand the issues in play. So now and again, we here at the Daily Wire like to take a moment to try to explain to you some of the important subjects that we ourselves know absolutely nothing about.
For instance, President Trump says the economy is doing great, but polls show that many people disagree. So today we want to try to unpack the principles of economics so you can answer basic questions, like who’s right, who’s wrong, how the hell should I know, and why can’t you people just leave me alone?
Economics is a science, like pinball or craps. The word comes from the Greek root “omics,” meaning “something you read in the newspaper that is so ridiculous it makes you laugh.” That’s the same root that gives us words like “comics,” and “New York Times opinionomics.”
Now, here at The Andrew Klavan Show, we know that some people in our audience are functionally illiterate, but the rest of our audience can only aspire to being functionally illiterate, so in order to explain the principles of economics in the simplest possible way, we’re going to take you through an ordinary day in the life of an economist.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1268-the-andrew-klavan-show?elementPosition=1&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Ordinary economist Wolfgang Startle wakes up a little after 6:00 AM. He opens the shades in time to see the sun cresting the eastern horizon. “Oh my God,” says Wolfgang Startle, “what the hell is that?”
“That’s the sun coming up in the morning,” says Mrs. Startle.
“Wow,” says Wolfgang. “That’s surprising. Yesterday, I predicted that artificial intelligence would cause the moon to turn to blood while the sun refused to shine. So this development is very unexpected.” 
Soon after, Mrs. Startle puts breakfast on the table. “Whoa!” cries Wolfgang Startle. “Are these fried eggs? I did not see that coming.”
“But I make you fried eggs every morning,” says Mrs. Startle.
“Yes,” says Wolfgang. “But last week, I predicted that Donald Trump’s tariffs would drive the price of eggs up way beyond what we can afford, so this is completely unexpected.”
An hour later, Wolfgang Startle arrives at work at the Wall Street Journal, where he’s greeted by his editor, Hyman Panic. “I’m sorry, Wolfgang,” Panic says. “I’m going to have to let you go, because every single prediction you make turns out to be wrong.”
“Well, this comes totally out of the blue for me,“ says Wolfgang Startle. “I predicted that Trump’s anti-immigration policies would cause a minor rise in unemployment&#8230; for some reason&#8230; but now my unemployment is unexpectedly at 100%.”
And just wait till you see how startled Wolfgang Startle is when he gets home, because he did not predict that Mrs. Startle would unexpectedly run off with the guy who writes the horoscope pages for the New York Post, after she discovered that his predictions were more accurate than Wolfgang’s, so he still has a job.
I hope this glimpse into the daily life of an economist has given you a better sense of whether you should believe Donald Trump when he says the economy is great, or your wife when she tells you she had to sell the kids for rent money.
The important thing to remember is that whether you vote for Trump’s Republicans or for the people who want to reduce America to dust while destroying every vestige of our prosperity and freedom, you can never be totally sure about the future, unless you read the horoscope page in the New York Post.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Stressed businessman overwhelmed by work

Economics Is A Science, Like Pinball Or Craps

Andrew Klavan

Donald Trump

Economics

Humor

Satire

I’ve been fortunate to build a career as a working musician in the music industry for more than thirty years now.
Over the course of my career, I’ve experienced the music business from the inside on every level. I&#8217;ve written, produced, and performed chart-topping songs not only for myself, but many other platinum artists.
What I’ve seen is simple: the system isn’t working the way it should for the people who actually perform the music.
Because of a loophole in the law, terrestrial radio has managed to avoid paying artists for the use of their music for more than a century. Today, American performers are being asked to give their work away under outdated rules, while everyone else in the chain gets paid. That imbalance doesn’t just hurt artists — it devalues the very creativity that sustains our culture. When music plays on the radio, songwriters and publishers are paid, but performers receive absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, Big Radio corporations like iHeart, Cumulus, and others pull in nearly $14 billion each year, selling advertising wrapped around the performer&#8217;s talent and work. They’ve built their entire business on the backs of American artists, yet still tell us we should be grateful for the “exposure” that comes from being played on the radio. &#8220;Shut up and be happy that we&#8217;re playing your music! You have no right to the income stream.&#8221; This is their mantra.
Don’t get me wrong: radio has played an important role in my career as a country artist, and I appreciate the foundational place it holds in American music. There’s no better feeling than hearing your song on the radio for the first time. But gratitude for the radio’s role doesn’t mean we should accept a system that only lets one side of the table participate in the success.
As of today, the United States is the only major democracy that does not pay artists when their music is played on terrestrial radio — putting us in league with countries like Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. So would it be fair to say we have a &#8220;Communist business model when it comes to terrestrial radio in America?&#8221;
This question answers itself.
What’s more, many nations that do pay artists are now withholding hundreds of millions of dollars owed to American performers because our own system refuses to recognize their rights. Money that should be coming home to American artists is instead being held overseas.
To me, this issue is just common sense: If you use the music and leverage it to make money for your company, you should pay the artist. That’s how things work in this country. If you work hard, your work deserves to be honored with fair pay. That’s a core American value — AM/FM radio knows this, but they have the benefit of antiquated rules allowing them to take a free ride. 
So they do.
They’ve protected that free ride for decades with armies of lobbyists and political contributions designed to keep the system just the way it has always been. But now, we have a President who understands this fight.
President Trump knows the entertainment business because he’s worked in it, and he has been a true friend to American artists. In 2018, he signed the Music Modernization Act to improve compensation and copyright laws for the digital era. Now, he’s supporting the next step: a bill that will finally ensure artists are paid fairly when their music is played on terrestrial radio.
The American Music Fairness Act, introduced by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the Senate and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) in the House, would require AM/FM radio corporations to start paying performers, just as digital radio already does. Royalties would go directly to artists.
What about the mom and pop stations? Well, small, independent broadcasters would pay only a few hundred dollars a year for unlimited access to music, and Big Radio would finally pay its fair share.
It’s no surprise this bill is already supported by conservative policy groups, more than 300 major recording artists, and community broadcasters alike. In December, Gene Simmons of Kiss testified before the Senate on behalf of the American Music Fairness Act, telling lawmakers, “If you are against this bill, you are un-American.” I believe he’s right.
All of us deserve an America where hard work still matters, and fair pay still means something. Passing the American Music Fairness Act would send that message clearly. It would tell the world that we stand with artists — not with the Big Radio companies that continue to profit by exploiting them.
It’s time for Congress to take action and finally right this ship. No more delays. Send the American Music Fairness Act to President Trump’s desk and deliver a victory for every American who believes that hard work and fair pay go hand in hand.
* * *
John Rich is an American country music songwriter, artist, and producer, best known as one half of the duo Big &amp; Rich.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Editor&#8217;s note: The title of this article has changed.

Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute To Charlie Daniels

The Billion-Dollar Radio Free Ride Faces A Reckoning

Congress

Entertainment

John Rich

Marsha Blackburn

Money

Radio

U.S. Senate

College ed

Why America’s Colleges Are Far More Fragile Than They Appear, Part II

American Universities

College

Education

finance

Ivy League

Student Loans

Students

College decay

Why America’s Colleges Are Far More Fragile Than They Appear, Part I

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was nominating economist Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. 
Warsh, a critic of the current chair Jerome Powell, will need to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump has battled with Powell over interest rates and has even floated firing him. 
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Kevin Warsh to be the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is &#8216;central casting,&#8217; and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!”
Warsh is currently an economist at the Hoover Institution, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a partner at the Duquesne Family Office investment firm.
He was previously an economic policy advisor to President George W. Bush. He became the youngest Fed governor ever at 35 when he was nominated to the board of governors in 2006, a role he served in until 2011.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/the-long-campaign-of-kevin-warsh-e5bd26d6?siteid=yhoof2&amp;gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdRm4kYWggpj1R8e-KL3-W5GGSrzrk8qvYRGFi75VF3a2FY2TDC4cc4OLjNu40%3D&amp;gaa_ts=697ca692&amp;gaa_sig=Kknzr6M6zFvuYJQa1uZKanpbHXZdkVYTZ_KmKd3E2YI43hUqQsdYQY9i8O-plIHPTtP1BAdEV3IAHER_y7HSZA%3D%3D">reported</a> that Warsh played a “crucial behind-the-scenes roles in Washington’s rescue of Wall Street during the financial crisis&#8221; of 2008.
If confirmed, Warsh would take over from Powell when his term as chair ends in May. Trump again <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115978487020569325">ripped</a> into Powell on Thursday for not cutting interest rates, accusing him of damaging the economy and undermining national security. 
Trump on Friday commented on speculation that he would nominate National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. 
“There was great speculation that highly respected Kevin Hassett was going to be named Chairman of the Fed, and a great Chairman he would have been but, quite honestly, he is doing such an outstanding job working with me and my team at the White House, that I just didn’t want to let him go,” Trump wrote soon after announcing the Warsh pick. “Kevin is indescribably good so, as the expression goes, ‘if you can’t do better, don’t try to fix it!’ Thank you Kevin for doing such a great job!”
Trump has battled with the Federal Reserve throughout much of his second term. Earlier this month, the Justice Department launched a criminal probe into Powell over statements he made to the Senate about a costly renovation of the Federal Reserve. The Supreme Court is also considering whether Trump has the authority to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook.

Day Five Of The Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Trump Names Next Fed Chair Pick: ‘He Will Never Let You Down’

Federal Reserve

Jerome Powell

The Trump administration did a victory lap on Wednesday as new data shows America&#8217;s trade deficit with foreign countries plummeting, but multiple economists told The Daily Wire that reducing the trade deficit does nothing to move the U.S. economy in the right direction.
A new report from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. trade deficit decreased by 24% in August as the president&#8217;s tariffs hit countries around the globe. The White House <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1991158360280826034">highlighted</a> the new trade data and said it is &#8220;more proof that President Trump’s trade and economic agenda continues to pay off for the American people.&#8221;
&#8220;As the President’s historic trade deals and pro-growth policies continue to take effect and trillions in investments to make and hire in America continue to materialize, Americans can rest assured that the best is yet to come,&#8221; White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
A trade deficit occurs when a country&#8217;s imports — the products it brings into the country from other nations — exceed its exports — what it ships to other countries to be sold in their markets. Trump has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-to-rectify-trade-practices-that-contribute-to-large-and-persistent-annual-united-states-goods-trade-deficits/">argued</a> that the United States has been unfairly treated by its trading partners, partially due to &#8220;large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits.&#8221;
The data, released by the Commerce Department&#8217;s Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/us-trade-deficit-narrows-sharply-august-imports-fall-2025-11-19/">shows</a> that as Trump&#8217;s tariffs took hold, U.S. imports decreased 5.1%, while exports remained flat. For comparison, U.S. imports rose in July while many of the president&#8217;s tariffs were still in limbo, suggesting that American companies were stocking up on products before the tariffs went into effect. Now, companies are importing fewer products and machinery as they seek to avoid paying high tariffs for their goods, which could be a concerning sign about the future of the U.S. economy, according to Colin Grabow, associate director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute.
&#8220;It was reported that the decline in the trade deficit was more specifically due to U.S. firms reducing their purchases of machinery, industrial supplies, pharmaceutical ingredients, and telecom equipment, and this really speaks to the misplaced obsession some people have with trying to reduce imports or thinking that reduction is a good thing,&#8221; Grabow said. &#8220;These are all imports used in the production of stuff. We take foreign machinery and we put it in American factories and we make stuff. Well, if we&#8217;re importing less of that, it tells me we&#8217;re going to be producing less stuff.&#8221;
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E.J. Antoni, the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, said that while a deficit is usually a negative term when talking about money, a trade deficit can often be a good thing. Antoni argued that trade deficits driven by foreign investments are positive for the United States and have been the norm for most of American history.
&#8220;From even before our nation was founded, before the Revolutionary War all the way through the Gilded Age in the late 19th century, we ran a trade deficit in every single year except for seven years. And of those seven years, in four of them we were at war with Great Britain, so obviously they didn&#8217;t want to trade with us very much, and the other three were banking panics when Americans were basically so poor they couldn&#8217;t afford anything from abroad.&#8221;
Antoni explained that it&#8217;s more important for Americans to look at how and why the trade deficit is shifting, saying it&#8217;s better for a trade deficit to be driven up by foreign investments than for the deficit to come down because the United States sold off revenue-generating assets.
&#8220;When it comes to international trade, much of the assessment of whether things are good or bad for Americans comes down to not just the numbers themselves, but why the numbers are moving in one direction or another,&#8221; Antoni said. &#8220;Again, a trade deficit is not in and of itself bad. It&#8217;s a complete misnomer.&#8221;
Dr. Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in economics at the free-market Pacific Research Institute, told The Daily Wire that he was confused by why the Trump administration was celebrating a decrease in the trade deficit.
&#8220;When we&#8217;re saying the trade deficit is smaller, we&#8217;re simultaneously saying the capital surplus is smaller.&#8221; Winegarden said.
&#8220;Over the last three months, exports have basically stagnated, we&#8217;re not selling any more overseas,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Imports are down, meaning consumers have less access to affordable goods and manufacturers have less access to the materials they need, so I&#8217;m trying to figure out how that&#8217;s a good thing.&#8221;

Photo of Trump: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Illustrated by The Daily Wire

America’s Trade Deficit Is Dropping Thanks To Trump’s Tariffs. Will That Improve The Economy?

Economy

trade

U.S.

President Donald Trump told McDonald&#8217;s franchise owners on Monday night that his 2024 election victory was vital to the U.S. economy, touting his push to lower prices.
Trump opened his <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-speaks-at-the-mcdonalds-impact-summit/669162">remarks</a> at the 2025 McDonald&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-address-mcdonalds-franchise-owners-as-he-focuses-on-driving-down-food-costs?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+To+Address+McDonald%E2%80%99s+Franchise+Owners+As+He+Focuses+On+Driving+Down+Food+Costs">Impact Summit</a>&#8221; in Washington, D.C., by referring to a 2024 campaign stop that helped fuel his election victory, when he handed out orders to customers at a McDonald&#8217;s in Pennsylvania.
&#8220;I&#8217;m honored to stand before you as the very first former McDonald&#8217;s fry cook ever to become president of the United States,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;And I actually was there for about 30 minutes, and that was 30 minutes longer than Kamala [Harris] was there, despite her job at McDonald&#8217;s. That didn&#8217;t work out too well.&#8221;
The summit also featured speeches from Democratic politicians, such as New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The event provided Trump with an opportunity to push forward the administration&#8217;s refocused efforts to address economic issues.
During his speech, Trump argued that under former President Joe Biden, &#8220;Welfare was going up &#8230; government jobs were going up, real jobs were going down.&#8221;
&#8220;You would&#8217;ve had a catastrophe,&#8221; he added. &#8220;You probably would&#8217;ve had a bankrupt country. You are so damn lucky that I won that election, I&#8217;m telling you.&#8221;
Trump acknowledged that &#8220;there&#8217;s still a lot of work to do&#8221; in his effort to boost the economy and help businesses, but argued that America is already in a &#8220;golden age.&#8221;
&#8220;Because we are doing better than we&#8217;ve ever done as a country,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;Prices are coming down and all of that stuff. &#8230; Nobody has done what we&#8217;ve done in terms of pricing. We took over a mess.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;There&#8217;s still a lot of work to do—and we&#8217;re making tremendous progress. 1.9 million more American-born workers are employed today than when I took office&#8230; Wages for hourly workers are rising at the fastest pace in 60 years.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/2Hvu33hnO6">pic.twitter.com/2Hvu33hnO6</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1990564881293324452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The president said that inflation remains one of the issues that his administration would continue to address. Trump said he would like to see inflation drop &#8220;a little bit lower,&#8221; as the White House seeks to address Americans&#8217; lingering economic concerns.
&#8220;We have it down to a low level, but we&#8217;re going to get it a little bit lower. We want perfection,&#8221; Trump said.
Year-over-year <a href="https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm">inflation</a> sits at 3% as of the latest update. It has hovered at fairly low levels — between 2.5% and 3.5% — throughout Trump&#8217;s second term, but Americans continue to see the prices of some food items increase. Ground beef, for example, shot up 13.5% from last year. The prices of imported foods, such as bananas, avocados, and coffee, have also increased due to Trump&#8217;s so-called reciprocal tariffs, which he imposed on nearly every country worldwide.
The Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rolls-back-tariffs-on-dozens-of-food-imports-heres-what-will-be-affected">acknowledged</a> last week that some tariffs on food are negatively affecting Americans and moved to roll back tariffs on numerous food items, including beef, coffee, tea, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and tropical fruits and fruit juices. During his speech on Monday night, however, Trump argued that his tariffs are an overall benefit to the United States.
&#8220;We have over $17 trillion being invested in our country in nine months. It&#8217;s now just about ready to crack $18 [trillion], and by the end of one year, we will have about $20 to $21 trillion invested in our country,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;That&#8217;s more [than] 10 times the highest amount ever invested in any country ever before, and it&#8217;s largely because of tariffs.&#8221;
Trump thanked McDonald&#8217;s for working to lower its prices, but many Americans have complained that the fast-food giant&#8217;s prices have continued to rise. According to The Economist’s “<a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/big-mac-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Mac Index</a>,&#8221; McDonald’s prices have increased in recent months, with the average cost of the chain’s signature Big Mac jumping to $6.01 as of July, which was up from $5.69 at the same time last year. Trump suggested that he would speak at the summit next year if the company gets prices &#8220;down enough.&#8221;
&#8220;And I want to give a very special thanks to McDonald&#8217;s for slashing prices for your most popular items, bringing back extra value meals. And I hear you&#8217;re recommitting to the affordable options of Americans that we really know and love, all of the items that we love,&#8221; Trump said, adding, &#8220;We&#8217;re getting prices down for this country and there&#8217;s no better leader or advocate than McDonald&#8217;s and I believe the next time I&#8217;ll have to be back here again next year if you get them down enough.&#8221;

Trump Touts Economic Record In McDonald’s Speech: ‘You’re So Damn Lucky I Won The Election’

Business

Executive

McDonald’s

As President Donald Trump focuses his energy on bringing food costs back down, he&#8217;s taking his messaging to the people who serve food to millions of Americans for a living each day: McDonald&#8217;s franchise owners, operators, and suppliers.
Trump is set to address an audience of McDonald&#8217;s franchisees in Washington, D.C., on Monday evening as the White House does a full-court press on economic issues, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/17/trump-affordability-mcdonalds-summit">reported</a>.
&#8220;The Biden administration started the affordability crisis, but President Trump will end it so all Americans can achieve economic prosperity,&#8221; a White House official told Axios.
Trump is scheduled to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET. The &#8220;Impact Summit&#8221; will also <a href="https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/trump-to-speak-on-affordability-at-mcdonalds-impact-summit-french-fries-wes-moore-kathy-hochul-rahm-emanuel-rep-pete-aguilar-washington-dc-one-big-beautiful-bill-economy">feature</a> a slate of Democratic speakers, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It&#8217;s a venue where Republicans and the Trump administration want to make their presence known as the economy comes back to the forefront of the political conversation.
The summit will give Trump a chance to double down on his administration&#8217;s efforts to address the economy and food prices. McDonald&#8217;s CEO Chris Kempczinski warned earlier this month that inflation was continuing to place &#8220;pressure on the industry.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s still a difficult environment, and inflation is proving to be sticky,&#8221; Kempczinski said, according to <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/mcdonalds-ceo-warns-rising-beef-prices-remain-challenge-inflation-stays-sticky">Fox Business</a>. &#8220;I mean, we&#8217;re expecting to see there&#8217;s going to be above-average inflation next year. … We&#8217;re seeing very, very high inflation around beef prices versus what we&#8217;re used to historically, and so I think all of that just keeps putting pressure on the industry.&#8221;
McDonald&#8217;s executives have said that higher overhead costs have forced the company to raise prices, which has driven away many low-income customers.
Year-over-year <a href="https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm">inflation</a> has gone down from where it stood during most of former President Joe Biden&#8217;s term, but has hovered around 3% during the first eight months of Trump&#8217;s second term. McDonald&#8217;s prices have also risen in recent months, with the average price of the chain&#8217;s signature Big Mac <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-talk-up-economy-meeting-with-mcdonalds-owners-operators-2025-11-17/">jumping</a> to $6.01 as of July, which was up from $5.69 at the same time last year, according to The Economist&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/big-mac-index">Big Mac Index</a>.&#8221;
Ground beef, overall, has risen 13.5% from last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump has argued that high food prices are leftover effects from the Biden administration, which saw inflation rise to 9.1% in June 2022.
The Trump administration has taken more steps recently to address high prices and point out where prices have fallen.
&#8220;Since Day One, the Trump Administration has been on a mission to tame Biden’s inflation crisis, stop the sky-high Biden price increases, and lower costs for everyday families — and while it can’t happen overnight, evidence shows the trend is in the right direction,&#8221; the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/11/were-making-big-progress-on-prices-and-well-keep-working-to-make-sure-everyone-benefits/">said</a> on Friday.
Trump also removed tariffs on hundreds of food imports on Friday, marking a major pivot in the president’s trade strategy. Trump&#8217;s tariff rollback is aimed at lowering prices for Americans and will apply to food items that are not grown or produced in the United States in “sufficient quantities,” including beef, coffee, tea, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and tropical fruits and fruit juices.
McDonald&#8217;s is a personal favorite of Trump&#8217;s. The president made a pit stop at a McDonald&#8217;s location in Pennsylvania during the 2024 campaign, where he ran the fry cooker and served food to customers. He has also served McDonald&#8217;s food to special guests in the White House.

Trump To Address McDonald’s Franchise Owners As He Focuses On Driving Down Food Costs

Inflation

Politics

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised on Wednesday that relief is coming to Americans at the grocery store, as the Trump administration plans to make &#8220;substantial announcements&#8221; on foreign food imports in the coming days.
During an interview with &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6385001023112">Fox &amp; Friends</a>&#8221; co-host Brian Kilmeade, Bessent predicted that Americans would soon feel much better about their finances and hinted that certain grocery store items would be coming down in price.
&#8220;When you look at affordability now, and you go grocery shopping, for example, what products are you working on bringing down?&#8221; Kilmeade asked. &#8220;We know that certain products are down, certain [products] are up. For example, coffee. The president said, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to lower tariff rates on Brazil and Vietnam and other places to try to bring the price of coffee down.&#8217; What else do you do?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you that you&#8217;re going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don&#8217;t grow here in the United States,&#8221; Bessent replied. &#8220;Coffee being one of them. Bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that will bring the prices down very quickly.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Sec. Scott Bessent: &#8220;You&#8217;re going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don&#8217;t grow here&#8230; coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits&#8230; That will bring the prices down very quickly.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/OlwFniutbk">pic.twitter.com/OlwFniutbk</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1988616150398214379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Bessent&#8217;s comments are a rare moment in which the Trump administration appears to acknowledge that tariffs have negatively affected Americans&#8217; wallets in some circumstances. Last week, President Donald Trump also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-shift-acknowledges-americans-are-paying-something-tariffs-2025-11-06/">admitted</a> that Americans are &#8220;paying something&#8221; due to his tariffs, adding, &#8220;But when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously.&#8221;
The average price of coffee in the United States has spiked in recent months after the Trump administration imposed hefty tariffs on countries around the world, including the leading coffee exporters. In September, the average price for a pound of ground coffee rose 3% from the previous month and jumped 41% from September 2024, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coffee-prices-tariffs-climate-3503a37a8fc95b7dc5a1f29747c81e27">reported</a>. That increase has caused some coffee shops and grocery stores to hike prices. Banana prices have also risen slightly following the rollout of Trump&#8217;s tariffs.
Bessent said that the Trump administration is seeking to fix an &#8220;affordability mess&#8221; that began under former President Joe Biden.
&#8220;It was the worst inflation in 40-50 years, one of the worst in the nation&#8217;s history,&#8221; the Treasury Secretary added.
Bessent said the administration is working to address both affordability components: prices and income. He argued that by the first quarter of next year, Americans will see prices decline while their wages rise.
&#8220;You are going to feel it,&#8221; Bessent said, adding, &#8220;I think 2026 is going to be a blockbuster year.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s tariffs are currently hanging in the balance as the Supreme Court considers whether the president can use his broad authority over foreign policy to impose tariffs on countries worldwide. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case, with multiple conservative justices appearing skeptical of the president’s authority.

Scott Bessent/Grocery Store

Bessent Promises Major Food Import Moves To Cut Grocery Prices ‘Very Quickly’

Food prices

Scott Bessent

Tariffs

Trump Administration

The economy performed better in the second quarter of 2025 than previously projected, according to revised statistics released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 
The second quarter (April, May, and June) saw a 3.8% increase in gross domestic product, according to the latest revision. Previously released estimates for growth initially came in at 3% and then at 3.3%. 
“The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a decrease in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and an increase in consumer spending,” the bureau <a href="https://www.bea.gov/news/2025/gross-domestic-product-2nd-quarter-2025-third-estimate-gdp-industry-corporate-profits">said</a>. “These movements were partly offset by decreases in investment and exports.”
The bureau attributed the increase in GDP primarily to a rise in consumer spending. In the first quarter, GDP declined 0.6% after a surge in imports. 
Sectors that saw significant growth in the second quarter included finance and insurance, information, nondurable goods manufacturing, real estate, healthcare, mining, wholesale trade, and construction. Retail trade, federal government, educational services, and local government all saw declining productivity. 
The White House celebrated the revisions, saying that they reflected the success of President Donald Trump’s economic policies. 
“America’s economic resurgence under President Trump continues: revised data show even stronger real GDP growth of 3.8 percent in Q2 2025 thanks to the Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, tariffs, and energy abundance. And this is just the beginning: new data from today also shows core capital goods orders beat expectations, paving the way for robust investment growth in Q3,” <a href="https://x.com/KushDesai47/status/1971208450311958919">said</a> White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
America’s economic resurgence under President Trump continues: revised data show even stronger real GDP growth of 3.8 percent in Q2 2025 thanks to the Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, tariffs, and energy abundance. And this is just the beginning: new data from today also… <a href="https://t.co/aXvf7CKDLo">https://t.co/aXvf7CKDLo</a>
— Kush Desai (@KushDesai47) <a href="https://twitter.com/KushDesai47/status/1971208450311958919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“President Trump pledged to Make America Wealthy Again, and with Joe Biden’s inflation crisis tamed, we are now laying the groundwork for a long-term restoration of American Greatness,” Desai added. 
Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/real-progress-here-wholesale-inflation-drops-in-august-stunning-economists?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘Real+Progress+Here’%3A+Wholesale+Inflation+Drops+In+August%2C+Stunning+Economists">released</a> earlier this month showed that inflation dropped significantly in August, below what economists had expected. The agency reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI) came in at 2.6% year-over-year, far below the 3.3% rise that was forecasted, according to Barron’s.

President Trump Departs Morristown Airport En Route To Washington, DC

U.S. Economy Smashed Q2 Forecasts As Shoppers Went On A Spending Spree

A lot of people on the Right, in the center, and even on the Left are asking themselves this question: Is peak woke over? 
After all, we suffered through a decade of wokeness, the proposition that any disparity between groups was evidence of discrimination. The wokeness was manifested as DEI, the idea that the government had to constantly rig the system in the reverse direction.
So where does the Left go next? They&#8217;re going back to something old: what could theoretically be titled “economic wokeness.”
Economic wokeness mirrors exactly the same argument as racial wokeness or trans wokeness, except it applies to economic categories.
When I say this is an old argument, it is because it&#8217;s basically the argument Karl Marx made. And it seems the Democrats are moving more and more in that direction.
According to a memo penned by Kamala Harris campaign veterans, what people really want to hear from their favorite politicians is that rich people suck and they should be destroyed.
The reason I&#8217;m calling this economic wokeness is because in order to see the parallel to racial wokeness, all you have to do is replace one word.
The idea for racial wokeness is that disparities are, in and of themselves, signs of discrimination. The idea is that racial discrimination is the norm, not an aberration. It&#8217;s not people who are bad apples. It&#8217;s part of the entire system. And the system is designed purposefully by white people to discriminate against people of color. That is the basis of wokeness.
To get to economic wokeness, all you have to do is replace the word “racial” with “economic.” You simply say economic disparities are in and of themselves signs of economic discrimination. Economic discrimination is ordinary, not an aberration. It&#8217;s not just that there&#8217;s one price gouger out there, it&#8217;s the whole system that is designed for price gouging.
Who is it designed by, according to this theory? “Rich people“ instead of the “white people” of racial wokeness. Rich people who discriminate against the poor.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2274-it-will-never-die-democrats-unleash-new-brand-of-woke?elementPosition=3&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The beauty of economic wokeness is that, unlike racial wokeness — which can be debunked by looking at group studies, pointing to a group that outperforms white people, whether they are Nigerians in America or Asians — there will always be some people who are poorer than other people.
But here’s the salient point: People move in and out of these categories. This is why it is a mistake to talk about the “poor” and the “rich.”
There are many people who are poor now who will one day become rich. There are many people who are rich who will one day become middle-class or poor. 
There is tremendous economic mobility in the United States, according to the available studies. If you are born into the bottom quintile of income earners in the United States, there&#8217;s a better than 60% chance that you will not end up there, that you will end up in a higher bracket in terms of income by the time you are an adult. 
With that said, this sort of economic populism is rooted in grievance, and it&#8217;s a real problem because it does have a popular appeal. It is one thing to claim that America is racist or that America is transphobic. Most people look at that and say, “I don&#8217;t know that many racists.” I really don&#8217;t know that many people who are sitting around all day long thinking about whether a man is a woman; that&#8217;s because it&#8217;s basic logic to know the difference. 
But when it comes to economic status, people have an amazing way of dissociating the rich people they personally know from “rich people” in general. Most people in America know somebody who&#8217;s wealthy. I would bet that the vast majority of people who know people who are wealthy also know good people who are wealthy and bad people who are wealthy. I would also bet they know a lot of poor people, some of whom are good and some of whom are bad, because people come in all shapes and sizes and all sorts of moral qualities.
When it comes to how people think of their own economic performance, the easiest pitch you can make to somebody if they are having a tough time economically is to say it can be fixed by ripping down that billionaire over there.
The only thing that is preventing the advent of people like Bernie Sanders is continued economic growth. If we get continued economic growth, then economic wokeness doesn&#8217;t apply. If people feel pretty good about their direction in the economy, then economic wokeness won&#8217;t help because people won&#8217;t feel discriminated against.
If, however, as we are seeing in the polling data, people do feel that they are stuck, that they don&#8217;t have economic mobility and they have an entire legacy media infrastructure pushing this lie as well as people on both the Right and the Left, that you can&#8217;t get ahead in America, no matter what you do; if you have politicians telling you that so they can garner more power, people believe it.
And if they believe it, they start tearing down the very systems that generated prosperity, such as free markets, private property, and capitalism in the first place. 
I understand the art of gaining power in politics requires getting elected, and getting elected often leads to dissimulating, dissembling, and saying things that are not true. Many politicians are willing to say untrue things in order to garner that power.
That doesn&#8217;t make it moral or good.
Any sort of populist notion that capitalism is “stacked against you” falls flat in a country that is the richest country in literally all of human history, and in which people who are at the bottom of the economic ladder (after income and wealth transfers, because we have massive welfare programs in this country) are earning about $45,000 to $50,000 a year — which is about the same as the median household income in Germany or France.
When you point that out, people get mad. But it happens to be the case.
And that&#8217;s why economic success is absolutely necessary. It&#8217;s also why we need to make a robust defense of things like private property and free markets. Why is private property good? Private property is good because you ought to retain the fruits of your labor, because you are an individual human being with creative capacity, and it is immoral for people to steal the things you create.
Private property is an outgrowth of basic individual autonomy. Free markets are an outgrowth of private property, because if I own the fruits of my labor, I can then alienate them, meaning I can trade them, or I can sell them, and we can trade. And both of our lives get better because I traded something I want for something that you want.
That is the predicate of a free market economy. And that right does not begin with the government. That right begins with God, because God made us in a particular way, with creative capacity.
Man has the capacity to create. Man has the capacity to cultivate the garden, to labor. And so keeping the fruits of our labor is something that human beings want.
This is why communism always fails. That’s because if you tell people they don&#8217;t get to keep what they earned, that they basically should be treated as disposable labor widgets, and all of the fruits of their labor will be taken away and redistributed, people won&#8217;t work. They&#8217;ll just stop. It&#8217;s why communism always ends with coercion.
The free market is not rooted in some sort of peculiar institution created by rich people. It is rooted in basic human notions of autonomy and individual worth.
That&#8217;s why it was disturbing to hear Virginia Democrat senator Tim Kaine, who was the vice presidential nominee with Hillary Clinton back in 2016. He said in the Senate the other day that rights come from the government, declaring:
<blockquote>You state and this is a quote from Secretary Rubio, our rights come from God, our creator, not from our laws, not from our government. I find that very, very troubling. I&#8217;m a devout person. I was a missionary in Honduras. We&#8217;ve got other devout folks in this room Christian, Jewish, Muslim-American. 
The notion that rights don&#8217;t come from laws and don&#8217;t come from the government, but come from the creator, that&#8217;s what the Iranian government believes. It&#8217;s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis Bahais, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities. And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their creator. So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.</blockquote>
That was a gigantic softball over the middle of the plate for Texas GOP senator Ted Cruz, who knows the words of the Declaration of Independence. He responded:
<blockquote>That radical and dangerous notion, in his words, is literally the founding principle upon which the United States of America was created. And if you do not believe me, and you made reference to this, Mr. Barnes, then you can believe perhaps the most prominent Virginian to ever serve, Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator,” not by government, not by the Democratic National Committee, but by God “with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”</blockquote>
This is a fundamental reality.
This is why capitalism and free markets are good things: morally good. You own the product of your hands. You have a right to your own labor.
It&#8217;s time for lions, for people who actually believe in the success of the United States, to robustly defend the free market. This is not something to apologize for.
You are not immoral if you&#8217;re a billionaire any more than you&#8217;re immoral if you are impoverished.

Senate Hearing Held For Foreign Ambassador Nominees

It Will Never Die: Democrats Unleash A New Brand Of Woke

Ben Shapiro

Bernie Sanders

Billionaire

Democratic Socialism

Democrats

Opinion

Poverty

Tim Kaine

Woke Culture

According to newly released Census Bureau data, all income groups in America advanced more during President Donald Trump’s first term than they did during the Biden administration.
Stephen Moore, a senior visiting fellow in economics at The Heritage Foundation, presented the unpublished data for the first time in an Oval Office presentation with Trump on Thursday. The data divided Americans into three groups: lower income (bottom 25% of earners), middle income (middle 50%), and upper income (top 25%).
“What I find fascinating about this, Mr. President, is every income group did better,” said Moore, displaying a chart showing the percentage gain that accrued on average in each income bracket.
Under President Joe Biden, the lower class, after adjusting for inflation, lost income over the course of four years. The middle-income earners stayed about the same. But the upper income earners did noticeably better, according to Moore.
“The rich were the only group that did better under Biden, which is ironic because Biden keeps saying he was trying to get rid of income inequality. He made income inequality worse, not better,” Moore said. “It was President Trump that reduced income inequality.”
The economist tallied the numbers in dollars, as well, showing that the lower income gained about $4,000 in annual revenue over Trump’s first term. The middle income gained about $6,400 in annual earnings, and the wealthiest earned $10,000 more a year from the start of Trump’s first term to its end.
The data takes into account the COVID pandemic, which hit at the end of Trump’s first term and caused a general dip in income.
In addition to data on income growth, Moore also showed graphs on Bureau of Labor Statistics data and median household income during Trump’s first months of his second term. In the first five months of Trump’s second term, the average household’s income has increased by an inflation-adjusted $1,174, Moore said.
Trump last week fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, after the bureau, responsible for collecting and releasing jobs data on the U.S. economy every month, issued a significant downward correction this month on data for May and June.
“Revisions for May and June were larger than normal,” the agency <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fewer-jobs-than-expected-added-in-july-as-unemployment-holds-steady">said</a> in a report issued August 1. “The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised down by 125,000, from +144,000 to +19,000, and the change for June was revised  down by 133,000, from +147,000 to +14,000.”
Moore supported Trump’s decision to fire the agency head, citing similar significant corrections that were made to jobs data under Biden, which Moore said showed “incompetence.” Trump, however, told Moore he believed the figures had been deliberately manipulated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/StephenMoore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenMoore</a> presents new economic data in the Oval Office with <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>:
&#8220;Mr. President, you gained ten times more income for the average family than Joe Biden.&#8221;
&#8220;Every income group did better under Trump than Biden — by a wide margin.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/VIGjGf14YO">pic.twitter.com/VIGjGf14YO</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1953554707668254767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2025</a></blockquote>

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